Podcasts about wordcamp us

Introducing Russell Aaron I didn't learn WordPress at a fancy college or career academy. I graduated from the University of YouTube. My internship was the Las Vegas WordPress Meetup and WordCamp Vegas. The rest I learned building mortgage company platforms, working for casinos, inside managed WordPress hosts, and at some of the best WordPress development and support shops on the planet. Show Notes For more on Russell, check out his website: https://russellenvy.com Transcript: Topher DeRosia: All right. Here we go. Hey folks. Russell Aaron: And three, two, one. Topher DeRosia: Hey folks. Welcome to Hallway Chats. I’m Topher, and I’m here with Russell Aaron. I assume I pronounced that right, because it’s not that hard, but you never know. Russell Aaron: You know, so many people call me Aaron. They’ll tag me and they go, “Thanks, Aaron.” And I’m like, “You know, it’s Russell, but it’s cool.” Topher DeRosia: Yeah, nice. All right. Well, I saw a post on LinkedIn the other day from you talking about podcasts having the same people on episodes all the time. I thought, “Oh, I gotta have that guy on my podcast.” Because then you can’t go on any other ever again, because then you’ll be that guy. Russell Aaron: Maybe. Topher DeRosia: So, I snooped a little. You live much closer to me than I expected. Have we met? Did we meet at a WordCamp? Russell Aaron: I think we met at WordCamp Ann Arbor one year. Topher DeRosia: Oh, okay. I went to a whole bunch of those. Russell Aaron: Yeah. I think I spoke 2018, something like that. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. I was probably there. Russell Aaron: Yeah. Topher DeRosia: All right. So tell me where you live, what you do, all that kind of stuff. Russell Aaron: I currently reside in Indianapolis, Indiana, and I am just freelancing as of right now. You know, I live in a pretty small town where it’s kind of old school WordPress, if you will. Anyone who is worth their salt keys will remember a day when websites were not responsive or a business has a cousin of a friend of a brother who builds websites and, “Hey, he’s working on it,” and three years later, there’s still no new website. I kind of live in a town where I’m kind of getting back to my grassroots, where I stay up late at night with my insomnia, and I will roll up to a business and I will say, “Your new website can look like this today. If you pay me this much money, I will install it today, and this is your new website.” And it’s got your updated menu, and it’s responsive, and it works on mobile, and we can connect it to AppPresser and make it an app and stuff like that. So I’m kind of reliving the glory days of what I remember WordPress to be. Topher DeRosia: I’m also freelancing right now, sort of by choice, sort of not by choice. Somebody I’m married to would rather I had regular pay and insurance. Russell Aaron: Heard that. Topher DeRosia: Are you in the same boat, or did you do this on purpose? Russell Aaron: I did this on purpose. I was not working for the man, but I was working with some people. I’m over the tiny little granular things that somebody can fire you over. Like they’re watching if your mouse moves or they’re watching if you haven’t logged in. There’s just no more trust, I feel like, in so many cases. And so I know that I can do things better on my own, and I’m going to. Topher DeRosia: I have to admit, I love the freelance life. It is pretty special. Russell Aaron: Right. It’s almost like… what’s that movie? The 40-Year-Old Virgin, where they are making a website and they’re like, “Hey, Spider-Man 3’s on in five minutes. Let’s go watch it.” Like they totally ignore their job and they just go watch this movie now. It’s kind of like that. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Yeah. For me, it’s doing stuff with my wife. She has a day job, but it has kind of chaotic hours and not specific days of the week. And so I work when she does, which sometimes is Saturday and Sunday, and then I just don’t on Tuesday and Thursday. That’s pretty great. Russell Aaron: I’m kind of in the same boat. My wife has a wonderful job, and she is with a great group, and she does global advocacy. I mean, she just deals with people that are happy with the product, and she keeps them happy. She does lots of stuff like that. I’m kind of the same thing, where their company is now starting to get into AI, and they have so many questions, and I’m over here building things with AI and doing things like that. So I’m not exactly consulting, but my ideas are going into their company through my wife. Topher DeRosia: My wife works at a grocery store, and they have a cash machine they use in the back office that runs Linux. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow Topher DeRosia: And the IT guys had to come in and do some work on it, and she saw the screen and she’s like, “Oh, is that Linux?” And I’m like, “Who are you, and what do you know?” Super nerd. So what’s your company name? Do you have one, or is it just WP Pro Support? Russell Aaron: WP Pro Support. Topher DeRosia: WP Pro Support. Okay. Do you concentrate more on support, or do you build more? Russell Aaron: I have been doing support since 2011. I formed my very first support company, and I launched it the same day that Shane Sanderson launched Maintainn. My buddy, who you might know, John Hawkins, I was at the Vegas WordPress Meetup Group, and I had the idea in Vegas WordPress Meetup Group where there’s 70 people sitting right here behind me and they all want help. And I was like, “How do I do this?” So I built my first thing where I gave everybody free-for-life support, and they were my test group, if you will. And they helped me work out my bugs and tickets, and they helped me work out how I actually operate and do stuff like that. Then when I launched it, literally that day, John goes, “Wait, have you seen this?” And we had no idea about each other, but we literally launched them the same day. Fast forward three years down the road, I ended up working for Maintainn when it was owned by WebDevStudios. But everything I’ve done in WordPress has been support, whether I’ve worked for a mortgage company, a casino in Vegas, hosting with Liquid Web, doing stuff with NerdPress or AppPresser. Everything I’ve done is support. That’s really where my passion is because I remember what it’s like being a first timer. I think that there is a huge market potential here of people are always going to be new. I don’t care who you are. There’s always somebody new walking in the door, and there has to be a person who will sit down and say, “Come here, I’ll hold your hand.” And I am that person. I always try to look at WordPress from that lens is if a new person is looking at this today, are they going to be happy? Are they going to be confused? And I go from there. So currently today I’m transitioning away from support as we know it, where you write a ticket and then somebody on the other end is like, “Hey, I fixed your site,” or whatever. And I’m transitioning to a new product that I’m working on. So I’m going to be getting away from traditional support, but I’m still going to be doing things in the support space, if that makes sense. Topher DeRosia: Yeah, that makes sense. When I first got into WordPress, it was 2010, and custom post types were brand new. Russell Aaron: Right? Topher DeRosia: And I was out of my element with WordPress. I did not know what I was doing, but I did know PHP, and no one else knew post types yet. So when it comes to that, I was on an equal footing, and that was my way in. That was my leverage. I made a lot of money in the early days just building custom post types. Russell Aaron: Custom post types and single-posttype.php or whatever. Yeah. Topher DeRosia: So I was a competent PHP guy who didn’t know WordPress. And I feel like we’re in kind of the same transition space right now with AI, where we have tons of competent WordPressers who don’t really know AI yet. I think there’s a great space for that, teaching our friends, teaching everybody we’ve known for 10 years in WordPress. You know what I mean? Russell Aaron: I do. That’s one of the things that I really love about WordPress is that… let’s take the new 7.0 that just came out, I think it re-leveled the playing field. Before this came out, there were people that were ahead of others when it comes to patterns or blocks or the command palette and stuff like that. But now I think with this, we’re back to an even playing field because every… I mean, not exactly. There’s still some people who know AI a lot better than others, but you’re always five minutes ahead of somebody and five minutes behind somebody else. Topher DeRosia: Oh, yeah. Russell Aaron: But I do think that with 7.0, a new level playing field has come out. And now is the time to start learning, or you got to wait until 7.1 comes out where that new level playing field comes out. But that’s what I love about WordPress is that it continues to happen. Like you said, CPTs. I still love CPTs. I think they’re one of my favorite things. I look at all of these features, you know, page builders, another time when the playing field was leveled again. Now you learn page builders and then shortcodes and then this and then that. I think that’s the one gift that WordPress keeps giving is that you might be out of date six months from now, but then 7.1 comes out and you’re caught right back up. Topher DeRosia: Right. Yeah. And while you’re five minutes ahead, you quick do a WordCamp talk. Russell Aaron: Yes. Yeah. Topher DeRosia: For that long, you know more than other people, right? Russell Aaron: At least it’s on video, right? Topher DeRosia: Right. I was an expert for a minute and a half. Russell Aaron: That was my 15 minutes of fame. Topher DeRosia: What is your WordCamp life like these days? When was the last one you went to? Russell Aaron: The last one I went to was in Vegas, 2018. It was at the Plaza Hotel, which I worked at. When John was putting that together, in Vegas we had a wonderful space, and it was called The Innevation Center, and it was at a data facility called Switch. And they donated so much to us, and we are so grateful to them. And then they kind of had a change in their policy where they weren’t doing things, and then they overpriced how much it would cost to hold events and stuff like that. I was working at a hotel, and so we had this giant convention space, if you will. And so because I was able to pull some strings, we got a great, great discount, all food paid for. I mean, all of it. So that was my last WordCamp. The after party was on top of a pool deck, and there was pickleball courts, and there was a pool, and there was an open bar. I mean, it was rad. That was my last one. I have kids now. My kids are seven and eight and so my WordPress travels have slowed. No, I’m sorry. I take it back. WordCamp US last year was my last one, where we went scorched earth. That’s what I call it. I call it WordCamp scorched earth. Topher DeRosia: I was there for that one. I used to go to a lot every year. Go to- Russell Aaron: Five, six? Topher DeRosia: Five and 10. But since COVID, I think maybe just US every year. It’s weird to just go to one. Russell Aaron: It is. And just US, it’s almost like we used to have what I used to call regional events, where I lived in Vegas, I would hit up WordCamp Orange County, then I’d hit up San Diego, then we’d hit up LA, and then we’d make our way up to Portland, and then maybe if San Francisco did one, and then Phoenix. I did all my regional stuff. And then every once in a while I would venture… I mean, I love WordCamp Minneapolis. Love the people up there. Love so much about that event. Used to do that a lot. What’s the one in Ohio that I used to go to? Topher DeRosia: In the teens, there were five in Ohio. And being in Michigan, I used to just cruise down there. Russell Aaron: It’s a three-hour, three-and-a-half-hour drive, huh? Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: About that. Yeah. Topher DeRosia: At the time, I was working for a company that was paying me to go to WordCamps. I had to make the case for each one, but it was a really simple case for all the Ohio ones because I didn’t need a plane ticket. I just drive over there. It’s like five in Ohio. There was Ann Arbor, there was Detroit, there was Grand Rapids, there was Chicago. I mean, there was almost 10 WordCamps within a three-hour drive of me. Russell Aaron: That’s beautiful. Topher DeRosia: It’s just not there anymore. Russell Aaron: I was very fortunate to work for companies like WebDevStudios, where I could tell them, “Hey, I got into WordCamp Minneapolis. I’m going to speak there.” And because I’m speaking there, they would reimburse me X amount of dollars for something, and then they would sponsor the WordCamp, and then they would make a thing out of it. I mean, I was very fortunate in being able to do that. Then I worked with a really great company called NerdPress, and they are a fantastic group of people that do the same thing. And then I ventured out into different straits, and it was very much different. I’ll say that much. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Those are good times. Russell Aaron: It’s almost like… the way that I put it is it’s like we all graduated. We all did our four years of college, we all graduated, and now we went to our temp jobs or we went to our internships. Like the band broke up. Topher DeRosia: Yep. Yeah, it is a lot like that. I have seen generations of WordPressers. There was all the crew before 2010 that were downloading zip files and hacking themes to even get them to run. Then there was after 2010, and custom post types were new and stuff. And then there’s the whole Gutenberg generation that never experienced all that crazy theme stuff. Russell Aaron: I mean, you tell people that child themes were so new that people didn’t even grasp the concept of a child theme, and today it’s so baked in. It’s not even something that people think about. It’s just you install this and the child theme, and it’s a thing. But I remember writing those by hand. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. No kidding. Then to a certain extent, not even having child themes anymore because nothing is stored on the file system. Russell Aaron: I love it. I love it. In my very first WordCamp talk in Vegas 2012, I made a prediction that everything was powered by the theme. Everything used to… I mean, that’s as far as I go back is every template was the same. It was left column, right sidebar, header, and every page, whether you liked it or not, looked like a blog post. And it wasn’t full-width, responsive. I remember a lot of that. And then corporate themes came out, and then cupcake themes came out, then lawn company themes came out, and then the rise of Envato and stuff like that. That’s a good name for a band, The Rise of Envato. Topher DeRosia: I’d go see them. Russell Aaron: But all that stuff comes out. And then you look at it now and it’s like, that seems so far away. I still remember the day that I learned about child themes, and I’ve never forgotten that. And I think, coming back full circle, that’s why I stay in this beginner support space because I’m kind of keeping that nostalgia around, I guess. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. There’s a lot of joy in watching people’s eyes light up when they get it. Russell Aaron: That’s the best part is just telling people what’s possible. When they’re frustrated with something and you go, “Oh, hey, Gravity Forms can do that.” And they’re like, “Wait, what?” And I’m like, “Yeah.” And they can also do… And I just start naming stuff. And I show all 50 extensions that they have and they’re just like, “Wait, what?” And I’m like, “Yeah.” I’m like, “This starts getting radical when you’re into it.” Topher DeRosia: There’s something I miss from old WordPress that I don’t see in modern WordPress. It might not be a thing. And that is dramatic new styling with a theme the instant you install it. My wife is not a computer person and does not care about computers. She loves design stuff. There was a time we used Winamp. Russell Aaron: Wow. Topher DeRosia: And she loved getting skins for Winamp. And she would download 30 in a day and try them all out. And then when I set her up for the blog the first time and showed her the theme repo on .org, this is in 2011, she would literally spend a day just downloading theme after theme after theme. Russell Aaron: Same way. Topher DeRosia: And you just install it and poof, your site looks amazingly different. These days, I mean, you install something like Kadence or GeneratePress or Ollie or any of them, really, and it’s kind of a blank canvas. Russell Aaron: It’s very minimalist. It’s very minimalist. Topher DeRosia: I miss the ability to say, “I feel like making a change today,” and two minutes later, your site looks completely different because you’re using… Russell Aaron: Couldn’t agree more. Couldn’t agree more. I mean, I look back at old pictures from when I would host the meetup group in Vegas, and there’s pictures of me talking, and then on the screen behind me is my old site, and it was this old layout. I bought the theme from Envato because I was just fascinated with it. It was everything that I wanted it to look like. But same thing is now when you change your theme from this one to that one, that dark grunge kind of thing is gone, and now you’ve got this bootstrap-looking thing or whatever. I agree with you. I think that comes from my days of being in MySpace. That’s how I got started with all this. So you could change your MySpace template like that, and I think that’s where it comes from, at least for me. Topher DeRosia: I haven’t even looked into it. Can you make a Gutenberg-based blog theme that has a very striking look and just release it? And then, I don’t know, just release a whole bunch of them like in the old days? Theme shops had 35 themes for sale, and they all looked different because they were all totally different themes. Russell Aaron: I remember there was a day on Envato where it was the same theme, it was just rebranded. So it was like theme name 1.0, and it was called Atlas. And then it’s the same theme but in orange, and now it’s 1.2, and it’s called Dungeon or something. And then we have 1.3 again. Same theme, same framework, but each version was named something different. It made that developer look like they had five different products instead of just one over and over. Now you look at something like a page builder, and it’s like, “We’ve got 500 different templates in one thing.” I can’t do that. I think that’s too much for me. Topher DeRosia: It’s like the days of the CSS Zen Garden. Russell Aaron: Right. Topher DeRosia: HTML is the same, CSS changes. Before I used WordPress, I built my own blog system. