In mild of a current German court docket case, which fined a web site proprietor for violating the GDPR by utilizing Google-hosted webfonts, WordPress.org’s themes staff is updating its suggestions for internet hosting webfonts. Most theme authors have been enqueuing Google Fonts from the Google CDN for higher efficiency, however this technique exposes guests’ IP addresses.
“The themes team strongly encourages the theme authors to update their themes,” Themes Team consultant @benachi mentioned in a current announcement. “We recommend updating by switching to locally hosted webfonts. Luckily Google Fonts can be downloaded and bundled in a theme. Bundled font files allow users to host webfonts locally and comply with GDPR.”
The Themes Team can also be contemplating banning remotely hosted fonts shifting ahead and can focus on on the subsequent assembly.
Core contributors at the moment are engaged on updating all of the default themes from Twenty Twelve by Twenty Seventeen to use regionally hosted webfonts. The job had beforehand been mentioned however was renewed by a current matter within the German help boards. A person created a small web site utilizing the Twenty Seventeen theme and mentioned he has been threatened by a website customer who cited the German court docket ruling. The ruling threatens a superb of €250,000.00 for every case of infringement or, alternatively, six months imprisonment, if the positioning proprietor doesn’t comply and continues to present Google with IP addresses by their use of Google Fonts.
“While in the newer default themes fonts got added as an asset, the older default themes remained untouched,” WordPress contributor Jessica Lyschik mentioned. “This could cause points with customers not being conscious of each the authorized stuff and the truth that Google Fonts are instantly utilized in default themes.
“We think while it is still widely among plugins and other themes to use Google Fonts directly, the default themes of WordPress should be able to used risk-free and compliant with the GDPR.”
The Themes Team recommends authors refer to the Twenty Twenty-Two theme to learn the way to bundle regionally hosted webfont recordsdata utilizing theme.json. Another choice, for these utilizing capabilities.php, is to comply with the Implementing a Webfonts API in WordPress Core tutorial.
Many theme authors might not replace their themes till pressured to by a ban from WordPress.org. In the meantime, customers would possibly contemplate including a plugin to host webfonts regionally. WordPress developer Xaver Birsak has created a small single-purpose plugin referred to as Local Google Fonts that robotically detects Google font sources and offers customers the choice to download them and use them regionally.
This plugin checks for fonts embedded by way of wp_enqueue_style. Users who’re embedding Google fonts by way of @import will want to change that earlier than utilizing the plugin. It at the moment auto downloads new font variations if accessible. Birsak has created it as a set-it-and-forget it type of plugin. This could also be an excellent choice for non-technical customers who’ve a theme that hasn’t but been up to date by the creator. Local Google Fonts is offered without spending a dime on WordPress.org.
Another free plugin choice on WordPress.org is the OMGF | Host Google Fonts Locally plugin, which has just a few extra options. It preloads fonts to cut back Cumulative Layout Shift above the fold, unloads fonts that aren’t utilized by the theme or plugins, permits customers to set a fallback font stack, and can change font-families with system fonts to velocity up loading instances. A industrial model presents multisite help and extra superior options.
