WordPress 6.8 Preview: AI Tools & Plugin Updates

March proved to be a productive month for the WordPress community. The initial release candidate (RC1) for WordPress 6.8 is ready for testing, in addition to the release of new features for well-known plugins.

Artificial intelligence remains a prevalent theme, demonstrated by features such as smarter form calculations in WPForms and StoreAgent’s WooCommerce automation..

Several convenient improvements have also been implemented. Uncanny Automator offers integration with Discord and RSS feeds, AIOSEO features enhanced crawl management, and WP Simple Pay has simplified Stripe compliance.

This month provides updates for developers, website owners, and anyone interested in new tools.

WPForms Adds AI-Powered Calculations for Smarter Forms 🪄

The creation of complicated calculation forms has been simplified. WPForms has introduced an AI Calculations feature to generate formulas.

The WPForms AI Assistant enables you to rapidly create dynamic formulas. Describe the desired calculation, and the AI will generate the logic.

This is useful for eCommerce pricing, event pricing, tuition costs, Articles etc. The AI handles formula creation after receiving your request.

Leveraging the AI tools already present in WPForms, this feature enables form generation from simple prompts. It also facilitates automatic population of field options and swift translation of forms into multiple languages.

WordPress 6.8 Release Candidate Now Available. Final Release Expected April 15, 2025 🎉

The initial Release Candidate (RC1) for WordPress 6.8 is ready for testing. The final version is slated for launch on April 15, 2025, marking a milestone.

The update introduces many improvements focused on boosting website performance, strengthening security measures, and enhancing the user experience.

WordPress 6.8 highlights:

• Speculative Loading:This capability anticipates and pre-loads resources that users are expected to view next, leading to quicker page loading and a more seamless user experience.
• Enhanced Password Security with bcrypt:WordPress 6.8 utilizes bcrypt for password hashing, boosting security against brute-force attacks and adhering to current security protocols.
• Block Editor Improvements:Enjoy enhanced block interactions, expanded style options, and a more streamlined editing process. These enhancements will make creating content within the block editor more intuitive and adaptable.

Developers and testers should explore the Release Candidate to learn the new features and check theme/plugin compatibility before the final launch.

For an in-depth look at the upcoming WordPress 6.8, including feature details and screenshots, see What’s Coming in WordPress 6.8: Features and Screenshots.

StoreAgent Launches AI Assistants for WooCommerce Stores 🤖

A well-known figure within the WordPress and WooCommerce communities, Josh Kohlbach, has recently releasedStoreAgent— a suite of AI-driven utilities developed to streamline operations and reduce workload for e-commerce site managers.

Rather than simply offering AI chat functionalities, StoreAgent functions as a virtual assistant capable of executing concrete tasks within your online retail environment.

These AI agents can draft compelling product overviews, produce concise summaries, recommend appropriate tags, and maintain oversight of your store’s content. They also provide review synopses and facilitate customer support via Q&A, all accessible from your WooCommerce admin panel.

Josh indicates that the primary aim was to move past conventional ChatGPT-like interfaces, creating something more akin to a genuine virtual team member.

StoreAgent represents an initial stride towards this vision—a suite of AI agents designed to automate routine tasks, encourage creativity, and offer recommendations for enhancing your product listings.

StoreAgent utilizes a prepaid credit system, with 500 complimentary credits provided to new users. Plans are underway for a Shopify adaptation and integrations with other platforms.

PushEngage Integrates AI-Driven Campaigns and WooCommerce Transactional Alerts 🔔

PushEngage has simplified the process of enhancing customer interaction and optimizing efficiency. The push notification plugin now features AI-enhanced message creation and automated WooCommerce purchase updates.

This AI tool can rapidly generate high-performing push notification copy. Input your objective, and the system will produce refined messaging, ready for immediate deployment.

It’s ideal for marketers who want results without spending hours on copywriting. ✍️

The WooCommerce enhancements provide store managers with exciting new features. You now have the ability to send push notifications regarding order statuses such as completed purchases, processing stages, and shipment updates.

