WordCamp Asia is set to return in 2026 — but not without behind-the-scenes tension. Organizers of the 2025 event say they were sidelined in choosing the next host city, shut out before a proper handover was complete, and “flushed out.” WordCamp Central, meanwhile, says it stepped in to keep the flagship event from losing momentum after the 2025 […]
Automattic Marks 20 Years, Looks Ahead to AI Era and Next 20 Years
Automattic is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, marking two decades since Matt Mullenweg hired Donncha Ó Caoimh to help build WordPress.com. What began as a small, remote-first team has grown into a global company of nearly 1,500 people across 82 countries, powering platforms including WooCommerce, Tumblr, Jetpack, and Beeper. In a pair of blog posts last week, […]
Patricia Brun Torre Shares Grievances of 100+ Contributors with WordPress Leadership
At WordCamp Europe 2025, contributor Patricia Brun Torre presented WordPress Executive Director Mary Hubbard with a document capturing the concerns of more than 100 contributors. It outlines fear of retaliation, contributor burnout, and a growing sense of lost trust, and calls for change in how leadership and decision-making work across the WordPress project. “It’s not about blaming anyone,” […]
Can WordPress Finally Fix Five for the Future? Contributors See Rare Chance for Reform
After years of stalled conversations, a packed roundtable at WordCamp Europe 2025 has sparked fresh momentum to reform Five for the Future (5ftF), the initiative encouraging individuals and companies to give back 5% of their resources to the WordPress project. With WordPress Executive Director Mary Hubbard publicly supporting a reset and contributors rallying around clear proposals, many feel […]
WordCamp US Faces Scrutiny Over Automattic’s Role as Ticket Sales Lag
A post from the official WordCamp US X account on Wednesday stirred confusion about Automattic’s involvement in this year’s flagship WordPress event — and reignited long-standing questions about how much control the company has over the conference’s programming. “It is an Automattic event. Currently the programming team is curating all the programming and everything will be finalized through […]
Dropping security updates for WordPress versions 4.1 through 4.6
As of July 2025, the WordPress Security Team will no longer provide security updates for WordPress versions 4.1 through 4.6. These versions were first released nine or more years ago and over 99% of WordPress installations run a more recent version. The chances this will affect your site, or sites, is very small. If you are unsure if […]
AspirePress: The Quiet Project Powering FAIR’s Infrastructure.
A year ago, AspirePress didn’t exist. Today, it powers the download and update infrastructure for the FAIR project, the Linux Foundation-backed effort to decentralize WordPress core, plugin and theme distribution. But while FAIR made headlines with its public launch alongside WordCamp Europe 2025, AspirePress has remained largely under the radar — a small, volunteer-run initiative with big ambitions […]
Performance Chat Summary: 17 June 2025
The full chat log is available beginning here on Slack. Open Floor @swissspidy shared a previous question from @spacedmonkey, regarding the use of static variables in core for in-memory caching, and whether the object caching API with a non-persistent cache group might be a better alternative. Benefits noted included cache invalidation capabilities and improved testing scenarios.In the original […]
Who’s Behind FAIR? Inside the Coalition Seeking to Redefine WordPress Software Distribution
The launch of the FAIR Package Manager — built in secret, backed by the Linux Foundation, and announced last week alongside WordCamp Europe — has sparked a wave of conversation across the WordPress ecosystem. But behind the technical promise of decentralization lies something more fundamental: a coordinated response by veteran contributors and organizations seeking to rethink how WordPress […]
WordPress Leadership Says ‘No’ to Bringing Back Sustainability Team Despite Public Plea and Community Petition
WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and Executive Director Mary Hubbard have knocked back calls from the community to reinstate the WordPress Sustainability Team, despite a public plea and a petition that quickly gathered hundreds of signatures during WordCamp Europe 2025. The team was abruptly disbanded by Mullenweg in January over what he described as a lack of measurable output […]
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