In honor of Automattic’s 20th anniversary, and also since it’s been a few years, I joined Nilay Patel the editor-in-chief of The Verge on their Decoder Podcast. We talked about Tumblr and the Fediverse, how Automattic thinks about Ecosystem and Cosmos sides of the business, Automattic’s re-organization into cross-business functional teams and leadership, the vision of Clay as a personal CRM and Beeper as the super-human messaging app that puts control in the hands of users, Newspack, the future of websites, the obligatory coverage of the alleged WP Engine trademark violations and their subsequent preemptive suit, and much more. Please give it a listen! They chose the title “Why Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg went to war over WordPress.”

Speaking of Beeper, we’re going to do a fun event for the next-gen version that’s launching on July 16 in New York City in NoHo. I’ll be there along Beeper CEO Kishan Bagaria and some of the best and brightest in New York’s tech and creative class. If you’re a Beeper early adopter (or would like to be) and want to attend leave a comment, we’ve held back some invites for cool folks like readers of ma.tt.

Today marks a special anniversary for me: It has been exactly 10 years since I received my first props for a contribution to WordPress Core. And it was just a day before that I actually worked on that first contribution.

You may know that I am a long-term WordPress Core contributor, having contributed ever since. To celebrate this 10-year milestone, I wanted to reflect on this journey and share the 10 most valuable lessons I learned along the way. But first, let me provide a bit of background about just how I started.

How I Started Contributing to WordPress Core

It all started at the WordCamp Europe 2015 Contributor Day, an event I still remember fondly as my favorite Contributor Day experience. The atmosphere was incredibly welcoming and productive, largely thanks to the fantastic guidance of Konstantin Obenland, who was the Release Lead for the upcoming WordPress 4.3 release.

While leading the Core table, he encouraged us to test the new Site Icon feature, which was nearly ready to be committed. I dove in with a few other contributors and started testing various scenarios. I managed to uncover a minor bug that only appeared when JavaScript was disabled in the browser. I worked on a patch to fix it, and a few days later, on June 29, 2015, the feature was committed to Core with my first props included.

That first small contribution was the starting point of my long and rewarding journey. After a few more months of occasional contributions, I began contributing heavily in early 2016, focusing on the Multisite component. Over time, my responsibilities increased, eventually running team meetings and becoming a component maintainer. In November 2016, just 17 months after I had started, I was honored to be named a WordPress Core committer. And little did I know, this would be just the first chapter of my ongoing journey as a WordPress Core contributor.

Becoming a long-term WordPress Core contributor is not an easy task. But in some ways, it’s not as hard as it seems. You may think you need to be an incredible coder, and you may feel imposter syndrome. But that’s just a small part. The most important skills are interpersonal skills such as communication, flexibility, perseverance. To celebrate 10 years of contributing, I’m going to share with you 10 things that helped me in my journey the most.

1. Communicate, and Communicate Well

As a good engineer, it is equally important to discuss and reason about code as it is to actually write the code. Proactively documenting what you’re doing goes a long way. Some examples:

• If you raise an issue, provide details and include context, including why you think it is a valid issue.
• If you open a pull request, use its description to explain at a high level the relevant technical choices you made in the code you wrote – unless it’s a typo fix of course.
• Unless the code is trivial or you really want to write it just to test whether it works, discuss what you’re proposing first, e.g. in a ticket. Spending hours on writing code that may not get merged can be frustrating. Gathering feedback on your idea from other contributors first will go a long way in avoiding that experience.

Other than being able to discuss code, it’s equally important to ask questions. If you don’t understand the rationale behind a decision, kindly follow up on it. If you’re attending a Slack chat where someone shares something you are missing context on, inquire about it. Every question you ask and every answer you get will grow your understanding of the WordPress project – whether its overarching philosophies, strategic decisions, or deeply technical decisions.

2. Assume Good Intent

Another important aspect of communication that is worth highlighting separately is to be respectful. Be respectful of your fellow contributors, even if you feel they weren’t. If someone disagrees with you or even if a ticket you proposed is closed without an explanation (which should not happen, but it can), don’t get angry. Don’t get defensive. Don’t get arrogant. Remain kind, and follow up. The other person probably didn’t mean any harm.

Assuming good intent means to keep calm even when your initial reaction tells you not to. Sometimes, a reply that comes across as harsh may be the result of the other contributor lacking the time to reply, which is not necessarily an excuse. Other times, it may be the result of the other contributor being from another culture where communication norms are different to yours. In either scenario, the reply that came across as harsh most likely wasn’t meant to be harsh. If you feel yourself getting defensive or angry, maybe step away and come back later.

Another way to say this is don’t take things personally. Your proposals and code may be rejected, sometimes wrongfully. Either way, this is entirely specific to the problem that you’re trying to solve. It has nothing to do with you as a person or your quality as a developer.

3. Be Persistent, As Long As Appropriate

As I previously mentioned, sometimes another contributor may have feedback or propose something you disagree with. And sometimes, even though that’s not ideal, they don’t provide adequate context – we all make mistakes. If you have taken the time to introspect and ensure your disagreement is valid, make sure to follow up. Ask the other contributor to share more context, or lay out clearly why you disagree.

For example, it’s okay to reopen a ticket that you created when it’s closed but not resolved. Just keep in mind the previous points on communication and self-awareness.

Sometimes you may be overruled, or a discussion continues back and forth a few too many times with seemingly no noticeable progress. Sometimes us humans, we simply disagree, and that’s okay. Take a moment to think how strongly you think your point is correct. Sometimes, it’s right to keep pushing. Other times, it’s right to give in. Don’t keep pushing excessively. It’s important to know when to accept another person’s decision and move on, even when you disagree. Especially in situations where several other Core contributors disagree with your point, think twice. There may be something they understand that you don’t, or you may be proposing something that is not aligned with the WordPress philosophy. Simply remember, you can ask.

4. Pay Attention to Detail

The previous points primarily focused on communication and introspection. But now let’s talk a bit about code. I’m not going to talk about algorithms or code patterns though. Something that you can try to do, regardless of how experienced you are as a developer, is to pay attention to detail and go the extra mile. Your mindset should be to get it done right, not quickly.

Sloppy code doesn’t get committed to WordPress Core. Some of the important things to look out for is code style, comprehensive inline code documentation and doc blocks, as well as test coverage. Proactively making sure your code is safe, documented, and tested shows that you care and is a great signal of a promising new contributor.

Similar care is equally important when reviewing other people’s code. Point out when any of the above are lacking or inadequate. Think about edge cases the code may not be catering for yet. Ask questions if you’re unsure. Take the time to be a thorough reviewer.

5. Think at Scale

WordPress is not just used by millions of websites, it’s used by over a third of the web. I’m sure you already know that, but it’s crucial to remember that anytime you are thinking about technical solutions. Whenever you want to make a change in WordPress, consider the entire spectrum of WordPress sites. I already mentioned to think about edge cases, but here are some more examples for what to keep in mind:

• WordPress can run anywhere – $1000 premium hosting or a Raspberry Pi. Be especially mindful of the lower end here.
• WordPress can be used at any scale – a small business portfolio site with five pages, or a membership site with millions of user-generated posts from thousands of users. Be especially mindful of the higher end here.
• Many WordPress sites do not use an object cache, many are on older technologies, such as outdated versions of PHP or MySQL.

Another important aspect of thinking at scale is the impact that WordPress has on the rest of the web. WordPress can influence the web to change. A new feature or API in WordPress could lead to other platforms or even browsers considering it. Use WordPress’s scale responsibly – it can be a lever for the web as a whole, but make sure you’re only proposing a new feature to be merged into WordPress Core once it is ready for its scale.

6. Increase Scope Gradually

When you first start contributing to WordPress Core, it’s natural to have big ideas and see opportunities for major improvements, even complete rewrites of certain APIs. However, if you’re new to the project, pushing for a massive change or a brand-new feature right away is often going to result in resistance and likely won’t succeed. Believe me, I’ve been there. This can feel frustrating, but it’s a natural part of how open-source communities function.

Established contributors need to “get to know you” first. They need to assess your expertise, your motivations, your communication style, and your willingness and availability to see complex ideas through to completion. This is simply a human element of collaboration. Your idea might be entirely valid, and you might be the perfect person to execute it. But others won’t know that until they’ve had the chance to work with you and observe your contributions over time.

This doesn’t mean your valuable ideas will be rejected outright, but you might encounter hesitation or caution. A better approach is to increase your scope gradually. Start with smaller, more contained contributions: Fix bugs, improve documentation, or address minor enhancements. This helps you build trust and credibility within the community. Furthermore, by contributing to less complex endeavors first, you’ll gain additional expertise and a deeper understanding of the intricacies of WordPress Core development. This experience will likely enable you to approach those more complex ideas later with even greater insight and a stronger ability to execute them successfully than you would have had when you were completely new.

7. Find Your Niche

While it’s a great starting point to contribute to any random issues you find or care about in the beginning, it’s incredibly valuable to eventually find your niche within WordPress Core. After some initial contributions, ideally you’ll discover an area that genuinely interests you and where you feel you can make a sustained impact. To give some personal context, for me that initial niche was Multisite, as mentioned earlier. I focused on it largely because I was working with a client with a large Multisite installation at the time and wanted to improve some quirks I was encountering in the foundation. For you, it might be any of the other dozens of WordPress Core components.

Perhaps it’s a component you frequently interact with in your own WordPress development work or hobby projects where you’ve identified opportunities for improvement. The more practical experience you have with a specific part of WordPress, the more likely you are to contribute valuable enhancements and fixes to it.

Finding your niche is also important because you simply cannot be an expert in everything. WordPress Core is vast, but there are many specialized areas where dedicated experts are needed, especially where original maintainers have moved on or reduced their contributions. However, at the end of the day, don’t solely define your niche based on perceived project needs. Define your niche based on what you truly care about and are passionate about. This will make your contributions more enjoyable and sustainable in the long run.

8. Be Helpful

Contributing to WordPress Core isn’t just about pushing your own agenda or implementing the features you want to see. A crucial part of being a valuable contributor is actively being helpful to others. Being proactive and offering assistance demonstrates that you are a team player and a great collaborator, deeply invested in the project’s success. It also shows that you’re willing to take on work that might not be the most exciting for you personally, but is essential for the community as a whole.

Here are some examples of such activities:

• Make an effort to review other contributors’ tickets, discussing ideas and technical approaches beyond your own.
• Provide constructive feedback on pull requests, even if they’re not in your immediate area of expertise.
• Offer to run a bug scrub for a specific component, helping to triage and categorize issues.
• Volunteer to write summary posts for recurring team meetings, keeping everyone informed.

These are just some ideas that will signal to other contributors that you are passionate, eager to work collaboratively, and not just in it for whatever you want to see added to WordPress Core. Being a helpful and supportive member of the community fosters a positive environment for everyone.

9. Adapt Well

A common descriptor for the ideal mindset of a WordPress Core contributor is “Strong opinions, loosely held.” This highlights the importance of having conviction in your ideas while remaining open to changing them based on new information or different perspectives. Especially when you’re a new contributor, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “This is so straightforward, why wasn’t it added to Core years ago?” Usually, if it hasn’t been, it’s simply not as straightforward as it appears. This often relates back to the earlier points about understanding the WordPress philosophy, paying attention to detail, and thinking at scale.

But even as you become a more established contributor, it will always remain crucial to adapt well. Approach different opinions with curiosity rather than adversity. Sometimes, additional learnings on your own end may genuinely change how you think about a technical approach. There will be times when you disagree with a decision that a majority of other contributors support. In these situations, it’s crucial to find the right balance: know when to keep pushing back if you genuinely believe in your stance, and when to acknowledge that this is not your decision alone, but a collective one that you should accept and move forward with for the good of the project. This goes back to the earlier point about being persistent as long as it’s appropriate. The flexibility and willingness to adapt are hallmarks of an effective and respected Core contributor.

A great post that goes into more depth on this point, even though being old, is Andrew Nacin’s “The qualities of a great WordPress contributor”.

10. Build Personal Relationships

While online collaboration is the backbone of WordPress Core development, building personal relationships with other contributors is incredibly valuable. This isn’t just for your personal growth as a contributor; it also significantly enhances the enjoyment and effectiveness of your contributions. The connections you make can enrich your journey in unexpected ways, and you may make new real-life friends.

Meeting other contributors at a WordCamp or similar event is an incredible experience. Go for a run together, have a beer, do a hacking session together – whatever is fun for your group. Whether it’s finally connecting in person with someone you’ve collaborated with online for months, or meeting a mentor you’ve looked up to since you started contributing, these face-to-face interactions foster a deeper sense of community. Hanging out, sharing meals, and catching up in person inevitably changes how people see you. Having met someone in person simply tends to change the dynamic, even in subsequent online interactions.

It may not always be feasible for every contributor to attend a WordCamp or other event to meet fellow contributors in person, and that is certainly unfortunate. However, the unique understanding forged through in-person interactions is something a purely online community simply cannot fully replicate. If you have the opportunity to participate in such an event, I strongly encourage you to take it. The bonds you form will make your contribution journey even more rewarding.

Looking Back and Moving Forward

This decade of contributing to WordPress has been a remarkable journey of both personal and professional growth. I can say with certainty that I am where I am today, in so many ways, thanks to contributing to WordPress Core. The lessons I’ve shared here are reflections of countless hours spent collaborating with other community contributors, solving complex problems, building powerful features, and helping to build the open web. Contributing to WordPress Core has taught me more than I could have ever imagined when I first uploaded that small patch back in 2015.

I hope that these reflections are helpful, whether you are a seasoned committer or someone who is just considering making their first contribution. A large open-source project, especially at the scale of WordPress, is an excellent way to work on something bigger than (very likely) anything one of us could come up with by ourselves. I remain as excited and motivated as ever to continue playing my part in its future.

What about you? If you’re a contributor, what are the biggest lessons you have learned on your journey? I’d love to read about your experiences in the comments below.

The post 10 Lessons from 10 Years of Contributing to WordPress Core appeared first on felix-arntz.me.

Inspired by Jonathan’s contribution anniversary post of a few days ago, I decided to look up when I received my first props in WordPress.

Coincidentally, I’m also a July props baby and received my first WordPress props thirteen years ago today, on July 11, 2011 (Australian time). It was for the second ticket I’d filed, #18018, and Andrew Nacin committed the patch I’d provided a few days later.

I clearly had no idea how to use version control at the time I filed the ticket. Dion Hulse helped out by answering the question about the history of the code.

My first props was a one off and I didn’t start regularly contributing to WordPress until 2014 before becoming a committer in 2016.

I very clearly remember the day I got commit because Helen Hou-Sandí messaged me unexpectedly in the WordPress Slack. My initial assumption was that I must have done something wrong and I began reviewing my interactions with people of the previous few weeks. I was astounded to be offered commit access.

My contribution history includes

• received props 1714 times across the WordPress-Develop and Gutenberg repositories
• made 696 commits to the WordPress-Develop repository
• opened 247 tickets
• reviewed 487 pull requests
• release lead for WordPress 6.0
• contributed to 27 WordPress releases
• spoken at more WordCamps and meetups than I can remember. Mostly at the WordPress Melbourne Meetup and WordCamps Sydney and Brisbane
• organising committee member for WordCamp Melbourne 2013

My most active day on the project was April 22, 2021 which involved:

• 64 commits
• releasing 11 versions of WordPress
• releasing 25 editor NPM packages

To my shame I’ve only been a release squad member once, WordPress 6.0, as I never felt ready. I’m beginning to improve on this and will be co-core tech lead on WordPress 6.7.

I’ve been incredibly lucky with my WordPress journey as many of my contributions have been the result of employers sponsoring me to make them. This is a privilege that not many contributors have and is a significant reason some of the statistics above are so high.

What isn’t reflected in the statistics is the number of friendships I have all around the world due to my WordPress contributions. I’m lucky enough to count dozens of WordPress contributors as friends all around the world.

What I didn’t realise when I contributed my first patch and received my first props was the scale of WordPress. My patch was only two lines of code but within hours of the next release it was running on websites all around the world.

When WordPress 6.4 was released, it was downloaded over 6.5 million times in the first six hours. There were 170 first time contributors to that release and I’d be surprised if any of them realised how widely and quickly their contribution would be distributed.

One of the great pleasures as committer is to give someone their first props and to allow their contribution to power a significant portion of the web. Thirteen years later, it’s a true honour to be able to pass the experience along.

The post 13 years of contributing to WordPress by Peter Wilson first appeared on his blog.

WordCamp US 2025 is heading to vibrant Portland, Oregon, from August 26–29, 2025! Join fellow open source enthusiasts, developers, designers, and WordPress professionals from across the United States and around the world for four days of learning, networking, and collaboration at the Oregon Convention Center.

Nestled in the Pacific Northwest, Portland is famous for its creative spirit, lush green spaces, and riverside trails, making it an inspiring backdrop for this year’s WordCamp. Whether building your first site or leading a digital agency, WordCamp US offers something for everyone, all set against the city’s stunning natural scenery.

What to Expect

Contributor Day: August 26

Kick off your WordCamp US experience by giving back. Contributor Day welcomes all skill levels to collaborate on teams that help make WordPress better, from code to community to documentation. You can make a difference to the project, and build new friendships or rekindle old ones, perhaps even while enjoying views of Portland’s skyline and tree-lined streets.

Main Conference: August 27–29

Showcase Day – August 27

As part of the main conference, day one will give us a look at project showcases, discover innovative uses of WordPress, see how people push the platform’s boundaries, and get inspired to try something new.

Session Days + Expo Hall – August 28-29

Experience another two days filled with inspiring keynotes, practical sessions, and deep dives into the latest trends in web development, design, content, accessibility, and more. Hear from some of the brightest minds in the WordPress ecosystem and explore topics that get to the heart of what makes WordPress unique. Also, take some time to explore the main floors of WCUS, like the Sponsors Hall.

Networking and Community

Meet WordPress friends new and old, exchange ideas with community leaders, and collaborate with people who share your passion for open source. Enjoy daily lunches and a memorable social event, all included with your ticket. Stroll along the Willamette River or explore nearby parks in between sessions.

Venue & Accommodations

This year, we’re gathering at the Oregon Convention Center in the heart of Portland—a city known for its vibrant neighborhoods and abundant green spaces. We’ve secured a special hotel block right across the street at the Hyatt Regency Portland for convenient, comfortable lodging during your stay.

• Oregon Convention Center
  777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
  Portland, OR 97232
  
• Hyatt Regency Portland
  375 NE Holladay Street
  Portland, OR 97232
  Book your room!

Registration and Tickets

Registration officially kicked off last month. Secure your spot early; tickets are selling quickly.

Ready to Plan Your WordCamp US Experience?

Keep checking the WordCamp US site for travel tips, to book accommodations, and to watch for the whole event schedule—coming soon! While here, why not plan to take in some of Portland’s scenic hiking trails, bike-friendly streets, or local food scene?

Stay tuned for updates and announcements on WordPress social media channels, and join the conversation.

Help Us Spread the Word!

