 <span class=\"hljs-number\">-1</span>;\n		<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">if</span> ( <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">isset</span>( $_GET&#91;<span class=\"hljs-string\">\'styles_inline_size_limit\'</span>] ) ) {\n			$limit = (int) $_GET&#91;<span class=\"hljs-string\">\'styles_inline_size_limit\'</span>];\n		}\n		<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">if</span> ( $limit &lt; <span class=\"hljs-number\">0</span> ) {\n			$limit = <span class=\"hljs-number\">75000</span>;\n		}\n		<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">return</span> $limit;\n	}\n);</code></span></pre></details>\n\n\n\n<p>Increasing this limit in core is being tracked in <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/63018\" title=\"Increase styles_inline_size_limit from 20,000 bytes\">#63018</a>. We still need to determine the optimal threshold for inlining, weighing against the benefits of serving stylesheets from the browser cache for subsequent page navigations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for the performance impact of inlining these stylesheets, here are the results for the loading Sample Page on an emulated Fast 4G connection:</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table benchmark-web-vitals\"><table><thead><tr><th>Metric</th><th>Before</th><th>After</th><th>Diff (ms)</th><th>Diff (%)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>FCP</td><td>409.1</td><td>228.4</td><td>-180.7</td><td>-44.2%</td></tr><tr><td>LCP</td><td>510.0</td><td>325.4</td><td>-184.6</td><td><strong>-36.2%</strong></td></tr><tr><td>TTFB</td><td>43.3</td><td>43.8</td><td>+0.6</td><td>+1.3%</td></tr><tr><td>LCP-TTFB</td><td>466.5</td><td>281.2</td><td>-185.4</td><td>-39.7%</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\">Benchmark command<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-javascript\">npm run research -- benchmark-web-vitals \\\n	--url=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"https://wcus-perf-talk-demo.local/sample-page/?enable_plugins=twentytwentyfive-stylesheet-inlining\"</span> \\\n	--url=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"https://wcus-perf-talk-demo.local/sample-page/?enable_plugins=twentytwentyfive-stylesheet-inlining,increase-styles-inline-size-limit.php&amp;styles_inline_size_limit=30000\"</span> \\\n	--number=<span class=\"hljs-number\">50</span> \\\n	--network-conditions=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"Fast 4G\"</span> \\\n	--emulate-device=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"Moto G4\"</span> \\\n	--diff \\\n	--output=md</code></span></pre></details>\n\n\n\n<p>This decreases the LCP by over a third! </p>\n\n\n\n<p>And here are the results when emulating a Slow 3G connection:</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table benchmark-web-vitals\"><table><thead><tr><th>Metric</th><th>Before</th><th>After</th><th>Diff (ms)</th><th>Diff (%)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>FCP</td><td>4206.5</td><td>2276.0</td><td>-1930.5</td><td>-45.9%</td></tr><tr><td>LCP</td><td>4308.3</td><td>2384.6</td><td>-1923.7</td><td><strong>-44.7%</strong></td></tr><tr><td>TTFB</td><td>42.6</td><td>45.5</td><td>+2.85</td><td>+6.7%</td></tr><tr><td>LCP-TTFB</td><td>4265.9</td><td>2339.7</td><td>-1926.3</td><td>-45.2%</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\">Benchmark command<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-javascript\">npm run research -- benchmark-web-vitals \\\n	--url=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"https://wcus-perf-talk-demo.local/sample-page/?enable_plugins=twentytwentyfive-stylesheet-inlining\"</span> \\\n	--url=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"https://wcus-perf-talk-demo.local/sample-page/?enable_plugins=twentytwentyfive-stylesheet-inlining,increase-styles-inline-size-limit.php&amp;styles_inline_size_limit=30000\"</span> \\\n	--number=<span class=\"hljs-number\">50</span> \\\n	--network-conditions=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"Slow 3G\"</span> \\\n	--emulate-device=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"Moto G4\"</span> \\\n	--diff \\\n	--output=md</code></span></pre></details>\n\n\n\n<p>A 44.4% reduction in LCP is on par with the largest improvements achieved by the Image Prioritizer plugin in my evaluations here. This means that on a Slow 3G connection, the LCP goes from <strong>poor</strong> at 4.31 seconds to <strong>good</strong> at 2.38 seconds.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"whats-next\">What&#8217;s Next</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My hope is that several of these improvements will land later this year in WordPress core. Some of them are <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/28/roadmap-to-6-9/#performance-improvements\">tracked</a> in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/28/roadmap-to-6-9/\">Roadmap to 6.9</a>:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Planned performance improvements include improving Data Views performance <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/70789\">by supporting partial entity fetching and smart field resolution</a>, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/61734\">adding the ability to handle “fetchpriority” to ES Modules and Import Maps</a>, <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/63636\">standardizing output buffering</a> so developers can hook into a unified filter and manipulate the entire rendered HTML after it’s generated but before it’s sent to the browser (e.g. for page caches and performance optimizations), implementing <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/63636\">instant page navigations from browser history via bfcache</a> even when pages are flagged with “nocache” such as when users are logged in, and <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/63007#comment:31\">stylesheet improvements around minification and inlining</a>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>You can <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/performance/handbook/get-involved/\">get involved</a> with the Core Performance Team to help make this happen!</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Where I&#8217;ve shared this, if you want to discuss or boost:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links is-layout-flex wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-linkedin  wp-block-social-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/posts/westonruter_the-site-speed-frontier-with-performance-activity-7366592585110310914-fAWv\"><svg height=\"24\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><path d=\"M19.7,3H4.3C3.582,3,3,3.582,3,4.3v15.4C3,20.418,3.582,21,4.3,21h15.4c0.718,0,1.3-0.582,1.3-1.3V4.3 C21,3.582,20.418,3,19.7,3z M8.339,18.338H5.667v-8.59h2.672V18.338z M7.004,8.574c-0.857,0-1.549-0.694-1.549-1.548 c0-0.855,0.691-1.548,1.549-1.548c0.854,0,1.547,0.694,1.547,1.548C8.551,7.881,7.858,8.574,7.004,8.574z M18.339,18.338h-2.669 v-4.177c0-0.996-0.017-2.278-1.387-2.278c-1.389,0-1.601,1.086-1.601,2.206v4.249h-2.667v-8.59h2.559v1.174h0.037 c0.356-0.675,1.227-1.387,2.526-1.387c2.703,0,3.203,1.779,3.203,4.092V18.338z\"></path></svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">LinkedIn</span></a></li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-bluesky  wp-block-social-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\" href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/weston.ruter.net/post/3lxg2haotcs2c\"><svg height=\"24\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><path d=\"M6.3,4.2c2.3,1.7,4.8,5.3,5.7,7.2.9-1.9,3.4-5.4,5.7-7.2,1.7-1.3,4.3-2.2,4.3.9s-.4,5.2-.6,5.9c-.7,2.6-3.3,3.2-5.6,2.8,4,.7,5.1,3,2.9,5.3-5,5.2-6.7-2.8-6.7-2.8,0,0-1.7,8-6.7,2.8-2.2-2.3-1.2-4.6,2.9-5.3-2.3.4-4.9-.3-5.6-2.8-.2-.7-.6-5.3-.6-5.9,0-3.1,2.7-2.1,4.3-.9h0Z\"></path></svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Bluesky</span></a></li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-twitter  wp-block-social-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\" href=\"https://x.com/westonruter/status/1960827200384721188\"><svg height=\"24\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><path d=\"M22.23,5.924c-0.736,0.326-1.527,0.547-2.357,0.646c0.847-0.508,1.498-1.312,1.804-2.27 c-0.793,0.47-1.671,0.812-2.606,0.996C18.324,4.498,17.257,4,16.077,4c-2.266,0-4.103,1.837-4.103,4.103 c0,0.322,0.036,0.635,0.106,0.935C8.67,8.867,5.647,7.234,3.623,4.751C3.27,5.357,3.067,6.062,3.067,6.814 c0,1.424,0.724,2.679,1.825,3.415c-0.673-0.021-1.305-0.206-1.859-0.513c0,0.017,0,0.034,0,0.052c0,1.988,1.414,3.647,3.292,4.023 c-0.344,0.094-0.707,0.144-1.081,0.144c-0.264,0-0.521-0.026-0.772-0.074c0.522,1.63,2.038,2.816,3.833,2.85 c-1.404,1.1-3.174,1.756-5.096,1.756c-0.331,0-0.658-0.019-0.979-0.057c1.816,1.164,3.973,1.843,6.29,1.843 c7.547,0,11.675-6.252,11.675-11.675c0-0.178-0.004-0.355-0.012-0.531C20.985,7.47,21.68,6.747,22.23,5.924z\"></path></svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Twitter</span></a></li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-mastodon  wp-block-social-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\" href=\"https://mastodon.social/@westonruter/115103019556229139\"><svg height=\"24\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><path d=\"M23.193 7.879c0-5.206-3.411-6.732-3.411-6.732C18.062.357 15.108.025 12.041 0h-.076c-3.068.025-6.02.357-7.74 1.147 0 0-3.411 1.526-3.411 6.732 0 1.192-.023 2.618.015 4.129.124 5.092.934 10.109 5.641 11.355 2.17.574 4.034.695 5.535.612 2.722-.15 4.25-.972 4.25-.972l-.09-1.975s-1.945.613-4.129.539c-2.165-.074-4.449-.233-4.799-2.891a5.499 5.499 0 0 1-.048-.745s2.125.52 4.817.643c1.646.075 3.19-.097 4.758-.283 3.007-.359 5.625-2.212 5.954-3.905.517-2.665.475-6.507.475-6.507zm-4.024 6.709h-2.497V8.469c0-1.29-.543-1.944-1.628-1.944-1.2 0-1.802.776-1.802 2.312v3.349h-2.483v-3.35c0-1.536-.602-2.312-1.802-2.312-1.085 0-1.628.655-1.628 1.944v6.119H4.832V8.284c0-1.289.328-2.313.987-3.07.68-.758 1.569-1.146 2.674-1.146 1.278 0 2.246.491 2.886 1.474L12 6.585l.622-1.043c.64-.983 1.608-1.474 2.886-1.474 1.104 0 1.994.388 2.674 1.146.658.757.986 1.781.986 3.07v6.304z\"></svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Mastodon</span></a></li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-threads  wp-block-social-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\" href=\"https://www.threads.com/@westonruter/post/DN3-3S-konm?xmt=AQF0yJplskrfY6oHVh4vRlE3DV_wKvinkt72VC0J-SlKYw\"><svg height=\"24\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><path d=\"M16.3 11.3c-.1 0-.2-.1-.2-.1-.1-2.6-1.5-4-3.9-4-1.4 0-2.6.6-3.3 1.7l1.3.9c.5-.8 1.4-1 2-1 .8 0 1.4.2 1.7.7.3.3.5.8.5 1.3-.7-.1-1.4-.2-2.2-.1-2.2.1-3.7 1.4-3.6 3.2 0 .9.5 1.7 1.3 2.2.7.4 1.5.6 2.4.6 1.2-.1 2.1-.5 2.7-1.3.5-.6.8-1.4.9-2.4.6.3 1 .8 1.2 1.3.4.9.4 2.4-.8 3.6-1.1 1.1-2.3 1.5-4.3 1.5-2.1 0-3.8-.7-4.8-2S5.7 14.3 5.7 12c0-2.3.5-4.1 1.5-5.4 1.1-1.3 2.7-2 4.8-2 2.2 0 3.8.7 4.9 2 .5.7.9 1.5 1.2 2.5l1.5-.4c-.3-1.2-.8-2.2-1.5-3.1-1.3-1.7-3.3-2.6-6-2.6-2.6 0-4.7.9-6 2.6C4.9 7.2 4.3 9.3 4.3 12s.6 4.8 1.9 6.4c1.4 1.7 3.4 2.6 6 2.6 2.3 0 4-.6 5.3-2 1.8-1.8 1.7-4 1.1-5.4-.4-.9-1.2-1.7-2.3-2.3zm-4 3.8c-1 .1-2-.4-2-1.3 0-.7.5-1.5 2.1-1.6h.5c.6 0 1.1.1 1.6.2-.2 2.3-1.3 2.7-2.2 2.7z\"></svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Threads</span></a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https://weston.ruter.net/2025/08/27/the-site-speed-frontier-with-performance-lab-and-beyond/\">The Site Speed Frontier with Performance Lab and Beyond</a> appeared first on <a href=\"https://weston.ruter.net\">Weston Ruter</a>.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 27 Aug 2025 18:05:49 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"Weston Ruter\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:10;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:201:\"HeroPress: Learn. Connect. Contribute. My WordPress Story – শিখুন, যুক্ত হোন, অবদান রাখুন; আমার ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস গল্প\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=8170\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:160:\"https://heropress.com/essays/learn-connect-contribute-my-wordpress-story/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=learn-connect-contribute-my-wordpress-story\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22463:\"<img alt=\"Pull Quote: WordPress is like water, it can take any form.\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/3025/08/082625-min.jpg\" width=\"1024\" /><p><a href=\"https://heropress.com/feed/#bengali\">এই নিবন্ধটি বাংলায় পাওয়া যায়</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-beginnings\">Beginnings</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My story with WordPress began in a classroom. I was a student working on a simple project, a portfolio website. I wanted to use WordPress because it felt easy to learn and flexible enough to build what I had in mind. I completed the project and proudly showed it to my teacher.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of encouragement, I was told to scrap it. “Do it with raw PHP coding,” my teacher said. WordPress was dismissed as the easy way out. At the time, that felt discouraging. I followed instructions and rewrote everything in PHP, but the memory stayed with me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What my teacher could not see was what I had already discovered. WordPress had opened a door. It gave me confidence that I could build something meaningful with the skills I had. That moment became a seed. It was the beginning of a path that would later shape my career, my community work, and my life.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-learn\">Learn</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2016, I joined weDevs. This was my first real step into the professional WordPress ecosystem. Products like <strong>Dokan</strong> and <strong>WP User Frontend</strong> were not just plugins. They were solutions that empowered people. Dokan made it possible for anyone to create a multi-vendor marketplace without needing deep technical knowledge. WP User Frontend gave site owners control from the frontend in a way that felt natural and accessible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then came <strong>WP ERP</strong>. This plugin fascinated me more than anything else at that time. The idea that WordPress could run HR, CRM, and accounting for a business was almost unbelievable. For me, it was proof that WordPress is like water. It can take any form. It can flow into any gap and solve almost any problem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later, I worked with newer products, including <strong>ElementsKit</strong>, MetForm, ShopEngine, GetGenie AI, which now powers more than <strong>2 million websites</strong> around the world<strong>.</strong> Over the years, I built an <strong>8-year career in WordPress product marketing</strong>, working with multiple global companies to grow their eCommerce, LMS, SaaS, and WordPress products.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But my learning did not stop there. Coming from a computer science background, I shifted into marketing. At first, I wasn’t sure I belonged in this space. But I discovered that having the knowledge of algorithms, logic, and technical systems helped me become a better marketer. It allowed me to solve business problems more effectively and to connect with product teams in a way that bridged technical and user needs. That blend of skills became my advantage.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Shakespeare wrote, <em>“To be or not to be, that is the question.”</em> For me, the answer has always been to be—to be curious, to be adaptable, and to be willing to learn. Or in the words of Bruce Lee, <em>“Be water, my friend.”</em> That is what WordPress has taught me. Adapt, flow, and find your form.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-connect\">Connect</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2017, I organized my first WordPress meetup. It was a small gathering, but the energy in the room was undeniable. People came together to share, to teach, to learn, and to encourage each other. That was when I saw the true strength of WordPress. It was not just software. It was a community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From that point on, I made community a core part of my life. Meetups turned into WordCamps. I spoke at events. I volunteered wherever I could. And I attended as many gatherings as possible. To date, I have been part of <strong>25 WordCamps around the world.</strong> Each one gave me new lessons, friendships, and a sense of belonging.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first time I spoke at WordCamp Kathmandu 2019, I was nervous. I had fixed what I would say but my heart was racing. I kept thinking, <em>“What if nobody listens? What if I fail?”</em> When I walked onto the stage and looked at the audience, something changed. I saw faces eager to learn. I realized they were not there to judge me. They were there to grow with me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was a panel discussion where I sat together with my mentor, <strong>M Asif Rahman</strong>, and we discussed marketing WordPress products. That panel discussion gave me confidence I had never felt before. It showed me that sharing what you know, even if it feels small, can inspire others. After that, I participated in two other panel discussions: <strong>WordCamp Nagpur in 2022</strong> and <strong>WordCamp Sylhet in 2024.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, I have served as a WordCamp Organizer, Speaker, Volunteer, Global Mentor, and Event Supporter. I mentored teams as they organized their first WordCamps, helping them overcome challenges and celebrate success. These connections showed me that WordPress is not just a platform to build websites. It is a platform to build people. It gives us the tools, but more importantly, it gives us the relationships that carry us forward.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2022, I was humbled to receive the <strong>Yoast Care Fund award</strong> for my community contributions. It reminded me that the efforts we give to the community, often behind the scenes, do not go unnoticed.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-contribute\">Contribute</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With learning and connection came responsibility. I knew I had to contribute.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contribution takes many forms. For me, it has been about building communities, mentoring, and supporting events. I have served as a WordCamp Mentor and Global Event Supporter, helping new organizers take their first steps. I have guided teams, answered their questions, and encouraged them through the challenges of organizing. Seeing them succeed gave me joy that no personal achievement could replace.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordCamp Asia holds a special place in my heart. I have been part of its organizing team three times so far, including working with the AX and communications teams. It was a chance to tell stories, welcome attendees, and celebrate the diversity of Asia’s WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I joined the organizing team for the first WordCamp Asia in 2022, it felt like stepping into history. This was the first flagship WordCamp in our region, and expectations were sky high. I worked on the AX team, helping to provide an amazing experience to the attendees. There were long nights, endless discussions, and moments of uncertainty. But when the doors opened and thousands of people gathered, it was worth it. That event showed me how powerful Asia’s WordPress community had become. It was proof that our voices, our energy, and our contributions mattered on a global scale.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since then, I continued serving as part of <strong>WordCamp Asia 2023 and 2025</strong>, and later joined the <strong>organizing team of WordCamp US 2025</strong>, one of the biggest WordPress events in the world. Being part of that team was a reminder that no matter where we come from, our contributions connect us on a global scale.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2025, I was also honoured to be selected as a recipient of the <strong>Automattic Open Horizons Scholarship</strong>, which supports contributors from underrepresented communities in continuing their WordPress journey.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, I am pursuing a <strong>PhD in marketing</strong>, researching Agile Marketing Methodologies for Promoting Digital Software Products. For me, this connects directly to WordPress. Agile and AI-driven methods are shaping how we market plugins, SaaS platforms, and digital tools. My research helps me give back not only to academia but also to the WordPress ecosystem by exploring new ways to reach people, improve adoption, and create sustainable growth.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Volunteering, speaking, organizing, mentoring, researching — each role has shown me the same truth. Contribution is not about doing everything. It is about showing up, sharing what you can, and making space for others to shine.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-story-for-marketers-who-wonder-can-i-belong\">A Story for Marketers Who Wonder: “Can I Belong?”</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are a marketer, a writer, or someone who feels more comfortable with words than code, you may wonder if you truly belong in WordPress. I want to speak directly to you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You do belong.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress needs your thinking. It needs your storytelling. It needs people who can bridge the gap between product and user. Your technical background, even if it is small, is an asset. Your creativity is essential. Your ability to connect with people is what gives technology meaning.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I moved from computer science into marketing and found my place. You can too. You don’t have to be a developer to be valuable. Contribution comes in many forms. Learning, connecting, mentoring, writing, organizing—all of these matter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember: <strong>WordPress is like water.</strong> It adapts to the needs of its people. And in the same way, you can adapt your own path in it.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-lessons\">Lessons</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking back, three words define my WordPress journey.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Learn.</strong> WordPress taught me more than software. It taught me resilience, curiosity, and the courage to explore.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Connect.</strong> The relationships I built through meetups, WordCamps, mentoring, and organizing have been the most valuable part of this journey.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Contribute.</strong> Giving back to the community has been my way of honouring everything I have received.<br /></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-wrapping-up\">Wrapping Up</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I sometimes think about that moment in my classroom when my teacher told me not to use WordPress. At the time, it felt like rejection. Today, I see it as the spark that lit the way forward. Without that moment, perhaps I would not have discovered what WordPress truly means to me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress has been my teacher, my platform, and my community. It has given me a career, friendships across the world, and a purpose that goes beyond myself.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am also a loving father of a 3-year-old daughter and a proud husband. My family gives me balance and joy, and they remind me why community and contribution matter so much.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are reading this and wondering whether you belong in WordPress, I want you to know that you do. Whether you are a developer, a writer, a designer, or someone still figuring out your path, there is space for you here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Start by learning. Reach out and connect. Then, when you are ready, contribute in your own way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is how WordPress grows. That is how communities grow. And that is how we grow as people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Learn. Connect. Contribute. That is my story.</strong><strong></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"bengali\">শিখুন, যুক্ত হোন, অবদান রাখুন; আমার ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস গল্প</h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-শ-র\">শুরু</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>আমার ওয়ার্ডপ্রেসের যাত্রা শুরু হয়েছিল ক্লাসে। তখন আমি একজন ছাত্র, একটা পোর্টফোলিও ওয়েবসাইট বানাচ্ছিলাম। কাজটা করার জন্য আমি ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস বেছে নিয়েছিলাম কারণ এটা শেখা সহজ আর ব্যবহার করতেও আরামদায়ক। প্রোজেক্টটা শেষ করে গর্ব করে স্যারকে দেখালাম।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>কিন্তু প্রশংসার বদলে স্যার বললেন, “এটা বাদ দাও, একেবারে শুরু থেকে PHP দিয়ে বানাও।” কথাটা শুনে খারাপ লেগেছিল। তবুও তার কথা মেনে PHP তে আবার করলাম। কিন্তু সেই অভিজ্ঞতা মনে গেঁথে রইল।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>তখনই আমি বুঝে গিয়েছিলাম ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস আমার জন্য একটা নতুন দরজা খুলে দিয়েছে। সেটাই পরে আমার ক্যারিয়ার আর জীবনের পথ ঠিক করে দিয়েছে।</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-শ-খ-ন\">শিখুন</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>২০১৬ সালে আমি যোগ দিই <strong>weDevs</strong> এ। তখন কাজ করেছি Dokan, WP User Frontend, WP ERP এর মতো প্রোডাক্টে। এগুলো আমাকে দেখিয়েছিল ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস কতটা শক্তিশালী হতে পারে।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>পরে কাজ করেছি <strong>ElementsKit, MetForm, ShopEngine, GetGenie AI</strong> এর মতো প্রোডাক্টে, যা এখন লাখ লাখ ওয়েবসাইটে চলছে। গত ৮ বছরে আমি ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস প্রোডাক্ট মার্কেটিং এ ক্যারিয়ার গড়েছি, বিভিন্ন আন্তর্জাতিক কোম্পানির সাথে কাজ করেছি তাদের eCommerce, LMS আর SaaS প্রোডাক্ট বড় করতে।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>আমি কম্পিউটার সায়েন্স থেকে মার্কেটিং এ চলে এসেছিলাম। প্রথমে ভয় ছিল আমি পারব কিনা। কিন্তু টেকনিক্যাল ব্যাকগ্রাউন্ডটা আমাকে এগিয়ে দিয়েছে। এতে প্রোডাক্ট টিমের সাথে কাজ করা আর ব্যবসার সমস্যা বোঝা সহজ হয়েছে।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস আমাকে শিখিয়েছে কৌতূহলী থাকতে, মানিয়ে নিতে আর শেখা চালিয়ে যেতে।</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-য-ক-ত-হ-ন\">যুক্ত হোন</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>২০১৭ সালে আমি প্রথম ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস মিটআপ আয়োজন করি। অনুষ্ঠানটা ছোট ছিল, কিন্তু সেখানে সবাই একে অপরকে শেয়ার করছিল, শেখাচ্ছিল, শিখছিল। তখনই বুঝলাম ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস শুধু সফটওয়্যার না, এটা আসলে একটা কমিউনিটি।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>এরপর থেকে আমি মিটআপ, ওয়ার্ডক্যাম্প, নানা ইভেন্টে যুক্ত থেকেছি। এখন পর্যন্ত আমি <strong>২৫টা ওয়ার্ডক্যাম্পে</strong> অংশ নিয়েছি, কখনো বক্তা হিসেবে, কখনো স্বেচ্ছাসেবক বা আয়োজক হিসেবে। প্রতিটি অভিজ্ঞতা আমাকে নতুন বন্ধু আর আত্মবিশ্বাস দিয়েছে।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>প্রথমবার <strong>ওয়ার্ডক্যাম্প কাঠমাণ্ডু ২০১৯</strong> এ বক্তা হই। শুরুতে ভয় লাগছিল, মনে হচ্ছিল যদি কেউ না শোনে? কিন্তু মঞ্চে উঠে দেখলাম সবাই শিখতে এসেছে। তখনই সাহস পেলাম।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>২০২২ সালে কমিউনিটিতে অবদানের জন্য আমি <strong>Yoast Care Fund Award</strong> পেয়েছিলাম।</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-অবদ-ন-র-খ-ন\">অবদান রাখুন</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>শেখা আর সংযোগের পর বুঝলাম ফিরিয়ে দেওয়ার সময় এসেছে।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>আমি কাজ করেছি <strong>WordCamp Mentor</strong> আর <strong>Global Event Supporter</strong> হিসেবে। নতুন আয়োজকদের পাশে দাঁড়িয়েছি, তাদের সাহায্য করেছি। তাদের সাফল্য আমাকে সবসময় খুশি করেছে।</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WordCamp Asia</strong> আমার কাছে খুবই বিশেষ। আমি ২০২২, ২০২৩ আর ২০২৫ এ আয়োজক টিমে ছিলাম। পরে যুক্ত হই <strong>WordCamp US 2025</strong> এর টিমেও।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>২০২৫ সালে আমি পাই <strong>Automattic Open Horizons Scholarship</strong>। একই সময়ে মার্কেটিং এ পিএইচডি করছি, যেখানে গবেষণা করছি কিভাবে নতুন পদ্ধতিতে সফটওয়্যার প্রোডাক্ট প্রচার করা যায়।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>এসব অভিজ্ঞতা আমাকে শিখিয়েছে: অবদান মানে সবকিছু করতে হবে না, বরং যা পারেন সেটুকু নিয়মিত শেয়ার করাটাই আসল।</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ম-র-ক-ট-রদ-র-জন-য-কথ\">মার্কেটারদের জন্য কথা</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>আপনি যদি মার্কেটার হন, লেখক হন বা কোডের চেয়ে লেখালেখি ভালো পারেন, তবে নিশ্চিন্ত থাকুন, ওয়ার্ডপ্রেসে আপনার জায়গা আছে।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস শুধু ডেভেলপারদের প্রয়োজন নেই। প্রোডাক্ট আর ব্যবহারকারীর মধ্যে সেতু গড়তে যারা পারে, গল্প বলতে পারে, মানুষের সাথে সংযোগ তৈরি করতে পারে, তাদেরও সমানভাবে দরকার।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>আমি কম্পিউটার সায়েন্স থেকে মার্কেটিং এ এসেছি, আপনিও পারবেন নিজের জায়গা খুঁজে নিতে। শেখা, লেখা, আয়োজন, মেন্টরিং সবই অবদান।</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-শ-ক-ষ\">শিক্ষা</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>আমার যাত্রাকে তিনটি শব্দ সবচেয়ে ভালোভাবে বোঝায় &#8211;</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>শিখুন.</strong> কৌতূহলী হোন, শিখুন, এগিয়ে যান।</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>যুক্ত হোন.</strong> সম্পর্ক আর বন্ধুত্বই আসল শক্তি।</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>অবদান রাখুন.</strong> যা শিখেছেন, সেটা অন্যদের সাথে ভাগ করুন।</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-শ-ষ-কথ\">শেষ কথা</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>শুরুতে শিক্ষক আমাকে ওয়ার্ডপ্রেসে কাজ করতে মানা করেছিলেন। তখন খারাপ লেগেছিল, কিন্তু আজ বুঝি সেটাই আমাকে সামনে এগিয়ে নিয়ে গেছে।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস আমার শিক্ষক, আমার প্ল্যাটফর্ম, আমার কমিউনিটি। এখান থেকেই আমি ক্যারিয়ার, বন্ধু আর জীবনের উদ্দেশ্য খুঁজে পেয়েছি।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>আমি একজন ৩ বছরের মেয়ের বাবা আর একজন গর্বিত স্বামী। পরিবারই আমাকে সব সময় প্রেরণা আর আনন্দ দেয়।</p>\n\n\n\n<p>আপনি ডেভেলপার হোন, লেখক হোন বা এখনও নিজের পথ খুঁজছেন, ওয়ার্ডপ্রেসে আপনার জন্য জায়গা আছে। শুরু করুন শেখা দিয়ে, তারপর সংযোগ তৈরি করুন আর ধীরে ধীরে অবদান রাখুন।</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>শিখুন. যুক্ত হোন. অবদান রাখুন. এটাই আমার গল্প।</strong></p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https://heropress.com/essays/learn-connect-contribute-my-wordpress-story/\">Learn. Connect. Contribute. My WordPress Story &#8211; শিখুন, যুক্ত হোন, অবদান রাখুন; আমার ওয়ার্ডপ্রেস গল্প</a> appeared first on <a href=\"https://heropress.com\">HeroPress</a>.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 27 Aug 2025 15:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"Mainul Kabir Aion\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:11;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:44:\"Matt: The Future of WordPress and AI at WCUS\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23:\"https://ma.tt/?p=149025\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://ma.tt/2025/08/wcus-ai/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5283:\"<p>The presentations for WordCamp US are just a few days away! We have some really exciting keynotes including <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/keynote/\">Danny Sullivan from Google</a>, <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/keynote-2/\">John Maeda from Microsoft AI</a>, and <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/a-new-era-of-experiential-medicine-ai-and-the-brain/\">Adam Gazzaley (one of the top neuroscientists in the world) from UCSF</a>. I think being in the room and able to meet the speakers and ask questions is even more valuable this year, as things are changing so quickly. If you know anyone in or near Portland, Oregon have them <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/tickets/\">get a ticket</a>! Here are all the other AI-related talks:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/scalable-ethical-ai-how-to-own-your-content-and-your-ai-with-wordpress/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Scalable, Ethical AI: How to Own Your Content and Your AI with WordPress</a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Presenter: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/speaker/jeffrey-paul/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jeffrey Paul</a>, VP of Open Source, <a href=\"https://fueled.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fueled</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wednesday, August 27, 1:15 PM PT</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/catch-bugs-faster-with-ai-playwright-no-hype-just-results/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Catch Bugs Faster with AI &amp; Playwright (No Hype, Just Results)</a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Presenter: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/speaker/wendy-erdheim-poch/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wendy Erdheim-Poch</a>, Senior Automation Engineer, <a href=\"https://elementor.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Elementor</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wednesday, August 27, 3:15 PM PT</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/core-ai-what-were-building/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Core AI: What We’re Building</a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Presenter: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/speaker/james-lepage/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">James LePage</a>, Head of AI, <a href=\"https://automattic.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Automattic</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thursday, August 28, 10:30 AM PT</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/zero-to-plugin-in-30-minutes-harnessing-ai-coding-assistants-for-wordpress-development/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zero to Plugin in 30 Minutes – Harnessing AI Coding Assistants for WordPress Development</a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Presenter: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/speaker/maulik-vora/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Maulik Vora</a>, Founder and CEO of <a href=\"https://zluck.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zluck Solutions</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thursday, August 28, 1:45 PM PT</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/fixing-and-optimizing-websites-with-ai/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fixing and Optimizing websites with AI</a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Presenter: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/speaker/arnas-donauskas/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arnas Donauskas</a>, Product Manager at <a href=\"https://www.hostinger.com/1\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hostinger</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thursday, August 28, 3:45 PM PT</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/turn-your-local-wordpress-install-into-your-ai-coding-assistant/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Turn your local WordPress install into your AI coding assistant</a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Presenter: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/speaker/jonathan-bossenger/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jonathan Bossenger</a>, Developer Educator, <a href=\"https://automattic.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Automattic</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>Friday, August 29, 10:30 AM PT</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/from-storefront-to-strategy-what-happens-when-ai-shops-for-your-customers/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">From Storefront to Strategy: What Happens When AI Shops for Your Customers</a>?\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Presenter: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/speaker/sonja-ibele/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sonja Ibele</a>, Delivery and Account Manager, <a href=\"https://syde.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Syde</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>Friday, August 29, 1:15 PM PT</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/unlock-developer-superpowers-with-ai/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Unlock Developer Superpowers with AI</a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Presenter: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/speaker/adam-silverstein/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Adam Silverstein</a>, Developer Relations Engineer, <a href=\"https://www.google.com/about\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>Friday, August 29, 2:15 PM PT</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n</ul>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 26 Aug 2025 02:21:18 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"Matt\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:12;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:75:\"Open Channels FM: LoopConf 2025, the Premier WordPress Developer Conference\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=108328\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:81:\"https://openchannels.fm/loopconf-2025-the-premier-wordpress-developer-conference/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:410:\"We’re excited to share that Open Channels is an official media partner for LoopConf 2025, the leading event for WordPress developers, engineers, and builders. This year’s conference takes place on Thursday, 25 September 2025 at the historic Bishopsgate Institute in London. LoopConf is known for its high-quality, developer-focused sessions covering everything from advanced WordPress development [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 25 Aug 2025 09:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:13;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:110:\"Gutenberg Times: WordCamp US, more blocks, a new book, Gutenberg 21.4, and WordPress 6.9—Weekend Edition 338\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=41512\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:115:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordcamp-us-more-blocks-a-new-book-gutenberg-21-4-and-wordpress-6-9-weekend-edition-338/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:24539:\"<p>Hi there, </p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am thoroughly giddy for WordCamp US. The schedule looks fantastic. A great collection of Keynote speakers with <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/the-tech-that-comes-next-how-changemakers-philanthropists-and-technologists-can-build-an-equitable-world/\">Amy Sample Ward</a> (NTEN), <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/speaker/danny-sullivan/\">Danny Sullivan</a> (Google), <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/keynote-2/\">John Maeda</a> (Microsoft), and <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/a-new-era-of-experiential-medicine-ai-and-the-brain/\">Adam Gazzaley</a> (Neuroscape at UCSF). </p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are in total 44 sessions, covering three overall topics: &#8220;Technical WordPress,&#8221; &#8220;Honing your skills,&#8221; and &#8220;AI.&#8221; Below you&#8217;ll find a list of block and block theme-related talks you can follow on the livestream or on demand later on.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And when you read this, I am already on my way to Portland. <img alt=\"✈\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/2708.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /><img alt=\"👋\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f44b.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /> </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yours, <img alt=\"💕\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f495.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /><br /><em>Birgit</em></p>\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-group\" style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-light-background-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<nav class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents\"><ol><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordcamp-us-more-blocks-a-new-book-gutenberg-21-4-and-wordpress-6-9-weekend-edition-338/#wordcamp-us-talks-and-workshops-on-block-development-and-block-themes\">WordCamp US talks and workshops on block development and block themes </a></li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordcamp-us-more-blocks-a-new-book-gutenberg-21-4-and-wordpress-6-9-weekend-edition-338/#0-word-press-release-information\">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</a></li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordcamp-us-more-blocks-a-new-book-gutenberg-21-4-and-wordpress-6-9-weekend-edition-338/#0-p\">Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners</a></li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordcamp-us-more-blocks-a-new-book-gutenberg-21-4-and-wordpress-6-9-weekend-edition-338/#2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled\">Theme Development for Full Site and Blocks</a></li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordcamp-us-more-blocks-a-new-book-gutenberg-21-4-and-wordpress-6-9-weekend-edition-338/#3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press\">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.</a></li></ol></nav>\n</div></div>\n</section>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\"></div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"wordcamp-us-talks-and-workshops-on-block-development-and-block-themes\">WordCamp US talks and workshops on block development and block themes </h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Staying within the block editor context, here is the list of talks that tackle the latest blocks buzz.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Joeleen Kennedy</strong>: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/modernizing-at-scale-how-fse-supports-wikimedias-evolving-ux/\">Modernizing at Scale: How FSE Supports Wikimedia&#8217;s Evolving UX</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Josh Bryant</strong>: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/reimagining-wordpress-editing-how-we-embedded-gutenberg-into-our-product-ecosystem/\">Reimagining WordPress Editing: How We Embedded Gutenberg Into Our Product Ecosystem</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Seth Rubenstein</strong>: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/block-composability-the-past-and-the-future/\">Block Composability: The Past and The Future</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stephanie Stelzer</strong>: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/coding-the-magic-a-developers-journey-through-aloha/\">Coding the Magic: A Developer’s Journey Through Aloha</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mary Ann Aschenbrenner</strong>: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/moving-a-website-from-classic-to-a-block-theme/\">Moving a Website from Classic to a Block Theme</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Anton Plauch</strong>e: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/building-resilient-interfaces-by-embracing-fluid-design/\">Building Resilient Interfaces by Embracing Fluid Design</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jemima Abu</strong>: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/a-php-developers-guide-to-reactjs/\">A PHP Developer&#8217;s Guide to ReactJS</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Michelle Schlup Hunt</strong>: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/building-experiences-design-systems-user-experience-and-full-site-editing/\">Building Experiences: Design Systems, User Experience, and Full Site Editing</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tammie Lister</strong>: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/the-system-is-the-strategy/\">The System is the Strategy</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jamie Marsland</strong>: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/launch-your-personal-portfolio-a-hands-on-wordpress-workshop/\">Launch Your Personal Portfolio—A Hands-On WordPress Workshop</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ryan Welcher:</strong> <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/the-block-developer-cookbook/\">The Block Developer Cookbook</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"0-word-press-release-information\">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jeff Paul </strong>posted the members of the <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/08/19/announcing-the-wordpress-6-9-release-squad/\">Release Squad for WordPress 6.9</a>.</strong> It&#8217;s a mix of community and sponsored contributors. Five squad members are from Automattic; two of them, Jonathen Bossenger and Ryan Welcher are first-timers, paired with longtime contributors on the Triage team and Test team.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In a personal blog post, <a href=\"https://nomad.blog/2025/08/20/exploring-work-in-progress-for-wordpress-6-9/\"><strong>Exploring work in progress for WordPress 6.9, </strong></a><strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> selected a few features on their way to the WordPress 6.9 release and reported on their status. She followed fairly closely the Roadmap 6.9 post and shared updates and discussions that are happening right now, roughly two months away from Beta 1 on October 21.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rae Morey,</strong> The Repository, reported on both publications in <a href=\"https://www.therepository.email/wordpress-6-9-release-squad-named-as-features-take-shape\"><strong>WordPress 6.9 Release Squad Named as Features Take Shape.</strong></a></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-light-background-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><img alt=\"🎙\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f399.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /> The latest episode is <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-119-wordpress-6-8-2-and-6-9-gutenberg-21-1-21-2-and-21-3-releases/\">Gutenberg Changelog 119—WordPress 6.8.2 and 6.9, Gutenberg 21.1, 21.2, and 21.3 Releases</a> with Tammie Lister. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-no-vertical-margin\"><img alt=\"Tammie Lister and Birgit Pauli-Haack recording Gutenberg Changelog 119\" class=\"wp-image-40972\" height=\"184\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-25-at-10.53.45.png?resize=652%2C184&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"652\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>If you are listening via Spotify, please leave a comment. If you listen via other podcast apps, please leave a review. It&#8217;ll help with the distribution.</em></p>\n</div></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Release lead <strong>Hector Prieto</strong> published <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/08/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-4-13-august/\"><strong>What&#8217;s New in Gutenberg 21.4 </strong></a>and highlighted</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/08/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-4-13-august/#dataviews-table-layout-grouping-and-multi-selecting\">DataViews table layout grouping and multi-selecting</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/08/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-4-13-august/#more-on-dataviews-enhancements\">More on DataViews enhancements</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/08/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-4-13-august/#style-shuffling-in-write-mode\">Style shuffling in write mode</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41596\" height=\"423\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Dataviews-Grouping.png?resize=652%2C423&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"652\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In his August edition of the<a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2025/08/whats-new-for-developers-august-2025/\"><strong> What&#8217;s new for developers </strong></a>roundup post, <strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> has a vast array of released or upcoming updates for you to review. He also added three discussions you might want to chime in on if they are relevant to your work.</p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2025/08/whats-new-for-developers-august-2025/#expanding-the-core-block-library-it-might-be-in-the-cards\">Expanding the Core block library? It might be in the cards</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2025/08/whats-new-for-developers-august-2025/#proposing-more-theme-json-settings-control\">Proposing more theme.json settings control</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/70994\">Discussion on “composite” blocks</a> </li>\n</ol>\n\n\n\n<p>You also learn about Playground updates and Theme related changes and interesting bug fixes. If you only have time to read one post this week, make it this one.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Never ever miss another post from the WordPress Developer Blog! <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/news/subscribe/\"><strong>Subscribe!</strong></a></em></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"0-p\">Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In previous editions of this newsletter, I mentioned the new Events plugin by <strong>Lesley Sim</strong> and <strong>Ahmed Fouad</strong> called <strong>EventKoi</strong>. It works natively with the block editor, supports recurring + multi-day events, and gives you beautiful calendar views out of the box. They are running a <strong>Founding Partner Lifetime Deal</strong> from Aug. 25–31 only. <a href=\"http://eventkoi.com/\">Learn more and get on the waitlist now</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ajit Bohra</strong> and the team at LubusIN have shared their super cool <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/blablablocks-slider-block/\">Slider Block</a> that they originally used for their own projects! Now, you can get it from the WordPress Plugin Directory, complete with a handy <a href=\"https://github.com/lubusIN/blablablocks-slider-block/wiki\">setup guide</a> to help you get started.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41581\" height=\"298\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-20-at-19.08.11.png?resize=652%2C298&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"652\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The new plugin <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpmozo-blocks-and-addons/\"><strong>WPMozo Blocks and Addons</strong></a> by <em>Elicus</em> comes with a set of very fancy blocks like FlipBox, Image Card, Tilted Image, and some more. Each of them has also many design choices. If you need some interactive blocks on your site, it&#8217;s worth checking out. </p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled\">Theme Development for Full Site and Blocks</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On the Developer Blog, <strong>Justin Tadlock </strong>wrote a tutorial on how to use a new extensibility feature to add custom social links to the block editor: <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2025/08/registering-custom-social-icons-in-wordpress-6-9/\"><strong>Registering custom social icons in WordPress 6.9</strong></a>. If you want to test this for yourself before WordPress 6.9 comes out, make sure you install Gutenberg plugin 21.1 or newer. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41597\" height=\"376\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-21-at-17.05.09.png?resize=540%2C376&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"540\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I used this new feature to add podcast directory icons for my block theme on Gutenberg Times. The plugin will be in the WordPress repository as soon as I figure out this SVN version control thingy. <a href=\"https://github.com/bph/gt-podcast-bb\">The code is available on GitHub</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41598\" height=\"152\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-21-at-17.06.00.png?resize=434%2C152&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"434\" /></figure>\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-callout undefined not-color-set\" style=\"border-color: #f9f9e5; border-radius: 22px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0; padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; text-align: left; margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; background-color: #f9f9e5;\">\n<p><strong> <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2025&#8221;</a> </strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test, and Meta team from Jan. 2024 on. Updated by yours truly. The previous years are also available: <strong><strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/\">2020</a> | <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2021/\">2021</a></strong> | <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2022/\">2022</a></strong></strong> | <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/gutenberg-index-2023\">2023</a></strong> | <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/gutenberg-index-2024/\"><strong>2024</strong></a></p>\n</section>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In her latest tutorial, <strong>Anne Katzeff</strong>, ASK Designs, explores the <a href=\"https://www.askdesign.biz/blog/2025/07/gallery-block-layouts/\">core Gallery block</a> and shows how to arrange multiple images in a grid of rows and columns. She also mentioned the &#8216;click to enlarge&#8217; feature. Katzeff then continues comparing the default gallery block with the one provided by Kadence Blocks.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https://www.askdesign.biz/blog/2025/07/gallery-block-layouts/\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41601\" height=\"213\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/std-gallery-add.jpg?resize=652%2C213&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"652\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>Web developer <strong>Elliott Richmond</strong> delivers a thirty-year veteran&#8217;s verdict: &#8220;Menus have always had one job… to help people find their way around a website.