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow. Topher DeRosia: It never got super advanced, but I used it for 10 years. One of the things you can do in your HTML is register alternate stylesheets. It’s the same tag, it’s just an alternate word in there. And then in Firefox, at least, you can go under “view Page Style”, and they would all be listed there, and you can just choose different themes. I figured out the JavaScript, even though I didn’t know JavaScript. I figured out the JavaScript to make a little dropdown box in my sidebar so my visitors could say, “Oh, I want to change my theme here.” I never figured out how to do that in WordPress because everything was so tied to style.css. I didn’t know how to make a different one be the main one. But that’s something else I miss in WordPress is the ability to just so dramatically and dynamically change your design because your content is structured so well. Russell Aaron: You know, not only that, but I really liked the websites where there was a demo, and then it gave you a basic username. The username was demo, the password was demo. But then the one thing I never figured out was how every 24 hours the site would just reset. So somebody can go in there and they could do whatever they wanted to do. They could create their own pages. They could create their own blog posts. And for 24 hours, there was a page called Russell’s Awesome. But then after 24 hours, it would just reset. I always thought that was so cool, but I could never figure out how to do that. Topher DeRosia: Oh, yeah. And everybody was editing all at the same time, within that 24-hour period. Russell Aaron: I have since restructured my website. I use the block theme from WebDevStudios. I kind of feel like that’s where I got my education from. I was somebody who kind of dabbled around in WordPress, and then when I went to go work with them for three years, they had a set of standards that I couldn’t even fathom to begin with. But then as we built things and I saw how their machine works, how their business revolves, I was like, “You know, for me, this is the way that I like to do things, is the way that they like to do things.” And so my new website… I mean, not new website, but it’s my new theme, I actually had AI build it for me. I had Claude. I was using… It’s by ThemeIsle. Neve. I was using Neve, one of my favorite themes. Love them. So I was using that, and then my site was kind of all over the place. It was an “I’ll teach you how to do this”. That’s kind of the main focus of my site is I will jump on a call with you, and whatever questions you have, I’ll sit here for five hours with you if you want. I will teach you and until you get it. But then I also had this section about band names that were just… earlier when we were talking about the rise of Envato, you know, like I would have a section on my blog where you could create a new band name and then I had all these random blog posts. And so my website was kind of like this potluck, if you will, just like this random stuff. And I was like, you know, I want to be doing something else. I think my website needs to change. And I have those old blog posts still, but they’re hidden. So now with my new theme, I had AI look at my old site and say, this is what I think we should do. I picked out some colors and over like five days, I had it build me five different HTML pages, like completely different, you know? And then I started giving AI and I said like, “Okay, I want to look like this.” And then I was like, well, okay, I like this and I like this, but I also like this from this other site.” So I started feeding it information and like when the HTML came out, I had 12 different templates. I had my blog posts, I had my archive, but I had everything built in HTML. And the cool thing about the WDS block theme is that it serves everything as an HTML page. So I literally just took AI and said, “Take these HTML pages, bake them into how this theme does it,” and bam, my site came up. I had it done in maybe two days. Topher DeRosia: Wow. Russell Aaron: And then after that, I had it take all of those HTML pages and create me patterns. So now I can go in, and when I go into my full site editor, I can go to patterns, I have all my homepage patterns, my blog patterns, I sliced everything up, and they’re all WordPress native blocks. So I can literally go in and change the coloring on any page I want instead of having to edit the HTML or anything. And now that I have that, I feel this sense of freedom where I’m not worrying about an update coming tomorrow, if my update is gonna break or I don’t have to read a changelog that is not specific anymore. I can’t stress how much I love not having to read changelogs or the lack of changelogs. I mean, I’m fully happy with how things have come out. And over time, I’m gonna keep fine-tuning it, but I’m pretty much where I’m at right now. With all of this new technology that’s come out, I’ve really kind of found my love again for WordPress. I was kind of in a slump where I just wasn’t really doing anything. Now I take my son and we’ll drive down to Louisville, Kentucky. He rides BMX. So while he’s racing, I will literally have Claude Code open on my computer and I will log into the Claude app on my phone and I can keep sitting there having the same conversation. So this new thing that I’m building, I can still do it while I’m sitting there watching him race or while I’m doing something else. I was just like, this is fantastic. And then my wife will drive home and I’ll just sit there and I talk into my phone, I literally put the microphone on and I’ll be like, “You know, I don’t like that. And here’s my thoughts about this.” And you know, my phone dictates all of that and then I send it to my computer through the app and it just keeps spinning things up. Then by the time I get home, I have a new version that I can demo or I have a new version that I can test. I mean, I am just so fascinated by it. Topher DeRosia: That’s cool. Were we at WebDev at the same time? Russel Aaron: I don’t think so. Topher DeRosia: I was there just over three years ago. Russel Aaron: I was there 2015 through 2018. Topher DeRosia: Oh, yeah. I came much later. I was only there for like two months. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow. Sometimes that’s the way it goes. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. They were gonna get a big contract that hired a bunch of people and two months later didn’t get the contract and let us all go. Russell Aaron: As much as I hate that, that also taught me that the people that do great work or the people that show up every day and are putting in more than they’re getting out, those are usually the people that stay in companies like that. That really changed my work ethic. I used to be somebody who wanted to be not lazy, but I didn’t wanna be pressed for time or having to go, go, go and having to be on all the time. Now, I’m the opposite. Now, I’m like, now that I’ve done that, I kind of earn for that stretch for a little bit. I mean, you were just saying that how you’ve transitioned to where you are. I was watching a Barstool Sports interview with a guy who runs a pizza shop in… it’s either New Jersey or New York. The guy’s only open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And he’s only open nine to six or something like that. And he built that business… well, it’s been in his family for like 60 years or something. He has one of the last original pizza ovens ever. But anyways, the point is, is that he lives at the pizza place, that’s where his entire life is, but he built the business around his life. I’m doing the same thing where if I wanna literally go jump on my bike right now and go for a two-mile ride, I’m gonna go do that. And I don’t have to feel like, hey, you’re not logged in and we’re not tracking your mouse. Like what’s happening? How come you’re not on Slack? You know what I mean? I’m not tied down to that. And I can’t stress that enough of like, that is where I wanna be. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Yeah, it is a good life. We are at about the time to wrap it up. Okay. So I’m gonna do that. Where do you hang out online? Russel Aaron: Where do I hang out online? Topher DeRosia: Are you in any common WordPress Slacks? Russel Aaron: I’m on the main WordPress Slack sometimes. I tend to watch more than I do involve anymore. A long time ago, I used to be very vocal and I used to be not afraid to walk in to a room guns blazing. With the big cultural shift that happened in WordPress, I tend to just sit back now and be more self-reserved. So I post on my website, russellenvy.com. I’m on LinkedIn. I’ve been utilizing Reddit a lot too. I think for me, Reddit is a place where I kind of disagree with the fact that you can hide behind a pseudonym, but I do like the brutal honesty that people will have because they are hiding behind something and they will say, dude, this flat out sucks. Or they’ll be like, Hey, this is great, but it would be cool if, or somebody can be like, “Hey, that already exists. You’re not doing anything new.” I do like that. Because it kind of not puts me in my place, but it shows me either how connected or disconnected I am to what I think I’m doing. And so Reddit is a very great place. I mean, everything is russellenvy.com except for Twitter or X, whatever you want to call it. Topher DeRosia: All right, cool. Russel Aaron: Where do you hang out at? Topher DeRosia: I am in probably 40 slacks, but the vast majority of them, I don’t look at. I’m there so that someone can ping me. I’m in a couple of slacks in India. Okay. I’m in the WordPress Italian community Slack. Russel Aaron: That’s interesting. Topher DeRosia: Post status make, of course there’s a hero press Slack. I have my own company Slack, my local meetup has a Slack. There’s just a lot of them. I wouldn’t say I’m super active on any of them. I just occasionally interact with somebody. I use my own company Slack to invite my clients in when we talk there. Russel Aaron: Right. Do you find yourself reading things more than, you know… from the outsider looking in, I post a lot and it looks like I post a lot… I mean, especially on LinkedIn, but I’m always consuming more than I’m posting. Do you find yourself doing that? Like where you’re… maybe not keeping up with the trades anymore, but like, you know… I used to read maybe 1,500 blog posts a week and then… what was that service where you could like save…? I used to have a service where you could save articles and then that way, late at night, I would just read, you know, maybe 10 or 15 of them a night. But now I look at things like Reddit where I see… I just look at somebody who’s going on there and asking for help. Again, it’s a standard WordPress person that, hey, I’m new to this, I don’t know how, and I’m looking at it and I’m just like, how can we make that better? That’s kind of where I’m at these days. Topher DeRosia: I don’t read a whole lot in Slack. It really is for my convenience. I’m pretty active with my RSS reader. I follow a lot of stuff. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow. Topher DeRosia: Because I don’t wanna go chase it all down all over the internet. So, you know, there’s that. I’m on LinkedIn a fair amount, Facebook a little bit. I’m on Mastodon and Blue Sky mostly just to post stuff. It’s funny, I have more followers… No, let me say it this way. Mastodon, I have the fewest followers, but the most engagement from those followers. Russell Aaron: Isn’t that interesting? Topher DeRosia: Yeah, I’ll post something and I’ll get some favorites or reposts or whatever. Blue Sky, I get almost nothing at all, despite the fact that I have like a thousand followers there. Russell Aaron: But Blue Sky is a community that is fast-moving. I almost compare it to anything Meta has, which is you can post today right now and in three minutes you’re 785 posts down. That’s what I really love about Reddit is that I posted something about this AI team that I’m building that I give away for free on GitHub, and so for like five days, I was the number two post on that subreddit. And the volume that I saw from that. I mean, Reddit really loves human writing. If you go in there, you post something that somewhat seemingly might suggest that you had AI do anything with it, they will just downvote it. But if you write original and you write from the heart and stuff, like your stuff skyrockets there. I’ve learned a lot from Reddit because of that. Topher DeRosia: That’s really cool. Russell Aaron: It’s interesting. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. All right, well, thanks for chatting with me. Russell Aaron: Thank you for the time. Topher DeRosia: And now you can’t be on anybody else’s podcast. Russell Aaron: I’m actually starting my own, sir. Topher DeRosia: Are you? All right. Russell Aaron: I have, like you said, the reason why we started this is because you saw something from me that says, “I’m tired of the indie circuit,” if you will. I put out a LinkedIn post, I don’t know, maybe a month ago at this point and I asked people if they wanted to be on a show. So I have WP Roundtable. I got that from Kyle Mahler, a person who I love in WordPress more than I can express. One of the best people on the planet, I feel like. I was thinking about starting that up again, because we don’t have WP Watercooler anymore. We don’t have anything like that. That’s kind of where I got my start from. But again, I also identify that that’s kind of the problem is that every Monday or Friday I was on a show and I was one of the people that you would see constantly. And so I was sitting there thinking and I was like, what doesn’t the space have? What kind of show do I wanna watch? Because I don’t watch shows when they come out, do you? Topher DeRosia: No. Russell Aaron: I always watch them maybe four weeks down the road at like 2:30 in the morning when I have nothing going on. And by that point, the information is almost stale. I mean, the way that anything works these days. And there’s a few that I might watch maybe within 48 hours of coming out, but at this point, there is something… a new idea that myself and… the guy’s actually an automatician. And so it’s actually kind of interesting because we don’t wanna say anything that would put him in a position to where he’s saying something bad about the company he works for, but I’m also the person where I get to say something to the person who works at Automattic to maybe incite some change. So we are working on something like that, but it’s not going to be an interview show. It is not going to be something where you tune it out or you put it on a 2.5 playback speed just to get through it. You know what I mean? And that’s really what the emphasis of my post was about is that so many of the interviews go that way. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Are you familiar with wppodcasts.com? Russell Aaron: Yes. Topher DeRosia: Okay, good. So when you get it started up, submit it there. Russell Aaron: That’s a place. I’m very fascinated by Gary Vaynerchuk. Are you familiar with Gary V? Topher DeRosia: No. Russell Aaron: I watch something Gary V every day. That guy makes me feel like I’m lazy every single day, but he is also one of the people that says like, “Hey, you’re 40, you’re still just a baby.” A lot of people feel like I should be two kids, a house, marriage, this, that, and because I’m not, I’m behind the ball. And he’s one person that’s like, “Listen, you’re still a kid.” And he’s like, “You’re 40, I’m 40, and you have 10 years until you’re 50.” And even then you’re still so young to where you can generate something again and from 50 to 60, you can now do. That kind of mentality really moved me around. Why I bring that up is, I’m trying not to post on the same places that everybody else is. I wanna find that new venture. Substack is a great one. And they also have a way to release podcast episodes through them. So they can actually be your entire engine. So like you don’t have to host them on different places and stuff like that. So I’m looking for different plays like that. Topher DeRosia: All right, cool. Well, I look forward to hearing about it when it comes out. I’m sure you’ll post on LinkedIn. Russell Aaron: Yes, yeah. Topher DeRosia: All right. All right then, well, I will maybe find you on Slack or Reddit or someplace. Russell Aaron: Slack, Reddit, LinkedIn. Either way, please keep in touch. First of all, it’s great to see somebody familiar in the space. It’s great. I mean, just talking about the old days, I could sit here and do it forever. Topher DeRosia: All right, I’ll see ya. Russell Aaron: Have a good one. Topher DeRosia: All right, so that was the end of the podcast. If you could send me a headshot. And yep, that’s the one. Cool. And any links you want in the liner notes. Russell Aaron: Cool. Topher DeRosia: And two or three sentences about you and what you do and whatnot. Russell Aaron: Cool. I noticed that you… are you trying to revive Hallway Chats? Or is it something that when you just find something interesting, you’re like, hey, I’ll go do that. Topher DeRosia: That’s it right there. Russell Aaron: Okay. Sure, sure. Topher DeRosia: There was a time when it was a weekly podcast and now it’s a whenever I feel like it podcast. Russell Aaron: I love it. I think that’s the biggest reason why I’m trying to do something different is I really dislike watching a podcast. The first thing they do is they come on and they go, “Hey, welcome to WP whatever. Hey, sorry we didn’t post this week. I was bit…” If you are gonna say you’re gonna post every Wednesday at one, that’s on you. But I do not like when things start off with an apology. Like just get to it. Because I’m not watching it Wednesday at one. I mean, unless you’re Joe Rogan, or unless you are somebody who has a huge following that people will watch you live because it’s important. Otherwise, it’s just consumable stuff, you know? Topher DeRosia: Yeah. For years, I posted it Heropress weekly on Wednesday without fail. I would ignore my family to go get it done. Then I was talking to Morton Rand Hendrickson. You know him? Russell Aaron: Uh-huh. Topher DeRosia: Yeah, he’s a huge fan of Heropress. And I said to him, “Do you read every week?” He’s like, “Oh no, not at all.” He’s like, “Oh, I thought you really liked it.” And he said, “Oh, I love it. But I don’t have time to read every week.” Every few months I’ll get depressed about the WordPress community and I’ll go read 10 essays. And then one time I was at WordCamp Ann Arbor, probably the same one you were at and Josepha came to me and said that… she was kind of a sounding board for employees that come to her and said, “Listen, I’ve been working support all day and people suck and I’m depressed and I hate life.” And she would just listen for a while and then at the end they would say, “Okay, I’m gonna go read a bunch of Heropress and I’ll feel better.” And it really changed my perspective of what I was making. I wasn’t making a weekly publication. I was making an archive, a collection to be used as a tool, a library. Russell Aaron: I’m gonna say this poorly, but it’s almost like you are creating a support help hotline where it’s like, if you’re on the verge of blowing up your website, please call this number. We’ll talk you down from it. It’s almost like you’re building that. Topher DeRosia: That’s funny. Russell Aaron: That’s interesting. And then now you’re just selective about it or you’re so far- Topher DeRosia: I’m less aggressive about finding essayists and less insistent that they get it to me by a certain time. Like I would find somebody and say, listen, I need it by Sunday on this date. And they were like, “Okay.” And that worked for a while. Russell Aaron: Oh, before, before. Okay. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. But now I’ll find somebody… No, I don’t go looking as often. Russell Aaron: You’ll maybe find something that somebody wrote and you’ll be like, “Hey, are you interested in doing this?” Topher DeRosia: Yes. And I don’t find people as often. I used to find my people on Twitter and I’m not on there anymore. Russell Aaron: Like by personal choice? Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: Okay. Topher DeRosia: I just left Twitter. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow. You feel like your life improved? Topher DeRosia: Yes and no. Russell Aaron: Okay. Topher DeRosia: I feel the loss of what Twitter was. And it’s not there anymore. It’s just gone. Russell Aaron: Especially around WordCamp and stuff like that. That used to have to be the place that you’d be on, you know? Topher DeRosia: The Twitter I loved doesn’t exist anymore. And so, yeah, I feel that loss. Russell Aaron: I need a t-shirt that says that. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Wow. I’m in the process of making a printable store. Printable? Printful. Printful store. Russell Aaron: Cool. Topher DeRosia: With Woo, to make a video with. I need to make a bunch of products. Maybe I’ll make one of those. Russell Aaron: It’s interesting. Wow. You just flat-out left X. Do you feel like with Heropress, it was… and again, this is why I made that post, is that people almost see it like they can make the rounds. And it’s like, well, I haven’t gone there yet. And so they’re gonna submit something to you because they’re gonna get some press out of it. And it’s not so much what’s best for your brand or it’s not best for your website. They just see it as, well, I’m gonna get some exposure there. Do you feel like it used to be that? Topher DeRosia: No. I’ve gotten maybe two or three submissions ever like that. And a couple of them, I was able to say, “No, that’s not what we’re about. It’s this other thing, what Heropress is actually about.” And they’re like, “Oh, well, okay, that’d be great.” And they do that. And maybe one or two people have said, “I built this great company and everyone should come use my company.” Like, no, not so much. Russell Aaron: Interesting. Topher DeRosia: And that’s the end of it. Russell Aaron: I remember back in, I wanna say like 2013, people used to call each other out and be like, why are you giving the same speech at WordCamp Miami, WordCamp Minneapolis, WordCamp San Diego. And that’s kind of where I was at with that same LinkedIn post. It’s like, I really, really enjoy watching Matt Cromwell’s show, but the guy that he just had on also was on Jonathan Denwood and was also on this one. It was also on, I was like, I’ve already seen this. Maybe I get three more percent information that wasn’t in that last, or because Matt knows a little bit more about personal stuff in WordPress or building a business, he might have some more insight there, but it’s like, I’ve already heard this and I’m kind of already over it. And that’s kind of where I was at is you don’t have to just say, I’m gonna do this one and that’s it. But it’s almost like, you’re making yourself not… what’s the word. Not credible because you’re going around and saying the same thing and it’s just, you’re not doing anything different than a blog post could have done. Topher DeRosia: You know what I mean? I don’t feel too bad about repeating WordCamp talks because, especially at small camps, because a lot of people are just gonna go to their local camp and never go to another one. And unless they cruise.tv, they’re not gonna see it. I struggle a little bit with podcasts because I’ve been asked a lot over the last 10 years to come on a podcast and talk about the story of WordPress. And it’s the same story every time, you know? And so, I’ll try to mix it up a little bit, give different information that I’ve never given before, that sort of thing. But it is something I think about and struggle with a little bit. Russell Aaron: What do you struggle with about it? Topher DeRosia: I don’t wanna just say the same thing over and over again. You know, I don’t want people to go, oh, Topher’s on another podcast episode. Oh, I’ve heard this story. I don’t need to be on this episode. Fortunately, it’s been around long enough that I can give a brief synopsis of the beginning and talk about stuff that’s happened in the last couple of years. Russell Aaron: Right. Topher DeRosia: Which is gonna be really different from the podcast episode I was on in 2020. Russell Aaron: You know? Right. Topher DeRosia: It’s an interesting dilemma when you have one story to tell and everybody wants you to tell it. How do you deal with that? Russell Aaron: Well, I’ve noticed that too. It is like, you know, I’ll watch [Insert Famous Name Here], and they have a podcast, and they’re interviewing, again, [Insert Famous Name Here], and that person was also just on That Famous Name and That Famous Name. I actually saw somebody, it’s like almost a year ago, and they were just like, “Do you want me just to say this so your show has this speech in it or are you genuinely asking me?” Because, you know, like you want this story so you can post it on your social media. But I’ve already given that story 15 different times because they wanted it for their own, you know? And it’s almost going that way where I kind of respect it in a way because you don’t want to post other people’s content. But I also feel like I’m tired of saying the same shit over and over again. It’s interesting, man. Topher DeRosia: Yeah, that’s a dilemma. Russell Aaron: So you’re just like kicking back and… are you building something for you that you think is gonna scale or are you trying to get away from WordPress? That’s kind of where I’m at right now. Topher DeRosia: Yes and no. I have always wanted to… I’ve always been better with people than code. I’m a life coach. Russell Aaron: Yeah. I did not know that about you. Topher DeRosia: I love talking to the client more than coding. I love helping people learn things. And so those skills could be anywhere in WordPress, but also could be anywhere outside of WordPress. So I’m looking for those jobs and they are not out there. Russell Aaron: Right. Topher DeRosia: So here we are. Russell Aaron: I’m to the point now where my son, he’s eight, but he races BMX, like actual bikes and stuff. And so there’s a college here in Indianapolis and it’s one of the best cycling schools in the country. And there’s like five Olympians that practice every Tuesday and Thursday and they’re right in our back door. These are people that have a great social following, but they don’t post very well. They have a brand name, but they don’t have a website. So I’m noticing that every new space that I go into, it’s kind of like I get to jump back into WordPress again, where it’s like, hey, I just built a website for this BMX track in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s one of the best tracks in the country by everybody that has ever raced in a sport, they all vote that it’s one of the best, but they don’t have a website period. I just went through this where they have a guy, he’s their treasurer and he’s like, “Well, I’m an AI software guy.” And I’m like, “Well, how come you don’t have a website?” And he’s like, “Well…” And I’m like, “Listen, I submitted a new version of a we… literally, I uploaded it to my Russell website or to my Russell Envy site and I just put it in a sub-folder and I was like, “Your website could look like this today.” I was like, “For free. I don’t want anything from you. No free anything.” I was like, “I want to donate this to you because I want to grow the sport.” And the guy’s like, “I wanted to build it and React.” And I’m like, “Well, why didn’t you?” And the guy’s like, “Uh.” And I’m like, “I have free hosting for life from WPEngine.” And I was like, “I won’t charge you guys ever. I will host a site. I have free with AppPresser. I’ll build you guys an app where you guys can send push notifications.” And the guy’s like, “Well, I want to have a lot of control and say over it.” And I was just like, “All right, you know what?” And then I built my own. Now I own a domain all about their BMX track and now they’re calling me going, “We should have went with you.” I’m to the point now where I’m nice. And then it’s just like, “Dude, I’m 10,000 miles over you and I’m going to go this way.” Liquid Web did that to me. Liquid Web brought me in and they were like, “We’re going to…” I was supposed to be the OG stellar WP. They brought me in, I was hiring all my friends and I was bringing in people and we were building something. And then they called me and they were like, “Well, you can either be a level two support person or you could just not work here.” And I was like, “Well, I don’t work here anymore.” And they were like, “Well, wait, hang on.” And I literally hit “click” and I have never logged on since. Topher DeRosia: That’s funny. Russell Aaron: I’m in that same boat where, you know, I don’t have to work for you. You know what I mean? Like, fuck, I’m 40. I should be doing something on my own anyway. I kind of wish I had… what was WP 101? Sean did that for all those years. I wish I would have done that. Or every week, I should have had some YouTube about talking about something and maybe I could have monetized that, but I’m not behind the ball. I let the ball slip is what I feel like. Topher DeRosia: It’s not too late to start. I picked that up when Sean, quit and I’ve got a YouTube channel with a bunch of stuff on it. I published one today. Russell Aaron: Oh wow. It’s just interesting things that you think about, or is it like educational, like tutorials? Topher DeRosia: It’s educational tutorials, but stuff that I find interesting. Like today I made a desktop wallpaper for WordCamp Europe. Russell Aaron: Nice. Topher DeRosia: And I did it by going to their webpage in my browser and using the console to hack the HTML and CSS until it looked like a screen, a wallpaper. Russell Aaron: That’s fucking cool. Topher DeRosia: So I published it right before I’d started talking to you, like minutes before that. And it has three views. Russell Aaron: Woohoo. Topher DeRosia: But a couple of weeks ago I did one called fun and games in the terminal. And it’s how to play Tetris in the terminal and how to make a choo-choo train go across your screen when you type LS wrong. And it has 784 views right now. Russell Aaron: That’s awesome. Topher DeRosia: I did one on how to brighten a photo. I did a series. I’m working on a series called Topher learns how, or I talk to people who know how to do things that I really should know how to do, but don’t. I talked to Scott Kingsley Clark about pods, which has been around forever, but I’ve never used. I talked to Donata about Termageddon, because I know it’s important, but I have stayed away because I don’t understand and it’s scary. Russell Aaron: Termageddon. I’ve never heard that. Topher DeRosia: Oh. You know the little cookie consent things, privacy policies and whatnot? Russell Aaron: Yeah. Topher DeRosia: So when you sign up with term again, you pay a surprisingly low monthly fee and they have a human get on the phone with you and talk through your requirements of where you live, your legal stuff. Like, are you in Europe? Are you in California? Where are you? Where are your customers, your viewers? Then you drop in a short code for your privacy code and for the cookies and they keep them up to date based on how the laws change. So you don’t have to pay attention to, Oh, did California make some crazy new law about cookies? What do I need to do to update my site? It’s really, really great. So I did an interview with her. Russell Aaron: $12 a month or $119 a year. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: What is the point of having a privacy policy if you don’t pay extra for limiting your liability? Wow. That’s amazing. Topher DeRosia: It is. Russell Aaron: That’s someone just thinking outside the box. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. I have a couple of videos where I was given an account at a hosting company that I’ve never used and videoed logging in for the first time and getting to a website. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow. Just from first login to setting everything up to now you have something production. Wow. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Specifically not reading the docs. Russell Aaron: Oh, just trying to brute force your way through it. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: That’s smart, dude. Topher DeRosia: It’s partly about… well, they may have wonderful docs. It may be super easy to do if you read all the docs. I don’t want to read the docs. Russell Aaron: Me neither. Topher DeRosia: Clickety clickety click, I have a website. So I did GreenGeeks. I did honesthosting.io. I did X cloud. So that’s the kind of stuff I’m doing. Russell Aaron: That’s interesting. That is something that, that Gary V talks about a lot is that it used to have to be where you are this WordPress brand and you do just this and all your videos could only be about that. Anytime you stepped outside the box, people were like, “Why am I watching this?” And today now we’re to finally to where my website would probably actually thrive is it’s so random. It’s just something out of my head and one thing can skyrocket and it’s like hitting the jackpot, you know? That’s interesting. Topher DeRosia: Another thing I did is I made a site called topher.how and because I realized I had never really made stuff in my own channel. I’ve been blogging for decades, making videos, WinningWP. I have over a hundred videos on WinningWP. Russell Aaron: WinningWP? Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: Did you start that when Charlie Sheen started doing Winning? Topher DeRosia: No, no, no, no. But I was thinking, boy, I’d love to have all this stuff on my own website, but I don’t want to go find it all and copy paste posts. And then I realized nearly every place I’ve ever made content has RSS for their authors. Russell Aaron: Yeah. Topher DeRosia: And so I found the sites, found my author RSS feed and started piping them into WP all import. And now topher.how has all my content from the last 15 years on a dozen different sites, doesn’t more than a dozen different sites, all my videos, all my posts, everything on wordpress.tv, all that stuff. So it’s kind of a portfolio. Yeah, so you can go to topher.how and see all my stuff. Russell Aaron: That was actually one thing that I was really proud of was that my entire WordPress journey is documented on somebody else’s project. So, like you go to WPwatercooler and my resume, what is great about it is that it is not me who can edit those videos, it is not me who can master them. Those words are there. Those words are me. You want to know my qualifications in WordPress, there’s all my shit. For me, I was like, “That’s actually pretty sick. You know what I mean?” Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: Wow. Topher.how. Oh, dude, do you know who Jeffrey Zinn is? Topher DeRosia: No. Russell Aaron: Oh God. Him and Brandon Dove they have Pixel Jar. Have you ever heard of Pixel Jar? Topher DeRosia: Maybe. Russell Aaron: They’re big West coasters. I’ll tell you that much. He just wrote me, “He literally just said, dude, how do you find the time to write so much on LinkedIn? I enjoy all your stuff, but mostly I’m blown away by the volume.” Topher DeRosia: Nice. Russell Aaron: I’m going to write him back and just tell him the truth. But you know, it’s all thought man. Interesting. Topher, I’ve had a lot of fun. Am I taking up your time? Topher DeRosia: I should get back to work. Russell Aaron: All right, sir. Have a good one. Topher DeRosia: All right. I’ll see ya. Russell Aaron: Bye. Topher DeRosia: Bye.