Whether attending in person or following along online, share your experience and help welcome others to the WordPress community. Use the #WCUS and #WordPress hashtags and tell your story on social!

Portland is calling—see you at WordCamp US 2025!

Scott Alexander, of Slate Star Codex / Astral Codex Ten fame, ran an Everything-Except-Book Review Contest 2025 in February. The prompt: “Submit an ACX-length post reviewing something, anything, except a book.” The submissions were collected anonymously in a giant 450-page Google Doc. I don’t think the winners have been chosen yet, but there is one essay that has been making the rounds and getting shared more, and that’s Alpha School and “2-hour Learning” powered by AI, a parent’s perspective on Alpha School, a set of “AI-powered” schools in Texas and Florida.

It’s worth reading the entire essay, but I wanted to excerpt a few points I found interesting:

After twelve months I’m persuaded that Alpha is doing something remarkable—but that almost everyone, including Alpha’s own copywriting team, is describing it wrong:

• It isn’t genuine two‑hour learning: most kids start school at 8:30am, start working on the “two-hour platform” sometime between 9am-930am and are occupied with academics until noon-1230pm. They also blend in “surges” from time to time to squeeze in more hours on the platform.
  
• It isn’t AI in the way we have been thinking about it since the “Attention is all you need” paper. There is no “generative AI” powered by OpenAI, Gemini or Claude in the platform the kids use – it is closer to “turbocharged spreadsheet checklist with a spaced‑repetition algorithm”
  
• It definitely isn’t teacher‑free: Teachers have been rebranded “guides”, and while their workload is different than a traditional school, they are very important – and both the quantity and quality are much higher than traditional schools.
  
• The bundle matters: it’s not just the learning platform on its own. A big part of the product’s success is how the school has set up student incentives and the culture they have built to make everything work together

…Yet the core claim survives: Since they started in October my children have been marching through and mastering material roughly three times faster than their age‑matched peers (and their own speed prior to the program).

One of the surprises doesn’t come until Part 4 of the essay:

Incentives

People REALLY don’t like the idea of incentivizing kids to learn.

Roland Fryer, who has done extensive work on what works in incentivizing students, quotes a 2010 Gallup poll that found that only 23% of American parents support the “idea of school districts paying small amount of money to students to, for example, read books, attend school or to get good grades” (76% opposed the idea with only 1% undecided).

There are not many things that 76% of Americans agree on. Only 69% of Americans believe another Civil War would be a bad thing. Only 78% agree that American independence from Britain was the right choice. People REALLY don’t like paying kids to read books.

I hope that gives you enough of a hook to read the entire essay, it was quite good and provocative to many assumptions I’ve had about education.

On the podcast today we have Joe Dolson and Jonathan Desrosiers.

As you’ll hear in their podcast introductions, both Joe and Jonathan are veterans of WordPress, committing to Core in different ways. They’re deeply committed towards making the platform more useful for all users.

This episode is all about exploration rather than answers. Joe and Jonathan discuss the world of canonical plugins, a special category of plugins maintained by the Core team. They are designed to be as reliable and secure as features found in WordPress Core itself. The discussion unpacks what exactly defines a canonical plugin, how these plugins have evolved out of the traditional feature plugin model, and what it means for users and contributors alike.

At the center of this episode is accessibility: should accessibility enhancements remain a primary concern within WordPress Core, or is it time to start developing them as canonical plugins? Joe and Jonathan discuss the pros and cons of both options, referencing technical challenges, project philosophies, and the ever-changing legislative environment, especially with tough new regulations in Europe.

They consider the discoverability of canonical plugins for non-technical users, potential overlaps and division of labour between plugins and Core, and the moral imperative of making websites accessible to all.

We also touch upon practical examples, from the WordPress video block, to the Performance Lab plugin, and weigh up how cadence, stability, and focus can differ outside the Core. The conversation also goes beyond theory, delving into the real-life impact accessible technology has, from legal requirements to personal stories and the broader mission of democratising publishing.

Whether you’re a developer, a site owner, or someone interested in the ethical questions at the heart of open-source software, this episode is for you.

Useful links

Canonical Plugins (Say What?)

WordPress Importer plugin

mp6 plugin

WordPress HackerOne program

Data Liberation Project

Accessibility: A Developer’s Pledge

JAWS

 MediaElement.js

 Able Player

 Design Experiments plugin

WordCamp Europe 2025  keynote with Noel Tock

Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines

Got users stuck with outdated Gravatars or profile info in your mobile app? Your Gravatar integration just became a lot more powerful.

Tens of thousands of apps and sites pull in Gravatars for a better user experience. But when someone wants to update their avatar or profile details, they’re usually stuck hunting for settings — or worse, they can’t update them at all.

With our Quick Editor and Mobile SDKs, problem solved!

One Tap to Update Everything

Our Mobile SDKs have always made avatar updates simple. Users tap their avatar, make changes, and boom – it’s updated everywhere. But avatars are just part of your digital identity.

The latest SDK releases bring full profile editing to your mobile app. Now users can update their entire Gravatar – display name, about info, location, pronouns, and more – right from within your app.

What’s New

Profile Editing Beyond Avatars

Users can now edit their complete Gravatar profile without leaving your app.

This includes:

• Display name
• About/bio information
• Location
• Job title
• And more

iOS 3.4.0 Improvements

• Smoother animations on the SwiftUI sheet
• Better VoiceOver support for accessibility
• Performance optimizations throughout

Android 2.5.0 Updates

• Removed Retrofit dependency from core module (cleaner, lighter integration)
• New API endpoints for expanded functionality
• Bug fixes for improved stability

See It in Action

The editing flow feels native to each platform. On iOS, it’s a sleek SwiftUI sheet. On Android, it follows Material Design patterns. Your users get a familiar experience while managing their universal web identity.

Why This Matters

Think about it: someone downloads your app, signs up, and their Gravatar automatically fills in their avatar and profile details. Later, when they get a new headshot or job title, they can update it right there in your app.

No hunting through settings. No switching between apps. One tap, and they’re current everywhere.

You get happier users with fresh, accurate profiles. They get a seamless experience that just works.

We know it works because we dogfood our SDKs in our sister apps Jetpack and Pocket Casts, powering avatars and profile details millions of users monthly.

Developers: Ready to Upgrade?

The updated SDKs are available now for both iOS and Android. Adding profile editing to your existing Gravatar integration takes just a few lines of code.

Check out our developer documentation for platform-specific guides, code examples, and migration instructions.

Your users deserve to control their digital identity. Now you can help them do it.

We’re celebrating a fun anniversary at Automattic today, our 20th, with a fun look-back. Gosh, it’s been quite a journey, and it still feels like we’re just getting started in so many areas.

In 2005, being a remote-first company was anathema to investors and business leaders* at the time; it was a scarlet letter that combined with our embrace of Open Source and the relative inexperience got us some funny looks and a lot of skepticism. I will be forever grateful to the true contrarians who bet on Automattic in our earliest days.

Even when it was clearly working the first few years, there was always the dismissal of “that won’t scale” that loomed like a remote startup Great Filter. These days I hear from friends who run incubators or do seed investing that almost every company they look at taps into remote talent.

It makes me think about what uncommon things Automattic does today that will be standard in the coming decades. We do our best to balance idealism with pragmatism, because even if you are on the right side of history, being too early can be as bad as being wrong.

I can’t predict everything that will change over the coming decades, especially with AI making the next few years particularly hard to predict. Still, I do know a few things that won’t change: everything flows from our people, open source is still the most powerful idea of our generation, growth is the best feedback loop, and no matter how far away the goal is, the only way to get there is by putting one foot in front of another every day. People will always want fast, bug-free software; instant, omniscient customer service when they need it; and experiences so intuitive that they usually don’t. And once they’ve had a taste of freedom, it’s hard to return to their previous state. (For more, see our creed.)

Our industry is highly cyclical, and I feel fortunate to have gained the perspective of a few bubbles and crashes, along with all the emotions that go with them. It’s undeniable we’re in the very early days — the command-line times — of an AI era, and though it will probably have its own bubble and crash cycles, it feels as significant to me as anything since we started. It’s more important than ever that we fight for open source and the freedom-enhancing side of technology. I’m committed to doing whatever I can to democratize publishing, commerce, and messaging, but there are many other areas of the human experience to cover… pick one to work on! It’s hard and rewarding work.

When I was working on an early version of one of our internal stats systems, it was really important to me that it showed rolling windows of the last 24 hours (daily), 168 hours, 4 weeks, and of course yearly. The rolling was important so you could see the impact of your changes as soon as possible. Then I felt called to add another: decade.

Some thought it was silly at the time, and it’s true that it initially served mainly as a way to display the cumulative number. But I wanted every time someone looked at one of these stats pages that they were reminded that we’re building for the long term. Our users and customers deserve nothing less. And now we have some statistics with 20 years of history, it has some useful comparisons as well!

In Ten Years of Automattic, I wrote:

There’s a lot more to do, and I can’t wait to see what a “20 Years of Automattic” post says. I’m a lucky guy.

Now we know! I’m still a very lucky guy, and can’t wait to build, learn, and share alongside a talented crew of like-minded hackers, dreamers, and doers.

* I’ll note that pioneers like Bob Young (Red Hat), Stephen Wolfram (Wolfram Research), Jason Fried (37Signals), and Mårten Mickos (MySQL) were big inspirations. Also, the entire Open Source community and most projects operated at least partially this way, which is why it seemed so natural to us as a second-generation Open Source company.

Hi there,

Are you ready for a summer break of the Gutenberg Times? I am definitely ready for a vacation. It’s been a fabulous first half of the year with plenty of new experiences, and reconnecting with friends in the WordPress community. There is soo much inspiring creativity in the community around block editor, Playground and AI. I am curious what the second half of year will bring.

As for WordCamps, I am considering going to WordCamps, Gyndia, Verona, and Pisa. Once the decisions are made, I, of course, will let you know. Do you have any WordCamp plans?

Enjoy the summer and I’ll be back.

Yours,
Birgit

In their post, Share your Pride Photo Drive is back for 2025, Anne McCarthy invites you to an open photo submission event to boost LGBTQ+ representation in the WordPress Photo Directory. The initiative encourages everyone (not just the LGBTQ+ community) to contribute, with fun incentives and cash prizes, emphasizing the importance of diverse, high-quality imagery for web creators. The deadline is July 1st 2025.

Developing Gutenberg and WordPress

Jean-Baptiste Audras just dropped the schedule for WordPress 6.8.2 Release Schedule. There are a few bug scrub sessions coming up, with the first release candidate (RC1) out on July 8, 2025, and the final version landing a week later on July 15. He also shared some handy links to the list of fixes they’re hoping to squeeze into this update.

The latest episode Gutenberg Changelog 118 – WordCamp Europe, WordPress New AI Team, the Pride Photo Drive, Gutenberg 20.9 and 21.0 Anne McCarthy is back from sabbatical and we talked about WordCamp Europe, the new WordPress AI team, the Pride Photo Drive, and Gutenberg 20.9 and 21.0 .

If you are listing via Spotify, please leave a comment. If you listen via other podcast apps, please leave a review. It’ll help with the distribution.

Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners

In his post Introducing the View Transitions Plugin for WordPress, Felix Arntz
announced a new plugin that brings smooth, animated transitions between pages to WordPress sites. He explains that the plugin uses the View Transitions API to create seamless visual effects, making navigation feel more modern and app-like without the complexity of single-page applications. Arntz described how the plugin works out of the box, offers customization through both the WordPress admin and theme code, and supports various animation styles. The goal is to improve user experience and perceived performance with minimal setup.

In his latest video, The Secret to Client-Proof WordPress Sites, Wes Theron shows how to let clients safely update content while keeping a consistent design. He demonstrates using synced patterns with editable overrides. Global design changes to a pattern update all instances on the site. He explains how clients can modify specific elements without disrupting the layout. This method simplifies site management and maintains design integrity, making WordPress sites easier to manage and grow.

Claire Brotherton reviewed the Twenty Twenty-Five WordPress theme, highlighting its flexibility and modern design. Brotherton details its customizable templates, diverse style variations, and extensive block patterns, making it easy to create unique layouts. She notes the theme’s accessibility features, international typography options, and compatibility with the latest WordPress tools. The guide also covers practical tips for editing menus, headers, and footers, and encourages users to experiment with the theme’s many design possibilities. The post Twenty Twenty-Five Theme: the Ultimate Guide definitely lives up to its promise.

Johanne Courtright introduced the Groundworx Navigation plugin, a flexible, block-based navigation tool for WordPress. After years of building custom menus, she created this plugin to streamline features like accordions, slide-ins, sticky headers, and responsive toggles. Designed for Full Site Editing, it fits modern WordPress workflows and eliminates the need to rebuild navigation logic for each project, making advanced menu patterns easier for both developers and site owners. Check it out from GitHub. Once it goes through the approval process, it will also be available for download from the WordPress repository.

In his post What’s the plan for PublishPress Blocks? Steve Burge mentions the new Block Usage Screen. It shows you any usage of blocks on your site or search for blocks. For example, it will show how many paragraph blocks you used throughout all blog posts. He also shows the new menu from within the plugin and lists six more features: control on who can use each block, additional blocks like accordion, galleries, tabs etc. I am excited about the feature to create my own Block Styles right from the interface without code. In the video on YouTube, Burge shows off how to find your WordPress Blocks with the PublishPress Blocks Plugin.

Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks

A common solution to make a sticky header is to wrap the template part in a group block and set the Position to “sticky”. Mike McAlister has more elegant solutions to Fixing the sticky header bug in the WordPress site editor.

Hans-Gerd Gerhards has also tackled this problem with his plugin Dynamic Header & Navigation for Block Themes, that also, among a few other things, it gives you settings to shrink the header on scroll, so it doesn’t take up too much real-estate.

In her post, Layout and Design with the Grid Block, Anne Katzeff explains how the grid block can help make web pages look cleaner and more organized. She gives simple advice for setting up columns, spacing, and alignment, and encourages people to play around with different layouts to find what looks and works best. It might just be the manual you have been looking for.

Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor

In this high-level post, 15 WordPress Interactivity API examples – WP Gallery
Diane Collet, co-founder of Twentig and WP Gallery, explains how the new WordPress Interactivity API empowers developers to create dynamic, interactive front-end experiences without relying on heavy JavaScript frameworks. She highlights how the API enables seamless, reactive user interfaces directly within WordPress blocks, making it easier to build features like live search, filters, and instant feedback. Collet emphasizes the API’s simplicity, performance benefits, and its alignment with WordPress’s vision for a more interactive and modern web, encouraging developers to explore its capabilities for enhancing user engagement.

To get started with the Interactivity API, you can work through this list of resources:

• WordPress Gems around the Interactivity API (Workshop recording)
• A first look at the Interactivity API
• An introduction to block-based mega menus
• Interactivity API Reference
• Interactivity API showcase
• Developer Hours: Building custom blocks in WordPress with the Interactivity API
• Developer Hours: Exploring the Interactivity API in WordPress 6.5

JuanMa Garrido was inspired by Igor Benić’s list of WordPress challenges. In his live stream he ventured to solve some of them. The recording is on YouTube. The first challenge was: Create a block that fetches and displays posts from a specific category dynamically (using ServerSideRender component).

In his live stream, WCEU workshop code along, Ryan Welcher followed Bero’s WCEU workshop on setting up automatic testing with Playwright and Playground.

This week, Jonathan Bossenger updates us about WordPress MCP & Feature API on his live stream.

Questions? Suggestions? Ideas?
Don’t hesitate to send them via email or
send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph.

For questions to be answered on the Gutenberg Changelog,
send them to [email protected]

Here’s the deal: Every time you pop up online with a different headshot, a tweaked job title, or a bio that sounds like it was written by three different people on three different days, you’re not just being quirky. You’re quietly chipping away at your credibility.

Those little inconsistencies create one big problem: Cognitive friction. And cognitive friction = second-guessing. Not ideal when you’re trying to win hearts, minds, or contracts.

Unlike the good old days of handshakes and conference rooms, building trust online isn’t natural or automatic. It’s something you have to design carefully, deliberately, across every touchpoint where your name shows up.

And if you’re new to the game without a reputation to fall back on? The stakes are even higher.

But here’s the good news: Trust is buildable – and way more under your control than you think.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to:

• centralize your online identity so you look polished and cohesive everywhere.
• use social proof like a pro to boost instant credibility.
• communicate authentically without feeling like you’re “branding” yourself to death.

By the time we’re done, you’ll know exactly how to build a digital presence that feels genuine, trustworthy, and ready to convert curious visitors into loyal fans, wherever they find you.

Why professional credibility isn’t just “nice to have” anymore

Thinking professional credibility online is just about having a typo-free website and a decent logo is like saying a handshake is only about touching another person’s hand. Important, yes – but nowhere near the full story.

Today, trust online demands way more than surface polish. It’s about creating a coherent, recognizable presence that follows you everywhere your audience might stumble across you.

A January 2024 study from the Digital Identity Institute nailed it down to four essentials:

• Your identifiers (name, handle, URL).
• Your content (what you post and share).
• Your profile photos (how you visually show up).
• Your personal images (those behind-the-scenes moments that humanize you).

Get these aligned? You’re golden. Mix them up? You undermine the very trust and credibility you’re aiming for.

Every time someone jumps from your Twitter to your LinkedIn to your personal blog and spots a disconnect, a little voice whispers: “Wait, is this even the same person?”

Cue doubt. Cue hesitation. Cue lost opportunity.

And just a heads-up: Your digital reputation isn’t just about what you put out there. It’s also:

• What people say about you on review sites.
• How (and whether) you respond to comments.
• Where your name pops up in industry chatter.
• Those forgotten forum posts from 2018 (yes, even the cringey ones).

For newcomers, this can feel wildly overwhelming. But don’t panic – there’s a system for building trust that works whether you’re a total newbie or a seasoned pro.

And it all starts with something deceptively simple: Making it crystal clear that it’s actually you, wherever you show up.

Let’s dig into how to make that happen.

Establishing your verified identity online

Let’s talk about the sneaky tax no one warns you about: Digital fragmentation.

Every time you spin up a new GitHub profile, tweak your WordPress.com bio, or casually update your Slack status, you’re basically creating another branch of your professional identity.

Each one demands attention; otherwise, it leaves behind tiny cracks in your credibility that clients will notice (even if they don’t realize it).

Trust is built silently through strategic verification signals. Things like:

• Verified email domains: [email protected] trumps [email protected] (every time).
• Consistent usernames: When “jane-smith-designer” shows up everywhere, recognition is effortless.
• Linked professional accounts: Connecting your LinkedIn, Twitter, and portfolio into a neat trust web.
• Visual continuity: That profile photo is important, it’s a visual anchor that screams “yep, this is me”.

But the brutal truth is that keeping it all polished and synced can feel like a part-time job. And the longer you’re online, the more ancient breadcrumbs (and outdated bios) you scatter across the internet like digital confetti.

Enter Gravatar.

Instead of another profile to manage, Gravatar is the solution to profile management by connecting your professional identity to something you already use everywhere: Your email address.