&#8221; <a href=\"https://elliottrichmond.co.uk/website-menu-navigation-vs-mega-menu-navigation-why-simplicity-still-wins-in-2025/\"><strong>His manifesto against mega-menu bloat</strong></a> reveals hidden SEO penalties—link dilution, crawlability nightmares, and semantic confusion plague JavaScript-heavy navigation systems. Richmond advocates for WordPress&#8217;s foundational principle: semantic simplicity over marketing spectacle. The prescription? Five to seven top-level items maximum, unified cross-device structure, and letting content—not navigation—handle conversion duties.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press\">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paulo Carvajal</strong> shared in his blog post <strong><a href=\"https://wp-block-editor.com/building-blocks-that-work-seamlessly-with-block-themes-and-the-site-editor/\">how to build Blocks That Work Seamlessly with Block Themes and the Site Editor</a></strong>. He covers the paradigm shift where everything becomes blocks, emphasizing the importance of integrating with <code>theme.json</code> design systems rather than using hard-coded styles. Key topics include responsive design integration, global styles compatibility, block patterns usage, and performance optimization for the evolving WordPress ecosystem. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Carvajal is also working on the block editor book called <a href=\"https://leanpub.com/wordpress-block-editor-guide\"><strong>WordPress Editor and Blocks</strong>—A Comprehensive Guide</a>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In his livestream, <strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> let you in on <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE3tXm4qkFs\"><strong>Block Deprecation Secrets Only WordPress Experts Know</strong></a> as one of the Block Development Cookbook series. He cooked up a tasty recipe block and walked through the process of updating it with block deprecations—the secret ingredient to keeping your blocks fresh while maintaining compatibility with older content.</p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://x.com/brendanocwp\">Brendan O&#8217;Connell</a></strong> started a video series talking about <a href=\"https://remotedatablocks.com\">Remote Data Blocks</a>. the plugin by the WordPress VIP team. Using it helps you connect the block editor to external APIs and sync data in real time to blocks. It also auto-registers custom blocks with a custom schema.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In Part 1, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt5zNVSUPLg\">O&#8217;Connell gives you an introduction.</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>In Part 2 <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9QJe2r81lQ\">He covers using the plugin with an Airtable.</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n<p>WordPressVIP also held a webinar highlighting the Remote Data Block. <strong>Rae Morey</strong>, The Repository, has the report for you. <a href=\"https://www.therepository.email/wordpress-vip-demos-its-new-enterprise-suite-remote-blocks-and-parse-ly-ai-updates?utm_source=mailpoet&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source_platform=mailpoet&amp;utm_campaign=issue-270\"><strong>WordPress VIP Demos Its New Enterprise Suite: Remote Blocks and Parse.ly AI Updates</strong></a></p>\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-callout undefined not-color-set\" style=\"border-color: #eeeeee; border-radius: 26px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0; padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; text-align: left; margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; background-color: #f3efe9;\">\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/\">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s master branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily builds for testing and review.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now also available via <a href=\"https://playground.wordpress.net/?blueprint-url=https://gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/playnightly.json\">WordPress Playground</a>. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? <a href=\"mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com\">Email me </a>with your experience</p>\n\n\n\n<p><img alt=\"GitHub all releases\" src=\"https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge\" /></p>\n</section>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\"><em>Questions? Suggestions? Ideas? </em><br /><em>Don&#8217;t hesitate to send <a href=\"mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com\">them via email</a> or</em><br /><em> send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">For questions to be answered on the <a href=\"http://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast\">Gutenberg Changelog</a>, <br />send them to <a href=\"mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com\">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-group\" style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\">\n<p>Featured Image: <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/\">CC0</a> licensed <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/54668943ef/\">photo</a> by <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/author/iqbal1hossain/\">Iqbal Hossain</a> from the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/\">WordPress Photo Directory</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>\n\n\n<form action=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/\" autocomplete=\"on\" class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait\" method=\"post\"><div class=\"ngl-form-container\"><div class=\"ngl-form-field\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><label class=\"ngl-form-label\" for=\"ngl_email\"><br />Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class=\"ngl-form-input\"><input autocomplete=\"email\" class=\"ngl-form-input-text\" id=\"ngl_email\" name=\"ngl_email\" required=\"required\" style=\"border-radius: 21px;\" type=\"email\" /></div></div><button class=\"ngl-form-button\" style=\"background-color: #005075; border-color: #005075; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; color: #ffffff; border-radius: 21px;\" type=\"submit\">Subscribe</button><p class=\"ngl-form-text\">We hate spam, too, and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone <br />except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay\"><div class=\"ngl-message-svg-wrap\"><svg fill=\"none\" height=\"24\" stroke=\"#fff\" stroke-width=\"2\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><polyline points=\"20 6 9 17 4 12\"></polyline></svg></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay-text\">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input id=\"ngl_list_id\" name=\"ngl_list_id\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"26f81bd8ae\" /><input id=\"ngl_double_optin\" name=\"ngl_double_optin\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"yes\" /></form>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n</section>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 23 Aug 2025 01:58:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Birgit Pauli-Haack\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:14;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:39:\"Weston Ruter: Web Performance Milestone\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://weston.ruter.net/?p=35922\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:62:\"https://weston.ruter.net/2025/08/21/web-performance-milestone/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14609:\"<p>A couple months ago, <a href=\"https://weston.ruter.net/\">this blog</a> reached a web performance milestone which I shared on <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/posts/westonruter_for-the-first-time-ever-ive-just-seen-my-activity-7334960747849887744-ubB9\">LinkedIn</a>, <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/weston.ruter.net/post/3lqkkjkaqc22q\">Bluesky</a>, <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/@westonruter/114608757425002787\">Mastodon</a>, <a href=\"https://x.com/westonruter/status/1929195196710875311\">Twitter</a>:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>For the first time ever, I&#8217;ve just seen my blog appear in field metrics from CrUX (Chrome UX Report), albeit in desktop only and for the origin not an individual URL. Baby steps. In any case, Core Web Vitals Assessment: Passed <img alt=\"✅\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://weston.ruter.net/wp-content/plugins/local-twemoji/images/emoji/72x72/2705.png?ver=16-0-1\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Yesterday, I checked <a href=\"https://pagespeed.web.dev/\">PageSpeed Insights</a> again, and I was excited to discover that my blog is now also appearing in field metrics for mobile as well! And like desktop, the CWV assessment is also passing for mobile. The <a href=\"https://developer.chrome.com/docs/crux#:~:text=primarily%20that%20they%20must%20be%20publicly%20discoverable%20and%20there%20must%20be%20a%20large%20enough%20number%20of%20visitors%20in%20order%20to%20create%20a%20statistically%20significant%20dataset\">eligibility criteria</a> for the CrUX dataset includes that “there must be a large enough number of visitors in order to create a statistically significant dataset.” Granted, my site is still only getting enough traffic for origin-level metrics, and I can&#8217;t see field metrics for the homepage URL specifically, but it&#8217;s another baby step! (Or maybe a toddler step?)</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve really been trying to double down this summer on tuning every bit of performance possible out of WordPress (on the frontend), using my site as a case study, and I&#8217;ve been sharing my findings in posts here. I hope the site traffic is an indication that the community has found my posts helpful. The learnings are also making their way into <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/performance-lab/\">Performance Lab</a> feature plugins as well as in performance improvements on the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/28/roadmap-to-6-9/#performance-improvements\">roadmap for WordPress 6.9</a>. I have some more posts that I&#8217;m working on. You can <a href=\"https://weston.ruter.net/subscribe/\">subscribe</a> to get them in your inbox.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>On August 27th (next Wednesday) at <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/\">WordCamp US 2025</a> here in Portland, Oregon, I&#8217;m giving a talk called “<a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/session/the-site-speed-frontier-with-performance-lab-and-beyond/\"><strong>The Site Speed Frontier with Performance Lab and Beyond</strong></a>” at <time datetime=\"2025-08-21T11:30:00-07:00\">11:30am PDT</time>. I hope to see you there, but it will also be livestreamed and recorded. I&#8217;ll be blogging an elaborated version of what I have time to share in my talk. (By the way, if you are attending in person, check out <a href=\"https://weston.ruter.net/2024/09/12/my-portland-picks/\">My Portland Picks</a> post for what I recommend visitors check out!)</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One takeaway I&#8217;ll be emphasizing in my talk is that we needn&#8217;t settle with sites merely <em>passing</em> the Core Web Vitals assessment or achieving a “perfect” 100 performance score in Lighthouse. Why be content with a good 2-second <abbr title=\"Largest Contentful Paint\">LCP</abbr> when it could be half that or even practically zero? Web performance is a journey, and there&#8217;s always room for improvement. I can see from my blog&#8217;s field metrics, for example, that the <abbr title=\"Time To First Byte\">TTFB</abbr> is hovering around the threshold between “needs improvement” and “poor”. In spite of this, the frontend is so tuned that on mobile the <abbr title=\"LCP minus/discounting the TTFB\">LCP-TTFB</abbr> in CrUX is  400ms and on desktop it&#8217;s only 100ms.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I personally love optimizing the performance of WordPress sites, but I get it that this isn&#8217;t for everyone (nor should it be). By landing our improvements from the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/performance/handbook/about-the-team/\">Core Performance Team</a>, my hope is that WordPress core (and the ecosystem) will have best practices implemented by default so that site owners needn&#8217;t worry about performance.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<p>I had to take some <abbr title=\"PageSpeed Insights\">PSI</abbr> screenshots to memorialize the milestone:</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Field Data via CrUX</h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-not-stacked-on-mobile is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img alt=\"Core Web Vitals Assessment for Mobile: Passed. LCP is 2.2s, CLS is 0, FCP is 2.1s, and TTFB 1.8s.\" class=\"wp-image-35933 not-transparent\" height=\"1710\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/weston.ruter.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/mobile-crux-expanded.png?resize=1920%2C1710&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"1920\" /><button class=\"lightbox-trigger\" type=\"button\">\n			<svg fill=\"none\" height=\"12\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\" width=\"12\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\">\n				<path d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" fill=\"#fff\">\n			</svg>\n		</button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mobile</figcaption></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img alt=\"Core Web Vitals Assessment for Desktop: Passed. LCP is 1.9s, CLS is 0, FCP is 1.9s, and TTFB 1.8s.\" class=\"wp-image-35934 not-transparent\" height=\"1710\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/weston.ruter.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/desktop-crux-expanded.png?resize=1920%2C1710&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"1920\" /><button class=\"lightbox-trigger\" type=\"button\">\n			<svg fill=\"none\" height=\"12\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\" width=\"12\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\">\n				<path d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" fill=\"#fff\">\n			</svg>\n		</button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Desktop</figcaption></figure>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Lab Data via Lighthouse</h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-not-stacked-on-mobile is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img alt=\"Lighthouse performance score 100 for mobile, as well as 100 for the Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO.\" class=\"wp-image-35926 not-transparent\" height=\"2316\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/weston.ruter.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/mobile-lighthouse.png?resize=1920%2C2316&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"1920\" /><button class=\"lightbox-trigger\" type=\"button\">\n			<svg fill=\"none\" height=\"12\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\" width=\"12\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\">\n				<path d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" fill=\"#fff\">\n			</svg>\n		</button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mobile</figcaption></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img alt=\"Lighthouse performance score 100 for desktop, as well as 100 for the Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO.\" class=\"wp-image-35927 not-transparent\" height=\"2136\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/weston.ruter.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/desktop-lighthouse.png?resize=1920%2C2136&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"1920\" /><button class=\"lightbox-trigger\" type=\"button\">\n			<svg fill=\"none\" height=\"12\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\" width=\"12\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\">\n				<path d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" fill=\"#fff\">\n			</svg>\n		</button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Desktop</figcaption></figure>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Where I&#8217;ve shared this on social media if you want to discuss there:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links is-layout-flex wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-linkedin  wp-block-social-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/posts/westonruter_web-performance-milestone-weston-ruter-activity-7364543117192032256-x7Wg\"><svg height=\"24\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><path d=\"M19.7,3H4.3C3.582,3,3,3.582,3,4.3v15.4C3,20.418,3.582,21,4.3,21h15.4c0.718,0,1.3-0.582,1.3-1.3V4.3 C21,3.582,20.418,3,19.7,3z M8.339,18.338H5.667v-8.59h2.672V18.338z M7.004,8.574c-0.857,0-1.549-0.694-1.549-1.548 c0-0.855,0.691-1.548,1.549-1.548c0.854,0,1.547,0.694,1.547,1.548C8.551,7.881,7.858,8.574,7.004,8.574z M18.339,18.338h-2.669 v-4.177c0-0.996-0.017-2.278-1.387-2.278c-1.389,0-1.601,1.086-1.601,2.206v4.249h-2.667v-8.59h2.559v1.174h0.037 c0.356-0.675,1.227-1.387,2.526-1.387c2.703,0,3.203,1.779,3.203,4.092V18.338z\"></path></svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">LinkedIn</span></a></li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-bluesky  wp-block-social-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\" href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/weston.ruter.net/post/3lqkkjkaqc22q\"><svg height=\"24\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><path d=\"M6.3,4.2c2.3,1.7,4.8,5.3,5.7,7.2.9-1.9,3.4-5.4,5.7-7.2,1.7-1.3,4.3-2.2,4.3.9s-.4,5.2-.6,5.9c-.7,2.6-3.3,3.2-5.6,2.8,4,.7,5.1,3,2.9,5.3-5,5.2-6.7-2.8-6.7-2.8,0,0-1.7,8-6.7,2.8-2.2-2.3-1.2-4.6,2.9-5.3-2.3.4-4.9-.3-5.6-2.8-.2-.7-.6-5.3-.6-5.9,0-3.1,2.7-2.1,4.3-.9h0Z\"></path></svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Bluesky</span></a></li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-twitter  wp-block-social-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\" href=\"https://x.com/westonruter/status/1958777784282563018\"><svg height=\"24\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><path d=\"M22.23,5.924c-0.736,0.326-1.527,0.547-2.357,0.646c0.847-0.508,1.498-1.312,1.804-2.27 c-0.793,0.47-1.671,0.812-2.606,0.996C18.324,4.498,17.257,4,16.077,4c-2.266,0-4.103,1.837-4.103,4.103 c0,0.322,0.036,0.635,0.106,0.935C8.67,8.867,5.647,7.234,3.623,4.751C3.27,5.357,3.067,6.062,3.067,6.814 c0,1.424,0.724,2.679,1.825,3.415c-0.673-0.021-1.305-0.206-1.859-0.513c0,0.017,0,0.034,0,0.052c0,1.988,1.414,3.647,3.292,4.023 c-0.344,0.094-0.707,0.144-1.081,0.144c-0.264,0-0.521-0.026-0.772-0.074c0.522,1.63,2.038,2.816,3.833,2.85 c-1.404,1.1-3.174,1.756-5.096,1.756c-0.331,0-0.658-0.019-0.979-0.057c1.816,1.164,3.973,1.843,6.29,1.843 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4.25-.972l-.09-1.975s-1.945.613-4.129.539c-2.165-.074-4.449-.233-4.799-2.891a5.499 5.499 0 0 1-.048-.745s2.125.52 4.817.643c1.646.075 3.19-.097 4.758-.283 3.007-.359 5.625-2.212 5.954-3.905.517-2.665.475-6.507.475-6.507zm-4.024 6.709h-2.497V8.469c0-1.29-.543-1.944-1.628-1.944-1.2 0-1.802.776-1.802 2.312v3.349h-2.483v-3.35c0-1.536-.602-2.312-1.802-2.312-1.085 0-1.628.655-1.628 1.944v6.119H4.832V8.284c0-1.289.328-2.313.987-3.07.68-.758 1.569-1.146 2.674-1.146 1.278 0 2.246.491 2.886 1.474L12 6.585l.622-1.043c.64-.983 1.608-1.474 2.886-1.474 1.104 0 1.994.388 2.674 1.146.658.757.986 1.781.986 3.07v6.304z\"></svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Mastodon</span></a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https://weston.ruter.net/2025/08/21/web-performance-milestone/\">Web Performance Milestone</a> appeared first on <a href=\"https://weston.ruter.net\">Weston Ruter</a>.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 22 Aug 2025 06:13:20 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"Weston Ruter\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:15;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22:\"Matt: Coyote Card Game\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23:\"https://ma.tt/?p=148891\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:39:\"https://ma.tt/2025/08/coyote-card-game/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:267:\"<p>My good friend Tim Ferriss has launched a new card game with the Exploding Kittens folks, <a href=\"https://www.explodingkittens.com/products/coyote\">I just ordered it and you should do so too</a>. It&#8217;s a lovely way to share an evening with a few friends.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 20 Aug 2025 23:07:27 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"Matt\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:16;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"Aaron Jorbin: A WordPress Book Club\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://aaron.jorb.in/?p=238222\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:44:\"https://aaron.jorb.in/a-wordpress-book-club/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3373:\"<p>At a previous job, we had an engineering book club. Once a week we would meet and discuss a chapter of a book. It was a good opportunity to hear multiple perspectives on an author&#8217;s work, to see who agreed with the author and where people thought the author was off-base. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would like to bring this concept to WordPress, especially to fellow Core Contributors. For the first book, we will be reading <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/\">Producing Open Source Software</a> by Karl Fogel. This is a book that has greatly influenced my perspective on open source and software development in general.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The club will meet on Google Meet on Tuesdays at <a href=\"https://time.is/1500_in_UTC\">16:00 UTC</a> (edit: This was originally 15:00 UTC. Moving to not conflict with recurring meetings of multiple WordPress teams) for one hour with the following schedule:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2 September 2025: <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/en/preface.html\">Preface</a> and <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/en/introduction.html\">Chapter 1. Introduction</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>9 September 2025: <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/en/getting-started.html\">Chapter 2. Getting Started</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>16 September 2025: <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/en/technical-infrastructure.html\">Chapter 3. Technical Infrastructure</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>23 September 2025: <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/en/social-infrastructure.html\">Chapter 4. Social and Political Infrastructure</a> and <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/en/money.html\">Chapter 5. Organizations and Money: Businesses, Non-Profits, and Governments</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>30 September 2025: <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/en/communications.html\">Chapter 6. Communications</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>7 October 2025: <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/en/development-cycle.html\">Chapter 7. Packaging, Releasing, and Daily Development</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>14 October 2025: <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/en/managing-participants.html\">Chapter 8. Managing Participants</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li>21 October 2025: <a href=\"https://producingoss.com/en/legal.html\">Chapter 9. Legal Matters: Licenses, Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>While not an official WordPress event, the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/handbook/community-code-of-conduct/#our-expectations\">expectations from the WordPress Community Code of Conduct</a> will apply and at my sole discretion, violations may result in individuals not being invited to continue. Additionally, participants are also encouraged to blog their thoughts on each chapter. </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you are interested, please leave a comment on this post</strong>. I will be getting in touch with respondents. If there is an overwhelming interest, I may need to restrict attendees or run a second meeting. </p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><em>Props to <a href=\"https://jonathandesrosiers.com/\">Jonathan Desrosiers</a> and <a href=\"https://tammielister.com/\">Tammie Lister</a> for discussing this idea with me, <a href=\"https://pattiereaves.com/\">Pattie Reaves</a> for starting the club at PMC and the <a href=\"https://www.pmc.com/\">PMC</a> PEP team who ran the club I was a part of. </em></p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https://aaron.jorb.in/a-wordpress-book-club/\">A WordPress Book Club</a> appeared first on <a href=\"https://aaron.jorb.in\">Aaron Jorbin</a>.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 20 Aug 2025 19:36:36 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"jorbin\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:17;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:91:\"WPTavern: #182 – Michelle Frechette and Jonathan Desrosiers on the story of .com and .org\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:48:\"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=198972\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:103:\"https://wptavern.com/podcast/182-michelle-frechette-and-jonathan-desrosiers-on-the-story-of-com-and-org\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:57925:\"<details>Transcript<div>\n<p>[00:00:19] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Welcome to the Jukebox podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress. The people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case the long complex story of how WordPress came to have a.com and.org variety.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;d like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast player of choice, or by going to wptavern.com/feed/podcast, and you can copy and paste that URL into most podcast players.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a topic that you&#8217;d like us to feature on the podcast, I&#8217;m keen to hear from you and hopefully get you, or your idea, featured on the show. Head to wptavern.com/contact/jukebox, and use the form there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So on the podcast today, we have Michelle Frechette and Jonathan Desrosiers. Michelle is well known in the WordPress community for her myriad roles, including Executive Director of Post Status, and program director for WP Includes. She&#8217;s a prolific freelancer, podcaster, and a driving force behind many WordPress initiatives.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jonathan is a WordPress Core committer, contributing to the project since 2013, and has been sponsored by Bluehost to work on WordPress Core since 2018. His work largely takes place behind the scenes supporting contributors, maintaining build tools, and keeping WordPress running smoothly for millions of users.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve ever searched for WordPress online, you&#8217;ve probably found both wordpress.com and wordpress.org at the top of your results, and like many, you might be unsure what really separates the two.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, Michelle and Jonathan helped clear up the history, philosophy, and practical differences between wordpress.com and wordpress.org.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They talk about how these two flavors of WordPress came to be, why they&#8217;ve both been key to WordPress&#8217;s growth and the ways they overlap and differ in features, user experience, and monetization.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michelle shares her perspectives as a longtime user and advocate, with experience across both.com and.org sites. While Jonathan dives into the technical and historical details from his Core contributor vantage point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also explore whether the naming conventions of .com and.org have helped or hindered the project, and how the WordPress communities open source ethos shapes the ongoing conversation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along the way, they touch on how .com made WordPress accessible in the early days, the importance of data portability, and evolving efforts to unify the user experience between the two platforms.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve ever wondered which version of WordPress is right for you, why the projects seems split into two variants, or how community and commerce intertwine in the WordPress ecosystem, this episode is for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested in finding out more, you can find all of the links in the show notes by heading to wptavern.com/podcast, where you&#8217;ll find all the other episodes as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so without further delay, I bring you Michelle Frechette and Jonathan Desrosiers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am joined on the podcast by two guests today. I&#8217;m joined by Michelle Frechette and Jonathan Desrosiers. Hello.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:48] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> Hello.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:48] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Hi, how&#8217;s it going?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:49] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, good thank you. We&#8217;re going to talk today a little bit about a subject, which I confess confuses me greatly. It&#8217;s the differences, the similarities between WordPresses variance, .com and.org.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before we get into that, I know it&#8217;s a terribly generic thing to do, but nevertheless, we&#8217;re going to do it anyway because we have a new audience member each time this podcast airs. So I&#8217;m going to ask you both to give us your little potted bio. Tell us who you are. So let&#8217;s start with Michelle.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:14] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> Hi, I am Michelle Frechette. I do a lot of freelancing type work in WordPress, and I also am the Executive Director of Post Status, and the Program Director for WP Includes. I have a couple podcasts, a couple different things that I do, lots of different projects I&#8217;ve started, none of which are relevant today.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:31] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Hi, I am Jonathan Desrosiers. I am a WordPress Core committer since 2018. I&#8217;ve been contributing to the project in some way since 2013, and I am partially sponsored by Bluehost to be a contributor to the project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so for me, a lot of that results in, some people call it invisible work, but I&#8217;m behind the scenes just making sure people are supported properly, they have the resources they need, they&#8217;re not blocked.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also do a lot with our build tools. So making sure our tests keep running and our different build processes to build the software that&#8217;s eventually shipped to the world is working in order. Yeah, you&#8217;ll find me a little bit everywhere. I&#8217;m a generalist. I have my hands in a lot of different things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:13] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Well, thank you both for joining me and also for giving us your credentials there. That&#8217;s great. So we&#8217;re going to get into this strange topic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, I just carried out a typical search. I went onto a search engine. It wasn&#8217;t Google, by the way, but nevertheless, I went to a search engine, and I typed in one word, and that word was WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I&#8217;m now confronted by a result at the top, which says wordpress.com. That came in at number one. The second result for me was wordpress.org. And I&#8217;ll just give you the headlines. It says wordpress.com, this is the first result, wordpress.com, everything you need to build your website. And then the second result, download wordpress.org.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And both of you know the difference. I know the difference, on a very high level, I understand the difference, but when we get into the weeds, I quickly start to misunderstand what the difference is. But they are different. These two things are radically different in their intention, in the relationship they have with their users, the way that they&#8217;re monetised, and so on and so forth.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So let&#8217;s, first of all, just clear that up. Let&#8217;s rewind the clock, if you like. How did this all start? What&#8217;s the history of wordpress.com and wordpress.org. And then we can get into what the heck they are and how they&#8217;re different a bit later. So, I don&#8217;t know who wants to answer that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:06:28] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> I&#8217;ll give a quick start. Then I&#8217;m going to let Jonathan get into the more technical aspects of things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in the nineties, blogging became a thing, and lots of people were establishing blogs online through things like Blogger, Blogspot and all those things. And then WordPress was one of the blogging platforms that you could create your blog on. All of them were free. I think I still have a Blogspot out there somewhere with really angsty poetry on it. So if you ever really want to find that out, sure, I could send you a link. But the idea was that, you know, you could get online and you could do the blogging things with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then it was like, well, is it just for blogging or could it be used for other things? And so there are still people today that when you say, oh, I could build you a WordPress website, say, isn&#8217;t that just a blog? And to which I say, look at all of these websites that are built on, like the White House and NASA and all of these other things that are not just blogging, and are building their websites on WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that&#8217;s different necessarily from wordpress.com where I do have a blog, right? I actually, it&#8217;s actually a website, wptrailbuddies.wordpress.com. I&#8217;m using the free .com to create a very quick, very simple, very easy way for people to sign up for one program.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I also have several websites built on the .org idea, right, which is self-hosted. Find a host, download the software, or have the one button install, which is much more common now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then also I have a paid plan on wordpress.com as well, which takes away any ad space, and also allows me to have plugins and themes within that website.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that&#8217;s what I know at the surface level, what are the differences. I know that Jonathan knows much more about the software itself.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:08:13] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, I think you&#8217;ve highlighted some of the top level items, so we&#8217;ll circle back to those in a moment. But first, let&#8217;s get Jonathan&#8217;s take on that. So it&#8217;s the history question, really. What&#8217;s the history of these two different things?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:08:24] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Yeah, so WordPress started as a project in 2003, and it&#8217;s what we call a fork. And so you probably know if you listen to this, that WordPress is open source software. And basically that means, it&#8217;s licensed under the GPL, and you have the right to download it, make modifications, see how it works. We distribute, all those things are your right to do with the software that is published.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so it was forked from a project called b2 where a couple people were not really happy with the development that was happening on that, bugs weren&#8217;t being fixed to their liking, and so they decided to fork it. And so that was Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little. And that was in 2003, and they called it WordPress. And so that was the beginning of the WordPress project that we know today that is now over 22 years old.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years later, Automattic just turned 20 years old, so in 2005, Matt Mullenweg, one of the co-creators of WordPress, co-founders of WordPress, decided to create a company. And so he created a company called Automattic. And the company&#8217;s bread and butter was obviously WordPress, because he knew it very well. And so that&#8217;s how wordpress.com came about.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And in many ways it was the first true managed WordPress hosting platform, because you could sign up, you could get a blog for free, and you still can, and your URL will be, you know, nathanssite.wordpress.com, or johnssite.wordpress.com. And you can pay for additional things such as, the subscription plans allow you to have a custom domain name, and that&#8217;s evolved. The features that you can pay for has evolved significantly over the years.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But along with this is the WordPress software that I mentioned earlier. And so the WordPress software is available for anyone to download and run, as I mentioned. And Automattic has a hosting setup that runs the open source software. And so many of the hosts that you have today, you all run that same software at the core of it, and it&#8217;s just a matter of what services are surrounded with it. What do they allow you to do within their environment? And how they support you in your journey to have an online presence.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:10:36] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So the .com side of things was a very early move. So really, more or less as, I mean we&#8217;re into sort of the 20 plus years of history of WordPress, but right back near the beginning it was made easier to install. And nowadays, if you go to more or less any host that&#8217;s got any association with WordPress, they will offer some kind of one click solution, which makes it trivially easy, within a couple of moments, really, and a few buttons, you&#8217;ll have a version of WordPress. And I&#8217;m talking there about the .org side of things. So you&#8217;ll have a .org install of WordPress. Really straightforward.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, if you rewind the clock right back to the beginning when .com started, I&#8217;m guessing it was a much more painful process. There weren&#8217;t these managed hosts where you could do that, and so it made sense, I guess, into the market to put something where you didn&#8217;t need to install anything. You simply sign up, create an account, be it free or paid, we&#8217;ll get into that in a moment as well, and you&#8217;ve got yourself the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I guess that&#8217;s an important part to remember. It was much more difficult back then to do the .org thing than it is now. So many tools now making it relatively straightforward. I guess that&#8217;s a part of the success of .com, that it was just the first mover made it more straightforward.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:51] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> The WordPress project has several philosophies that we use to guide our decisions and how we choose what makes it into the software and what shape that takes. And some of those, for example, are design for the majority, decisions not options, clean, lean, and mean, striving for simplicity, out of the box software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so you see this in the setup process in the five minute install. We really aim to make the installation as simple as possible for the software itself. But that doesn&#8217;t mean the surrounding database set up and server set up and uploading, getting the files on the server, doesn&#8217;t mean that that&#8217;s easy as a part of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so WordPress could be two clicks to install. Could be really simple, email and password and installs it for you, but it doesn&#8217;t really, can only contribute so much to that cohesive experience, that all encompassing experience of what a website is, of what hosting is.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:42] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> I think back to, again, the early days of blogging where that was the goal. You could change the colors behind it, you were limited to the theming that was provided with whatever platform you were choosing from. And the way that we&#8217;ve grown from just like, here are your five options, kind of like a MySpace idea, right? You&#8217;re kind of limited with what you could do back in those days as well, to where you can do a lot more now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so even with .com, with the free plan, you have a lot more options than you did 20 years ago, 23 years ago. And if you upgrade to a business plan, then you have all the options basically that you have with the install, the .org install for yourself, self-hosted.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the things I love about it is that I don&#8217;t have to worry about security, I don&#8217;t have to worry about traffic, and I don&#8217;t have to worry about upgrades. I don&#8217;t get a message that my PHP version is outdated. On some other sites where I&#8217;m self-hosting, I have to make sure that everything&#8217;s up to date all the time. With the .com. It&#8217;s one of those things that I don&#8217;t have to do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so for me, that is one of the benefits. Of course, I have only one site there, but I&#8217;m loving the fact I can walk away from it and not be having to check it on a regular basis. And I think that&#8217;s one of the beautiful things for people who are not tech savvy, because they can get in and do the things like they would in one of the competitors.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:13:57] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So a lot of this conversation is going to be done through the prism of history, you know, and decisions that were made which now perhaps people have got opinions about, maybe they think poor decisions were made, or brilliant decisions were made, they were made at a different time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I&#8217;m going to allude to what I said right at the top of this episode, which was that if you do a Google search, for just simply for the word WordPress, and that probably is the word that you&#8217;ve heard. You probably have no familiarity with whatever WordPress is. You just, somebody told you, you know, you were in a bar somewhere and somebody said, oh, you want a website? WordPress can do that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you end up at a search engine and in it goes, WordPress, and up come these slightly conflicting things. And I guess that&#8217;s maybe where some problems for end users begin. We&#8217;re in the inside of it all, so we&#8217;ve totally got a grip on this. We might not understand the intricacies of all of the bits and pieces, but we understand what .com is and we understand the difference.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a question you don&#8217;t have to answer in a binary way. It doesn&#8217;t have to be a yes or a no. But, do you think with the benefit of hindsight, it would&#8217;ve been a good idea to call these different versions different things? So for example, WordPress could have been the .com or the .org, and it would&#8217;ve had a different name for something else. And that&#8217;s purely from a, keeping it obvious what the two different things are. So again, you can obfuscate or you know, dodge that question if you like.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:15:18] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> I&#8217;m reminded of George Foreman, whose children are all named George.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:15:23] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Most confusing household ever. Without getting into the nuances of the agreements and all, how the permissions work, Automattic just has special permission to use the WordPress trademark. And so that&#8217;s why it&#8217;s called wordpress.com and wordpress.org. And while there are some, there is some confusion that comes from that. In many ways, it also has contributed to the success of the project, because in the early days, it was very easy to get a site spun up on WordPress, on wordpress.com, and people started using WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so there are definitely people out there that solely started using WordPress because they got to wordpress.com and they were able to get a site. And now more and more hosting companies are much more capable, and we all have our own, like I said, I work at Bluehost, so for example, we have our own special sauce of onboarding, where we ask you a couple questions and we help you. We find that the thing people struggle with a lot is where to start.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You get dumped into WordPress, right? And you don&#8217;t know where to start. What do I need on my site? What do I make it look like? What do I need to do? And so using these onboarding questions to produce a starting point for you, that&#8217;s contextual to what you&#8217;re trying to do. And so that&#8217;s one of the things that we take pride in is our onboarding process that we&#8217;re working on and is available if you want to try it out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But all that to say is that, you know, in the early days it was definitely a benefit. And now as the project has grown to over 40% of the internet, that confusion gets magnified in some ways. And a lot of times that takes the form of, as you said, Googling and finding conflicting resources as people not accurately describing the differences.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We get a lot of tickets on Trac, which is the bug tracking software for WordPress, for the software itself, that incorrectly is saying there&#8217;s a bug, but it&#8217;s actually intended behavior, but it&#8217;s on .com and not in the .org software. The support forums are full of people that are not sure of the difference.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so it&#8217;s just important as community members that we keep this in mind, that it&#8217;s not always easy to understand, but a lot of times people just need a push in the right direction. And in some ways it returns to our philosophies of making it simple because the majority of WordPress users are not technically minded and so they probably don&#8217;t care about the difference, right? They just want their WordPress site. I have a site, I need it up, I need it to not go down. I need customers. And so keeping that lens in mind as well is helpful to get through this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:40] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> It is kind of interesting, I&#8217;ve been using the internet more or less from the beginning and although these boundaries have got really blurred, back in the day, anything which ended .org had a real kind of community, charity, non-profit kind of focus to it. I don&#8217;t know if you both remember that as well, but anything ended .org, it felt like there was a philanthropic purpose to it. And anything which was .com, that wasn&#8217;t the case.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:11] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> It was commerce.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:12] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Commercial. Yeah, it for commercial.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:13] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, there go. So commercial, company, along those lines. And I don&#8217;t know when that was, but that just ceased to be a thing at some point. But back when .com began, naming it .org maybe was a bigger signpost than it now appears to be, if you know what I mean. Oh, look, it&#8217;s WordPress, it&#8217;s .org. It speaks for itself. It&#8217;s a philanthropic version or what have you. And that is maybe a part of the jigsaw puzzle.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And again, rewinding history, when the split happened between.com and .org, I&#8217;m presuming that nobody had any intuition that any of this was going to be successful in any way, shape, or form. .com, you know, the commercial wing could have been an absolute failure. The whole project could have collapsed within a couple of years. . org, again, nobody took any interest in it. It just didn&#8217;t work out. And it became, well, another b2, the annals of history. And it didn&#8217;t work out that way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I guess once you&#8217;ve started down the path, you are going to stick with it. There would be no point 3 years in in saying, you know what? Everybody&#8217;s confused about .com, .org, we should upend the whole thing. I guess that&#8217;s off the table a bit at that point as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:20] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> Well, I think that the generic web user who&#8217;s not a techie still doesn&#8217;t necessarily have an idea that the .org and .com were originally intended for different audiences, right? So I think that, I mean there are, definitely are some savvy people who understand that, but I think that the majority of people still, it doesn&#8217;t matter if it&#8217;s a .io, we have so many extensions now that I think it&#8217;s kind of blurred what those actually mean. And if you actually go to register a .org, it&#8217;ll say, do you want the .com and the dot net, and the dot whatever else too? So that you&#8217;re kind of getting all of your traffic driven to the same place.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think that that is something that, yes, we understand that now. And I think that we would&#8217;ve always understood that, the three of us, but I don&#8217;t know that that was such a huge distinction back in the day.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also think that it was one of those things where, you know, you have light versions of something or, you know, you have free versions of other things in life that aren&#8217;t software related that you can upgrade to or that, you know, free gifts with purchase.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I think the idea of, you could have this free one, or you can upgrade to these other things, or you could take it and run with it and do it your own thing, I think is something that made sense at the beginning, but again, can be slightly confusing now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because I do see people come to my meetup and they&#8217;re asking questions, and we all try to troubleshoot. We get them to log in, and we&#8217;re like, oh, okay, now I see, you&#8217;re using the free version, so you don&#8217;t have the ability to add this plugin or change your theme this way, or use CSS, you know, and those kinds of things, as you can with the paid version or with the self-hosted. And so I think that there is an opportunity for us to make that distinction in different places.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I will say one of the benefits, however, even if you start on the free .com, you can upgrade to paid and get that, or you can port that over to your own self-hosted as well. Other competitors don&#8217;t necessarily let you, like take your whole version of your website that you&#8217;ve built on their platform and bring it into a self-hosted situation like WordPress can.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so even if you made the decision to go with wordpress.com, and halfway through a build, or a year later, realise that you really wish you had done something different, we make it easy for you to be able to take that and move it someplace else, like Bluehost or you know, SiteGround or other places like that. So we make it easy for you. We&#8217;re not trying to shove you into one box and make you stay there and say look at all those people over there doing things you wish you could do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:43] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Yeah, I think that the underlying motivations was just fueled by the open source ideals, and the software belongs to the people and not so much specific companies or corporations. And so by putting it in .org, it was just more about being open and available and for the community, right?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt and Mike, when they forked b2, the intention was to get more people to work on it with them, right? And ensure that the software that they were running their website with survived and continued to grow and didn&#8217;t have bugs. And so I think that that was just part of the motivation where, I just looked it up, and the .org domains were intended to only be used by organisations. And it seems like the intention was to require documentation at some point, but it was never enforced.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, when I got, in the late two thousands when I got involved, there was always the perception in my mind that you had to be an organisation to get one of those right? But that&#8217;s not actually the case. At least my early perception was that I needed it in order to do that. And so I wonder if that persists with other people as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I think that what Michelle also said resonates well is that, you know, no matter where you WordPress, you&#8217;re going to be able to take your site with you and go somewhere else. And that&#8217;s what makes WordPress great. And maybe you&#8217;re not even taking your site somewhere else, maybe you&#8217;re just taking out your content and, I don&#8217;t know, maybe feeding it into AI, or creating a book of all your posts, like a historical reference or something.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:07] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> I did that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:07] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> That sounds kind of cool actually, yeah. And so being able to take your content with you and you are the true owner of your content, and you have the rights to it, is not something that&#8217;s true for other platforms. You know, not to name names, but there&#8217;s a lot of other website platforms where it&#8217;s difficult to impossible to extract out your content if you need to move somewhere else.