Parce que… c'est l'épisode 0x2F7! Shameless plug 3 au 5 juin 2026 - SSTIC 2026 24 et 25 juin 2026 - Troopers 26 et 27 juin 2026 - leHACK 19 septembre 2026 - Bsides Montréal 1 au 3 décembre 2026 - Forum INCYBER - Canada 2026 24 et 25 février 2027 - SéQCure 2027 Description Le déclencheur : une attaque publique au WordCamp US En septembre 2024, Matt Mullenweg, fondateur de WordPress et dirigeant d'Automattic, profite de sa présentation de clôture au WordCamp US pour s'en prendre violemment à WP Engine, un hébergeur spécialisé WordPress. Il les qualifie de « cancer pour l'écosystème ». Le ton est d'autant plus choquant que les WordCamp sont des événements communautaires accessibles et abordables, portés par l'esprit de l'open source — le WordCamp Montréal, par exemple, ne coûtait que 50 dollars pour un weekend complet. WP Engine est un acteur majeur qui a bâti tout son modèle d'affaires autour de WordPress, offrant de l'hébergement dédié et ayant acquis plusieurs produits populaires, dont Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), un plugin utilisé par des millions de sites. Mullenweg reproche à WP Engine de générer d'importants revenus grâce à WordPress sans contribuer suffisamment au projet. Il avait d'ailleurs lancé l'initiative « Five for the Future », invitant les entreprises bénéficiant de l'écosystème à y consacrer 5 % de leurs ressources. Or, aucune obligation légale ne contraint quiconque à contribuer, et Mullenweg lui-même tire profit de l'écosystème via Automattic et WordPress.com. L'escalade : actions légales et blocages Trois jours après l'attaque publique, WP Engine réplique par une mise en demeure pour diffamation et extorsion. Le 25 septembre, Mullenweg bloque l'accès des serveurs de WP Engine au dépôt officiel de plugins et thèmes WordPress, empêchant des centaines de milliers de sites clients de recevoir leurs mises à jour, y compris les correctifs de sécurité. WP Engine doit alors développer en urgence des solutions de contournement. Le 30 septembre, la communauté découvre que WordPress.org — la plateforme qui héberge tout l'écosystème open source — appartient personnellement à Matt Mullenweg et non à la fondation WordPress, créée pourtant pour assurer transparence et gouvernance indépendante. Cette révélation amplifie l'inquiétude : une seule personne contrôle l'infrastructure sur laquelle repose près de 40 à 50 % des CMS du web, alors que le deuxième concurrent plafonne sous les 5 %. Le 2 octobre, WP Engine dépose une plainte officielle pour pratiques anticoncurrentielles et abus de pouvoir, rendant publics des échanges compromettants entre Mullenweg et la direction de WP Engine. Le chaos interne et la prise de contrôle d'ACF En parallèle, les employés d'Automattic s'interrogent sur les agissements de leur patron, qui communique de façon impulsive sur les réseaux sociaux et son blogue. Mullenweg pose un ultimatum à ses employés : être avec lui ou partir, avec un délai de 24 à 48 heures. Environ 159 personnes, soit près de 10 % de l'effectif, choisissent de quitter l'entreprise. Mullenweg reprend ensuite le contrôle du plugin ACF au nom de la sécurité de l'écosystème, s'appuyant sur la licence GPL qui régit les extensions déposées sur le dépôt WordPress. Il crée un clone baptisé SCF (Secure Custom Fields) et redirige silencieusement les mises à jour d'ACF vers SCF, de sorte que la plupart des utilisateurs changent de plugin sans même s'en rendre compte. Cette manœuvre soulève de sérieuses questions sur la pérennité de SCF, un produit gratuit sans modèle économique ni équipe dédiée à long terme. Pour les agences comme celle de Maxime, la situation est un casse-tête : faut-il informer les clients, revenir à ACF, attendre ? L'équipe de Maxime décide de redéployer ACF sur les sites concernés, estimant que les clients sont pris en otage dans ce conflit. Les conséquences sur l'écosystème Mullenweg réduit drastiquement les contributions d'Automattic au projet open source, passant de 4 000 heures par semaine à environ 45, provoquant une stagnation du développement. La version 6.8 de WordPress accumule les retards. BlackRock, investisseur dans Automattic, dévalue ses parts. Des développeurs commencent à remettre en question la pertinence de publier sur le dépôt WordPress. Face à cette centralisation problématique, des initiatives émergent pour décentraliser la distribution des extensions. WP Engine rachète WP Packagist et Roots lance WP Packages, offrant des alternatives au dépôt officiel. L'adoption reste cependant un défi majeur pour les utilisateurs non techniques. L'arrivée de EmDash par Cloudflare Le 1er avril 2025, Cloudflare lance EmDash, une solution de gestion de contenu basée sur le framework Astro. Son approche distingue le contenu statique du contenu dynamique grâce au concept d'« îles », offrant de meilleures performances. EmDash isole également les plugins dans des sandbox pour renforcer la sécurité, contrairement à WordPress où un plugin défaillant peut compromettre tout le site. Maxime reconnaît l'intérêt technique de cette solution, mais tempère l'enthousiasme : aucun écosystème de plugins, aucune communauté établie, aucun expert disponible. Cloudflare a les moyens financiers de soutenir le projet, mais il est trop tôt pour y migrer des projets clients. WordPress n'est ni mort ni véritablement menacé à court terme. Perspectives La bataille juridique entre Automattic et WP Engine devrait connaître des avancées en juin 2025. Maxime anticipe une tentative de règlement hors cour de la part de Mullenweg, face à un WP Engine soutenu par un fonds d'investissement de plusieurs milliards déterminé à aller jusqu'au bout. Plus le conflit dure, plus il nuit à l'ensemble de l'écosystème. L'espoir reste qu'un retour à la maturité permette à chacun de poursuivre son activité dans un marché suffisamment vaste pour tous. Collaborateurs Nicolas-Loïc Fortin Maxime Jobin Crédits Montage par Intrasecure inc Locaux virtuels par Riverside.fm