Gravatar becomes your single source of truth, rippling updated credibility across the web with zero extra work.

How Gravatar keeps your digital identity (and sanity) intact

Gravatar’s magic trick is simple but game-changing: Update once. Sync everywhere

Here’s how it works:

1. You sign up once using your email address.
2. Gravatar then pushes your profile info – your headshot, your bio, your portfolio links – across any platform that has Gravatar integrated.
3. Instantly recognizable. No manual updates. No weird gaps.

Gravatar plugs into heavy-hitters like:

• WordPress (hello, 43% of the internet)
• GitHub (where devs prove their chops)
• Slack (where teams live)
• OpenAI (yep, even the AI world knows your face)
• Atlassian, Figma, Mailchimp, Stack Overflow, Coinbase – and the list keeps growing

It’s like a digital business card, but one that updates itself, multiplies itself, and hands itself out for you.

When you update your Gravatar, you’re refreshing your professional image across a whole ecosystem without lifting another finger.

And even on platforms that don’t plug directly into Gravatar (looking at you, X and Instagram), your Gravatar profile still works as a rock-solid bio link destination. A central hub that confirms, “Yes, I’m legit.”

Let’s get into how to set it up.

How to showcase expertise that actually converts (not just impresses)

Having a verified, consistent digital identity is a great first step. But if you want to turn casual visitors into paying clients, you need more than legitimacy. You need to flex your expertise in ways that actually move people to act.

Here’s the difference between professionals who quietly exist online and those who consistently rack up conversions: They don’t just say they’re good. They prove it – strategically.

Here’s how to build serious trust and trigger buying decisions at the same time:

Content that builds (and measures) trust

Not all content earns trust equally. Here are the formats that drive the biggest trust-to-conversion ROI:

• Case studies with real results: Proving you’ve solved this exact problem before removes the risk for new clients.
• Original research with downloadable assets: Publishing fresh findings no one else has? Authority unlocked (not to mention backlinks).
• Video demonstrations: Watching you in action builds confidence fast.
• Step-by-step tutorials: Breaking down complex processes shows mastery and your ability to guide others.

Credentials that appear exactly where they matter

Having credentials is great, but placing them where they crush doubt is the difference.

• Certification logos near pricing tables instantly calm “Is this worth it?” nerves.
• Industry awards on service pages make your premium offer feel like a no-brainer.
• Testimonials right beside CTA buttons? Ideal for that final, reassuring nudge.

Thought leadership that stands out (not blends in)

Vanilla expertise doesn’t convert. You need a clear, memorable POV that plants your flag.

• Challenge industry norms (backed by real evidence, not just hot takes).
• Create your own frameworks that only you offer.
• Take thoughtful stands on key industry debates (without turning your audience into enemies).

Trusted platforms that amplify your expertise

Sometimes it’s not just what you say – it’s where you say it. That’s why Gravatar’s integrations create trust-by-proxy opportunities you can’t buy:

• WordPress comments: Your verified Gravatar shows up and instantly builds recognition.
• GitHub contributions: Your Gravatar profile signals serious technical chops.
• Slack communities: Your Gravatar credentials put you right inside trusted expert circles.

Stack these strategies, and not only are you building a reputation, you’re removing every obstacle between curiosity and conversion. When prospects can instantly answer both “Can they help me?” and “Can I trust them?”, signing on becomes the obvious next step.

Let’s move on to putting all of this into action.

Building trust through authentic communication

A fascinating 2020 University of Missouri study found that sharing the story behind why you do what you do skyrockets your perceived authenticity.

Turns out, people don’t just trust the expert with the most credentials. They trust the expert who lets them in on why it matters to them personally.

In other words, explaining why you care can be just as powerful as proving you’re qualified.

This research shatters the old-school myth that professional communication should stay cold, detached, and full of corporate buzzwords. Storytelling – real, personal, first-person storytelling – builds deeper trust than any third-person “Our team is passionate about solutions” fluff ever could.

Here’s what that looks like in action:

• “I built this workflow after nearly burning out during my first agency job.” is more effective than “Our optimized workflow increases efficiency by 27%.”
  
• “The software crashed on me three times before I figured out this workaround.” will win people over above “Our team has extensive troubleshooting experience.”

See the difference? One makes you nod and feel something. The other makes you… skim.

How Gravatar supercharges your authenticity

Gravatar is your secret weapon for broadcasting authenticity everywhere you show up.

Inside your Gravatar profile, you’ve got space to tell the story:

• The hurdles you’ve faced.
• The experiences that shaped your expertise.
• The real reasons behind what you do.

And the beauty of this is you only have to do it once. Gravatar pushes that authentic narrative across every platform where your profile appears – so you’re building trust automatically without tailoring a new story for every single site.

When you combine that authenticity signal with your hard-earned credentials, you create a full, irresistible trust picture: Qualified. Relatable. Human.

Exactly what today’s clients are looking for.

Create your Gravatar profile today and start boosting your professional credibility

If there’s one thing this guide has made crystal clear, it’s that consistency = credibility.

When potential clients see the same professional presence across every platform, their trust barriers don’t just lower; they practically melt away.

And that trust is what turns casual browsers into paying customers.

Gravatar solves the messy fragmentation that trips up even the savviest digital pros. Instead of chasing down a dozen outdated bios and rogue headshots, Gravatar syncs your professional image, links, and story across hundreds of platforms automatically.

One update. Endless consistency. Zero stress.

And it’s not just a time-saver. It’s a trust amplifier that strengthens everything you’ve worked to build. As we’ve seen, Gravatar:

• Anchors your visual identity wherever you show up
• Connects people directly to your best case studies, thought leadership, and portfolio
• Tells your authentic professional story, not just your title
• Reinforces every layer of social proof you’ve earned

And the best part? Setting up your Gravatar profile takes five minutes, so create your free Gravatar profile today and start turning trust into conversions.

As of July 2025, the WordPress Security Team will no longer provide security updates for WordPress versions 4.1 through 4.6.

These versions were first released nine or more years ago and over 99% of WordPress installations run a more recent version. The chances this will affect your site, or sites, is very small.

If you are unsure if you are running an up-to-date version of WordPress, please log in to your site’s dashboard. Out of date versions will display a notice that looks like this:

The version you are running is displayed in the bottom of the “At a Glance” section of the dashboard.

As a reminder, the only actively supported version of WordPress is the most recent one. Security updates are only backported to older branches as a courtesy.

The Make WordPress Security blog has further details about the process to end support.

I recently undertook a significant project: migrating the entire JavaScript codebase of my AI Services plugin for WordPress (GitHub repository) to TypeScript.

Why is that significant?

• We’re talking about over 80 JavaScript files, so it’s by no means a small project. Not gigantic like e.g. Gutenberg, but certainly a substantial amount of code.
• Additionally, that JavaScript code is powering a plugin with a fairly unique feature set. This uniqueness often makes it harder for Large Language Models (LLMs) to assist, as there’s likely less similar code in their training data.

The process taught me a lot about the synergy between a well-structured codebase and LLMs. It also strengthened my belief that, while an LLM isn’t magically going to solve complex development tasks for you, it can be a massive productivity booster when you prepare your project and guide it effectively.

This post will walk you through how I used Cline in VS Code together with Google’s Gemini models to get it done efficiently and why I think this migration was worthwhile.

Why Bother with TypeScript? (Hint: LLMs Love Structure)

If you’re a developer who hasn’t yet embraced TypeScript, I get the hesitation. You might be annoyed by the seemingly verbose syntax, or perhaps you’ve heard that it slows down development. Let’s address those points.

The idea that TypeScript slows you down couldn’t be further from the truth in the long run. Using TypeScript allows you to ship safer code by preventing many potential bugs during development that plain JavaScript would miss. This makes complex projects easier to understand and ultimately faster to iterate on. The only scenario where TypeScript might genuinely get in the way is with quick prototypes, especially when dealing with dependencies that aren’t typed. I’d argue this is the only case where sticking with plain JavaScript is more reasonable today.

And if you’re turned away by the syntax? Don’t worry, I definitely was in the same boat myself. But after writing about five TypeScript files, I found it started to feel very natural.

Beyond the general benefits, there’s a modern, compelling reason to adopt it: TypeScript provides structure, and LLMs thrive on structure. By providing the clear, explicit types of TypeScript, you give the LLM a much more detailed and unambiguous map of your codebase. This helps it understand context and your intent, leading to far more accurate and helpful suggestions.

A few weeks ago, I posted on social media: “Learn TypeScript deeply.” And I truly think you should.

My Migration Strategy: A Human-in-the-Loop Approach

My goal wasn’t to have an LLM do all the work, but to have it act as a super-powered assistant. I used Cline in VS Code, primarily with the Gemini 2.5 Pro model via the Gemini API. I’m a fan of Cline because of its customizability and its “Plan” vs. “Act” modes, through which you can force the model to collaborate with you on defining the approach before writing any code.

Here’s the step-by-step process I followed.

Step 1: Laying the Groundwork

Before letting the LLM loose, some manual preparation is essential.

1. Start with the Most Foundational Package: My plugin consists of several JavaScript packages. I began with the package that had no dependencies on the others. It’s crucial to migrate packages in order of their dependency graph.
2. Define Core Types Manually: This is the most critical manual step. I went through the foundational package and defined the core TypeScript types myself, e.g., in a types.ts file at the root of the package. While an LLM can sometimes help, doing this manually ensures accuracy and aligns the data structures perfectly with my intent.
3. Migrate a Few Files Yourself: I manually migrated 3-5 files to TypeScript. This served two purposes. First, it created “perfect” examples of my desired coding patterns—including code style, JSDoc comments, and variable naming. Second, it helped me get reacquainted with TypeScript within the specific context of this project.

Step 2: Defining the Workflow (and Relevant Rules)

To ensure consistency, I leveraged two key features: custom rules and reusable workflows.

First, I established custom rules that define the TypeScript coding standards for the project. This helps the LLM generate code that is consistent with my best practices. This concept is supported by many AI code assistants, including Cline. As an example, you can see the coding standards I defined for the AI Services plugin here.

Next, I created a reusable prompt, which Cline calls a “workflow.” This saves me from re-typing a complex prompt for every single file. Here is the workflow I created, saved as migrate-typescript.md:

You need to migrate specific JavaScript files to be valid TypeScript.

Concretely, you need to migrate the JavaScript code in <file> to TypeScript. There are three possible scenarios:

- If the file is already using the extension `.ts` or `.tsx`, it may have already been renamed from `.js`. You MUST make the changes to migrate the code to TypeScript directly within the file.
- Otherwise, if the file is using the extension `.js` and it contains React components (JSX), you must create a new file of the same name but with the `.tsx` extension and write the code migrated to TypeScript in there.
- Otherwise, if the file is using the extension `.js` and it does not contain any JSX, you must create a new file of the same name but with the `.ts` extension and write the code migrated to TypeScript in there.

First, use the `read_file` tool to collect sufficient relevant context. Some of the files the user may have already provided to you. In that case, DO NOT READ THEM AGAIN.

- Search for `tsconfig.json`, `.eslintrc.json`, and `.eslintrc.js` files in the project root directory. Read all of them that you find, to know which TypeScript and TSDoc configuration requirements the migrated TypeScript code must follow.
- Search the current directory and any parent directories _within_ the project for `types.ts` files. You MUST read all of these files to understand the project-specific types.
- Look for other TypeScript files in the same directory or a sibling directory. Read 1-3 files to learn about the project-specific TypeScript conventions and best practices, e.g. regarding specific type imports, code style, documentation, or file structure.
    - If you are writing a `.ts` file, you must ONLY consider existing `.ts` files for this contextual research.
    - If you are writing a `.tsx` file, you must ONLY consider existing `.tsx` files for this contextual research.

With that context in mind, you MUST follow the following steps in order to migrate the <file> to TypeScript:

1. Migrate the JavaScript code from <file> to TypeScript, following the patterns learned from ALL previous context.
    - NEVER change any names, e.g. of variables or functions.
    - NEVER change any logic.
    - In addition to the TypeScript code itself, you MUST also ensure to update any JavaScript doc blocks to follow TSDoc syntax, according to project configuration.
    - If any usage of the obsolete `PropTypes` (`prop-types`) is present, you MUST remove it. Using TypeScript itself is a sufficient replacement.
2. Read the `package.json` file in the root directory to check which `"scripts"` are available. Identify any relevant lint, build, and format scripts, which you can use to verify whether the TypeScript code you wrote is accurate.
    - To find the relevant lint script, look for names like "lint-js", "lint-ts", or "lint" for example.
    - To find the relevant build script, look for names like "build:dev", or "build" for example.
    - To find the relevant format script, look for names like "format-js", "format-ts", or "format" for example.
    - Remember the exact names of these scripts that you found.
3. If you found a relevant build script, RUN IT in the command line via NPM and check the output. Here is an example how to run it:
    - If the script name is "build", execute `npm run build` in the command line.
4. If the build script you ran reported TypeScript errors, inspect them carefully. Then review the TypeScript you wrote to see how you can fix the errors. Update the previously generated TypeScript code to fix the reported errors.
5. If you found a relevant lint script, RUN IT in the command line via NPM and check the output. Here is an example how to run it:
    - If the script name is "lint-js", execute `npm run lint-js` in the command line.
6. If the lint script you ran reported errors, inspect them carefully.
    - For any Prettier errors, DO NOT try to fix them manually. Instead, run the format script you previously found if one exists.
    - For any errors other than Prettier, review the TypeScript you wrote to see how you can fix the errors. Update the previously generated TypeScript code to fix the reported errors.
7. If you found a relevant build script before, RUN IT again and check the output. Afterwards, YOU MUST STOP.
    - If the scripts no longer report TypeScript errors, all is well.
    - If the scripts still report TypeScript errors, please share the feedback with the user, to let them decide on the next steps.

Note: You may wonder about common prompting best practices like “You are a senior web engineer” etc. being missing from this workflow. This is because Cline already has its own built-in system instruction, so adding something like that here would likely be unnecessary or even confusing. Keep in mind that this workflow runs in combination with any built-in system instructions from your tooling as well as any custom rules you defined.

Step 3: Executing the Migration, File by File

With the groundwork laid, I began the migration. I preferred to first manually rename a file from .js to .ts or .tsx. Then, I’d invoke my workflow in Cline like this:

/migrate-typescript.md @src/ai/classes/browser-generative-ai-model.ts

By renaming the file first, Cline provides a convenient diff view against the original JavaScript code, making it much easier to spot changes. If I let the workflow create the new file, it would be treated as a brand-new file with no history to compare against.

I started with the most capable model, Gemini 2.5 Pro. After confirming its quality, I experimented with the faster and cheaper Gemini 2.5 Flash. However, the results were notably worse, so I switched back to Pro. This highlights a key lesson: always start with the most powerful model available, and only downgrade if you can confirm it meets your quality bar for the specific task.

While I’m using Cline, this approach should be adaptable to other tools like Cursor with only minor adjustments. As long as you can define custom rules and use reusable prompts (even if it’s just by copy-pasting), you can achieve similar results.

The Results: Time, Cost, and Effort

So, was it worth it? Absolutely.

My experience was that for some simpler files, Gemini got the migration 100% correct on the first try. For more complex files, I typically needed to spend 5-10 minutes on review and corrections. However, migrating those same files manually would have likely taken around 25-30 minutes each.

Let’s talk numbers:

• Total Cost: The entire migration of over 80 files cost me about $20 in Gemini API credits.
• Time Spent: I spent approximately 3 hours on the migration, including setup, execution, and review.
• Estimated Time Saved: I estimate that doing this manually would have taken at least 8 hours.

Spending $20 to save 5 hours of focused development work is a trade I will happily make any day. And beyond that, now I have a reusable workflow that I can use to do the same for my other existing projects in the future.

Last but not least, LLMs will only get better with time. If you notice that the results you get for your use-case are rather poor even though you’ve set up the project and prompts in an ideal way, don’t give up for good. It can certainly be frustrating, but there’s a good chance that in a few months, or even a few weeks, the latest LLM will do better. And always keep in mind that the LLM is there to help you, not to replace you.

Questions & Feedback

This project was a powerful demonstration of how to partner with an LLM effectively. It underscores that the role of the developer is shifting—we are not just writers of code, but also architects of systems and directors of our LLM assistants.

That said, I’m always learning.

• I am by no means a TypeScript expert. If you are, you may find code patterns in the AI Services codebase that you consider suboptimal. Please let me know in the repository!
• Obviously, when it comes to using LLMs for code assistance, the field is changing daily. If you’ve found success with other approaches or if your efforts have mostly led to disappointment, I’d love to hear from you and learn from your experiences in the comments below.

The post Migrating Your JavaScript Codebase to TypeScript with Cline & Gemini appeared first on felix-arntz.me.

I’ve been testing the developer previews of all the new Apple 26 operating systems, which I don’t recommend this early in the cycle, but I like to live dangerously. I’ve quickly become accustomed to Liquid Glass. The iPad windowing enhancements do make it feel more like a real computer, but I usually run things in full-screen mode. My favorite thing to play with so far has been the new Spotlight (what pops up when you press Command + Space) and related shortcuts.

I loved Alfred, I tried Raycast, but a general life goal this year is to simplify wherever I can, so I’ve been exploring the enhancements in the new Spotlight.

What I’ve found the most useful in the past is Alfred’s Open URL Action, which basically lets you type something like “gm united reservation” and it translates that into opening a Gmail search in your browser, with “united reservation” put in the URL in the right place to run a search.

The Shortcuts app in MacOS and iOS is amazing, which I’ve always known, but I haven’t played with it much. This was my chance! After a bit of tinkering, I got it to pop up an input form and then run the search. I Googled a lot to see if it could take input from the Spotlight search bar and every place said no, I’m not sure if this is new in MacOS 26 or not but I found the button that makes it work. It’s not as smooth as Alfred, but it’s pretty decent. I’m going to share a screenshot that shows my Gmail search shortcut that takes input from Spotlight — the key breakthrough was clicking the (i) menu on the right and finding the checkbox for “Receive Input from Search.”

I gave it a “gm” hotkey, pressed enter, and you get this in Spotlight.

Tada! Not as nice as Alfred but it gets the job done. My other shortcuts that people might find useful are LI for LinkedIn search, PY is Perplexity, YT for searching the history of YouTube videos I’ve watched, and AM for searching my Amazon order history. (Because I’m usually trying to find a link for something I’m recommending, or re-order an item.) Here are the search URLs for everything I’ve mentioned:

• https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/ (If you have multiple Google accounts, change the number in the URL to go to the one you want, and then login in that same order every time.)
• https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/index/?keywords=
• https://www.perplexity.ai/search/
• https://www.youtube.com/feed/history?query=
• https://www.amazon.com/your-orders/search/?search=

If you dug this, did you know WordPress also has a cool popup shortcut feature? In 2023, we introduced the Command Palette in the Gutenberg block editor and site editor. To access it on Mac, you press Command + k. I’d like to bring it to every admin page so it can function more like Spotlight or Raycast for WordPress.

On the podcast today we have Tom Willmot and Jon Ang.

