WordCamp – WordPress News https://wordpress.org/news The latest news about WordPress and the WordPress community Fri, 07 Mar 2025 14:53:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8-alpha-59827 https://s.w.org/favicon.ico?2 WordCamp – WordPress News https://wordpress.org/news 32 32 14607090 Shaping Tomorrow at WordCamp Asia 2025 https://wordpress.org/news/2025/02/shaping-tomorrow-at-wordcamp-asia-2025/ Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:04:04 +0000 https://wordpress.org/news/?p=18515 WordCamp Asia 2025 attendees gathered for a group photo

Over 1,400 attendees from 71 countries gathered at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila, and nearly 15,000 more joined online, for WordCamp Asia 2025.

It’s the people. It’s the friendships and the stories.

Matt Mullenweg, WordPress Cofounder

The flagship WordPress event started with a dedicated Contributor Day, followed by two days of engaging talks, panels, hands-on workshops, and networking. Notable guests included WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg and Gutenberg Lead Architect Matías Ventura, who were joined by a diverse lineup of speakers and panelists.

Throughout the event, the sponsor hall buzzed with activity as companies from across the WordPress ecosystem showcased their latest products, engaged with attendees, and offered live demos and giveaways. Each day, attendees refueled with diverse food offerings featuring Filipino favorites, turning meals into a prime networking opportunity where new connections were made and ideas were exchanged.

New Ways to Engage

This year’s event introduced several new programs to the schedule:

  • Solutions Spotlight—a series of dynamic 10-minute lightning talks that gave an inside look at innovative products, cutting-edge strategies, and real-world solutions from top-tier sponsors, all designed to help attendees succeed in the WordPress ecosystem. These fast-paced sessions offered a unique opportunity to discover how leading brands are solving challenges, empowering users, and shaping the future of WordPress.
  • YouthCamp, a dedicated event for kids and teens ages 8-17, offered a full day of free, hands-on sessions designed to spark creativity and introduce the world of WordPress and open source. Through interactive workshops covering web basics, design, and development, participants gained practical skills while exploring the power of building online. 
  • The new Career and Social Corners enhanced networking, fostered meaningful connections, and created new opportunities for those within the WordPress community. Career Corner was the go-to space for attendees exploring career opportunities, connecting with sponsors, and discovering exciting new roles. Meanwhile, Social Corner offered a relaxed, lounge-style environment where attendees could engage in informal discussions over refreshments.

Contributor Day

WordCamp Asia kicked off with an incredible Contributor Day, bringing together almost 800 contributors, many of them new, to collaborate, share knowledge, and give back to WordPress. With 37 dedicated table leads and 16 experts from the Human Library guiding the way, participants of all experience levels engaged in meaningful discussions, tackled important tasks, and made a lasting impact on the WordPress project.

Key contributions included resolving a critical media bug, advancing vertical text editing in Gutenberg, and refining the editing experience with dozens of issue closures. Performance optimizations and accessibility improvements abounded, joined by seven fresh patterns, and over 44,000 newly translated strings.

New tools and workflows were explored to enhance testing and development. The day also saw meaningful conversations between hosting providers and users, improvements to event organizing processes, and hands-on training.

With innovative ideas, new faces, and significant progress across multiple areas, Contributor Day reinforced the spirit of open source collaboration that drives WordPress forward.

The Future is WordPress

On the first full conference day, attendees gathered to celebrate the power of open source collaboration and innovation. Opening remarks from global and local event leads reflected on the incredible journey of WordCamp Asia, tracing its roots back to the first Southeast Asian WordCamp in Manila in 2008. This full-circle moment underscored how the WordPress community has flourished over the years, driven by shared knowledge and a commitment to an open web. The excitement continued with a highly anticipated opening keynote from Matías Ventura, who shared insights into the future of Gutenberg and WordPress, inspiring attendees to embrace the next wave of innovation and creativity in content publishing.

