March was a busy month across the WordPress ecosystem. We’re excited that the first release candidate (RC1) of WordPress 6.8 is now available for testing, and we’ve also seen the release of innovative new features for popular plugins.
AI continues to be a recurring theme, from wordpress-6-8-preview-new smarter form calculations in WPForms to StoreAgent’s automated WooCommerce helpers.
There’s also a wave of quality-of-life improvements worth mentioning. Uncanny Automator now integrates with Discord and RSS, AIOSEO has added new tracking controls, and WP Simple Pay has made it easier for users to comply with Stripe.
Whether you’re a developer, website owner, or just like to stay up to date with the latest tools, there’s plenty to do this month.
WPBeginner Spotlight brings you a monthly roundup of the most important news, updates, and happenings in the WordPress community.
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WPForms Adds AI-Powered Calculations for Smarter Forms
Creating complex calculation forms stockholder database just got a whole lot easier. WPForms now includes a powerful AI calculation feature that creates custom formulas for you.
You can talk to the WPForms AI Assistant to create dynamic, real-time formulas in seconds. Simply describe what you want to calculate in simple terms, no syntax or logic building required.
It works great for ecommerce pricing, event quotes, tuition fees, and more. Just type in your request and the AI does the rest.
This new feature builds on WPForms’ existing AI tools. You can generate entire forms with a single prompt, automatically fill in field options, and even translate forms into other languages in seconds.
WordPress 6.8 release candidate now available. Final release scheduled for April 15, 2025 wordpress-6-8-preview-new
The first Release Candidate (RC1) of WordPress 6.8 is now available for testing. This marks a significant step toward the final the smartphone version is also fine release, which is scheduled for April 15, 2025.
This update brings many improvements aimed at improving site performance, security, and user experience.
Key features of WordPress 6.8 include:
- Speculative Loading: This feature predicts and preloads the resources that users are likely to access next. This results in faster page load times and a smoother browsing experience.
- Improved password security with bcrypt: WordPress 6.8 transitions to bcrypt for password hashing. This provides greater security against brute force attacks and aligns with modern security standards.
- Block Editor Improvements: Users will benefit from better block interactions, more style controls, and an improved editing experience. These features will make content creation more intuitive and flexible in the block editor.
Developers and testers are encouraged to explore the Release Candidate now. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with the new features and ensure compatibility with themes and plugins before the final release.
For a comprehensive overview of what’s coming in WordPress 6.8, including detailed features and screenshots, read What’s Coming in WordPress 6.8: Features and Screenshots .
StoreAgent launches AI assistants for WooCommerce stores wordpress-6-8-preview-new
Josh Kohlbach, a longtime name in clean email the WordPress and WooCommerce space, has launched StoreAgent – an AI-powered suite of tools designed to save store owners time and effort.
Instead of just talking to AI, StoreAgent acts like an intelligent coworker that can handle real tasks for your online store.
These AI agents can write product descriptions, create short summaries, suggest tags, and even monitor your store’s content. They can also summarize reviews and help with customer Q&A, all from the WooCommerce dashboard.
Josh says the goal was to go beyond ChatGPT-style chat boxes and create something that felt more like a real assistant.
StoreAgent is the first step in that direction – a set of AI agents that do the boring work, help you stay creative, and suggest ways to improve your product pages.
StoreAgent operates on a pay-as-you-go credit system, with new users receiving 500 credits for free. A Shopify version and other platform extensions are also in the works.
PushEngage adds AI campaigns and WooCommerce order notifications wordpress-6-8-preview-new
PushEngage just made it easier to increase customer engagement and save time. They’ve added two great features to their push notification plugin: AI-powered message generation and automated WooCommerce order notifications .
The new AI tool helps you write high-converting push messages in seconds. Simply enter your goal and the system generates optimized text that’s ready to send.
It’s ideal for marketers who want to get results without spending hours writing copy.
WooCommerce’s update is even more exciting for store owners. You can now send push alerts for order events like purchases, processing updates, and delivery notifications.
This helps keep customers informed, reduces support tickets, and even alerts your team internally.
You can also recover abandoned carts or automatically request reviews with follow-up campaigns. Overall, these new features are designed for store owners who want more repeat traffic and fewer lost sales.
Uncanny Automator adds RSS and Discord integrations wordpress-6-8-preview-new
Uncanny Automator , the most powerful WordPress automation plugin, has added two new integrations . It now allows users to automate actions using RSS feeds and send automated messages directly to Discord channels.
The new RSS integration lets you trigger actions when a feed is updated or create a feed from actions on your website. For example, you can automatically publish new blog content to Slack, Discord, or a newsletter tool—all without touching a line of code.
On the other hand, the Discord integration is great for online communities. You can set it up to send channel messages when users complete a course, submit a form, or place an order.
It’s perfect for membership sites , LMS platforms, or WooCommerce stores that want to keep their audience informed in real-time.
Plus, these new features work seamlessly with existing Automator integrations. That means you can connect RSS and Discord to tools like LearnDash , WPForms, BuddyBoss , WooCommerce, and more.