Tom is the co-founder of Human Made, an enterprise WordPress agency that’s been pushing the boundaries of what WordPress can do since its inception. Jon is also with Human Made, and together they bring a huge amount of experience working with major clients on large-scale projects. At this year’s WordCamp Europe in Basel, they presented a case study: their long-term, continually evolving work with the global banking giant Standard Chartered.

Most listeners might not be working at the scale of 85,000 employees, 70 countries, and hundreds of millions of page views a month, but Tom and Jon are here to share insights from the top end of WordPress implementation.

They explain how Human Made helped Standard Chartered shift from proprietary CMS lock-in to a flexible, open-source, Gutenberg-powered WordPress solution that serves as the main web platform for the bank across all its markets.

We talk about the unique compliance and security challenges of working in the banking sector, what it takes to persuade giant enterprises that WordPress is ‘not a toy’, and how to support hundreds of CMS users with custom workflows and integrations.

Tom and Jon discuss the specifics of scaling WordPress for the enterprise, from accessibility and multilingual setups to custom block development and real-time collaborative editing.

We also hear how Human Made works with clients to contribute innovations and security improvements back to the WordPress community, ensuring that lessons learned at the enterprise level benefit everyone.

If you’re curious about how WordPress powers mission-critical web infrastructure for some of the world’s biggest organisations, or how you might pitch WordPress for enterprise use, this episode is for you.

Useful links

Human Made

Standard Chartered

Tom and Jon’s WordCamp Europe presentation: Banking on WordPress: Inside a FTSE 50 Bank’s Global Platform

Standard Chartered: banking on the future

Have you enabled reCAPTCHA thinking it would shield you against spam, only to find bots slipping through? You’re not alone. Those little puzzles prove that some visitors are human, but they don’t always stop the spam messages.

It may be disappointing to hear, but reCAPTCHA seriously annoys site visitors while only doing a moderate job of preventing spam. You (and your visitors) deserve something much better.

Common issues with reCAPTCHA

Though a popular option, reCAPTCHA doesn’t always deliver the spam protection you need. Let’s look at just a few key reasons why this is the case, from user frustration and accessibility concerns to bots getting through.

1. User friction and poor accessibility

For those caught in an endless loop of trying to find all the squares that include a bicycle, it’s no surprise that user frustration tops the list of reasons that reCAPTCHA isn’t a great option.

In fact, a study by Stanford showed that humans need an average of ten seconds to solve Google reCAPTCHAs and up to 30 seconds for audio. This study showed that users abandon the page 29% of the time without even trying to solve it. Imagine losing a sale because your customer couldn’t pass the test!

2. Low effectiveness against advanced bots and CAPTCHA farms

While effective when it was first released, AI bots can now bypass reCAPTCHA with 99.8% accuracy, according to the Merchant Risk Council.

Where bots aren’t effective, there are even entire “CAPTCHA farms” that use human labor to bypass CAPTCHAs at astonishing rates.

Either way, you’ll likely be bogged down with tons of annoying, dangerous spam — even with reCAPTCHA.

3. A negative impact on site performance and load times

On the internet, every second counts. Visitors won’t wait more than a couple of seconds for your site to load before moving on.

That’s why site owners put so much effort into optimizing images, finding a high-performing host, installing the right speed plugins, and more.

Unfortunately, using reCAPTCHA can undo a lot of that hard work. PagePipe’s testing found that reCAPTCHA adds a full half‑second lag to a site’s load time, costing you visitors and likely customers. After all, 53% of mobile users abandon sites that take over three seconds to load.

Plus, this likely has a serious (negative) impact on Core Web Vitals. This can drop your rankings so fewer visitors find your slow‑loading site to begin with.

4. False positives galore

When reCAPTCHA flags a submission as a false positive, you’re inadvertently telling your visitors that they aren’t even human.

For example, some reCAPTCHAs flag super fast form submissions under the assumption that, when someone fills out a form too quickly, it must be a bot. But there are some people who are simply fast typers — they could be blocked from your site because of their typing prowess!

The inconvenience and potential lost sales that result from false positives simply aren’t worth the risk.

Akismet is your superior spam protection solution

With the drawbacks of reCAPTCHA well understood, let’s now think about a scenario where you don’t have to worry about losing clients or driving away new subscribers by confronting them with accusations of being bots.

The solution does exist, and it’s called Akismet.

Akismet is an anti-spam tool that works behind the scenes on nearly any type of site (WordPress, Drupal, etc.) to detect and block spam in real time.

Its advanced AI algorithm is constantly learning from the network of over 100 million protected sites to maintain an incredible 99.999% accuracy rate.

It doesn’t slow down your site, doesn’t challenge your visitors with annoying tests (it’s in the background, remember?), and can be customized for your individual site with the opportunity for you to manually review submissions and provide feedback.

To date, it’s blocked over 550 billion spam messages, with 76 million pieces of additional spam annihilated each day. Let’s look at how Akismet accomplishes this:

Next-generation AI and machine learning technology

Akismet’s AI uses the content within a form submission to identify automated spam attempts and bots. In fact, their advanced machine learning technology analyzes real spam data from more than 100 million users and is always improving.

Real-time analysis of user submissions

Akismet analyzes form submissions in real time, making split-second decisions about whether a comment or form entry is legitimate or spam. This keeps your site free of spam without any work required on your end.

99.99% spam detection accuracy

Akismet has a 99% spam detection accuracy rate with the track record to back up the claim. Notably, Kit switched to Akismet and saved 20 hours per customer every month without losing any leads. That kind of performance shows how effective spam protection doesn’t have to come at the cost of user experience.

The largest spam database in the world

Akismet is powered by the largest spam database on the internet. Every time it catches a new spam pattern, it feeds that data back into its systems, improving accuracy across all the sites it protects.

Core advantages of Akismet over reCAPTCHA

Now that you’ve seen how Akismet works, let’s zoom in on the key differences between it and reCAPTCHA.

1. Content‑based analysis, which targets spam (instead of users)

Akismet analyzes content directly rather than relying on click-based tests or suspicious IP lists. It looks at the substance of the message and compares it against patterns of known spam behavior, which makes it far more effective at catching the source.

This also means that it doesn’t get in the way of real users because it’s not constantly passing judgment on their behavior (which slows down sites) or asking them to complete tests.

2. Zero friction for site visitors

Friction slows down conversions and that’s precisely what reCAPTCHA causes. It introduces friction and interrupts your visitors with tedious tasks before they can even submit a form. If they get it wrong once, many won’t bother trying again.

Akismet removes that friction. It doesn’t bother users with puzzles, challenges, or visual tests. It runs quietly in the background, allowing visitors to stay focused and engaged without even noticing it.

3. Ongoing adaptation to new spam patterns

One of the most impressive benefits of Akismet often goes unnoticed, and that’s its ability to adapt to new spam methods and bots in real time. Its machine learning engine takes notes from every spam attempt it blocks — across all the websites it protects.

That means it’s not just reacting to spam. It’s predicting and adapting in real time, keeping your forms clean no matter how spam trends shift.

4. Zero impact on performance and site speed

Unlike reCAPTCHA, which can add lag to your forms and frustrate visitors with slow load times, Akismet promises zero impact on performance. Since it uses the cloud to store data, Akismet won’t affect your site speed, bounce rates, or conversion rates. Compare that to the half‑second load‑time drag reCAPTCHA brings to the table and the choice becomes clear.

Yes, Akismet is the perfect alternative to CAPTCHA technology — it quietly filters out spam in the background without adding friction for real users.

reCAPTCHA not stopping spam? Switch to Akismet in minutes

Why settle for a tool that slows down your site, frustrates visitors, and still lets spam slip through? Thankfully, with Akismet, you don’t have to.

Getting started only takes a few minutes. Simply:

1. Remove the CAPTCHAs that turn visitors away.
2. Activate Akismet on your WordPress site.
3. Let Akismet handle the spam while you focus on growing your site and improving conversions.

Ready to stop making your visitors prove they’re human? Add Akismet to your site and see how convenient set‑it‑and‑forget‑it spam protection can be.

Hosted by Birgit Pauli-Haack, with special guest Anne McCarthy, this episode dives into recent happenings in the WordPress ecosystem, including updates from WordCamp Europe, the launch of the new WordPress AI Team, the Pride Photo Drive initiative, and the latest Gutenberg releases (20.9 and 21.0).

WordCamp Europe Recap

The community celebrated new milestones, including all workshops being recorded and promptly published to WordPress TV, making it easier for everyone to catch up. Notable sessions covered digital freedom, block development, and innovative ways to extend WordPress without custom blocks. There was also a special mention of the WordPress Campus Connect pilot at the University of Pisa, enabling students to earn credits through WordPress contributions.

WordPress AI Team Launch

WordPress has officially formed a core AI Team, supported by both Automattic and Google contributors, focusing on foundational tools and integrations to bring AI capabilities to the platform. The team is working on projects like the AI Services plugin, the Model Context Protocol (MCP), and the WP Feature API, each designed to provide standardized and extensible AI solutions for the WordPress ecosystem.

Pride Photo Drive

Anne McCarthy introduced the Pride Photo Drive: an open photo submission event to boost LGBTQ+ representation in the WordPress Photo Directory. The initiative encourages everyone (not just the LGBTQ+ community) to contribute, with fun incentives and cash prizes, emphasizing the importance of diverse, high-quality imagery for web creators.

Gutenberg 20.9 & 21.0 Releases

The latest Gutenberg plugin releases bring a host of improvements and enhancements:

• A shift towards more modern and maintainable codebase (SASS modules),
• Usability changes to block settings and tool panels,
• Continued iteration on “content-only” editing for simpler, safer user experiences,
• Accessibility improvements and bug fixes suggested by new and long-time contributors,
• Ongoing expansion of the Interactivity API for richer client-side experiences.

Community & Contribution

Anne and Birgit emphasize the power of direct community feedback—how user suggestions shape features and workflows. There’s an open call for more engagement, hallway hangouts, and broad collaboration beyond just in-person events.

This episode is packed with optimism and opportunities for WordPress users and contributors of all backgrounds to get involved—whether that’s through new tech like AI, creative community projects, or by shaping the future of Gutenberg.

Show Notes / Transcript

• Editor: Sandy Reed
• Logo: Mark Uraine
• Production: Birgit Pauli-Haack

Show Notes

Special Guest: Anne McCarthy

• WordPress profile
• LinkedIn
• Personal Blog: Nomad.blog
• Gutenberg Changelog #111 – Gutenberg 19.6 and 19.7, Developer Hours, Playground, and Collaborative Editing
• Gutenberg Changelog #87 – Patterns, Gutenberg 16.3 and WordPress 6.3.

Celebrating Pride Month

• Share your Pride Photo Drive is back for 2025
• WordPress photo directory ShareYourPride 2024

WordPress AI Team

• Announcing the Formation of the WordPress AI Team
• Welcome to the Core AI Team Blog
• Introducing the AI Team – Hallway Hangout Recap
• AI Services
• MCP for WordPress
• Enabling AI-Powered WordPress Development with WP-CLI and the Model Context Protocol (MCP)
• WP Feature API
• The WordPress AI fightback begins!

WordCamp Europe Recordings

• During Fire side Chat with Mary Hubbard and Matt Mullenweg
• WordPress without Borders – The Fight for Digital Freedom
• The Block Developer Cookbook: WCEU 2025 Edition
• WordPress Gems around the Interactivity API.
• Why Block Themes Make WooCommerce Stores Better
• Do you really need a custom block
• All recordings from WordCamp Europe on WordPressTV

Gutenberg Releases

• What’s New for Developers (June 2025)
• What’s new in Gutenberg 20.8 and 20.9?
• What’s new in Gutenberg 21.0?
• Interactivity API: Backport of WooCommerce’s Interactivity API improvements #70372
  

Stay in Touch

Transcript

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our 118th episode of the Gutenberg Changelog podcast. In today’s episode, we will talk about WordCamp Europe and the WordPress new AI team, and Pride Photo Drive and the Gutenberg 20.9 and 21.0 releases. I’m your host, Birgit Pauli-Haack, curator at the Gutenberg Times, a developer advocate at Automattic, and core contributor to the WordPress open source project. With me today, relatively fresh back from the sabbatical, is Anne McCarthy. Thank you, Anne. Welcome back and I’m thrilled you’re on the show. How are you today?

Anne McCarthy: Thank you for having me. It is incredible to be back from sabbatical and also to be back to contributing with sponsorship, which is amazing. I was trying to do it coming back without it and to have to have that change so quickly. Coming back from sabbatical has been so energizing combined with Pride Month, so I can’t complain. I’m just excited to get into stuff and excited to be back in this space talking about this important work.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Wonderful. Yeah, no, we’re all back contributing. It will be. We still have to kind of figure that out. I know that every team is kind of trying to get unplugged from what they were doing as part so they can contribute back. So the last time you were on the show, it was in November last year. Episode 111. So, so much has changed for the project and for you. What are you now working on at Automattic and respectively for WordPress? Yeah.

Anne McCarthy: So my job title has shifted a bit as well, to align with some of the changes that have happened. So we. I am now an architecture wrangler is the title I’m rolling with right now. And essentially the core of my job is the same. I’m looking across Automattic the community to find shared patterns, to accelerate work, to do work and to connect work. And so trying to make sure we’re moving in the same direction in the project. So working on things like roadmaps, breaking down work, helping for the future, teams get into contributing and figuring out important projects they can work on and providing support there, as well as collecting user feedback across different places and how it impacts things. So if we hear something, for example, from like an enterprise client, I recently did this. A couple weeks ago, there was a bug that came out from an enterprise client. I said, hey, who else has dealt with this? Aaron Jordan used to in publishing. What do you think? Hey, can we get someone to work on this? What are you all seeing? What feedback are you seeing? Here’s the feedback I’m seeing. So I’m still doing the same kind of work. Cool thing is now instead of working with about 100 engineers, I’m working with about 300, about 50 different teams. So internally there’s a lot more spread. But I’m really excited because it can really help influence and move faster on some of the stuff we do in the core project. So instead of things being a bit divorced and separated, especially from customer feedback and customer needs, we can now, you know, using Automattic spread of customers, use that to bring things that are foundational for all WordPress, because we cover so many different use cases between themes and plugins and hosting and enterprise and bloggers and all sorts of stuff. So I’m really excited to see increased collaboration there, including with the broader Five for the future groups, and encourage everyone to get involved, to share that feedback and join in the fun.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: That’s wonderful. Yeah, it sounds exciting. It also sounds like a lot of work, but, yeah.

Anne McCarthy: It’S good work. It’s good work because you get to kind of see things at the root, which is fine.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Yeah, yeah. And you can also kind of see it happening when it’s fixed or something like that, or come together in a. In a very creative way. Yeah.

Announcements

So you also are the instigator of the Pride Photo Drive. Tell us about it.

Pride Photo Drive

Anne McCarthy: Yeah, so it’s inspired by what I’ve seen with other photo directories. And something that I think is really near and dear to me is representation really matters. And so if you can find things that actually resonate, whether with your culture, part of your identity, or where you live, it makes it easier when you’re creating websites. Like, websites are inherently quite visual. And so having really good photos that represent queer people is really awesome. And so, of course, you can’t have faces in this. But the whole point of the photo drive is to inspire some folks to contribute photos, increase representation in the photo directory, and honestly, just have some fun. Like, I think there is something fun about going out and having a reason to take a photo that I think, at least I enjoy someone who takes a lot of photos. There are some cash prizes for winners, both in terms of most submitted photos, and we’ll have some folks select the top photos. But honestly, like, you don’t need to be a part of the LGBTQ community to participate. It’s for everyone. And it’s just mainly to ensure when folks go and look for something that represents them, there’s a higher chance of finding high quality work for that. So I hope to see more kind of initiatives like that. And so if anyone wants to talk about doing more drives, I’m happy to share what I’ve done. It’s been very. It’s been pretty simple. So more people can do this for sure.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Yeah. And we have a link to the call for photos on the LGBTDPress.com and there are also the rules and how you actually can upload it to WordPress photo directory. And I’m really excited about that. I, yeah. Was last year, not this year I missed it, but last year was at the Christopher Street Day here in Munich and that was kind of. Wow. I didn’t realize how big that was. Yeah. And it was about 600,000 people on the road and 60,000 people in the parade and yeah, totally took over the. The downtown. But I probably have a few pictures made there that I can upload there. Yeah. So yeah, but it was a good point for you to say no photos or no faces or people out there. People, yes, but no faces. Yeah. So that’s cool. Yeah. So, yeah.

WordPress New AI Team

And the second piece of announcement that we have is that WordPress has now an AI team. AI stands for artificial intelligence. There are two, three links actually that I can share with you. One is the welcome to the core AI team blog post, then the announcement and the hallway hangout and recap for the first hangout.

So the mission I understood it is to build foundational building blocks for AI integration in WordPress and the timing is ideal because of the rapid evolution of AI. Some people at WordCamp EU said, okay, are we not a little bit late or something like that? No, you can’t. Yeah, it’s just the right time because now the emerging standards are there, and WordPress could be an ideal platform for AI driven web apps. There are immediate plans to integrate LMMs directly into WordPress, but there are canonical plugins that are on the roadmap and packages that are abstracting the AI provider like AI Services or. And the core integration would be more like. Yeah, a little. A second step. And we know that everything is kind of in place. It has the full support from WordPress leadership, including Matt and Mary. And because they recognize the importance of the open web and ensure it’s central in the evolving landscape.

So what are the current initiatives? One is the AI services plugin from Felix Arntz. He’s on the team. But the team are right now James LePage from Automattic, Felix Arntz from Google as well as Pascal Bichler from Google and then Jeff Paul from TenUp. And all four have already some experience with AI in the space. And so there are three plugins that are being worked on. One is the AI services plugin Felix already publish that, and I’ll share links in the show Notes so you can look it up. And it’s an abstraction layer for multiple AI providers to enable plugin authors to unify the API for AI interactions. So you need your OpenAI API key or your CLAUDE API key or whatever you use, but then it helps you to include those services into whatever you want to do on the website. The other, the second one is the called MCP WP. MCP means Model Context Protocol. Those are servers to enable WordPress advanced AI integration with command line or plugins. So plugins say, okay, my plugin can do that with WordPress and you register those services and the AI can discover those on the site. I know that Jonathan Brassinger as well as Ryan Welcher have done some live streams on that and I can share some of that, the latest ones for on the show notes with the videos, so you can kind of follow along with that.

And the last plugin is the WP feature API. That’s a plugin coming from Automattic, and it structures WordPress features for better AI integration. It’s kind of pretty much it’s a standardized way to register resources for AI. That’s pretty much what I can say there. It exposes the server and client side functionality in WordPress so LMMs can tap into it if they have the right credentials. Yes. So that’s kind of what I know about it. I read quite a bit about AI agents and MCP and it’s all still a little murky, but I think that’s with any of the new services and new technologies that are kind of coming out that we all need to figure out the smallest use case to figure it all out. Jamie Marsland has interviewed James LePage about the new AI team. And it’s a video, it’s called Very Clicky. It’s called WordPress AI fights back, fight Back Begins. So but it’s really insightful and Jamie asked some great questions in it. Any thoughts from you?