In this WP Tavern episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Weston Ruter at WordCamp US in Portland. Weston shares insights from his presentation on WordPress performance, discussing improvements made by the Core Performance Team, including lazy loading, enhanced responsive images, and speculative loading. They explore the challenges of maintaining speed as plugins increase site complexity, browser and ecosystem collaboration, and upcoming features for WordPress 6.9. Weston talks about making performance effortless for users and highlights resources for staying informed. Whether you're a developer, designer, site owner, or just someone curious about what keeps the web running smoothly, this episode is for you.

In this WP Tavern episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Weston Ruter at WordCamp US in Portland. Weston shares insights from his presentation on WordPress performance, discussing improvements made by the Core Performance Team, including lazy loading, enhanced responsive images, and speculative loading. They explore the challenges of maintaining speed as plugins increase site complexity, browser and ecosystem collaboration, and upcoming features for WordPress 6.9. Weston talks about making performance effortless for users and highlights resources for staying informed. Whether you're a developer, designer, site owner, or just someone curious about what keeps the web running smoothly, this episode is for you.

In this episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Bud Kraus at WordCamp US 2025. Bud shares his experience living and working with macular degeneration, a condition affecting his central vision. He discusses the adaptations he makes to use computers and WordPress, his approach to teaching and content creation, and how his low vision has become a unique perspective in his work. Bud reflects on accessibility challenges, technology, and AI as a career extender, as well as the positives and practicalities of navigating both digital and physical worlds with low vision. Whether you're a designer, developer, educator, or simply passionate about building a more inclusive web, this episode is for you.

In this episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Bud Kraus at WordCamp US 2025. Bud shares his experience living and working with macular degeneration, a condition affecting his central vision. He discusses the adaptations he makes to use computers and WordPress, his approach to teaching and content creation, and how his low vision has become a unique perspective in his work. Bud reflects on accessibility challenges, technology, and AI as a career extender, as well as the positives and practicalities of navigating both digital and physical worlds with low vision. Whether you're a designer, developer, educator, or simply passionate about building a more inclusive web, this episode is for you.

In this WP Tavern episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Mary Ann Aschenbrenner at WordCamp US 2025 about transitioning websites from classic to block themes in WordPress. Mary Ann shares her journey from community activism to web design, explains the benefits of block themes, including easier maintenance and better SEO, and provides a step-by-step guide for migrating sites. They discuss practical challenges, client education, and the evolving user experience, emphasising that block themes can eliminate the need for page builders and are generally more accessible for clients. Mary also shares anecdotes from her own migration projects and involvement in the WordPress community. Whether you're a seasoned WordPresser, or are just starting out, and keen to know how block themes are making site building more accessible for everyone, this episode is for you.

In this WP Tavern episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Mary Ann Aschenbrenner at WordCamp US 2025 about transitioning websites from classic to block themes in WordPress. Mary Ann shares her journey from community activism to web design, explains the benefits of block themes, including easier maintenance and better SEO, and provides a step-by-step guide for migrating sites. They discuss practical challenges, client education, and the evolving user experience, emphasising that block themes can eliminate the need for page builders and are generally more accessible for clients. Mary also shares anecdotes from her own migration projects and involvement in the WordPress community. Whether you're a seasoned WordPresser, or are just starting out, and keen to know how block themes are making site building more accessible for everyone, this episode is for you.

Here we go again. It's Monday and that means This Week in WordPress. Your weekly, fun recap of the WordPress news. This episode features Nathan Wrigley, Courtney Robertson, Tim Nash, and Rhys Wynne discussing recent developments in WordPress. Key topics include the rise of AI in the WordPress ecosystem, reflections on the evolution and diversity of WordPress editors, major events like WordCamp US and local meetups, plugin team stats and automation, security trends, and the intersection of collaboration tools with WordPress. The panel also spotlights creative web projects, new performance initiatives, and lively community banter, blending technical insights with a friendly, engaging atmosphere.

Birgit Pauli-Haack and Sarah Norris discussed WordCamp US, Automattic Telex, Gutenberg 21.4 and 21.5, and the need for more blocks. This episode dives into the ongoing evolution of Gutenberg, from AI-driven tools for easier block creation to the expansion of core blocks and enhancements stemming from vibrant community input. There's a strong focus on practical…

In this episode of the Dev Pulse, Expand the Stack series, host Zach Stepek broadcasts straight from the show floor at WordCamp US 2025, where he dives into the latest innovations shaking up the WordPress community. Zach catches up with Shilo Eish Yemini and Miriam Schwab from the Elementor team in their unmistakably pink booth […]

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute Our Matt breaks down Matt Mullenweg's keynote at WordCamp US 2025! Get the highlights and honest reactions to the most important moments, including:The evolving role of the WordPress community and the “four freedoms” at the heart of open source.Addressing the “elephant in the room” and the impact of recent legal and industry challenges.WordPress's push to be more present on YouTube and across platforms, and why authentic community engagement matters.The future of AI in WordPress, including hands-on impressions of new tools like Telex and thoughts on browser-based AI.Predictions for the next 10 years of WordPress and Automattic, and what it means for users, professionals, and the open web.Whether you missed the keynote or want a thoughtful recap, this episode covers the key takeaways and what they mean for the future of WordPress. Subscribe to The WP Minute for more insights, news, and community updates!Matt's video on Telex AI by Automattic https://youtu.be/t5dRm70FnSgMullenweg's Keynote WCUS https://youtu.be/45HRzzc0waU?si=DIhxDiqwGNzAPWTL Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

In episode #346 of "This Week in WordPress," Nathan Wrigley is joined by Taco Verdonschot, Dave Grey, and Alex Osmuchenko for a lively discussion covering the latest in WordPress and beyond. The panel dives into upcoming features in Gutenberg 21.5, including the new accordion block and command palette, while sharing perspectives on the ongoing WP Engine vs. Automattic legal saga. They highlight the launch of the F.A.I.R. package manager site, growing educational initiatives like WordPress credits in Costa Rica, and a packed schedule of upcoming WordCamps and WP Accessibility Day. The team also explores the new Telex tool for building blocks with AI, a revealing page builder accessibility report, and Rocket.net's partnership with Hosting.com. As usual, there's plenty of banter, travel tales from WordCamp US, and an airport security story involving a suspicious Wapuu card game. Dive in for news, community, and plenty of WordPress insights!

Esta semana se celebra la WordCamp US 2025, con invitados de gran prestigio y con la vista puesta en el lanzamiento de WordPress 6.9.

In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette interviews Remco Nieuwenhuis, a WordPress professional from the Netherlands and founder of WPSupporters and WPoptic. Remco shares his journey from military and police service to tech entrepreneurship, discusses the creation of WP Optic—a fast, accurate browser extension for detecting WordPress themes and plugins—and demonstrates its features live. The conversation covers challenges, future plans, and community involvement, ending with the host encouraging listeners to try WP Optic and announcing a brief podcast break for WordCamp US.Top Takeaways:WPoptic is a fast, WordPress-focused browser extension: Remco Nieuwenhuizen developed WPoptic to quickly detect if a site is built with WordPress, along with its themes and plugins. Unlike broader tools like BuiltWith or Wappalyzer, WPoptic focuses specifically on WordPress and boasts near-instant detection speeds, currently identifying around 17,000 plugins with plans to expand to over 50,000.Development involved overcoming early challenges: The first version of WPoptic was built by an overseas developer but lacked scalability, security, and depth in plugin detection. After receiving feedback from a competitor-turned-collaborator, Remco decided to rebuild the tool from scratch, prioritizing speed, security, and accuracy. This pivot confirmed market demand and improved the product's professional quality.Growth and monetization plans center on data and community: WPoptic has around 800 Chrome users and aims to monetize through features like an export function, AI-assisted plugin detection, and potentially dashboards for plugin developers to track installations and competition. Remco emphasizes organic growth, user feedback, and avoiding heavy reliance on advertising, preferring to fund development through his other business, WPSupporters.Mentioned In The Show:WPopticWaveBuilt WithWPSupportersWappalyzerWPfounders article about Remco NieuwenhuizenElementorWPBakeryDivi

Another week, and we're bringing you the latest WordPress news from the last seven days. I'm with Jess Frick, Rob Cairns. This episode covers the latest WordPress news, including updates to the Block Editor, the future of neglected blocks, and the launch of the Abilities API. The panel discusses what it takes to succeed as a WordPress plugin vendor, Divi's ongoing popularity and development, and changes ahead for WordCamp US, including a more interactive Contributor Day. They debate the state and future of WP Tavern and the challenges of maintaining independent journalism in WordPress. Other highlights include plugin repository issues, the importance of authentic marketing, and opportunities for community involvement in accessibility and development teams.

In this episode of Cache Up, host Michelle Frechette chats with Miriam Schwab, Head of WordPress at Elementor, about the company's latest innovations. They discuss new products like the Image Optimizer, Site Mailer, Ally accessibility plugin, and Angie, Elementor's AI assistant. Miriam shares insights on Elementor's codebase revamp for better performance, the company's commitment to accessibility, and the growing role of AI in WordPress. The conversation also highlights Elementor's community involvement, especially at WordCamp US, and the expanding availability of their tools beyond just Elementor users.Top Takeaways:Elementor Expands Beyond Page Building: Elementor is rapidly evolving beyond its roots as a page builder, expanding into a full suite of standalone tools that serve broader WordPress needs. These include utilities like Site Mailer for email deliverability, Image Optimizer for performance, Ally for accessibility, and the soon-to-launch AI assistant Angie. Importantly, many of these tools work independently of Elementor, making them accessible to all WordPress users regardless of their chosen builder.AI Integration is Shaping the Future of Elementor: A major focus for Elementor is integrating AI to streamline website creation and management. From Site Planner, which generates a full website structure from a prompt, to Ally's AI-powered accessibility fixes, and Angie's promise of automating time-consuming tasks, Elementor is positioning AI as a core part of the WordPress user experience. This not only increases efficiency but helps WordPress remain competitive and user-friendly in an AI-driven era.Performance and Speed Take Center Stage with Version 4: Elementor is addressing long-standing concerns about performance by refactoring its aging codebase. Version 4 (V4) of the page builder brings improvements in speed, cleaner code, and better development workflows. This overhaul is designed to benefit both end users, who will see faster websites, and developers, who will gain the ability to deploy new features more quickly and cleanly.Mentioned in the Show:ElementorW3TechsImage OptimizerAllySite Planner AngieWP Accessibility DayUnderrepresented in Tech

In this episode, Nathan Wrigley talks with Karla Campos, a lead organiser for WordCamp US 2025 in Portland. Karla shares her journey into organising the flagship event, describing the volunteer-driven, time-intensive process, and how her background in marketing and large-scale event planning helps. They discuss event logistics, the role of production teams, community involvement, challenges faced, efforts to engage students, and some new event features like a hackathon and remote collaboration. Karla emphasises the welcoming community spirit of WordCamp and encourages everyone, especially newcomers and students, to attend. If you've ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of WordCamp US, how it's organised, how volunteers are supported, and what motivates people like Karla to invest their own time and resources, this episode is for you.

In this episode, Nathan Wrigley talks with Karla Campos, a lead organiser for WordCamp US 2025 in Portland. Karla shares her journey into organising the flagship event, describing the volunteer-driven, time-intensive process, and how her background in marketing and large-scale event planning helps. They discuss event logistics, the role of production teams, community involvement, challenges faced, efforts to engage students, and some new event features like a hackathon and remote collaboration. Karla emphasises the welcoming community spirit of WordCamp and encourages everyone, especially newcomers and students, to attend. If you've ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of WordCamp US, how it's organised, how volunteers are supported, and what motivates people like Karla to invest their own time and resources, this episode is for you.

This week I'm joined by Mark Westguard, Jesse Friedman, Marc Benzakein. We cover the upcoming WordPress 6.9 release, including new features like enhanced site editing, improved template management, block-level visibility, and built-in AI integration. The panel also discusses the declining activity in WordPress testing, the evolving WordPress admin redesign, and the importance of owning your online influence in a world dominated by third-party platforms. News about the upcoming WordCamp US, Automatic's 20-year milestone, gatekeeping in the WP creator community, and the impact of AI on documentation and workflows round out the episode.

In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette is interviewed by Macus Burnette to introduce "WP Trail Buddies," Michelle's initiative to help newcomers at large WordCamp events feel welcome and connected. The program pairs first-time attendees with experienced veterans for mentorship and support, easing anxiety and fostering community. Michelle shares her own WordCamp experiences, explains how the free, volunteer-driven project works, and discusses the broader importance of mentorship in the WordPress community. The conversation highlights the value of inclusion, friendship, and support, encouraging listeners to join and help make WordCamps more accessible for everyone.Top Takeaways:WP Trail Buddies Is a Volunteer-Led Mentorship Program: Michelle Frechette created WP Trail Buddies as a free, volunteer-based initiative to pair WordCamp veterans with newcomers to help them feel more comfortable at large flagship events like WordCamp US. The program is powered by free tools like Google Forms and WordPress.com, and even includes GDPR-compliant data practices. Although unsponsored, some organizations like Newfold have volunteered to provide swag like stickers and pins.The Focus Is on Flagship and Large WordCamps—for Now: Due to Michelle managing the project solo, WP Trail Buddies is currently limited to larger WordCamps (typically 250+ attendees). While open to expanding to other events in the future—like WordCamp Canada—the priority is on keeping things manageable and scalable. She's open to conversations with other camps that may want to adopt the model.WordCamps Are About Community and Belonging: Michelle emphasized how transformative WordCamps have been for her personally—from knowing no one at her first WordCamp Buffalo to attending nearly 100 events and mentoring others. She and Marcus both stressed that the true value of WordCamps lies in the friendships, mentorship, and support network built over time. Programs like Trail Buddies help foster this sense of inclusion from the start.Mentioned In The Show:WP Trail BuddiesWPIncludes.meThe WP World

In "This Week in WordPress #339," Nathan Wrigley is joined by Zach Stepek, Tim Nash, and Remkus de Vries to discuss new educational WordPress courses on security and performance, as well as Nathan's new Podcaster Plus plugin seeking beta testers. The panel covers the upcoming WP Awards, lower-than-expected WordCamp US ticket sales, and the paused Tumblr-to-WordPress migration. They highlight updates to the WordPress developer blog, a new plugin called Better Loops, and whether default themes should be paused. We also have a lively debate on event sponsorships, AI's impact on content, and practical WordPress community updates.

