Post Status Podcasts: Recent Episodes
Cory Miller, David Bisset
Post Status Draft, Excerpt, Comments, and Live provide the interviews, news digests, community discussions, and live shows that matter — for WordPress professionals.
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette chats with developer Mark Westguard about the new Image Roulette plugin, which randomizes images on WordPress sites while keeping alt text and captions for accessibility. The plugin was inspired by Michelle’s need to display randomized Speed Networking conversation cards.
They demonstrate how it works, discuss potential eCommerce uses, and share experiences using AI tools like Claude to speed up development. The episode also highlights collaboration, creativity, and fun within the WordPress community.
Top Takeaways:* Image Roulette Plugin: Michelle’s accessibility challenge inspired Mark to create a plugin that randomizes images while preserving alt text and captions. Within hours, he developed a fully functional prototype that later became a public WordPress plugin. * Accessibility at the Core: The plugin automatically uses each image’s existing media library fields (alt text, title, caption), ensuring accessibility is built-in rather than an afterthought — aligning with WordPress’s broader emphasis on inclusive design. * Simplicity and Versatility: Image Roulette works via both a Gutenberg block and a shortcode, making it compatible with different site builders. It’s ideal not only for random prompts but also for creative and commercial applications, such as eCommerce product showcases.
Mentioned In The Show:* Moo * Image Roulette * Insta WP * Claude * Cursor * Angie * WP World
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests online:* Mark Westguard (Founder, WS Form) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of Cache Up, host Michelle Frechette chats with Joe Dawson, co-founder of WordPress Accessibility Day. They discuss the event’s origins, its 24-hour global online format, and the importance of accessibility in web design for people with disabilities and aging users. Joe explains the logistics behind providing live captions, ASL interpretation, and paying speakers. The conversation highlights the volunteer-driven nature of the event, the need for sponsorship, and ongoing efforts to improve both digital and physical accessibility in the WordPress community and beyond.
Top Takeaways: * The Origins and Growth of WP Accessibility Day: WP Accessibility Day started in 2020 as an online accessibility-focused event and was significantly shaped by the pandemic, which allowed the team to attract international speakers. Founders Joe Dolson, Amber Hinds, and Bet Hannon built a volunteer-run organization that has grown into an annual, fully online 24-hour event, enabling global participation. * Commitment to Accessibility for All: The event emphasizes true accessibility, not just compliance. It includes live ASL interpretation, live captions, and translated content (currently in Spanish, French, and other languages), ensuring participants with various disabilities and language backgrounds can fully engage. Accessibility is seen as a benefit for everyone, including those with temporary or situational disabilities. * Valuing Contributors and Maintaining a Sustainable Model: WP Accessibility Day pays its speakers and translators to honor their time and expertise, despite being a volunteer-led nonprofit. Sponsorships and donations fund professional captioning, sign language interpreters, Zoom infrastructure, and post-production, balancing high-quality accessibility services with organizational sustainability. * Real-World Impact and Awareness: The conversation highlights how accessibility challenges extend beyond the web to physical spaces and everyday life. Joe and Michelle emphasize the importance of listening to feedback from people with disabilities, including temporary ones, and addressing barriers proactively. The event and its materials serve as both an educational resource and a demonstration of inclusive design practices in action.
Mentioned Links: * WP accessibility day * id24 * Bet Hannon * Amber Hinds * Vitaly Friedman * Smashing Magazine * Joe A Simpson Jr
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on socials: Joe Dawson (Co-Founder, WordPress Accessibility Day*) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette interviews Adam Preiser and Andre Gagnon, co-founders of SureCart, a managed e-commerce platform for WordPress. They discuss SureCart’s user-friendly features, flexible pricing, robust subscription management, and seamless integrations. The conversation highlights how SureCart simplifies online selling for merchants and agencies, offers transparent pricing, and supports both digital and physical products. Listeners ask questions about selling digital goods, reporting, and payment options. The episode concludes with community engagement details and upcoming events, showcasing SureCart’s commitment to merchant success and innovation.
