WordPress Development News

On the podcast today we have Anna Hurko. Anna is the CEO of Crocoblock, a company with a suite of dynamic plugins designed to help developers build complex websites. With a background in computer science, Anna transitioned from support roles to leading Crocoblock, and has been with the company for over 11 years. Anna shares her journey, and discusses the growth of Crocoblock, and also talks about the company’s marketing strategies and their active, and growing, participation in the WordPress community through WordCamps and meetups. If you’re interested in how a company evolves with the WordPress ecosystem, and the challenges and successes that come with it, this episode is for you.

In this episode Tammie Lister, who has a deep history with WordPress and themes, discusses the evolution of WordPress theming, the concept of Full Site Editing, and its adoption challenges. She highlights the importance of experimentation and adaptability in themes, the underestimated impact of block themes and theme.json, and envisions a future where themes might be simplified into more flexible design systems. Tammie emphasizes the gradual adoption of new technologies and the potential for more intuitive user interfaces influenced by AI. If you’re curious about the current state of WordPress theming, the impact of emerging technologies on the platform, or how to infuse more creativity into your web projects, this episode is for you.

On the podcast today we have David Darke, co-founder of Atomic Smash, a Bristol-based digital agency specialising in WordPress and WooCommerce optimisation. Since its inception in 2010, the agency has grown from two to twenty employees, overcoming challenges such as skepticism about their youth and the complexities of scaling. Darke talks about the importance of networking, strategic hiring, and business coaching to navigate growth phases. His current focus includes technical oversight and client interactions rather than hands-on coding. The conversation also explores the role of AI and SEO in their future service offerings as they pivot towards becoming strategic partners for client success. Whether you’re an aspiring freelancer, an agency owner looking to grow, or simply passionate about WordPress, this episode is for you.

Oliver Sild, CEO of Patchstack, shared on X  an email he received from WordCamp Central

WordPress.com has introduced Studio Sync, a new feature for its local development app, Studio. Launched

In this episode I talk with accessibility consultant Elena Brescacin from Italy. We discuss the Block Editor’s benefits, and areas for improvement, such as better search block functionality and template duplication for multilingual sites. Elena emphasises WordPress’ backend accessibility and suggests more consistent focus for testing websites. We explore Elena’s experiences with internet accessibility, challenges in real-world events, and her active participation in the WordPress community. Despite technical frustrations, Elena remains an advocate for accessibility, emphasising the importance of educating others and raising awareness. If you’re curious about web accessibility, particularly how WordPress is used to create content, this episode is for you.

The Themes and Hosting teams has unveiled their representatives for 2025.  Themes Team Reps  In

Automattician Alex Shiels of the Meta team has announced the resumption of WordPress.org services after

Nick Hamze has called for making WordPress themes exciting and the web weird again. “WordPress

The Indian WordPress community is set for an exciting start to 2025, with three WordCamps

The WordPress Community Team has proposed hosting women-centric events on International Women’s Day through local

Chris Christoff of the Plugins Team has published the roadmap of Phase 2 of the

WordCamp Europe has released tickets for the 2025 edition of the event scheduled for June

The Training Team has launched a new course on Learn WordPress specifically for designers: Beginner

On Christmas Eve, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg took to Reddit, causing quite a stir by

Joost de Valk, co-founder of the Yoast SEO plugin has called for Breaking the Status

For the first time, Matt Mullenweg has announced a holiday break for WordPress.org services. In

Lena (Eleni) Stergatou has been awarded the first-ever WordCamp Europe Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship. This

Support Inclusion in Tech (SiNC) has announced the expansion of its grant program to now

The WP Community Collective has announced that it has incorporated as a California membership nonprofit

The controversial mandatory pineapple pizza checkbox on WordPress.org’s login form has been made optional. This

The latest release of Gutenberg, version 19.9, brings a suite of powerful features, tools, and

WP Gives A Hand, a charitable initiative within the WordPress community, uniting businesses to donate

On the podcast today we have Andrew Palmer. Andrew’s journey with WordPress started almost two decades ago after transitioning from Joomla. He went on to make significant strides in the community, co-founding Elegant Marketplace and investing in ventures like Atarim and Bertha AI. In this episode, we talk about the intricacies of working within the WordPress ecosystem, comparing the free and commercial sides. Andrew shares his thoughts on the challenges of financially compensating event contributors and the importance of non-financial contributions, such as time. He discusses the absence of a structured regulatory body in the web development industry, and how he thinks this can impact trust and credibility. If you’ve ever thought about the complexities and commercial dynamics of the WordPress ecosystem, this episode is for you.

WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg delivered his annual State of the Word (SOTW) address today from

Does pineapple belong on pizza? The answer may vary from person to person. But WordPress

WordPress.com is now offering new annual plans at 25% off as part of their year-end

After removing the mandatory WordPress.org login checkbox and the WP Engine Tracker CSV file, Automattic

After the court issued a preliminary injunction in favor of WP Engine, Automattic has begun

The CEOs of Barn2Plugins, Patchstack, and LayerWP have announced plans to expand their businesses beyond