Anne McCarthy: Yeah, that was such a good rundown. One of the big questions I’ve heard from people and I’ve been getting pings about is like, how do I join? How do I join? The team is creating a handbook at its early stages. You can join the core AI Slack channel. That’s the best place they’re holding meetings and they’re pulling together that context. So please get involved. The idea is to create a shared group of tooling that then plugin authors can reuse. It’s meant to provide a shared base. So for the MCP thing, the way I’ve been kind of thinking of it is like rather than rewriting every AI integration from scratch, you can reuse this to Talk, to have WordPress talk to LLMs. So like those sorts of things are kind of the current focus to provide tooling for people who want to use AI with WordPress, including with plugin authors and stuff like that. So that’s the current perspective. And if that appeals to you, you have ideas there, you have personal experience. Trying to make that work like that definitely is a great place to give feedback. And these are the early stages. So it’s a great time to get involved. But yeah, that to me is the biggest takeaway to do a great job covering everything. And I love that each team member has direct experience building stuff in line with that mission and value. I’m really excited about the canonical plugins and what we can do and packages that we can do to move this work forward and iterate following a similar model as the performance team.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Yeah, Fabian Kagy and I were on a podcast with Nathan Wrigley on the WP Builds podcast and we talked a little bit. We talked about a lot of things, but we also talked a little bit about the 10up plugin classify, especially because the latest release actually included an open source way to have LMMs on your server. So every time you ask the AI something, it doesn’t go out to a central server, it stays on your site.

Well, you need of course a server with a little bit more oomph. But yeah, for those that want to use it for their internal communications or documentation, it’s definitely a great way to do this. And that’s why TenUp is also part of the team, and I share that also in the Show Notes, of course, both the podcast and the plugin.

So other news the what’s New for developer edition June 2025 is available now. Justin Tadlock collected lots of information speaking about being back to contributing, lots of information relevant to plugin authors, theme builders and agency freelancers, the freelance developers for Core, Gutenberg and Playground. And it’s pretty much the best post to catch up on the last two months of updates on WordPress. So check it out with the link on the show notes or you go to developer.WordPress.org news or blog. Either way, Both of them get you to the developer blog.

Community Contributions – WordCamp Europe

All right, so now that brings us to WordCamp Europe, first time. In contrast to previous WordCamps, all workshops have been recorded and all recordings have been already submitted to WordPress TV. That I only saw. That’s so cool. I only saw this on smaller WordCamps like in Karlsruhe or in Leipzig where there’s only one track or one or two tracks in only one day. But having two days with three tracks, everything already on WordPress TV, that’s a phenomenal achievement.

So I have a few favorites I want to kind of suggest to you. One is of course, the fireside chat with Mary Hubbard and Matt Mullerweg. They discussed, among other things, a lot of other things, but the. The WordPress Campus Connect project that’s being rolled out as the official program from the WordPress Foundation. And also Mary announced a pilot project with the University of Pisa in Italy where 5,000 students have 150 mandatory contribution hours and those will equate to six credits for college. So that’s going to be a phenomenal place.

Anne McCarthy: I’m so excited for that.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Yeah, yeah. Getting the young folks involved in WordPress evolved in open source and also bringing them together with mentors in the technical fields. Yeah. So I’m really excited about that. It’s also more focused on the translations because that’s the humanities department there. But yeah, yeah, everything helps. Anything helps. Yeah.

Anne McCarthy: So I got my start in college so I would have loved. This would have been amazing. I was working on a WordPress multi site in college and if I could have had this as a chance to get to know the WordPress community rather than learning about it four years after. I think it would have been amazing to have this kind of opportunity and access and experience of open source early on. So I’m very, I agree with you. I’m very excited about that program.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Yeah, yeah. I also had about. Took me about four years to kind of get into the community here. So yeah, it’s always something, something. Another great talk was by Noel Tock. The title was WordPress Without Borders, the Fight for Digital Freedom. And he not only shared his about his own charity work in the Ukraine, about rescuing dogs and bringing them back to their owners, but also about other charities who helped with finding kids, providing a roof over the head for people that were bombed out and other hardships. And he made us realize the True Impact of WordPress because all the agencies use WordPress, not all the agencies, but over 50% of them use WordPress for the website to fundraise and to connect with the communities.

So sorry my voice kind of gave out but that has partly to do with something like that. But I also got a gift from WordCamp Europe at home to suffer. There’s another cold that I’m fighting. That’s why I’m also sound so horsy. So sorry for that. Check it out. The block related talks were Ryan Welch’s workshop for the Block Development Cookbook and Milana Cap’s workshop around the Interactivity API. And that last one is really I didn’t see the first one, but the last one I saw and I learned more about the source and the namespace and how you can interact from one block to the next and exchange data. So that’s a really eye opener. Ellen Bauer talked about how block themes speed up stores and sites in WooCommerce and Robert O’ Rourke asks and provides answers to do you really need a custom block? And he walks you through how you can extend the block editor own blocks without writing your own custom blocks. But really, all the many great talks about the WordCamp Europe are online and there are many for content creators, developers, entrepreneurs, educators, contributors as well. So check out the WordPress TV space with all the recordings.

What’s Released – Gutenberg 20.9

And that brings us to Gutenberg releases. We start out with Gutenberg 20.9. So 20.9 was released on May 28th. We were a little late, but I was traveling and so do you want to start us off?

Enhancements

Anne McCarthy: Yeah, I totally can. In terms of enhancements, the base styles have been updated to a modern Saas module system, and this was basically an obstacle to the Gutenberg project overall, migrating to the dart SaaS format in the future. So I love this kind of proactive unblocking that’s happening, kind of moving away from some of the legacy import statements. Great work by Aki per usual, but one of those just kind of foundational pieces to work on and make sure we have up to date just to unblock future things.

This one, I actually was involved in this one previously, but a revert was done for how the edit site link works. When you’re viewing your site, you’re using a block theme and you see edit site. There’s been a debate; does it open the current template you’re looking at or does it open just the site editor and the homepage? And this has gone back and forth since the dawn of time. So this is a revert that previously had it update. Basically whenever you hit edit site, it would bring you just to the general homepage of your site editor. Now it brings you to the current template. We got a bunch of feedback and this is where I love the WordPress project and love the feedback that we get straight from folks. Whenever that was implemented in 6.8, people came back and said, hang on, what’s going on? This is different. This isn’t interrupting my workflow. This now takes three clicks for me to get to the current template I was looking at rather than bringing me there. I see the argument on both sides. There’s definitely. I think Rich shared a great video of himself with. If you set a homepage or set a page as your homepage, what the experience of that looks like and how it can be confusing for end users, I have a feeling this is something that will continue to be a conversation and something that hopefully in the overarching issue there was a discussion around having more granularity. So maybe edit site has a little drop down menu, kind of like an ad post thing where you can see it says like edit template, edit homepage, edit, whatever. Like having edit styles, like having something with more granularity. We’ll see where that ends up. But this is. As of now, this experience has changed. Thanks to feedback. Do you want to jump into…

Birgit Pauli-Haack: The only thing that I wanted to say about that was that there are actually at least one plugin out there who actually tried to implement a dropdown with and kind of. So you can check it out. I’m going to do some research and share it in the show notes. Yeah, so and with the block library we had a few changes that I wanted to talk about. One is that the search settings. So for the search block there were a lot of settings in the toolbar, and it seems that most end users are kind of now trained to open up the sidebar for the settings. So developers have now moved some of the settings into the inspector to the right hand side in the sidebar so they’re all together. I think that’s just for. It’s also for consistency of the interface. So I like that. And then there were. For the first and the pre-formatted blocks, there were transformers missing and they were added. So people do not have to copy paste things and not delete a block and then add another block and copy paste the content and they just can transform them from paragraph to verse and back and forth. Yeah. And now Anne, we’re coming to a topic that you know a lot about. One is developers are enhancing content only editing experience. So what does that mean?

Anne McCarthy: Yeah, this is. The names on this are rough. So right now there’s this idea of write mode. We need a new name because basically what it does and this is something to zoom back out. Whenever I ran the outreach program, one of the things we repeatedly found is that dropping people straight into the site editor is pretty overwhelming. There’s a lot of options open, there’s a lot of tools open and it’s like, how do we add a simplified layer on top? That’s what write mode is intending to do.

So you can imagine a way to toggle between a simplified site editing version and then like boom, all the tools you want and having a way to switch in between those modes as you you’d like. The underpinning technology used for that is content only. And what that does is it basically allows you to only edit the content. So it’s a lot of fancy names. But this is. I’m trying to like set the scene. And so there are some updates I think across both releases we’re covering that improves different blocks and how they work with this option because out of the box, not every block works with it and something has to be done manually to basically add support for it. Now there’s questions around specific blocks, like how much should be exposed, what should it look like, what should the experience be? I actually did some user testing at work campus last year with random people and recorded them going through this. And so there’s a lot to be figured out there. At the core it’s making way and taking steps towards a simplified site editing experience that folks can toggle on. You can imagine the first time in the site editor, maybe you have that experience and then if you run into something where you want to do more, you can have a quick way to just switch into like show me all the tools. Kind of like the idea of when you’re editing a presentation and like a slide slides for something and you want to go into the overall view of everything, you can do that. Otherwise you can just add text, move things around and have some like simplified experience. So that’s the context for that. This covers the details block, the code block, the read more block, the post block. There’s a lot of blocks that were changed for this and we’ll continue to see this. I think over the future releases we’ll see iteration on this area. So stay tuned.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Awesome, awesome.

Anne McCarthy: Does that help explain it?

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Definitely helped me, yeah. And it also helped me to understand why there all of a sudden were different things in the sidebar. Because the different icons on there, they’re just identifying the places where you can edit the content but not, you’re not Having anything else in there. There are no display options or settings or something like that. So now I understand that. I also understand why plugin authors or agency for instance, are quite excited about that because they can curate the interface for their clients and kind of keep them out of the design and out of the have some more guardrails for them. And I think that’s because you can implement that through a plugin as well. So yeah, you can tap into the block JSON and say put this into content only mode because it’s not a default thing. So yeah, I like it.

The two components had some changes. One is that the color. The color picker now has visual cues when you copy value. That’s definitely great. The interaction there. So you don’t have to wonder, did I copy it or did I not copy it? And then the snack bar, that’s the term that developers use for the notifications that are on bottom on your screen that come up when you do something. So if you have to, if you save your post, you get the little note. Click here to view it. And now this is also now available to open the links in new tabs, especially when you are a plugin author for your whatever plugin you do. You can also use the snack arx component. And then now you have the options to open links in a new tab, which is controversial, but yeah, just having the option in the components should be fine. It’s controversial because you take over the freedom of the user to decide if they want it into a new tab or new window or just right there because all of a sudden they don’t have the choice anymore.

Anne McCarthy: I think that I’m curious how that bland with. With folks. Yeah, that one I was surprised to see a bit.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: But yeah, yeah, I think that was it for Gutenberg 20.9.

Gutenberg 21.0

Gutenberg 21 was just released this week. And do you want to take that next step there?

Enhancements

Anne McCarthy: Yeah, let’s dive into it. One of the main enhancements that I love to see is a refactor, the settings panel to use Tools panel. So across a bunch of different blocks to zoom back out, there’s different ways in which we display settings. And that can cause those little inconsistencies really add up, especially when you’re looking, you’re trying to do something in one block and you do something in a different one and it looks slightly different or appears slightly differently. So the more we can have really smart, intuitive defaults where for any block, whenever you want to change something in one block, it’s the same in another the better and especially just experience wise and using the latest components. It’s a really important thing to continue to iterate on. And so across a number of different blocks the Tools panel was implemented and there’s a lot of benefits. I don’t know if you want to talk about the benefits of it just because it’d be good to hear your perspective on this too.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Yeah, I would because I was trying to figure out what is actually that the user gets out of it and. Or the developers that use the blocks or extend those blocks. You get more control for the display. It’s every time the same thing. That’s what you mentioned. But it’s also an easier mechanism for injecting additional settings into an existing group. I’m not quite sure if that’s exposed for the third party to. For the extensibility, but that will definitely enable it. And then there is a visual parity between the styles that are already in the Tools panel and those who don’t. Yeah. So it’s really. It’s all the comments block. It’s. There’s a tracking issue 67813 where you can kind of see all the progress on this project and also the list of the blocks that are handled with that. Yeah.

So another change is that the separator has now. Well, we talked about earlier. Well in the last episode about that. That the separator now has an additional. You can have now a div instead of an HR so you can style it more. And with this release that HTML element option is much more visible. It’s now kind of moved up in the advanced section and it’s not hidden anymore. So you can just toggle that and can change the options there. I really like that there was another block about that. I think the same thing happens with a button block. They also move the HTML element section up so you can change through between the element of a button or the element of a link, an anchor. So that’s why I’m kind of hesitating about moving forward there. In the video Block has now an additional option to set a track as default and the track is actually the caption track. So you can select the default language there. And that’s really helpful for anybody who has videos on the website and is not an English speaker or doesn’t have the audience of any English speaker. So they could set the default but they had to really specifically do it. And if there’s not one uploaded, it was a little janky, so buggy for things. So I think that was it on the enhancements.

Bug Fixes

Anne McCarthy: Yeah. Now we can jump into bug fixes if you want to. I can start with that.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Yeah, yeah.

Anne McCarthy: One of the first bug fixes which I do want to call out is from, I’m pretty sure a new contributor. Yep, first-time contributor, which is always really cool to see. Super awesome. McCool I think is the name. Apologies if I’m mispronouncing that, but this work basically fixed an issue where the pull quotes site element couldn’t be styled or overridden by theme JSON due to basically conflicting CSS specificity. And so this is a nice win for blocking developers because they can now customize citation styles as they’d like. And it was some nice collaboration with Aki again to basically resolve this by reducing the specificity of the class selector so that theme JSON styles can actually work. I love when that actually works out. So yeah, keep the feedback coming, especially block theme authors around limitations you run into like this. It’s always really helpful to start to continue to fix these sorts of things. So I was excited to see that bug fix there.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Definitely. It’s also, if you want to read up about it and see how such a collaboration between veteran contributors and new contributors actually happens. It’s a great example where a lot of people have some opinions, but then you move forward and you get a nice PR merged that helps a lot of people. So it’s definitely a great way to contribute. I don’t think I see any other bug fixes that I would want to talk about.

Accessibility

So there’s one on the component that’s more on accessibility thing, that the toolbar now adjusts the colors for dark mode support. And that’s really cool because now you can also have the toolbar on the block in dark mode. For a lot of people that are around in dark mode, it’s really cool.

Documentation

And then there is one documentation issue I need to look at that, but it is that the block schema now also has a roll field and the role field is important for.

Anne McCarthy: It looks like it was added before in 6.7. Like the roll field was stabilized but it wasn’t exposed in the schema. Which, you know, might be good to follow up on.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Yeah, yeah, it happens with 6.7 it was. Yeah. And that’s for the content mode.

Anne McCarthy: Yeah, that’s right.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Yeah. So that’s it. I think we’re through that. We have Gutenberg 20.9 and 21 and we are at the last bit of our show.

What’s in Active Development or Released

And that is what’s in active development or discussed. And with a few more talks on flagship WordCamps, the interactivity becomes more and more popular, and the team worked in the last few months with the WordPress team together to implement additional features, and those are now with the start of contributing again backported to the Gutenberg repo. There are many issues and you can follow along on the tracking issue. Backport WooCommerce Interactivity API improvements. That’s tracking issue 70372. It’s like a phone number. Yeah, there are actually quite a few issues in there. I’m really excited about that because there is a new feature that’s the interactivity router that lets you organize your pages better or the links between blocks. And also what was the other one?

Anne McCarthy: I know there’s some client side navigation work that’s been done too, which I’m really excited about. I’ve been using that in the Block Museum for a while now and it just makes it super quick to switch between pages and to have it be pulled in and hopefully stabilize soon. It’d be really, really neat to have as an option. I have loved having it on the Block Museum.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: So yeah, yeah, that was also something, that was an experiment I think in Gutenberg for the, for the query block. Yeah, yes, yes. So, okay, so now we’re kind of moving forward on that and I’m quite excited about that, and I hope you dear listeners are too. All right, is there anything else that you wanted to talk about on the show?

Anne McCarthy: But nothing on my mind. I mean I would love this is a selfish ask, but as I get back into the project, mainly coming back from sabbatical, I would love to know what sort of hallway hangouts or conversations folks want to have. I’m really keen on making sure we continue to have a lot of those community wide conversations, not just at WordCamps because not everyone can join those. And like that’s some inspiration I took from the COVID times is to continue the conversation. So if folks have ideas or suggestions, I’m Nzazu and WordPress at org Slack, my site Snowmad Blog, you can contact me there. I’m not on X or any of the social media so you cannot find me. But yeah, I, I just am. I’m very curious to see what’s on people’s minds, what feels like hot topics to discuss and what feels important to hear more about and how we can facilitate sharing that knowledge and inviting more folks into the work. That’s the only other thing I’d love to add.

Birgit Pauli-Haack: Awesome. Awesome. Yes. And as always, the show notes will be published on GutenbergTimes.com/podcast this is episode 118. And if you have questions or suggestions or news you want us to include, send them to [email protected] that’s [email protected] and this is the end of this show.

Thank you all for listening, and thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy, busy schedule to be on the show with me. And thank you all for listening. And until the next time, bye.

Anne McCarthy: Bye.

Hi there,

WordCamp Europe is over. I had a blast and also caught a bug.

The next flagship WordCamp is just around the corner: WordCamp US will take place August 26 – 29 with Contributor Day, Showcase Day and a two-day conference. The call for speakers is open, notice the deadline June 20 for your submission. Also open are the call for sponsors and for volunteers.

I am so excited as I will finally connect with my WordPress friends from the US again. It took me three years to get back to WordCamp US after our move to Germany.

With Automattic getting back to contributions, the team caught up on Gutenberg release posts and there is a new Gutenberg version available. I also have a few notes and links collected about the new AI team and their work.

I hope to see you at WordCamp US, too

Yours,
Birgit

Developing Gutenberg and WordPress

In the latest edition of What’s New for Developers (June 2025), Justin Tadlock collected lots of information relevant for plugin authors, themes builders and agency freelance developers from Core, Gutenberg, and Playground. It’s the best post to catch up on the last to month of updates in WordPress.

Carlos Bravo release Gutenberg 21.0. In his release post What’s new in Gutenberg 21.0? he highlighted.

• The HTML Element is now selectable on Button and Separator blocks.
• Extensive ToolsPanel Refactoring
• Accessibility and usability

Jessica Lyschik used the time during Contributor Day at WordCamp Europe to get a head start on catching up with the release posts for earlier Gutenberg releases.

• What’s new in Gutenberg 20.4 and 20.5?
• What’s new in Gutenberg 20.6 and 20.7?
• What’s new in Gutenberg 20.8 and 20.9?