Top Takeaways:* Accessibility and Customizability Are Core Priorities: SureCart places a strong emphasis on accessibility, including keyboard navigation, screen readers, and focus management. Every new feature undergoes extensive accessibility testing. At the same time, the platform is highly customizable, allowing users to modify templates for products, carts, checkouts, and even customer areas. This is particularly valuable for agencies building stores for clients with specific design requirements. * Flexibility and Seamless Integration Simplify E-Commerce: SureCart supports multiple pricing options—including one-time payments, subscriptions, and installment plans—and integrates seamlessly with page builders like Elementor and Bricks. It eliminates the need for multiple third-party plugins, offering built-in shipping, taxes, upsells, affiliates, and abandoned cart recovery. Merchants can manage both digital products (like photography) and services, including instant checkout pages for streamlined selling. * Advanced Reporting and Subscription Management: The platform provides detailed reporting dashboards with KPIs and subscription analytics, making it easy to track sales, refunds, churn, and growth. Subscription management is automated, including failed payment recovery and options to retain customers through discounts or pauses. Integrations with tools like Zapier allow merchants to trigger automated actions and workflows, enhancing customer retention and operational efficiency. * Transparent Pricing, Scalable Plans, and Upcoming Features: SureCart offers a simple pricing model: free plan with a 1.9% transaction fee, or paid annual plans ($179/year for a single store) with all features included and no transaction fees. Plans scale from one store to unlimited stores, ideal for agencies. Upcoming features include starter templates, product reviews, automated fees and discounts, custom report builders, and integration with Razor Pay for international payments. The team maintains a customer-focused, approachable philosophy, prioritizing feedback and ongoing improvements.
Mentioned In The Show:* SureCart * WP Crafter * CartFlows * Elementor * Bricks Builder * Otto Kit * Zapier
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Adam Preiser (Co-founder, SureCart) * Andre Gagnon (Co-founder, SureCart) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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:* WPoptic * Wave * Built With * WPSupporters * Wappalyzer * WPfounders article about Remco Nieuwenhuizen * Elementor * WPBakery * Divi
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests online:* Remco Nieuwenhuizen (Founder, WPoptic) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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:* Elementor * W3Techs * Image Optimizer * Ally * Site Planner * Angie * WP Accessibility Day * Underrepresented in Tech
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Miriam Schwab (Head of WordPress, Elementor) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of Get It Seen: The Simplest Way to Accessible Design host Michelle Frechette and typography expert Piccia Neri discuss the vital role of typography in web accessibility. They explore how factors like font choice, size, alignment, kerning, and style impact readability and legibility for all users, including those with visual or neurological differences. The conversation highlights common pitfalls—such as using all caps, centered text, or decorative fonts—and offers practical tips for creating accessible, user-friendly content. Real-world examples underscore how thoughtful typography can improve user experience and even boost website conversions. The episode concludes with a preview of next week’s focus on color and contrast.
Top Takeaways:* Typography Is More Than Just Fonts — It's a Core Element of Accessibility: Typography includes not only font choices but also layout, spacing, alignment, font weight, size, line height, tracking, and visual hierarchy. These elements together shape how readable and legible text is, directly affecting accessibility and user experience. * Readability and Legibility Are Different, and Both Matter: Legibility is about how easily individual letters can be distinguished (e.g., clear letterforms, avoiding imposter letters like I/l/1). Readability refers to how easily blocks of text can be read and understood (e.g., proper line length, avoiding full justification, using appropriate spacing). Both need to be considered when designing for diverse users, including those with dyslexia or visual impairments. * Alignment Strongly Impacts Usability and Conversion: Left-aligned text is significantly easier to read, especially online. Centered or poorly aligned text disrupts the reader's visual flow and can make content inaccessible. * There Are No Universally "Perfect" Accessible Typefaces: Recommendations like "use sans-serif fonts" or “Arial is accessible” are oversimplified. Accessibility depends on how the typeface is used, whether it distinguishes similar characters clearly (e.g., capital I vs. lowercase L), and whether it's appropriate for your audience. Typefaces like Atkinson Hyperlegible are designed with accessibility in mind, but even these aren’t universally preferred.
