WordPress Monthly Dev Digest #021
Tags: wordpress, webdev, javascript, css
Published: 2020-08-31 18:04:51

---
title: WordPress Monthly Dev Digest #021
published: true
description: A curated list of WordPress development related news articles, tutorials and other resources written or updated in August 2020.
canonical_url: https://since1979.dev/wordpress-monthly-dev-digest-021/
cover_image: https://since1979.dev/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/monthly-dev-digest-021.jpg
tags: wordpress, webdev, javascript, css
---
[Originally posted on my website on August 31th 2020](https://since1979.dev/wordpress-monthly-dev-digest-021/)

WordPress august in short.
--------------------------

While [WordPress 5.5.1](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/08/27/wordpress-5-5-1-rc1/) is underway the big news this month was the releaase of WordPress 5.5. The official blog post [can be found here](https://wordpress.org/news/2020/08/eckstine/), and i also listed a lot of the new developer goodies in the [previous version](https://since1979.dev/wordpress-monthly-dev-digest-020/) of this series.

In related news, [Elliot Condon](https://twitter.com/elliotcondon) and his team released a new version of the Advanced Custom Fields plugin. Besides a whole lot of improvements this [new version](https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/blog/acf-5-9-0-release-inner-blocks-ui-improvements-and-exciting-features/) (5.9) now includes support for inner blocks.

### WordPress:

-   Release: [WordPress 5.5 "Eckstine"](https://wordpress.org/news/2020/08/eckstine/)
-   Release: [WordPress 5.5.1 RC1](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/08/27/wordpress-5-5-1-rc1/)
-   [Introducing the GraphQL API for WordPress](https://leoloso.com/posts/introducing-the-graphql-api-for-wordpress/) by [Leonardo Losoviz](https://twitter.com/losoviz).
-   Video: [How to make a WordPress website from scratch](https://dev.to/adriantwarog/how-to-make-a-wordpress-website-from-scratch-41g6) by [Adrian Twarog](https://twitter.com/adrian_twarog).
-   [Deploying Sage (WordPress Starter theme) to your host using Github Actions](https://dev.to/bhanusingh/deploying-roots-wordpress-starter-theme-to-your-host-using-github-actions-2648) by [BhanuSingh](https://twitter.com/BHANU015).
-   [Headless WordPress with Sapper](https://dev.to/shriji/headless-wordpress-with-sapper-4b6j) by [Shriji](https://twitter.com/shriji).
-   [How to downgrade WordPress to any version](https://dev.to/gretathemes/how-to-downgrade-wordpress-to-any-version-3a6d) by [GretaThemes](https://twitter.com/gretathemes).
-   [Set op VSCode and xDebug as the ultimate editor for WordPress development](https://deliciousbrains.com/vs-code-wordpress/) by [Matt Shaw](https://twitter.com/mattgrshaw).
-   Video: [Creating your own Wp Cli command from scratch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KrSRNcak5I) by [WPCasts](https://twitter.com/_WPCasts_tv_).

### Javascript/React:

-   [Rando.js](https://randojs.com/) The world's easiest, most powerful Javascript random function.
-   [10 cool React tips](https://dev.to/alexandrudanpop/10-cool-react-tips-4cca) by [Alexandru-Dan Pop](https://twitter.com/alexandrudanpop).
-   [FunJavascript: A free series of fun Javascript, Html & Css projects](https://fun-javascript-projects.com/) by [Chris Dixon](https://twitter.com/chrisdixon161).
-   Video: [React vs vanilla Javascript, Learn React for beginners part 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFHAIpw2oZI) by [Dev Ed](https://twitter.com/developedbyed).
-   Video: [Javascript array methods flat and flatMap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkpGDFoWcyI) by [Niall ‍Maher](https://twitter.com/nialljoemaher).
-   Video: [Lazy load Images with vanilla Javascript and Intersection Observer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmRZi4ryiMQ) by [James Q Quick](https://twitter.com/jamesqquick).
-   [Understanding Bind, Call and Apply in Javascript](https://www.webtips.dev/bind-call-apply-in-javascript) by [Weekly Webtips](https://twitter.com/weeklywebtips).
-   [Javascript Fetch Api tutorial with Js Fetch Post and Header examples](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/javascript-fetch-api-tutorial-with-js-fetch-post-and-header-examples/) by [Manish M. Shivanandhan](https://twitter.com/manishmshiva).
-   [Announcing Typescript 4.0](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/typescript/announcing-typescript-4-0/) by [Daniel Rosenwasser](https://twitter.com/drosenwasser).
-   Video: [Introduction to React Recoil (Experimental) state management](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHe6-2-ZX6Y) by [Leigh Halliday](https://twitter.com/leighchalliday).

