WordPress Monthly Dev Digest #018
Tags: wordpress, webdev, php, css
Published: 2020-06-01 17:51:13

---
title: WordPress Monthly Dev Digest #018
published: true
description: A curated list of WordPress development related news articles, tutorials and other resources written or updated in May 2020.
canonical_url: https://since1979.dev/wordpress-monthly-dev-digest-018/
cover_image: https://since1979.dev/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/wordpress-monthly-dev-digest-018.jpg
tags: wordpress, webdev, php, css
---
[Originally posted on my website on June 1th 2020](https://since1979.dev/wordpress-monthly-dev-digest-018/)

WordPress May in short.
-----------------------

In May there were two new releases of the Block Editor being [Gutenberg 8.1](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/05/13/whats-new-in-gutenberg-13-may/) and [Gutenberg 8.2](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/05/27/whats-new-in-gutenberg-27-may/). And there was also an [announcement](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/05/02/merge-announcement-plugins-themes-auto-updates/) that the feature plugin for Auto updating themes and plugins will be merged into Core.

Besides the Block Editor and WordPress Core there was another news worthy release in the form of [Advanced Custom Fields 5.9](https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/blog/acf-5-9-exciting-new-features/) that now has support for Inner blocks.

### WordPress:

-   Video: [Q&A](https://youtu.be/lSkmtb-OvDk?t=16421) with [Matt Mullenweg](https://twitter.com/photomatt) during WCES.
-   [WordPress theme starter kit that saved me hours | Understrap](https://dev.to/adriantwarog/wordpress-theme-starter-kit-that-saved-me-hours-understrap-2h2d) by [Adrian Twarog](https://twitter.com/adrian_twarog).
-   [How to use Block variations in WordPress](https://css-tricks.com/how-to-use-block-variations-in-wordpress/) by [Dmitry Mayorov](https://twitter.com/dmtrmrv).
-   [The complete guide to accessibility for WordPress websites](https://www.deque.com/blog/wordpress-accessibility/) by [Ross Johnson](https://www.deque.com/blog/author/rossjohnson/).
-   [Gutenberg Block Patterns: The future of page building in WordPress](https://richtabor.com/block-patterns/) by [Rich Tabor](https://twitter.com/richard_tabor).
-   [Using Gutenberg Block Variations in the WordPress Block editor](https://richtabor.com/block-variations/) by [Rich Tabor](https://twitter.com/richard_tabor).
-   [Gutenberg 8.1 includes block copying, testimonials pattern, and patterns Ui update](https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-8-1-includes-block-copying-testimonials-pattern-and-patterns-ui-update) by [WpTavern](https://twitter.com/wptavern).
-   [WordPress block transforms](https://css-tricks.com/wordpress-block-transforms/) by [Chris Coyier](https://twitter.com/chriscoyier).
-   [ACF 5.9 brings inner-blocks](https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/blog/acf-5-9-exciting-new-features/) by [Acf](https://twitter.com/wp_acf).
-   [Gutenberg times live Q & A: Create-block scaffolding and 3rd Party Templates](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbrME0UlYbQ) by [Greg Ziółkowski](https://twitter.com/gziolo) and [Fabian Kaegy.](https://twitter.com/fabiankaegy)
-   Repo: [Examples for extending WordPress/Gutenberg with blocks](https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg-examples).
-   [WordPress user role management itroduction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWJMGKoH00c) by [Alex Young](https://twitter.com/AlexanderBYoung).
-   [Setup Axios for the WordPress Rest Api](https://since1979.dev/snippet-014-setup-axios-for-the-wordpress-rest-api/) by [Stephan Nijman.](https://twitter.com/Vanaf1979)
-   [Basic post navigation with React and the WordPress Rest Api](https://since1979.dev/basic-post-navigation-with-react-and-the-wp-rest-api/) by [Stephan Nijman.](https://twitter.com/Vanaf1979)
-   [Fixing and parsing WordPress Rest Api content in React](https://since1979.dev/fixing-and-parsing-wordpress-rest-api-content-in-react/) by [Stephan Nijman.](https://twitter.com/Vanaf1979)

### Php:

-   [Php for JavaScript developers](https://dev.to/smoldev/php-for-javascript-developers-5ff8) by [Megan Miller](https://twitter.com/_smolDev).
-   [Top features of Php 7.4 explained](https://www.amitmerchant.com/top-features-php-74/) by [Amit Merchant](https://twitter.com/amit_merchant).
-   [The truth about Php workers and WordPress](https://dev.to/pagely/the-truth-about-php-workers-and-wordpress-39p5) by [Lizzie Kardon](https://twitter.com/LizzieKardon).
-   [New in Php 8](https://stitcher.io/blog/new-in-php-8) by [Brent](https://twitter.com/brendt_gd).