The day then began in earnest. Talks highlighted new ways to integrate WordPress with external applications, opening possibilities for more interactive and scalable digital experiences. Simultaneously, content strategists and marketers explored evolving best practices in SEO, learning how to optimize their sites for visibility, engagement, and long-term growth. These sessions emphasized the importance of adaptability in a constantly evolving digital landscape, ensuring that WordPress users stay ahead of industry trends.

Workshops throughout the day provided hands-on learning experiences tailored to a wide range of skill levels. Developers refined their expertise, gaining practical knowledge they could apply to their own projects. Accessibility advocates led discussions on designing for inclusivity, showcasing strategies to make WordPress-powered websites more navigable and user-friendly for people of all abilities.

As the conference continued into the afternoon, conversations expanded to performance optimization and emerging technologies shaping the future of WordPress. A dedicated session explored AI-driven workflows, demonstrating how artificial intelligence can enhance site performance, automate repetitive tasks, and create more personalized user experiences. These discussions showcased the evolving role of WordPress as a versatile platform that extends beyond traditional publishing.

The first day culminated in a thought-provoking keynote panel, WordPress in 2030, where industry leaders explored the future of the platform. The discussion covered the expanding open source community, emerging technologies, and the role of education and mentorship. Panelists shared their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges ahead, encouraging attendees to actively shape the future of WordPress by contributing, innovating, and advocating for an open web.

Panelists Noel Tock, Hong Phuc Dang, Jon Ang, Courtney Robertson, and Raquel Manriquez discuss WordPress in 2030

Returning for the final day of WordCamp Asia 2025, attendees explored a new set of sessions designed to push the boundaries of web development and strategy. Technical discussions on advanced Gutenberg block development highlighted innovative ways to build more dynamic and interactive content experiences, while another session examined performance optimization strategies to enhance site speed, accessibility, and overall user engagement. Content creators and marketers gained valuable insights into audience growth, effective storytelling, and data-driven content strategies to maximize impact.

The final sessions of the conference reinforced WordPress’s adaptability and innovation, equipping attendees with new skills and strategies.

Q&A

As the final day drew to a close, Matt shared historic photos from WordCamp Davao 2008 in the Philippines, and then answered questions from the audience.

Questions covered a variety of topics, incluiding: publishing on the open web, AI, headless WordPress, education, and Matt’s personal motivations. It was clear throughout the Q&A that the future of WordPress is as bright as the island-themed attire at the event’s after-party.

Closing

Thank you to all the hard-working organizers who made this event possible, the speakers who took the stage, the visitors who ventured to Manila, and everyone who tuned in from around the world. Our hope is that every WordCamp attendee leaves with new knowledge, new friends, and new inspiration to build a better web.

Be sure to mark your calendars for other major WordPress events in 2025: WordCamp Europe (Basel, Switzerland) and WordCamp US (Portland, Oregon, USA). Then join us in Mumbai, India for WordCamp Asia 2026!

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WordCamp Asia 2025: Manila Magic https://wordpress.org/news/2025/02/wordcamp-asia-2025-manila-magic/ Fri, 14 Feb 2025 16:04:45 +0000 https://wordpress.org/news/?p=18482 WordCamp Asia 2025

The first major WordCamp of the year is here! WordCamp Asia 2025 lands in Manila, Philippines, from February 20-22, bringing together open source enthusiasts, developers, and WordPress professionals from across the region—and the world.

With three packed days of learning, networking, and collaboration, this year’s event promises fresh insights, dynamic discussions, and plenty of opportunities to connect.

Solutions spotlight

Throughout the conference days, multiple presentations will focus on the solutions provided by our amazing sponsors. This is a great opportunity to learn more about their initiatives and solutions.

Keynotes, panels, and deep dives

The main conference, which will be held on February 21-22, will feature a lineup of notable keynote speakers, including digital innovation leaders and open-source advocates. Attendees can expect diverse sessions on business strategy, development of best practices, and technical advancements.

For those looking to sharpen their skills, presentations will dive deep into topics like SEO for WordPress, performance optimization, and AI-powered content creation. Plus, don’t miss the electrifying WordPress Speed Build Battle, where developers race to create stunning sites in record time.

