People have been asking if QR codes are dead for the past decade, but their relevancy has only increased as digital life becomes more vibrant. eMarketer forecasts that the number of US smartphone users scanning QR codes will increase from 83.4 million in 2022 to 99.5 million in 2025. QR codes are even more popular in other regions of the world, like China where they accounted for more than 90 percent of the country’s mobile payments in 2021, according to a survey by China UnionPay.

The pandemic caused an uptick in the usage of QR codes beginning in 2020, as the technology facilitates contact-free payments and information sharing. Businesses are using them for everything from digital menus and feedback forms to hotel and flight check-ins.

Brands continue to find success with QR codes in advertising coupons and promotions. If you watched the Super Bowl this year, you may have caught Coinbase’s 2022 Super Bowl ad, featuring a bouncing colorful QR code that led to a limited time promotion. The ad was so effective that visits from the QR code crashed the app.

In recognition of the many creative uses and utility of QR codes, the latest Jetpack release (10.8) introduces support for sharing posts via a QR code. The codes are generated on demand for published posts and the button is tucked away under the Jetpack menu in the post editor.

Once the QR code is generated, users can download a PNG image and share it anywhere or even embed it somewhere else on the website. QR codes can be printed and used out in the real world at farmers’ markets, conferences, restaurants, rallies, medical facilities, and other venues. It makes it easy to provide a link back to your WordPress site while doing business in person.

Version 10.8 also introduces support for Openverse as a new media provider, allowing users to search through its collection of 600 million openly-licensed media directly in the media library.

Selecting Openverse will launch a modal window, with a random search term selected, where users can search for media to embed in their posts. It’s also available when selecting a featured image or directly browsing the media library.

Adding an image from Openverse will automatically populate the Alternative text and Title fields for the file in the media library.

Check out the full list of Jetpack 10.8’s enhancements and fixes in the plugin’s changelog on WordPress.org.