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:27] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> It&#8217;s a lot of copy, paste at that point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:29] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Yeah, or like finding someone that knows how to create a browser extension, or a scraper or something like that. And so that&#8217;s always something that I tell someone looking to get started with a website where, you know, it might be easier to get started with this other service now, and it might be okay with your needs now, but if you outgrow that website or that service, it&#8217;s more difficult to bring it elsewhere later.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;re working on different ways with the data liberation initiative where we&#8217;re looking at ways to make our data more portable from other platforms to other platforms. And so I really feel strongly about that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like, that&#8217;s the strongest point, one of the strongest points of WordPress is that you own your content, you control it, there&#8217;s no algorithm changes, you know, on Facebook where all of a sudden people aren&#8217;t seeing your content. They change a feature, right? People can&#8217;t react a certain way to your content anymore, and it affects your traffic to your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I always strongly emphasise that to people, because people don&#8217;t think about that. They think I just need a website, right? But they don&#8217;t think about, what happens if I need to make changes and this software doesn&#8217;t work, or this service doesn&#8217;t help me anymore?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:36] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> We&#8217;ve definitely moved as a community, and by community I don&#8217;t mean the WordPress community, I mean the community of online users. We&#8217;ve definitely moved towards more gatekeeping and siloed consent repositories. You know, you think of things like social media, and essentially anything where there&#8217;s a, you know, a username and a password and a paywall. We seem to be more at peace with that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that brings me to the next thing actually. And I&#8217;m sorry if this comment lands badly, dear listener, but I think there is something quite curious about our community. I think we are full of people who are very well intentioned, who have extremely benevolent motives, and often, I think, regard commercial things sometimes as something to be viewed with a little bit of suspicion. I don&#8217;t know if you&#8217;ve detected this kind of thing as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of those things are things which drew me in. They didn&#8217;t alienate me. They were exactly the kind of people that I wanted to be around. But I do wonder if WordPress&#8217; history, so the .com, .org history over the last, let&#8217;s say 15 years or so, I do wonder if the flavor, the colour of the community, if you like, that we&#8217;ve got meant that we were going to have problems about this .com, .org split.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because on the one side, fierce, fierce open source advocacy people. You must own your own content. You&#8217;ve got to be able to download the software. This is terribly important, you want to be able to fork it at a moment&#8217;s notice.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then on the other hand, a bunch of people are, well, that&#8217;s great you do that, but I&#8217;m happy over here. I&#8217;ll pay my fee for the premium version of wordpress.com. That&#8217;s fine with me. I&#8217;m okay with that. I don&#8217;t need all the bells and whistles that you seem to have. I don&#8217;t need it to be this version and that version. I don&#8217;t need this plugin or that thing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I do wonder if the community that we&#8217;ve got is a part of that. In the mix somewhere is just what we&#8217;ve got. The people that are drawn to open source are going to view the .com side of things with a little bit of suspicion, and maybe see that, you know, that&#8217;s something which, gosh, we should not have that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:46] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> The only thing I&#8217;d challenge you on there is that I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s fair to say that people on the .com side don&#8217;t also care about the open source ideals. I think that many of them, if not all of them, do care about the underlying principles there. I think that, you always hear, you have to look after your own, right? You have to make sure you can pay your bills and you have a business and you. I&#8217;m US based, the American dream, right? Of creating a business and growing that into something sizable that can help people and benefit many.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so that&#8217;s my only pushback there is that they do. It&#8217;s not a binary thing. It&#8217;s definitely an overlap. And I like to think that there&#8217;s more overlap than we think. And that might be a little naive, but I do tend to think that it overlaps pretty heavily in that section there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:27:29] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I think you are right, and I think what you&#8217;ve done there is uncovered the poor way that I phrased what I was saying. I think when I was trying to describe that I was, although I didn&#8217;t say it, I was trying to describe things from the .org point of view only. And so the nature of that community is fiercely protective of the open source values there and what have you. So yeah, you&#8217;re quite right. It felt, with a bit of hindsight, it felt like that question was coming from both sides and it really wasn&#8217;t. So thank you for picking me up on that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:01] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> It&#8217;s normal to be skeptical of other people, right? Especially when you see all these horror stories of this big business, you know, draining these businesses out there that are draining money out of everybody and raising prices and profits are through the roof, right? So it&#8217;s normal to have this skepticism towards commercial entities, and that they&#8217;re trying to do the right things and things of that nature.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But to that, I just say to look at how the company and the space is contributing back and how they are ensuring that they do get their fair share of the WordPress pie, that is billions of dollars, on the last publishing that I saw, last report that I saw. But also making sure that that ecosystem is still strong, and supportive of everybody in the pool. To make sure that we can all compete to, you know, there&#8217;s definitely competition. We&#8217;re all going to compete together to make sure we&#8217;re trying to get more of the pie, right? And try to prove that our service or our products are the best.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, yeah, so I think a little level of skepticism is healthy. You always hear, assume good intent. I think that&#8217;s very important, and to obviously judge people by their actions and what they do to help grow that open source community while they&#8217;re living in that .com commercial space.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I don&#8217;t know, Michelle, if you have anything to add there. You probably have a different lens as the non-developer background.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:19] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> Definitely the non-developer background here. So you used the word community when you talked about that when you first started the question, and I think we have to think about the fact that the community, although it does encompass both .com users and anybody who&#8217;s self-hosted through .org. It really is the lion&#8217;s share of that community comes from that self-hosted .org side. Comes from the people who go to Meetups. Comes from the people who attend WordCamps. And most importantly, it comes from the people who contribute to the ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether that&#8217;s by volunteering through the .org and Make WordPress, whether that&#8217;s selling a product, or having a podcast or any of the things, a newsletter, any of the things that contribute to the success of WordPress overall, it applies across the board. But when you look at all of the volunteerism, and all of the unsponsored people, and even sponsored people who are creating, right? So Jonathan is a developer, he&#8217;s in the weeds with it. He&#8217;s got a sense of pride with what the community creates for each other.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And when you have a sense of pride in what you do, you have a loyalty to that as well. And so we are part of a group of people, a huge group of people, a multimillion group of people worldwide who are this .org community with some .com community peppered in. So of course there&#8217;s going to be skew, one direction versus the other.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s necessarily derision. That I don&#8217;t think people like necessarily look at .com and go, ugh, what do they say? The redheaded stepchild of, you know, .org or whatever. I think it&#8217;s more along the lines of, we know this, we use this. We want other people to use this too. This is our community and this is what we&#8217;ve built this community around.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I think that democratising publishing is used by both, right? So if you look at .org and .com, we talk about democratising publishing. And the free .com allows people in incredibly socioeconomically depressed areas, and who have very little side income to be able to start a website. The ability to do that, whether it&#8217;s a website to talk about a service that they offer. Whether it&#8217;s a website just to blog. Whether they&#8217;re trying to monetize or not, there&#8217;s opportunities for people around the world to create a free, absolutely free website on .com.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And have it say, you know, michellefrechette.wordpress.com, because that&#8217;s what I could afford at the time. And then when I can, I either upgrade to paid, or I port that over to a self-hosted situation. So I think that both of them really have an amazing place in our ecosystem, but we tend not to see that when we sit squarely in one side or the other.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:32:02] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Do you know? That&#8217;s a really interesting point, and one I cannot believe I&#8217;ve never thought about that. Over all these many years of thinking about WordPress and all of its different flavors and things, wordpress.org carries the word free around with it in my head. I&#8217;m thinking wordpress.org, free. I&#8217;m struggling to imagine a scenario where it is entirely free to deploy.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:32:25] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> I used to say WordPress is free like a free puppy. A free puppy, you still have to take to the vet, and buy food, and get their nails trimmed, and buy the leash, and all of the things that go along with a free puppy. WordPress.org is like that. It&#8217;s a free puppy. You still have to pay for hosting and pay for themes, and I mean, you couldn&#8217;t do it fairly inexpensively, but not a hundred percent free.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:32:44] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> I was just going to add in, likewise, it&#8217;s not free to get to the point where it&#8217;s published. And another thing that you brought up, Michelle, that made me think is, I mentioned about judging companies based on how they contribute and the ideals they follow. But that also is true for the individuals that spend their personal time, or self sponsor, to contribute to the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so they are not looking, most likely, not looking for your business. They may be if they&#8217;re a freelancer type thing. But in most cases they&#8217;re looking for just recognition, or maybe a job, or maybe sponsorship, so that they could continue to help the software grow.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so there&#8217;s multiple lenses to that commercial side of things, right? Where we talked about .org versus .com, and commercial versus, open source. But within that, there&#8217;s also other layers of that as well where you&#8217;re contributing to make sure the software grows, so that your company continues to do good. But also maybe you just really enjoy the software and believe in it and want to contribute on your own to ensure that that same thing happens.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:33:46] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, interesting. I&#8217;m just going to finish off my thought from previously there. So the free to download bit, I think where I was going with that was that there&#8217;s a minimum of hosting. In order to get that free version of the software, the zip file that you download. In order to make it meaningful, you&#8217;ve got to at least do the hosting. The other bit, well, I suppose you could host it on your own computer, but good luck with that if you&#8217;re a newbie.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:34:09] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> I challenge that too, not necessarily, right? Like a website is only as good as who can access it, if they find what they&#8217;re looking for. But you could very easily just run WordPress on a Raspberry Pie somewhere in your basement that, you know, you use it to send requests to, to turn on your lights or something like that, or sync up your garage door. You know, you could theoretically use WordPress to do all these types of things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I would also challenge you to think outside the box a little bit on that. I&#8217;m not saying it&#8217;s a good idea and I&#8217;m not saying I might grunt at you when you come with your really weird obscure edge case in Trac, but that&#8217;s part of the great thing about WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:34:45] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> But it&#8217;s possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:34:46] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> You can use WordPress in many different ways, with many different combinations of plugins and themes. And that makes WordPress great, but it also makes it incredibly difficult to maintain and ensure that backwards compatibility, which is one of our main pillars, is sustained release to release.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:35:02] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> It&#8217;s fascinating. Yeah, what insight that was. That&#8217;s remarkable.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The commercial side, so the .com side where you&#8217;re paying a subscription if you want the different tiers and the abilities that you get for doing that, I don&#8217;t know if any of this data is available, whether it&#8217;s been published, whether it&#8217;s easy to access, I&#8217;m not sure. But I&#8217;m guessing that there is some through line between the profitability of the .com business side of things, and the open source project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We all know that many, many, many volunteers contribute to .org in every conceivable way. Whether that&#8217;s to the code, to events, to whatever it may be. But I&#8217;m imagining there is some connection. Maybe it&#8217;s attenuating a little bit more now. Maybe it was more in the past than it is now. But I&#8217;m imagining that there is a connection between sales, unit sales of the .com out into the open world, and people being paid, seconded, and what have you, to work on the .org side.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I actually don&#8217;t know if there&#8217;s any truth in that, if there&#8217;s anything there, but I&#8217;m imagining there is. If the .com business pays for the .org side to be as successful as it is essentially is what I&#8217;m trying to say.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:36:18] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Yeah, I mean, historically Automattic has been the most sizable contributor to the project. There&#8217;s something called the Five for the Future Project, which is basically a challenge to companies, or individuals, making a living on WordPress to contribute 5% of their time back to the project. It&#8217;s a great initiative. That&#8217;s something that I was hired to participate in, so I&#8217;m very thankful for that because I&#8217;m able to have employment to work on open source software because of it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there are some flaws with it in that 5% isn&#8217;t right for everyone. It&#8217;s a goal, right? It&#8217;s, I&#8217;ve talked about this at WordCamps in the past, but time is not necessarily a good measure because it doesn&#8217;t measure the impact you have, or the productivity, or the efficiency that you have, right? So you could spend one hour working on this one bug fix that could fix screen reader software for millions of people accessing sites across the world. That&#8217;s very meaningful and that has a very strong impact. But that&#8217;s very hard to measure. And hours is certainly not the way that you can measure that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it&#8217;s a good idea. I like that a lot of people rallied behind that, and that it&#8217;s a very strong program. There&#8217;s a lot of participants. I&#8217;m looking forward to the next iteration of that, which a lot of community members are discussing and, you know, I&#8217;m sure leadership is always thinking about that as well. Like, how can we improve this and encourage more people to contribute and give back?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I guess all that to say that, you know, I guess .com and Automattic have contributed a sizable amount to the project over its history, and many other companies as well have historically contributed a lot back too.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:37:53] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So another thing that I wanted to discuss, which we haven&#8217;t discussed so far is the sort of different feature set that you get, and the evolution of that over time. So if I was to get a .com site back, I don&#8217;t know, 12 years ago, the things that I could do with that would be different to what I can do now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Obviously with the .org side, all bets are off. You can do what you wish with that. It&#8217;s yours. You can do anything you like. But on the .com side, it was limited in certain ways. The software was designed presumably to facilitate whatever it was that their agenda items were, whether that was profitability, growth, simplicity to use, whatever those metrics were.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where are we at at the moment? Because it kind of feels like the two are coalescing, especially from a UI point of view. It feels like there&#8217;s moves at the moment to make the .com side be brought in line with the .org side. So the .org UI it feels like is going to be made available or pushed into the .com side.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that kind of feels curious to me. It always felt that the UI was a big differentiator, like, you know, it looks different, you can immediately see that&#8217;s a .com website. Maybe in the future it won&#8217;t be. So let&#8217;s just talk around that. What are the differences in what you can do with the platforms? And then maybe we can get onto the UI and the UX.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:39:08] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> So the free .com versus the upgraded paid plans have very different things that you can do within them. And then the paid plans are almost identical to what you can do with self-hosted. And so the difference really is you&#8217;re looking at the free plan versus any upgraded paid plan.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And with the free plan, you&#8217;re very limited into plugins and themes. There are very few that you can choose from. There&#8217;s more now than there were 10 or 15 years ago for sure. And I think my experience with logging into a free .com site looks different now than it did 10 or 12 years ago as well. But it still looks different than it does on a self-hosted WordPress installation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That does change with an upgrade plan, because now you have a lot more features that you can add, you can bring in plugins, you can change a lot of the way that things look through CSS or through customisation. And so, yes, I think that the paid plan and the self-hosted are very much in sync with one another.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the free plan still looks, to me at least, a lot different. And when I tried to add CSS to what it said, oh, you need to upgrade to do that, which I understand, right? So if they gave away everything, then there would be no money coming into the company to be able to operate and to pay the employees that actually work at Automattic. So yeah, I think there is still a difference. And I know that Jonathan probably knows a lot more about the technical differences than I do, but that&#8217;s my experiential difference.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:40:38] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Well, one interesting fact is that wordpress.com is just one multi-site. So when you create a site, it&#8217;s just all in the same instance of WordPress. You just have your own space on that install.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:40:48] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> That is truly remarkable by the way. That is a quite numbing thought when you actually ponder that for a moment.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:40:54] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> For anyone that&#8217;s worked with multi-site, you know how challenging it is to have 10 sites, nevermind millions of sites. So it&#8217;s definitely impressive and interesting.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;d also add that, you know, Michelle has talked a lot about more the personal style plans, right? Where we mentioned you get a free site if you have your site at nathan.wordpress.com. You can pay, you know, to get a domain, like I mentioned is the next plan. And then you can pay for more things like different plugins and different backups, whatever the features are that they offer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But after you get past that, there&#8217;s additional tiers for people like agencies. There&#8217;s very, very high level, reliable hosting for companies that run Fortune 500 companies, Fortune 10 companies, whatever it is that they need more handholding. They need you to help them with engineering maybe with their team. There&#8217;s tiers all the way up to that level at Automattic. And I think it&#8217;s fair to say that any, you know, they have plans that compete with any different tier that may be out there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s e-commerce plans and all of that. And, you know, at Bluehost we have e-commerce plans. We have managed plans just like they do. And like I said, before, we&#8217;re all trying to have our special sauce to make our home the best place to WordPress and for you to come and want to set up your site and make a living on us.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:42:09] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So then back to the question of the, what feels like an endeavor to make the .com look a lot like the .org. Now that was something that I caught sight of not that long ago. It was probably, maybe, I want to say about eight weeks ago, something like that. I don&#8217;t know if either of you caught that piece of news, and whether or not that&#8217;s in fact moving forward. But the idea is to make a default version of .org basically identical in terms of look and feel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I found that curious. I wondered what the intention was there. Was it purely just to have, I don&#8217;t know, one base of software that could be relied upon for both, or whether it was to make it easier to do a migration in either direction? I don&#8217;t know. So, I don&#8217;t know if either of you do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:42:48] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> So a little, I guess a little history is that wordpress.com used to use the same dashboard as .org. And a while ago there was a project called Calypso, and that is basically the dashboard that you know probably from the last five years or so. And I can&#8217;t confirm this, but I believe that it was an exploration on what the dashboard, what a new WordPress dashboard could be. And I think that they&#8217;ve realised that having your own dashboard that&#8217;s different than .org is not really the best path.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And there&#8217;s a few reasons for that. One is that we mentioned you have millions of sites on .com, right? That&#8217;s all very valuable feedback from using the software. And if they&#8217;re using a different dashboard than everybody that&#8217;s not on wordpress.com, that&#8217;s basically lost opportunities to receive feedback on the software that we&#8217;re building. And so that&#8217;s one aspect.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the other aspect is that, if you have a different dashboard, you have to have people maintaining that different dashboard, and making sure it works with all the new features that are added to wordpress.org. Make sure it&#8217;s sustainable and performant and all of this requires resources. But if you could adapt your products to use the same dashboard that everybody else has, then maybe you could take some of those resources and put them back to the .org software, instead of the internal Calypso project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I should correct that, it wasn&#8217;t an internal project, it was used internally. It is open source and, especially initially there was a lot of encouragement for community members to participate in that. And so it&#8217;s not like it was a closed thing where they shut everybody out and they wanted, you know, it to be their own thing. It wasn&#8217;t trade secret type stuff. It was open source.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, yeah, those are just two things that stand out to me as reasons why you would want to use the same experience that everybody else has, as it just contributes to the greater good of the software and the health of the ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:44:45] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, it&#8217;s interesting, and again, something I hadn&#8217;t really thought about. The heuristics that would come out of .com. Well, for a start, it&#8217;s incredibly cohesive. That data set is going to be enormous, whereas trying to gather that from all the other versions of WordPress, you would obviously have to opt people into that to begin with. But also, it would be very difficult to gather all of that, whereas presumably the .com side of things has got that completely sealed up. So yeah, again, really interesting.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is curious. I don&#8217;t really know if we&#8217;ll ever overcome in people&#8217;s heads the, well, for some people I think it&#8217;s a chasm. You know, it&#8217;s a really big divide, the difference between .org and .com. But I think we&#8217;ve done a fairly good job of explaining what the history is, why the things have been done in the way that they&#8217;ve been done, maybe a little bit into the future and how things are going to look.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t know if there&#8217;s any salient point that you think we missed there, but if not, I think we&#8217;ll round it up. So I&#8217;ll just ask Michelle first. Anything you wanted to get across about that before we knock it on the head?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:45:43] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> I think that we often talk about .org versus .com as though they were adversarial, but it&#8217;s really just a comparison as opposed to one being better than the other. I think you choose the option that&#8217;s best for you and your goals, and there&#8217;s nothing wrong with choosing any of those options.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:46:02] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Yeah, I&#8217;d just add that with any technology or anything, knowledge is not always binary, right? It&#8217;s a spectrum. And so how can we better expose people to the concepts, better explain them to people so that it&#8217;s easier to understand and get up to speed on what different concepts are. Technical concepts, brand concepts, whatever that may be, software, and strive for simplicity, right? That&#8217;s our, one of our philosophies. And so how can we make things more simple so that more people are able to better understand and be empowered to have a better online presence by having a greater understanding.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:46:37] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Well, thank you both for picking that puzzle apart with me. That&#8217;s been really interesting. So Michelle Frechette and Jonathan Desrosiers, thank you both for joining me today. Really appreciate it. Thank you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:46:46] <strong>Michelle Frechette:</strong> Thanks for having us.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:46:46] <strong>Jonathan Desrosiers:</strong> Always a pleasure. Thank you Nathan.</p>\n</div></details>\n\n\n\n<p>On the podcast today we have Michelle Frechette and Jonathan Desrosiers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michelle is well known in the WordPress community for her myriad roles, including Executive Director of Post Status and program director for WP Includes. She’s a prolific freelancer, podcaster, and a driving force behind many WordPress initiatives.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jonathan is a WordPress core committer, contributing to the project since 2013, and has been sponsored by Bluehost to work on WordPress core since 2018. His work largely takes place behind the scenes, supporting contributors, maintaining build tools, and keeping WordPress running smoothly for millions of users.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’ve ever searched for “WordPress” online, you’ve probably found both WordPress.com and WordPress.org at the top of your results, and, like many, you might be unsure what really separates the two.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, Michelle and Jonathan help clear up the history, philosophy, and practical differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. They talk about how these two flavours of WordPress came to be, why they’ve both been key to WordPress’ growth, and the ways they overlap and differ in features, user experience, and monetisation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michelle shares her perspective as a long-time user and advocate, with experience across both .com and .org sites, while Jonathan dives into the technical and historical details from his core contributor vantage point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also explore whether the naming conventions .com and .org have helped or hindered the project, and how the WordPress community’s open source ethos shapes the ongoing conversation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along the way, they touch on how .com made WordPress accessible in the early days, the importance of data portability, and evolving efforts to unify the user experience between the two platforms.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’ve ever wondered which version of WordPress is right for you, why the project seems split into two variants, or how community and commerce intertwine in the WordPress ecosystem, this episode is for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Useful links</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.blogger.com/about/\"> Blogger</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p> Michelle&#8217;s <a href=\"https://wptrailbuddies.wordpress.com/\">WP Trail Buddies</a> on WordPress.com</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://thehistoryoftheweb.com/the-story-of-wordpress/\"> The story of forking b2</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.bluehost.com/\">Bluehost</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p> <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/data-liberation/\">Data Liberation</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/five-for-the-future/\"> Five for the Future</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso\"> Calypso</a></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 20 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Nathan Wrigley\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:18;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:72:\"HeroPress: The Stone That Turned Out to Be Gold – My WordPress Journey\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=8146\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:188:\"https://heropress.com/essays/the-stone-that-turned-out-to-be-gold-my-wordpress-journey/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-stone-that-turned-out-to-be-gold-my-wordpress-journey\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10325:\"<img alt=\"Pull quote: WordPress is gold. Pure and simple.\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/081925-min.jpg\" width=\"1024\" /><p>When I first heard about WordPress, people talked about it like it was a joke — the cheap shortcut for people who couldn’t “do real coding.” I wasn’t looking for money, fame, or even a side hustle. I just wanted to know what the fuss was about so I could talk with authority the next time it came up. What I didn’t know was that I was picking up a stone that would later prove to be gold — taking me from clueless newbie to community leader, and from replacing demo content to designing websites for real clients… and even offer consultancy services</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>“The thing you throw away may be the thing you look for tomorrow.”</em> — Ugandan Proverb</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-scratching-in-the-sand\"><strong>Scratching in the Sand</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>People often ask me:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>“Moses, tell us about your WordPress journey.”</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>I always laugh and say: <em>“Ah, my friend, it’s the story of the stone that turned out to be gold.”</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>In life, we pick things here and there. Like children at the seashore — a shiny shell here, a bottle cap there, a flat stone for skipping on the water. You never really know which one will be precious until life polishes it for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, that “stone” was <strong>WordPress</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-reputation-of-a-cheap-tool\"><strong>The Reputation of a ‘Cheap’ Tool</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Back then, WordPress had a bad reputation in my circles. I have a computer science background, and among my peers, <em>real</em> developers stayed up late wrestling with raw code until their eyes were bloodshot.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress? <em>“That’s for people who can’t code,”</em> they’d say. Even teachers, IT technicians, and random tech hobbyists had an opinion — and it wasn’t kind.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But one day, while working as a school technician, I saw my friend Mr. Dumba mention WordPress on a teachers’ WhatsApp group. He had just started using it to build sites and was offering to journey with some people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I thought: <em>“Hmm… let me check this thing for myself. If it’s nonsense, at least I’ll know. And if it’s good, I can talk about it without looking like I just fell off the mango tree.”</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wasn’t looking for money. I just wanted to <em>have an opinion</em>. You see, I’m the kind of person who enjoys jumping into conversations with some authority — even if I learned the thing yesterday.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-my-first-meetup-lost-in-the-blocks\"><strong>My First Meetup – Lost in the Blocks</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My first WordPress Meetup was all about Gutenberg. This was around 2018 — actually 2018. Gutenberg was super fresh and not even fully launched yet</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://heropress.com/essays/privileged/\">Laurence</a> was introducing this “block editor” thing. Everyone was nodding seriously. Me? Everything went in through one ear and politely left through the other without even greeting my brain on the way out.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as I was wondering if I had wasted my time, someone said:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>“If you’re here for the first time and you don’t understand anything, that’s okay.”</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inside me, something jumped: <em>“Eh! That’s me you’re talking about!”</em></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-mind-opener-offline-development\"><strong>The Mind-Opener: Offline Development</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, Mr. Lutaaya  introduced us to building WordPress sites offline.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>My friend, this was a million Dollar revelation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until then, I thought websites could only be built online — which meant needing fast internet and a good computer. And in Uganda? The Internet was like a stubborn goat — expensive and disappearing when you needed it most.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With XAMPP, I could build ten websites in a week without spending a coin on data. They were ugly, yes, but they were mine.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-falling-in-love-with-elementor\"><strong>Falling in Love With Elementor</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Not long after, I met Elementor. Ah! It was like discovering <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolex_(food)\">rolex</a> after years of plain <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapati\">chapati</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>No coding headaches. Just drag, drop, and design. I paired it with the Astra theme plus Starter Templates (now called Starter Sites)  and started cranking out websites — or what I thought were websites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If a client needed a hospital site, I’d hunt for a hospital theme with demo data. School site? Same thing. All I did was replace demo pictures of dogs with cows, or gardeners with goat herders, and voilà — “Nice website!”</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-drupal-disaster-that-changed-me\"><strong>The Drupal Disaster That Changed Me</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Then came my humbling moment.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>At WordCamp Kampala in 2019, a UCU student asked me to help her migrate her site from Drupal to WordPress. I said confidently: <em>“No problem!”</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few hours later, I realized… big problem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This wasn’t a “replace the dog with a cow” job. It needed a full custom theme. I needed knowledge on custom design which I had never paid attention to. I had no clue how to make one from scratch. That day, I felt like a <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boda_boda\">boda boda</a> rider asked to fly a helicopter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I failed her completely.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in that failure, a fire was lit. I decided to actually learn <strong>custom design</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-facing-real-problems\"><strong>Facing Real Problems</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>By January 2019, I built my company’s first fully custom site. It wasn’t perfect, but it taught me about responsiveness, optimization, and making sure a site looked good on desktop, laptop, and mobile. My first website was so beautiful on Desktop but so broken on Mobile. Everyone was complaining about it and I wasn’t seeing the problem until I saw it on my phone. Whoah, it looked so horrible that a witch’s house was more organized. Everything was flying to where it found peace but inside my heart, I was happy with the learning curve that was super achievable.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was no longer a hobby. I was in deep. Curiosity building into a desire</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years later, I learned Divi. I learned Gutenberg properly now known as FSE (Full Site Editing). I even designed my first block editor site and felt like a genius. A few years later, I used the block editor to design an entire WordCamp website, with a friend (a member from the local community) — and it worked beautifully.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-finding-the-real-gold-community\"><strong>Finding the Real Gold: Community</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The real treasure, though, wasn’t Elementor, Divi, or even my first paying client. It was the <strong>WordPress community</strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other tech communities can be stingy with knowledge. In WordPress, people shared openly. Sometimes the knowledge shared required resources that even cost money but people still offered. In my very first days Rogers offered me a starter package with hosting and management and by then we were using the .ml and .tk domains from FreeNom since it was free. The people I met in the community teach you how to do the exact thing they do for a living — no gatekeeping, no “first pay me &#8211; Awesome, Right? I thought so too.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I realized:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Contributing to WordPress is like washing the plate you ate on.</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>It’s a privilege, not a burden.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-from-local-meetups-to-the-white-house\"><strong>From Local Meetups to the White House</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I’ve spoken at Meetups, organized WordCamps, helped beginners install WordPress for the first time, and served in multiple WordPress teams.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I’ve seen where WordPress can go. It powers embassy websites. It’s used by the Ugandan State House. It even runs the White House site in the USA.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the White House trusts it, my friend, no one can convince me otherwise.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-from-rock-to-treasure\"><strong>From Rock to Treasure</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I joined WordPress at version 4.9. Now we’re in the 6.x series. I’ve grown alongside it — from a confused attendee to a community leader, from a “text-replacing” novice to a custom developer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I picked up WordPress, I thought it was a useless rock. But when I washed it, shaped it, and put it in the fire, it gleamed like gold.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WordPress is gold.</strong> Pure and simple.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>“The thing you throw away may be the thing you look for tomorrow. WordPress was my stone that turned out to be gold.”</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https://heropress.com/essays/the-stone-that-turned-out-to-be-gold-my-wordpress-journey/\">The Stone That Turned Out to Be Gold – My WordPress Journey</a> appeared first on <a href=\"https://heropress.com\">HeroPress</a>.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 20 Aug 2025 05:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"Moses Cursor Ssebunya\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:19;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:105:\"WordCamp Central: Nurturing New Contributors: WordPress Kolhapur Community’s Online Contribution Series\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/?p=11606287\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:126:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2025/08/nurturing-new-contributors-wordpress-kolhapur-communitys-online-contribution-series/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11125:\"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11662271\" height=\"755\" src=\"https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2025/08/image.png\" tabindex=\"0\" width=\"1280\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the incredible success of <strong><a href=\"http://kolhapur.wordcamp.org/2025/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">WordCamp Kolhapur 2025</a></strong> (January 11–12), our passionate local WordPress community launched <strong>a dedicated nine‑event Online Contribution Series</strong> to help new and aspiring contributors explore different ways to contribute to the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress project.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the Lead Organizer of WordCamp Kolhapur 2025, I felt inspired to conceptualize and lead this initiative, supported by my fellow community members. After several thoughtful discussions and planning sessions, the series was finalized and officially kicked off on March 14, 2025. The complete nine‑event series was organized through the <a href=\"https://www.meetup.com/wpkolhapur/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">WordCamp Kolhapur Meetup group</a>, with <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hiabhaykulkarni/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Abhay Kulkarni</a> organizing and volunteering for every meetup to ensure smooth coordination. I served as the speaker and mentor for each session, guiding both new and experienced contributors through various areas of the WordPress project.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why We Started the Contribution Series</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I was a mentee in the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/2024/11/21/wordpress-contributor-mentorship-2024-q4-cohort-graduates/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Contributor Mentorship: 2024 Q4 Cohort</a> and successfully graduated from the program in November 2024. During this journey, I not only learned how to contribute effectively to WordPress Core, but I was also recognized as an <em>All-Star Mentee</em> and earned a place in the program’s <em>Hall of Fame</em>!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, I received a <a href=\"https://asia.wordcamp.org/2025/wordcamp-asia-2025-scholarship-recipients/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Diversity Scholarship</em> to attend WordCamp Asia 2025</a>. These scholarships are designed to support individuals who are passionate about contributing to the WordPress ecosystem but may face financial or logistical challenges.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inspired by my cohort experience and the opportunities I received, I wanted to give back to the community. What better way than by becoming a mentor myself, guiding and inspiring others to start their own contribution journey?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that’s the core reason we started the WordPress Contribution Series.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Event Recap</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After the planning and preparation, here’s how the contribution series unfolded across different meetup topics:</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Kickstart Your WordPress Contribution Journey</h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Date:</strong> March 15, 2025</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This opening session focused on getting contributors started with the basics — setting up a WordPress.org <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plan/creating-a-wordpress-org-account/\">profile</a>, joining global Slack channels, and understanding the various Make WordPress teams. The session concluded with a <strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/photos/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">photo contribution</a> activity</strong> where participants submitted original images to the WordPress Photo Directory.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Total Contributors</strong>: 9</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>First-Time</strong> Contributors: 3</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Core Contributions: Testing &amp; Release Parties</h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Dates:</strong> <strong>March 25, April 1, 8, 14, and 15, 2025</strong></h4>\n\n\n\n<p>These sessions were designed to help participants contribute to <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Core</a> by <strong>testing the Release Candidate versions of WordPress 6.8</strong>. Rather than writing code, the focus was on functional testing, identifying bugs, and joining the community for release celebrations.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Total Contributors</strong>: 28</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>First-Time</strong> Contributors: 23</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pattern Contributions</h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Date:</strong> March 29, 2025</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This meetup introduced contributors to the <strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/patterns/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Pattern</a> Directory</strong>. Attendees learned how to design block patterns, follow accessibility guidelines, and submit reusable layout designs to enrich the editor experience for users worldwide.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Total Contributors</strong>: 12</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>First-Time</strong> Contributors: 11</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Polyglots / Translation Contributions</h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Date:</strong> April 5, 2025</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This session focused on language accessibility. Contributors worked on <a href=\"https://translate.wordpress.org\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">translating</a> WordPress core, plugins, and themes into regional languages. Guidance was provided on using translation tools and maintaining quality across localized strings.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Total Contributors</strong>: 8</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>First-Time</strong> Contributors: 7</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WordPress TV: Talks, Videos &amp; Guest Participation</h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Date:</strong> April 12, 2025</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In this session, contributors explored how to contribute to <strong><a href=\"http://wordpress.tv/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress TV</a></strong> through video uploads, captioning, and translating community talks. We also hosted <strong>guest speaker Prathamesh Palave</strong>, who shared insights on creating impactful presentation content.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Total Attendees</strong>: 13</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Guest Speaker</strong>: Mr. <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/prathameshp/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Prathamesh Palave</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contributors from the Series</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We’re proud to recognise all the individuals who actively participated in the series: <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rajeshrathodwp/\">Rajesh Rathod</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/surajswalstar/\">Suraj Sutar</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/contactprashantpp/\">Prashant Patil</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/iamshubhamsp/\">Shubham Patil</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/digitalpritam/\">Pritam Sonone</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vaibhavsweb/\">Vaibhav Singh</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ketanniruke/\">Ketan Niruke</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/diguj/\">Digvijay Zite</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/atharvprakashan/\">Rajendra Ghorpade</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/prathameshbhagat1511/\">Prathamesh Bhagat</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/shreyashd21/\">Shreyas Desai</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sunithak/\">Sunita Khattar</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/snilesh/\">Nilesh Shiragave</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/amitbhosale/\">Amit Bhosale</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vgnavada/\">V Gautam Navada</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/snehal5774/\">Snehal Kashid</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rupesh5438/\">Rupesh Patil</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/akshaydhere/\">Akshay Dhere</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/adityab98/\">Aditya Bansode</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sketchboy/\">Suhas Sutar</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/vaibhav2527/\">Vaibhav Nawale</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dheeraj2995/\">Dheeraj Bhosale</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rajendrapatilraj/\">Rajendra Patil</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/prathameshp/\">Prathamesh Palave</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sohamjoshi8275/\">Soham Joshi</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mrunalkulkarni/\">Mrunal Kulkarni</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/harshada555/\">Harshada Patil</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hiabhaykulkarni/\">Abhay Kulkarni</a> &amp; <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkrndmane/\">Makarand Mane</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Additional Online Meetup: Contributing to the Test Team</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Two months later, we hosted an <strong>online meetup</strong> dedicated to <strong>contributing to the</strong> <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Test Team</a></strong>.