In this episode, Michelle Frechette chats with Bernard Mayer, the Senior Director of Communications and Creative at Omnisend. Bernard, based in Vilnius, Lithuania, shares his diverse background and insights into Omnisend's innovative marketing strategies, focusing on email and SMS marketing. The discussion highlights the importance of effective customer engagement and the significant impact of automated emails. Bernard also delves into his involvement with the WordPress community, particularly through WordCamps, and emphasizes the value of creativity and community in marketing. The episode concludes with excitement for the upcoming WordCamp Asia and its enriching experiences.Top TakeawaysThe Value of Organizing and Attending WordCamps: Both Bernard Meyer and Michelle Frechette emphasized the benefits of organizing and attending WordCamps. While it's a lot of hard work, the sense of accomplishment, networking opportunities, and camaraderie with other organizers make it a fulfilling experience. Bernard highlighted how it allows remote collaborators to meet in person, which adds an exciting dimension to professional relationships.Creative Marketing Through Humor and Engagement: Bernard discussed Omnisend's approach to marketing, which involves using humor, music videos, mockumentaries, and playful storytelling. These creative strategies make their marketing campaigns memorable and engaging, showing that a bit of fun can effectively capture an audience's attention.The Accelerated Nature of Event Preparation: Both speakers noted how quickly time seems to pass when preparing for large events like WordCamp Asia. Bernard highlighted the rapid pace from early-year planning to the event date, while Michelle described it as a snowball effect that builds momentum. This reflects the importance of staying organized and proactive during event planning.Mentioned In The Show:OmnisendStellarWPRytis LaurisWPCoffeeTalkWordCamp AsiaWordCamp GermanyWordCamp USSuno AIThe PIC

Say thanks and learn more about our podcast sponsor Omnisend. I'm sure we're all glad that year of WordPress is behind us.WordCamp US 2024 marked the start of a transformative era for the culture of WordPressers—a situation that thrust the community and the greater ecosystem into a tailspin with widespread uncertainty and instability across various sectors.As of this writing, we're still unsure how the lawsuit between Matt Mullenweg/Automattic vs WP Engine will fully play out. While we witness the dust settle and find our new normal, here are the ways I think WordPress will change over the year 2025.1. Automattic continues to rip off the band-aidI think we can all agree that since the inception of Gutenberg, there hasn't been a major “Wow!” moment for WordPress.Usability has improved, and some cool concepts have shipped, but nothing showstopping has graced our wp-admin dashboards. It's a two-sided coin, really:A stable tool for publishing? Yep.Buzzworthy or exciting for the outside world—including our closed-source competitors? Nope.Automattic needs to stay relevant, charm investors, and keep building cool stuff.That's hard enough for any product company—let alone an open-source product company. It boils down to marketing and awareness, which WordPress has always struggled with.Even if Gutenberg was welcomed with open arms, excitement for building with blocks and using WordPress for your next website project was still necessary.I believe that for Matt/Automattic to steer the ship back to relevancy, he needed to pull this entire operation back under full control. Lines needed to be drawn—and they certainly were in 2024.I noticed a “different” tone when Mullenweg appeared on WP Product Talk earlier in 2024. The change was coming back then. Did I think it would be the ‘scorched Earth nuclear‘ approach we witnessed? No.You wouldn't be wrong if you argued that Mullenweg has been trending in this direction for years, but it seemed like 2024 was filled with far too many distractions: a flailing Tumblr acquisition or spending tens of millions on messenger apps.What about focusing on WordPress?I've predicted that, in the future, we'll visit WordPress.org and find: “The best way to experience WordPress is at WordPress.com or by hosting WordPress powered by Jetpack.” And then somewhere far below that H1, you'll find in small text: “Click here to download WordPress for free.”In the short term, ripping off the band-aid to let the world know Matt's in charge is one step closer to that reality. One step closer and fewer distractions for Mullenweg—perhaps less community involvement, and much more of the mothership in control in 2025.2. Community -> CommunitiesThe WordPress community as we knew it is not coming back.You're either for or against Automattic, using the project or spinning up your own fork, meme'ing us on X, or you've already quit the whole thing and are riding off into the sunset on a new CMS.I'm still left wondering: What Would Josepha Do?There have been two public opportunities for Mary Hubbard, the new Executive Director of WordPress, to share her plans for the community. Both appearances that left me with more questions than answers.On a live stream with Mullenweg, Hubbard mentioned not wanting to be a “Josepha 2.0.” Totally understandable! No one wants to be a 2.0 of their predecessor. However, the North Star held by the previous ED was shining bright with the desire to help WordPress thrive.“Help WordPress thrive.” A call to action we could all rally around.In the State of the Word 2024, Hubbard opened with: “I am deeply passionate about defending and celebrating WordPress.” And this is where—I believe—the community begins to fracture.Is WordPress truly under attack from external forces (specifically private equity), or is it just suffocating from within?On paper, PE consuming more of WordPress isn't a good thing. From what I've witnessed in the traditional tech space, they don't care much for community investment either. The playbook is to grow the asset, sell the asset, and keep the revolving door of the portfolio moving.However, I don't agree with Matt/Automattic turning the community into cannon fodder—something that has done more damage in a fiscal quarter than if Silver Lake sold WP Engine to Wix.We, the community, could have been the biggest advocates for Mullenweg's change, but instead, we were tossed aside (and continued to be badgered) regardless of tenure or contribution.This is why we'll see more micro-communities pop up around WordPress through 2025. People fall out of love with WordPress as a “place to be,” and WordPress just gets tossed into the toolbox alongside Mailchimp and Google Apps.Transforming the experience from an open-source project backed by a global community into a free website builder by Automattic.Over 2025, WordPress will go from one big community to a decentralized collection of users who care less about the mission of open source and more about building their websites.3. Playground is the future for WordPressAs sure as the iPhone gets 10% better year after year, so does the software of WordPress.So yes, that's part of this prediction: WordPress, the software, does get better—but probably not by all that much.Playground will start to set an important stage for WordPress—one that I think is needed for the long-term survivability (and interest) of the project. To stay competitive, relevant, and easily accessible, the Playground will take center stage. Here's why:As I explored other software in 2024, specifically other CMS apps, no other website allowed me to try their software hands-on in the browser without installing or registering, like WordPress can.Even if you argue that WordPress is monolithic, uses old technologies, and generally can't get out of its own way, I don't see any other tech stack solving the complete stack like WordPress does—website builder, theme layer, drag-and-drop design, publishing, plugins, an ecosystem, etc.It's a real lightbulb moment when you put that power instantly into the hands of someone looking to learn, build, or publish online without friction.Playground allows you to build out a custom WordPress instance, save the blueprint...

Jonathan and Tammie discuss their experiences at WordCamp US, focusing on Showcase Day's impact, the value of diverse contributions, and how companies can align their goals with community involvement.

Jonathan and Tammie discuss their experiences at WordCamp US, focusing on Showcase Day's impact, the value of diverse contributions, and how companies can align their goals with community involvement.

In this episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass reflect on their experiences at WordCamp US, discussing marketing strategies, product development, and the significance of open graph images for online representation. They share anecdotes from the conference, including interactions with attendees and the challenges of presenting. The conversation delves into personal branding, promotional swag, and the importance of effective image generation for social media. They also explore using AI for content creation and strategize for upcoming Black Friday sales. The episode emphasizes the importance of persistence, effective communication, and balancing professional and personal commitments.  Top Takeaways:Black Friday Planning: Michelle and Corey are focusing on creating a strategy for a Black Friday sale. This includes discussing potential discounts, such as testing lower pricing or offering a limited lifetime deal to attract more customers. The goal is to use Black Friday as an opportunity to experiment with pricing and boost sales.Product Positioning and Pain Point Clarity: There's a recognition that OMGIMG addresses a pain point many users don't realize they have. The challenge is to effectively communicate the value of the tool—how it can save time and effort—even though it's not seen as a core necessity like security or SEO plugins.Steady Progress and Commitment: Michelle and Corey both emphasize a long-term commitment to the project, even if the progress has felt gradual. You acknowledge that building momentum takes time, and it's important to avoid self-criticism while continuing to push forward.Marketing Efforts and Automation: There's a desire to step up the marketing efforts, including improving the website, running more ads, automating marketing, and exploring new strategies, such as using creative content like songs or humorous posts on social media to draw attention.Balanced Expectations and Persistence: Corey reflected on not being overly attached to the immediate success of projects, aiming instead to adopt a more measured approach by consistently pushing the product forward without seeing it as all-or-nothing. The goal is to build the flywheel, recognizing that it will take time for sales and growth to self-perpetuate.Mentioned In The Show:WP Accessibility DayEqualize DigitalWordPressWordCampUSAutomatticChatGPTDall-EStellar WPGreen GeeksYoast ClaudeEmail OctopusCanvaPhotoshopSetappTypingMindBartender CleanshotXThe RepositoryAppsumoSocial Link PagesWP BuildsMark WestergaardWS Forms