Mentioned in the Show:* Don't Make Me Think Book By Steve Krug * Atkinson Hyperlegible * Söhne Klim Type Foundry * National Klim Type Foundry * Josef Albers * Accessible typeface checklist – free resource * Accessible Typography 101 course – 30% discount code: PODCAST30 * Better Accessibility Through Typography Masterclass – 30% discount code: PODCAST30
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Piccia Neri (Accessible Design Lead, Aligned Consulting Group) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of Cache Up, host Michelle Frechette chats with Clem Omotoso and Mary Baum about WordCamp Canada 2025. Clem, a newcomer to WordPress, shares his journey from student to event volunteer, while Mary, an experienced organizer, discusses the event’s programming, community spirit, and accessibility. The conversation highlights the excitement around meeting fellow WordPress enthusiasts, the value of informal networking, and the unique features of the Ottawa venue. Listeners are encouraged to attend, volunteer, or sponsor, making WordCamp Canada 2025 a welcoming and memorable experience for all.
Top Takeaways:* WordCamp Canada Fosters Community and Welcomes Newcomers: Clem Omotosho’s journey from student to WordCamp Canada volunteer highlights how welcoming and accessible the WordPress community is. With encouragement from experienced community members like Michelle and Mary, newcomers are not only embraced but quickly integrated into organizing teams and events. The spirit of connection, support, and shared learning was a central theme throughout the conversation. * Hosting WordCamp on a College Campus Enhances Accessibility and Atmosphere: Returning to Carleton University in Ottawa, WordCamp Canada 2025 will benefit from a venue that naturally supports learning, accessibility, and social interaction. College campuses offer built-in amenities like classrooms, accessible pathways, and communal spaces, making them ideal for events focused on knowledge-sharing and community building. * A Dual-Track Program Highlights WordPress’s Future and Foundations: The 2025 event will feature two main speaker tracks: one focused on practical sessions for users, developers, and business owners, and another forward-looking track exploring topics like AI, the fediverse, and the future of the open web. With keynote speakers like Dave Winer and Evan (surname TBD), the program aims to engage both seasoned professionals and curious newcomers alike.
Mentioned in the Show:* WordCamp Canada
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on socials:* Clem Omotosho (Technical Solutions Specialist/ Engineer, StackAdapt) * Mary Baum (Owner, RacquetPress) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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 Buddies * WPIncludes.me * The WP World
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Marcus Burnette (Founder, The WP World) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette interviews Natalie MacLee and Nathan Tyler, co-founders of NSquared. They discuss their journey from developing popular WordPress plugins to launching SaaS products like Aaardvark, an accessibility platform, and Blink Metrics, a data management tool for small businesses. The conversation covers the challenges of fragmented business data, the importance of web accessibility, and the differences between WordPress plugins and SaaS solutions, highlighting N Squared’s commitment to innovation and supporting both the WordPress community and broader digital needs.