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Date</strong>: June 15, 2025 (update if needed)</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><strong>Guest Speaker</strong></strong>: Mrs. <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/krupajnanda/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Krupa Nanda</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Krupa explained how the Test Team helps ensure the quality of WordPress releases by performing functional and regression testing. She also guided attendees on:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reporting and triaging bugs</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Using testing tools effectively</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Participating in release testing initiatives on Make WordPress Test</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The session provided a clear roadmap for contributors to get started with testing activities.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recording</strong>: <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2025/07/25/wpkolhapur-contribution-series-10th-contribute-to-wordpress-test-team/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch Here</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Closing Thoughts</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress Kolhapur Contribution Series proved that WordPress thrives when we lift each other up. New contributors gained confidence, mentors found joy in guiding, and our community grew stronger and more inclusive.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://wpkolhapur.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Kolhapur WordPress community</a> continues to host regular contribution‑focused events and welcomes contributors from around the world to join us.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you feel inspired to begin your own contributor journey—or to help others start theirs—connect with the<a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/community/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Make WordPress Community Team</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Together, we can build a better WordPress for everyone.</strong></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 19 Aug 2025 12:41:51 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Makarand Mane\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:20;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23:\"Matt: MCP NYC Hackathon\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23:\"https://ma.tt/?p=147954\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"https://ma.tt/2025/08/mcp-nyc-hackathon/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:7292:\"<p>Over the weekend, <a href=\"https://automattic.com/\">Automattic</a>/<a href=\"https://www.beeper.com/\">Beeper</a> had the pleasure of hosting and sponsoring the Build the Future MCP Hackathon in New York City organized by <a href=\"https://x.com/adamanzzz\">Adam Anzuoni</a>, alongside <a href=\"https://www.anthropic.com/\">Anthropic</a>, <a href=\"https://www.stainless.com/\">Stainless</a>, <a href=\"https://workos.com/\">WorkOS</a>, <a href=\"https://smithery.ai/\">Smithery</a>, and <a href=\"https://www.mongodb.com/\">MongoDB</a>. As someone deeply passionate about open-source technology and the potential of AI, I was thrilled to not only support this event but also to speak at it and serve as one of the judges. For those unfamiliar, <a href=\"https://modelcontextprotocol.io/\">MCP stands for Model Context Protocol</a> and enables AI models to interact with multiple tools in a more efficient and structured manner, allowing developers to create sophisticated agents that can handle complex tasks. And it&#8217;s only 8 months old! The energy in the room was electric—hackers collaborating, iterating, and demoing groundbreaking projects in just a few hours. (I would love to see the results of a longer overnight or all-weekend hackathon.)</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-3 is-cropped is-style-rectangular wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147970\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_389-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147969\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_884-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147972\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_1384-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147963\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_757-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147968\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_1259-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147962\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_832-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147977\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_1462-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147973\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_1254-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147974\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_1027-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147975\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_1053-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147966\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_1938-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147965\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_2067-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-147967\" height=\"403\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/ma.tt/files/2025/08/MPC-HackathonNYC-20250816_2001-1024x683.jpg?resize=604%2C403&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"604\" /></figure>\n</figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For a wrap-up of the winners, <a href=\"https://x.com/AlexReibman/status/1957194025271808088\">check out this great X/Twitter thread by Alex Reibman</a>. The first-place winner, <a href=\"https://x.com/AlexReibman/status/1957198942006858160\">Levels AI</a>, orchestrates different AI/ML models to solve specific business requirements without needing heavy manual coding or specialized teams. Essentially, it&#8217;s models creating more models—a meta-approach to AI that could streamline operations for companies of all sizes. Yusuf Olokoba said the name was inspired by <a href=\"https://x.com/levelsio\">Pieter Levels</a>, which is pretty cool. I wanted to note one team in particular: BeepResearch, which used <a href=\"https://www.beeper.com/mcp-hackathon\">our early access Beeper API and local MCP</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-twitter\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">6/ BeepResearch (Bonus)<br /><br />MCP server to chat with your messaging apps like iMessage, Whatsapp, FB,  X, etc. over <a href=\"https://twitter.com/beeper?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@beeper</a>. And Ollama + gemma3 to query photos in natural language <br /><br />Honestly, this was barely just a prompt, but it’s super powerful<a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlexReibman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AlexReibman</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/mh69aqREjd\">pic.twitter.com/mh69aqREjd</a></p>&mdash; Alex Reibman ?? (@AlexReibman) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlexReibman/status/1957201788735537389?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 17, 2025</a></blockquote></div>\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Judging the entries was tough! People built so much cool stuff in a really short period of time. I always say technology is best when it brings people together, and this was a great example of that, and makes me very excited for Contributor Day <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/\">at WordCamp US next week</a>. (Which has such a stacked AI program as well.) Hopefully some people who enjoyed the office <a href=\"https://automattic.com/work-with-us/job/nyc-applied-ai-in-office/\">might consider getting 24/7 access</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also just want to take a beat and say how amazing it is that I&#8217;m blogging this, on a United flight from Houston to San Francisco I&#8217;ve taken a million times, on a plane 36,000 feet in the air and technology is amazing. I can&#8217;t wait until United has Starlink!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also last week <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/mcp-adapter\">the WordPress AI team shipped its MCP adapter</a>!</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 19 Aug 2025 07:15:06 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"Matt\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:21;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:54:\"Open Channels FM: Open Channels FM End of Summer Break\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=107063\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:61:\"https://openchannels.fm/open-channels-fm-end-of-summer-break/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:155:\"We are taking a break until September to accommodate vacations and back-to-school preparations while finalizing our rebranding efforts for a polished look.\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 18 Aug 2025 12:16:37 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:22;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:62:\"Open Channels FM: Why Customer Success is Worth the Investment\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=106131\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:69:\"https://openchannels.fm/why-customer-success-is-worth-the-investment/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:361:\"These days, it feels like every business is leaning on AI, chatbots, or endless help articles. While those tools can help, they often leave customers frustrated and waiting for real answers. What actually makes a difference is human-centered service. Customers want to know someone is listening, taking ownership of their problem, and working to solve [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 18 Aug 2025 08:25:07 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:23;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:103:\"Open Channels FM: Maintaining Legacy Support in WooCommerce and WordPress While Building for the Future\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=105961\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:110:\"https://openchannels.fm/maintaining-legacy-support-in-woocommerce-and-wordpress-while-building-for-the-future/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:191:\"In this episode, listen in as we discuss the significance of backward compatibility in WordPress, sharing insights from expert Gary Pendergast on technical challenges and real-world examples.\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 14 Aug 2025 10:09:59 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:24;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:27:\"Matt: WP.com Simplification\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23:\"https://ma.tt/?p=147164\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:37:\"https://ma.tt/2025/08/simplification/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:2919:\"<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.com/\">WordPress.com</a> offers two modes of WP: WordPress and WordPress MS. For free and lower-priced accounts it runs a version of WordPress called <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/advanced-administration/multisite/create-network/\">WordPress MS</a>, or WordPress Multisite, which is designed for super-efficient multi-tenant usage, which is what has allowed it to introduce hundreds of millions of people to WordPress and run at a huge scale. (It was <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2006/10/mu-and-bbpress/\">initially called MU</a>, for multi-user, but we had to change it because someone squatted the name WPMU and built a business on top that was confusing users with commercial products. Such is my curse.) It revolutionized the hosting industry in a number of ways, including acclimating customers to per-site pricing instead of unlimited domains and raising the bar for what a host would manage for users so they didn&#8217;t have to worry. It has also provided a highly secure base login, which allows us to offer popular SaaS services, such as <a href=\"https://jetpack.com/support/jetpack-stats/\">statistics</a> and <a href=\"https://akismet.com/\">anti-spam</a>, to all WordPress users, regardless of where they&#8217;re hosted.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>At higher-priced plans you&#8217;d get access to not just a curated set of plugins and themes but the ability to install anything you like from the ecosystem, which invisibly switches your account to <a href=\"http://wp.cloud/\">WP.cloud</a> in the backend that supports unlimited plugins and themes and custom code, in a way that&#8217;s still multi-datacenter and maintenance-free. This has been very successful and works great for a ton of customers, but it still puts an asterisk when you recommend WordPress.com to someone because they&#8217;d need to be on one of the higher-priced plans to get an experience of WordPress with custom plugins and themes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the first time ever <a href=\"https://wordpress.com/blog/2025/08/12/for-a-limited-time-unlock-plugin-power-on-personal-premium-plans/\">we&#8217;re running a summer special where every single paid account gets that full WP.cloud experience</a> with full customization and control. It&#8217;s a test we&#8217;re running until August 25<sup>th</sup>. It&#8217;s WordPress, without the asterisk, without limits, implemented in a way that&#8217;s intuitive and safe for novice users, while also being extremely powerful for developers. If you haven&#8217;t checked out WP.com in a while, it&#8217;s a great deal starting at just $4 per month. I&#8217;m curious to see the results of how this goes. We also have a number of more radical things I&#8217;m eager to try out!  It&#8217;s a great time to reimagine what you&#8217;re doing from the ground up and question your longest-held beliefs, as AI has really put people in a more experimental and open mindset.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 14 Aug 2025 02:52:33 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"Matt\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:25;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:80:\"WPTavern: #181 – Bob Dunn on rebranding Do the Woo and growing openchannels.fm\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:48:\"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=198779\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:94:\"https://wptavern.com/podcast/181-bob-dunn-on-rebranding-do-the-woo-and-growing-openchannels-fm\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:42355:\"<details>Transcript<div>\n<p>[00:00:19] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Welcome to the Jukebox Podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress. The people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case, rebranding Do the Woo, and growing openchannels.fm.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;d like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast player of choice, or by going to wptavern.com/feed/podcast, and you can copy that URL into most podcast players.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a topic that you&#8217;d like us to feature on the podcast, I&#8217;m keen to hear from you and hopefully get you, or your idea, featured on the show. Head to wptavern.com/contact/jukebox, and use the form there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So on the podcast today, we have Bob Dunn. Bob is a long standing figure in the WordPress community, having branded himself as BobWP back in 2010. With nearly two decades of experience in WordPress, Bob has become one of the most recognizable voices in WordPress podcasting. Producing shows that have educated, inspired, and connected countless developers, builders, and enthusiasts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most recently, he launched Open Channels FM, a rebrand and expansion from his well-known Do the Woo podcast, which was originally focused on WooCommerce, but now explores broader topics around the open web, open source, and the wider maker community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob talks about his journey in podcasting, from running Do the Woo for almost seven years to the decision to rebrand and launch Open Channels FM. He explains why he felt it was time to broaden the focus, welcoming listeners from outside of just the WooCommerce and WordPress ecosystem, and how that led to a network approach with multiple channels and series.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob describes how Open Channels is structured. Rather than traditional shows, the network features three flexible channels, Open Makers, Open Source Reach, and Open Web Conversations, each hosting a variety of series. This lets content stay organized and evergreen, and accommodates the 25 to 30 rotating hosts with the freedom to produce series across different topics.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob talks about the challenges, and rewards, of handing over the mic, stepping into a more of a managerial and founder role and how he&#8217;s building a sustainable, collaborative, podcasting network.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We discuss Bob&#8217;s technical approach as well, including how he uses WordPress to manage multiple RSS feeds and subscriptions, making it easy for listeners to follow specific channels or get the fire hose of all content.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob also shares insights on rebranding a podcast, managing redirects, retaining audiences, updating hundreds of featured images, and ensuring continuity without confusing listeners.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested in open source podcasting, or building community driven content, this episode is for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested in finding out more, you can find all of the links in the show notes by heading to wptavern.com/podcast, where you&#8217;ll find all the other episodes as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so without further delay, I bring you Bob Dunn.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:37] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I am joined on the podcast by Bob Dunn. Hello Bob.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:40] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Hey, hello Nathan. Great to be back.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:42] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Thank you so much for joining me today. Bob and I have been chatting for quite a long time. Actually over many years, we&#8217;ve been chatting for quite a long time, because we&#8217;re both very, very, very into the exact same thing, and that is podcasting in the WordPress space.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Should anybody not have heard of you, Bob, I know it&#8217;s a bit of a generic question. Do you mind doing your little potted bio to tell us who you are, and what you&#8217;ve been doing?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:04] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Been in business a long time. Two major businesses, branded myself, BobWP in 2010. Did a lot of stuff between then and now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, yeah, right now I am doing openchannels.fm. I&#8217;m running that, that is a podcast channels with, actually three channels, we&#8217;ll be explaining more about that. But yeah, I&#8217;ve just been in WordPress quite a while and I think since, oh, I don&#8217;t know, about 17, 18 years or so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:34] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, it&#8217;s a fairly long time. You were one of the voices, when I joined the WordPress space, you were the established podcast voice I think. There were a few, but not many. And there&#8217;s very few that have survived. You&#8217;ve managed to, turn a living out of podcasting in the WordPress space. So Bravo, well done.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:50] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Thank you. Yeah, it&#8217;s been interesting. It&#8217;s something you just kind of keep going and, you know, doing it all yourself. It gets to a point where, yeah, it&#8217;s a lot of work, but it&#8217;s paid off.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:00] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So a little while ago, I&#8217;m going to say about, I don&#8217;t know, six months ago, something like that, you can correct me in a moment. But for the longest period of time you&#8217;ve had Do the Woo. Prior to Do the Woo, there was a bunch of other naming conventions for your podcast. What was it that, in the most recent past, why did you decide to jettison Do the Woo and create openchannels?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Open channels, by the way, you can be found at openchannels.fm. There&#8217;s no hyphens or anything. It&#8217;s just as you&#8217;d imagine, openchannels.fm. Go and check that out. You&#8217;d be able to see what we&#8217;re talking about. What was the reasoning behind that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:35] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, so I actually did the rebrand early June. It was at WordCamp Europe, but I&#8217;d been thinking about it for about a year. So you have almost seven years under the belt with Do the Woo, and it started out as a WooCommerce focused podcasts. And over the years I added more WordPress into it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then over the last couple years I started talking about a bit more of the, you know, even outside the WordPress bubble. And I felt like something was always missing, because it&#8217;s kind of two-prong where WordPress developers, builders, a lot of our audience need to also be aware of other stuff that is going on around them. I&#8217;m not trying to push somebody one direction or another. It&#8217;s like just know stuff that is happening out there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then also for people that don&#8217;t know WooCommerce, expanding on that, trying to bring them in on other topics. They would look at WooCommerce or they look at WordPress and say, hey, you know, I&#8217;ve never really dug into them. I listen to a few of these.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two major things that really, I had been chewing on for like, oh man, it had to be almost a year, was growth and sustainability of the site. And, you know, it worked great when it was really WooCommerce focus, but people had the impression that, if they know Woo, they&#8217;d look at it and say, oh, it&#8217;s a WooCommerce podcast. I&#8217;m not going to check it out because I&#8217;m not using WooCommerce.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then of course, people that didn&#8217;t know anything about it, they would maybe think it&#8217;s, I don&#8217;t know, some wrapper or something. I don&#8217;t know what, you know, the title is like, it didn&#8217;t really define it. And of course they dig in a little bit, they learn what it is.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, yeah, that was the impetus. It was like, I thought, man, it&#8217;s time to, as hard as it is to change a brand or even drop one that has worked for you, I thought we are moving more into content around the open web, open source, fediverse, all these different things. And I really want to make this something where, like I said before, people that don&#8217;t know WordPress or WooCommerce would come and listen to other stuff and maybe they&#8217;d check it out, maybe they don&#8217;t.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then the WordPress people would continue, because we still have that content in there and they could learn about other stuff. They could learn about things that probably will really help their business even staying in WordPress. So I&#8217;m not, again, trying to push them out of it, it&#8217;s just open your mind a bit and learn new things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:08:14] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> The wisdom that I often get when I read around the podcast industry, and if you are just a consumer of podcasts and you&#8217;ve never really dug into that industry, in the same way that WordPress has just a gigantic amount in the background, as soon as you prize open the can and realise that there&#8217;s this whole open source software, and there&#8217;s events and all of that, the same is true inside of podcasting. There&#8217;s a whole industry going on in the background that you may not realise is there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And one of the pieces of sage advice which is often delivered, is to kind of niche down when you are beginning your podcast. Because obviously, you are going to be a small fish in a very big pond. And so the more specific that you can get, the more likely you are to build up that audience over time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I&#8217;m guessing that that&#8217;s kind why you went with Do the Woo? So that it was pretty clear at the beginning, okay, we&#8217;re really focusing on Woo. So have you noticed that the pivot away from that, so from Do the Woo as a name, even though there was more content in there, to this much more open channel, so open source, whatever that might cover. Has your audience kind of, and I don&#8217;t really want to use the word forgiven, maybe I want to use the words, gone with you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have they come across that brand transition willingly, or do you sense that some people have, you know, lost interest because now it&#8217;s not just Do the Woo? Because that&#8217;s, I suppose, something you have to be mindful of.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:29] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah. You know, I&#8217;m sure some have maybe decided differently, but the interesting thing is how I built it and how I, even after the launch, reorganised it even more, is that all the content that was on there is still on there and continues to be on there. And so as I looked at how can I best organise it, I first put it into like five shows, and it still didn&#8217;t quite make sense and gel. So I thought, well, what if I do three channels, and I have an open source reach channel, an open web conversations channel, and an open makers channel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lot of the WordPress and Woo stuff went under the open makers channel. So now we still have series, like three or four series on WordPress. At least three series on WooCommerce, and then a variety of other stuff. So the thing was to get people convinced, and when I talked to a lot of people and I was at WordCamp Europe, you know, it&#8217;s like, it&#8217;s basically the brand is changing, we&#8217;re expanding, but the stuff you&#8217;ve been listening to is not going away.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I have to really emphasise that. And it&#8217;s, yeah, there&#8217;s a bit where you think, oh, you know, am I going to lose it? But then they may come back, they may actually see that, yes, this is still existing, you know, getting this stuff out in front of people. And also, there will be now newer people that will, instead of looking at a name, Do the Woo and thinking, hmm, what do I do? Something like open channels, even though it is a lot broader, might interest them a little bit more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:10:56] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, there&#8217;s definitely the ability to tap into a new audience. So this podcast, WP Tavern, it has one show. And on a weekly basis we have a show and, you know, it&#8217;s me talking to somebody else. And I guess Do the Woo was a bit more like that. There was this one show and it would drop with a regular cadence and what have you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it may have escaped people because we didn&#8217;t really introduce it as such. But open channels is not that formula is it? It&#8217;s more of a, kind of like a network, I suppose, for want of a better word. You&#8217;ve got your own mini kind of network of podcasts. So let&#8217;s just dig into that a little bit. So you&#8217;ve iterated it a bit. You started with maybe three shows and now it&#8217;s up to however many, we&#8217;ll get into that. Do you just want to go through what all of the different shows are, and broadly what they cover?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:41] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, so what happened is during this whole time of change, and some of this even happened before June, was that I had a whole bunch of shows. So you go to the thing and you&#8217;d see like, I don&#8217;t know, there was like 15 shows or something. And it seemed a bit too much to me. You&#8217;d go there and it&#8217;d be like, whoa, you know? Realistic, you&#8217;d think, okay, you&#8217;d find the show you like and stuff and listen to it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But as I was expanding the content I launched on June 5th with, there&#8217;s a website, there&#8217;s five shows and there&#8217;s some series under those five shows. And that still didn&#8217;t gel after I started getting in there and start rebranding it and working on it deeper, and I&#8217;m still working on it. I realised that what I&#8217;d like to do is eliminate the aspect of a show, so when they go there, it&#8217;s open channels, so it&#8217;s plural.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ve got the three channels that I mentioned, and underneath all of those are series. So there&#8217;s several. Some of them, there&#8217;s quite a few series under open makers. There&#8217;s some under the other two channels. And the reason I did that is channels are a lot more flexible, and also series are incredibly flexible. If you have a show and you stop it, it&#8217;s like, bam, you know, people, oh, where did that go?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I thought, what if I had these three umbrella channels that I could put series in? I could start them up. Some of them have been going on forever. Some may just go on a few months, but they&#8217;re part of that whole stream under that channel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now everybody can go there and get all the podcasts that come in, or they can actually subscribe to the three channels.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the series are just a variety under it. And I haven&#8217;t really, the series are often focused more when they happen, the name of the series. I mean, I decided putting all the series on the site would just confuse people more. It&#8217;d be like, oh, what?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then they can go through and they&#8217;ll see, you know, if they look through the episodes, they&#8217;ll see the various series. I mean, there&#8217;s, under open makers, there&#8217;s Woo Product Chat, there&#8217;s WP Behind the Builds, there&#8217;s WP Agency Tracks. And a lot of those were pre-existing. And so the other channels as well will have specific series under it, like Open Web Conversations has a series on the fediverse. One is on, oh man, I should have written some of this down. I can&#8217;t even remember all the series.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, there&#8217;s a few under that and there&#8217;s a few under open source. And what the beauty of it is too with as many hosts as we have now, I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s like around 25 to 30 hosts. They can pop around in different channels and under different series, or they come up with an idea for a show and we basically do it, and I say, okay, where should I pop that under? I can pop it under a series. It just makes it a lot more flexible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Talking about it makes it sound more confusing. Going to the site is a bit more cohesive. But the feedback I got from a lot of people, they loved the idea of the organisation and they loved the idea of expanding into more of the open web and open source stuff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:15:08] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, well, let&#8217;s get into that bit in a minute. But let&#8217;s just stick to the consumption of open channels. So if you go and subscribe in a podcast player, so, you know, typically on a phone or something like that, to this podcast, WP Tavern, it&#8217;s fairly straightforward. You either drop in the RSS feed, which is, you know, available, or you can type in WP Tavern, and that&#8217;s then saved. And every episode that we produce, including this one, will appear when it&#8217;s published.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>How are you doing it for openchannels.fm? Because you&#8217;ve obviously got three channels, and then there&#8217;s different shows and series which live under that. How is it consumed? Is there just one overall RSS feed which will get you the lot? Or can you say, okay, I only want to, I don&#8217;t know, consume the stuff about the open makers or the open web conversations? How does it work?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:15:55] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah. What I&#8217;ve done is, you can, if you want the fire hose, you can go to openchannels.fm, it has its own feed, and then I do the feed for each of the channels. Like you said, open makers, open source and open web conversations. I thought of going down even more to every series, but I thought that just confuses people more so, you know, it encapsulates what each of those channels are about.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean, open makers is, somebody said, yeah, you know, it&#8217;s about people in tech making stuff. You make stuff, even if it&#8217;s WordPress only. Sometimes it&#8217;s interesting to hear how other people are making stuff. And it opens it enough where it&#8217;s long, that long funnel of people that make things, you know, whether the developer, designer, their marketing stuff, whatever.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so that was, yeah, I think that&#8217;s the best way to have people subscribe is, you know, they can get it all. But they can look at the three channels too. So if they go on their pod thing and look for open web conversations, that&#8217;s primarily what they&#8217;re interested in. What we&#8217;re talking about there, they can subscribe to that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:04] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Just from a, well, it&#8217;s not particularly technical, but from a slightly technical point of view, how do you manage that? If memory serves you&#8217;re using Castos, which is a sort of self-hosted, it&#8217;s a WordPress plugin, which binds your RSS feed into your WordPress website, but also carries the functionality to have different series and episodes all within the same WordPress website. I might have been kind of promoting that a bit, and it&#8217;s not the solution that you used, but I think it is.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:29] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, it is. And so what it allows you to do, I could have actually created feeds for each series, but then I thought, is that going too granular? I mean, are you looking at all this stuff and thinking, so Open Web channel is like the default channel, I mean, openchannels.fm. Then you create three feeds for three shows or channels, which are the other three. And then when I do a series, I just choose to put it under whichever channel it should fall under.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:01] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Right, okay. So you&#8217;ve basically got three places to go and update, and you can handle all of that in the WordPress admin and what have you. I should probably say that there&#8217;s a SaaS equivalent as well. You don&#8217;t have to use WordPress to make that happen, but it&#8217;s so tightly integrated with WordPress, it kind of makes sense.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other curious thing about it though is that for the longest time we were really familiar with you as a real significant piece of that jigsaw puzzle. You know, Bob would do the episodes. It is always Bob, in the same way that there&#8217;s always me on this. But with this, I think you said now you&#8217;re up to, did you say 25 or 15 co-hosts, something?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:36] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> 25-30 hosts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:38] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Okay, that&#8217;s a lot. So you&#8217;ve got 25 other people who are helping you create the content. In effect, they have become you for these shows. They are the host, if you like, and they&#8217;re then interviewing people, and talking about whatever that episode may be about.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>How are you coping with that? How are you coping with no longer being behind the mic? And you&#8217;ve basically become a bit of a manager for a podcast network, which is curious.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:59] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah. Yeah, I&#8217;d like to, you know, I was talking to somebody about this and to me it was, it ended up being a goal that I didn&#8217;t know I wanted it to be a goal. You know, as I started to step back, I thought, well, you know, I&#8217;ve talked a lot over the years, I mean, more than anybody ever wanted to hear. I thought, well, maybe, you know, it&#8217;s time to get some other voices out there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the time being, I&#8217;m still doing the opening, but I keep myself as forefront as, I guess you call founder or whatever, of the podcast channel. And I&#8217;m cool with it. I love hearing the different opinions. It just was a shift for me at some point where I had no problem with it. And I think testing it in the beginning, I think the first three, so I brought on Brad Williams at the very beginning, because I didn&#8217;t want to do it by myself. We were just doing co-hosts and then we continued for a while.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then I brought on, later on I brought on Mendel Kurland, which at the time was GoDaddy, and Jonathan Wold who at the time, he was at WooCommerce, and now he has his own thing going on. And I would still be part of it, so it was the four of us. But I started liking the idea when I wasn&#8217;t part of it. It was fun to see somebody else take and run with it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so over that period of years, I became more and more confident with people. Now, it&#8217;s basically, unless I have an idea for a guest, a lot of them choose our guests. They choose a topic because they&#8217;ve done this long enough. They know what I like to hear. They know what not to do and to do. I keep it pretty open for them. And they love that freedom because they don&#8217;t have to, you know, they come in, they do the recording, all the production stuff is not their responsibility.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think it&#8217;s also helped them to get to know each other more. They&#8217;ve gotten to know other guests. It&#8217;s built their brands some, I hope. And it became a point where I was just like, I thought this is it, this just works. And I&#8217;ve been really lucky with the hosts I&#8217;ve had, because they&#8217;ve been excellent. I never have problems. I mean, it just is a nice flow and they&#8217;ve all become good friends and, yeah, it works.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:17] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, I think if you were looking at it from the outside, there are so many trip wires there where you think, well, that, couldn&#8217;t work. You know, 25 hosts, multiple shows, yeah, okay. Good luck with that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But obviously, the history that you&#8217;ve got doing the shows and turning up to WordPress events, presumably you kind of knew most of these people fairly well already, so you had that rapport and trust with each other.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it&#8217;s a lot to trust them to just get on with it. To be able to say, okay, here&#8217;s the time slot, go off, get your guests and then just hand me the recording at the end, I&#8217;ve got complete trust in you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it does sound like you&#8217;ve still got your fingers in there a little bit with the kind of like the post-production and the editing, and finally making the episode into what it is and all of that, and shipping it. Do you ever see yourself stepping out to the point where you don&#8217;t even do that, where it&#8217;s just, there&#8217;s just this network?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:05] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> You know, I&#8217;d really like to kind of just have the role as founder. I mean, I&#8217;ve done a production and I&#8217;ve done this for, when we ran our other business before WordPress, the life and WordPress and stuff, we basically did everything, we didn&#8217;t have employees. So I&#8217;ve been doing this like over three decades.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, I am at a point where, no, I think it&#8217;s time to step back from some of this production stuff. I would like to because it, yeah, it buries you. And when it picks up and you have quite a few shows in a row or something, there&#8217;s some serious work to do. And I get a little too over picky with editing, probably somebody could do it a lot quicker. I mean, I, it drives me nuts sometimes. I&#8217;m thinking, why am I spending this much time on it?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, yeah, I definitely am looking at some ways of doing that over the next few months. And looking at some other opportunities, but want to still be part of this, because it&#8217;s still my baby.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:00] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, I think that&#8217;s incredible to have that level of trust. I&#8217;ve never yet managed to have that relationship where I thought that I wanted to step away. I think for me, the bit that I enjoy more than anything else is this bit that we&#8217;re doing now, the bit I&#8217;m having a chat with somebody. I really do like the one to one, or one to few. So the most I do is 2, 3, 4 really is the sort of ceiling, and that&#8217;s the bit that I like most.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so the bit that you&#8217;ve stepped into, curiously, would be something that I would not really wish to be involved in. I&#8217;d rather just hand that off to somebody, but I do know what you mean.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You have a perfectionist approach to the editing, and you can be halfway through it and think, I&#8217;ve just spent six hours and all I&#8217;ve done is remove empty space that nobody would&#8217;ve noticed. Anyway, it can be curious.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So are you still iterating? Are you still willing to take on some new voices? Are you still open to people approaching you?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:57] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, we are. Because I think with this new brand, it&#8217;s kind of, before I get into that, I was just going to mention is that when you rebrand, I&#8217;m finding there&#8217;s a ton of work with post rebranding, and another one of my picky little, I don&#8217;t know what you want to call it, is I started looking at the site and I thought, well, I want this site to reflect the new brand a hundred percent. I don&#8217;t want people to go back and get confused.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve been changing the featured images on 670 episodes with the new brand. And, you know, that&#8217;s just, again, that&#8217;s me. But I want, it was quite a shift in rebranding and I want to make sure that, when they even go back, they see that, yes, I&#8217;m still on the same podcast, you know, I&#8217;m still on the same site so. Now I&#8217;ve lost track of what you asked.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:45] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> No, it&#8217;s okay. I&#8217;m actually going to pivot and just ask you a quick technical question, which is, did you close down your previous RSS feed, and rely on people finding the new one, or is there some clever way of moving people over?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:58] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, you have to redirect it basically. It&#8217;s not a lot of steps, but it&#8217;s steps that if you don&#8217;t do it in the right order, it can really pretty much screw up everything. And right now, I am having a bit of challenge with some of the stuff moving over on Apple and the feeds and stuff, and I just put in a support question with them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But you basically, eventually I&#8217;ll shut down a show called Content Sparks and Do The Woo. Because they were, they&#8217;re now under Open Makers as a series, but I kind of got to make sure all the things are connected and working smoothly. So it&#8217;s something, if anybody ever does this, whoever&#8217;s hosting your podcast, talk to them and ask them questions until you feel confident to be able to do steps one through five, without blowing up your whole podcast.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:25:43] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, it&#8217;s a bit like when you move a website, there&#8217;s loads of different bits and pieces that you&#8217;ve got to get right and in the correct order so that, I don&#8217;t know, your email carries on sending, and all the posts that you desperately want to be still in the search engine results, that kind of thing. Yeah, there&#8217;s a lot of hoops to jump through.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, so much so that a few kind of pivot ideas that I&#8217;ve had, not around WP Tavern, but around other podcasts that I do, I&#8217;ve kind of backed away just because the technical challenge was just not worth the time investment for the minor thing that I wanted to do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, the question, returning to where we got to. The question was, are you still open to modifying what you do or have you solidified for a little period of time? In other words, if somebody catches sight of your podcast or listens to this one and thinks, do you know what I could contribute? I&#8217;ve got an idea in the open space that I would like to contribute. Are you still open to new hosts or is it really just guests now? Have you solidified on the hosts? Where are you at with all that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:36] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> You know, the hosts, I think the hosts that are on it right now, they always have the option. I mean, they volunteer their time. I&#8217;m hoping they get rewarded by, you know, brand and exposure. And I know a lot of them have met a lot of people and built relationships that they never would&#8217;ve been able to because they actually talked with someone.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that&#8217;s another reason this particular structure of it now is so great because it&#8217;s so fluid. So it&#8217;s easy. If somebody comes in and has an idea, and it kind of gels and I think, okay, this is great, or maybe it exists with an idea I already have going or a series I do. Yeah, I&#8217;m always open to that because, you know, and some people kind of serve as, I don&#8217;t want to say substitute hosts, but they&#8217;re kind of there if I need to grab somebody, or I have an idea and it&#8217;s like, I need somebody to host this and this person would be good.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, yeah, kind of a long answer there, but I&#8217;m always open, because this is not, this is a reason to change this is to keep it fluid and make it sustainable basically, where it can continue to grow.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:27:42] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So definitely not closed, but you&#8217;re happy with where things are at the moment. If the status quo was to continue, that would be great. But, you know, new voices is possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, not just with the personnel, are you kind of fairly happy with the structure that you&#8217;ve got, the three channels that you&#8217;ve got now? Have you solidified more? Because it sounds like there&#8217;s, you know, been a couple of months of chopping and changing over there. Do you think you&#8217;ll stick with what you&#8217;ve got?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:02] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, I think that&#8217;s definitely, it&#8217;s where it is because, like I said, I did something completely different in the rebrand in June, and since then I did something different again.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think what happens is, when you rebrand and you start restructuring, what you thought was the right structure, you start looking at it and you think, oh, maybe this isn&#8217;t quite right. Maybe I should do it this way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I talked to several people. Getting some opinions, it&#8217;s nice because sometimes I&#8217;m inside my own head and it&#8217;s like, I need somebody to tell me if I&#8217;m just stupid or it&#8217;s a wild idea or, yeah, this is good. So, yeah, I like the three structured channels because it gives me so much flexibility under those.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:45] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I think it&#8217;s pretty remarkable what you&#8217;ve managed to do. You know, you went from just many, many, many years ago, just beginning a podcast. And just hacking away at that for years and years and years. And now you&#8217;ve got this, kind of like little mini network.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But also, I&#8217;m getting the intuition, I could be wrong about this, but I get the intuition that you&#8217;ve leaned into the word open so that you are no longer limited to just WordPress as a project. Is that the case? Are you going to be leaning into just other open source things, whether that&#8217;s other CMSs or, I don&#8217;t know, anything in the open source space? Is that in fact the case?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:19] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, you know, I think what it is, in fact I was just talking to somebody, person that does accessibility, she wants to bring on somebody from Joomla and talk about accessibility because she&#8217;s under the open source channel. And exactly that. The impact of open source has been so huge and WordPress has been at the core of it. And WordPress will still be a big part of this podcast or this channels. And, yeah, I feel it&#8217;s healthy for my hosts. It&#8217;s healthy for everybody that listens, and everybody in the WordPress to hear about other stuff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, it just opens your mind. It has you thinking more about things and knowing what&#8217;s out there. And sometimes maybe you think, well, you know, I&#8217;m burned out on WordPress, but you hear some other stuff and you think, well, maybe it&#8217;s not so bad. You get a big picture of the open source and open web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:30:11] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> There&#8217;s certainly no shortage of things to talk about if you go into open. I mean, obviously WordPress is such a large niche that you really can talk about that until the cows come home. But the you prize open the can of open source, you know, you really are a hundred x&#8217;ing the amount of things that you can talk about. So that&#8217;s kind of really nice that you can, well, you&#8217;ve basically got an infinite horizon of content to make in the near and distant future. And I don&#8217;t suppose open source is going anywhere in the short, medium, or long term. It&#8217;ll still be around.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, speaking of short, medium, and long term, if you&#8217;ve taken yourself away from the mic on every occasion to being in a few, and then kind of now being in the minority of things, and we talked about how you enjoy kind of managing the whole thing, even though it sounds like there&#8217;s a lot of shepherding cats, let&#8217;s put it that way, in the background.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is the intention for you to sort of get to the point where you can be invisible in this, well, certainly from a public facing point of view. You wouldn&#8217;t have your voice in any of them at some point, and you would be able to, I guess, silently kind of move away. Is this like an end game here? What&#8217;s going on?