The latest episode Gutenberg Changelog 118 – WordCamp Europe, WordPress New AI Team, the Pride Photo Drive, Gutenberg 20.9 and 21.0 Anne McCarthy is back from sabbatical and we talked about WordCamp Europe, the new WordPress AI team, the Pride Photo Drive, and Gutenberg 20.9 and 21.0 .

If you are listing via Spotify, please leave a comment. If you listen via other podcast apps, please leave a review. It’ll help with the distribution.

New WordPress AI Team

Just ahead of WordCamp Europe, Mary Hubbard announce the new AI team, identifying James LePage and Felix Arnzt as team reps. James LePage followed up with his post Welcome to the Core AI Team Blog.

The community came together for the Introducing the AI Team Hallway Hangout and Anne McCarthy published the recap and the recording.

What I learned:

• The AI Team is laying the groundwork to bring AI into WordPress, and the timing couldn’t be better. With AI moving at lightning speed, it’s important for WordPress to stay in the mix.
• For now, the AI Team isn’t adding big AI tools directly into WordPress. Instead, they’re working on simple plugins that help connect WordPress to different AI services. Maybe someday AI will be built right into the core, but that’s not on the table yet.
• WordPress leaders are fully behind the AI Team, recognizing that AI is the future and wanting to keep WordPress front and center as things evolve.

The current initiatives / plugins have been mentioned in early editions of the newsletter:

• AI Services Plugin by Felix Arnzt provides an abstraction layer for multiple AI providers, enabling plugin authors to use a unified API for AI interactions.
• MCP for WordPress plugin by Pascal Birchler implements Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers in WordPress, enabling advanced AI integrations via command-line or plugins. You can learn more about reading Pascal Bichler’s post Enabling AI-Powered WordPress Development with WP-CLI and the Model Context Protocol (MCP)
• WP-Feature-API plugin by Automattic structures WordPress features for better AI interaction, offering a standardized way to register resources for AI use. It’s a system for exposing server and client-side functionality in WordPress for use in LLMs and agentic systems

The WordPress AI Team chats in the WPSlack #core-ai channel and holds meetings every other Thursday at 16:00 UTC. You can read the summary of this week’s meeting on the Make AI blog.

In his video The WordPress AI fightback begins! Jamie Marsland interviews James LePage about AI in WordPress and the new team.

WordCamp Europe

It was a fantastic WordCamp at a great venue. I enjoyed the many, many conversations with attendees, sponsors, contributors and fellow speakers. The organizing team has done a fabulous job, in all areas, and the volunteers were awesome. The speaker team was first-class in their support. As a first time WCEU speaker, I felt very well cared for. I loved the bright and brilliant designs at the venue as well as on the website and on screens.

The most astonishing work was done by the AV team, who uploaded all videos to WordPress TV by the end of the WordCamp. In contrast to previous WordCamps, all workshops were also recorded, and you can watch them at your own speed.

As always, I share my opinionated list of favorites:

During Fire side Chat with Mary Hubbard and Matt Mullenweg they discussed, among other things, the WordPress Campus Connect project that’s being rolled out as an official program. Hubbard also announced the start of a pilot project for student internships with the University of Pisa, encompassing 5000 students to contribute 150 hours and received six college credits.

Another great talk was by Noel Tock WordPress without Borders – The Fight for Digital Freedom. Tock not only shared from his charity work in Ukraine but also about other charities who help with finding kids, providing a roof over the head of people who lost their homes, and trying to alleviate other hardships. Tock made us realize the true impact of WordPress has to all the agencies who use it for their web site to fundraise and connect with communities. The pictures from Ukraine are heart-wrenching.

The Block related talks:

• Ryan Welcher and his block development cookbook workshop and
• Milana Cap conducting the workshop WordPress Gems around the Interactivity API.
• Ellen Bauer talked about how block themes speed up stores and sites and give back control for the layouts to the merchants
• Robert O’Rourke asked Do you really need a custom block.

If you are interested in working with Playground, two workshops might help you get started depending on your needs

• From Zero to Demo: Mastering WordPress Playground Blueprints with yours truly and
• Building Automated Tests with WordPress Playground with Berislav (Bero) Grgicak

This is only a small list, and there are many great talks about all WordPress topics, for content creators, developers, entrepreneurs, and educators. Check them out.

A few attendees published recap posts:

• WCEU 2025: A Community Celebration in the Swiss Sun by Brett McSherry
• WordCamp Europe 2025 | Recap of the event by Benjamin Zekavica
• WCEU 2025 : Test Team Contributor Day Recap by Krupa Nanda
• TechRadar: WordCamp Europe 2025 – here’s all the highlights from the event
• WordCamp Europe 2025 – A trip to a beautiful city by Bernhard Kau

Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners

Carlo Daniele, Kinsta, dug deeper in the term WordPress Hybrid Themes. He covered two approaches. The first is how hybrid themes bridge the gap between Classic and Block Themes by supporting modern block features. They maintain compatibility with traditional plugins and templates. The second highlights ways developers can enhance hybrid themes with global styles. They can use block patterns and template parts for flexible site building.

In her post, From Page Builders to Blocks, Johanne Courtright, founder of Groundworx, explains why it’s time to move from page builders to Gutenberg, the built-in block editor. She points out its built-in stability, better performance, and easier design control. Courtright tackles common worries, then suggests starting small—like switching your blog first, updating your theme, and helping users learn—showing that Gutenberg’s block system is the way forward for WordPress.

In here post Design Once, Build Everywhere:The Lego Principle for Page Builders, Tammie Lister reflects on the fragmented world of page builders, arguing for a “Lego principle” where design components are created once and used everywhere. She suggests that adopting shared foundations and modular systems—much like Lego’s approach—would unlock creativity, improve portability, and better meet modern demands. Ultimately, Lister envisions a future where page builders are collaborative, flexible, and empower users to build without barriers.

Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks

Fabian Kägy, director of Editorial Engineering, introduced Fueled’s open-source Figma to WordPress plugin, which exports design tokens from Figma directly into a WordPress theme.json file, reducing a 10–15 hour manual process to about an hour and enabling rapid, consistent theme development without extra frameworks or licenses

Jeremy Holcombe at Kinsta, also researched How to convert a Figma project to WordPress and walks you through three methods. He covers using the Figma plugin by Yotako for automation, manually rebuilding designs in WordPress for precision, and hiring professional services, highlighting the pros, cons, and best use cases for each approach..

Mike McAlister introduced the Ollie Theme Academy video course a free and in-depth video course teaching everything from the basics to advanced techniques of WordPress block theme development. The course covers full site editing, global styles, patterns, and aims to help anyone modernize their WordPress workflow for 2025 and beyond.

10 days later, McAlister followed up with the announcement of a Block Development course. This is a new resource to help developers master building custom WordPress blocks. It provides practical, hands-on video lessons focused on modern block development. This approach aims to make it easier for anyone to create powerful, custom blocks for their WordPress sites.

Bernhard Kau explored Implementing a custom block style variation using only JSON files in WordPress block themes. He explains how to make a perfectly round button by defining a new style in a JSON file. This approach bypasses the need for PHP or JavaScript. Despite some limitations, this approach allows for easy customization. There is incomplete support for certain properties. Nevertheless, it enables consistent design without writing traditional code.

Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor

Alfredo Navas, developer at WebDevStudios, explored the MCP server plugin. He shared his findings and highlighted how it enables external tools or AI agents to interact with WordPress. These interactions are useful for tasks like creating posts or debugging. He notes its usefulness for automating workflows, its extensibility, and that it’s still under active development.

Eric Karkovack explains how to add custom style variations to WordPress blocks using a custom plugin. He guides you through creating custom style variations for WordPress blocks. He details building a plugin, using the ‎`register_block_style()` function, and applying unique styles—like a “Unicorn” button—via PHP or JSON. This way you empower your users to personalize block designs and enhance site consistency.

I mentioned DeepWiki before, in WE #329, and now Jonathan Bossenger invites you in you YouTube video to learn more about DeepWiki | AI powered documentation you can talk to.

I asked DeepWiki the following questions, click on the links to get to the answers.

• What are the elements of the WordPress Design system
• How is the spacing fluid?

Questions? Suggestions? Ideas?
Don’t hesitate to send them via email or
send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph.

For questions to be answered on the Gutenberg Changelog,
send them to [email protected]

Let’s face it. Social media is starting to feel like a rigged game. Users are burnt out, brands are boxed in, and algorithms act more like black boxes than helpful curators.

Enter the promise of decentralized social networks: platforms that ditch the central command center and run on independently managed servers. They promise a fairer, freer internet – but pulling it off isn’t easy.

And the numbers tell an interesting story.

The Great Migration: What’s Really Driving Growth?

Bluesky has been absolutely exploding lately, adding millions of users in just the past few months. Meanwhile, Mastodon has been puttering along with steady but modest growth for years, never quite hitting that mainstream breakout moment.

But here’s the question: are people flocking to Bluesky because they genuinely want decentralization, or because they just want somewhere that ain’t X?

Most folks don’t wake up thinking “I need a decentralized social network.” They wake up frustrated that their posts aren’t reaching their followers, or worried their account might vanish overnight, or just plain tired of dealing with whatever chaos is happening on their current platform.

Bluesky offers an escape hatch that feels familiar. Mastodon? Well, that’s where you go when you really, truly care about the principles behind decentralization.

Is Bluesky Actually Decentralized?

Here’s where things get interesting. Bluesky runs on the AT Protocol, which is designed for decentralization. But right now? There’s essentially one big server doing all the heavy lifting.

It’s like having a decentralized highway system with only one on-ramp.

Bluesky promises you can eventually take your data and followers elsewhere if things go south. That’s a big improvement over traditional platforms. But as of today, “elsewhere” doesn’t really exist yet. You’re still trusting one company with your digital life – they just promise to be nicer about it.

That doesn’t make Bluesky worthless. The data portability and algorithmic choice features are genuinely useful. And the fact that you can use your own domain as your username? That’s actually pretty brilliant.

But calling it fully decentralized right now is like calling a blueprint a building.

How True Decentralization Works: The Fediverse

Real decentralization looks more like Mastodon and the fediverse – a sprawling network of independently run servers that all speak the same digital language thanks to open protocols.

It’s a bit like email. Your Gmail can talk to someone’s Outlook, Yahoo, or that one person still clinging to AOL, because they all follow the same basic rules.

In the fediverse, you don’t sign up with one big platform. You choose an instance to call home. Each comes with its own vibe, community guidelines, and moderation style. Some are havens for coders, others filled with artists, activists, or people very, very into vintage tractors.

This setup hands users real control over moderation and community culture. No black-box algorithm deciding who sees what. No getting locked into a single app. And if your current server starts feeling off? You can pack up your followers and posts and move to another instance.

The fediverse includes:

• Mastodon for microblogging (basically Twitter, but with more thoughtful conversations)
• Pixelfed for photo sharing (Instagram without the influencer economy)
• PeerTube for video hosting (YouTube minus the surveillance capitalism)

But here’s the catch. All this freedom comes with complexity that makes most people’s heads spin.

The Identity Problem Nobody Talks About

The biggest challenge with decentralized social media isn’t technical – it’s practical. How do you maintain a consistent identity when you’re scattered across multiple platforms, instances, and protocols?

That dream handle you grabbed on mastodon.social? Already taken on hachyderm.io. Now you’re stuck with @yourname2024 or something equally clunky. Your bio works perfectly on Mastodon’s 500-character limit but gets chopped off everywhere else. Profile links follow no consistent format.

The result? Your digital presence looks different everywhere, making it harder for people to find and recognize you across platforms.

This is where domain-based usernames start making sense. Whether it’s Bluesky’s @yourname.yourdomain.com handles or setting up your own domain for the fediverse, owning your name means owning your identity.

And that’s not just about vanity – it’s about being findable when you inevitably need to move platforms again.

Making Yourself Findable in a Fragmented World

Here’s something that might sound contradictory: one way to navigate decentralized social media is through a centralized identity service.

I know, I know. Using Gravatar to manage your presence across decentralized platforms sounds backwards. Some folks specifically chose Mastodon to escape centralized identity systems. That tension is real, and worth acknowledging.

But here’s the thing – when you’re bouncing between Mastodon, Bluesky, PeerTube, and whatever comes next, consistency becomes valuable. Not for data collection or advertising, but for basic human recognition.

Unlike your all-in-one identity on places like Facebook or Instagram, the decentralized world hands you a juggling act. Different apps, different instances, different handles. Not ideal.

When someone sees @yourname.link posting on Bluesky, then spots the same name and face commenting on a GitHub issue or WordPress blog, that consistency builds trust and recognition. It’s the difference between being a random username and being a recognizable person.

Gravatar handles this by creating a portable identity hub that follows you around like a digital business card. Set it up once, and it appears automatically on thousands of sites whenever you use your email to register or comment.

You choose what to share. You update it when you want. No algorithm meddles with your identity, and your data stays yours.

For Bluesky specifically, Gravatar supports custom domain handles, so you can claim @yourname.bio without the technical hassle of setting up your own server.

The Real Value: Being Found When You Move

The benefit ain’t about convenience – it’s about portability. When you inevitably need to jump platforms (and you will), your followers can find you because your identity remains consistent.

Your Gravatar profile becomes a lighthouse, pointing people to wherever you’ve landed next. Mastodon handle? Listed there. PeerTube channel? Yep. New platform that launches next year? Add it to the list.

This matters more in a decentralized world where there’s no central directory, no “suggested users” algorithm to help people discover you on a new platform. You’re responsible for being findable.

What’s Next for Decentralized Social Media

The momentum is real, but the direction isn’t clear yet. Will Bluesky eventually become truly decentralized, or will it remain a benevolent centralized platform with decentralized features? Will Mastodon find its mainstream moment, or stay the principled-but-niche option?

And will regular folks – not just tech enthusiasts – actually want the complexity that comes with true decentralization?

The answer probably depends on whether platforms can solve the basic human problems (finding your people, keeping your identity, avoiding harassment) better than what we have now.

What we know for sure is that the old model is cracking. People want more control, more transparency, and more choice in how they connect online. Whether that comes through truly decentralized networks or just better-behaved centralized ones remains to be seen.

But either way, making yourself consistently findable across this changing landscape? That’s just good sense.

Navigating the challenges of cross-platform identity mana

So, step into the future.

Take two minutes (seriously, that’s all it takes) to set up your free Gravatar profile, and take charge of your identity across the decentralized web.

Are you creating code with AI tools like Cursor, Loveable, or Claude? We just made it way easier.

We’ve created a single page of custom instructions that developers can copy-paste into any LLM or AI tool to instantly understand how Gravatar works. No more explaining our API from scratch or watching your AI assistant guess how profile data flows.

What’s In The Box?

Our custom instructions give AI tools everything they need to integrate with Gravatar properly:

• Complete API understanding for avatars and profiles
• Real-world code examples
• Privacy and data handling best practices (ex. SHA256, not MD5)
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Think of it as the ultimate cheat sheet for building with Gravatar.

Perfect For Developers Who Vibe

Whether you’re prototyping with v0, building with ChatGPT, or coding alongside any AI assistant, these instructions ensure your AI actually gets what Gravatar does.

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Copy, Paste, Build

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The instructions work with any LLM that accepts custom prompts. Paste them in, start your project, and watch your AI assistant become a Gravatar integration expert.

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So, you’ve decided it’s time for a headshot that doesn’t look like it was taken at 11 pm under your kitchen light. Sensible move. But then – bam! You check out the prices and suddenly consider just cropping yourself out of a group photo from 2017.

You’re not overreacting.

The professional route is painfully pricey. As for the DIY route, one minute you’re adjusting lighting, the next you’re wondering why you suddenly resemble a startled meerkat.

And yet, the stakes are high. Research shows people form an impression of you from your photo in 1/10th of a second. That’s faster than your thumb can scroll.

Like it or not, your headshot is your always-on personal brand billboard, beaming across LinkedIn, Zoom, your email signature… basically, everywhere.

But the truth is, you don’t need a Hollywood budget or a Nikon the size of a shoebox to nail it.

With just your smartphone, a few clever tricks, and a sprinkle of intention, you can snap a headshot that says “professional,” not “panicked.”

Below you’ll find 10 practical strategies to help you:

• Nail lighting without a studio.
• Pose without looking like you’re mid-blink.
• Edit like a pro.

This guide will take you from “I guess this will do?” to a polished, professional headshot that opens doors, lands clients, or gets you into that next big role.

Let’s get snapping!

1. Choose your equipment

Good news: The best camera you own is probably already in your pocket. Today’s smartphones are absolute powerhouses, easily capable of snapping headshots that look straight out of a studio… if you know how to wield them.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• A recent phone with at least a 12MP main camera.
• Portrait mode (hello, dreamy background blur).
• A grid display to keep your framing sharp.
• Focus lock to make sure your eyes stay crisp.
• Self-timer or voice command so you’re not sprinting back and forth between shots.

Take note: As tempting as it is to use the front-facing camera, the back camera’s where the magic happens. It’s higher quality, gives you more control, and won’t leave you with that slightly fuzzy “FaceTime screenshot” look.

To get it right:

• Set your phone 3-4 feet away, level with your eyes.
• Balance it on a stack of books, boxes – whatever’s sturdy.
• Or better yet, grab an adjustable phone tripod (they’re less than $50 and worth every penny).

Pro tip: Some phones flip selfies by default, turning text (and your face) backward. If you insist on the front camera, dig into your settings and switch off image mirroring before you start. That way, your photo looks polished and professional everywhere it shows up.

2. Find your ideal lighting

Lighting. It’s the make-or-break factor; the difference between “Oh wow, did you get that done professionally?” and “Cute… but why does it look like you’re hiding in a cave?”

Don’t worry. Your best lighting? Totally free. Natural light is your secret weapon.

Start by parking yourself near a big window – bonus points if it faces away from the sun, that way light stays soft and steady, skipping those harsh, unflattering shadows. Aim to stand about 3–5 feet away so that the gentle glow wraps your face like a flattering Instagram filter.

And yes, timing totally matters:

• Early morning (7–9 AM) means crisp, clean, chef’s-kiss light .
• Golden hour (1–2 hours before sunset): Dreamy, warm, universally flattering.
• Midday? Big no, no. Shadows where you don’t want them.

And don’t just snap and hope for the best. Play around. Shuffle a little left or right of the window. Step closer, then further away. Test different angles to find your best side.

Pro tip: If you’re wearing spectacles, tilt your chin slightly down, and if you’re using extra lights, angle them upward to give you the no glare, natural, polished look you want.

Go on, work that window.

3. Pick your background

Your background is the unsung hero of your headshot. Typically, you’ll want a backdrop so subtle, no one even notices it. All eyes should be on you, not whatever’s lurking behind you.

The easiest win is to stick to plain, neutral tones:

• Light gray = sleek, modern vibes.
• Off-white = timeless, classic feel.
• Soft blue = just enough warmth without stealing the spotlight.

These shades quietly do their job, keeping attention exactly where it belongs – on your face. And no, you don’t need a fancy studio to pull this off. Try one of these simple DIY setups:

• A plain, unadorned wall (yes, really).
• A wrinkle-free bedsheet, hung nicely and smoothly.
• A big sheet of foam board from the craft store.

