Delicious Brain Bytes: DE{CODE} 2025 and ACF’s New Guides

In this issue of Delicious Brain Bytes, we look into DE{CODE} 2025, discuss the release of the first beta for WordPress, and much more!

Registration Open for DE{CODE} 2025

DE{CODE} 2025—WP Engine’s sixth annual virtual conference for WordPress professionals—is now open for registration. Building on last year’s record-breaking attendance (4,000+ from 86 countries), this year’s agenda features AI tool demos that streamline site creation, the latest advancements in headless WordPress architectures, and actionable strategies for agencies.

New for 2025: The event bridges roles across the WordPress ecosystem, with sessions tailored for developers, marketers, and agency leaders. Technical workshops will spotlight cutting-edge tools, while strategic panels explore cross-disciplinary collaboration for end-to-end digital experiences.

All sessions are free to attend. Don’t miss your chance to future-proof your skills at WP Engine’s flagship conference.

DE{CODE} 2025 takes place April 15, 2025. Register now to secure your spot.

Dive into ACF’s New Tutorials & Guides

Things have been busy at the Advanced Custom Fields blog over the last couple of months, with new guides and tutorials appearing on a regular basis. Whether you’re optimizing admin workflows, mastering frontend forms, or building custom taxonomies, these step-by-step tutorials offer actionable strategies for cleaner, smarter code. Explore the list below and sharpen your toolkit today.

WordPress 6.8 Beta 1 Now Available for Testing

WordPress 6.8 Beta 1 is officially here. With over 370 enhancements and 520 bug fixes, this “polish release” sharpens the editor, introduces performance boosts, and deepens security.

The beta debuts native support for the Speculation Rules API, enabling near-instant page loads via link hover prefetching. Developers can customize this feature using new filters, though browser compatibility remains limited to Chrome/Edge 108+. The Style Book now extends to classic themes, offering streamlined previews of site colors and typography. Security gets an upgrade, too: WordPress 6.8 shifts to bcrypt password hashing, fortifying user data without disrupting workflows.

The release schedule includes Beta 2 (March 11), three Release Candidates (March 25–April 8), and a 24-hour code freeze on April 14. Key dates culminate in the April 15 General Release.

Holy CSS, Batman! Build Comics with Pure Code

Web dev meets Gotham with Batman-Comic.CSS, a playful library by Alvaro Montoro. Each character is a <div>, with classes to show both the character and their facial expressions, and custom properties to change colors. You can also include speech bubbles and set the number of panels.

Patchstack’s Bug Bounty Purge: Nearly 1,000 Vulnerable Plugins Removed

Last October, Patchstack’s cybersecurity bounty hunters went into overdrive, flagging 1,571 vulnerabilities across 7+ million active plugin installations—culminating in the removal of nearly 1,000 plugins from WordPress.org. The month-long event, detailed in a blog by Patchstack’s Maciek Palmowski, relaxed typical rules (like 1K+ install requirements) to target outdated plugins, some abandoned for over a decade.

Participants uncovered plugins with severe flaws (17% scored CVSS 8+), including a 17-year-old relic. Over 75% of authors were unreachable, forcing WordPress review teams to step in. The cleanup shuttered approximately 2% of the repository’s plugins.

Code Meets Craft: Learn Git in a Minecraft-Style World

Developer Jacob Stopak turned his Git frustrations into Devlands—a Minecraft-inspired 3D playground where branches are hallways, commits are rooms, and file changes are blocks you can literally bump into. Born from his earlier tool Git-Sim, this voxel world gamifies version control with guided tutorials and a zen vibe.

Walk through your repo’s history on a beachy boardwalk, stage files via “working directory walls,” or let an AI helper demystify code. Freeform mode even lets you edit files in-game. “Learning Git shouldn’t suck,” Stopak says.

CloudFest 2025: WordPress Takes Center Stage in Germany

CloudFest, the world’s premier cloud infrastructure event, returns to Rust, Germany, March 17–20, drawing 9,000+ attendees and 200+ exhibitors to Europa-Park. For WordPress pros, March 17 is WP Day, featuring back-to-back sessions and networking in the dedicated WP Zone.

WP Engine joins as a sponsor, hosting booth Z25 in the WP Zone. Stop by for swag, a PlayStation 5 raffle, or a one-on-one consult on scaling WordPress sites. Don’t miss Svilena Peneva (WP Engine/Nitropack) discussing Speed, Security & Scalability on March 19 at The Ring Stage.

Beyond WordPress, the event dives into cloud security, efficiency, and even a quirky “fireside chat with Albert Einstein’s ghost.” After-parties and concerts round out the agenda.

Creating a WordPress Plugin With Cursor

AI-powered coding tools have been around for some time, but Cursor has been getting a lot of press recently. While other tools often focus on code completion, Cursor allows natural language inputs and can guide you in exactly what to do with the code once it’s written.

One of its more attractive features is the ability to set rules, such as “Follow WordPress coding standards.” In this article, we’ll set up Cursor for WordPress development, and then use it to create a simple plugin.

What’s the most interesting news you’ve come across recently? Pop by Twitter and let us know.

This entry was tagged Advanced Custom Fields, WordPress, ACF, Delicious Brain Bytes, DE{CODE}.