### Javascript/React:

-   [The latest features added to Javascript in ECMAScript 2020](https://www.telerik.com/blogs/latest-features-javascript-ecmascript-2020) by [Thomas Findlay](https://twitter.com/thomasfindlay94).
-   [Array cheatsheet](https://dev.to/atila/array-cheatsheet-4me0) by [Atila](https://twitter.com/AtilaFassina).
-   [JavaScript features to forget](https://davidflanagan.com/2020/05/12/javascript-to-forget.html?ref=dailydevlinks.com) by [David Flanagan](https://twitter.com/__DavidFlanagan).
-   [Introduction to Regular expressions in JavaScript](https://blog.alexdevero.com/regular-expressions-javascript/) by [Alex Devero](https://twitter.com/AlexDevero).
-   [Best practices in JavaScript array iteration](https://vgpena.github.io/) by [Violet Peña](https://vgpena.github.io/).
-   [Own and inherited properties in JavaScript](https://dmitripavlutin.com/own-and-inherited-properties-in-javascript/) by [Dmitri Pavlutin](https://twitter.com/panzerdp).
-   How to use [useState](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQox1UTsn1k&list=PLOPnFpW9pDE7vDWtViCZFYWZJNCX7XsBV&index=3&t=0s), [useEffect](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC8Mw0BG4eA&list=PLOPnFpW9pDE7vDWtViCZFYWZJNCX7XsBV&index=4&t=0s), [useReducer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch3ZBKP1rVo&list=PLOPnFpW9pDE7vDWtViCZFYWZJNCX7XsBV&index=5&t=0s) and [useContext](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAYQR0JneE8&list=PLOPnFpW9pDE7vDWtViCZFYWZJNCX7XsBV&index=6&t=0s) in React by [Niall ‍Maher](https://twitter.com/nialljoemaher).
-   [UseHooks.com](https://usehooks.com/) Easy to understand React Hook recipes by [Gabe Ragland](https://twitter.com/gabe_ragland).
-   [Reactjs testing crash course](https://dev.to/emarsys/react-testing-crash-course-ccl) by [Gábor Soós](https://twitter.com/blacksonic86).
-   [Creating forms in React in 2020](https://blog.logrocket.com/forms-in-react-in-2020/) by [Kristofer Giltvedt Selbekk](https://twitter.com/selbekk).
-   [Recoil -- Facebook's own state management library](https://dev.to/shubhaem/recoil-facebook-s-own-state-management-library-26pb) by [Shubham Kamath](https://twitter.com/shubham_kamath).
-   [React hooks: everything you need to know!](https://softwareontheroad.com/react-hooks/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweet) by [Sam Quinn](https://twitter.com/SantyPK4).

### Html/Css:

-   [Modern Css solutions for old Css problems](https://moderncss.dev/) by [Stephanie Eckles](https://twitter.com/5t3ph).
-   [When to use Css grid and when to use Flexbox](http://www.js-craft.io/blog/when-to-use-css-grid-and-when-to-use-flexbox/) by [JS Craft Academy.](https://twitter.com/js_craft_hq)
-   ['lh' and 'rlh' units](https://css-tricks.com/lh-and-rlh-units/) by [Css tricks](https://twitter.com/css).
-   [Everything I learned about min(), max(), clamp() In Css](https://ishadeed.com/article/css-min-max-clamp/) by [Ahmad Shadeed](https://twitter.com/shadeed9).
-   [Chromium lands Flexbox gap](https://web.dev/flexbox-gap/) by [Adam Argyle](https://twitter.com/argyleink) and [David Grogan](https://github.com/davidsgrogan).
-   [How to create fancy revealing animations with these simple Css tricks](https://dev.to/caroso1222/how-to-create-fancy-revealing-animations-with-these-simple-css-tricks-4gjk?ref=dailydevlinks.com) by [Carlos Roso](https://twitter.com/caroso1222).
-   [How to tame line height in Css](https://css-tricks.com/how-to-tame-line-height-in-css/) by [Caleb Williams](https://css-tricks.com/author/calebdwilliams/).
-   [Box shadow Css tutorial -- How to add a drop shadow to any Html element](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/css-tutorial-drop-shadow/) by [Joe Liang](https://twitter.com/1000mileworld).
-   [Don't fear empty divs (And other semantic faux pas)](https://www.coryetzkorn.com/blog/dont-fear-empty-divs/) by [Cory Etzkorn](https://twitter.com/coryetzkorn).
-   [Using calc to figure out optimal line-height](https://hugogiraudel.com/2020/05/18/using-calc-to-figure-out-optimal-line-height/) by Jesús Ricarte.
-   [Visualizing the power of Css Filters using Picturesque.css](https://dev.to/heytulsiprasad/visualizing-the-power-of-css-filters-using-picturesque-css-o2) by [Tulsi Prasad](https://twitter.com/heytulsiprasad).
-   [Text fields & Forms design](https://uxdesign.cc/text-fields-forms-design-ui-components-series-2b32b2beebd0) by [UX Collective](https://twitter.com/uxdesigncc).

### Misc:

-   [GitHub Codespaces](https://github.com/features/codespaces): Your instant dev environment by GitHub.
-   [Don't teach kids programming](https://dev.to/oblac/don-t-teach-kids-programming-36n5) by [Igor Spasić](https://dev.to/igr).
-   [How to write proposals that will win over freelance clients](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/free-web-design-proposal-template/) by [Kyle Prinsloo](https://twitter.com/study_web_dev).
-   [How to stay motivated to keep learning to code](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-stay-motivated-to-keep-learning-to-code/) by [Adrian Twarog](https://twitter.com/adrian_twarog)[.](https://twitter.com/adrian_twarog)
-   [Free course practical math for frontend developers](https://scrimba.com/course/gpracticalmath?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=gpracticalmath_mainlist_launch) by [Ryan Gonyon](https://twitter.com/TheRyanGonyon).
-   Video: [How I went from broke to 6 figures](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEjPFAaokJ4&feature=youtu.be) by [Marc Backes](https://twitter.com/_marcba).
-   [Git and GitHub crash course](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGOj5yH7evk) by [Gwendolyn Faraday](https://twitter.com/gwen_faraday).

### Suggestions?

**I**f you have any suggestions for good article please do let me know! Follow me on twitter [@Vanaf1979](https://twitter.com/Vanaf1979) or on Dev.to [@Vanaf1979](https://dev.to/vanaf1979) to be notified about the next article in this series, and other WordPress development related stuff.

**Stay safe and have a great June.**