Pro tip: Do not stand right up against the background. Step forward 3-4 feet to:
Add natural depth
Dodge harsh shadows
Get a subtle blur in portrait mode

A few things to avoid: Bright colors that clash with your skin tone. Busy patterns screaming for attention. Random clutter (bookshelves, kitchen counter, laundry pile). Remember, you’re the star. Everything else needs to fade into the background. And if all else fails, you can always swap out the backdrop later when you edit your pic.

There you have it: Pro-looking backdrop, no studio required.

4. Dress for success

Let’s talk wardrobe. Color psychology isn’t just fluff, it shapes how people see you. In corporate settings, blues and grays quietly say “trustworthy” and “competent.” Whereas in creative industries, brighter colors scream “innovative.” Rule of thumb: Dress for your industry and purpose.

Your outfit also needs to work with your background:

• Dark clothes + light backdrop = high contrast (tricky for cameras).
• Similar tones = coordinated, polished look.
• Solid colors > busy prints (trust us).

Necklines matter too:

• Round face? V-neck = flattering length.
• Square face? A scoop or rounded neckline softens angles.
• Long face? Boat or crew neck balances things.
• Heart-shaped? Try square or cowl necklines.

Heads-up: The camera spots everything – gaps, seams, button strain. If it doesn’t fit perfectly, fix it or swap it.

And once you’ve nailed that shot? Upload it to Gravatar. It syncs your headshot across platforms like WordPress, GitHub, and Slack – no manual updates needed.

In just 5 minutes, you can create your free profile, upload your pic, and let your digital presence do the talking.

5. Apply makeup strategically

Here’s the thing about cameras: They’re sneaky little flatteners. What looks defined and dimensional in real life can end up weirdly washed out or featureless in a photo. That’s why a little strategic makeup can make a big difference for headshots.

If makeup’s already in your routine, dial it up a notch – think a touch more definition around the eyes and cheekbones than your everyday look. This helps counteract the camera’s flattening effect and keeps your face looking sculpted and alive in the final shot.

A few things to skip before your shoot:

• Products with SPF (they can throw off a ghostly white cast on camera).
• Silica-heavy setting powders (you don’t want that chalky “flashback” effect).
• Super shimmery products (they tend to photograph as oily rather than glowy).

For men – or anyone who doesn’t usually reach for makeup – consider a few subtle tweaks:

• A quick dusting of translucent powder to knock back shine on the forehead and nose.
• A tinted moisturizer to even out skin tone (promise, it won’t look like makeup).
• And don’t underestimate the power of a precise beard trim – cameras love to highlight asymmetry.

But here’s the best bit: You don’t need to chase perfection on the day. A good photo editor can easily tackle things like redness, uneven skin tone, or tiny blemishes after the fact.

6. Use confident body language

Body language matters more than you think in a headshot. Research shows small posture tweaks can boost how competent and approachable you seem. Plus, striking confident poses doesn’t just influence others, it literally boosts your confidence while lowering stress.

Try the “turtle method.”

• Gently push your chin forward and slightly down.
• It sharpens your jawline.
• Separates your head from your shoulders.
• Instantly adds flattering definition.

Skip perfect symmetry – it reads stiff. Instead:

• Tilt your head a little (around 15°).
• Angle your shoulders slightly.
• Keep your spine tall, but relaxed.

Before the shutter clicks, use this breathing hack to ditch tension:

• Inhale through your nose for 4 counts.
• Hold briefly.
• Exhale through your mouth for 6 counts.
• On the last exhale, fully relax your face.

End result: Less “awkward passport photo,” more polished, confident professional.

7. Find your facial expressions

Here’s the thing: Everyone’s got signature expressions that photograph well, but you probably won’t stumble upon them on first try. The secret is to indulge in a little trial and error.

Block out some time, grab your phone, and take test shots from different angles. What feels natural in the mirror doesn’t always translate on camera. You’ll need to push past your usual go-to faces and experiment.

Here’s what to try:

• The “squinch” – a subtle narrowing of the lower eyelids that says “I’ve got this” without veering into “can’t see without my glasses.”
• Eyebrows: Relaxed but slightly lifted – adds a hint of warmth and approachability.
• The 20% smile – not a full grin, not stone-faced: Just enough curve to look thoughtful and composed.

Take note: Each industry carries its own preferences.

• Legal and finance? Go for serious and authoritative.
• Tech? Relaxed, approachable smiles are fair game.
• Creative fields? Feel free to let your personality shine through (quirks welcome).

And if you’ve ever sworn you’re “just not photogenic”? Join the club. The trick is capturing enough variations to catch those magic in-between moments. Use your phone’s burst mode (hold that shutter down) to snap 10–15 shots at once. Those sneaky, subtle shifts mid-blink or mid-laugh are often the gold you’d never have deliberately posed for.

8. Tweak those phone camera settings

Your smartphone camera is smarter than you think. With a few tweaks, you can take your headshot from “meh” to “wow.” Here’s how:

• Pick your mode: Portrait for background blur, Square for social profiles, Standard for flexibility.
  
• Nail white balance: Keeps skin tones looking natural (not Smurf-like).
  • Find it under “pro” or “advanced” modes.
  • Outdoors? Auto’s fine.
  • Indoors? Pick a preset to match your lighting.
  • Still off? Manually adjust until you’re glowing (in a good way).
    
• Switch on gridlines:

1. Apply the rule of thirds and align the eyes along the top horizontal line.
2. Center your face at a grid intersection.
3. Voilà: Pro-level framing.
   

• Use HDR (High Dynamic Range): Helps balance light when:
  • The background’s brighter than your face.
  • You’re dealing with tricky lighting.
• Choose your aspect ratio:
  • 4:3 = classic headshot.
  • 1:1 = perfect for social profiles.

With these settings dialled in, you’ll be cranking out headshots that punch well above their weight.

9. Time for a quick polish: Edit that headshot

Even the best DIY headshots can use a little finesse. But don’t worry, you don’t need Photoshop or a degree in digital media. A few smart tweaks with free (or cheap) apps can level up your photo without draining your wallet:

• Lightroom Mobile (the free version has all the essentials).
• Snapseed (totally free, with pro-level tools).
• VSCO (great for natural, flattering presets).
• Your phone’s built-in editor (seriously underrated).

Here’s where to focus your edits:

Cropping

• Frame your eyes in the top third of the shot (see above).
• Snip out any background distractions.
• Keep a comfy balance around your head and shoulders.

Brightness & contrast

• Bump exposure up 10–15% for a fresher, more open look.
• Add a dash of contrast (+5 to +10) to sharpen features.
• But don’t overdo it. You want glow, not glare.

White balance

• Warm things up slightly (+5 to +10) for friendlier skin tones.
• Tweak any weird color casts from artificial lights.

Vignette

• Add a subtle dark edge (-10 to -15) to draw attention inward.

A few editing don’ts to steer clear of:

• Over-smoothing your skin into porcelain doll territory.
• Filters so heavy they’ll age your photo by next week.
• Anything that tweaks your facial features beyond recognition.

And when you’re done, always save in high-res (at least 1000×1000 pixels) to keep things crisp across every platform.

10. Use Gravatar to display your perfect headshot everywhere

You’ve finally nailed the perfect headshot – great lighting, solid pose, zero double chin. Congrats! But now comes the tedious part: Uploading it everywhere. LinkedIn. Company intranet. Slack. GitHub. That random forum you signed up for in 2014. Each site wants a different size, a different crop, a different format. Ugh.

Enter Gravatar: The no-fuss, no-hassle way to make your headshot follow you around the internet like the loyal professional sidekick it was born to be.

Here’s how it works:

• Gravatar links your email address to your headshot.
• Any platform that’s Gravatar-enabled pulls in your photo automatically.
• Update your pic once in your Gravatar account, and it updates everywhere else, no manual uploads or awkward crops required.

And it doesn’t stop at just your photo. Gravatar also lets you round out your online presence with:

• A professional bio.
• Verified links to your portfolio and social profiles.
• Additional professional images.
• Your contact info.

The cherry on top? It’s 100% free. Spend five minutes setting up your profile today, and you’ll save yourself countless “ugh-I-need-to-update-my-photo-there-too” headaches down the line – all you need for a polished online presence.

Your perfect headshot + Gravatar = instant professional glow-up

Turns out, you can create a killer professional headshot at home – no fancy cameras, no overpriced photographers, no awkward studio backdrops required. Just your smartphone, some decent lighting, and a little know-how.

By following these 10 steps, you’ve already cracked the code – the gear, the angles, the lighting, the editing – to turn your humble selfie into a headshot that can go toe-to-toe with the pros.

Pair that polished photo with Gravatar, and suddenly your face shows up everywhere you show up – LinkedIn, blogs, email signatures, you name it – without you lifting another finger. You just update your Gravatar once to instantly refresh across the board.

So, carve out an hour to snap that headshot, then take five minutes to set up your (free!) Gravatar profile today.

Happy to announce that the amazing Clay.earth product and team is joining Automattic. If you haven’t tried the app out yet, here’s a quick video to give you a taste.

TechCrunch has covered the broader strategy pretty well: One of the top requests we’ve heard from Beeper beta testers is they want to tie in more context, like a personal CRM, and some even requested Clay by name. We’ll keep the apps separate, as Clay also has some interesting team uses, but they will complement and integrate with each other as part of our all-in-one messaging strategy.

We share a vision to integrate Clay’s technology, which manages over 140 million relationships, as a layer across many of our products and experiences at Automattic. I’m excited to work with the founders, Matt and Zach, to bring this vision to life. I’ve always felt the missing primitive in WordPress’ content management data architecture was a scalable concept of a Person and Relationships outside of our user table.

Here’s the beautiful announcement on the Clay site and on Automattic’s.

A while ago, there was a call for WordPress Core Committers to share their development setups. Many of them have already done so; I’m finally getting around to sharing mine.

As far as I know, I’m one of the few people that use git-svn. Not only does it shield me from the quirks of Subversion (SVN); it also allows me to use git to work on branches from the WordPress/wordpress-develop GitHub mirror (which has become the de-facto standard for Core development), and to merge my contributions to Core’s SVN repo once they’re ready, all from within the same directory.

The following is based on a blog post by Mark Jaquith that’s over fourteen years old, meaning it predates WordPress/wordpress-develop as well as some new features and behavioral changes in git (and git-svn). I used the official git-svn docs to update accordingly.

Setup

Assuming you already have git and homebrew installed, you’ll need to use the latter to install git-svn:

brew install git-svn

You can now check out the SVN repo. A word of warning before you proceed: Due to the linear nature of SVN, cloning the repository means checking out all ~60k revisions (as of June 2025).¹ Even with a fast internet connection, this takes several hours; I let it run overnight.²

git svn clone -s --prefix=svn/ --log-window-size=5000 https://develop.svn.wordpress.org wordpress-develop

Let’s go through the arguments one by one:

• -s (short for --stdlayout) will make git-svn look for trunk, branches, and tags in the eponymous subdirectories of the repository.
• --prefix=svn/ (make sure to include the trailing slash!) sets a prefix that’s prepended to remotes in the git ref names that the aforementioned svn directories are mapped to. This defaults to origin, resulting in ref names such as origin/trunk. Since I want to use origin as the name for the WordPress/wordpress-develop GitHub mirror, I set the prefix to svn to denote the SVN repo.
• --log-window-size=5000: According to the docs, this specifies the number of log entries fetched per request when scanning the SVN repo. The docs recommend setting this to a higher number than the default 100 when cloning large repositories.
• https://develop.svn.wordpress.org/ is of course the location of the WordPress codebase.
• wordpress-develop is the name of the target folder that the repo will be cloned into.

Now for the fun part: We can add git remotes and switch between branches like we’d do in any other git repo! Typically, the next thing you’ll want to do is adding the WordPress/wordpress-develop GitHub mirror as origin:

git remote add origin [email protected]:WordPress/wordpress-develop.git

Since you can’t push branches to that repo, you’ll likely also want to add your own fork as a remote (and probably some other folks’, if you want to test their PRs). For my own fork, that’s

git remote add ockham [email protected]:ockham/wordpress-develop.git

Day-to-day Usage

For your day-to-day development, you can use git just like you normally would, i.e. create branches, push them to your remote, fetch updates from the remote, etc.

The only difference is in the handling of the branches checked out from SVN. If you’re on one of of those – e.g. trunk – you don’t use git pull to update, but

git svn rebase

This will fetch the latest commits from the SVN repo and add them to your local copy of the branch.

To fetch any new branches and/or tags that have been created in the SVN repo (e.g. around Feature Freeze for a new WordPress version), you’ll do

git svn fetch

When checking out the branch, remember that you’ll have to include the svn/ prefix to indicate that you want the branch from SVN (rather than from the default origin, which in this setup will point to the WordPress/wordpress-develop GitHub mirror):

git checkout -b 6.8 svn/6.8

You can always use git svn info to find out if the branch you’re currently on was checked out from SVN or git.

Committing Code to SVN

Preparing the commit (the git part)

Let’s say I’ve been working on some code in a git branch called add/my-stuff. Once that code is ready to merge, I start by locally squashing all my changes into one commit. There are different ways of doing this; if you’re unfamiliar with them, you can probably find some online tutorials (this part isn’t specific to git-svn at all). I typically either do an interactive rebase (git rebase -i origin/trunk) if there aren’t a lot of commits, or I reset all commits to the point that the branch deviated from origin/trunk³, i.e.

git reset $(git merge-base origin/trunk $(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD))

I then simply re-add all files that had any modifications (including new files that were previously untracked)

git add -A

and finally create the commit

git commit

At this point, I typically just paste the commit message that I’ve already prepared in my editor. This is the commit message that’s going into SVN, so it needs to follow Core’s guidelines for commit messages. However, it doesn’t have to be perfect right away; you’ll be able to go back to it later and polish it some more via git commit --amend. Be sure to review both the commit message and code changes by looking at the output of git show.

Pushing the code to SVN

Once I’m happy with my commit, I note its SHA and switch back to trunk. I do a last git svn rebase to fetch all the latest changes from SVN, and then git cherry-pick my commit. It’s probably a good idea to follow up with a final git log and git show to make sure everything is looking alright.

I then push my code to SVN by typing

git svn dcommit

(Yes, that’s dcommit.)That’s the git-svn equivalent of git push! I watch as git-svn does its magic. Once it’s done, I check the Trac ticket and wordpress-develop PR which should now have been automatically closed.

Other tools

I use Rancher Desktop by SUSE, which is a free and open-source replacement for Docker Desktop. I’m using VZ as my virtual machine, and virtiofs as mount type. You can set these in Preferences > Virtual Machine, in the Emulation and Volume tabs, respectively. Note that if you’re on Apple Silicon, you’ll need to Enable Rosetta support, as the wordpressdevelop/php container isn’t natively available for the arm64 architecture yet.

(There’s a chance that I won’t need any of that once macOS 26 is available, since apparently Apple is working on native support for Linux containers.)

1. While svn itself supports --set-depth immediates to only check out the last n commits, git-svn unfortunately doesn’t. There is a workaround; however, if you ever want to fetch the preceding commits, you’ll have to mess with git history, which is something I’d personally rather avoid. ︎
2. You might want to disable automatic standby in your operating system’s settings; in macOS, it’s a toggle called Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off. ︎
3. We’re using origin/trunk as the base branch here (rather than trunk which maps to svn/trunk in this setup), so it’s important to keep that updated regularly (git fetch origin). ︎

On the podcast today we have Reyes Martínez and Héctor De Prada.

Reyes has been involved in the WordPress community since 2015, with a background in journalism, digital communications, and early-stage startups. From 2021 to 2024, she was sponsored by Automattic to contribute full-time to global marketing and communication efforts for the WordPress open-source project. She led several initiatives during that time, including the experimental WordPress Media Corps. Reyes currently serves as Content Lead at Modular DS.

Héctor has been building websites since he was 12 and has worked with WordPress for nearly a decade, first as a freelancer, then running his own agency. Today, he’s one of the co-founders of Modular DS. He co-organizes the WordPress meetup in León in Spain, and writes a Spanish newsletter that keeps readers updated with the latest news from the WordPress ecosystem.

In this episode, we get into the nitty-gritty of WordPress maintenance. What it takes to effectively manage multiple websites, and why maintenance is such a crucial, if often overlooked, part of running a successful client business.

You might think that updating plugins and themes is all there is to it, but Reyes and Héctor explain that there’s much more involved: performing regular backups, monitoring uptime and performance, checking for security vulnerabilities, database clean-ups, and ensuring essential site features like contact forms continue working as expected.

We discuss best practices for educating clients, how to position ongoing maintenance as an investment rather than a cost, and solutions which can help automate and streamline these essential tasks.

We also chat about how the maintenance landscape is changing, with upcoming legal requirements around accessibility and privacy, and the emerging business opportunities for professionals specializing solely in website care.

If you’re a freelancer or agency owner looking to scale up your business, perhaps you offer care plans to clients, or are considering adding maintenance plans to your services, this episode’s for you.

Useful links

Modular DS

Meetup in  León, Spain

Cyber Resilience Act

Congratulations to the FAIR team on thier launch. 1.0 is the lonliest number, so getting to to this milestone is something for them to celebrate and I hope the team behind it feels great about getting this far.

One of the best parts of getting to a public release is that you start getting feedback from real users. Some of that is coming out and I’m sure I will have some to add, at this point I don’t yet have a solid opinion on FAIR. What I do have are some questions I haven’t found the answer to while reading the protocol documentation. I am hoping someone can either point me to the documentation for each of these or answer directly while I continue to digest as much as I can:

1. How does someone report a bad actor in a federated repository? If I discover someone who is acting in bad faith, do I need to track down every discovery aggregator, inform them independetly, and have each do its own investigation before users are protected?
   • For this purpose, I’m using Bad Actor in all of it’s possible meanings including introducing intentional and unintentional security issues, hacked accounts, and people being jerks.
2. What happens if different aggregagtors accept the same name for a plugin/theme? What can be done to prevent user confusion?
   • I think this is also important since someone doing local development with one aggregator but using a different in production feels like a distinct possibility.
3. In order to be listed in the plugin, is there a standard for the aggregator and the standards that they set for inclusion?
   • Similiarly, how will these standards be monitored for potential exclusion later on?
4. If the Decentralized ID is based on the repo, does that mean you can not transfer ownership of a plugin?
   • The documentaiton states “Vendors SHOULD use DID methods that are future-proof for data portability, and which avoid encoding trademarks or potentially-ephemeral names or domains.” Does this mean that Github should be avoided since it is a trademark?
5. Does FAIR have a concept of release confirmations or other 2nd factor for releases?
6. How do reviews work in a decentralized manner? If I have an opinion on a plugin, will I need to share it with all aggregators?
   • On a similiar basis, if reviews are going to multiple places, what is the plan to combat sock puppets?

I imagine some of these are questions that will need to get answered over time, and also that for some, today’s answer may not be tomorrow’s. As with all open source projects, I can only imagine FAIR will change over time.