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:31:14] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> No, you know, I think I&#8217;m going to be involved, and the thing was built on my brand really. And I need to stay and keep my fingers in whatever way works for me. And, you know, I&#8217;m, I just turned 68, and I&#8217;m ready to do other things every once in a while like sit on a rock on the beach and look the water. You know, important things like that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But no, it&#8217;s, I like looking at it as still being the face of it, but maybe, can I say not so much the voice of it? I&#8217;m out there, I&#8217;m still, you know, a huge part of it, and probably as long as I have my fingers in it, I&#8217;ll occasionally do little short podcasts. Right now, I do some on the updates on the site and, you know, I might even whip up something like, you know, thoughts from the founder, I don&#8217;t know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:32:03] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Oh, I like it, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:32:05] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, something like that. So there&#8217;s, I don&#8217;t want to just become invisible because it really, how a lot of people have known this, and how I&#8217;ve built it is through my personal brand, and I think that&#8217;s important to stay intact with it. So I&#8217;m not going away anytime soon. And yeah, just need to reevaluate how many hours I put into it and how I can make it, again, more productive and sustainable. Because, you know, if I&#8217;m sick, who&#8217;s to do the production?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:32:33] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah. When it was just you, you could just say, well, I&#8217;m not to record that one. I&#8217;ll just skip a week. But now that you&#8217;ve got like these 25 other hosts, you&#8217;ve got to kind of manage all of that. Oh, that&#8217;s really interesting. And of course, you&#8217;ve got to put time in the calendar to sit on the rock on the beach as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:32:47] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, I know. I&#8217;ve got to get that in there, you know. It&#8217;s very important.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:32:52] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> How does this whole thing hang together from a financial point of view then? So is it a sponsorship relationship? Do you onboard sponsors to keep the whole thing, because obviously, you know, it&#8217;s trying to, you&#8217;re trying to support yourself in all of this. How does that work?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:33:03] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Yeah, it&#8217;s basically sponsorship. And the sponsorship model, but ever since I started this podcast, in fact, before I started this one and did another one before that, I started having sponsors right away.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if your podcast is your main source of income, you got to have something. So yeah, it&#8217;s sponsorships. I am sure you relate to it yourself. And, you know, unless you&#8217;re famous and they just roll in, or you can get like a million subscribers paying $5 a month or something like that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, yeah, we&#8217;re constantly looking for sponsors. And I&#8217;ve changed the model so many times over the years. And it&#8217;ll probably change a little bit here again soon. So it&#8217;s never capped at a certain number. That might be capped for a period of time. But, yeah, it&#8217;s a constant flex and it&#8217;s hard work. And that&#8217;s all I can say.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:33:57] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, I will just drop the URL for that. So if you&#8217;re interested from this conversation, if you&#8217;re interested in getting on as a sponsor for the openchannels.fm network, it&#8217;s the regular URL, openchannels.fm, but then append to the end of that, /sponsors, plural, or you can just find it in the main menu at the top of the site. That will also get you there and, yeah, you&#8217;ll be able to find out more about how you might make the journey into sponsoring that podcast.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, Bob, I know that you are a busy man. You&#8217;ve got 25 cohosts to shepherd and lots of editing to do, and dare I say it, sitting on a rock on the beach is also going to feature at some point during the day as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So thank you so much for chatting to me today. Once more, if you want to check out what Bob is doing with all of his co-hosts and his new structure, go to openchannels.fm to find out more. Bob Dunn, thank you so much for chatting to me today.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:34:47] <strong>Bob Dunn:</strong> Thank you. Always a pleasure.</p>\n</div></details>\n\n\n\n<p>On the podcast today we have <a href=\"https://x.com/bobwp\">Bob Dunn</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob is a long-standing figure in the WordPress community, having branded himself as BobWP back in 2010. With nearly two decades of experience in WordPress, Bob has become one of the most recognisable voices in WordPress podcasting, producing shows that have educated, inspired, and connected countless developers, builders, and enthusiasts. Most recently, he’s launched Open Channels FM, a rebrand and expansion from his well-known “Do the Woo” podcast, which was originally focused on WooCommerce but now explores broader topics around the open web, open source, and the wider maker community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob talks about his journey in podcasting, from running Do the Woo for almost seven years, to the decision to rebrand and launch Open Channels FM. He explains why he felt it was time to broaden the focus, welcoming listeners from outside of just the WooCommerce and WordPress ecosystem, and how that led to a network approach with multiple channels and series.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob describes how Open Channels is structured. Rather than traditional shows, the ‘network’ features three flexible channels, Open Makers, Open Source Reach, and Open Web Conversations, each hosting a variety of series. This lets content stay organised and evergreen, and accommodates the 25 to 30 rotating hosts with the freedom to produce series across different topics.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob talks about the challenges and rewards of handing over the mic, stepping into more of a managerial and founder role, and how he’s building a sustainable, collaborative podcasting network.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We discuss Bob’s technical approach as well, including how he uses WordPress to manage multiple RSS feeds and subscriptions, making it easy for listeners to follow specific channels, or get the firehose of all content. Bob also shares insights on rebranding a podcast, managing redirects, retaining audiences, updating hundreds of featured images, and ensuring continuity without confusing listeners.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’re interested in open source, podcasting, or building community-driven content, this episode is for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Useful links</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://bobwp.com/\">BobWP website</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://openchannels.fm/\">openchannels.fm</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://castos.com/\">Castos</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://openchannels.fm/sponsors/\">Sponsor Open Channels FM</a></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 13 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Nathan Wrigley\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:26;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:98:\"Open Channels FM: How to Start Contributing to the WordPress Developer Blog (Even If You’re New)\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=104438\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:100:\"https://openchannels.fm/how-to-start-contributing-to-the-wordpress-developer-blog-even-if-youre-new/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:377:\"Are you passionate about building websites or tinkering with WordPress, but feel like sharing your ideas on the WordPress Developer Blog is only for seasoned pros? Great news: it’s not. Recently, on &#8220;The WordPress Way” series, a couple of long-time contributors, Justin Tadlock and Mary Baum, shared how welcoming and accessible the WordPress Developer Blog [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 13 Aug 2025 11:30:28 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:27;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:76:\"Open Channels FM: Find Some of our Open Channels FM Hosts at WordCampUS 2025\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=105843\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:83:\"https://openchannels.fm/find-some-of-our-open-channels-fm-hosts-at-wordcampus-2025/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:125:\"If you\'re heading to WordCampUS, don\'t forget to say hi to our awesome hosts and check out the sponsors supporting the event.\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 13 Aug 2025 08:26:56 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:28;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Matt: Haitian Times on Newspack\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23:\"https://ma.tt/?p=147128\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:48:\"https://ma.tt/2025/08/haitian-times-on-newspack/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:388:\"<p>One of the projects that has been going very well within Automattic is Newspack, a vertical WordPress distribution tailored for publishers. Here&#8217;s the story of the Haitian Times:</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div></figure>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 13 Aug 2025 01:52:24 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"Matt\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:29;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:63:\"Aaron Jorbin: Sponsor a WordPress Core Committer at WordCamp US\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"https://aaron.jorb.in/?p=230830\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:72:\"https://aaron.jorb.in/sponsor-a-wordpress-core-committer-at-wordcamp-us/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:2576:\"<p><em>edit: Thank you to <a href=\"https://github.com/dknauss\">Dan Knauss</a>, <a href=\"https://github.com/afragen\">Andy Fragen</a>, <a href=\"https://github.com/jeffpaul\">Jeffrey Paul</a> and two individuals who wish to remain anonymous, I am now fully funded for WordCamp US!</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordCamp US is coming up in two weeks and I&#8217;m looking forward to seeing all the other contributors, most of whom I haven&#8217;t seen since WordCamp US last year. In addition to all of the education that takes place at WordCamps, these are the main opportunities that committers (the folks who make the decisions on what code is ready to be shipped with WordPress) have to get to know each other and chat about ideas we have.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year I&#8217;m serving as one of the leads for the Core Table at Contributor Day. It&#8217;s been a few years since I&#8217;ve been a lead on contributor day, and I&#8217;m excited at the prospect of helping new folks contribute for the first time while also helping existing contributors have an impact on WordPress. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m also organizing the (largely informal) conversation amongst Committers and the (just barely more formal) security team&#8217;s in person meeting. These are teams that work together throughout the year and being able to take some time to meet each other in person is always a great experience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an independently sponsored contributor to Open Source, I don&#8217;t have a company paying for my hotel or flight. While I did apply for the <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/apply-for-the-open-horizons-scholarship-to-attend-wordcamp-us/\">Open Horizons Scholarship</a>, I was unfortunately turned down. This means that essentially all of my sponsorship money for August will be going towards my attendance. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have added <a href=\"https://github.com/sponsors/aaronjorbin?frequency=one-time&amp;sponsor=aaronjorbin\">some one-off tiers of sponsorship</a> focused on WordCamp US 2025. There is also a free form for you to sponsor any amount you feel comfortable with or <a href=\"https://aaron.jorb.in/get-in-touch/\">get in touch</a> if you have another way you want to support me. If there are any organizations looking to help support an independent voice inside of WordPress, please consider sponsoring my attendance at WordCamp US. </p>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https://aaron.jorb.in/sponsor-a-wordpress-core-committer-at-wordcamp-us/\">Sponsor a WordPress Core Committer at WordCamp US</a> appeared first on <a href=\"https://aaron.jorb.in\">Aaron Jorbin</a>.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 12 Aug 2025 16:11:02 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"jorbin\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:30;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:82:\"Open Channels FM: Open Channels FM, the Channels, the Series: Rebranding Phase Two\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=105774\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:86:\"https://openchannels.fm/open-channels-fm-the-channels-the-series-rebranding-phase-two/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:302:\"In a recent episode, founder BobWP gave you an idea of where we are going with in Phase 2 of our rebranding. He had mentioned the move from shows to channels and the flexibility of series, plus some restructuring. As we continue through Phase 2 this month, we thought it would be good to give [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 12 Aug 2025 10:07:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:31;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:92:\"Open Channels FM: Enhancing Client Collaboration with Figma Prototypes in WordPress Projects\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=104295\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:99:\"https://openchannels.fm/enhancing-client-collaboration-with-figma-prototypes-in-wordpress-projects/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:237:\"Web agencies face client engagement challenges during project transitions. Figma\'s interactive prototypes improve communication, enabling clients to provide focused feedback and visualize designs quickly, enhancing overall collaboration.\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 11 Aug 2025 13:17:14 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:32;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:32:\"Tammie Lister: July in WordPress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://binatethoughts.com/?p=2427\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:45:\"https://binatethoughts.com/july-in-wordpress/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3732:\"<p>Another month has turned and it saw a great time to focus on contributing to WordPress. I was lucky enough to get time to focus thanks to sponsors, here is what I did.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Areas of contribution</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My split this month was clearly between triage, program work and feedback. In core editor there was a lot of feedback for design, for AI there was some foundation setting and organising.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I focused on a few key areas this month:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>&#8216;Needs design&#8217;</strong>: ensuring in core editor the queue is truly that.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Triage focused on <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/ancient\">ancient and inactive</a> trac log and core-editor no comments.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Program work</strong>: sorting out milestones, labels and setup for core AI. This also included starting the handbook.</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tickets covered: </strong>89 (a large amount this time were feedback focused)</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>One reflection I had was giving myself time this month to give the feedback, have the planning and discovery conversations as 6.9 formed. This was a little different from the push to ship of past months, but it forms the base for focused work the next few months.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sharing the journey</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Last month I spent quite some time writing as I explored, so I wanted to also share those.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https://binatethoughts.com/optimizing-triage-with-ai-starting-points/\">Optimising triage with AI starting points (continued thoughts including exploring the MCP</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://binatethoughts.com/first-props-and-contribution-journeys/\">First props and contributor journeys</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://binatethoughts.com/what-if-we-paused-default-themes/\">What if we paused default themes</a>.</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br />Upcoming plans for contribution</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>August is going to close out by my attendance at WordCamp US, where I am giving a talk on &#8216;The system is the Strategy&#8217;. I also plan to attend the contribution day. Apart from that my focus will be:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Triage: </strong>focus on <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/ancient\">ancient and inactive</a> trac log.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Core AI:</strong> fill out the handbook and have ready for WCUS contributor day. Continue to document processes and decisions as they are made, including roadmaps.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Move on to the triage of the components label if time.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Look to update design handbook ready for WordCamp US so it can also be self serve for current projects.</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sponsors this month</h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p>I now have these sponsors: <a href=\"https://www.bigscoots.com\">BigScoots</a>, <a href=\"https://greyd.io\">Greyd</a>, <a href=\"https://kinsta.com\">Kinsta</a>, <a href=\"https://servmask.com\">ServMask</a>, <a href=\"https://github.com/aaronjorbin\">Aaron Jorbin</a>, <a href=\"https://github.com/timnashcouk\">Tim Nash</a>, <a href=\"https://github.com/jeffpaul\">Jeffrey Paul</a> and <a href=\"https://github.com/scotrumery\">Scot Rumery</a>. To everyone who sponsored me and helped me secure sponsorship, thank you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to sponsor me? You can through <a href=\"https://github.com/sponsors/karmatosed\">GitHub</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is always sponsorship, of course, that is volunteered, and I&#8217;ll do as much as possible whilst still keeping things flowing – let&#8217;s get contributing!</p>\n</div>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sun, 10 Aug 2025 18:57:48 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"binatethoughts.com\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:33;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:107:\"Gutenberg Times: New Blocks, Interactivity Router API, WordCamp US Schedule, and more—Weekend Edition 337\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=41414\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:113:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/new-blocks-interactivity-router-api-wordcamp-us-schedule-and-more-weekend-edition-337/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18857:\"<p>Hi there! </p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the updates of the last few weeks, there appears to be some increased excitement ahead of the next major WordPress release on December 2, 2025. The planning has been done. The announcement of the release squad is imminent.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you get a chance to read through the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/28/roadmap-to-6-9/\"><strong>Roadmap to 6.9</strong></a> post? It&#8217;s challenging to pick the most exciting features and updates, be it the DataViews or the Site Editor improvements or better template handling&#8230; What is it that you are most excited about? </p>\n\n\n\n<p>ICYMI: <strong>WordCamp US</strong> has published the <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/schedule/\">schedule</a> for the four-day event. <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/schedule/\">Check it out!</a>. <a href=\"https://www.therepository.email/wordcamp-us-2025-schedule-now-live-with-new-career-corner-and-student-initiatives?utm_source=mailpoet&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source_platform=mailpoet&amp;utm_campaign=issue-268\">Ray Morey has more details.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have a splendid weekend ahead, until the next time. <img alt=\"👋\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f44b.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yours, <img alt=\"💕\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f495.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /><br /><em>Birgit</em></p>\n\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-group\" style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-light-background-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<nav class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents\"><ol><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordcamp-us-schedule-new-blocks-interactivity-router-and-more-weekend-edition-337/#0-word-press-release-information\">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</a></li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordcamp-us-schedule-new-blocks-interactivity-router-and-more-weekend-edition-337/#0-p\">Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners</a></li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordcamp-us-schedule-new-blocks-interactivity-router-and-more-weekend-edition-337/#2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled\">Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks</a></li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/wordcamp-us-schedule-new-blocks-interactivity-router-and-more-weekend-edition-337/#3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press\">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.</a></li></ol></nav>\n</div></div>\n</section>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\"></div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"0-word-press-release-information\">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/releases/tag/v21.4.0-rc.1\">Gutenberg 21.4 RC1</a></strong> is available for testing. It seems the team is almost back to last year&#8217;s numbers of PRs merged per release. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>A brief look at the changelog, and it&#8217;s brimming with DataViews updates. <img alt=\"🎉\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f389.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /> </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-light-background-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><img alt=\"🎙\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f399.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /> The latest episode is <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-119-wordpress-6-8-2-and-6-9-gutenberg-21-1-21-2-and-21-3-releases/\">Gutenberg Changelog 119—WordPress 6.8.2 and 6.9, Gutenberg 21.1, 21.2, and 21.3 Releases</a> with Tammie Lister. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-no-vertical-margin\"><img alt=\"Tammie Lister and Birgit Pauli-Haack recording Gutenberg Changelog 119\" class=\"wp-image-40972\" height=\"184\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-25-at-10.53.45.png?resize=652%2C184&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"652\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>If you are listening via Spotify, please leave a comment. If you listen via other podcast apps, please leave a review. It&#8217;ll help with the distribution.</em></p>\n</div></div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>John Blackbourn</strong> announced the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2025/08/maintenance-releases-for-wordpress-branches-4-7-to-6-7/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Maintenance Releases for WordPress branches 4.7 to 6.7</strong></a> and wrote: &#8220;Following on from the WordPress 6.8.2 maintenance release last month, the included update to the root security certificate bundle has been backported to all branches back to 4.7. This ensures that when your site performs server-side HTTP requests, the most up-to-date information about trusted security certificates is used.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>An interesting discussion is happening among contributors regarding which new blocks should be added to the editors if any. For a long time there was strong hesitation to add more blocks beyond the basic ones already available, and users were pointed to the many plugin options. There appears to be a some movement now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can read more in this Gutenberg issue, published by <strong>Matias Ventura</strong>, lead architect of the Gutenberg projects. <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/71026\"><strong>New block</strong></a> additions for the Block Library. After being discussed also in this week&#8217;s Core Dev Chat on Slack, you&#8217;ll find a plethora of opinions in the comments. There are quite a few aspects to consider before contributors move ahead. Well, we all need sliders, tabs , accordions, icons, breadcrumbs, and mega menus to create awesome themes and sites. We might be ok pushing the MathML, marquee, time to read, pop-up dialog and stretchy text into the plugin space. What do you think? Let your ideas be known and comment.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"0-p\">Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In his post <a href=\"https://elliottrichmond.co.uk/migrating-legacy-wordpress-content-to-the-block-editor-a-real-world-case-study/\"><strong>Migrating Legacy WordPress Content to the Block Editor: A Real-World Case Study,</strong></a> <strong>Elliot Richmond</strong> shares his experience, from planning to pitfalls. The post is a practical look at what it takes to bring old content into the modern editor. Richmond demonstrates the technical implementation for transforming 15+ widget types, managing edge cases, and processing 200+ property listings with galleries while maintaining functionality and performance. He describes his content analysis and mapping, the pattern-based architecture with placeholder replacement, batch processing techniques, and handling complex metadata transformations.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nagir Seghir</strong> published a <a href=\"https://developer.woocommerce.com/2025/08/08/developer-advisory-changes-to-session-management-and-cron-jobs-in-woocommerce-10-1/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Developer Advisory: Changes to session management and cron jobs in WooCommerce 10.1</strong></a>. Review your plugins if </p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>it changes how long user sessions last, </li>\n\n\n\n<li>uses <code>woocommerce_persistent_cart</code> from user data, or </li>\n\n\n\n<li>works with WooCommerce background jobs. </li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Test with WooCommerce 10.1 before the August 11 launch. Check status logs for session warnings. Update code since logged-in user session storage is changing from usermeta to session table only.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EventKoi</strong>, the new event management plugin on the block mentioned in the previous newsletter editions, just announced the release of a free version. You can download it from the <strong><a href=\"https://eventkoi.com/#pricing\">pricing section.</a></strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled\">Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In his latest tutorial, <strong>Carlo Daniele</strong>, at Kinsta, explains <a href=\"https://kinsta.com/blog/style-block-variations-gutenberg/\"><strong>how to hack Gutenberg blocks with style variations and block</strong></a> variations. He demonstrates creating an animated Polaroid effect for the Image block, covering the differences between these features : Style Variations change appearance with CSS, while Block Variations create preconfigured block versions. The tutorial includes setting up a development environment, building a complete &#8220;Image Hacker&#8221; plugin, and addressing compatibility issues with WordPress&#8217;s lightbox feature. It&#8217;s a great tutorial to level up your block customization skills. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>If you need a shorter version of how to create block styles, <strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> shows you <strong><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAyIHY0TtCI\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">How to make a custom block style in minutes!</a></strong> on YouTube. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>If you are eager to learn more ways to add block style variations to your theme or plugin you can read through the complete developer guide. &#8220;<a href=\"https://wordpress.com/blog/2025/05/07/custom-block-styles/\"><strong>Mastering Custom Block Styles in WordPress: 6 Methods for Theme and Plugin Developers</strong></a>&#8221; by yours truly. </p>\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-callout undefined not-color-set\" style=\"border-color: #f9f9e5; border-radius: 22px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0; padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; text-align: left; margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; background-color: #f9f9e5;\">\n<p><strong> <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2025&#8221;</a> </strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test, and Meta team from Jan. 2024 on. Updated by yours truly. The previous years are also available: <strong><strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/\">2020</a> | <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2021/\">2021</a></strong> | <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2022/\">2022</a></strong></strong> | <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/gutenberg-index-2023\">2023</a></strong> | <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/gutenberg-index-2024/\"><strong>2024</strong></a></p>\n</section>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press\">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ronald Huereca</strong> has written a detailed guide on <strong><a href=\"https://dlxplugins.com/tutorials/how-to-generate-a-block-manifest-to-improve-block-performance/\">How to Generate a Block Manifest to Improve Block Performance</a>.</strong> You&#8217;ll learn what they are and how to effectively use them in your block plugin. In this comprehensive resource, Huereca not only explains the technical aspects of block manifests but also shares best practices for implementation, ensuring that you can optimize your plugins for better performance.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Juliette Reinders Folmer</strong> released <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress-Coding-Standards/releases/tag/3.2.0\"><strong>v3.2 of the WordPress Coding Standards</strong></a>, PHP_CodeSniffer rules (sniffs) to enforce WordPress coding conventions. This release adds stricter meta usage checks, new sniffs for heredoc, better PHP 8.1+ callable support, expanded deprecated feature detection to WP 6.8.1, improved documentation, higher PHPCS requirements, and various optimizations. These help developers ensure cleaner, more up-to-date, and future-proof code.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In his latest live stream, <strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> took a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCRrxmSoIb4\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Deep Dive in explaining WordPress Interactivity API Router.</strong> </a>He looked at the WordPress Interactivity API and how its routing system works. He walked through the @wordpress/interactivity-router package and showed how to use its front-end routing features. This is useful if you&#8217;re working on custom blocks or interactive themes. He covered how the Interactivity API functions, what the routing package does, and how you can apply it in your own WordPress projects.</p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In his latest livestream, <strong>JuanMa Garrido</strong> explored <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEcumw0sb6Y\"><strong>how to test WordPress PHP code with PHPUnit</strong></a>. You can follow along as he spun up the Docker-powered wp-env test stack, created WordPress-standards-compliant unit tests, used TDD for clean architecture, and wired everything into CI pipelines—so your plugins and themes stay stable, refactor-ready, and bug-free.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEcumw0sb6Y\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41492\" height=\"367\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/JuanMa-Garrido-Unit-tests-with-PHP-unit.jpeg?resize=652%2C367&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"652\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-callout undefined not-color-set\" style=\"border-color: #eeeeee; border-radius: 26px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0; padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; text-align: left; margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; background-color: #f3efe9;\">\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/\">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s master branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now also available via <a href=\"https://playground.wordpress.net/?blueprint-url=https://gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/playnightly.json\">WordPress Playground</a>. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? <a href=\"mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com\">Email me </a>with your experience</p>\n\n\n\n<p><img alt=\"GitHub all releases\" src=\"https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge\" /></p>\n</section>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\"><em>Questions? Suggestions? Ideas? </em><br /><em>Don&#8217;t hesitate to send <a href=\"mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com\">them via email</a> or</em><br /><em> send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">For questions to be answered on the <a href=\"http://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast\">Gutenberg Changelog</a>, <br />send them to <a href=\"mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com\">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-group\" style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\">\n<p>Featured Image: Photo by Kimson Doan on Unsplash</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>\n\n\n<form action=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/\" autocomplete=\"on\" class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait\" method=\"post\"><div class=\"ngl-form-container\"><div class=\"ngl-form-field\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><label class=\"ngl-form-label\" for=\"ngl_email\"><br />Type in your Email address to subscribe.</label><div class=\"ngl-form-input\"><input autocomplete=\"email\" class=\"ngl-form-input-text\" id=\"ngl_email\" name=\"ngl_email\" required=\"required\" style=\"border-radius: 21px;\" type=\"email\" /></div></div><button class=\"ngl-form-button\" style=\"background-color: #005075; border-color: #005075; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; color: #ffffff; border-radius: 21px;\" type=\"submit\">Subscribe</button><p class=\"ngl-form-text\">We hate spam, too, and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone <br />except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay\"><div class=\"ngl-message-svg-wrap\"><svg fill=\"none\" height=\"24\" stroke=\"#fff\" stroke-width=\"2\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><polyline points=\"20 6 9 17 4 12\"></polyline></svg></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay-text\">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input id=\"ngl_list_id\" name=\"ngl_list_id\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"26f81bd8ae\" /><input id=\"ngl_double_optin\" name=\"ngl_double_optin\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"yes\" /></form>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n</section>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 09 Aug 2025 01:43:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Birgit Pauli-Haack\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:34;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:92:\"Open Channels FM: Navigating Tech Careers, Global Moves, and the Rise of AI in the Workplace\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=105388\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:97:\"https://openchannels.fm/navigating-tech-careers-global-moves-and-the-rise-of-ai-in-the-workplace/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:368:\"Welcome to this episode of DevPulse, Expanding the Stack. Today, co-host Carl Alexander dives into a lively conversation with Nyasha Green, a software developer, project manager, and popular LinkedIn Learning instructor. Nyasha shares her journey as a tech generalist, discusses the ups and downs of juggling multiple jobs, and reveals how she found her true [&#8230;]\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:03:45 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:35;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:80:\"WordPress.org blog: Portland, Are You Ready? The WCUS 2025 Schedule Has Arrived!\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=19004\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:93:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2025/08/portland-are-you-ready-the-wcus-2025-schedule-has-arrived/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5040:\"<p>We’re excited to announce that the full schedule for WordCamp US 2025 has been published! From August 26–29 in Portland, Oregon, join web creators, innovators, and community leaders for four days of learning, collaboration, and inspiration. This year’s lineup brings together sessions on everything from cutting-edge AI to hands-on workshops, performance, accessibility, design, and the future of WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19026\" height=\"576\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/wordpress.org/news/files/2025/08/ScheduleHeader.png?resize=1024%2C576&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"1024\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\" style=\"padding-top: 0; padding-right: 0; padding-bottom: 0; padding-left: 0;\"><strong>Check out the full schedule and start planning your WordCamp experience.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-a89b3969 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-blue-1-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/schedule/\">View The Schedule</a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contributor Day — Connect, Collaborate, and Give Back</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Kicking off the week on Tuesday, August 26 is Contributor Day, it is your chance to roll up your sleeves and make a direct impact on WordPress. Whether you’re a seasoned developer, creative designer, translator, marketer, or simply passionate about open source, there’s a place for you to get involved. Join WordPress teams working on real projects, share your skills, and connect with people across the global community. Contributor Day is also a fantastic place for hiring managers or business owners to meet emerging talent and see contributors in action. Lunch is provided, and both in-person and select remote participation options are available. If you’ve ever wanted to help shape the future of WordPress, this is your moment!<br /></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/schedule/#contributor-day\">Start planning your Contributor Day activities &gt;&gt;</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Showcase Day — See WordPress in Action</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Showcase Day on Wednesday, August 27, shines a spotlight on what&#8217;s possible with WordPress. Get inspired by live demos, case studies, and actionable presentations from experts and innovators using WordPress in creative and impactful ways. You’ll see how changemakers, nonprofits, publishers, and agencies use WordPress to solve real-world problems, build new products, and drive the web forward. Highlights include hands-on workshops, technical talks, and practical sessions covering everything from design systems to modern AI. It’s a full day dedicated to celebrating the talent, creativity, and innovation of the WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more: <a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/schedule/#showcase-day\">See where these inspirational showcases take you &gt;&gt;</a></p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conference Days — Learn, Connect, and Level Up</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The main event days for Thursday and Friday, August 28-29, feature a robust mix of technical deep-dives, product masterclasses, and sessions designed for all experience levels. Whether you’re a developer, designer, business owner, or just starting out, you’ll find plenty to explore—from future-focused discussions on AI and performance to hands-on workshops and networking events that bring the community together.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Keynote Highlights:</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Amy Sample Ward, CEO of NTEN:</strong> The Tech That Comes Next: How Changemakers, Philanthropists, and Technologists Can Build an Equitable World. Featured Wednesday, August 27.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Danny Sullivan, from Google Search</strong>: Industry leader, featured Thursday, August 28.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Matt Mullenweg, Co-founder of WordPress:</strong> Featured Friday, August 29.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>More keynotes announcing soon!</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>With dozens of sessions across multiple tracks, plus workshops and networking opportunities, WordCamp US is set to be an unforgettable experience. Don’t miss your chance to connect, share ideas, and help shape the future of the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Check out the full schedule and start planning your WordCamp experience.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-a89b3969 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-blue-1-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/schedule/\">View The Schedule</a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 06 Aug 2025 20:03:43 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Brett McSherry\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:36;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:26:\"HeroPress: New Continents!\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:29:\"https://heropress.com/?p=8130\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:95:\"https://heropress.com/new-continents/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-continents\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1983:\"<img alt=\"Google map of Central America with some HeroPress pins on it.\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/central_america.webp\" width=\"1024\" /><p>When I made the Continents taxonomy I didn&#8217;t think it through very well.  For example, I made an Oceania continent, which isn&#8217;t really real.  Also, most of the terms in the taxonomy are countries, which I think is more interesting, but I don&#8217;t really surface them anywhere.  More on that someday.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the struggles I had was how to sort essays from Central America and the Middle East. Did you know the Middle East is on three different continents?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I simply gave up on cartographically and geographically correct and decided to sort countries the way people do. So now there are two new continents, <a href=\"https://heropress.com/continent/central-america/\">Central America</a> and <a href=\"https://heropress.com/continent/west-asia/\">West Asia</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are what countries I&#8217;m considering in those areas:</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading8130_fcbf04-94 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\">Central America:</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Belize</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Guatamala</li>\n\n\n\n<li>El Salvador</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Honduras</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nicaragua</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Costa Rica</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Panama</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading8130_9080a1-50 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\">West Asia</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Iran</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Iraq</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Syria</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lebanon</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Israel</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jordan</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kuwait</li>\n\n\n\n<li>UEA</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oman</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Yemen</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Saudi Arabia</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Israel</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Palestine</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for your <a href=\"https://heropress.com/donate/\">support</a>.</p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https://heropress.com/new-continents/\">New Continents!</a> appeared first on <a href=\"https://heropress.com\">HeroPress</a>.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 06 Aug 2025 16:52:30 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:37;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:57:\"WPTavern: #180 – Karla Campos on organising WordCamp US\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:48:\"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=198673\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:71:\"https://wptavern.com/podcast/180-karla-campos-on-organising-wordcamp-us\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:48213:\"<details>Transcript<div>\n<p>[00:00:19] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Welcome to the Jukebox Podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress, the people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case, what goes into organizing a flagship WordCamp.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;d like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast player of choice, or by going to wptavern.com/feed/podcast, and you can copy that URL into most podcast players.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a topic that you&#8217;d like us to feature on the podcast, I&#8217;m keen to hear from you and hopefully get you, or your idea, featured on the show. Head to wptavern.com/contact/jukebox, and use the form there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So on the podcast today we have Karla Campos. Karla has been involved in the WordPress community for over 10 years. Starting out in Miami, and taking part in meetups and word camps before stepping into larger organizational roles. With a background in media and marketing, Karla brings plenty of experience in both web and events to the world of WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Karla joins us today as a lead organizer for the upcoming WordCamp US 2025, which will take place in Portland at the end of August. Remarkably, this is her first flagship WordCamp, and she&#8217;s organizing before ever attending.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We discuss what motivated Karla to take on this major responsibility, how she balances the volunteer work with her professional life, and the challenges, expected and unexpected, along the way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We discuss the organization of such a huge event from working with a professional production company to handling the logistics, communications, accessibility requests, visas, and more, for a thousand plus attendees. Karla shares how the community side of the event is managed, the late night worries, and what it really takes, both in time and personal commitment, to make a WordCamp US happen, especially as a volunteer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also highlights some of the initiatives for this year&#8217;s event, renewed efforts to welcome students and first time attendees, including student ticket pricing and the WP Trail Buddies Program to help newcomers feel at home. She also teases the introduction of a hackathon style contributor today, and new remote collaboration options.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a WordCamp US, how it&#8217;s organized, how volunteers are supported, and what motivates people like Karla to invest their own time and resources, this episode is for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested in finding out more, you can find all of the links in the show notes by heading to wptavern.com/podcast, where you&#8217;ll find all the other episodes as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so without further delay, I bring you Karla Campos.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am joined on the podcast by Karla Campos. Hello, Karla.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:21] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Hello. How are you, Nathan?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:23] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, good thank you. Very nice for you to join us today. I really appreciate it. Karla&#8217;s here today, we&#8217;re going to talk about WordCamp US, which is happening in Portland. Actually, I was going to say later this month, almost later this month. We&#8217;re recording it right at the very, very end July, 2025. It&#8217;s taking place toward the end of August, 2025. So it&#8217;s pretty soon.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But before we get into that, Karla, will you just give us your little potted bio. Tell us who you are, what you do in the WordPress space, and maybe very quickly just tell us how the heck you came to be organising a WordCamp, one of these flagship WordCamps.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:56] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> I always like to say that my involvement in projects sometimes comes about serendipitously. Just kind of like, hey, look, I saw that on the internet, it looked interesting, and I decided to join.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I actually have about more than 10 years with the WordPress community in Miami. When I first moved to Florida, I started going to meetup groups and then I met the WordPress Miami organisers and started really getting involved with them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>My ex-colleague and coworker, her name was Jackie Jimenez, she unfortunately passed away, but we had a lot of great moments building things together in the WordPress Miami community. And when I saw the announcement online, I said, you know, she would&#8217;ve loved to do this with me. Let me check it out. And then that&#8217;s how I kind of just decided to join the organizer group.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I&#8217;ve been with WordPress for over 10 years. I&#8217;ve been working in marketing. I used to work for Telemundo here in the Florida area. I used to work for iHeartRadio. So I have a lot of the media marketing background as well as the working on websites and copy. So I&#8217;ve been around for a while, just I&#8217;m more of like a quiet, in the background type of person.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:09] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> And have you attended any of these flagship, so the flagship ones are obviously WordCamp Asia, WordCamp Europe, WordCamp US. Have you attended any of those flagship ones in the past?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:18] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Is it odd that this is my first flagship and I&#8217;m organising it?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:21] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I think it&#8217;s great.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:22] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> It feels almost surreal.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:23] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So just before we hit record, you said that, I don&#8217;t know, something like a month ago, you caught wind of the fact that WordCamp US still needed some volunteers. Have I got that about right? It&#8217;s about a month ago that you became involved in the organisation of the upcoming event.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:38] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> I would say May, I think May. You know, the dates are all come together. We don&#8217;t even know what month it is. Because we&#8217;re working on it so much in the backend. So I would say around May, when I first saw the, or when I got pulled into the organiser group.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:53] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Since then, has it kind of taken over your life? I don&#8217;t mean that to sort of sound disparaging, but has it kind of crept in into all the different parts of your life? So you&#8217;ve basically got no free time left anymore.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:06:04] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> It has because you&#8217;d think, okay, you know, even because we do have a production team that&#8217;s helping organise the event to make sure it&#8217;s properly handled for all the attendees, because we do expect around a thousand, it&#8217;s always been that amount for a flagship.