Welcome to the March 2023 edition of WPEdition, your definitive guide to everything happening in WordPress. From impactful plugin updates and security alerts to ecosystem trends and hosting performance, we’ve compiled the most important updates to keep developers, agencies, and business owners informed and ahead of the curve.
Mergers, Acquisitions, Investments
March 2023 saw a mix of strategic positioning and growing interest in commercial WordPress tools:
- YITH Joins the Newfold Digital Family: On March 13, YITH, a well-known WooCommerce plugin shop, officially joined Newfold Digital. This strategic acquisition followed Newfold’s continued focus on strengthening its WooCommerce product suite (which also includes Yoast and Bluehost).
These acquisitions emphasize the trend of platform consolidation, where ecosystem players focus on delivering holistic, cross-service digital experiences.
WordPress Core Updates
No major core releases were shipped in March 2023, but the development pipeline remained active in preparation for WordPress 6.2, which officially launched in early April 2023.
March was primarily focused on beta testing and refinement:
- WordPress 6.2 Beta 4 and Release Candidate 1 (RC1) were launched mid-to-late March. This included enhancements to the Site Editor (introduced in 5.9), template browsing improvements, and a new style book feature.
- By March, over 292 contributors participated in this release cycle, showing strong community engagement.
In parallel, performance teams continued working on faster template loading and JavaScript optimization, laying the foundation for a more responsive WordPress experience.
Other WordPress News
Gutenberg Plugin Continues Advancements
Version Gutenberg 15.2 was released in March 2023. It brought a streamlined pattern insertion flow, margin controls in Group blocks, and improved accessibility fixes. Before their core inclusion, the plugin remains a testing ground for block editor features.
WordCamp Europe 2023 Hype Begins
With WordCamp Europe 2023 scheduled for June in Athens, March saw strong community involvement in planning, volunteer onboarding, and early ticket sales. The event promised deeper community collaboration and product demos.
Security Alerts & Plugin Vulnerabilities
March was a critical month for WordPress site administrators:
- Wordfence reported over 169 vulnerabilities in plugins and themes throughout the month. Some of the most notable included:
- WP Statistics plugin (500,000+ installs): Authenticated stored XSS in version <14.1.
- Essential Addons for Elementor (1 M+ installs): Authenticated privilege escalation vulnerability.
- Advanced Custom Fields: Vulnerabilities were patched during the final testing of version 6.1, slated for release in early April.
Wordfence’s Threat Intelligence team released weekly roundups to alert users in real time.
Industry Trends & Insights
Full-Site Editing Reaches Maturity
As of March 2023, FSE adoption began to mature. Theme developers like Blocksy and Kadence integrated deeper support, and WordPress.org had over 200+ block themes listed. Agencies began transitioning clients to block-based solutions for scalability and ease of updates.
Performance Optimization Gets Serious
The Performance Lab plugin, developed by the WordPress core performance team, saw steady adoption. Its features, such as WebP conversion and lazy loading improvements, made it a popular choice.
AI Tools Enter WordPress Space
AI-generated content plugins like Bertha.ai and ContentBot started gaining traction among bloggers and affiliate marketers. The demand for intelligent writing assistants compatible with Gutenberg and Elementor was steadily rising.
Theme of the Month
Neve was a top-performing WordPress theme in March 2023, continuing its reputation as a fast, lightweight, and highly customizable solution for various website types. Developed by Themeisle, Neve offered compatibility with major page builders like Elementor, Brizy, and the native Gutenberg editor. Its mobile-first design, AMP compatibility, and WooCommerce support made it ideal for businesses looking to optimize for speed and conversions.
Neve’s Starter Sites library allows users to launch professional-looking websites with just a few clicks. Its flexible header and layout controls also enable developers to fine-tune designs without writing custom code.
Plugin of the Month
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers gained significant traction in March. With over 2 million active installs, the plugin saw new updates adding reusable snippets, conditional logic, and enhanced compatibility with Google Tag Manager. Particularly helpful for non-technical marketers, it helped bridge the developer-marketer gap.
Agency of the Month
While Seahawk Media was already a known name, March 2023 marked a surge in recognition as it expanded its white-label WordPress services to international agencies. Their focus on WordPress maintenance, page speed optimization, and hack cleanup services cemented their role as trusted backend partners.
Host of the Month
Servebolt delivered outstanding performance in March, consistently sub-100ms TTFB across most regions. Their built-in optimization for WooCommerce stores and lightning-fast support earned them praise from high-traffic eCommerce site owners.
Founder of the Month
Lesley Sim, co-founder of Newsletter Glue, made waves in March by releasing major upgrades to her email plugin for WordPress. Her commitment to empowering content creators with native newsletter capabilities within the WordPress dashboard was widely appreciated.
Looking Ahead to April 2023
April is expected to be a landmark month for WordPress:
- WordPress 6.2 will go live with significant improvements to the Site Editor and template customization experience.
- Expect growing attention on AI and generative content tools tailored for WordPress.
- More security fixes are anticipated as plugin ecosystems continue rapid development.
Keep your sites updated and your eyes on the horizon as WordPress evolves into a more secure, performance-oriented, and editor-friendly platform.