January 2022 was a landmark month for the WordPress community, defined by one of the most anticipated core releases in recent history.
The launch of WordPress 5.9, “Joséphine,” brought Full Site Editing to the forefront, fundamentally altering the landscape of theme development and user customization. Alongside this monumental release, the ecosystem saw crucial security updates, the launch of impactful new plugins, and a clear vision for the platform’s future trajectory.
Community & Corporate Movements
In a notable move within the WordPress product space, WP Experts, a prominent WordPress development agency, announced its acquisition of the Login Designer plugin on January 9, 2022. Login Designer allows users to customize the WordPress login page, and this acquisition signaled WP Experts’ intent to expand its portfolio of utility plugins and enhance its offerings for WordPress developers and site administrators.
The Evolution of the Core
The central story of January 2022 was undoubtedly the evolution of the WordPress core software.
WordPress 5.9 “Joséphine” Arrives
After a delay from its initial December 2021 schedule, WordPress 5.9 was officially released on January 25, 2022. Named in honor of the internationally acclaimed jazz singer Joséphine Baker, this version marked a pivotal moment for the platform by introducing Full Site Editing (FSE).
This major release empowers users to edit and customize all aspects of their site—from the header to the footer, using blocks. Key features introduced in WordPress 5.9 include:
- The Site Editor: A new interface for building a site’s structure and design with blocks.
- Block Themes: A new generation of themes, built specifically for Full Site Editing.
- Global Styles: A system for managing site-wide design settings like typography and color palettes from a single interface.
- New Design Tools: Enhanced controls for dimensions, spacing, layout, and typography within blocks.
- The Navigation Block: A new, block-based way to build and manage site menus.
Gutenberg Continues to Advance
Supporting the new FSE capabilities, the Core Team released three versions of the Gutenberg plugin in January:
- Gutenberg 12.3 (January 5): Introduced new blocks like Author Name and advanced Comments blocks.
- Gutenberg 12.4 (January 19): Delivered accessibility improvements and added keyboard shortcuts for the Site Editor.
- Gutenberg 12.5: Brought significant enhancements like Global Styles variations and improvements to the Query Loop block.
Ecosystem News and Developments
Beyond the core updates, several other developments captured the community’s attention.
Microsoft Launches IndexNow Plugin
In a significant move for SEO, Microsoft released an official IndexNow plugin for WordPress. The protocol, adopted by Microsoft Bing and Yandex, allows websites to instantly notify search engines about new, updated, or deleted content, ensuring faster indexing.
The plugin automates this process, generating an API key and submitting URLs automatically whenever content changes are detected on a WordPress site.
New Markdown Editor Plugin
For writers and developers who prefer a streamlined writing experience, a new plugin called Markup Markdown landed in the official directory.
The plugin replaces the default block or classic editor with a clean, functional Markdown editor, relying on the Parsedown PHP library to render the content on the front end. While praised for its simplicity, its initial version lacked options for toggling between editors, a feature many multi-author sites would require.
Critical Security Patches
On January 6, 2022, the WordPress security team issued WordPress 5.8.3, a critical security release. All users were strongly advised to update their sites immediately. The update patched four vulnerabilities affecting WordPress versions as far back as 3.7, including:
- A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability via post slugs.
- An object injection vulnerability exists in some multisite installations.
- An SQL injection vulnerability in
WP_Query. - A separate SQL injection vulnerability in
WP_Meta_Query.
Emerging Industry Directions
As the new year began, several broader web development trends were gaining significant traction within the WordPress ecosystem. The growing importance of voice search optimization prompted developers to consider conversational queries in their content strategy.
Furthermore, integrating augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) for e-commerce, along with the increasing use of AI-powered chatbots, were key discussion topics for creating more immersive and interactive user experiences.
January’s Standouts
Theme of the Month: Chique Photography
Released in January 2022, Chique Photography earns a top spot for its focused and elegant design explicitly tailored for photobloggers, graphic designers, and other visual artists. As a child, the popular Chique theme demonstrated the power of building upon a solid framework to serve a niche audience. Its light color style and portfolio-centric features provided creative professionals with a beautiful, ready-to-use solution to showcase their work without the complexity of a multipurpose theme.
Plugin of the Month: IndexNow Plugin
The IndexNow Plugin from Microsoft earns the top spot for its immediate and practical value to site owners. Simplifying the process of rapid indexing provides a tangible SEO advantage, bridging the gap between content creation and search engine visibility.
Agency of the Month: Seahawk Media
In January 2022, Seahawk Media became a critical force in the WordPress service ecosystem. Known for its high-quality white-label development and support services for major hosting companies like GoDaddy Pro, Seahawk demonstrated the growing importance of specialized agencies that power the backend of the WordPress economy. Their expertise in handling complex site migrations, optimizations, and custom development made them an invaluable partner for businesses navigating the evolving WordPress landscape at the start of the year.
Host of the Month: SiteGround
With the release of WordPress 5.9 and Full Site Editing, performance and expert support became more critical than ever. In January 2022, SiteGround distinguished itself as a premier choice for users making the leap. Renowned for its excellent uptime, top-tier customer support, and powerful, in-house caching solutions, SiteGround provided a stable and optimized environment for the new block-based architecture. Their managed WordPress features, including automatic updates and security monitoring, offered site owners peace of mind when embracing the major core update.
Founder of the Month: Josepha Haden Chomphosy
As the Executive Director of the WordPress project, Josepha Haden Chomphosy was the organizational founder of the WordPress 5.9 release’s success. In her role, she orchestrated the complex collaboration between thousands of contributors, managed release timelines, and articulated the project’s vision to the global community. Her leadership in January was crucial for navigating the final stages of the FSE launch and setting the strategic priorities for WordPress in 2022, focusing on community engagement and the continued evolution of the platform.
Looking Ahead to February 2022
With the massive WordPress 5.9 release in the rearview mirror, the community’s focus in February 2022 was expected to shift toward refinement and adoption. The immediate priority would be addressing any bugs discovered post-launch, with minor patch releases like 5.9.1 anticipated to stabilize the new features.
Simultaneously, discussions around the preliminary roadmap for WordPress 6.0 began to intensify, as the Core Team looked to build on the foundation laid by Full Site Editing. The community also anticipated upcoming events, including online WordCamps and preparations for the return of in-person events later in the year.