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we have a production company working on the backend helping us with the production to make sure everything is smooth. But still, with that going on, I still feel like at 2:00 AM I&#8217;m thinking WordCamp US, WordCamp US. I know there&#8217;s something I have to do. So yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:06:34] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Let&#8217;s split out what the production company do first of all. So I genuinely don&#8217;t know what that even means. So, a production company, I&#8217;m guessing you offload something, all the tasks that you can to them. I&#8217;m guessing they&#8217;re a commercial entity and they get paid to fulfill whatever contractual obligations that you&#8217;ve got. What is it that they handle? And then we&#8217;ll get into what the community side of things, the team of community, volunteers, and so on are doing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:06:59] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> So the production team is making sure that the venue and everything that happens at the venue is organised. So from some of the room logistics, so more on the venue side, that they&#8217;re handling that part to make sure that we can handle everything else that comes with organising, including all the planning around contributor day, showcase day, the photographers. So that&#8217;s our side, and then their side, the production team, is more of venue logistics.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:07:27] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> And so do they handle things like, oh, I don&#8217;t know, the building of the sponsor booths and things like that? Because when you attend these events, there&#8217;s a very, very professional feel to them. So it&#8217;s not like you just show up and, you know, it&#8217;s kind of thrown together at the last minute. It really does feel, when you actually stop and think about it, you have a great sense of, gosh, there&#8217;s months, possibly years of organising that&#8217;s gone on in the background. Is it that kind of thing? You know, making sure that essentially when you walk in, everything looks right, everything that you can see, they do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:07:57] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Yes. And then Megan Marcel, which is my co-lead organiser, she&#8217;s heading that part. So she&#8217;s managing that production company to make sure the venue and all the booths are on point, that they look like what they cost. Because, you know, those booths and everything that the sponsors spend, it&#8217;s not cheap things. They&#8217;re very luxurious. Sometimes more than others. But yeah, so she&#8217;s making sure that that&#8217;s covered with the production team. That it looks a hundred percent what the sponsors expect.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:08:25] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> And, okay then, let&#8217;s flip to the more community side. So everything that is not part of the production team&#8217;s remit. What are some of the tasks that you are finding yourself worrying about at 2:00 AM in the morning?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:08:36] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Actually just making sure the communications, and all the attendees are getting service. So I am the lead organiser in charge of communications and marketing, and I have other team leaders under me, like Caroline Harrison, who is the team lead for the attendee communications. So we&#8217;re getting a lot of requests when it comes to accessibility, food that they have allergies or that they need visas.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lot of traffic, of course, right now, I told you we had about 730 attendees already registered, so that email traffic is coming into our teams. So I&#8217;m just like, I saw an email and I know my team handled it, and I know they&#8217;re prompt but, you know, I wake up at 2:00 AM. Did I answer that email? Was that a nightmare? Did I miss something?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s how it&#8217;s been in my life, you know, like I&#8217;m having these nightmares that I didn&#8217;t do something, but I did, because I&#8217;m a very responsible individual. But it just feels like that. It&#8217;s become so intertwined in my life that I&#8217;m having nightmares that I didn&#8217;t do a task.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:33] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> When you get involved in the WordPress community, there&#8217;s obviously so many bits and pieces that you can get involved in, but very many of them don&#8217;t really, at the beginning, at least anyway of community involvement, don&#8217;t necessarily have crunch points in time. Obviously, as you get more into the community, there might be moments. You might be, I don&#8217;t know, a release lead or something like that, in which case there will be a date in the calendar where things have got to be all tied off.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But mostly, there&#8217;s never that calendar moment where everything&#8217;s got to be finished. But you very, very much are faced with a ticking clock, aren&#8217;t you? Because come the date that the first people are arriving, the attendees are arriving, and presumably, before that the production team need to get in, and set up all the sponsor booths and make sure all of that&#8217;s taken care of and what have you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s a curious thing. So the stress, I guess, does pile up a little bit. And it would behoove all of us who attend events like this, just to pause for a moment and remember that it is done by a bunch of volunteers who have this ticking time bomb, if you know what I mean, in the back, where everything&#8217;s got to be finished by a certain date. And so I would just like to express my gratitude for the fact that you&#8217;ve stepped up basically and tried to fulfill that role. Appreciate it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:10:40] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Thank you. I appreciate the nice kind words, because it&#8217;s been a little bit hectic and, you know, it&#8217;s good to hear that people appreciate your work.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:10:48] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Have you actually had a chance to go around the building yet? I know we discussed this prior to hitting record, but is this more of a kind of, you&#8217;ll be showing up the first time in the same way that everybody else will, or have you managed to sort of walk the floorboards as it were?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:00] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Like I mentioned earlier, but we weren&#8217;t live, I&#8217;ve seen personally the venue in virtual tours and et cetera, but I&#8217;m coming to the Oregon area a week before. So I&#8217;ll be there earlier to see the venue. Go through the walkthroughs and do what the team does earlier, so that everything&#8217;s on point. But from what I&#8217;ve seen, everything&#8217;s going great.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:22] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Do you get any sort of remuneration for any of the work that you do? So by remuneration, I&#8217;m specifically talking about finance. Does anything get offset? So for example, if you are based in Florida, presumably you&#8217;re going to be hopping on a plane, and there&#8217;ll be the food that you&#8217;ve got to eat during the time that you&#8217;re there, and the accommodation, the hotels and so on. Does somebody at the level of volunteering that you have nominated yourself for, does any of that get offset, or is this completely voluntary, where you&#8217;ve got to dig into your pocket for every single expense?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:50] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> This is voluntary. So yeah, I&#8217;m just putting in from my end to support the community. So if ever you are planning on joining something like the WordCamp organisation groups, it usually is a volunteer thing. There are some scholarships but that&#8217;s, you have to apply for and it&#8217;s very competitive. So I don&#8217;t think everyone gets one. But yeah, no, everything that I&#8217;m putting in personally is through my own finances.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:16] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, again, obviously I gave you some thanks a moment ago and I&#8217;m about to do it again. Thank you for that commitment as well, because it&#8217;s not nothing. You know, going to Portland on an airplane from where you are, you know, it&#8217;s all the way across the country. It&#8217;s not a cheap place to reside in. Accommodation in and around the venue is probably at a premium, you know, it&#8217;s summertime, everything&#8217;s quite expensive around there. So it&#8217;s not inconsiderable, and there is an impact to that. So again, once again, thank you for taking the time, and also allocating the funds to make that possible. Obviously, events like this cannot happen without people like you doing it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:51] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Yes. And I think they must be done. You know, sometimes we have to make sacrifices to bring together something that brings people together around WordPress, which powers people&#8217;s businesses, their livelihoods. So, you know, I don&#8217;t mind putting in when I know that I make an impact in a community and helping those people with their livelihoods.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:13:12] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Now you said that this all began for you in May, and we could get into what it was that exactly prompted you to do that. It sounds like somebody kind of sent something in your direction, which you responded to. So what have we had May, June, July, basically, you&#8217;ve been into this for a couple of months.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any intuitions now of regret? That&#8217;s probably not something that we want to get into too much, but do you know what I mean? If you could rewind the clock to, let&#8217;s say April during 2025, did you get into this with your eyes wide open, or has it ended up being much more of a task than you imagined? What I&#8217;m basically trying to ask is, are there any bits of this that you think, gosh, I didn&#8217;t really anticipate that was going to be involved? This is way more than I was imagining biting off.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:13:54] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Yeah, the time required to do all the work that needs to be done, and I&#8217;m a confident person, so I went in this, I have experience organising events for Telemundo, big concerts of 50,000 people plus. So I went in confident thinking, I got this. But as I got more into it, I just started to notice, okay, well, this is taking a lot of my time that I wasn&#8217;t prepared for.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I&#8217;ve adapted and I&#8217;m good now. It&#8217;s been a rollercoaster ride, but it&#8217;s fun for me because I&#8217;m that type of person who enjoys the challenge.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, it&#8217;s been fun, it&#8217;s been unexpected for sure. So we&#8217;ve had ups and downs, but we&#8217;re getting through it, you know, and that&#8217;s the fun of a rollercoaster ride, so yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:14:31] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> What are some of the things that you didn&#8217;t anticipate? Obviously, you said it&#8217;s ended up being more time, so yeah, more time has been required of you. But what beyond that? What are some of the things that you didn&#8217;t anticipate that you would need to do, that you have in fact ended up doing?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:14:44] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> I think all the time spent talking to people, it&#8217;s been really crazy. So I think I just didn&#8217;t anticipate the timing. So I think I originally volunteered for about 10 hours per week. Leading up to the event I think, a week before the event we&#8217;re supposed, or a month before the event, we&#8217;re supposed to be putting more in time, but this feels like a full-time job.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh my gosh, you know, like I just didn&#8217;t anticipate for that. So it&#8217;s been kind of, like we talked about before, merging with my normal life where I&#8217;m just like, oh wait, my to-do list for my regular projects, and my family and everything is now part of WordCamp, if that makes sense.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:15:19] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So during the onboarding process that you&#8217;ve had over the last couple of months, how have you learnt what you needed to know? Because this event, I mean, it can&#8217;t have been thrown together in the last couple of months. Presumably you came along and joined at some point where many things had been set in motion. But how did you acquire the knowledge that you needed to do the work that you are now doing? Who taught you all of this and so on?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:15:43] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Well, we do get the last year&#8217;s folder with all the information. So it came about from a lot of reading, asking past team members. So we do have some people who were part of the organizing team last year. Gail Wallace, one of our co-leads, she&#8217;s doing contributor day, she&#8217;s doing photography, she&#8217;s also helping with the lead organising. So she was very helpful in just kind of letting us know about the previous year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have mentors like Kevin Christiano and Aaron Campbell from hosting.com, who also worked with WordCamps in the past. And there are mentors who we can always contact on Slack. So we do a lot of work on Slack, and we can always message them back and forth with any information any, hey, we need help with this. They&#8217;re always there to just say, hey, this would be a better practice from our experience last year. So we do have mentors there that help us, and that&#8217;s been a big relief.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:16:37] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> How much time do you imagine, if I was to ask you on a, let&#8217;s go for a weekly basis. At the moment, so we&#8217;re three-ish weeks away from the event, something like that, how much time are you spending during the previous week? So the last seven days, how many hours do you think you&#8217;ve clocked up working towards this event?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:16:53] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> At least, I would say 30 hours.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:16:55] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Wow, okay. And so that then presumably has had a material impact upon the regular work that you do. Now, either you are just superhuman and can add 30 hours into your working week with no perceived, you know, there&#8217;s just, that&#8217;s fine. I can just add 30 hours in. Most of us, including myself, could not do that. I would have to kind of offset one thing with the other. Have you done that? Has it had an impact on the business, the work that you normally do? Have you had to sort of downgrade the amount of time you&#8217;ve been spending recently on that kind of work?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:22] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Not on my business, more on my free time, so I&#8217;m not getting out this summer to the pool as I would have last year. But luckily, we&#8217;re having a super heat wave in Florida, so it&#8217;s too hot outside anyway.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:33] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> It&#8217;s like it&#8217;s been planned, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:35] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> It&#8217;s been planned. The universe is putting a heat wave out there, so now I can&#8217;t outside in the pool, but I would probably still take my devices out there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:42] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Has the team had any concerns around attendee numbers? Because I remember I went to this event last year, and I actually don&#8217;t know what the numbers are, but I&#8217;m going to guess it was in the region of, I don&#8217;t know, 1,300 to 1,500, something like that, attendees.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s obviously been a lot of controversy in the WordPress space since that event. I wondered if there has been some anxiety? I have a recollection that the event, the planning of the event probably would&#8217;ve been happening earlier than it did for this event.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I&#8217;m just wondering if you could speak to that, whether or not the team itself are happy with the numbers that you&#8217;ve got so far? And whether or not things are kind of late in the planning, let&#8217;s put it that way. Do you feel that it&#8217;s all being put together in a rushed way?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:23] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> No, I think we&#8217;re on track. I mean, we expected the event to be smaller this year because there have been discussions around different things that are happening in just the space, like traveling restrictions, people being scared to fly to the US, different things that we knew it was going to make the numbers less.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But right now we&#8217;re up to 730 registered attendees. So we are planning for a thousand attendees. That&#8217;s our goal. Hopefully more. But yeah, we expected that it was going to be a little bit less than last year for the various reasons, including the travel restrictions and things that people do not want to come to the US for.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, Portland is ultimately a very friendly place and I think our concern is that everyone is safe and happy at the event. So I think we&#8217;re doing a very good job with that right now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:11] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I guess also there&#8217;s maybe, the fact that an event like this has happened in the previous year at the exact same venue. There&#8217;s maybe a little bit that would be squandered there, if you know what I mean?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the idea that you&#8217;d get a similar number of the exact same people, plus others, coming back to the same venue. I know for me at least anyway, it is quite nice to have the opportunity to go to different places. I&#8217;m going to be in attendance, so it hasn&#8217;t put me off. I&#8217;m still going to be there. But I think some people do like the fact that, you know, it&#8217;s in Portland one year and it&#8217;s in, I don&#8217;t know, Texas or California or whatever it may be in different years.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So maybe that kind of speaks into it a little bit as well. But yeah, the whole thing around traveling to the US, plus the obvious problems that we&#8217;ve had in the WordPress space around the community and so on. And then maybe this third piece of it being in the same venue and in the same location, maybe all of those conspire to not make it as big as last year. But still, a thousand, which seems to be the target number, is pretty credible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you anticipate getting to a thousand? Is the trajectory at the moment, if you were to map that forward, do you think you&#8217;ll actually manage that? Despite the fact that it&#8217;s an aspirational target? Are you fairly confident you&#8217;ll get there?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:20:14] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Yeah, I&#8217;m confident. But I told you earlier, I&#8217;m a confident person, I&#8217;m always thinking positive. And we do have a lot of student initiatives, because we want to bring more people into the WordPress community, more students that perhaps haven&#8217;t even had the opportunity to experience WordPress, and the community, and how that can help them build their career.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, our topic is sort of like the future of WordPress. And we&#8217;re doing a lot of student initiatives so that, you know, everybody gets a little bit of that WordPress community feel and that would, there&#8217;s a lot of students very interested, so I think we can reach the number.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:20:48] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I certainly hope so. I mean, when you say students, I&#8217;m presuming from that, that you mean younger people by that as well. So not just people that are in education, but really aiming that target at young people in education.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It always struck me when you go to these events that the demographic definitely skews older. I don&#8217;t mean, you know, particularly old, but you don&#8217;t tend to find a bunch of 18 to 20 year olds wandering around in large proportion.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It seems to me, it&#8217;s definitely in the late twenties, early thirties, forties, fifties and and upwards. So that&#8217;s been a definite charge that you&#8217;ve had then has it, to try and get younger people? Have I got that right? When you said student, did you mean younger people?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:29] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Well, we are working with colleges because they&#8217;re very interested in how AI and WordPress are evolving, and everything that&#8217;s going around that. And through our event, the teachers that work at the colleges are very excited to connect the students with the future of the web and whatever&#8217;s happening with web development and AI.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They&#8217;re really interested in sending the students there because even though they&#8217;re educators, they&#8217;re not the innovators. So they want to come to WordCamp to connect with those innovators, including Google. Google&#8217;s liaison of search, Danny Sullivan, that was amazing to the students. They wanted to meet people in charge of the tech industry and connect there. So I&#8217;m talking about those students, yeah, the students that are in the tech industry that want to connect with the industry leaders.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:17] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I think things work slightly differently over here in the UK, but I know that in the US there&#8217;s this sort of concept of college credits, where you do a certain thing and it can count towards part of your educational program. You know, you can tick some boxes and it will get you to jump over some hurdles.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you know if an event like WordCamp, in this case WordCamp US, do you know if an event like that can count? And does that in some way then kind of make it slightly easier to sell a WordPress event into that student marketplace, if you like?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:47] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> It can, depending on the teachers. Some of the universities and colleges already have their structured standards on how credits work. But if we&#8217;re working with the teachers, sometimes they have summer school projects that they get extra credit, that helps their grades. So we can tie that in with that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;re welcome to working with any teacher who wants to help their students grow their career and willing to give them extra credit and opportunities. So it depends on the college and the teacher and what already they have established.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:17] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, like I said, we don&#8217;t kind of operate that system, certainly for WordCamp US, I don&#8217;t think that would particularly count. But I know that those kind of systems exist.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just pivoting to you a little bit and the work that you did in the past. Obviously it sounds like you&#8217;ve got a heritage in being involved in sizable events, credible events in the tech space, and perhaps other spaces as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What do you make of this event? How do you sort of see it? Do you see it as a sort of professional tech event, something that you may have attended on behalf of organisations that you were working for before? Or is this much more of a kind of community event?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can&#8217;t really sum up the exact target of what I&#8217;m trying to say there, but I&#8217;m just really after a feel of what you make of the event in terms of whether it&#8217;s more, I don&#8217;t know, more friendly, a little bit less business orientated, and perhaps skewing more to community, that kind of thing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:05] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> I think it&#8217;s a little bit of both. It is a friendlier atmosphere from the different tech events that I&#8217;ve been involved in that feel more serious. Because when you go to a WordCamp, you automatically feel that it&#8217;s a little friendlier, a little bit less corporate.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, everyone is very skilled. They&#8217;re very like awesome in their profession, but they&#8217;re also very down to earth and just willing to, hey, share a tidbit here, a tip here. I&#8217;ve even seen people help other people with their websites live at the events. Hey, look, I&#8217;m having a problem with my website. It&#8217;s not doing something on mobile. It&#8217;s not responding the way I want it to. It&#8217;s not responsive. Can you help me? And someone will stop and say, yeah, let&#8217;s sit down here in this corner. Let&#8217;s go to that room, and let me look at it and help you a little bit. And it&#8217;s something that I don&#8217;t see at other conferences where people have this community feel. So I&#8217;ve always admired that about WordCamps.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:56] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, it&#8217;s really hard to encapsulate, isn&#8217;t it? What that thing is. But that thing is a thing. And what I mean by that is there is some quality of community spirit that definitely hasn&#8217;t existed at any event that I&#8217;ve been to outside of the WordPress space. It feels a little bit more like, heads down, you&#8217;re there for work, you must concentrate entirely on work, and maybe you&#8217;ll attend some kind of, I don&#8217;t know, after party or something like that. But again, the entire purpose of that will be business, business as usual.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And there is much more of sense of camaraderie. And really, I suppose if somebody is listening to this and is kind of on the fence about these events, definitely I would draw your attention to that fact. And although if you are perhaps slightly more on the introverted side, it doesn&#8217;t necessarily make it a hundred percent easier to attend, and this feeling that you&#8217;ll just suddenly be embraced by everybody in the hallway, it probably won&#8217;t work that way. But there is definitely a more friendly atmosphere. There&#8217;s a different, and dare I say it, vibe going on, which I have always really appreciated. It definitely feels less corporate, more friendly. There&#8217;s more of an opportunity to make friendships, for want of a better way of describing it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:07] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Yes. And also, I&#8217;m sure you know Michelle Frechette.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:10] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Oh, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:11] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> I think everyone knows Michelle. She&#8217;s organising something called WP Trail Buddies. So she&#8217;s actually connecting veteran WordCamp attendees with new attendees, so that they can have like a friend, a buddy at the WordCamp that they can do things with, so they don&#8217;t feel alone and they feel welcome.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that&#8217;s a new thing, and that sounds, you know, if a person is coming to WordCamp for the first time, they can go that route, you know, they can actually have somebody there with them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:37] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I would draw everybody&#8217;s attention, if you&#8217;ve never been to one of these flagship WordPress events before, there is something particularly good about this Portland one. And the thing that I enjoyed so much last year, I enjoyed the event, but the venue itself was so brilliant, so enormous. There was never this hint of falling over people. There was quite literally acres of space to mill around.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so the hallway track felt very much, you know, you could take five minutes out and go and sit in the corner over there and get on with your own stuff, what have you. But this would be a really good one to attend. So I would definitely advise people, if you&#8217;re on the fence and you kind of think, I maybe should go, I&#8217;m not entirely sure. Everything is geared up. We know what that place is like, the conference center is absolutely magnificent. So I would definitely urge people who are wavering, who aren&#8217;t entirely sure to give it a go.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I will put a link into the show notes for the initiative that Michelle Frechette is leading, the WP Trail Buddies. And if you&#8217;ve got concerns about showing up and just hanging out and feeling a little bit isolated, then Michelle will be able to introduce you to somebody who has been there, done that, for want of a better word. Again, another reason to have a little look.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the tickets are really inexpensive. It&#8217;s not nothing, but at the moment, I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s going to be any change in this. But it&#8217;s a flat hundred bucks. And, in all honesty, you&#8217;ll probably eat more than a hundred dollars worth of food in the time that you&#8217;re there. So the ticket price is just absurdly low.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:02] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Yes, and we do also have a student pricing of $25, if the students show ID, or proof that they&#8217;re enrolled in school. So that&#8217;s also like an amazing deal.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:12] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Now, the events often have a bit of a formula to them. There&#8217;ll be presentations, and they will run over a couple of days. So you&#8217;ll pick various tracks and you can go and see this person, and then come out into the hallway and hang out in the hallway.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then also there&#8217;s this idea of contributor day. And in contributor day, typically you would select a table, that table will be aligned to some core part of the project. So it could be photography, it could be Core, it could be, I don&#8217;t know, polyglots, something like that. And you would allocate your time and decide to work on that for the day.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have a feeling that you are doing something a little bit different on contributor day this time around. Do you know about that? Do you want to speak about that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:51] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> We are, but it&#8217;s a secret.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:53] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Is it? Okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:54] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> No, it&#8217;s a hackathon, but Gail Wallace is going to speak more about that in the coming weeks. So we&#8217;re just waiting for her to share all the information about what she&#8217;s been working on with that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there is something new, which is collaborating remotely for the Testing Team. So that&#8217;s fun. That hasn&#8217;t been done before.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:14] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So the Testing Team will be open to kind of like a, more of like a Zoom approach. So it won&#8217;t just be people that are attending in the room. They&#8217;ll be able to offer the opportunity for people to join live, but remotely. Yeah, that&#8217;s really nice. That&#8217;s a really nice idea.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hackathon, I was lucky enough to go to a hackathon earlier this year. I attended CloudFest in Germany, in Rust in Germany. Obviously you are not able to reveal whether you know or otherwise what that will involve. For the people listening to this, I&#8217;ll just give you some indication of what that might involve.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And a hackathon, rather than just showing up and deciding on the spur of the moment what it is that you&#8217;re going to be involved with. A hackathon is more of a kind of project based thing, where you come to the hackathon with a project that you would like to see finished in a certain way. So you might come and say, during the next day, we&#8217;re going to try and do this thing, so we&#8217;re going to move from here to here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And in that way, everybody coalesces on the exact same purpose, and tries to push that thing over the line. And in the hackathons that I&#8217;ve been to, again, there&#8217;s this sort of slightly tongue in cheek, fun, competitive edge as well, where at the end of the day, different people from the different teams sort of stand up and say exactly what they did and how they did.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then there&#8217;s kind of like a voting, there&#8217;s a panel of people who decide who the, and I&#8217;m doing air quotes, who the winner is. So, again, obviously I&#8217;m not going to try and get you to reveal any details, but that kind of component, if it is anything like that, that really does bring something new and a bit of fun, I think.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:30:40] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Yeah, I think people enjoy, when it&#8217;s friendly competition on something that they&#8217;re passionate about building, I think they enjoy that, like sports. So it&#8217;s exciting.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:30:49] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, that&#8217;s a good way of describing it, sporty, competitive edge kind of thing, isn&#8217;t it? Just sort of rehashing a bit of a question I asked a minute ago though. Obviously, like I said, you&#8217;ve been involved in these kind of events before in different spheres. Is there anything that you think, if you were to rerun your time, and maybe you&#8217;ll be involved in next year&#8217;s WordCamp US, I don&#8217;t know. Is there anything where you think, do you know what, I think we could try this, or we should jettison that? Obviously nobody&#8217;s implying that you are going to be the decision maker in any of this, but are there any bits and pieces that you think, well, we should definitely try that, or we should definitely maybe lose that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:31:23] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> I think we&#8217;ve had so many ideas, and we were all just kind of thrown together as a new team. And there were so many ideas flying around that we just couldn&#8217;t get to. So we&#8217;re doing the best ones that we thought about, but like there were so many others that we could&#8217;ve included.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I&#8217;m not sure if I&#8217;m going to be joining next year or not, I haven&#8217;t planned that out yet. But I think we&#8217;re going to at least have a discussion with the organisers about just kind of like looking back, hey, what did we like. Let&#8217;s leave little notes for the next year&#8217;s organising team so that they can, you know, they can know what to expect.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But now we have a roadmap together as a team. So I think it&#8217;s fun. And we&#8217;ll be way more prepared next year and add more fun stuff that we just didn&#8217;t have time for. But we&#8217;re all very creative, so you know how those discussions go when everybody&#8217;s creative, throwing ideas. And it&#8217;s like, all right, we have to pick just three because all of these are great but, you know, we&#8217;re on a time constraint, so we just execute these.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I think it&#8217;s been fun all around. But yeah, just kind of getting all the ideas that we had together and executing them next year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:32:23] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I think it&#8217;s kind of an important moment for these kind of events because they&#8217;ve been running largely on the same format for a really long time. And there&#8217;s definitely, in events outside of the WordPress space, there definitely are some of these fun ideas kind of creeping in, making it a little bit more entertainment, if you know what I mean, at the same time as being educational and informative. And I think it would be interesting to sound some of those different organisations out. Maybe go to the different events like DrupalCon and things like that, and see how they do things differently. See how sponsorship works and so on and so forth.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, one question, which I think probably will be rounding off the episode, if that&#8217;s all right with you, would be to ask you, when does your involvement with this end? And I don&#8217;t mean, you know, that you might get involved next year. Because obviously I&#8217;m going to attend, and the minute the whole thing is finished, it&#8217;s kind of more or less over for me. I may go back to the hotel or spend a few days in Portland having a look around or what have you. But for me, the event has kind of finished at that moment. For you, I&#8217;m guessing that&#8217;s not the case. Do you have any anticipation of what it will involve in terms of collapsing the event down? At what point it will be considered to be finished by the team?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:33:28] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Well, physically we have to be out by a certain date and everything cleaned out. So I am planning to stay there a little bit longer to handle that with the rest of the team. But I think we should be done by the 31st. Everything should be cleared out, physically.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then of course we&#8217;re going to reunite and just kind of have a meeting and talk about the experience. And like we were talking about, what can we do better next year? And I think maybe, I think we&#8217;re still going to be in talks at least two weeks after the event is over to kind of close that out as a team.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:33:59] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah. So it definitely doesn&#8217;t end on the day that it&#8217;s going to end for me. So, yeah, there&#8217;s another example of the amount that people like you are doing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would just draw attention to the fact that clearly this is not an event which is being organised entirely by you. There&#8217;s obviously a huge team of people going on in the background. And it would be remiss of us not to thank all of them. Can&#8217;t mention them all by name, but if you go to the website, I&#8217;m sure there&#8217;ll be places where you can go and find out who is involved in the team.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t forget that if you want to get tickets and you&#8217;re a student, you can pay just $25 for a, basically three day event. I mean, that&#8217;s nuts. Or if you are not a student and you want to attend, then $100. And there are still, I think, some additional options that you can explore, perhaps sponsorship options and things like that, above and beyond that as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, Karla, that&#8217;s all the questions I&#8217;ve got. Is there anything that I&#8217;ve missed? Is there anything prior to recording to this you thought, ah, I must remember to say that, but didn&#8217;t get a chance to say it?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:34:57] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> I just want to say thank you everyone for even thinking of attending. It&#8217;s going to be a great event. We have amazing speakers all about the future of WordPress and AI. How everything in technology is changing, what that means for your business now. Or if you have plans for a new business, what it means for you in your career. It&#8217;s going to be just a great place to network with people in the field, and I&#8217;m extremely excited. So I hope you&#8217;re excited just like I am. And I hope to see you guys at the WordCamp US 2025.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:35:26] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So I should probably at this point mention that the links to anything that we&#8217;ve mentioned so far will be in the show notes. But if you do wish to find out more about it, head to us.wordcamp.org/2025. And as is usually the case, there&#8217;s a whole bunch of links at the top of that website.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So for example, you can look at the schedule, so see who&#8217;s speaking. You can look and dig into the location and about it. And obviously buying the tickets as well, that&#8217;s all going to be there. So us.wordcamp.org/2025, the numbers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There we go. Thank you very much for chatting to me today, Karla Campos. Really, really appreciate it. And very, very best of luck with the event. I hope to see you there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:36:07] <strong>Karla Campos:</strong> Thank you, Nathan.</p>\n</div></details>\n\n\n\n<p>On the podcast today we have <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/KarlaJCampos/\">Karla Campos</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Karla has been involved in the WordPress community for over 10 years, starting out in Miami and taking part in meetups and WordCamps before stepping into larger organisational roles. With a background in media and marketing, Karla brings plenty of experience in both web and events to the world of WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Karla joins us today as a lead organiser for the upcoming WordCamp US 2025, which will take place in Portland at the end of August. Remarkably, this is her first flagship WordCamp, she&#8217;s organising before ever attending.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We discuss what motivated Karla to take on this major responsibility, how she balances the volunteer work with her professional life, and the challenges, expected and unexpected, along the way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We discuss the organisation of such a huge event, from working with a professional production company to handling the logistics, communications, accessibility requests, visas, and more for a thousand-plus attendees. Karla shares how the community side of the event is managed, the late-night worries, and what it really takes, both in time and personal commitment, to make WordCamp US happen, especially as a volunteer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also highlights some new initiatives for this year’s event, renewed efforts to welcome students and first-time attendees, including student ticket pricing and the WP Trail Buddy&#8217;s program to help newcomers feel at home. She also teases the introduction of a hackathon-style Contributor Day and new remote collaboration options.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of WordCamp US, how it’s organised, how volunteers are supported, and what motivates people like Karla to invest their own time and resources, this episode is for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Useful links</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/\">WordCamp US 2025</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://us.wordcamp.org/2025/navigating-wordcamp-with-confidence-meet-your-wp-trail-buddy/\"> WP Trail Buddy</a></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 06 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Nathan Wrigley\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:38;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:81:\"WordCamp Central: First-Ever WordPress Campus Connect in Southeast Asia Kicks Off\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/?p=11510566\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:106:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2025/08/first-ever-wordpress-campus-connect-in-southeast-asia-kicks-off/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:7991:\"<p>Last July 25, 2025, WordPress Campus Connect finally made its mark in Southeast Asia by holding its first-ever event in the region in the City of Golden Friendship, Cagayan de Oro (CDO) City, Philippines. <br /></p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11513820\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2025/08/AD_4nXeTSe31BWPdP76V_oKAUARZoHIF06ayAveRaIHq52bYGiSP0ZJskLfxhX-zPfy-AkhBcElYsS_IqtnVSAQbs9DCUErozmJVpJL-GK9P6EWL_QskgpCsrt9w8NZLPs8VoKTvsK_2Rw.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" width=\"1600\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Pictured: The WordPress CDO and Iloilo teams, speakers, and the PHINMA-COC students who attended the event. </em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>The event was held at PHINMA-Cagayan de Oro College. Over 100 students and school staff warmly welcomed the Philippines WordPress chapters that organized the event.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress CDO chapter, with help from its sister organizations in WordPress Iloilo and WordPress Iligan, conceptualized this initiative as a bridge between traditional, controlled classroom learning and real-world practices and insights practiced by full-time WordPress practitioners. The event is also in line with the group’s commitment to upholding WordPress&#8217;s original mission of being a platform for “everyone”.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the day&#8217;s presentations were centered around possible career paths that the student attendees might consider exploring after graduation. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11513819\" height=\"1066\" src=\"https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2025/08/AD_4nXcWlJIctiTlyT6bfjjZ58Yr6B566Zqi-YXMtBKR9fNuYUPyNCos9rmp-J-cUpDlSEvrqvbgVaD4J24sRn2or040Dy0vjZDclaIzNd_w_kkGHFtLnuIWCaBKvDAbV9Qg7U_70SrM2w.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" width=\"1600\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After the opening address by Mr. RJ Cainglet, SBO Adviser of College of Information Technology, Mr. John Tañedo, a 15-year web designer and brand strategist, started the presentations with a talk that was simply entitled “Careers in WordPress”. His talk was straight-laced in its assessment of the current realities facing job seekers in the real world, particularly in freelancing and working as a part of a small-business operation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Mr. Tañedo was effusive in WordPress&#8217;s capabilities of giving just about anyone a leg up in starting careers in the digital space, he emphasized the need for students to be aware of the responsibilities that are actually needed for their careers, particularly if they are aiming to be either developers, designers, or marketers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Kim Isaiah Valencia, a full-time WordPress developer and a core member of WordPress Iloilo, continued the afternoon by holding a quick workshop on WordPress installation, themes, plugins, and hosting. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11513816\" height=\"1066\" src=\"https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2025/08/AD_4nXeXHmu-bb_H54eLNgn82hlp_kUcN1l5psABKgH6juQ0hrndwUZURAyE-9CSxf7c7Qxxg8BOfcD9ftexxD8d0BbdTa_R_k4WSDSTGk-okRsEwaOV0xkFV77lrtBj-YNUSghayqvc.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" width=\"1600\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Mr. Valencia and Mr. Hao guiding the student participants in installing WordPress on their laptops.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a room packed with students starting on their WordPress journeys, Mr. Valencia took the time to track each row&#8217;s progress on installing WordPress on the devices they have with them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Kyne Hao, a UI/UX designer and advocate, continued the pace with his talk on Design Thinking. He argued for the need for human-centered design, as design itself is observable in everyday things like appliances and furniture, as opposed to being just applied digitally. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Hao laid out how students can practice simple design thinking frameworks by focusing on the tenets of Empathizing, Defining, Ideating, Prototyping, and Testing. Even in settings where a QA Tester is present, he emphasized the need for getting into the mind of the “target user”.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11513815\" height=\"1066\" src=\"https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2025/08/AD_4nXfIxULH1X74yQdw9Cc-94vEF8hDio_yhKEDppD6c5-hv_hDhwiQBCb9sZ6nsEA02NIoXSK_4_8Bawy_Tqva3PbfY69WvV247e-H-gszomCbUQRv6YAUALkD0hPG95vj0iZ32M71.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" width=\"1600\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The final talk of the afternoon was on Career Growth, Challenges, and Insights. Mr. Glenn Palacio, a creative with a remarkable 13-year career in Photography, tempered the anxieties of everyone in the room who might be thinking of how new technologies like Generative AI might affect their careers in the near future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Palacio laid out that even with the disruption and ethical challenges brought about by Gen-AI, the need for one&#8217;s creativity, adaptability, and critical thinking should always be at the forefront. He proceeded to illustrate real-world examples of businesses using AI to enhance their processes and business services. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11513818\" height=\"1066\" src=\"https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2025/08/AD_4nXf0-Z7BXn3wfPQ07R3lniQo1-Q1gmCS3nhsfgqP_pxKeu3vKxlNHDsYXfR7v2i0QjRnAwBmQLGJvIRBhvMp91NvqXF39JbtlXRGNYnBViyWwNfCFiJ4ML8Gn2NesQgM8N-cKXFN1w.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" width=\"1600\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ms. Harcy Joy Dela Cruz, WordPress CDO lead organizer, gifting a WordCamp-branded swag to a lucky student. </em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the afternoon heat, the event was lively all throughout, with the students&#8217; enthusiasm rubbing off even on the presenters and organizers. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the event ending on a high note, the likelihood is very high that other WordPress Campus Connects will spread to other neighboring cities in the region. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"From L-R: Mr. Ian Malhin, PHINMA-CDO Engagement Associate of the Employer Engagement office; Mr. Kim Isaiah Valencia; Mr. Kyne Hao; Mr. John Tañedo; Mr. Glenn Palacio; and Mr. Riel Jun Estologa Cainglet, SBO Adviser.\" class=\"wp-image-11513817\" height=\"1066\" src=\"https://central.wordcamp.org/files/2025/08/AD_4nXdVTRNsJMv2A-ZSaHPkS7C3A1s4LIeGz6duVVflXkxhAPOrtErcCoLrlLzCHwvezlA32r7gi1XJ4dFzVY64SbLvSs4pJPti7GkDzpkrWxEOiDwPKBqKDPa2QH2rFOBp3iINpqkqkA.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" width=\"1600\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>From L-R: Mr. Ian Malhin, PHINMA-CDO Engagement Associate of the Employer Engagement office; Mr. Kim Isaiah Valencia; Mr. Kyne Hao; Mr. John Tañedo; Mr. Glenn Palacio; and Mr. Riel Jun Estologa Cainglet, SBO Adviser.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those who want to be a part of our next events in the Philippines, you can follow us at either of the pages below if you&#8217;re near these cities: </p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/WordPressCagayanDeOro\">WordPress Cagayan de Oro</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/WordPressIloilo\">WordPress Iloilo</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/wordpressiligan\">WordPress Iligan</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress Campus Connect in CDO would not have been possible without the support of the following sponsors:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https://automattic.com/\">Automattic</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://www.bluehost.com/\">Bluehost</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://hosting.com/\">Hosting.com</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://kinsta.com/\">Kinsta</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://woocommerce.com/\">WooCommerce</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Special thanks to <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webtechpooja/\">Pooja Derashri</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/anand.au14\">Anand Upadhyay</a>, two incredibly passionate individuals who have been instrumental in bringing WordPress Campus Connect to life.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pooja, your mentorship kept us grounded, and Anand, thank you for continuously pushing and inspiring us to take this initiative forward. Your support means a lot to our growing community in the Philippines.