YouthCamp

On February 22, WordCamp Asia 2025 will host YouthCamp, a pre-registered event designed to introduce young minds to WordPress and its endless possibilities. This initiative aims to engage the next generation of WordPress users, developers, and contributors through hands-on activities and interactive sessions

Closing Q&A with Matt Mullenweg

WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg will wrap up the event with a live Q&A session on February 22. Whether attending in person or tuning in online, you can catch his insights live on the WordPress YouTube channel at 4:00 p.m. Philippine Time (08:00 UTC).

After party

As the sun sets on WordCamp Asia 2025, the excitement continues with the After Party (theme: Island Vibe)! Get ready to experience the vibrant spirit of the Philippines with a lively gathering at The Forum at PICC. Expect a night filled with great conversations, music, and a celebration of the WordPress community.

Get WordCamp-ready

As always, be part of the conversation! Whether you’re attending in Manila or following along online, share your experiences using #WCAsia and #WordPress.

Manila is calling—see you at WordCamp Asia 2025!

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WP Engine is not WordPress https://wordpress.org/news/2024/09/wp-engine/ Sat, 21 Sep 2024 23:57:40 +0000 https://wordpress.org/news/?p=17786 It has to be said and repeated: WP Engine is not WordPress. My own mother was confused and thought WP Engine was an official thing. Their branding, marketing, advertising, and entire promise to customers is that they’re giving you WordPress, but they’re not. And they’re profiting off of the confusion. WP Engine needs a trademark license to continue their business.

I spoke yesterday at WordCamp about how Lee Wittlinger at Silver Lake, a private equity firm with $102B assets under management, can hollow out an open source community. (To summarize, they do about half a billion in revenue on top of WordPress and contribute back 40 hours a week, Automattic is a similar size and contributes back 3,915 hours a week.) Today, I would like to offer a specific, technical example of how they break the trust and sanctity of our software’s promise to users to save themselves money so they can extract more profits from you.

WordPress is a content management system, and the content is sacred. Every change you make to every page, every post, is tracked in a revision system, just like the Wikipedia. This means if you make a mistake, you can always undo it. It also means if you’re trying to figure out why something is on a page, you can see precisely the history and edits that led to it. These revisions are stored in our database.

This is very important, it’s at the core of the user promise of protecting your data, and it’s why WordPress is architected and designed to never lose anything.

WP Engine turns this off. They disable revisions because it costs them more money to store the history of the changes in the database, and they don’t want to spend that to protect your content. It strikes to the very heart of what WordPress does, and they shatter it, the integrity of your content. If you make a mistake, you have no way to get your content back, breaking the core promise of what WordPress does, which is manage and protect your content.

Here is a screenshot of their support page saying they disable this across their 1.5 million WordPress installs.

They say it’s slowing down your site, but what they mean is they want to avoid paying to store that data. We tested revisions on all of the recommended hosts on WordPress.org, and none disabled revisions by default. Why is WP Engine the only one that does? They are strip-mining the WordPress ecosystem, giving our users a crappier experience so they can make more money.

What WP Engine gives you is not WordPress, it’s something that they’ve chopped up, hacked, butchered to look like WordPress, but actually they’re giving you a cheap knock-off and charging you more for it.

This is one of the many reasons they are a cancer to WordPress, and it’s important to remember that unchecked, cancer will spread. WP Engine is setting a poor standard that others may look at and think is ok to replicate. We must set a higher standard to ensure WordPress is here for the next 100 years.

If you are a customer of “WordPress Engine,” you should contact their support immediately to at least get the 3 revisions they allow turned on so you don’t accidentally lose something important. Ideally, they should go to unlimited. Remember that you, the customer, hold the power; they are nothing without the money you give them. And as you vote with your dollars, consider literally any other WordPress host as WP Engine is the only one we’ve found that completely disables revisions by default.