### Html/Css:

-   [A lightweight Masonry solution](https://css-tricks.com/a-lightweight-masonry-solution/) by [Ana Tudor](https://twitter.com/anatudor).
-   [Make your first Css art](https://nadialaasri.me/blog/make-your-first-css-art) by [Nadia Laasri](https://twitter.com/laasrinadiaa).
-   [Nailing the perfect contrast between light text and a background image](https://css-tricks.com/nailing-the-perfect-contrast-between-light-text-and-a-background-image/) by [Yaphi Berhanu](https://css-tricks.com/author/yaphi1/).
-   Video: [Learn by doing: CUBE Css](https://css-tricks.com/video-screencasts/191-learn-by-doing-cube-css/) by [Andy Bell](https://twitter.com/hankchizljaw) and [Chris Coyier](https://twitter.com/chriscoyier).
-   [Supercharging the Html number input](https://kilianvalkhof.com/2020/javascript/supercharging-input-type-number/) by [Kilian Valkhof](https://twitter.com/kilianvalkhof).
-   [Digging Into the Flex property](https://ishadeed.com/article/css-flex-property/) by [Ahmad Shadeed](https://twitter.com/shadeed9).
-   [Custom select styles with pure Css](https://moderncss.dev/custom-select-styles-with-pure-css/) by [Stephanie Eckles](https://twitter.com/5t3ph).
-   [Html picture element responsive images](https://daily-dev-tips.com/posts/html-picture-element-responsive-images/) by [Chris Bongers](https://twitter.com/DailyDevTips1).
-   [Leading-trim: The future of digital typesetting](https://medium.com/microsoft-design/leading-trim-the-future-of-digital-typesetting-d082d84b202) by [Ethan Wang](https://medium.com/@SashimiEthan).
-   [Why Css logical properties aren't ready for use](https://medium.com/@elad/why-css-logical-properties-arent-ready-for-use-c102925a5cba) by [Elad Shechter](https://twitter.com/eladsc).
-   [Flexbox rocks](https://dev.to/jamesncox/flexbox-rocks-2bf9) by [James Cox](https://twitter.com/MemRook).
-   [How to detect fullscreen mode using Css](https://www.amitmerchant.com/how-to-detect-fullscreen-mode-using-css/) by [Amit Merchant](https://twitter.com/amit_merchant).
-   [Copy the browser's native focus styles](https://css-tricks.com/copy-the-browsers-native-focus-styles/) by [Chris Coyier](https://twitter.com/chriscoyier).
-   [How I structure my Css (for Now)](https://matthiasott.com/notes/how-i-structure-my-css?ref=dailydevlinks.com) by [Matthias Ott](https://twitter.com/m_ott).

### Php:

-   [What's new in Php 8](https://stitcher.io/blog/new-in-php-8) by [Brent](https://twitter.com/brendt_gd).
-   [Modernizing a legacy Php application](https://adrien.poupa.fr/modernizing-a-legacy-php-application/) by [Adrien Poupa](https://adrien.poupa.fr/).

### Misc:

-   [Asdf-vm](https://asdf-vm.com/#/): Manage multiple runtime versions with a single CLI tool
-   Video: [Getting started with freelancing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gmH1WMnOq4) with [Kyle Prinsloo](https://twitter.com/study_web_dev) and [Niall ‍Maher](https://twitter.com/nialljoemaher).
-   [How fast should your site load?](https://medium.com/firebase-developers/how-fast-should-your-site-load-cfb14be48e8b) By [David East](https://twitter.com/_davideast).
-   [How to use AVIF: The new next-gen image compression format](https://reachlightspeed.com/blog/using-the-new-high-performance-avif-image-format-on-the-web-today/) by [Dan Klammer](https://twitter.com/danklammer).

### Suggestions?

**I**f you have any suggestions for good article or resources 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 August.**