The post Some initial questions about FAIR appeared first on Aaron Jorbin.

WordCamp Europe has just concluded, and one term that emerged during the contribution day discussions across a wide range of areas was ‘roadmaps’. As someone who appreciates the power of a roadmap and aligning with it, working towards agreed-upon goals, this couldn’t make me happier. It makes me think curiously whether everyone is using the term in the same way, and I wanted to examine how we could define these terms openly and come to a shared understanding of what they mean.

Basic definitions

The reality is that even in companies, the definition and use of the term ‘roadmap’ can vary significantly. This may be due to frameworks and processes, or it may simply be a matter of personal preference. In order, though, to have them work on an open project, some common understanding has to be reached. We start at the beginning, and it is clear what the vision is and what a roadmap is.

Vision: a high-level, inspirational description of what you hope to achieve in the long term. This is often seen as the “why” and “what” and the ultimate destination everyone works towards.

A roadmap is a practical, time-based plan that involves action and outlines how to achieve a vision through specific steps. It includes milestones, notes, priorities and ties to deliverables.

Why not both?

To answer this, we need both in most projects. WordPress is no exception, and it is similar to other open source platforms; both are essential. To have both, though, you need clear definitions and differences between them.

The vision needs to be clear about where you want to go, broad, inspiring, and strategic. It’s a partner that helps with the roadmap and the plan for getting there. This is detailed, tactical and tied to times.

“A vision gives people a reason to care; a roadmap gives them a way to help.”

— Nadia Eghbal

Combining both is essential. The roadmap gets you towards the vision, but it doesn’t define it. In my opinion, as the wider project has a vision, each team and component also likely has a vision, but these should always align with and add up to support the broad vision. This is why defining roadmaps and visions in isolation is often problematic in larger projects.

Essential duplicity

To look more at why both matter in an open-source project, you can split each into relatively easy formats:

A vision:

• Unites contributors around a shared purpose.
• Inspires commitment over time. A vision doesn’t specifically though allocate that inspiration or fund; that’s the roadmap.
• Clarifies what the project is not. Often more essential than we think.

A roadmap:

• Shows the process. It allows each stage to be broken down into the steps required to achieve it.
• Organizes contributions. Which in turn attracts and allocates people and funding.
• Builds trust and focus. By seeing what is being done at a given point, it can be clear to everyone, whether they are contributor, sponsors, makers, users, supporters, or implementors.

Whilst they aren’t the same, they certainly are companions to each other. A roadmap without a vision is a guess. It’s placing things on a calendar and hoping for delivery. A roadmap that lacks a clear vision is unable to gain focus and often spirals due to a lack of delivery. A vision that serves as a roadmap is uninspiring and fails to clarify or unite.

Defining in open

This is the more complex piece. It’s all well and good to know the difference and want to do this. You then need to take these seeds, grow them into roadmaps and visions, and collectively agree, because that is how open things get buy-in.

A simple process is a first pass from those leading the work, facilitated, distilled, and then shared, reviewed, and iterated. This is typical amongst open source projects. In WordPress, we have had several variations over time, and now we need to determine what works today. Both need to be shared; a roadmap is a document to check and measure against, a living thing.

Beyond defining

As we move forward into the second half of this year, the topic of roadmaps arises. Let’s make sure they are roadmaps. We could collaborate on a project to define what they are for us and share the results somewhere. Having an agreed-upon definition and working from it helps everyone, regardless of their approach to this topic.

“Open source thrives on clarity. A vision tells us why to show up, and a roadmap shows us how to move forward together.”

— Danese Cooper

The reality is we need both vision and roadmaps, and all too often, we easily have a vision. Most likely, WordPress has not only a project vision, but we also need to gather some team visions to unite those working together. If you were to think of this as an adventure, think of them not as side quests but as storyline quest points that lead to the end point.

Roadmaps get us to delivery, and what we need more of is that right now in WordPress across all areas. They also allow us to start thinking about measuring, but they shouldn’t be where we end the measuring. That is another conversation but an essential one. We are at step one on the path to collectively growing our processes.

Over 1,723 attendees from 84 countries gathered at the Messe and Congress Center Basel in Switzerland, and 20,353 more joined online for WordCamp Europe 2025.

The flagship WordPress event kicked off in Basel, Switzerland, with a dedicated Contributor Day. It was followed by two days of engaging talks, panels, hands-on workshops, and vibrant community connections. WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg and Executive Director Mary Hubbard joined a diverse lineup of speakers and panelists, sharing insights in the heart of one of Europe’s most charming cities.

Set against the backdrop of Basel’s historic streets and Rhine-side views, the sponsor hall buzzed with activity as companies from across the WordPress ecosystem showcased their latest innovations, offered live demos, and connected with attendees. Each day, participants refueled with a range of local and international cuisine — from Swiss specialties to global favorites — making mealtime a lively space for networking, collaboration, and sparking new ideas.

A Global Gathering in Basel

WordCamp Europe has long been one of the most anticipated WordPress events of the year — a space where community, creativity, and collaboration thrive. This year in Basel, the conference delivered an exciting and diverse program that reached every corner of the WordPress ecosystem.

Here’s what attendees experienced:

• Engaging Sessions Across Tracks – Across two full days, the conference featured informative talks, captivating keynotes, and dynamic discussions exploring WordPress and the broader web.
• A Global Speaker Lineup – The stage welcomed 52 speakers from 23 countries across five continents, each bringing unique insights and global perspectives.
• Wide-Ranging Topics – The schedule included 45 sessions and four hands-on workshops across three tracks, covering:
  • Accessibility and key policy updates like the European Accessibility Act and the Cyber Resilience Act
  • The evolving role of Artificial Intelligence in the open web
  • Cutting-edge web design, development best practices, SEO, and content strategy
  • Real-world case studies and showcases from across the community
• Hands-On Learning Opportunities – Interactive workshops allowed attendees to roll up their sleeves and develop practical skills in a collaborative setting.
• A Community Built on Collaboration – Whether developer, designer, content creator, or entrepreneur, every attendee found space to connect, learn, and grow within a vibrant and welcoming community.

Contributor Day

WordCamp Europe began with a vibrant Contributor Day that brought together 640 contributors—including many first-timers—to collaborate, share knowledge, and support the WordPress project. Guided by 33 dedicated table leads, with 21 teams, attendees of all experience levels came together to exchange ideas, solve real challenges, and make meaningful contributions to open source. From accessibility improvements to theme development and translation efforts, every table played a part in moving WordPress forward.

Contributor Day at WordCamp Europe 2025 brought together a mix of first-time and returning contributors across a wide range of teams, from Core and Accessibility to Polyglots, Training, and Community. Attendees tackled everything from onboarding and ticket triage to translating strings, improving documentation, and enhancing tools and workflows. Development-focused teams explored performance and testing improvements and worked through live coding exercises. Meanwhile, accessibility testers, support volunteers, and photo moderators contributed to efforts that directly impact users around the world.

In parallel, teams like Marketing, Meta, Hosting, and Sustainability focused on future-facing initiatives—from promoting WordPress through the Showcase and social media campaigns to refining infrastructure, increasing accessibility, and preparing for long-term project growth. Whether contributing to plugins, themes, documentation, or new contributor experiences, participants reinforced the values that power the WordPress project: collaboration, inclusivity, and openness. The day served as a reminder that WordPress is not just software—it’s a community built by and for everyone.

Tomorrow Starts with WordPress

The first full day of WordCamp Europe 2025 brought the community together to celebrate the power of open source collaboration and innovation. Opening remarks from both global and local event leads reflected on the journey of WordCamp Europe—from its beginnings in 2013 in Leiden, Netherlands, to the vibrant event in Basel today. This full-circle moment underscored the growth of the WordPress community, united by a shared commitment to an open web.

The day launched into an inspiring program with the keynote session, WordPress Without Borders – The Fight for Digital Freedom, delivered by Noel Tock. Drawing from his experiences—including time on the frontlines in Ukraine—Tock illustrated how open source supports global resilience and serves as a digital human right. His message called on contributors to see their work as part of something greater, offering a compelling and forward-looking vision to energize and unify the WordPress community.

From there, the program unfolded across multiple tracks—each one sparking new conversations and insights. One standout session highlighted social entrepreneurship in Bulgaria, where WordPress is helping grassroots organizations drive change in education, journalism, and social justice. Petya Raykovska shared how nonprofits like Teenovator and the Bulgarian Fund for Women are using WordPress to amplify their work and strengthen their communities.

Designers and developers explored ways to improve workflows and collaboration. In Bridging Design and Development, attendees learned how Figma Design Systems can connect design and development through shared structures mapped to block themes. Real-world examples, like the Novus Media Newspaper Design System, demonstrated how scalable, consistent design can power multi-brand platforms.

Workshops played a key role throughout the day, including the interactive Block Developer Cookbook: WCEU 2025 Edition, where attendees worked through community-voted code recipes featuring the latest WordPress APIs. Sessions also dove into emerging technologies, such as Automating WordPress Setup with Modern AI Tools, which showcased how WP-CLI, scripting, and AI can accelerate project setup and reduce repetitive tasks.

Day Two of WordCamp Europe 2025 opened with a focus on the evolving role of the WordPress community in a rapidly changing digital world. Sessions explored how contributors—from local meetup organizers to global advocates—play a vital part in shaping WordPress’s future. Talks on inclusivity, such as Over the Rainbow, encouraged attendees to consider how individual actions can help build a more welcoming, representative open source ecosystem. Throughout the morning, the spirit of collaboration and shared purpose remained front and center.

As the day progressed, attention turned to the tools and technologies pushing WordPress forward. From sessions on scaling multilingual sites and managing observability to hands-on workshops, developers explored new ways to streamline workflows and enhance performance. Highlights included WordPress Gems for Devs, which introduced the Interactivity API through live coding, and Client-side Web AI Agents, a look at cutting-edge browser-based AI that unlocks new possibilities for web experiences. These talks reflected the platform’s growing capacity to adapt to emerging trends while staying true to its open foundations.

The afternoon brought a blend of practical guidance and inspiring stories across tracks. A case study on accessibility from Switzerland showed how thoughtful design can benefit all users, while a session on brand-building for women entrepreneurs highlighted the creative and economic opportunities WordPress enables. With topics spanning content strategy, business growth, regulatory readiness, and more, the second day of WCEU 2025 affirmed the strength of the WordPress ecosystem—not only as a technology platform, but as a global movement fueled by people, purpose, and possibility.

Fireside Chat

As the final day drew to a close, Matt and Mary shared some thoughts on EU regulation (Open Web Alliance), AI, and the introduction of the WordPress AI team, and then answered questions from the audience.

Closing

A heartfelt thank you to the dedicated organizers who brought WordCamp Europe 2025 to life in Basel, the speakers who shared their insights, the attendees who joined us in person, and those who followed along from afar. We hope you leave with fresh ideas, meaningful connections, and renewed energy to help shape the future of the open web.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the final major WordPress events in 2025: WordCamp US (Portland, Oregon, USA). Then join us in Kraków, Poland for WordCamp Europe 2026! Also, if you want to get involved with WCEU, the call for organisers is already open for 2026.

From May 24th to 25th, 2025, we had the fourth annual WordCamp Jinja at the largest educational institution in the region Jinja Senior Secondary School. This year’s event was our biggest and most impactful yet both in numbers and key demographics, having over 250 attendees and participants that primarily included students as well as developers, designers, bloggers, educators, and entrepreneurs from across Uganda and East Africa.

With the theme “Create, Impact, and Explore with WordPress!”, the event was a celebration of open-source innovation, practical skills, and community spirit, all set against the stunning backdrop of the Nile.

A WordCamp Designed for Student WordPressers, Developers and Creatives Alike

Students were at the heart of WordCamp Jinja 2025, reflecting their role as a key and growing demographic in both the WordPress Jinja community and the wider Ugandan community. This year’s venue Jinja Senior Secondary School—was purposefully chosen to bring the WordPress experience closer to students, ensuring greater accessibility, relevance, and impact.

We welcomed enthusiastic participation from students of Jinja SS, Makerere University, Macedonian Vocational School, Ezone School of Computing, and others. For most, it was their first exposure to open-source tools, and the excitement was palpable. At Jinja SS, the event left a lasting impression—inspiring students to launch their very own ICT Club to continue learning and collaborating long after the event, thus we left a standing souvenir at the school.

As a community, we are intentional about balancing engagement between our student and creative/developer communities. We do this by alternating venues each year to better suit both these key groups and demographics, whether it’s schools, colleges or innovation hubs. We are excited to continue our outreach programs and student-focused initiatives at both Jinja Senior Secondary School and Macedonian Vocational School among other schools, nurturing future WordPress contributors, creators, and tech leaders as well as having creative and developer oriented meetups and next-gen events.

Diverse Speaker Sessions

Attendees enjoyed powerful sessions across two tracks led by speakers from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, USA, and beyond. Talks covered everything from advanced contributions, development and accessibility to blogging, diversity, SEO, and AI tools for content creators—sparking learning, inspiration, and engagement throughout the event.

Contributor Day sessions and Website Hackathon Track

Teams collaborated in a WordPress Website Hackathon, that we have been holding each year, building websites for NGOs, community initiatives, and personal projects—all powered by WordPress. It was an energetic, purpose-driven space where learning met real-world impact.

Throughout the event during the hackathon track and culminating on May 25th, participants joined the global open-source movement through the Contributor Day and sessions. From learning how to translate and reviewing content to contributing to the WordPress Photos and Polyglots teams, attendees learned how to give back and make an impact in the WordPress ecosystem.

After-Party on the Nile

The event concluded with an unforgettable after-party at the Source of the Nile, where participants networked, shared stories, and reflected on two days of community connection and creative exploration. The boat ride to the source of the Nile closed off such an eventful experience.

Thank You!

We are deeply grateful to:

• Our over 250+ attendees and participants especially all the students for bringing their energy and enthusiasm for learning
  
• Our amazing speakers and workshop facilitators
  
• Our sponsors and partners for their generous support
  
• Our volunteers who made everything run smoothly
  

Your commitment and passion made this year’s WordCamp Jinja the biggest and most impactful yet!

What Next

Don’t forget to follow @WordPressJinja for continued updates.

Uganda is one of the places with the highest turnover of WordPress events and a vibrant, supportive, and passionate WordPress community with over 8 WordPress events a year. Including Next Gens and Do Actions. Next inline is the Uganda Websites Projects Competition on 20th June 2025 and WordCamp Masaka on 18th and 19th July 2025 with more to follow in the coming months.

Remember to join our WordPress Jinja Meetup community for timely updates as well. We can’t wait to welcome you to all WordPress Jinja meetups, creative and developer centric next-gen events and WordCamp Jinja 2026 — which shall be even bigger and more impactful, let’s continue to create, impact, and explore together with WordPress!

June 9, 2025: The YouTube embed at the end of this post was hanged to the upload of the specific talk mentioned instead of the Day 1 – Track 1 live stream.
June 10, 2025: The photo credit has been updated to include the photographer’s name and linking to the source instead of Twitter.

There’s been growing debate recently about whether WordCamps have lost their value and relevance. Some argue that attendees rarely share meaningful takeaways afterward, and question whether the talks are impactful enough to provide real learning. They suggest that many people attend only for the travel, social events, and parties. While there may be some truth to these points for certain individuals, I don’t believe this is a fair or accurate generalization.

There are certainly areas where WordCamps could improve. But there are also aspects that stand out as exceptional. They bring together people from around the world and across all walks of life. They celebrate the four freedoms of the GPL and the core ideals that make open source meaningful. And they use the opportunity of being together in person to rally around the shared mission of democratizing publishing.

But like anything in life, these events are only as good the mindset you approach them with.

Meaningful Impact of Open Source Software

Yesterday’s keynote at WordCamp Europe struck a deep chord with me. In WordPress without Borders — The Fight for Digital Freedom, Noel Tock spoke about his personal experiences in war-torn Ukraine. Through his non-profit, Dog Help Kharkiv, he works to evacuate dogs from the frontlines before finding them safe, loving homes.

He witnessed how the open web enables life-changing work first-hand. Ukranian organizations are reuniting families or literally changing and saving lives. These initiatives were made possible thanks in part to the work we all do building and maintaining the WordPress software powering tens of millions of websites.

What a powerful reality made possible by the ideals of Open Source.

Sharing Our Stories

While stories at the severe end of the spectrum like these are (hopefully) rare, there’s no shortage of instances where the impact of the software we maintain is life changing. But why is it so hard to find them? It’s not because they don’t exist. The people living these stories are just busy doing the actual work: fundraising, helping others, managing the demands of everyday life, and running their businesses.

WordCamps are more than just conferences. They are moments of connection, reflection, and renewal for a global community working toward something bigger than ourselves. The value is not always in the slides or the swag, but in the relationships formed, the perspectives expanded, and the stories shared. But they’re also an opportunity to share our own stories.

If we want WordCamps to improve, we have to show up with purpose. Attend the talks, ask thoughtful questions, introduce yourself to someone new, and share what you learn. Most importantly, we need to be more intentional about sharing the stories that matter.

When we tell stories about a simple blog that helps reunite a family, or a one-page fundraising site that powers a grassroots rescue effort, we remind ourselves why this work is meaningful. These are not outliers. WordPress is designed to be stable, extensible, and accessible so that anyone can build with confidence. And what they build can change lives.

To make WordCamps better, we must make space for stories like these. Seek them out, listen to them, and share them. When we do, we not only rediscover purpose in our work, we also learn from the people who use what we build. But we don’t have to wait for a WordCamp to do this. Reach out. Tell someone how their work has impacted your community, your family, or your life.

As I highlighted in the talk I gave yesterday, every line matters.

Watch the Replay

Featured image credit: CC0 licensed photo by annezazu from the WordPress Photo Directory.

The post The Impact of Open Source Work appeared first on Jonathan Desrosiers.

I just left the stage in Basel after giving my talk at WordCamp Europe. I am really happy with how it turned out, and I hope others found it insightful. There are some points that have stuck with me that I plan to dive into a bit deeper here on my blog in the coming weeks.

Further Reading

In my session, I covered how the WordPress philosophies and other Open Source decision making frameworks apply to evaluating suggested changes as a Core Committer. If you found yourself wanting to learn more, the philosophies of the WordPress project are largely adapted from some essays by Havoc Pennington.

These concepts are also detailed in Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project by Karl Fogel. My talk submissions are sometimes a way to promote exploring a subject that I am interested in more deeply. While I use the concepts in this talk at depth every time I work on WordPress, this was definitely one of those cases (I’ve had the paperback version of Fogel’s book on my desk for longer than I’d like to admit).

WordPress Lead Developer Andrew Nacin also expanded on the topic a bit in his The qualities of a great WordPress contributor post on his blog.

Watch the Replay

If you missed my talk live, you can watch the replay of the live stream. I’ve included it below and set the video to start when I took the stage.

Slide Deck

And here’s my slide deck if you wish to follow along.

The post How a Core Committer Thinks: Making Decisions for Millions appeared first on Jonathan Desrosiers.