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WordCamp US 2024: Oregon-a See You There? https://wordpress.org/news/2024/09/wordcamp-us-2024-oregon-a-see-you-there/ Tue, 03 Sep 2024 15:24:34 +0000 https://wordpress.org/news/?p=17653 WordCamp US 2024 rounds out this year’s trio of flagship WordCamps. Starting September 17, open source and WordPress professionals from around the world will touch down in Portland, Oregon, for four days of learning, connecting, and collaborating. 

There’s even more packed into the conference schedule this year, with the collaborative spirit of Contributor Day and the introduction of Showcase Day to kick things off.

New this year: Showcase Day

Showcase Day will spotlight innovative and impactful projects built on WordPress. Through a curated series of presentations, attendees will gain insights into how WordPress drives success across diverse industries, including enterprise-level implementations for clients such as Disney Experiences, The New York Post, CNN Brazil, Vox Media, and Amnesty International.

Keynotes, presentations, and more

Following Showcase Day, two programming days on September 19-20 will feature notable keynote speakers, including OSS Capital Founder Joseph Jacks and TIME CTO Burhan Hamid.

A roster of highly anticipated presenters will also speak on a wide range of WordPress topics, from business strategy to technical insights on WordPress Playground and the Interactivity API. Attendees can learn from case studies across sectors like education and nonprofits and get inspired by the WordPress Speed Build Battle. All the presentations will be live streamed throughout the conference on the WordPress YouTube channel.

A Networking Block will also offer opportunities to connect and explore potential collaborations within the WordPress ecosystem.

Closing session with Matt

WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg will close the conference with a live question-and-answer session. You can watch Matt’s Q&A on September 20, 2024, streaming live on the WordPress YouTube channel starting at 3:45 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (10:45 p.m. UTC).

Need help getting WordCamp-ready? 

Don’t miss any of the action—follow WordPress on X, LinkedIn, or Instagram. And when you’re sharing highlights, tips, videos, and photos from the conference floor, remember to tag #WCUS (and #WordPress) to bring everyone along for the experience.

Whether you’ll be joining us in person in Portland or watching online from elsewhere, we’ll see you very soon!

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Highlights from WordCamp Europe 2024 https://wordpress.org/news/2024/06/highlights-from-wordcamp-europe-2024/ Sat, 15 Jun 2024 21:29:42 +0000 https://wordpress.org/news/?p=17374 2,584 attendees participated in the 12th annual WordPress event in Europe, held at the Lingotto Conference and Exhibition Centre in Torino, Italy.

The Mole Antonelliana building in Torino, illuminated at night to celebrate WordCamp Europe 2024. Photo by Chris Clarke.
The Mole Antonelliana in Torino, illuminated to celebrate WordCamp Europe 2024. Photo by Chris Clarke.

From June 13-15, 2024, WordPress enthusiasts from across the globe gathered in Torino to explore and celebrate the world’s most popular web platform. A dedicated team of 250 volunteers, led by WordCamp veterans Wendie Huis in ‘t Veld, Juan Hernando, and Takis Bouyouris, organized and produced the event.

Impact in Action on Contributor Day

Contributor Day brought together 726 contributors working across 25 teams to support the WordPress project. Their accomplishments included translating 79,059 “strings” for the WordPress user interface across 29 languages, updating documentation for the forthcoming 6.6 release, onboarding new contributors for the support forums and testing teams, and identifying ways to improve plugin security.

Contributors gathering at a table with laptops during WCEU 2024 Contributor Day. Photo by Chris Clarke.
Contributors gathering during WCEU 2024 Contributor Day. Photo by Chris Clarke.

Sustainable open source is the future

Keynote presenters, Joost de Valk and Juliette Reinders Folmer, on state at WCEU. Photo by Fede Padilla.
Keynote presenters, Joost de Valk and Juliette Reinders Folmer. Photo by Fede Padilla.

Joost de Valk and Juliette Reinders Folmer delivered the event’s opening keynote address on sustaining open source software projects. Their keynote covered funding open source, contributing beyond code, and convincing buyers in commercial enterprises that open source is a viable alternative to proprietary platforms.

