Create 2.0 is Finally Here!

Well, folks, it's happening. Today marks the release of Create 2.0! Many of us have eagerly awaited this release for literal years, hope waning as time continued to march on inexorably with no signs of a real update.

And now our wait is over. Because it's here. It's here! It's fiiiiinalllllyy here!!

Not to be melodramatic or hyperbolic (okay, maybe a bit of both of those), but I think Create 2.0 will help usher in a new kind of publisher tooling.

I mean, yes: it brings long-awaited parity features like adjustable servings, unit conversion, checklists, and review replies.

Yes, it introduces a brand-new, never-before-seen, state-of-the-art, cutting-edge, currently-exclusive-but-soon-to-be-copied Interactive Mode experience to your recipes.

Yes, it brings performance improvements like a reduced plugin footprint (only 2.8MB zipped! because you care about that) and even-more-optimized JavaScript and CSS bundles (like itty-bitty so you can keep that coveted Lighthouse score), countless bug fixes, security improvements, and enhancements.

Yes, it introduces a bit more fun to your day with achievements, micro-animations, greetings, and... confetti.

Yes, it brings keyboard shortcuts, searchable and illustrative settings (seriously. try it! configuring settings has never been so fun), and more streamlined workflows to simplify your experience.

• Say "au revoir!" to 5-step List item addition and "bonjour!" to bulk-adding list items.
• Say "sayonara!" to manually sifting through cards to find what you're looking for and "ohayou!" to filters, sorting, and useful information on card hover in collections.

And yes, it introduces a beautiful, built-in importing experience to bring your recipes and how-to cards home to Create (enable the importer in Create's settings).

And yes, there's a new Featured Review block to highlight your readers' praises. And new card themes (and more on the way). And you can add custom CSS to your cards directly in Create's settings. And yes, you can add custom HTML between list items for your ad provider (ANY ad provider) to target.

Yes, yes. There are all of those things and more.

But in my opinion, the real value is not found in a feature or enhancement or fix (though they're great, too), it's in a new way of looking at the tools you use every day.

Because here's the sad truth: most products suck. Even if they work–even if they work really well!–they're ugly and boring and miserable to work with. They look and feel like the software your accountant used in 1996.

There's been precious little motivation–especially in the WordPress world–to do anything different. Just do the easy thing, make this plugin like every other plugin, but a little bit different, or more customizable, or... whatever.

When Create was first launched in 2018, we had the same goal as I now maintain: make better products. Not just better than the other recipe card plugins, better than any of the other plugins, better than your bank, your host, your dog groomer's scheduling, your go-to hotel booking site, your newsletter management app. (Psst. here's a secret code for 100 thorough readers: thanksforreading) And not just incrementally better, but fundamentally different.

In many ways, we succeeded. And at its height of popularity, nearly 15,000 creators like yourself used and loved Create, with the most common praise being that it was "great experience" or the like.

Now that Create is back and better-than-ever, that vision is still strong.

And boy, oh boy, do I have plans to make it even more gooderer!

New blocks, new card types, indexes, collections, more themes and layouts for cards, lists, and interactive mode, expanded affiliate integrations, closer integration between reviews and comments, Creator Challenges, integrations with other creator platforms, et cetera, et cetera.

All that to say, please enjoy this new release of the Create Plugin. I'm so thrilled and proud to release it after years of dreaming and more than half a year of working tirelessly on every detail.

You are awesome and deserve products that treat you that way.

— JM

P.S. Thank you for your patience while I continue to improve auxiliary resources like the Help Center. I promise it won't be outdated forever.