This week, we discuss the intersection of DevOps and Platform Engineering, the latest WordPress drama, and some M&A tips for Intel. Plus, a few recommendations on using iPhone mirroring. Watch the YouTube Live Recording of Episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGxrtrRWtvc) 486 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGxrtrRWtvc) Runner-up Titles I'm out of nuts, time to podcast System Settings Security, it never ends Fancy Sysadmins Providing needles for your balloons Batman's not real What's the opposite of a taboo DevOps is not the tooling Software gets old Release the turbo button Rundown ‎Windows App (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/windows-app/id1295203466?mt=12) PlatformDays vs. DevOpsDays Has DevOps been "worth it" to you? (https://www.reddit.com/r/devops/comments/1f5srog/has_devops_been_worth_it_to_you/) R (https://newsletter.cote.io/p/how-devops-can-come-back-from-the)enaming a few DevOpsDays (https://newsletter.cote.io/p/how-devops-can-come-back-from-the) t (https://newsletter.cote.io/p/how-devops-can-come-back-from-the)o PlatformDays (https://newsletter.cote.io/p/how-devops-can-come-back-from-the). Tossed Salads And Scrumbled Eggs (https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/tossed-salads-and-scrumbled-eggs/) Digital Transformation Gone Wrong How Sonos Botched an App and Infuriated Its Customers (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-09-23/how-sonos-botched-an-app-and-infuriated-its-customers) FAA air traffic control modernization efforts are a mess (https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/24/us_air_traffic_control_system_upgrade/) Apple Apple launches iPhone 16 with Apple Intelligence (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-launches-iphone-16-with-apple-intelligence-183724722.html) Apple removes Control-click option for skipping Gatekeeper in macOS Sequoia (https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/08/06/apple-removes-control-click-option-for-skipping-gatekeeper-in-macos-sequoia) Intel Qualcomm Approached Intel About a Takeover in Recent Days (https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/qualcomm-approached-intel-about-a-takeover-in-recent-days-fa114f9d) Intel launches new AI chips as takeover rumors swirl (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-launches-new-ai-chips-as-takeover-rumors-swirl-153749461.html) Wordpress Drama Matt Mullenweg calls WP Engine a 'cancer to WordPress' and urges community to switch providers (https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/22/matt-mullenweg-calls-wp-engine-a-cancer-to-wordpress-and-urges-community-to-switch-providers/) Matt Mullenweg needs to step down from WordPress.org leadership ASAP (https://notes.ghed.in/posts/2024/matt-mullenweg-wp-engine-debacle/) WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinking (https://ma.tt/2024/09/ecosystem-thinking/) WP Engine responds (https://wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Cease-and-Desist-Letter-to-Automattic-and-Request-to-Preserve-Documents-Sent.pdf) Relevant to your Interests IBM quietly axing thousands of jobs, source claims (https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/18/ibm_job_cuts/) Comment on #1262 Health of Linkerd project (https://github.com/cncf/toc/issues/1262#issuecomment-2357919000) Starbucks New CEO on Return to Office: ‘We're All Adults Here' (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-19/starbucks-new-ceo-on-return-to-office-we-re-all-adults-here) Yaak Is Now Open Source (https://yaak.app/blog/now-open-source) OpenAI to Decide Which Backers to Let Into $6.5 Billion Funding (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-19/openai-to-decide-which-backers-to-let-into-6-5-billion-funding?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosprorata&stream=top) Google rolls out automatic passkey syncing via Password Manager (https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/19/google-rolls-out-automatic-passkey-syncing-via-password-manager/) A Leader in 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Container Management (https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/containers-kubernetes/a-leader-in-2024-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-container-management/) Companies Like to Pit Internal Teams Against Each Other. Bad Idea. (https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/workplace/competition-companies-employees-9099a425) Microsoft has announced new efforts to improve its cybersecurity systems (https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-has-announced-new-efforts-to-improve-its-cybersecurity-systems/) Oracle Sees $104 Billion Sales in Fiscal 2029 on Cloud Expansion (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-12/oracle-sees-104-billion-sales-in-fiscal-2029-on-cloud-expansion) Oracle Runs OCI Clones At Rival AWS, Google, And Azure Clouds (https://www.nextplatform.com/2024/09/10/oracle-runs-oci-clones-at-rival-aws-google-and-azure-clouds/) Oracle and Amazon Web Services Announce Strategic Partnership (https://www.oracle.com/news/announcement/ocw24-oracle-and-amazon-web-services-announce-strategic-partnership-2024-09-09/) John Mulaney got paid $2M to show up to Dreamforce and say this (https://softwaredefinedtalk.slack.com/archives/C04EK1VBK/p1727125631774399) The Cloud is Darker and More Full of Terrors (https://www.chrisfarris.com/post/sect2024/?ck_subscriber_id=1141233388) Kaspersky deletes itself, installs UltraAV antivirus without warning (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/kaspersky-deletes-itself-installs-ultraav-antivirus-without-warning/) IBM AI simply not up to the job of replacing staff (https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/24/ibm_layoffs_ai_talent/) More Americans – especially young adults – are regularly getting news on TikTok (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/17/more-americans-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok-especially-young-adults/) Meta Unveils 'Orion' Augmented Reality Glasses (https://www.macrumors.com/2024/09/25/meta-augmented-reality-glasses/) Google Rehired Noam Shazeer With Major Payout, (https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/google-rehired-noam-shazeer-major-141808501.html) Congress grills CrowdStrike about multibillion-dollar July outage (https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/09/24/congress-grills-crowdstrike-about-multibillion-dollar-july-outage/) Wiz In Talks to Sell Shares at Valuation as High as $20 Billion (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-24/cyber-firm-wiz-in-talks-to-sell-shares-at-20-billion-valuation) Google files Brussels complaint against Microsoft cloud business (https://archive.ph/VtRiP) Marques Brownlee says ‘I hear you' after fans criticize his new wallpaper app (https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/24/24253023/mkbhd-panels-wallpaper-app-response-criticism) Progress update on Microsoft's Secure Future Initiative (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2024/09/23/securing-our-future-september-2024-progress-update-on-microsofts-secure-future-initiative-sfi/?ref=runtime.news) OpenAI rolls out Advanced Voice Mode with more voices and a new look (https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/24/openai-rolls-out-advanced-voice-mode-with-more-voices-and-a-new-look/) Intel launches new AI chips as takeover rumors swirl (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-launches-new-ai-chips-as-takeover-rumors-swirl-153749461.html) Dozens of Fortune 100 companies have unwittingly hired North Korean IT workers, according to report (https://therecord.media/major-us-companies-unwittingly-hire-north-korean-remote-it-workers) Nonsense Grocery chains are bigger than ever. See who runs the stores near you. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2024/grocery-store-owners-map-kroger-albertsons-merger/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3f166c7%2F66f2df1965e56477aea35218%2F5ed96de79bbc0f3a78a62db3%2F8%2F54%2F66f2df1965e56477aea35218) Conferences Cloud Foundry Day EU (https://events.linuxfoundation.org/cloud-foundry-day-europe/), Karlsruhe, GER, Oct 9, 2024, 20% off with code CFEU24VMW. VMware Explore Barcelona (https://www.vmware.com/explore/eu), Nov 4-7, 2024. Coté speaking. SREday Amsterdam (https://sreday.com/2024-amsterdam/), Nov 21, 2024. Coté speaking (https://sreday.com/2024-amsterdam/Michael_Cote_VMwarePivotal_We_Fear_Change), 20% off with code SRE20DAY. DevOpsDayLA (https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/22x/events/devopsday-la) at SCALE22x (https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/22x), March 6-9, 2025, discount code DEVOP SDT News & Community Join our Slack community (https://softwaredefinedtalk.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-1hn55iv5d-UTfN7mVX1D9D5ExRt3ZJYQ#/shared-invite/email) Email the show: questions@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:questions@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Free stickers: Email your address to stickers@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:stickers@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Follow us on social media: Twitter (https://twitter.com/softwaredeftalk), Threads (https://www.threads.net/@softwaredefinedtalk), Mastodon (https://hachyderm.io/@softwaredefinedtalk), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/software-defined-talk/), BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/softwaredefinedtalk.com) Watch us on: Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/sdtpodcast), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi3OJPV6h9tp-hbsGBLGsDQ/featured), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/softwaredefinedtalk/), TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@softwaredefinedtalk) Book offer: Use code SDT for $20 off "Digital WTF" by Coté (https://leanpub.com/digitalwtf/c/sdt) Sponsor the show (https://www.softwaredefinedtalk.com/ads): ads@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:ads@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Recommendations Brandon: Use Magnifier on your iPhone or iPad (https://support.apple.com/en-us/105102) Matt: Ghosts (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8594324/) Coté: The Modern Myths (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo52584433.html). 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Portland startup news for the week ending September 20, 2024. Here's the Portland startup stuff I was tracking this week. Portland startup news includes a Portland startup community gathering on September 20 at 4PM at the Rogue Eastside Brewery to meet with WordCamp US 2024 attendees, coffee meetups, Oregon Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Accelerator drones has its first demo day, Portland Alternative Investment Association (PAIA), 4K4Community fun run, Rose City Techies, and more… PORTLAND STARTUP LINKS - Portland startup community gathering https://calagator.org/events/1250481309 - WordCamp US https://us.wordcamp.org/ - UpStart Collective 2nd birthday https://calagator.org/events/1250481280 - Kathryn Latham on the PAIA  / workwithkl_5-takeaways-for-oregon-founders...   - 4K4Community https://www.4k4community.com/ - Rose City Techies https://www.meetup.com/rose-city-tech...

In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Marcus Burnette to dive into the many exciting features of WP World, a community platform designed for WordPress professionals. Marcus, the creator of WP World, walks listeners through its dynamic features, including customizable profile pins that reflect user specialties, a robust hosting review system, and privacy options for those who prefer not to share their location.Top TakeawaysUser-Friendly Features in WP World: Marcus Burnette highlighted various user-friendly features in WP World, such as the ability to customize profile pins based on user specialties and the option to hide locations for privacy reasons. This ensures the platform remains flexible and inclusive, especially for those who prioritize privacy or are digital nomads.Community-Driven Feedback and Development: Michelle Frechette shared how user feedback directly influenced the development of WP World. For example, her suggestion to add "accessibility specialist" as an option was quickly implemented. Marcus encouraged users to request features, showing that the platform is shaped by the needs of its community.WP World's Hosting Review Platform: Marcus introduced a comprehensive hosting review system where users can rate various aspects of hosting providers, such as performance and security. This community-sourced rating system provides valuable insights for people choosing WordPress hosts and ensures transparency by preventing paid listings.Playful and Engaging Design Aspects: Marcus, as a designer, has adding fun products like the "Capital P, dang it" mug. He also shared how events like WordCamps feature their own unique " u" mascots, contributing to the platform's lighthearted and engaging atmosphere.Collaborative Community Spirit: Both Marcus and Michelle emphasized their close collaboration and support within the WordPress community. Their plans to meet at WordCamp US to further discuss ideas highlight the strong, community-driven spirit behind WP World and its events. They also invited the audience to connect with them and grab stickers at the upcoming event, showcasing their approachability.Mentioned In The Show:WP WorldWP Coffee TalkWP SpeakersSeriously Bud? PodcastBud KrausChatGPTHeroPressJavi GuembeTopher DeRosiaElementorDo the Woo PodcastWP WonderWomenWP Career PagesWordPress.orgNexcessKaty BoykinKadence Amplify

Episode 50! This week in Portland startup news finds us with the best startup events in Portland plus WordCamp US 2024. Plus lots of Portland startup goodness. PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS 00:00 Portland startup news intro 00:48 Bend Venture Conference Growth Stage startups 05:45 Portland startup and tech events in September https://siliconflorist.com/2024/09/12/a-random-smattering-of-tech-events-just-exploded-across-the-september-calendar/ 19:55  @WordPress  WordCamp US 2024 https://us.wordcamp.org/ 22:00 4K4Community Fun Run https://www.4k4community.com/ 24:57 CoCore compute resources for #ai 29:55 Built Festival 2024 https://www.builtoregon.com/built-festival ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #entrepreneur #portland

In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Alex Sandiford about his affiliate plugin, Siren Affiliates. Alex explains how the plugin simplifies the management of affiliate, loyalty, and royalty programs by centralizing various incentive structures. He discusses the development journey, challenges faced, and future plans for the plugin, including potential integrations. The conversation emphasizes the importance of building relationships with affiliates and providing them with the necessary tools and support to succeed. The episode concludes with insights into the ethical and collaborative aspects of affiliate marketing.Top Takeaways:The Power of Affiliate Relationships: Alex emphasizes that successful affiliate programs are built on strong partnerships and personalized support. Providing affiliates with both the right tools and fair compensation can lead to mutually beneficial success. It's not just about the percentage they earn, but about helping them market effectively.Siren's Pricing Structure: Alex outlines Siren's pricing tiers as very affordable, with a focus on bringing in early adopters. The initial pricing is $59 for the first year, renewing at $79. This pricing will likely increase as the plugin stabilizes and grows.Challenges in Affiliate Marketing Perception: Alex is focused on shifting the negative stigma around affiliate marketing by showing that it can be honest, impactful, and built on genuine partnerships. He contrasts the negative view of affiliates with the popular trend of influencer marketing, highlighting their similarities.Platform Migration and Customization: Siren offers platform migration support for users switching from other affiliate plugins like Affiliate WP. This feature has proven popular, and Alex plans to streamline the migration process to make it more efficient, showing a focus on enhancing user experience and meeting customer needs.Future Development Plans: While Siren does not yet have built-in tools for providing affiliates with marketing resources like images and copy, this is on Alex's roadmap. He recognizes the importance of giving affiliates the resources they need to succeed, although existing tools like Google Drive and the block editor can partially solve this for now.Mentioned In The Show:LifterLMSUdemyPayPalStripeKadenceAffiliate WPWooCommerceEasy Digital DownloadsLearnDashNorth CommercePersonalized WPRestrict Content ProGoogle DrivePartnerShip PodcastWP WorldMarcus BurnetteWordCampUS

Say thanks and learn more about our podcast sponsor Omnisend. In this extended episode of WP Minute+, I sat down with Mark Szymanski for an in-depth discussion about the current state of WordPress, its growth trajectory, and the challenges it faces in marketing and community engagement. We explored recent developments in the WordPress ecosystem, including insights from industry leaders and data trends from the WP Product Talk episode.This conversation was sparked by recent presentations and discussions in the WordPress community, particularly focusing on the apparent plateau in WordPress growth and the need for renewed community engagement. We analyzed Josepha Haden Chomphosy's WordCamp US presentation from a year ago, which highlighted the importance of human involvement in WordPress's future success.Highlighting the complexities of WordPress's position in the market, comparing its growth trends with competitors like Wix, Squarespace, and Webflow. We discussed the unique challenges WordPress faces as an open-source project competing with commercial entities, and how this impacts its marketing and growth strategies.A significant portion of our discussion focused on the potential for marketing initiatives within the WordPress community. We explored ideas for collaborative marketing efforts, the challenges of creating a unified message for such a diverse platform, and the potential role of content creators in promoting WordPress.Throughout our conversation, we touched on several critical issues, including:1. The balance between open-source ideals and commercial interests in WordPress2. The need for better data and metrics to understand WordPress's market position3. The challenges of creating a cohesive marketing strategy for a diverse platform4. The role of Automattic and other major players in shaping WordPress's future5. The potential for community-driven marketing initiativesKey Takeaways for WordPress Professionals:1. WordPress is experiencing a growth plateau, necessitating new strategies for engagement and growth2. There's a growing recognition of the need for better marketing and community engagement in WordPress3. The diversity of WordPress use cases presents both a strength and a challenge for marketing efforts4. Content creators and community members play a crucial role in shaping perceptions of WordPress5. There's potential for collaborative marketing efforts, but challenges in coordination and messaging remain6. The open-source nature of WordPress provides resilience but also complicates marketing efforts7. Understanding different user avatars is crucial for effective WordPress marketingImportant URLs mentioned:1. wordpress.org/about/philosophy2. wordpress.com3. wix.com4. squarespace.com5. webflow.com6. thewpminute.com/support7. markszymanski.co8. mjs.bioChapter Titles with Timestamps:1. [00:00:00] Introduction and Recent WordPress Developments2. [00:15:00] Analyzing WordPress Growth Trends3. [00:30:00] The Challenges of Marketing Open-Source Software4. [00:45:00] Community Engagement and WordPress's Future5. [01:00:00] Comparing WordPress to Commercial Competitors6. [01:15:00] Potential Marketing Strategies for WordPress7. [01:30:00] The Role of Content Creators in WordPress Promotion8. [01:45:00] Closing Thoughts and Call to ActionThis episode provides a comprehensive look at the current state of WordPress from both a veteran's perspective and a newer community member's viewpoint. It highlights the ongoing challenges and opportunities within the WordPress ecosystem, offering valuable insights for anyone deeply involved in the WordPress community. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass  discuss their preparations for WordCamp US, including finalizing presentation slides and enhancing their product's homepage for better user engagement. They explore offering personalized onboarding sessions and the complexities of different plugins. The conversation highlights the importance of educational content and clear communication about their product's benefits, especially for users unfamiliar with WordPress. They also celebrate a successful classified ad in a newsletter and share experiences with user engagement and marketing strategies. The episode concludes with plans for future events and a light-hearted discussion about time management.Top Takeaways:Working on IPA WP Features: Michelle and Corey discussed their progress on developing features for IPA WP. They plan to refine these features and update the homepage to have a product ready to showcase at WordCamp US.Networking and Relationships at WordCamps: Corey and Michelle both emphasize the importance of attending WordCamps and smaller WordPress events. These events have allowed them to build strong professional relationships and friendships, like Corey's connection with Alex Standiford and others. They both miss the frequency of smaller, more intimate WordCamps, which foster closer interactions and connections.Productivity and Time Management: Both expressed the challenge of balancing multiple responsibilities, including work, hobbies, and preparations for upcoming events. They joked about the idea of creating a plugin to add more hours to the day, highlighting the ongoing struggle with time management.Mentioned In The Show:YoastRank MathStellar WPStreamYardMorgueFileDense DiscoverySeattle MagazinePaws of CoronadoSquirrelly Dall-E FiverrMastermind GroupAlex StandifordMarcus Burnette

