7 New Design Tools and Resources for September 2022

Security, new calendars, and getting ready for Black Friday are some of the great resources we have for you in this month’s roundup. (And yes, it is time to start thinking about Black Friday right now!)

Here are 7 new design tools and resources to explore:

1. WebAuthn for Authentication

Passwords are quickly becoming a thing of the past when it comes to website security. They can be hacked, you forget them, or even have users that just don’t practice good password diligence.

That’s where WebAuthn comes in. WebAuthn, or Web Authentication API, is a specification written by the W3C and FIDO, with the participation of Apple, Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, Yubico, and others. The WebAuthn API allows servers to register and authenticate users using public key cryptography instead of a password. It is supported by more than 90% of devices and browsers.

With WebAuthn, you can use a single authentication method, such as the biometrics on your devices or a YubiKey, on any site that supports the standard. You don’t need passwords for every site you visit, just a strong authenticator that works with WebAuthn.

Sounds easy and safe, right?

You can get started with iThemes Security Pro and the new Passkeys feature to deploy WebAuthn for your website.

2. The Events Calendar 6.0 Is Here

A brand new version of The Events Calendar is ready for prime time. Introducing The Events Calendar 6.0. The tool that you may already use and love to showcase events on your website has a few stellar new features.

Highlights of the 6.0 update include:

• Better performance and speed
• Recurring events have been updated for easier management in the backend, with a single event for all occurrences
• A new “series” feature that allows you to group similar events that aren’t necessarily part of a recurring event
• The ability to duplicate events is now possible (this is something users have wanted for a while)

For anyone using The Events Calendar or The Events Calendar Pro, you just need to update your plugin to get access to these features. And if you are looking for a new calendar tool, start here.

The Events Calendar

3. How To Prep Your Ecommerce Site for Black Friday

The holiday season will be here before you know it, making this the time to get your website ready for major shopping traffic.

There are a handful of things you need to do to ensure that your site is ready and can handle the traffic influx that will come with Black Friday and Cyber Monday (less than 2 months away!).

Here are some of the things that you need to be thinking about:

• How to optimize your store to offer a great customer experience
• Make sure the ecommerce journey is simple and intuitive
• Determine what deals you plan to promote for the holidays
• Prepare your team for the marketing push and shopping rush

IconicWP can show you how to prep your ecommerce store for Black Friday 2022 complete with a how-to guide for each of the items above. Get started today and make your holiday shopping season a little easier.

4. New Tools in Kadence Theme Pro

The Kadence Theme Pro update adds tools for managing Kadence Elements. Two new features are available in version 1.0.6.

You’ll love this one: There’s a native option to duplicate elements without an additional plugin. We like this for security and usability reasons.

The second addition allows for enablement/disablement of an element. When adding a new element to a site, various rules can be applied to a specific element. For example, a section might be enabled for every blog post, but during testing, it becomes apparent that a tweak needs to be made. Rather than deleting the element or turning off display rules within the Kadence elements editing screen, you can toggle on or off right on the element listing overview page.

5. WordPress Plugin Roundup for September 2022

Each month Nathan Ingram combs the WordPress plugin directory for interesting plugins that have been added or updated in the last 30 days and assembles a list of helpful and unique plugins for your WordPress website. And it’s free! The next online event is on October 4th. Register today.

6. WordPress News Webinar for September 2022

If you want to stay up-to-date on everything happening in the world of WordPress, join the monthly
WordPress News Roundup. In this session, Ingram will discuss the latest developments in the WordPress ecosystem in this informational webinar. We’ll talk through this month’s WordPress news with plenty of interaction and Q&A. The next event is on October 18th.

7. The WordPress Vulnerability Reports for September 2022

You need to keep up with WordPress issues to help keep your site safe and running smoothly. The WordPress Vulnerability Report shows all of the core issues that might pop up if you aren’t on the latest version of WordPress, as well as vulnerabilities with plugins.

Did you know one of the best things you can do to prevent these vulnerabilities on your website is to keep plugins up to date?

This month’s big takeaway: The WordPress Security Team will no longer provide security updates for WordPress core versions 3.7 – 4.0. Please make sure all your WordPress sites are running the latest version.

Dropping security updates for WordPress versions 3.7 through 4.0

Some other things to be on the lookout for in the latest report include vulnerabilities with these popular plugins: Wordfence, BackupBuddy, Zephyr Project Manager, and many more.

Read all the WordPress Vulnerability Reports for September:

• WordPress Vulnerability Report, Special Edition – September 6, 2022: BackupBuddy
• WordPress Vulnerability Report – September 7, 2022
• WordPress Vulnerability Report – September 14, 2022
• WordPress Vulnerability Report – September 21, 2022
• WordPress Vulnerability Report – September 28, 2022

Wrapping Up

New tools and resources for WordPress are being released all the time, and we hope this list helps you discover new ways to improve your workflows. Did we miss something you want to highlight? Tweet us @ithemes.