This functionality enhances customer engagement, minimizes support requests, and also provides real-time alerts for your internal team.

Furthermore, you have the capability to automatically implement abandoned cart recovery strategies or initiate review requests through automated follow-up sequences. In general, these recent additions cater to store administrators seeking enhanced customer retention and reduced lost sales opportunities.

Uncanny Automator Adds RSS and Discord Integrations ⚙️

Uncanny Automator, recognized as a leading WordPress automation plugin, has incorporated two new integration options. Users can now automate tasks via RSS feeds and disseminate automated messages directly into Discord channels.

The new RSS integration enables you to initiate actions upon feed updates, or to generate a feed based on on-site activities. For instance, you have the capability to automatically distribute new blog content to platforms such as Slack, Discord, or email newsletters, all without any coding.

Conversely, the Discord integration proves invaluable for online community platforms. It allows you to configure channel messages that trigger upon events such as course completion, form submission, or order placement.

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 Automator’s existing integrations. That means you can connect RSS and Discord with tools like LearnDash, WPForms, BuddyBoss, WooCommerce, and more.

AIOSEO Adds Advanced Crawl Controls for Better SEO 🚀

A significant update has been released for All in One SEO, a widely used WordPress SEO plugin. The update introduces new capabilities designed to streamline crawl data, block undesirable bots, and boost site performance.

A prominent feature is the enhanced Crawl Cleanup. This allows you to control the length of internal search URLs and eliminate emojis and spam from search queries. It also provides the ability to redirect user-friendly search URLs to their original formats.

These enhancements contribute to preventing duplicate content issues and optimizing crawl budgets.

Furthermore, you can now completely restrict search engine crawlers from accessing internal search pages. AIOSEO automatically includes disallow directives in your robots.txt file for typical search query formats such as?s= and /search/.

The increase in AI Crawlers can potentially impact website performance due to extensive crawling. AIOSEO includes a new bot-blocking feature to address this, letting you block known malicious bots or AI crawlers potentially using your content for unauthorized training. The settings are integrated into the plugin’s robots.txt editor for convenience.

AIOSEO has also improved the UTM parameter handling in its Query Arg Monitor. UTM links now automatically redirect using#fragments rather than?. This strategy preserves analytics data while preventing duplicate URLs from appearing in search results.

WP Simple Pay Adds Stripe Compliance Alerts and Smarter Pricing Options 💳

The latest WP Simple Pay update includes new functionalities aimed at improving the confidence of WordPress users in managing Stripe payments.

This update provides Stripe notifications directly in your WordPress dashboard, along with adaptable pricing structures and payment limitations to maintain clear and compliant checkout processes.

The key improvement is in-plugin Stripe account notifications. You no longer need daily checks of your Stripe dashboard; important alerts appear directly within WordPress, covering payment verification problems, compliance notices, and other account needs—all updated live.

Required price options have been implemented, allowing you to incorporate essential fees or add-ons to any payment form.

This is ideal for incorporating support costs, booking extras, or initial configuration expenses. Develop clearer and more adaptable pricing structures without the need for custom coding.

To mitigate fraud or adhere to regulatory limits, you can now define maximum amount limits. Control donation amounts, restrict gift card values, or prevent accidental overcharges—all from the visual payment form builder.

MonsterInsights Adds Cart Abandonment Reports to Help You Recover Lost Sales 📈

MonsterInsights, the most popular Google Analytics plugin for WordPress, now features Cart Abandonment reports, giving store owners better insight into abandoned carts.

Instead of speculating on why products are abandoned at checkout, you can precisely identify which items are left behind and when.

The new reports are organized into two main sections. The Products report shows the items abandoned, frequency, and potential revenue loss.

The Daily report, conversely, identifies patterns by highlighting key abandonment periods and their corresponding daily revenue effects.

This tool is advantageous for store owners, marketing professionals, and product leaders seeking to optimize strategies and recoup potential sales. The resulting data can inform stock management, promotion scheduling, and even checkout design adjustments.

