Tag Archives: Disabling

Enabling and Disabling WordPress 5.8 Features – WP Tavern

[ad_1] WordPress 5.8 was one of the most feature-packed updates that the community has seen in ages. There was just about a little something for everyone. And, there were plenty of things that some users would rather live without. Big releases on the CMS that powers 40% of the web mean that some users will want or need to disable new features. Whether it is turning on classic widgets, bringing back infinite scrolling in the media library, or enabling the template editor, there is bound to be a solution. Some say there is a plugin for everything, so we are about to test that theory against the WordPress 5.8 features list. Enable the Template Editor Creating a landing page in the template editor. The template editor is one of the highlights of WordPress 5.8, but the majority of users cannot use it right now. Weeks before the latest update, the release team decided to make this an opt-in feature. This put the responsibility on theme authors to test their themes and enable it. However, users could be waiting for weeks, months, or even longer to see if their theme author switches the feature on. Not every theme will work well with the template editor. Much of this comes down to how each was designed. However, many will work just fine with the new feature even if the theme author has not yet sent out an update that enables it. The only way most users can know is to turn it on and test it themselves. The Template Editor plugin by Webd Ltd does just this. There are no settings; just activate and give it a test run. Keep in mind that results may vary. If template editing does not work out, just disable the plugin. WebP and Controlling Image Formats Modern Images WP settings. WordPress 5.8 introduced support for WebP images. This image type could reduce file sizes by 25-34%, depending on the original format. While WordPress supports WebP, it does not automatically change it upon upload. However, it now has the image_editor_output_format hook that plugin authors can filter. The Modern Images WP plugin by Adam Silverstein builds on top of that hook. It allows users to decide how their uploaded images are formatted on a case-by-case basis via the Media Settings screen. For example, users can transform their JPEG images to WebP or leave it as the default format. Classic Widgets Block widgets screen in WordPress 5.8. Square peg, meet round hole. That is how I have often described the block-based widgets system introduced in WordPress 5.8. It is meant as a temporary transitional phase between classic and block themes. For many, myself included, it is one best avoided. Block widgets simply do not work with all themes, and some people just want the traditional widgets experience. Whatever the case, there is no shortage of options: For users who would still rather simply avoid all things related to blocks, the Disable Gutenberg plugin by Jeff Starr is your best bet. It is the most robust solution available, allowing site owners to fine-tune the experience. Enable Infinite Scrolling for the Media Library Media library with load more button. WordPress 5.8 replaced infinite scrolling in the media library in favor of an Ajax-powered load more button. This change limited each “page” of images and other media to 40 items. This was a necessary change for keyboard users attempting to reach content appended to the screen and those who rely on audible feedback for navigation. Infinite loading was also a performance issue for those on slower connections. Accessibility and performance should always trump bells and whistles, but the WordPress development team provided a filter hook for plugin authors to tap into and reenable the feature. The change was slated for the WordPress 5.7 release but did not quite make the cut. David Baumwald released the Media Library Enable Infinite Scrolling plugin months ago in anticipation of it. The plugin still works great with WordPress 5.8 and is the solution for those who want to load images in the media library without clicking a button. The one missing plugin would let users control the number of media items displayed. For some, they are OK dropping infinite scrolling but want to bump up that 40-item limit. There is currently no way for plugin developers to hook in and change this, at least until an open ticket works its way through the system. Maybe there is not a plugin for everything yet, but it is close enough. Like this: Like Loading… [ad_2] Source link

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Chrome Canary Adds Flag for Disabling FLoC Testing – WordPress Tavern

[ad_1] Google’s controversial Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) experiment now has a feature flag within Chrome Canary (the nightly build of Chrome for developers) that allows users to opt out. In January 2020, Google announced its plans to discontinue support for third-party cookies in Chrome within two years. The first bits and pieces of the company’s Privacy Sandbox initiative started landing in Chrome in December 2020 with an initial flag to disable it. FLoC, Google’s proposed replacement for third-party cookies, began testing as a developer origin trial in Chrome at the end of March 2021. In Canary, users can navigate to chrome://flags/#privacy-sandbox-settings-2 to find the Privacy Sandbox Settings 2 flag. Relaunch Canary to save the changes. This will unlock the box that allows users to either reset their FLoC group or opt out of FLoC entirely. The new setting is available under chrome://settings/privacySandbox: If the setting remains enabled, which is the default, Chrome will group users into cohorts based on recent browsing activity and then advertisers select ads for the entire group. Browsing activity for the individual is “kept private on your device,” but Chrome certainly has access that information by way of mediating the cohorts. Google notes that the trial is currently only active in some regions. Users can also opt out of Privacy Sandbox trials on the same page. Current trials include the following: Advertisers and publishers can use FLoC Advertisers and publishers can study the effectiveness of ads in a way that does not track you across sites Google has not specified how users would opt out of FLoC if the experiment is successful and moves forward. Organizations and site owners who are currently on the fence about it may go either way depending on how easy it is for Chrome users to opt out themselves. “Instead of comparing FLoC to its predecessor, third party cookies, I feel it’s actually more like the Facebook Pixel – mostly in the sense that it’s controlled by a single surveillance capital company,” WordPress core contributor Roy Tanck commented on the trac ticket for the discussion. “FLoC may not be quite as nefarious, but I feel it should be something website owners consciously opt into. “WordPress has always advocated for a free and open web, and FLoC appears to actively harm that goal. I think WordPress should take a stand against this, and do it now.” A few others have chimed in on the ticket recently as other open source projects have started blocking FLoC by default. Plugin developer David McCan’s comment referenced analytics data published in early May suggesting that US users choose to opt out of tracking 96 percent of the time following the changes in iOS 14.5. “There is no doubt that coming down on the side of user privacy vs user tracking is the right thing to do,” McCan said. “Which headline would we rather see? ‘By default millions of WordPress websites are allowing users to be tracked’ or ‘WordPress takes steps to block user tracking making millions of websites around the world safe to visit?’ “We already have a policy that opt-in by default tracking’ is not allowed in plugins hosted by WordPress. This is because we recognize the responsibility and benefit of protecting user privacy.” During a live marketing event Google hosted at the end of last week, Jerry Dischler, vice president and general manager of Ads, addressed the recent privacy concerns surrounding FLoC. “We’ll be using these [Privacy Sandbox] APIs for our own ads and measurement products just like everyone else, and we will not build any backdoors for ourselves,” Dischler said. Dischler also reaffirmed Google’s commitment to moving away from third-party cookies. “Third-party cookies and other proposed identifiers that some in the industry are advocating for do not meet the rising expectations consumers have when it comes to privacy,” he said. “They will not stand up to rapidly evolving regulatory restrictions; they simply cannot be relied on in the long term.” Google bears the burden of reassuring advertisers that effective advertising is still possible as the company moves beyond tracking cookies. It is aiming to future-proof advertisers’ measurement of campaign performance with what it claims are “privacy-safe solutions.” The company is pushing hard for advertisers to adopt these new techniques, promising more actionable first-party conversion data. Although consumer expectations have changed, FLoC may not be the answer to the need for a privacy-preserving advertising model. So far it looks like Google will have an uphill battle to gain more broad support from browsers, advertisers, and consumers. Like this: Like Loading… [ad_2] Source link

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