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 06 Aug 2025 12:24:56 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:19:\"Harcy Joy Dela Cruz\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:39;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:74:\"WordPress.org blog: Maintenance Releases for WordPress branches 4.7 to 6.7\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=18997\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:90:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2025/08/maintenance-releases-for-wordpress-branches-4-7-to-6-7/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:2117:\"<p>Following on from <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2025/07/wordpress-6-8-2-maintenance-release/\">the WordPress 6.8.2 maintenance release last month</a>, the included update to the root security certificate bundle has been backported to all branches back to 4.7. This ensures that when your site performs server-side HTTP requests, the most up-to-date information about trusted security certificates is used. Further information can be found on <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/62811\">the Core Trac ticket</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A new maintenance release for each branch from 4.7 to 6.7 is now available. If you have sites on these branches and they support automatic background updates, the update process will begin automatically.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest and only supported version of WordPress remains as 6.8.2. This is being done as a courtesy for sites still running older versions of WordPress. You can <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-6.8.2.zip\">download WordPress 6.8.2 from WordPress.org</a>, or visit your WordPress Dashboard, click “Updates”, and then click “Update Now”.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thank you to these WordPress contributors</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Special thanks to <a class=\"mention\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>desrosj</a>, <a class=\"mention\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ocean90/\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>ocean90</a>, <a class=\"mention\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/davidbaumwald/\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>davidbaumwald</a>, <a class=\"mention\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/peterwilsoncc/\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>peterwilsoncc</a>, <a class=\"mention\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jorbin/\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>jorbin</a>, <a class=\"mention\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/estelaris/\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>estelaris</a>, and <a class=\"mention\" href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnbillion/\"><span class=\"mentions-prefix\">@</span>johnbillion</a> for backporting and releasing this update.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 05 Aug 2025 19:11:05 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"John Blackbourn\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:40;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:96:\"Open Channels FM: The Real Impact of Sponsored Contributors on WordPress Progress and Innovation\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=105241\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:103:\"https://openchannels.fm/the-real-impact-of-sponsored-contributors-on-wordpress-progress-and-innovation/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:177:\"In this episode, Adam talks to Miriam and Amy about contributing to WordPress, sharing insights on how companies and individuals can support the open-source project effectively.\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 05 Aug 2025 09:09:59 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:41;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:87:\"Open Channels FM: How to Handle Customer Support as a Growing WordPress Plugin Business\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=103843\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:94:\"https://openchannels.fm/how-to-handle-customer-support-as-a-growing-wordpress-plugin-business/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:159:\"To succeed in a WordPress plugin biz, focus on customer support. Start solo for real feedback, then scale with docs and AI, but don’t forget the human touch.\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 04 Aug 2025 07:21:17 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:102:\"Gutenberg Times: Roadmap for WordPress 6.9, Block Bindings, Mega Menus, and More—Weekend Edition 336\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=41023\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:108:\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/roadmap-for-wordpress-6-9-block-bindings-mega-menus-and-more-weekend-edition-336/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23414:\"<p>Hi there,</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I found a new AI tool, and I like it very much: <a href=\"https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code\"><strong>Claude Code</strong></a>. For $20 per month you get a fabulous buddy to co-create plugins and themes for WordPress or scripts and modules for other purposes. It works right there in your terminal window. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>It helped me a great deal writing a plugin for the Gutenberg Changelog podcast so I can build a great podcast landing page. I needed additional social link icons and created block bindings for episode meta and podcast options data. Block variations will help me add the blocks to the inserter, and I don&#8217;t have to write block markup. Then I created a podcast archive template that I registered directly from the plugin. I am not yet done testing, but if you want to look at the code <a href=\"https://github.com/bph/gt-podcast-bb\">it&#8217;s on GitHub</a> with some additional details. My plugin augments the Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin I have been using since 2015 and makes it more blocky. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>What AI adventure did you pursue this week? Hit reply or share in the comments. I&#8217;d love to hear from you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have a splendid weekend. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yours, <img alt=\"💕\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f495.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /><br /><em>Birgit</em></p>\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-group\" style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-light-background-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<nav class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents\"><ol><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/roadmap-for-wordpress-6-9-block-bindings-mega-menus-and-more-weekend-edition-336/#0-word-press-release-information\">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</a></li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/roadmap-for-wordpress-6-9-block-bindings-mega-menus-and-more-weekend-edition-336/#0-p\">Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners</a></li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/roadmap-for-wordpress-6-9-block-bindings-mega-menus-and-more-weekend-edition-336/#2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled\">Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks</a></li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/roadmap-for-wordpress-6-9-block-bindings-mega-menus-and-more-weekend-edition-336/#3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press\">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.</a></li></ol></nav>\n</div></div>\n</section>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\"></div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"0-word-press-release-information\">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aki Hamano</strong> released <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/30/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-3/\"><strong>What’s new in Gutenberg 21.3? (30 July)</strong></a> In his release post he highlighted: </p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/30/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-3/#highlight-1\">DataViews enhancements</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/30/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-3/#block-library-enhancements\">Block Library Enhancements</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/30/whats-new-in-gutenberg-21-3/#migration-to-typescript-continues\">Migration to TypeScript continues</a>. </li>\n</ol>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-light-background-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><img alt=\"🎙\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f399.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /> The latest episode is <a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-119-wordpress-6-8-2-and-6-9-gutenberg-21-1-21-2-and-21-3-releases/\">Gutenberg Changelog 119—WordPress 6.8.2 and 6.9, Gutenberg 21.1, 21.2, and 21.3 Releases</a> with Tammie Lister. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-no-vertical-margin\"><img alt=\"Tammie Lister and Birgit Pauli-Haack recording Gutenberg Changelog 119\" class=\"wp-image-40972\" height=\"184\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-25-at-10.53.45.png?resize=652%2C184&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"652\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>If you are listening via Spotify, please leave a comment. If you listen via other podcast apps, please leave a review. It&#8217;ll help with the distribution.</em></p>\n</div></div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anne McCarthy</strong> published <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/28/roadmap-to-6-9/\"><strong>Roadmap to 6.9</strong></a>, the list of features contributors are working on to get ready for the release on December 2, 2025. It&#8217;s quite aspirational and starts with a few features where WordPress 6.8 left off. Here are the chapter headings. </p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/28/roadmap-to-6-9/#evolving-the-site-editor\">Evolving the Site Editor</a> </li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/28/roadmap-to-6-9/#refining-content-creation\">Refining content creation </a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/28/roadmap-to-6-9/#command-palette-everywhere\">Command Palette everywhere</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/28/roadmap-to-6-9/#developer-updates\">Developer updates</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/07/28/roadmap-to-6-9/#performance-improvements\">Performance improvements</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rae Morey</strong> reported about it on The Repository: <a href=\"https://www.therepository.email/wordpress-6-9-roadmap-block-comments-site-editor-updates-and-an-admin-redesign\"><strong>WordPress 6.9 Roadmap: Block Comments, Site Editor Updates, and an Admin Redesign</strong></a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Muhibul Haque</strong>, training team rep, just announced <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2025/07/29/announcing-training-team-cohort-wordpress-block-editor-basics/\"><strong>the Training Team Cohort: “WordPress Block Editor Basics”</strong></a>. &#8220;This hands-on learning experience will guide you through the essential tools, tips, and features of the Block Editor, helping you gain confidence and practical skills. &#8221; he wrote. The post offers a form to indicate your interest. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>The host of the WPLift&#8217;s Cosmos podcast, <strong>Julia Colomb,</strong> invited members of the WordPress AI Team, <strong>James LePage</strong>, <strong>Jeff Paul</strong>, and <strong>Pascal Birchler</strong> to chat with her on episode 5, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cFPE0WUaS4\"><strong>WordPress AI Team on Future of WP, and Human Side of AI at Cosmos by WPLift</strong></a> ,of the new show. They covered the core building blocks of AI features. They aim to boost multilingual features and make developer workflows smoother. They also touched on privacy and bias in AI.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cFPE0WUaS4\"><img alt=\"James LePage, Pascal Birchler, Jeff Paul and host Julia Colomb \" class=\"wp-image-41126\" height=\"371\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-02-at-10.22.05.png?resize=652%2C371&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"652\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"0-p\">Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Troy Chaplin</strong> recently launched version 2.0 of his <strong><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-accessibility-checks\">Block Accessibility Checks plugin</a>,</strong> enabling developers to add custom validation checks for their blocks. This version features a new <a href=\"https://github.com/troychaplin/block-accessibility-checks/tree/main/docs\">Developer API</a> that works with any block, whether it&#8217;s from your own plugin, a third-party source, or for a client project.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While initially aimed at identifying accessibility issues, the API also allows for various feedback types, such as content length checks and required fields, as long as it&#8217;s written in JavaScript.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chaplin aims to integrate accessibility and quality checks seamlessly into the editing workflow.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41096\" height=\"358\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/screenshot-1.png?resize=652%2C358&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"652\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Stephanie Pi, </strong>developer advocate at Woo<strong> </strong>has an update for WooCommerce site builders: <a href=\"https://developer.woocommerce.com/2025/07/31/woocommerce-block-theme-an-update-on-our-strategy/\"><strong>WooCommerce Block Theme: An update on our strategy</strong></a>. In short, WooCommerce decided not to release its new “Purple” block theme as a separate product because it overlapped with other WordPress themes. Instead, they’ll add new design patterns and templates directly into WooCommerce, so all users benefit from updates, regardless of which theme they use.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rae Morey,</strong> The Repository,  has more:  <a href=\"https://www.therepository.email/woo-withdraws-block-theme-submission-reconsiders-successor-to-storefront\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Woo Withdraws Block Theme Submission, Reconsiders Successor to Storefront</strong></a></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>A new event management plugin entered the stage: <strong>Lesley Sim</strong> and <strong>Ahmed Fouad</strong> launched <span><b><a href=\"https://eventkoi.com/\">EventKoi</a></b></span>, built for classic or blocks theme. The first version comes wiht a 50% launch discount. On the roadmap are a free version as well as updates for Elementor, Beaver Builder, or Bricks, and a ton of features. </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41131\" height=\"467\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/EventKoi-calendar-screenshot1-scaled-1.png?resize=652%2C467&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"652\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled\">Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> has a great tutorial for those of us who are bit shy in using the full theme.json to style blocks. In <a href=\"http://developer.wordpress.org/news/2025/07/you-dont-need-theme-json-for-block-theme-styles/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>You don’t need theme.json for block theme styles</strong></a> you learn about block stylesheets and how to wp-enqueue your styles for block related styling. Tadlock also says, &#8220;It&#8217;s not one or the other&#8221;.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><em>If you are interested in the developer blog, <strong>Justin Tadlock</strong> and <strong>Mary Baum </strong>spoke with <strong>Abha Thakor</strong> on the OpenChannels show OpenMakers. In <strong><a href=\"https://openchannels.fm/learn-share-and-grow-with-the-wordpress-developer-blog-community/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Learn, Share and Grow with the WordPress Developer Blog Community</a>,</strong> they explored how this powerful resource helps developers at every stage. From sharing code breakthroughs and real-world case studies to offering guidance on writing, editing, and contributing, Justin and Mary unpack the collaborative spirit that fuels the blog and the broader WordPress community.</em></p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-pocket-casts wp-block-embed-pocket-casts\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jamie Marsland </strong>has tested a new Menu Designer plugin by <strong>Mike McAlister</strong> and put it all in a video for us: <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z12kUMtLODw\"><strong>WordPress Is About to Get a Whole Lot Better (Exclusive Preview)</strong></a>. </p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n<p>There is prior art, which I mentioned here a while ago. </p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Nick Diego</strong> wrote a developer blog tutorial on how you can build a mega menu yourself with a template part, a custom block and the interactivity API:   <a href=\"https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2024/02/an-introduction-to-block-based-mega-menus/\"><strong>An introduction to block-based mega menus</strong></a> with an experimental <a href=\"https://github.com/ndiego/mega-menu-block\"><em>Mega Menu Block</em></a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dave Smith</strong> authored the plugin <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/getdave-responsive-navigation-block/\"><strong>Responsive Navigation Block</strong></a>,with which you can display and apply alternative styling to different navigation menus based on the screen size using the WordPress Navigation block.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hans-Gerd Gerhards</strong> also works on improving the navigation block with his plugin <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/shrinking-logo-sticky-header/\"><strong>Dynamic Header &amp; Navigation for Block Themes</strong></a>. </li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mike McAlister</strong> seems to take the task to the next level with the Menu Designer. Stay tuned.  </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>On OpenChannels, <a href=\"https://openchannels.fm/designing-for-clients-using-figma-systems-and-wordpress-block-themes/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Designing for Clients Using Figma Systems and WordPress Block Themes</strong></a>, <strong>Ash Shaw</strong>, founder of Lightspeed, joined <strong>Derek Hanson</strong> on the <em>Publishing Flow</em> show. Shaw shared how adopting Figma has revolutionized their design-to-development handoff, enabled more efficient client workflows, and strengthened alignment with WordPress’s core block themes.</p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-pocket-casts wp-block-embed-pocket-casts\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n<p>Ash Shaw&#8217;s talk at WordCamp Europe is available on WordPressTV: <a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/2025/06/07/bridging-design-and-development-figma-design-systems-for-wordpress-success/\"><strong>Bridging Design and Development: Figma Design Systems for WordPress Success</strong></a></p>\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-callout undefined not-color-set\" style=\"border-color: #f9f9e5; border-radius: 22px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0; padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; text-align: left; margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; background-color: #f9f9e5;\">\n<p><strong> <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2025&#8221;</a> </strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test, and Meta team from Jan. 2024 on. Updated by yours truly. The previous years are also available: <strong><strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/\">2020</a> | <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2021/\">2021</a></strong> | <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2022/\">2022</a></strong></strong> | <strong><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/gutenberg-index-2023\">2023</a></strong> | <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/gutenberg-index-2024/\"><strong>2024</strong></a></p>\n</section>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press\">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The team at <strong>Codeable</strong>, the freelance platform for WordPress developers,  published <a href=\"https://www.codeable.io/blog/what-is-react-used-for/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">What is React Used For? Popular Implementation Examples</a> for developers starting to consider adding ReactJS to their toolbox.<br /></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p>In his latest video, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvNLnTsL1Ro\"><strong>AI Assistance, Right in Your Browser!</strong></a>, <strong>Jonathan Bossenger</strong> explored Google Chrome&#8217;s built-in Gemini support for the Developer Tools. He wanted to find out if it&#8217;s any good at helping him fix warnings and errors in my code.</p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tom Rankin</strong> published on the WPMayor site the <a href=\"https://wpmayor.com/best-wordpress-web-development-ai/\"><strong>10 Top WordPress Web Development AI Tools for 2025 (By Use Case)</strong></a>. He wrote, &#8220;The right AI tool will reduce your development time and improve both your code quality and creative output. I want to share 13 tools that could make the biggest impact on your WordPress workflow.&#8221; He tested them all. </p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ryan Welcher</strong> continues his Block Developer Cookbook series on YouTube with <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMoI72gmmkc\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>The WordPress Developer&#8217;s Guide to Mastering Custom Block Bindings</strong></a>. He takes you along when he creates a custom block binding source to connect a block variation to the post excerpt. You&#8217;ll learn how to bind dynamic data to your blocks for a seamless editing experience. </p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-showhide ng-block\" width=\"100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div></figure>\n</div>\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-callout undefined not-color-set\" style=\"border-color: #eeeeee; border-radius: 26px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0; padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; text-align: left; margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; background-color: #f3efe9;\">\n<p><strong><a href=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/\">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s master branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now also available via <a href=\"https://playground.wordpress.net/?blueprint-url=https://gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/playnightly.json\">WordPress Playground</a>. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? <a href=\"mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com\">Email me </a>with your experience</p>\n\n\n\n<p><img alt=\"GitHub all releases\" src=\"https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge\" /></p>\n</section>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\"><em>Questions? Suggestions? Ideas? </em><br /><em>Don&#8217;t hesitate to send <a href=\"mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com\">them via email</a> or</em><br /><em> send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">For questions to be answered on the <a href=\"http://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast\">Gutenberg Changelog</a>, <br />send them to <a href=\"mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com\">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a></p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-group\" style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\">\n<p>Featured Image: Bergen, Norway by Birgit Pauli-Haack</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Don&#8217;t want to miss the next Weekend Edition? </strong></p>\n\n\n<form action=\"https://gutenbergtimes.com/feed/\" autocomplete=\"on\" class=\"wp-block-newsletterglue-form ngl-form ngl-portrait\" method=\"post\"><div class=\"ngl-form-container\"><div class=\"ngl-form-field\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><label class=\"ngl-form-label\" for=\"ngl_email\"><br />Type in your email address to subscribe.</label><div class=\"ngl-form-input\"><input autocomplete=\"email\" class=\"ngl-form-input-text\" id=\"ngl_email\" name=\"ngl_email\" required=\"required\" style=\"border-radius: 21px;\" type=\"email\" /></div></div><button class=\"ngl-form-button\" style=\"background-color: #005075; border-color: #005075; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; color: #ffffff; border-radius: 21px;\" type=\"submit\">Subscribe</button><p class=\"ngl-form-text\">We hate spam, too, and won&#8217;t give your email address to anyone <br />except Mailchimp to send out our Weekend Edition</p></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay\"><div class=\"ngl-message-svg-wrap\"><svg fill=\"none\" height=\"24\" stroke=\"#fff\" stroke-width=\"2\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><polyline points=\"20 6 9 17 4 12\"></polyline></svg></div><div class=\"ngl-message-overlay-text\">Thanks for subscribing.</div></div><input id=\"ngl_list_id\" name=\"ngl_list_id\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"26f81bd8ae\" /><input id=\"ngl_double_optin\" name=\"ngl_double_optin\" type=\"hidden\" value=\"yes\" /></form>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\" />\n</section>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:18:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Birgit Pauli-Haack\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:43;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:83:\"Open Channels FM: Learn, Share and Grow with the WordPress Developer Blog Community\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=104406\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:89:\"https://openchannels.fm/learn-share-and-grow-with-the-wordpress-developer-blog-community/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:175:\"In this episode, Abha Thakor chats with Justin Tadlock and Mary Baum about the WordPress Developer Blog, discussing its value for developers, collaboration, and contributions.\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 31 Jul 2025 09:45:39 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:44;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"Matt: Beeper and Automattic 20\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:23:\"https://ma.tt/?p=145158\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://ma.tt/2025/07/new-beeper/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1060:\"<p>To announce and celebrate the incredible engineering achievement of the <a href=\"https://www.beeper.com/\">Beeper</a> team launching local bridges and their premium model we <a href=\"https://automattic.com/2025/07/29/beeper-update-event/\">hosted a fun event in Automattic&#8217;s space in NYC</a>. The app side of Automattic does some amazing work, and the applications themselves are pretty well known and reviewed, but many don&#8217;t know they&#8217;re part of Automattic, so it was a good opportunity to tell that side of our story a bit. Here&#8217;s the video from the event:</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And if you&#8217;ve ever wanted to get better control over your instant messages, regardless of what network they may be on, definitely <a href=\"https://www.beeper.com/\">check out Beeper</a>. I find it especially useful on desktop, like a Superhuman for messaging.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 31 Jul 2025 02:20:37 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"Matt\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:45;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:80:\"WPTavern: #179 – Mariya Moeva on the Impact of Google’s SiteKit on WordPress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:48:\"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=197933\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:91:\"https://wptavern.com/podcast/179-mariya-moeva-on-the-impact-of-googles-sitekit-on-wordpress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:43544:\"<details>Transcript<div>\n<p>[00:00:19] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Welcome to the Jukebox Podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress, the people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case, how the Google Site Kit plugin is attempting to simplify their product offering, right inside of WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;d like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast player of choice, or by going to wptavern.com/feed/podcast, and you can copy that URL into most podcast players.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a topic that you&#8217;d like us to feature on the podcast, I&#8217;m keen to hear from you and hopefully get you, or your idea. Featured on the show. Head to wptavern.com/contact/jukebox, and use the form there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So on the podcast today we have Mariya Moeva. Mariya has more than 15 years of experience in tech across search quality, developer advocacy, community building and outreach, and product management. Currently, she&#8217;s the product lead for Site Kit, Google&#8217;s official WordPress plugin.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She&#8217;s presented at Word Camp Europe in Basel this year and joins us to talk about the journey from studying classical Japanese literature to fighting web spam at Google, and eventually shaping open source tools for the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mariya talks about her passion for the open web, and how years of direct feedback from site owners shaped the vision for Site Kit. Making complex analytics accessible and actionable for everyone, from solo bloggers to agencies and hosting providers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Site Kit has had impressive growth for a WordPress plugin, currently there are 5 million active installs and a monthly user base of 700,000.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We learn how Site Kit bundles core Google products like Search Console, Analytics, Page Speed Insights, AdSense into a simpler, curated WordPress dashboard, giving actionable insights without the need to trawl through multiple complex interfaces.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mariya explains how the plugin is intentionally beginner friendly with features like role-based dashboard sharing, integration with WordPress&#8217; author and category systems, and some newer additions like Reader Revenue Manager to help site owners become more sustainable.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She shares Google&#8217;s motivations for investing so much in WordPress and the open web, and how her team is committed to active support, trying to respond rapidly on forums and listening closely to feedback.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We discussed Site Kit&#8217;s roadmap, from benchmarking and reporting features, to smarter, more personalized recommendations in the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve ever felt overwhelmed by analytics dashboards, or are looking for ways to make data more practical and valuable inside WordPress, this episode is for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested in finding out more, you can find all of the links in the show notes by heading to wptavern.com/podcast, where you&#8217;ll find all the other episodes as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so without further delay, I bring you Mariya Moeva.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m joined on the podcast by Mariya Moeva. Hello, Mariya. Nice to meet you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:35] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Nice to be here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:03:36] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Mariya is doing a presentation at WordCamp Europe. That&#8217;s where we are at the moment, and we&#8217;re going to be talking about the bits and the pieces that she does around Site Kit, the work that she does for Google. Given that you are a Googler, and that we&#8217;re going to be talking about a product that you have, will you just give us your bio? I&#8217;ve got it written here, you obviously put one on the WordCamp Europe website. But just roughly what is your place in WordPress and Google and Site Kit and all of that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:05] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah. I mean, I&#8217;ve had a very meandering path. When you would look back to what I studied, which was, you know, classical Japanese literature, all these poems about the moon and the cherry blossoms, who would&#8217;ve thought at that time that I would end up building open source plugins? But I did have a meandering path and I ended up here because, mostly because of passion for the open web, and for all kinds of weird websites that exist out there. I really love stumbling upon something great.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I started Google on the web spam team, actually looking into the Japanese spam market, because of this classical Japanese literature degree and the Japanese skills. And then after a couple years or so, I basically despaired of humanity because all you look at is spam every day. Bad sites, hacked sites, malicious pages. And I just wanted to do something that makes the web better rather than removing all the bad stuff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so I switched over to an advocacy role, and in that role I essentially was traveling, maybe attending 20, 30 conferences every year, talking to a lot of people about their needs, what they have to complain about Google, what requests they have. And I would collect all of this feedback, and then I would go back to the product teams and I would say, hey, this and this is something that people really want. And they would say, thank you for your feedback.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially at one point I said, okay, we&#8217;re going to build this thing, and that&#8217;s why I switched into product role. And I was able to take all the feedback over the years, that we&#8217;ve gotten from developers and site owners, and to try to build something that makes sense for them. So that&#8217;s how I ended up in the product role for building Site Kit.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the idea from the very beginning was to make it beginner friendly and to make it from their perspective to match that feedback, rather than doing something that is like, here&#8217;s your stuff from analytics, here&#8217;s your stuff from Search Console, figure it out. That&#8217;s how we ended up building this and it&#8217;s been now five years. And it actually just a month ago entered the top 10 plugins. So clearly people find some value in it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have 700,000 people that use it every month. And overall it&#8217;s currently at 5 million active installs, meaning that these sites are kind of pinging WordPress so they&#8217;re alive and kicking. It&#8217;s been very encouraging to see that what we&#8217;re doing is helpful to people and we will keep going. There&#8217;s a lot to do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:06:29] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I think it&#8217;s kind of amazing because in the WordPress space, there are some of the, let&#8217;s call them the heavy hitters. You know, the big plugins that we&#8217;ve all heard of, the Yoasts of this world that kind of thing. Jetpack, all those kind of things. This, honestly has gone under the radar a bit for me, and yet those numbers are truly huge. Four and a half to 5 million people over a span of five years is really rather incredible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:06:54] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> It grew very fast, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:06:55] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah. And yet it&#8217;s not one that, well, I guess most people are reaching out to plugins to solve a problem, often a business problem. So, you know, there&#8217;s this idea of, I install this and there&#8217;s an ROI on that. This is not really that, not really ROI, it&#8217;s more site improvement. Okay, here&#8217;s a site that needs things fixing on it. Here&#8217;s some data about what can be fixed. And so maybe for that reason and that reason alone, it&#8217;s flown under the radar for me because it doesn&#8217;t have that commercial component to it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:07:24] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah, for sure. It&#8217;s for free and it&#8217;s not something that, yeah, sells features or has like a premium model and we don&#8217;t market it so much. But I run a little survey in the product where people tell us where they heard from it, and a lot of the responses are either YouTube video, or like blog posts or word of mouth. So it seems to be spreading more that way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:07:46] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, no kidding. I&#8217;ll just say the URL out loud in case you&#8217;re at a computer when you&#8217;re listening to this. It&#8217;s SiteKit, as one word, dot withgoogle.com. I don&#8217;t know if that&#8217;s the canonical URL, but that&#8217;s where I ended up when I did a quick search for it. So sitekit.withgoogle.com. And over there you&#8217;ll be able to download well, as it labels itself, Google&#8217;s official WordPress plugin.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first thing that surprises me is, a, Google&#8217;s interest in WordPress. That is fascinating to me. I mean, obviously we all know, Google is this giant, this leviathan. Maybe you&#8217;ve got interest in other CMSs, maybe not. I don&#8217;t really know. But I think that&#8217;s curious. But obviously 43% of the web, kind of makes sense to partner with WordPress, doesn&#8217;t it? To improve websites.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:08:31] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah. I work with plenty of CMSs. I work with Wix, with Squarespace, and we essentially what I try to do and what my team tries to do, we are called the Ecosystem Team. So we want to bring the things that we think would be useful to site owners and businesses directly to where they are.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you are in your Wix dashboard, you should be able to see the things from Google that are useful. And same if you are in WordPress. And obviously WordPress is, orders of magnitude, a bigger footprint than any of the others. And also it has this special structure where everything is decentralised and people kind of mix and match. So that&#8217;s why we went with the plugin model. And using the public APIs, we want to show what&#8217;s possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because all the data that we use is public data. There&#8217;s no special Google feature that only the Google product gets, right? We are just combining it in interesting ways because I&#8217;ve spent so much time talking to people, like what they need. And so we just curate and combine in ways that are actually helping people to make decisions and to kind of clear the clutter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because when you go to analytics, it&#8217;s like 50 reports and so many menus and it&#8217;s like, where do I start? So we try to give a starting point in Site Kit. And we also try to help with other things like make people sustainable. One thing that we recently launched just a month ago is called Reader Revenue Manager. So you can put a little prompt on your site, which asks people to give you like $2 or whatever currency you are in, or even put like a subscription.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so the idea is you don&#8217;t have to have massive traffic in order to generate revenue from your content. If you have your hundred thousand loyal readers, they can help you be more sustainable. So we&#8217;re looking at these kind of features, like what can we launch that is more for small and medium sites and would be helpful? And how can we make it as simple as possible? So that people don&#8217;t kind of drop off during the setup because it&#8217;s too complicated.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:10:33] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Would it be fair to summarise the plugin&#8217;s initial purpose as kind of binding a bunch of Google products, which otherwise you would have to go and navigate to elsewhere? So for example, I&#8217;m looking at the website now, Search Console, Analytics, Page Speed Insights, AdSense, Google Ads, and all of those kind of things. Typically we&#8217;d have to go and, you know, set up an account. I guess we&#8217;d have to do that with Site Kit anyway. But we&#8217;d have to go to the different URLs and do all of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The intention of this then is to bind that inside of the WordPress UI, so it&#8217;s not just the person who&#8217;s the admin of that account. You can open it up so that people who have the right permissions inside of WordPress, they can see, for example, Google Analytics data. And it gets presented on the backend of WordPress rather than having to go to these other URLs. Is that how it all began as a way of sort of surfacing Google product data inside the UI of WordPress?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:21] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah, we wanted to bring the most important things directly to where people are, so they don&#8217;t have to bother going to 15 places. And we wanted to drastically decrease and curate the information so that it&#8217;s easy to understand, because when you have 15 dashboards in Analytics and 15 dashboards in Search Console, and then you have to figure out what to download and in which spreadsheet to merge and how to compare, then this is. Maybe if you have an agency taken care of, they can help you. But if you don&#8217;t, which 70% of our users say that they&#8217;re one person operation, so they&#8217;re taking care of their business, and on top of that, the website. We wanted to make it simpler to understand how you&#8217;re doing, and what you should do next with Google data.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:02] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So it&#8217;s a curated interface. So it&#8217;s not, I mean, maybe you can pull in every single thing if you so wish. But the idea is you give a, I don&#8217;t know, an easier to understand interface to, for example, Google Analytics.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was always the thing for me in Google Analytics. I&#8217;m sure that if you have the time and the expertise, like you&#8217;re an agency that deals with all of that, then all of that data is probably useful and credible. But for me, I just want to know some top level items. I don&#8217;t need to dig into the weeds of everything.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And there was menus within menus, within menus, and I would get lost very quickly, and dispirited and essentially give up. So I guess this is an endeavor to get you what you need quickly inside the WordPress admin, so you don&#8217;t have to be an expert.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:43] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah. And then it gets more powerful when you are able to combine data from different products. So, for example, we have a feature called Search Funnel in the dashboard, which lets you, it combines data from Search Console on search impressions and search clicks, and then it combines data from Analytics on visitors on the site and conversions. So it kind of helps you map out the entire path, versus having to go over here, having to go over there, having to combine everything yourself. So when you combine things, then it gets also more powerful.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have another feature which lets you combine data from AdSense and Analytics. So if you have AdSense on your site, you can then see which pages earn you the most revenue. So when you have that, suddenly you can see, okay, so I have now these pages here, what queries are they ranking for? How much time people spend on them? Can I expand my content in that direction? It helps you to be more focused in kind of the strategy that you have for your site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:13:45] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Is it just making, I mean, I say just, is it making API calls backwards and forwards to Google&#8217;s Analytics, Search Console, whatever, and then displaying that information, or is it kind of keeping it inside the WordPress database?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:13:58] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> We don&#8217;t store anything, well, almost anything. Yeah, we wanted to keep the data as secure as possible, so we created this proxy service, which kind of helps to exchange the credentials. So the person can authenticate with their Google account, and then from there, the data is pulled via API, and we cache the dashboard for one hour. After that we refreshed authentication token. From the data itself, nothing is stored.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:14:23] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So it&#8217;s just authentication information really that&#8217;s stored. Well, that&#8217;s kind of a given, I suppose. Otherwise you&#8217;ll be logging in every two minutes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:14:29] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Right. So that&#8217;s the model that we have because we really wanted people to be able to access this data, but also to keep it secure. And because of how the WordPress database is, we didn&#8217;t feel like we could save it there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:14:41] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> It sounds from what you&#8217;ve just said, it&#8217;s as if it&#8217;s combining things from a variety of different services, kind of linking them up in a structured way so that somebody who&#8217;s not particularly experienced can make connections between, I don&#8217;t know, ads and analytics. The spend on the ads and the analytics, you know, the ROI if you like.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does it do things uniquely? Is there something you can get inside of Site Kit which you could not get out of the individual products if you went there? Or is it just more of a, well, we&#8217;ve done the hard work for you, we&#8217;ve mapped these things together so you don&#8217;t have to think about it?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:15:10] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> The one thing that it does that I&#8217;m super excited about, and we&#8217;ll build on that, but we have the fundamental of it now, is it actually creates data for you. Because in contrast to Search Console or Analytics or all these other, which are kind of Google hosted, they can only tell you like a long help center article, go there on your site, then click this, then paste this code, right? They cannot help you with this, whereas Site Kit is on the website.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you agree, which we don&#8217;t install anything without people&#8217;s consent, like they have to activate the feature, but if you agree, then we can do things on your behalf. So for example, we can track every time someone clicks the signup button and we can generate an analytics event for you, even if that plugin normally doesn&#8217;t send analytics events. And that way, suddenly you have your conversion data available.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So very often people look to the top of the funnel, like how many people came to my site? But they don&#8217;t look to what these people did beyond kind of, oh, they stayed two minutes. So what does this mean? You want to see, did they buy the thing? Did they sign up for the thing, or subscribe or whatever it is? And we help create this data because we have this unique access to the source code of the site.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we create, for example, on leads generation or purchases. We also, every time that a specific page is viewed, we will generate an event about the author of the page. So then we can aggregate the data, which authors bring in the most page views. Let&#8217;s say you have like a site with five, six, whatever authors. Or which categories are bringing in the most engagement and these kind of things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:16:52] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So it really does get very WordPressy. It&#8217;s not just to do with the Google side of things. It is mapping information from Google, so categories, author profiles, that kind of thing, and mapping them into the analytics that you get. Okay, that&#8217;s interesting. So it&#8217;s a two-way process, not just a one-way process.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:09] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah. It&#8217;s very much integrated with WordPress. We have also a lot of other features, like for example, that kind of stretch into other parts of the website. So this Reader Revenue Manager that I mentioned before with the prompts that you can put on your pages. You can go to the individual post and for every post there&#8217;s like a little piece of control UI that we&#8217;ve added there in the compose screen, where you can say, this is excluded from this prompt, or, you know, you can control from there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we try to integrate where it makes sense, like where the person would want to take this action. And again, because it&#8217;s on the website, we can kind of spread out beyond just this one dashboard.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:48] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> And would I, as a site admin, would I be able to assign permissions to different user roles within WordPress? So for example, an editor, or a certain user profile, may be able to see a subset of data. You know, for example, I don&#8217;t know, you are involved in the spending on AdSense. But you, other user over there, you&#8217;ve got nothing to do with that. But you are into the analytics, so you can see that, and you over there you can see that. Is that possible?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:12] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> We have something called dashboard sharing. So it has the same, like if you use Google Docs or anything like that, it has this little person with a plus in the corner, icon. And then from there, if you are the admin who set up this particular Google Service, who connected it to Site Kit, then you&#8217;re able to say who should be able to see it. So you essentially grant view only access to, let&#8217;s say all the editors, or all the contributors or whatever. And then you can choose which Google service&#8217;s data they can see.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:44] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So yes is the answer to that, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:46] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah, yeah. So they don&#8217;t have to set it up, I mean, they have to go through a very simplified setup, and then they basically get a kind of a screenshot. I mean it&#8217;s, you can still click on things, but you can&#8217;t change anything, so it&#8217;s kind of a view-only dashboard.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:59] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I&#8217;m kind of curious about the market that you pitch this to. So sell is the wrong word because it&#8217;s a free plugin, but who you&#8217;re pitching it at. So obviously if you&#8217;ve got that end user, the site owner. Maybe they&#8217;ve got a site and they&#8217;ve got a small business with a team. Maybe it&#8217;s just them, so there&#8217;s the whole permissions thing there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But also I know that Google, there are whole agencies out there who just specialise in Google products, and analysing the data that comes out of Analytics. Can you do that as well as an agency? Could I set this up for my clients and have some, you know, I&#8217;ve got my agency dashboard and I want to give this client access to this website, and this website and this website, but not these other ones? Can it be deployed on a sort of agency basis like that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:38] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> You would still have to activate it for every individual site. So in that sense, there&#8217;s a bunch of steps that you have to go through. But once it&#8217;s activated, you can then share with any kind of client. And actually we have a lot of agencies that can install it for every site that they have.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just today someone came and after he saw the demo, he was like, okay, I&#8217;m going to install it for all my clients. Because what we&#8217;ve heard is that it&#8217;s exactly the level of information that a client would benefit from. And this means then that they pester the agency less. So we&#8217;ve literally heard people saying, you&#8217;re saving me a lot of phone calls. So that&#8217;s why agencies really like it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the next big feature request, which we&#8217;re working on right now, is to generate like an email report out of that. So for those who don&#8217;t even want to log into WordPress to see, there will be a possibility to get this in their inbox.