With MonsterInsights Pro, simply upgrade to the newest release and navigate toeCommerce » Cart Abandonmentwithin the WordPress admin panel to begin analyzing reports.

In Other News 🗞️

• WPConsent, a privacy-focused WordPress plugin, now offers Google Consent Mode V2 support. It can now dynamically adjust Google tags according to user permissions, boosting privacy adherence. The update also features enhanced consent log administration via simple CSV record exports.
• SeedProd, a well-known WordPress page builder, has introduced 15 additional industry-specific themes. The Image Carousel block has been improved, adding options for personalized headers, subtitles, and interactive buttons.
• WooCommerce is preparing Product Editor v3 to align with WordPress Data Views and Forms. They also advise developers to pause beta work for now.
• Duplicator, the WordPress backup and migration plugin, now offers features to simplify backup handling, including automatic log cleanups and single-click removal choices.
• UpdraftPlus, a well-known WordPress plugin company, has purchased Burst Statistics, a privacy-focused analytics tool. This purchase shows UpdraftPlus’s dedication to enhancing website management tools while respecting user privacy.

• Hostinger, a widely used WordPress hosting provider, has unveiled Horizons. This AI-driven web application builder empowers users to develop personalized web applications, even without programming skills.
• HeroThemes has launched the Heroic KB Chrome Extension, which allows users to access their knowledge base directly from the browser toolbar. This tool is designed to enhance productivity by allowing customer support teams to quickly search and view knowledge base articles without switching tabs.
• WPCode, a favored WordPress code snippets plugin, now features a Snippet Shortcode Finder. This addition enables users to determine where particular shortcodes are used throughout their WordPress website. Furthermore, the update enhances WooCommerce integration by facilitating the execution of code snippets based on the contents of the shopping cart.

• Formidable Forms has introduced a GDPR Compliance field, which makes it easier to get explicit user consent in WordPress forms. This feature makes sure that data collection aligns with privacy regulations.
• Envira Gallery now features a Search Addon and a Vertical Focus Layout, designed to enhance image browsing and display. The search addon enables users to locate images quickly using tags or descriptions. The new layout showcases a featured image accompanied by a scrollable thumbnail strip, creating a more engaging gallery presentation.

• Wholesale Suite has updated its WooCommerce Invoice System with a new interface. Store owners can now manage invoices directly from the Payments tab. This enhancement simplifies invoice management by consolidating invoice tracking, payment status updates, and PDF invoice downloads into an accessible interface.
• Smash Balloon has introduced integrations with WPForms and Formidable Forms, which allow users to collect and display customer reviews directly on their WordPress sites. This feature lets users make custom review submission forms and provides greater control over user-generated content.
• WP Mail SMTP now includes push notifications to instantly alert you on your devices if an email fails to send. This functionality guarantees that important notifications are promptly received.
• WPForms now offers File Upload Restrictions, allowing you to manage access to files uploaded through forms. You can set restrictions based on WordPress user roles, specific users, or password protection.

New Plugins

• WPConsent – A lightweight yet powerful WordPress plugin for managing user consent and complying with privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA. It supports multiple consent types and integrates with popular cookie plugins.
• Duplicate Post by AIOSEO 🔥 – Finally, a powerful Duplicate Post plugin for WordPress that allows you to easily duplicate posts and pages with a single click. It also features scheduled revisions for seamless content updates without affecting the live version.
• ClassifAI – A free plugin that uses AI to automate tasks like content tagging, image labeling, and more. It integrates with ElasticPress, WordPress core features, and many popular plugins.
• Remove Empty Shortcodes – A simple plugin that automatically strips out empty shortcodes from post content to keep things clean and error-free without making changes to the database.

That’s a wrap for this month’s CanadaCreate Spotlight! We hope you enjoyed catching up on the latest news and updates from the WordPress ecosystem.

Got a product launch, feature update, or cool project you think we should cover? Send us a message, and we might feature it in our next edition.

We’ll see you again next month with another round of WordPress news. Thanks for reading and being part of the CanadaCreate family!

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