In this episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass  engage in a lively conversation about their experiences at WordCamp US, their recent t-shirt purchases, and a collaborative project related to WordPress. They discuss the progress of their project, which involves creating a directory for plugins or products, and the challenges of designing a logo that is clear and recognizable. They also brainstorm creative ideas for the logo and share their strategies for promoting their project. The episode highlights their enthusiasm for collaboration and their commitment to making the project a success.Top Takeaways: Iterative Brainstorming Process: Both Corey and Michelle value the process of "splashing around" in ideas, acknowledging that not every concept will be a winner, but it's essential to explore and iterate to find the right solution. They emphasized the importance of keeping ideas alive and evolving them over time.IPAWP Rebranding: The Independent Plugin Alliance for WordPress was rebranded as the Independent Product Alliance for WordPress (IPAWP) to better reflect the broader scope of products they want to include. They're still in the early stages of developing this alliance and are actively seeking input and collaboration from others.Grassroots Development: Both OMGIMG and IPAWP are in grassroots development phases, with Corey and Michelle being open to new ideas and contributions. They're focused on building these initiatives in a collaborative, community-driven manner, emphasizing low-cost marketing strategies and mutual support among small WordPress product creators.Mentioned In The Show:Ross MorsaliSearch & FiltersIPA WPWP SpeakersWP Coffee TalksWP TavernWP Wonder WomanCanvaFiverr

WordCamp US 2024 is a four-day event in Portland, Oregon, featuring Contributor Day, Showcase Day, and diverse programming days. Join the conversation with three of the lead organizers.

WordCamp US 2024 is a four-day event in Portland, Oregon, featuring Contributor Day, Showcase Day, and diverse programming days. Join the conversation with three of the lead organizers.

In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frechette chats with Mark Westguard, the creator of WS Form, a powerful and flexible form-building plugin for WordPress. Mark discusses WS Form's standout features, including its advanced conditional logic, breakpoint selectors for responsive design, and its capacity for complex customizations and integrations. They explore creative uses of the plugin, from dynamic MadLibs to WooCommerce product customizations, and reflect on their favorite WordCamp experiences, such as WordCamp Europe and WordCamp US. Mark also teases upcoming updates for WS Form and shares insights on making the most of WordPress events.Top Takeaways: WS Form's Flexibility and Power: WS Form is highlighted as a highly flexible and powerful form builder, capable of much more than just creating basic forms. It includes advanced features like conditional logic, dynamic content generation, integration with WooCommerce, and even the ability to handle complex calculations.Responsive Design Features: WS Form supports responsive design with customizable breakpoints, allowing users to adjust form layouts across different screen sizes. This feature is especially useful for ensuring forms look good and function well on mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.Developer-Friendly Features: The form builder is designed with developers in mind, offering hooks for custom and legacy API integrations, as well as the ability to run WordPress filter hooks and action hooks. This makes it highly extensible for those with coding skills.Support and Knowledge Sharing: Mark Westguard actively responds to customer support inquiries by not only providing direct help but also creating knowledge base articles based on common questions. This approach helps build a comprehensive resource for all users.Community Engagement: Both Mark and Michelle emphasize the importance of attending WordCamps and being involved in the WordPress community. They discuss the benefits of networking, sharing ideas, and learning from others, which are vital aspects of their experiences and successes within the community.Mentioned In The Show:WS FormEventbriteWordCamp USWordCamp Asia WordCamp Europe GiveWP Bootstrap Foundation WooCommerceBarn2 PluginsLiquid Web Datakit Zach KatzGravityKit 

In this podcast episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frechette is joined by her friend and WordPress security expert, Kathy Zant. They delve into various aspects of website security, focusing on WordPress. Kathy discusses her recent security courses aimed at demystifying WordPress for beginners and emphasizes the importance of proactive security measures. They highlight the critical role of regular backups and the potential risks of automated updates. Kathy shares practical security tips, such as using strong passwords and enabling two-factor authentication. The episode is both informative and engaging, filled with personal anecdotes and humor, making it a valuable resource for listeners.Top Takeaways: Importance of Security: Both Michelle and Kathy emphasize the importance of understanding and implementing robust security measures to protect websites from hacks.Criminal Behavior: Kathy highlights that criminals (including hackers) often look for the easiest targets. If a website or home has visible security measures, they are more likely to move on to an easier target. However, if a determined attacker sees something of value, they might still find a way in despite the security measures.Auto Updates: Kathy advises against relying solely on automated updates, especially for websites that are crucial for business. She recommends a process of updating on a staging environment first, ensuring everything works, and then updating the production site. She highlights real-world scenarios where automated updates have caused issues, leading to downtime and confusion over whether a site was hacked or simply experiencing an update-related error.Content Creation and Community Engagement:Kathy discusses her responsibilities at Motivation Code, including managing content across different platforms and facilitating challenges to foster community interaction. Despite facing technical challenges with platforms like LinkedIn, she remains committed to creating engaging content and moving activities to more effective platforms like Facebook.Mentioned In The Show:ShopifyWixSquarespaceMotivation Code CrowdStrike StellarWPWordCamp USNathan IngramMark WestguardKathy's website

This week, we talk about the inagural 503 Day, Dust Moto's EV dirt bike, WordCamp US call for speakers, NedSpace offers space for events, a new Executive Director for Oregon Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Accelerator, Equitable Networking, and Mayday! Deep Space. Let's get into it. ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #oregon

This week, the Right to Repair Act is now Oregon law, WordCamp US 2024 tickets are now on sale, Oregon UAS (drone) Accelerator applications are due, AI Portland has a new AI podcast, First Friday at UpStart Collective Westside, and Westside Pitch Competition. Let's get into it. ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #portland

In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller discuss their experience at WordCamp US and the challenges they faced in promoting their WordPress product. They talk about making changes to their homepage to provide clearer examples of open graph images. They also talk about the decision to refactor the code for their product to make it more extensible and user-friendly. They discuss the timeline for completing the work and adding presets to the product. They also mention receiving positive feedback and expressing excitement for the upcoming features.Top Takeaways:Importance of Refactoring: Corey Maass discusses the decision to refactor their WordPress product's code. While initially hesitant, he recognized the importance of improving the code's structure to avoid future limitations and difficulties in maintaining the product. This highlights the significance of making technical decisions with an eye toward long-term sustainability.User-Centric Development: Corey Maass emphasizes the need to consider the user perspective when developing products. He discusses the benefits of creating a more dynamic and extensible image builder, which will ultimately make it easier for users to customize their images. This showcases the value of user-centric development in enhancing product usability and scalability.Engaging with Early Users: They talk about sending out an email to early subscribers and receiving feedback. Engaging with early users not only helps build a community but also provides valuable insights into user expectations and needs. This underscores the importance of proactive communication with your product's early adopters.

In this episode, Corey Maass and Corey Miller discuss preparing for WordCamp US and the upcoming launch of their product, OMG IMG. They delve into the latest developments and features of OMG IMG, including the creation of OG images and watermarking, making the product more appealing to users. They explore the potential impact of their product, discussing creative use cases and showcasing its value in enhancing visual content on WordPress websites. They share their excitement about using WordCamp US as a platform to introduce OMG IMG to a broader audience. As they plan their approach, they touch on strategies for marketing, user feedback, introductory pricing, and usability testing. The episode provides valuable insights into their journey of refining OMG IMG, from design templates to product launch strategies.Top Takeaways:Product Development and Integration: Ongoing development of the OMG IMG plugin. Cory and Corey discuss the importance of integrating with popular WordPress plugins like Rank Math and Yoast SEO, emphasizing the need for seamless compatibility to enhance the user experience.Design and User Experience: They stress the significance of creating visually appealing templates for OMG IMG. They talk about the importance of providing users with pre-designed templates that require minimal effort, ensuring that the plugin offers value by simplifying the process of generating images.Marketing and Promotion: They discuss their marketing strategy for WordCamp US. They plan to distribute business cards, create a product demo video, and engage with the WordPress community. They also talk about the importance of building anticipation and buzz around their product.Feedback and User Engagement: They plan to provide users with easy ways to provide feedback, report bugs, or make feature requests directly within the plugin's interface. This proactive approach to gathering user input demonstrates their commitment to improving the product based on user needs.

Reflections and highlights of WordCamp US 2023 from Matt Medeiros, Seth Goldstein, Shambi Broome, Bud Kraus, Jeremy Freemont, Mike Demo, Patrick Rauland and Katie Keith

Reflections and highlights of WordCamp US 2023 from Matt Medeiros, Seth Goldstein, Shambi Broome, Bud Kraus, Jeremy Freemont, Mike Demo, Patrick Rauland and Katie Keith

Our final recap of WordCamp US with Topher DeRosia, Raquel Manriquez and Cory Miller

Our final recap of WordCamp US with Topher DeRosia, Raquel Manriquez and Cory Miller

In this episode, Cory Miller and Corey Maass discuss the progress with their product and plans for marketing. They mention ordering stickers and preparing for WordCamp US. They also talk about the importance of having a clear name for the plugin and creating a frictionless process for potential customers to sign up or make a purchase. They talk through their pitch and refine their messaging. They also brainstorm different ideas for promoting the product, such as creating unique business cards or flyers and offering branding and listing websites on a page. They also discuss the importance of having a clear and concise pitch to explain the product to potential customers.Top Takeaways:Product Differentiation: The conversation highlights the importance of presenting a unique value proposition for a product. The speakers emphasize how OMGIMG transforms ordinary images into polished and engaging content, which sets it apart from traditional image solutions.Visual Presentation Matters: The speakers discuss the significance of visuals in content sharing. They emphasize how compelling images contribute to engagement and sharing on social media platforms. This insight underscores the need for visually appealing content.Simple and Clear Pitch: The speakers craft a concise and clear pitch for the product. They focus on highlighting the problem (unappealing images) and the solution (OMGIMG's transformational capability) in a straightforward manner, ensuring potential users quickly understand the product's benefits.

Josh recaps WordCamp US 2023 and shares takeaways from the first Web Designer Pro in person meetup, thoughts on Matt Mullenweg's keynote talk on the future of WordPress, the latest on Ai in web design, Accessibility, what's going on with Divi and much more!In This Episode00:02 - Recapping WordCamp 2023 and Hot Topics  11:24 - Imposter Syndrome and Accessibility Evolution 18:59 - Divi's Community Presence and Future  30:55 - Direct Chat and Business Recommendations Get all links, resources and show notes at:https://joshhall.co/281

In this episode, Cory Miller and Corey Maass talk about their plan to launch the plug-in before WordCamp US. They also discuss offering a special package for early supporters, and different ways to promote their product, including newsletters, and social media. Next the talk about the features and functionality emphasizing the importance of simple and user-friendly designs. They set a plan to create a dedicated page for WordCamp US, record a video message, and rehearse their talk. Top Takeaways:Importance of Design and Templates: Highlighting the importance of dedicating time to craft eye-catching templates and the simplicity of producing images using these templates.Discussing the Launch Plan: Conversation regarding the pre-launch of a plug-in ahead of WordCamp US, strategizing sales targets, and introducing an exclusive package for our initial supporters.Preparing for WordCamp US: Exploring the concept of crafting a singular launch page (complete with a video message), a compelling presentation of the product's value proposition, and seamless integration with the product journey.