Read to the end to find out what happens when a cat finally catches the laser pointer beam…
In today’s edition:
- Press Paws: WPMU DEV now hosts the largest support community for three-legged pets and their humans.
- Would you commit to a domain name that is guaranteed to outlive you?
- WordPress 6.8 will finally use bcrypt for password hashing, addressing a 13 year old ticket.
Hot Off The Presses: What’s New?
To all you folks hunched over your laptops like medieval bellringers, we salute you. The tech industry might promise us the future, but our posture is firmly stuck in the 1400s.
Take a moment to stretch out your spine, and let’s dive into what’s new in WordPress.
WPMU DEV Now Hosts The World’s Largest Three-Legged Pet Community
Finding out that your beloved four-legged friend is about to become your beloved three-legged friend is pretty devastating news, but Jim Nelson built a site that helps pet parents of amputee cats and dogs feel a little less alone.
The Tripawds multisite network hosts more than 2,100 three-legged dog and cat blogs, with numerous resources to help people coping with a limb cancer diagnoses or amputation for their pet.
They decided to try out our hosting because their previous host just wasn’t cutting it, and they have recently migrated ALL their sites to the WPMU DEV hosting platform. Now everything’s running as smoothly as this majestic Irish Wolfhound and we are so thrilled to support this amazing community!
To learn more (and meet Tripawd’s Chief Fun Officer Jerry G. Dawg) check out the blog post.
Happy WP Publisher Success Week, Everyone!
WP Publisher Success Week is back for it’s second year and it’s happening right now! The free virtual event will run until Friday the 28th and this time it’s tackling the stuff that keeps us all up at night —WordPress migrations, security and AI.
Hosted by State of Digital Publishing and sponsored by Multidots, you can expect deep dives on migrating without pulling your hair out, insights on security at an enterprise scale, plus sessions on AI’s growing role in publishing. Some pretty important publishers attended last year’s event, including the BBC, The Hindu and Harvard University
Here’s what you can still catch towards the end of the week:
- Wed Feb 26: Site migrations without the headaches. Whether you’re jumping ship from another CMS or just shifting servers, this is your chance to learn from people who’ve been there, broken that, and lived to tell the tale. The panel Website Migration Essentials will feature Kyle Sutton (The Points Guy), Shelby Blackley (The Athletic and WTF is SEO?) and Bryan David (The Associated Press).
- Thurs Feb 27: Scaling up while staying secure. Dan Knauss from Multidots hosts a workshop on best practices for keeping WordPress on lockdown, especially when it comes to securing large enterprise-scale sites.
- Fri Feb 28: AI: The good, the bad, and the “wait, did a bot write this?” Publishers are still figuring out where AI fits into their workflow, and this event promises real-world case studies and ethical best practices. Day Five’s panel Unlocking AI Potential for Media Publishers: Real-World Strategies and Insights will include Pete Pachal (The Media Copilot) and Matt Karolian (The Boston Globe).
For more info and to grab your pass for any of the remaining talks, you can visit State of Digital Publishing.
Lock In a URL for Your Great-Grandkids? WordPress.com Now Offers 100 Year Domains
It’s hard to imagine what the internet, or indeed society itself will look like in 100 years. But if you’re so committed to your website domain that you want to leave it in your will to your great-grandkids, WordPress.com has expanded their 100 Year Hosting offering to include a domain-only plan.
The 100-Year Plan was originally introduced in 2023, and for a one-time payment of $38k it included managed WordPress hosting, multiple backups, submission to the Internet Archive, 24/7 dedicated support and a domain name for a full century.
But now there’s a new option to purchase the domain itself independently of hosting, for a one-off fee of $2,000. Normally domain names can only be registered for 10 years at a time due to ICANN regulations, but this option automates renewals so you’ll never accidentally lose your domain because you missed the renewal date.
Both the $38k hosting plan and the $2k domain plan are a huge bet on what the future of the web will look like. Who’s to say that URLs will still be the way we identify web addresses decades from now? Will there even be websites 100 years from now? Will we all be fighting each other with sticks in a post apocalyptic wasteland? Who’s to say!
