WordPress Monthly Dev Digest #016
Tags: wordpress, webdev, php, css
Published: 2020-03-31 18:15:48

---
title: WordPress Monthly Dev Digest #016
published: true
description: A curated list of WordPress development related news articles, tutorials and other resources written or updated in March 2020.
canonical_url: https://since1979.dev/wordpress-monthly-dev-digest-016/
cover_image: https://since1979.dev/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/wordpress-monthly-dev-digest-016.jpg
tags: wordpress, webdev, php, css
---
[Originally posted on my website on March 31th 2020](https://since1979.dev/wordpress-monthly-dev-digest-016/)

WordPress March in short.
-------------------------

March has been all about WordPress 5.4 that should be released later this week.. Most of the changes were already [announced in February](https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/dev-notes/) and are listed in my [previous article](https://since1979.dev/wordpress-monthly-dev-digest-015/) or in the [official field guide](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/03/03/wordpress-5-4-field-guide/).

One change that has been a little bit controversial is that the Gutenberg editor will now be in [full screen mode by default](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/03/03/fullscreen-mode-enabled-by-default-in-the-editor/). If you happen to dislike this change [Jb Audras](https://twitter.com/AudrasJb) has written up a little "[fix](https://jeanbaptisteaudras.com/en/2020/03/disable-block-editor-default-fullscreen-mode-in-wordpress-5-4/)" for this.


### WordPress:

-   [How to customize the WooCommerce cart page on a WordPress site](https://css-tricks.com/how-to-customize-the-woocommerce-cart-page-on-a-wordpress-site/) by [Andres Sanchez](https://twitter.com/f4freelance1).
-   [WordPress post metadata in RestAPI](https://blog.abmsourav.com/wordpress-meta-in-rest-api/) by [abmSourav.](https://twitter.com/abm_sourav)
-   [Integrating Api's with WordPress and Contact Form 7](https://dev.to/jorbascrumps/integrating-apis-with-wordpress-and-contact-form-7-1657) by [Chris Wright](https://twitter.com/jorbascrumps).
-   [Preparing for WordPress 5.4: changes theme and plugin developers should know about](https://wptavern.com/preparing-for-wordpress-5-4-changes-theme-and-plugin-developers-should-know-about) by [WpTavern](https://twitter.com/wptavern).
-   [Associating GitHub accounts with WordPress.org profiles](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/03/19/associating-github-accounts-with-wordpress-org-profiles/) by [Jonathan Desrosiers](https://twitter.com/desrosj).
-   Video: [Make a custom WordPress theme from scratch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJKAwJq9_xM) by [FollowAndrew](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJKAwJq9_xMhttps://twitter.com/FollowAndrewEdu).
-   [Allow alignment in custom Gutenberg blocks](https://dannyspina.com/allow-alignment-in-custom-gutenberg-blocks/) by [Danny Spina](https://twitter.com/Danny_Spina).
-   [Making a plugin options page with Gutenberg components](https://www.codeinwp.com/blog/plugin-options-page-gutenberg/) by [Hardeep Asrani](https://twitter.com/HardeepAsrani).
-   [Gutenberg block patterns: The future of page building in WordPress](https://richtabor.com/block-patterns/) by [Rich Tabor](https://twitter.com/richard_tabor).
-   [How to enable Inner Blocks in your Gutenberg Block](https://ibenic.com/enable-inner-blocks-gutenberg/) by [Igor Benić](https://twitter.com/igorbenic).

**A bit of self promo**

-   [WordPress snippet #008 Using transients to cache data](https://since1979.dev/snippet-008-using-transients-to-cache-data/).
-   [WordPress snippet #009 Custom Gutenberg font sizes](https://since1979.dev/wp-snippet-002-changing-the-gutenberg-font-sizes/).
-   [WordPress snippet #010 Filter posts by (Acf) meta values](https://since1979.dev/snippet-010-filter-posts-by-acf-meta-values/) by [Stephan Nijman](https://twitter.com/Vanaf1979).


### Php:

-   Video: [How to write exceptionally good exceptions in PHP](https://freek.dev/1582-how-to-write-exceptionally-good-exceptions-in-php) by [Freek van de Herten](https://twitter.com/freekmurze).
-   [Bookmarks feature in PhpStorm is truly a saviour](https://www.amitmerchant.com/bookmark-feature-phpstorm/) by [Amit Merchant](https://twitter.com/amit_merchant).
-   [Best Php practices explained](https://dev.to/jmau111/best-php-practices-explained-5aa6) by [Julien Maury](https://dev.to/jmau111).