Two days of engaging sessions

Friday and Saturday saw 60 presentations and workshops held across three tracks. Topics included WordPress development, accessibility, design, business, community, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.

Three presenters seated with their laptops on stage during the Speed Build Session at WCEU. Photo by Roberto Vázquez.
Speed Build Session. Photo by Roberto Vázquez.
Four panellists seated on stage during the Connect Series at WCEU. Photo by Fede Padilla.
Connect Series. Photo by Fede Padilla.

A youth workshop gave younger attendees hands-on opportunities to build WordPress websites, explore new tech, and learn about internet safety. Meanwhile, a wellness-themed track included yoga lessons and walking tours of Torino, encouraging attendees to step away from their screens and explore the beauty of this year’s host city.

Mid-year project update

WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg shared a mid-year project update on WordPress and concluded by fielding questions from the audience on various topics, from Gutenberg Phases to the WordPress Playground, and acknowledging a request to escalate a bug fix.

Matt’s presentation highlighted the success of the contributor mentorship program and WCEU Contributor Day, demoed Translate Live, and shared an update on the Data Liberation initiative. 

Matt also covered the latest innovations with WordPress Playground, highlighted performance gains, and previewed features anticipated in future releases, like rollbacks for auto-updates and zoomed-out view.

WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg on stage at WCEU. Photo by Chris Clarke.
WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg. Photo by Chris Clarke.

Acknowledging an exciting new trend in the WordPress community, Mullenweg discussed “speed build challenges,” where onlookers watch WordPress experts build websites in real-time, showcasing tips, shortcuts, and best practices. One such event took place during a WCEU session, and in the Q&A portion of Matt’s presentation, he was invited to participate in one–an invitation he accepted!

Matt reflected on WordPress reaching its 21st anniversary since he and Mike Little launched the first version in 2003. He shared 11 things to ensure that WordPress remains sustainable for decades to come:

  1. Simple things should be easy and intuitive, and complex things possible.
  2. Blogs and dynamic sites are better.
  3. Documentation should be wiki-easy to edit.
  4. Forums should be front and center.
  5. Plugins and themes with community infrastructure.
  6. Great theme previews and diverse aesthetics.
  7. We can’t over-index for guidelines and requirements.
  8. Feedback loops are so important.
  9. Core should be opinionated and quirky.
  10. If you make WordPress, use WordPress.
  11. Stay close to our end-users
Watch Matt’s project update on the WordPress YouTube channel.

Closing remarks

In their closing remarks, the event organizers expressed gratitude for the endorsements of the European Parliament, the city of Torino, and Turismo Torino, the regional tourism board. The volunteer team was celebrated for their hard work in producing the event. 

Closing out a robust three days of programming, the organizing team announced that WordCamp Europe 2025 would be held in Basel, Switzerland, from June 5 to 7, 2025. The announcement was met with hearty applause and plans to meet in a year’s time.

Attendees gather for a photo at WCEU in Torino. Photo by Nilo Vélez.
Attendees gather for a photo at WCEU in Torino. Photo by Nilo Vélez.

Stay connected

WordPress events enable technologists, open source enthusiasts, and community members around the globe to meet, share ideas, and collaborate to drive WordPress and the open web forward.

Mark your calendars for WordCamp US (Portland, Oregon, United States), State of the Word (Tokyo), and next year’s WordCamp Asia in Manila!


This post is a collaboration between the contributors who produce content for wordpress.org/news and the WordCamp Europe Communications team.

Props to the WCEU photos team for supplying the photos used for this post and to the following contributors for the work reviewing/contributing to this post: @rmartinezduque , @wmjohnston06, @angelasjin, and @cbringmann

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WordCamp Europe 2024: Mid-Year Update and Q&A with Matt Mullenweg https://wordpress.org/news/2024/05/wordcamp-europe-2024-mid-year-update-and-qa-with-matt-mullenweg/ Fri, 31 May 2024 16:45:04 +0000 https://wordpress.org/news/?p=17286 WordCamp Europe 2024 kicks off on June 13, gathering WordPressers from across the globe to Torino, Italy. 