Either way, it’s a pretty wild offer considering everyone involved in the original deal will definitely not be alive in 100 years, unless there’s some sort of secret immortality juice the WordPress.com team has been drinking. 
Oh that reminds me, my great-grandad’s 100-year telegram support package is about to expire… better get on that.
WordPress is Finally Upgrading Password Security (13 Years Later)
Good news for anyone who’s ever had their WordPress site hacked because their password was something like “password123” (we’re judging you, but just a little).
WordPress 6.8 is beefing up security by switching to bcrypt for password hashing—aka the thing that scrambles your password so hackers can’t easily steal it.
And get this: this upgrade closes out a Trac ticket that’s been open for 13 years. Yep, more than a decade of countless security discussions, and a huge amount of work by WordPress Core Security Team rep John Blackbourn, a Human Made-sponsored core committer, finally made it happen.
If you don’t spend your free time thinking about cryptographic algorithms (weird flex, but okay), here’s why this matters:
- Bcrypt is stronger. The old system (MD5-based hashing) has been around since the early 90s, back when people thought dial-up internet was the future. Hackers have had decades to crack it. Bcrypt, on the other hand, is way more resistant to brute-force attacks.
- It slows down hackers. Bcrypt is designed to be computationally expensive, meaning it takes longer to run through possible password combinations. If someone tries to brute-force their way into your WordPress admin, they’ll have a very bad time.
- Future-proofing. The new system allows for easier security upgrades later on, so we won’t be stuck using ancient encryption methods forever. Not sure about 100 years from now, but hey!
This is a win for WordPress security, and it’s about time. The best part? You don’t have to do anything. WordPress will automatically upgrade your password hashing the next time you log in. No need to manually reset your password, unless you’re still using “password123.” In which case… just fix that already. Please.
A huge shoutout to everyone who pushed this across the finish line. Now, if only we could get everyone to turn on two-factor authentication…
Mind Bloggling Facts & Stats
- Lawrence Ladomery from WPBiz Dev pointed out that the local speaker representation at WordCamp Asia 2025 has decreased 2% since last year’s event. Only 38% of speakers are from the region, despite efforts to attract more locals and a goal of 60% local representation. (Source)
- Speaking of WordCamp Asia 2025, the “Human Library” was a standout feature. 16 expert “books” were available and a total of 64 sessions were “borrowed.” You can meet the “books” here! (Source)
- Patchstack disclosed a critical privilege escalation vulnerability in the KLEO theme’s companion plugin, which has 23,000 sales on Themeforest. If you’re one of those 23k, update to version 5.4.0 ASAP! (Source)
Blogs & Resources You Shouldn’t Miss
Is relying on AI rotting your critical thinking skills? This Microsoft study says so. (We dare you to NOT ask AI to summarize it for you.)
Speaking of AI, Weglot, Rank Math and WP Rocket are conducting a survey exploring AI’s impact on SEO practices. You can share your thoughts here. Participants get first access to the results.
Kyle Van Deusen from the Admin Bar has some great tips on how to qualify leads – because who has time for tire-kickers?
On the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frecette & Jono Alderson discuss the environmental impact of storing large or redundant images on your site – and what you can do about it.
Bob Dunn has launched a new Do The Woo, including a YouTube channel, a homepage redesign and Cami MacNamara as a new host.
There’s plenty of International Women’s Day events coming up in the WordPress world, including Tech For Her Delhi in India, WordPress HERoes at WordCamp Mukono, Uganda and EmpowerWP in Bhopal, India. We love to see it! 
Coffee Break Distractions
For some design eye-candy, check out this gallery of websites made with the WordPress block editor.
It’s good to still have joy in your life.
If you’re wondering what you should do with your life, this might help.
And finally…
The sweet taste of laser pointer victory.
Found this interesting? Forward it to someone who you think might also love it! 
