Big congratulations to the Etch team on the release of version 1.0. Etch was created in the open with frequent releases at a rapid pace. Version 1.0 represents stability and confidence by the team that Etch is ready for site builders. It takes a power user / developer first approach that many have found refreshing. You can now download version 1 from your Etch account dashboard.

The latest Divi update include 4 new features: a Page Manger within the builder, allowing you to add, duplicate, delete, and edit pages; a Preview Mode from within the builder, which allows you to toggle the UI elements; there’s a new “drill down” option at the end of breadcrumbs to make it easier to click on a particular element; and new options are available in the Top Bar, such as recently opened pages.

The WordPress Credits program is a project that partners with universities to integrate WordPress into their curriculum by providing resources, training, recognition, and mentorship. As part of the university program students work on real WordPress projects for non-profits. Props to Raitis Sevelis and the WPBakery team who are offering a free lifetime license for WPBakery to program students.

This is a nice and straightforward component implementation.

You are familiar with the text area custom field type. Now Meta Box has added a Block Editor custom field type. It lets you add a Gutenberg block editor are into your meta boxes and settings pages. You then have access to the Gutenberg editor for adding custom content.

Winden is a Tailwind implementation for WordPress. The latest version makes it free for use with Gutenberg.

The AI team has introduced a tool to evaluate how well an AI understands WordPress. It is in its early stages, so it is not super complete, but can be useful in the future for gauging AI models for use.

Divi 5 now has an official release date of February 26. They are recommending Divi 5 for new sites and for Divi 4 users to try out Divi 5 now. There will be a six month period from February 26th when Divi 4 will still get updates, but after that Divi 4 sites will start getting the Divi 5 update notice.

Kevin Geary has launched a remake of his Page Builder 101 series, this time using Etch and ACSS. Note that he is providing a development copy of Etch and ACSS so that everyone can follow along. The first few episodes have dropped.