The highly anticipated conference has a packed schedule starting with Contributor Day and will feature a notable roster of speakers. Other highlights will include engaging workshops covering a variety of disciplines (including one for youth and teens) and WordCamp Connect, a dedicated space for attendees to meet and network with additional community-led sessions.

The conference will conclude with an exciting mid-year project update from WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg, including a live Q&A session. You can watch Matt’s presentation on June 15, 2024, streaming live on the WordPress YouTube channel starting at 4:30 p.m. Central European Summer Time (2:30 p.m. UTC).

What: WordPress Project Summer Update + Q&A Session with Matt Mullenweg
When: June 15, 2024 at 2:30 p.m. UTC (Start of live stream)
Where: Lingotto Conference and Exhibition Centre
Streaming: Watch the live stream on the WordPress YouTube channel.

Have a question for Matt?

If you’re unable to attend WordCamp Europe 2024 in person, you’re welcome to email your questions instead. Given the number of questions expected both in-person and online, only some of the submitted questions may be answered live. 

Whether you’re touching down in Torino or streaming from elsewhere, see you very soon!

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Highlights from WordCamp Asia 2024 https://wordpress.org/news/2024/03/highlights-from-wordcamp-asia-2024/ Sat, 09 Mar 2024 13:39:27 +0000 https://wordpress.org/news/?p=17064 Over 1,300 attendees gathered at the Taipei International Convention Center in Taiwan for WordCamp Asia 2024. This three-day event emerged as a vibrant celebration showcasing the collaboration, diversity, and innovation that drive the world’s most popular web platform.

The Asian WordPress flagship event started with a dedicated Contributor Day, followed by two days of engaging talks, panels, hands-on workshops, and networking. Notable guests, including WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg and Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy, joined the diverse lineup of speakers. Popular topics featured cutting-edge web technologies and trends, use cases, open source dynamics, and more. WordPress enthusiasts seized the opportunity to gain insights from international and local industry experts and to learn about the project’s future.

Converting walled gardens into community gardens

On March 8, Josepha Haden Chomphosy took the stage for an insightful journey comparing and contrasting the “walled” and “community” gardens in software ecosystems, drawing an analogy between closed and open source platforms. After exploring both concepts, she posed an important question to the audience.

What would it take for someone to move from a walled garden to a community garden?

Open source software, symbolized by community gardens, represents freedom from copyright restrictions and usage limitations. Unlike proprietary software (described as walled gardens), the core value lies in long-term empowerment, giving people control and ownership of their digital presence.

Acknowledging the longstanding values held by WordPress and its open source community for two decades, Josepha focused on the importance of caring for foundations that make us strong, managing what distracts us, and nurturing growth by embracing new opportunities. She celebrated the strengths of the WordPress community and how its shared ethos furthers a thriving ecosystem.

Slide from Josepha Haden Chomphosy's presentation showing colorful flowers on a blue background and the quote, "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow" by Audrey Hepburn.

Quoting artist and activist Audrey Hepburn, Josepha expressed that, much like a community garden, the power of contributions—whether through time, knowledge, or product use— sustains and maintains shared spaces like WordPress.

In the Q&A portion of her presentation, Josepha addressed inquiries about community involvement and contributions. Highlighted resources included the WordPress job board for opportunities within the ecosystem and the Data Liberation project, emphasizing its role in fostering a more open web and helping the transition out of proprietary platforms.

Q&A with Matt Mullenweg

WordCamp Asia concluded with a live audience Q&A session featuring WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg. Attendees gained insights into the future of WordPress, including ongoing projects like Data Liberation, community inclusion initiatives, artificial intelligence (AI), and more.

The atmosphere was filled with excitement when Matt revealed that this year’s State of the Word will take place in Tokyo, Japan, on December 16, 2024.