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:20:30] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So you could get it like a weekly summary, whatever it that wish to trigger. And, okay, so that could go anywhere really. And then your clients don&#8217;t even need to phone you about that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:20:41] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah. So we are trying to really actively reach people where they are, even if that&#8217;s their email inbox.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:20:49] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> And the other question I have is around your relationship with some of the bigger players, maybe hosting companies. Do you have this pre-installed on hosting cPanels and their, you know, whatever it is that they&#8217;ve got in their back end?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:02] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah, we have quite a few hosting providers that pre-install it for their WordPress customers. The reason for this is that they see better lifetime value for those customers that have a good idea of how their site is doing. And yeah, Hostinger is one of those. cPanel. Elementor pre-installs it for all of their users. And they see very good feedback because again, it&#8217;s super simple to set up and super easy to understand once you have it. So for them it&#8217;s kind of like an extra feature that they can offer, extra value to their users for free.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:32] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> We know Google&#8217;s a fabulous company, but you don&#8217;t do things for nothing. So what&#8217;s the return? How does it work in reverse? So we know that presumably there must be an exchange of data. What are we signing up for if we install Site Kit?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:47] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> So, at least, I mean, Google is a huge company, right? There&#8217;s hundreds of thousands of people working. So I can&#8217;t speak for the whole of Google, but I can speak for the Ecosystem Team, which I&#8217;m part of, like the web ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main investment here, or the main goal for us is that the open web continues to thrive, because if people don&#8217;t put content, interesting, relevant content on the open web, the search results are going to be very poor and that&#8217;s not a good product.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So our idea is to support all the people who create content to make sure that they&#8217;re found, like if you&#8217;re a local business, that people can find you when they need stuff from that particular local business. And what we see is that, especially for smaller and medium sites, they really struggle, first with going online, and then with figuring out what they&#8217;re supposed to do. And so a lot of them give up because in comparison to other platforms, it&#8217;s a little bit of an upfront investment, right? Like you have to pay for hosting, you have to set up the site, you have to add content.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we try to help people as much as we can to see the value that the open web brings to them, so that they can continue to create for the open web. So that&#8217;s our hidden motivation. I think in that sense, we&#8217;re very much aligned with the WordPress community because here everybody cares about the open web and for all kind of small, weird websites to continue flourishing and get their like 100 or 300 or 1,000 readers that they deserve.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that&#8217;s the motivation. I think because it includes other things like AdSense and AdWords, like people can set up a ads campaign directly from Site Kit in a very simplified flow, and the same thing for AdSense. Obviously some money exchanges hands, but this is relatively minor compared to the benefit that we think there is for the web in general.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:35] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Google really does seem to have a very large presence at WordPress events. I mean, I don&#8217;t know about the smaller ones, you know, the regional sort of city based events, but at the, what they call flagship events, so WordCamp Asia and WordCamp Europe and US, there&#8217;s the whole sponsor area. And it&#8217;s usual to see one of the larger booths being occupied by Google. And I wonder, is it Site Kit that you are talking about when you are here or is it other things as well?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But also it&#8217;s curious to me that Google would be here in that presence, because those things are not cheap to maintain. So there must be somebody up in Google somewhere saying, okay, this is something we want to invest in. So is it Site Kit that you are basically at the booth talking about?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:19] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> So me, yes, or people on my team. We have like a Site Kit section this year. There&#8217;s also Google Trends. There&#8217;s also some other people talking about user experience and on search. And this changes depending on which teams within Google want to reach out to the WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But with Site Kit, we&#8217;ve been pretty consistent for the last six years. We are always part of the booth. But the kind of whole team, like the whole Google booth content has kind of changed over the years as well depending on who&#8217;s coming.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:51] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I know that a lot of work being done is surrounding performance and things like that, and a lot of the Google staff that are in the WordPress space seem to be focused on that kind of thing, talking about the new APIs that are shipping in the browsers and all of those kind of things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, so on the face of it, a fairly straightforward product to use. But I&#8217;m guessing the devil is in the detail. How do you go about supporting this? So for example, if I was to install it and to run into some problems, do you have like a, I don&#8217;t know, a documentation area or do you have support, or chat or anything like that? Because I know that with the best will in the world, people are going to run into problems. How do people manage that kind of thing?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:25:27] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah, this was something that I was super, I felt really strongly about based on my previous experience in the developer advocate world. Because very often I got feedback that it&#8217;s super hard to reach Google. And it&#8217;s also understandable given the scale of some of the products.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But when I started this project I insisted that we allocate resources for support. So we have two people full-time support. One of them is upstairs, the support lead. He knows the product inside and out. They&#8217;re always on the forum, the plugin forum, support forum. And they answer usually within 24 hours. So everybody who has a question gets their question answered.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ve also created the very detailed additions. When you have Site Kit, you also get a few additions to the Site Health forum, so you can share that information with them and they see like detailed stuff about the website so they can help debug. And in many, many cases, I&#8217;ve seen people coming pretty angry, leave a one star review, then James or Adam who are support people, engage with them, and then it turns into a five star review because they feel like, okay, someone listened to me and helped me figure out what is going on.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have real people answering questions relatively quickly. And they don&#8217;t just go, of course they focus on the WordPress support forum, but they also check Reddit and other places where people like mentioned Site Kit, and they try to help and to direct them to the right place. So for Site Kit, we have very robust support.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, when it&#8217;s an issue with a product, a Google product that is connected to Site Kit, so it&#8217;s not a Site Kit problem, let&#8217;s say you got some kind of strange message from AdSense about your account status changing. Then we would have to hand over to the AdSense account manager or support team that they have, because we don&#8217;t know everything, like how AdSense makes decisions and stuff like that. But for anything Site Kit related, we are very fast to answer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:27:22] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> That&#8217;s good to hear because I think you&#8217;re right. I think the perception with any giant company is that it kind of becomes a bit impersonal, and Google would be no exception. And having just a forum which never seems to get an answer, you drop something in, six months later, you go back and nobody&#8217;s done anything in there except close the thread, kind of slightly annoying. But something like this. So 24 hours, roughly speaking, is the turnaround time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:27:45] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah. I mean, not on the weekend, but yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:27:46] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah. Still, that&#8217;s pretty amazing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:27:47] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah, yeah. We are very serious about this because, I mean, also the WordPress community is really strong, right? So you want to show that we care. We want to hear from people. A lot of bugs then also turn into feature requests and get prioritised to be developed. So, yeah, we really value when people come to complain. It&#8217;s a good thing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:03] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Excellent. Okay, well, we won&#8217;t open that as a goal, please send in your complaints. But nevertheless, it&#8217;s nice that you take it seriously.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it sounds like it&#8217;s under active development. You sound like this is basically what you&#8217;re doing over at Google. Do you have a roadmap? Do you have a sort of laundry list of things that you want to achieve over the next six months? Interesting things that we might want to hear about.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:21] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Sure, yeah. I mean, my ultimate vision, which is not the next six months, I would love to move away as much as possible from just stats. As curated and as kind of structured as it is right now, and get more into like recommendations, and like to-do list. Because what I hear from people again and again, it&#8217;s like, I have two hours this month, tell me what should I do with those two hours?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So they&#8217;re asking a lot from us. They&#8217;re asking essentially to look, analyse everything and to prioritise their tasks, to tell them which one is the most important or most impactful. And this is like several levels of analysis further than where we are now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So one thing that we are looking to work on is benchmarking, because you cannot know are you growing or not, unless you know how you&#8217;re doing on average. And today, people who are a little bit more savvy can do this of course, but a lot of people don&#8217;t. And so for us to be able to tell you, not just you got 20 clicks this week, but also this is okay for you, or this is better than last year, this time, or this is better than your competitors. I think that&#8217;s a really valuable way to interpret the data and to help people understand what it means.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:38] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah. And really, Google is one of the only entities that can provide that kind of data.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:44] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Especially for search.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:45] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, especially against competitors. That&#8217;s really interesting because analysing the data, whilst it&#8217;s fun for some people, I feel it&#8217;s not that interesting for most people. And so just having spreadsheets of data, charts of data, it&#8217;s interesting and you no doubt gain some important knowledge from it. But being told, here&#8217;s the outcomes of that data, try doing this thing and try doing that thing, that is much more profound than just demonstrating the data.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I&#8217;m guessing, I could be wrong about this, and I&#8217;ve more or less said this in every interview over the last year, I&#8217;m guessing there&#8217;s an AI component to all of that. Getting AI to sort of analyse the data and give useful feedback.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:30:22] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> I mean, we are investigating how to do all of these things. I think in the case of WordPress, it&#8217;s a little bit trickier again, because of the distributed nature, and the fact that all the site information lives on the site and then all the Google information. So we&#8217;re not like fully hosted where you can access everything and control everything, something like a Squarespace or a Wix.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there&#8217;s definitely, like AI is a perfect use case for this, right? Like benchmarking, you can bucket sites into relevant groups and then see, are they performing better or worse? That&#8217;s like classic machine learning case. And we will see exactly, technically, how we&#8217;re going to reach this, but that&#8217;s one of the things that we&#8217;re working on right now.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another thing is to expand much more the conversion reporting and to help people understand, are they achieving their goals? Because this is something that surprisingly to me, so many people pay money and invest time in the site, and they cannot articulate what the site is doing. Is it working? Is it doing its job? And they&#8217;re like, well, like I got some people visiting. And I&#8217;m like, did they buy the thing? So you have to know what to</p>\n\n\n\n<p>track, and then also to take action after you see the metrics, like to move them in one direction or another. And so helping people like map out this full funnel is one thing that we&#8217;re working on. And the other thing is also this email report.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:31:40] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, that&#8217;s amazing. So really under active development. And you sound very impassioned about it. You sound like this has become your mission, you know?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:31:47] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> I think, nobody ever complained that something is easy, right? When you make things simple and easy for people, they appreciate, even if they&#8217;re more knowledgeable than if they can do more advanced things themselves.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I personally really care, like every time that I find a random website with really strange content, but just, someone put their soul into it. I recently found something in Zurich of like tours of Zurich, walking tours, by someone who really cares about history and architecture.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it&#8217;s a terrible website design wise, but the content is amazing. And I was like, okay, this person could use some help, but he&#8217;s doing, or she&#8217;s doing like a great job at the content part, and then should get the traffic that they deserve for this. So that&#8217;s what motivates me also to come here.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One person, two or three WordCamps ago came over and was saying, everything about Google is hard except Site Kit. And I was like, yeah, that&#8217;s what we are trying to do. We really want to simplify things for you. So, yeah, being here is also super motivating. To talk to people and to hear feedback and feature requests. And again, we like when people come to complain.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:32:54] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Well, I was just speaking to a few people prior to you entering the room and those few people all have Site Kit installed on their site. So you&#8217;re doing something right.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:33:02] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> I hope it&#8217;s helpful. I hope it answers some questions and saves people some time. That&#8217;s what we are trying to do. Yeah, we are in the part of Google that has the ecosystem focus, so we know that ecosystem changes take longer. I mean, still it&#8217;s a fast growing plugin. It got to 5 million in 5 years, but still that&#8217;s 5 years. And in the context of software companies which move very fast, 5 years is a long time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, we will keep going and hopefully more people can benefit from it. But we do have, yeah, still there are many people who come by and they&#8217;re like, whoa, what is this? Show me.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:33:36] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Well, that&#8217;s nice. There&#8217;s for growth as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:33:38] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah, yeah. For sure. I mean, for sure there&#8217;s always, and more people create new sites. So, again, going back to that hosting provider question of like, can we bring it to them at the moment of creation so that they know this is something I can use?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:33:50] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah. So one more time, the URL is sitekit.withgoogle.com. I will place that into the show notes as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mariya, I think that&#8217;s everything that I have to ask. Thank you so much for chatting to me about Site Kit.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:34:01] <strong>Mariya Moeva:</strong> Yeah, thank you for the invitation. It&#8217;s been a pleasure to talk about the ecosystem. And, yeah, if people have feature requests, they can always write us either on GitHub in the Site Kit repo, or on the support forum, or if they are coming to any WordCamp where we also are, we are also super happy to hear. So we always love to know what people struggle with, so that we can build it for them and make it easy.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:34:23] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Thank you very much indeed.</p>\n</div></details>\n\n\n\n<p>On the podcast today we have <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariyamoeva/\">Mariya Moeva</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mariya has more than 15 years of experience in tech across search quality, developer advocacy, community building and outreach, and product management. Currently she’s the product lead for Site Kit, Google’s official WordPress plugin. She’s presented at WordCamp Europe in Basel this year, and joins us to talk about the journey from studying classical Japanese literature to fighting web spam at Google, and eventually shaping open source tools for the web.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mariya talks about her passion for the open web and how years of direct feedback from site owners shaped the vision for Site Kit, making complex analytics accessible and actionable for everyone, from solo bloggers to agencies and hosting providers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Site Kit has had impressive growth for a WordPress plugin, currently there are 5 million active installs and a monthly user base of 700,000.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We learn how Site Kit bundles core Google products, like Search Console, Analytics, PageSpeed Insights, AdSense into a simpler, curated WordPress dashboard, giving actionable insights without the need to trawl through multiple complex interfaces.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mariya explains how the plugin is intentionally beginner-friendly, with features like role-based dashboard sharing, integration with WordPress’ author and category systems, and some newer additions like Reader Revenue Manager to help site owners become more sustainable.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She shares Google’s motivations for investing so much in WordPress and the open web, and how her team is committed to active support, trying to respond rapidly on forums and listening closely to feedback.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We discuss Site Kit’s roadmap, from benchmarking and reporting features to smarter, more personalised recommendations in the future.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by analytics dashboards, or are looking for ways to make data more practical and valuable inside WordPress, this episode is for you.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Useful links</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://sitekit.withgoogle.com/\">Site Kit</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://readerrevenue.withgoogle.com/\"> Reader Revenue Manager</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://trends.google.com/trends/\">Google Trends</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://sitekit.withgoogle.com/documentation/troubleshooting/site-kit-support/\">Site Kit support</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://github.com/google/site-kit-wp\">Site Kit on GitHub</a></p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 30 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Nathan Wrigley\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:46;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:112:\"Open Channels FM: Navigating Rebranding Phase Two with Sunsetting Series and Channel Updates at Open Channels FM\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=104313\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:119:\"https://openchannels.fm/navigating-rebranding-phase-two-with-sunsetting-series-and-channel-updates-at-open-channels-fm/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:180:\"BobWP\'s updating us on the podcast\'s rebranding journey called \"phase two.\" He explains how they\'re changing series, sunsetting some, and keeping the good stuff fresh and relevant.\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 30 Jul 2025 09:50:56 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:47;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:54:\"WordCamp Central: Highlights from WordCamp Masaka 2025\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:40:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/?p=11380324\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:79:\"https://central.wordcamp.org/news/2025/07/highlights-from-wordcamp-masaka-2025/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17056:\"<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p>WordCamp Masaka 2025, held from July 18–19 at Equator University of Science and Technology, wrapped up with a strong sense of community, innovation, and shared purpose. The second edition of this dynamic gathering brought together 291 attendees under the theme “Connecting Communities, Inspiring Ideas.” While we were just 9 shy of our 300-participant target, the energy and engagement made the event a resounding success.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Participants from across Uganda and beyond including speakers from South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana—engaged in the two days of insightful talks, practical workshops, and meaningful conversations about the future of WordPress and open-source collaboration.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A heartfelt thank you to our amazing sponsors for their incredible support. This event would not have been possible without your generosity.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Admin Sponsors:</strong> <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/jetpack/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jetpack</a>, <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/bluehost/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bluehost</a>, <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/woo/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Woo</a>, <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/hosting-com/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hosting.com</a>, <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/kinsta/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kinsta</a>, <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/elementor/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Elementor</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Micro Sponsors:</strong> <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/forthfocus/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fothfocus</a>, <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/die-seo-firma/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SEOFirma</a>, <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/sharebility-uganda-edutech/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sharebility Uganda</a>, <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/kasiryelabs/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KasiryeLabs</a>, <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/sponsor/ablestate/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ablestate</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Media Partners:</strong> <a href=\"https://x.com/videoproducerug\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wrapped</a>, <a href=\"https://metaversewp.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MetaverseWP</a>, <a href=\"https://urban-magazine.biz/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Urban Magazine</a>, <a href=\"https://wplift.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WPLift</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Venue Host:</strong> <a href=\"https://equsat.ac.ug/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Equator University of Science and Technology</a></li>\n</ul>\n</div></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Look at the Event</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the many impactful moments was the panel discussion titled “From Barriers to Belonging: Building Diverse &amp; Inclusive Tech Communities.” This session encouraged meaningful dialogue around representation and inclusion, prompting participants to reflect on how to build more welcoming and equitable environments in tech.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"Panel discussion at WordCamp Masaka 2025 featuring moderator Cerinah N Kasirye and panelists Sumaiya Nalukwago, Samuel Osei, and Scovia Akello Emaru discussing building diverse and inclusive tech communities.\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOaW1CJCYusTKqynyD-xxT1_gHs3KFRMvACZ0aciRh8dwD59QhG_idqtHd4RHp30weQJqW8nNHFV8oW-8fCddA2jtPAfsXAPaOTXqODfjV8sXUWBPsgZLT_nnvHCYu3pQ7C2D8gxKoCVr9Yn4bQjBh0=w1463-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left: Cerinah N Kasirye (Moderator), Sumaiya Nalukwago, Samuel Osei, and Scovia Akello Emaru — panelists of “From Barriers to Belonging: Building Diverse and Inclusive Tech Communities” at WordCamp Masaka 2025.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The event also featured a vibrant Student Engagement Program, which provided high school, vocational, and university students with an opportunity to explore WordPress. Through hands-on workshops, practical presentations, and networking opportunities with industry professionals, students gained valuable exposure and insights. Notably, several high school representatives expressed strong interest in bringing hands-on WordPress workshops and training sessions to their schools. They also proposed mentorship programs to help students develop real-world projects—highlighting a growing enthusiasm for learning and community involvement.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczMY8qnPrt-5qBKfvGKegcqVl35QzX0DzQywSSjJX84DKz_ajfgn9AS3WLHHdRZeyUfC7xON70Qjhx88zLA5NxuJXDj7fRlxPmqLdqXaPbzzg-tF64OVqh4vbS60Cma3T6YQRZH-IIzbhz4rNcR1IMQb4w=w1463-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPgKp4K3RE8FPhX10ehskPvbl-FXjbaFzFzEmove07e6kdyYVesJLKutHogfoZsUAKf5Rx3esfJC6KhIazbjtCfkJgwG8iJVNmTnHUs-9LXcpY4BpuiKraH-DXXXv67PZMFbQsbtMSnNACKVeEhWlBe-A=w1463-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /></figure>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>The swag from Jetpack was warmly appreciated by attendees, adding a thoughtful and useful touch that made the event even more memorable.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"Thabotswana, a representative from Jetpack, seated at the Jetpack sponsor table during WordCamp Masaka 2025, with a laptop in front of him and branded Jetpack swag displayed beside him for attendees.\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOEW8LiCRAPBh_NjNtXsTn3mrMVZJb-o7jupKFtmtUF156sOX2VL096j7PalGF07W2K7qAEY0QlaRn7gvcp3IDiGs_XwaA6rGHwqD6WbvJxQp2xNGFxOzpepQXGKcsF0DdEuE0T7KhxnncuHmbmtTWD=w1298-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thabo Tswana from Jetpack at WordCamp Masaka 2025 sponsor table.</figcaption></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img alt=\"Swag items from Jetpack displayed at WordCamp Masaka 2025\" src=\"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GwT5JDcWsAAOBmr?format=jpg&amp;name=900x900\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jetpack swag items on display at WordCamp Masaka 2025 sponsor table.</figcaption></figure>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Key themes explored during the event included:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Community and Career Growth: Sessions offered guidance on personal and professional development within the WordPress ecosystem.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Security Focus: Attendees gained essential knowledge to protect websites and mitigate threats.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Design and Development: Practical insights covered modern workflows, full site editing, and block editor techniques.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Diversity and Inclusion: Sessions highlighted how missing perspectives create an innovation gap that could threaten WordPress’s future, emphasizing the need to build diverse and inclusive communities and empower women in tech.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Website Management: Strategies for backup, restoration, and site migration were shared.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Marketing and Innovation: Topics included growth strategies like email marketing, AI and VR applications, and WordPress’s role in sustainable development.</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout the event, networking breaks and a community photo session provided ample opportunities for attendees to connect, share ideas, and build lasting relationships.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPlwIiI4E1IzNZ2fWkYZerd9-lCg4ANwFdEMO6cO0VTqqGCxqiqT-vTcZcUw2sPOxdbtWs26CpeCNoA59fH1-yY-kKwM4j4MhAmzyALBcWtTRuRuX2EadYdL86PpDRiOwD77aSBE121wk5Mlur1wCDbBQ=w1733-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczN5i1Nay5UKSyyoVsNS_gyzSZ4okuOhwpBs9IeLmjHVXDjW39-aCxawgIvv5WYKvYrxypQOhBMlWHbxhgWxGaDsCVeke5nx1jFSVboNwP3LSbz73UHjMzqEoOyjVMvJbNDZvJld6jgm-UT8z645hQ2C=w1463-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczMKrozq1eGAVPeDIvpcRL8ERV-mjcttH64bYDtJG0eWPQredf67pkp85j-uqEjH_8uZ5Gu3dM5FoaDswtEls2A8uJIV7Qu8GFVzoBGM6iJAGhVEICe_XOnyU2WEyX59R2UIgRAYe7YbJM4XwDTBxs9k=w1463-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /></figure>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczMRB0TV91fj6XgeNFM7Zcg_5Xuzz3CVM6ziRoywITAQE0p1TsVM-ESguAphNNL2eMbb808KvggWywhcDumTTuAP8c9vRMZJSXgVGv3NTCecAmAXGat7XEMX2KV7dDZ-HWDv6ksKz5zxdEIeLii4ipdB=w1463-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczNAjFX5DQxfvaSWGNFsE-oGDYTYzaSNJGNUp9Vsz2PulrcmUt7St95y6R6abQjJL10oY5bGuSDog9Al3OuHy6iIjo1JwjMkMVRy4qcxYnFCTlSGJJHJW-mqYRqNiztp6QT45BzIkF7WdC6RkyNGrxWH=w1463-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPqTl-uETljl5-2jh49daWSU0YLff065-OuLDfRYpWayqVOXG9sBQbRFxTAa0nMNmxQnmWwgC8XvKGQ4bp_LEyEYOeNuWRFXgAGft1cIJzipCcrLgaTM6HfUZ_WRWa81RqXn_Aomhld6oeYBeuj7b-zPA=w1463-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /></figure>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczMwMdCytIIOebKK-GXOoF9cEqbIhDvJEtqjS3VJ-CH8Ol4bQiOl4lof6N-UlAzxBjhFPqaA6ky2CfqwQARzezYaomkE9qPklpY7-fKfi8jTp2a9JHrOWSi1Mbwm024bazgJ5eAIn9gzJCJBNBIJdI3ezg=w1463-h975-s-no-gm?authuser=0\" /></figure>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https://photos.app.goo.gl/4bD56irqtbJKUKsD7\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img alt=\"📸\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f4f8.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /> Browse Photo Gallery</a></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height: 20px;\"></div>\n</div></div>\n</div></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Impact and Community Spirit</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>WordCamp Masaka 2025 was a testament to the thriving WordPress community in Uganda. It served as a powerful platform for knowledge exchange, skill enhancement, and fostering a strong sense of camaraderie. The diverse range of topics, from technical deep-dives to discussions on community building and future technologies, ensured there was something for everyone.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The enthusiasm of the speakers, the active participation of attendees, and the invaluable support from sponsors created an unforgettable experience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the event, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/thehopemonger/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arthur Kasirye</a><strong> </strong>(Community Program Supporter),<strong> </strong><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ssebuwufumoses/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ssebuwufu Moses</a> (WordCamp Masaka 2025 Lead Organizer),<strong> </strong>and<strong> </strong><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/thabotswana/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Thabo Tswana</a> (Event Supporter) met with <strong>Professor Mouhamad Mpezamihigo</strong>, Vice Chancellor of Equator University of Science and Technology, to introduce the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/news/2025/07/introducing-wordpress-credits-a-new-contribution-internship-program-for-university-students/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">WordPress Credits Internship Program</span></a>—an initiative that integrates university students into the WordPress open source community through hands-on contribution projects. Professor Mpezamihigo expressed strong interest in the program and committed to formally submitting the university’s interest form, signaling a promising collaboration to advance student engagement and practical skills development.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The success of this event reinforces the growing potential of WordPress as a tool for digital empowerment and economic development in the region. The connections made and the knowledge shared will undoubtedly contribute to the continued growth and innovation within the Ugandan tech landscape.</p>\n</div></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Looking Ahead</strong></h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The community looks forward to building on the momentum generated by WordCamp Masaka 2025 by continuing to collaborate, learn, and contribute to the global WordPress project.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p>Follow Masaka WordPress Meetup on X and LinkedIn for updates, news, and upcoming events.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links has-visible-labels is-style-pill-shape is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-social-links-is-layout-fdcfc74e wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-x  wp-block-social-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\" href=\"https://x.com/WordPressMasaka\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><svg height=\"24\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><path d=\"M13.982 10.622 20.54 3h-1.554l-5.693 6.618L8.745 3H3.5l6.876 10.007L3.5 21h1.554l6.012-6.989L15.868 21h5.245l-7.131-10.378Zm-2.128 2.474-.697-.997-5.543-7.93H8l4.474 6.4.697.996 5.815 8.318h-2.387l-4.745-6.787Z\"></svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label\">X</span></a></li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-linkedin  wp-block-social-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\" href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/wordcampmasaka/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><svg height=\"24\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\"><path d=\"M19.7,3H4.3C3.582,3,3,3.582,3,4.3v15.4C3,20.418,3.582,21,4.3,21h15.4c0.718,0,1.3-0.582,1.3-1.3V4.3 C21,3.582,20.418,3,19.7,3z M8.339,18.338H5.667v-8.59h2.672V18.338z M7.004,8.574c-0.857,0-1.549-0.694-1.549-1.548 c0-0.855,0.691-1.548,1.549-1.548c0.854,0,1.547,0.694,1.547,1.548C8.551,7.881,7.858,8.574,7.004,8.574z M18.339,18.338h-2.669 v-4.177c0-0.996-0.017-2.278-1.387-2.278c-1.389,0-1.601,1.086-1.601,2.206v4.249h-2.667v-8.59h2.559v1.174h0.037 c0.356-0.675,1.227-1.387,2.526-1.387c2.703,0,3.203,1.779,3.203,4.092V18.338z\"></path></svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label\">LinkedIn</span></a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about WordCamp Masaka 2025, please visit <a href=\"https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https://masaka.wordcamp.org/2025/</a>.</p>\n</div></div>\n</div></div>\n</div></div>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 30 Jul 2025 05:50:19 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"Ssebuwufu Moses\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:48;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:83:\"HeroPress: A Decade with WordPress: My Journey of Growth, Contribution, and Courage\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:56:\"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=8082\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:212:\"https://heropress.com/essays/a-decade-with-wordpress-my-journey-of-growth-contribution-and-courage/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-decade-with-wordpress-my-journey-of-growth-contribution-and-courage\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15545:\"<img alt=\"Pull Quote: When I look back, the journey feels full — full of lessons, full of change, and full of heart.\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" height=\"512\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/072925-min.jpg\" width=\"1024\" /><figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright is-resized\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcRyDxyvsWpBpWWa2G9siWnD6J54uFuHtkTcHklkXSvTW8nCoC2sGRwz45NlqLHrF3V6djYlvDcmh0tdf849n6cMqg4d_9yceVVEvaWWPKR3Bgrm-qSKTGfBxjyo67aRW5gyEtC?key=5NJTv3YzQ_HvxKfiq8hX5A\" style=\"width: 245px; height: auto;\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I never imagined I’d be writing this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ten years. A full decade of working in tech, without pause. Of growing, stumbling, learning, and showing up — with WordPress at the center of it all.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I look back, the journey feels full — full of lessons, full of change, and full of heart.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-from-india-s-city-of-lakes-to-the-heart-of-open-source\"><strong>From India’s City of Lakes to the Heart of Open Source</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This year marks a major milestone in my life — 10 years of professional experience in the WordPress ecosystem. As I reflect on this journey, it’s not just a work anniversary. It’s a story woven with personal growth, learning, community, and quiet resilience — a journey that began in a small city in <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udaipur\">Udaipur, Rajasthan, India</a>, and now reaches across the globe.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img alt=\"\" src=\"https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXedVMYabF4JiHteWIjqrp24wRnBnLGodWAaRQ9yY3iFP6hykY88FQ-VHse-2WX-HYOeiWzn6-J8wuulsTXfMkFFvSBW3eGXl8LyB50CEAE_aXLdQRFEwVKQ9QXh9SEFR93l9wnPFg?key=5NJTv3YzQ_HvxKfiq8hX5A\" style=\"width: 805px; height: auto;\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I was born and raised in Udaipur — a city known for its lakes and history, but not especially for tech companies. After completing my college degree, like many fresh graduates, I faced the uncertainty of landing a job — especially with the added constraint of staying in my hometown. Thankfully, my parents were incredibly supportive. They guided me, encouraged me, and reminded me that ambition has no boundaries — not even geographical ones.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-unexpected-beginning\"><strong>The Unexpected Beginning</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Though I had trained in software testing, I didn’t know much about WordPress back then. I stumbled into the WordPress world by joining a local startup in Udaipur. That decision would change the course of my life.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company, led by <a href=\"https://heropress.com/essays/wordpress-my-future/\">Puneet Sahalot</a>, was where my real journey began. Puneet, a close friend and mentor, introduced me to WordPress — its structure, its vastness, and more importantly, its values. He had a gift for seeing potential in people and believed in exploring uncharted paths. Puneet is no longer with us today, but his wisdom and encouragement remain a cornerstone in my journey.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With his influence, I began digging deeper into WordPress. Finding my first bug on the WordPress core was a moment of both confusion and pride. Submitting it felt like stepping into a world where I didn’t just work on projects — I became part of a global movement.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>“That one bug wasn’t just a bug — it was a beginning.”</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>That first bug ignited something within me. I started contributing to various areas — from core testing to translations, organizing local WordCamps, and even speaking at events. It felt empowering to give back to something that gave me so much.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_1987.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8096\" height=\"800\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_1987.jpg\" width=\"800\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9c4e2977-d4b6-44b4-a5d5-87ba4ece3883.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8100\" height=\"576\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9c4e2977-d4b6-44b4-a5d5-87ba4ece3883.jpg\" width=\"1024\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/7704fd56-150f-4ff7-a68d-c432269a8c5e.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8101\" height=\"768\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/7704fd56-150f-4ff7-a68d-c432269a8c5e-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"1024\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/f6e17e30-332e-4084-9a79-8b7720015785.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8102\" height=\"768\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/f6e17e30-332e-4084-9a79-8b7720015785-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"1024\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_9437.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8103\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_9437-984x1024.jpg\" width=\"984\" /></a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Screenshot</figcaption></figure>\n</figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-growth-beyond-comfort-zones\"><strong>Growth Beyond Comfort Zones</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Marriage brought a new chapter — I moved to a metro city and joined <a href=\"https://brainstormforce.com/\">Brainstorm Force</a>, where I worked on a suite of powerful WordPress products, including the very popular Astra theme.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>From a small local team to a larger product-driven organization, the shift was both challenging and fulfilling. I moved from being a tester to becoming a Product Manager, learning to balance leadership, quality assurance, user experience, and team collaboration. I found myself not just testing products — but shaping them.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>I was also incredibly grateful to have a life partner who encouraged me to aim higher and supported my ambitions every step of the way.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the proudest moments in my journey was being selected to lead the test team for the WordPress 5.6 and 5.7 releases. It was surreal. The appreciation and recognition I received from the global community made me realize how far I had come — from finding my first bug to helping others make WordPress better.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_9461.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8104\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_9461-922x1024.jpg\" width=\"922\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/unnamed.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8107\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/unnamed-766x1024.jpg\" width=\"766\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/unnamed.png\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8108\" height=\"189\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/unnamed-1024x189.png\" width=\"1024\" /></a></figure>\n</figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-new-rhythm-work-and-motherhood\"><strong>A New Rhythm: Work and Motherhood</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Life shifted gears again when I joined <a href=\"https://caseproof.com/\">Caseproof</a> (<a href=\"https://memberpress.com/\">MemberPress</a>) — a fully remote role that brought with it the flexibility I needed at a very important time in my life.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Working remotely was a new experience but quickly became a blessing. When I became a mother, I embraced both worlds with open arms. I continued to work with the same dedication, sometimes holding my daughter in one arm while debugging with the other. My work never stopped, and my love for WordPress only deepened.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>These moments, though challenging, became proof that passion, purpose, and parenthood can co-exist beautifully. Each bug fixed, each feature tested, each call attended — became part of a rhythm that blended professional focus with maternal joy.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>“I didn’t take big leaps. I took small steps. But I took them every day. That’s how I got here.”</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Some days were messy. Some were magical. But all of them were mine.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_3196-scaled.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8109\" height=\"768\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_3196-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"1024\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_9721-scaled.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8099\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_9721-768x1024.jpg\" width=\"768\" /></a></figure>\n</figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-beyond-the-screen-the-explorer-in-me\"><strong>Beyond the Screen: The Explorer in Me</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Outside of my professional life, I’m a passionate foodie and an avid traveler. Exploring new places and trying different cuisines fills me with joy and curiosity. So far, I’ve had the privilege of visiting <strong>30 countries</strong> — each one offering a unique flavor, story, and lesson.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently, my family and I began a new chapter by relocating to <strong><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai\">Dubai</a></strong>. It’s a city that’s fast-paced, full of opportunity, and incredibly vibrant — and we’re absolutely loving it so far. This new environment continues to inspire both my personal and professional sides in unexpected ways.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6636-scaled.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8111\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6636-768x1024.jpg\" width=\"768\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_5727-scaled.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8110\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_5727-768x1024.jpg\" width=\"768\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_1726-scaled.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8098\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_1726-768x1024.jpg\" width=\"768\" /></a></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/753fb658-ee15-4087-9665-1b8c23255d34-scaled.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8112\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/753fb658-ee15-4087-9665-1b8c23255d34-768x1024.jpg\" width=\"768\" /></a></figure>\n</figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-still-learning-still-contributing\"><strong>Still Learning, Still Contributing</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Even after 10 years, I still feel like a student. The tech world evolves fast, and I try to keep pace. Recently, I’ve been diving into modern testing tools like <strong><a href=\"https://playwright.dev/\">Playwright</a></strong> and <strong><a href=\"https://www.cypress.io/\">Cypress</a></strong>, and experimenting with <strong>AI-based automation</strong> — which is not just fascinating but necessary in today’s evolving digital landscape.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m excited to explore new contribution opportunities in WordPress — mentoring, accessibility testing, performance initiatives, and more. There’s always more to give back, and more to learn.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-final-thoughts\"><strong>Final Thoughts</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This journey wasn’t built on dramatic turns or overnight success. It was made up of steady progress, genuine passion, and a strong belief in community and consistency.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>To those starting out, unsure of their path — your story is waiting. Take that first step.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>“You can build a global impact even from a small city. WordPress doesn&#8217;t ask where you&#8217;re from — it only asks, what will you contribute?”</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-reflections-after-10-years\"><strong><img alt=\"🌊\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f30a.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /> Reflections After 10 Years</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If I’ve learned anything over these ten years, it’s this:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You don’t need to be loud to be seen.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>You don’t need to do it all at once.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>You just need to keep showing up — honestly, consistently, and with curiosity.<br /></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-let-s-connect\"><strong>Let’s Connect</strong></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><img alt=\"📧\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f4e7.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /><a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/monika-rao-7261a185/\"> LinkedIn</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li> <img alt=\"💻\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f4bb.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /><a href=\"https://github.com/monika-12\"> GitHub</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http://twitter.com/monikarao13\"> <img alt=\"🌐\" class=\"wp-smiley\" src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f310.png\" style=\"height: 1em;\" /> Twitter</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you ever want to talk about testing, WordPress contributions, remote work, motherhood, or just career growth, feel free to reach out. I’d love to help, share, and learn with you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https://heropress.com/essays/a-decade-with-wordpress-my-journey-of-growth-contribution-and-courage/\">A Decade with WordPress: My Journey of Growth, Contribution, and Courage</a> appeared first on <a href=\"https://heropress.com\">HeroPress</a>.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 30 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Monika Rao\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:49;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:86:\"Open Channels FM: Designing for Clients Using Figma Systems and WordPress Block Themes\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"https://openchannels.fm/?p=104272\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:93:\"https://openchannels.fm/designing-for-clients-using-figma-systems-and-wordpress-block-themes/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:217:\"In the first episode of Publishing Flow, host Derek and Ash Shaw talk about how Figma transformed their WordPress workflow, enhancing design collaboration, client workflows, and even open-sourcing their design system.\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 29 Jul 2025 12:22:11 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}s:4:\"type\";i:128;s:7:\"headers\";O:48:\"WpOrg\\Requests\\Utility\\CaseInsensitiveDictionary\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";a:9:{s:6:\"server\";s:5:\"nginx\";s:4:\"date\";s:29:\"Tue, 02 Sep 2025 12:46:32 GMT\";s:12:\"content-type\";s:8:\"text/xml\";s:13:\"last-modified\";s:29:\"Tue, 02 Sep 2025 12:30:22 GMT\";s:4:\"vary\";s:15:\"Accept-Encoding\";s:15:\"x-frame-options\";s:10:\"SAMEORIGIN\";s:16:\"content-encoding\";s:4:\"gzip\";s:7:\"alt-svc\";s:19:\"h3=\":443\"; ma=86400\";s:4:\"x-nc\";s:9:\"HIT ord 2\";}}s:5:\"build\";s:14:\"20241213172042\";}', 'off');