### Javascript:

-   [How to find the script that changes a html tag's attribute](https://dev.to/alexdhaenens/how-to-find-the-script-that-changes-a-html-attribute-20am) by [Alex Dhaenens](https://twitter.com/DhaenensAlex).
-   [Introducing Alpine.js: A tiny JavaScript framework](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2020/03/introduction-alpinejs-javascript-framework/) by [Phil Smith.](https://twitter.com/monkeyphil)
-   [A guide to handling browser events](https://sarahchima.com/blog/event-handlers/) by [Sarah](https://twitter.com/sarah_chima).
-   [Solid principles in Javascript](https://dev.to/francescoxx/solid-principles-in-javascript-3pek) by [Francesco](https://twitter.com/FrancescoCiull4).
-   [For of loops in Javascript. One loop to rule them all](https://www.jonathancreamer.com/for-of-loops-in-javascript-one-loop-to-rule-them-all/) by [Jonathan Creamer](https://twitter.com/jcreamer898).
-   [JavaScript callback functions. What are callbacks in Js and how to use them](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/javascript-callback-functions-what-are-callbacks-in-js-and-how-to-use-them/) by [Cem Eygi](https://twitter.com/cem_eygi).
-   [The double negation !! in JavaScript](http://js-craft.io/blog/the-double-negation-in-javascript/) by [Daniel](http://www.js-craft.io/blog/author/daniel/).
-   [How to start unit testing your JavaScript code](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-start-unit-testing-javascript/) by [Ondrej Polesny](https://twitter.com/ondrabus).
-   [First-class functions in JavaScript](https://dev.to/nas5w/first-class-functions-in-javascript-5dj2) by [Nick Scialli](https://twitter.com/nas5w).
-   [React hooks tutorial: The practical guide to learning hooks for beginners](https://dev.to/ibaslogic/react-hooks-tutorial-the-practical-guide-to-learning-hooks-for-beginners-56kn) by [Ibas](https://twitter.com/ibaslogic).
-   [How to manage Html Dom with vanilla JavaScript only](https://htmldom.dev/) by [Phuoc Nguyen](https://twitter.com/nghuuphuoc).


### Css:

-   Video: [Sass Crash Course](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu5mdN2JIwM) by [Brad Traversy](https://twitter.com/traversymedia).
-   [How to use CSS variables like a pro](https://dev.to/bnevilleoneill/how-to-use-css-variables-like-a-pro-4c78) by [Brian Neville-O'Neill](https://twitter.com/bnevilleoneill).
-   [The CSS -webkit-line-clamp property truncates multi-line text](https://twitter.com/addyosmani/status/1235867720924577792) by [Addy Osmani](https://twitter.com/addyosmani).
-   [How to make a slideout footer](https://css-tricks.com/the-slideout-footer/) by [Css-Tricks](https://twitter.com/css).
-   [You can block a button if a field is not filled with pure CSS](https://dev.to/leandroruel/you-can-block-a-button-if-a-field-is-not-filled-with-pure-css-3019) by [Leandro RR](https://dev.to/leandroruel).
-   [MoreToggles.css](https://github.com/JNKKKK/MoreToggles.css) Stylish toggles with pure CSS.
-   [Fluid Width Video](https://css-tricks.com/fluid-width-video/) by [Css-Tricks](https://twitter.com/css).
-   [Sass !default and themeable design systems](https://bradfrost.com/blog/post/sass-default-and-themeable-design-systems/) by [Brad Frost](https://twitter.com/brad_frost).
-   [Flexbox and absolute positioning](https://www.chenhuijing.com/blog/flexbox-and-absolute-positioning/#%F0%9F%8E%B9) by [HJ Chen](https://twitter.com/hj_chen).
-   [CSS viewport units](https://ishadeed.com/article/viewport-units/?ref=dailydevlinks.com) by [Ahmad Shadeed](https://twitter.com/shadeed9).
-   [A complete guide to calc() in Css](https://css-tricks.com/a-complete-guide-to-calc-in-css/) by [Css-Tricks](https://twitter.com/css).
-   [The html Ol element has start and reversed attributes](https://twitter.com/sulco/status/1240987567459352579) by [Tomek Sułkowski](https://twitter.com/sulco).
-   [How to change background image opacity in CSS](https://dev.to/thecodercoder/how-to-change-background-image-opacity-in-css-21e6) by [Jessica Chan](https://twitter.com/thecodercoder).
-   [Everything about auto in Css](https://ishadeed.com/article/auto-css/?ref=dailydevlinks.com) by [Ahmad Shadeed](https://twitter.com/shadeed9).


### Misc:

-   [Discovering the terminal](https://dev.to/brouberol/discovering-the-terminal-5ddf) by [Balthazar Rouberol](https://dev.to/brouberol).
-   [16 Things to improve your website accessibility](https://websitesetup.org/web-accessibility-checklist/) by [WebsiteSetup.org](https://websitesetup.org/)
-   [Working with feature branches and feature flags](https://developer.yoast.com/working-with-feature-branches-and-feature-flags/#utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link&utm_campaign=devblog) by [Yoast](https://twitter.com/YoastDev).
-   Video: [Using regular expressions -- Introduction and simple use case](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ds55OPlFUY) by [Eric Adams](https://twitter.com/EricSAdams).
-   [NpKill](https://github.com/voidcosmos/npkill) Easily find and remove old and heavy node_modules folders.


### 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 April.**