Additional questions from this session will be addressed in an upcoming post on the Make WordPress Project blog.

Stay connected

WordPress events enable technologists, open source enthusiasts, and community members around the globe to meet, share ideas, and collaborate to drive WordPress and the open web forward.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for WordCamp Europe (Torino, Italy), WordCamp US (Portland, Oregon, United States), and next year’s WordCamp Asia in Manila, Philippines!

Thank you to the WordCamp Asia organizers, volunteers, and sponsors who made this event possible, and to @angelasjin, @dansoschin, @eidolonnight, @bjmcsherry for collaborating on this post.

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WordCamp Asia 2024: Q&A with Matt Mullenweg https://wordpress.org/news/2024/03/wordcamp-asia-2024-qa-with-matt-mullenweg/ Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:50:16 +0000 https://wordpress.org/news/?p=17015 WordCamp Asia 2024

WordCamp Asia 2024 is just a few days away—starting on March 7 in Taipei, Taiwan. This unique three-day summit will feature a distinguished lineup of speakers, numerous networking opportunities, and a closing Q&A experience with WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg. The live Q&A session will be streamed for WordPress enthusiasts worldwide, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Taipei Standard Time (7:30 a.m. UTC) on Saturday, March 9, 2024.

Watch the event live stream on the WordPress YouTube channel or visit the event website for more details.

What: Q&A Session with Matt Mullenweg
When: March 9, 2024 at 7:30 a.m. UTC (Start of live stream)
Where: Taipei International Convention Center
Streaming: Watch the live stream on the WordPress YouTube channel.

Have a question for Matt?

If you want to participate, please submit your question via Slido from March 7 until about 6:00 a.m. UTC on Friday, March 8. Slido is now closed.

Given the expected volume of submitted questions, only some will be answered live, while others will be covered in a follow-up post published after the event on make.wordpress.org/project.

See you in-person and online on March 7!

谢谢!


Thank you to @rmartinezduque, @eidolonnight, @cbringmann, and @bjmcsherry for reviewing this post.

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The Future of WordPress & What’s Next for Gutenberg https://wordpress.org/news/2023/08/the-future-of-wordpress-whats-next-for-gutenberg/ Sun, 27 Aug 2023 04:50:28 +0000 https://wordpress.org/news/?p=15879 Nearly 2,000 attendees gathered for two days of keynotes, sessions, and community-building conversations at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in the largest attended WordCamp US ever. Saturday’s sessions concluded with back-to-back keynotes by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy

What’s Next for WordPress

Josepha launched her keynote by celebrating 20 years of WordPress and reflecting on its journey from a blogging tool to the world’s most popular community-driven web platform. On WordPress as a platform for empowerment and change, Josepha shared, “The more people that know about WordPress, the more people can access the incredible opportunities that WordPress can provide.” And that sustaining the platform for future generations ensures these opportunities will persist. She added, “We exist for as long as people want to use our software.”

The community is the key to sustaining WordPress, and Josepha touched on the importance of WordCamps, workshops, and events that create value, promote inclusivity,  and spark inspiration. WordPress can be a catalyst for positive change in the life of a contributor, end user, or site builder.

Concluding her keynote, Josepha asked the audience to think about the story they’d want to tell about themselves and their time in WordPress; and the story they would want WordPress to tell the world.

What’s Next for Gutenberg

Matt began his keynote with a touch of nostalgia, referring to a comment on his personal blog in 2003 by WordPress Co-founder Mike Little, and then looked ahead to the most recent release, WordPress 6.3. As this year’s largest release, it includes new features such as the Command Palette, a quick way (⌘+k on Mac or Ctrl+k on Windows) to search your site and access common commands.

WordPress 6.3 Lionel

Matt continued, “WordPress never rests, so right around the corner is WordPress 6.4 on Nov 7… with some cool new features.” He shared that 6.4, like 5.6, will be an underrepresented gender-led release. A new default theme, Twenty Twenty-Four, is tailored for entrepreneurs and small businesses, photographers and artists, and writers and bloggers. Additionally, 6.4 will feature integrated font management and Image block options to expand single images for optimal viewing.

Looking further into the future, Matt highlighted Phase 3 of the Gutenberg project, which will focus on workflows and collaboration, “moving WordPress from a single-player to a multi-player tool.” In that spirit of collaboration, a new #LMS working group will also bring WordPress learning management systems together to improve the web standards for courses and learning content.

Beyond Phase 3, Matt shared thoughts about what it means to support WordPress many years from now. A new 100-Year Plan from WordPress.com is an exploration into long-term planning for your online presence. He encouraged attendees to be inspired by the region’s history, reflecting on what it would mean to honor the past while anticipating and planning for the future. 

Q&A

A Q&A session followed the keynotes, with questions submitted by the in-person audience and live stream viewers.

Additional questions will be answered in a future post on make.WordPress.org/project/. Join the global community making WordPress and be part of our journey toward a brighter future!

Thank you to @angelasjin, @bmcsherry, @cbringmann, @dansoschin, and @eidolonnight for collaborating on this post.

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Twenty Years of WordPress at WCEU https://wordpress.org/news/2023/06/twenty-years-of-wordpress-at-wceu/ Sat, 10 Jun 2023 22:21:51 +0000 https://wordpress.org/news/?p=15167 Inspiring the global community

The atmosphere was electric at WordCamp Europe (WCEU) 2023 in Athens, Greece, as WordPress celebrated its 20th anniversary and the opportunity to gather in person for inspiration and engagement. More than 2,500 individuals from 94 countries came together in person or through the live stream to participate in a remarkable three-day event (plus Contributor Day) filled with talks, networking, and learning opportunities. The event concluded on June 10 with a captivating keynote address by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and Gutenberg Product Architect Matías Ventura, who highlighted the advancements and upcoming milestones of the WordPress Project.

One significant update shared during the keynote was the successful reactivation of WordCamps. This time last year, we organized eight in-person WordCamps, and by the end of 2022, the number had risen to 23. Thanks to the enthusiasm and involvement of the WordPress community, we are already on track to organize 25 WordCamps in the first half of this year alone. 

Josepha also emphasized the importance of the upcoming Community Summit on August 22-23. This in-person gathering brings contributors together across the WordPress open source project, fostering cross-project discussions vital for future growth and sustainability. For more information, visit the official Community Summit website.

Total contributors: 7788 (737 new)
Contributors pledged to 5ftF: 780 (95 new)
152 companies total with confirmed contributors (30 new)

Discussing the Five for the Future (5ftF) program, Josepha highlighted the impressive growth in active contributors and company pledges over the past year. She also underscored the expansion of the WordPress ecosystem, citing examples like Openverse, which now provides access to nearly 800 million images and audio files, all easily accessible in the Site Editor. 

Another exciting addition to the WordPress repertoire is WP Playground. This new feature allows users to build WordPress applications instantly in the browser without needing a PHP server. This tool provides a swift and seamless experience, reducing the installation time from five minutes to a near-instantaneous 500 milliseconds. The application of WP Playground may seem like magic, but its practical application promises tangible and revolutionary benefits for WordPress users.

Matías Ventura then took the stage to share updates on Gutenberg. Through a visually stunning video built entirely with blocks, he showcased the six-year development journey and the transition from words to blocks to a final design. The upcoming WordPress version 6.3 will mark the completion of the first two phases of Gutenberg, consolidating all these features into a cohesive and user-friendly experience. He also highlighted the introduction of features such as the Wayfinder tool, Style Book, and the ability to save patterns, further empowering users to own their web presence and voice.

Following the keynote presentation, the WordPress leadership engaged in a lively Q&A session with the audience, further illustrating the continuous evolution within the WordPress Project. This session highlighted how the WordPress community innovates, iterates, and continually improves to create a better platform for today and tomorrow.

Join the global community and be part of the WordPress journey toward a brighter future!

Special thanks to @cbringmann and @eidolonnight for review and collaboration.

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