Top Takeaways:* From WordPress Roots to SaaS Expansion: Natalie MacLees and Nathan Tyler started with successful WordPress plugins like Simply Schedule Appointments and Draw Attention. Realizing some challenges couldn’t be solved within WordPress alone, they expanded into SaaS to build scalable tools that work both inside and outside the WordPress ecosystem. * Introducing Aaardvark and Blink Metrics: Their new tools—Aaardvark and Blink Metrics—tackle accessibility and data overwhelm. Aaardvark offers automated and manual accessibility testing, with WordPress integration. Blink Metrics pulls data from multiple sources into a centralized, easy-to-read dashboard for small businesses, simplifying decision-making. * Prioritizing Accessibility and Innovation:Accessibility is a major focus. Aaardvark is developing an AI tool to check color contrast in complex designs and supports multilingual websites. They’re also launching Aaardvark Circle, a community to help professionals improve accessibility in their work. * The Marketing Challenge of SaaS vs. WordPress: Marketing SaaS is harder than WordPress plugins, which get exposure through WordPress.org. SaaS tools require outreach and education to build awareness. Natalie and Nathan are leaning into this challenge to grow beyond the WordPress bubble. * Coexistence of Platforms and a Broader Mission: Though they’re expanding into SaaS, Natalie and Nathan still actively support their WordPress products. They believe in building tools that work across platforms, aiming to improve accessibility and usability for the entire web—not just WordPress users.
Mentioned In The Show:* N Squared * Draw Attention * Simply Schedule Appointments * Calendly * AAArdvark * Blink Metrics * Simple Client Dashboard
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests online:* Natalie MacLees (Co-Founder of NSquared) * Nathan Tyler (Co-Founder of NSquared) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette and guest Sam Waines from Barn 2 Plugins dive into the world of video content creation within the WordPress community. They discuss practical tips on equipment, editing software, and the importance of audio quality. Both share personal experiences, challenges, and lessons learned, emphasizing storytelling and authenticity as keys to audience engagement. The conversation also covers adapting to trends like short-form video and balancing technical skills with creativity. The episode offers actionable advice and inspiration for aspiring content creators looking to improve their video production and connect with viewers.
Top Takeaways* Content Is King—Even with Imperfect Production: Across the discussion, Michelle and Sam stress that storytelling, relevance, and usefulness matter more than having flawless lighting, audio, or editing. Viewers are drawn to authentic, valuable stories, not just polished visuals. Imperfection is not a deal-breaker if the message resonates. * You Don’t Need Expensive Gear to Get Started: Michelle began her podcast with just her built-in Mac mic; Sam started with a $12 lav mic. Both reinforced that starting with what you have—whether it’s free software like Audacity, basic webcams, or a phone—is more than enough. You can upgrade incrementally as your content and skills grow. * Audio Setup and Environment Make a Big Difference: Simple adjustments like mic placement, soundproofing with rugs or curtains, and checking input levels (especially after software updates) can dramatically improve audio quality. Sam recommends keeping recording levels around 25–50% and watching for clipping using tools like OBS or native Mac settings.
Mentioned In The Show:* Barn 2 Plugins * Nomad With Us * DaVinci Resolve * Blue Yeti * Sony a6400 * WordPress.org * Elementor * StreamYard * Zoom * Adobe Rush * Audacity * Descript * GarageBand * iMovie * Screen Studio * Mira teleprompter software
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Sam Waines (Video Editor & Content Producer, Barn 2 Plugins) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette welcomes Felix Arntz, a senior software engineer at Google, about his decade of contributions to the WordPress community. Felix shares insights on effective communication, persistence, and attention to detail in open-source collaboration. He highlights the importance of building relationships, learning from others, and embracing the welcoming nature of the WordPress community. The episode also introduces Felix’s new "View Transitions" plugin, designed to enhance user experience. Listeners are encouraged to engage, contribute, and build connections within the WordPress ecosystem.
Top Takeaways:* Attention to Detail Is a Key Marker of ProfessionalismFelix and Michelle emphasized that small details—like capitalizing the "P" in WordPress—may seem trivial but are taken seriously by seasoned professionals. This attention to detail reflects pride in one’s work and often becomes a litmus test for developers and marketers alike when assessing quality and seriousness. * Thinking at Scale and Growing Gradually Are Crucial in Open Source Contribution: Felix discussed the importance of thinking at scale, especially when contributing to WordPress core. A feature might work well for a blog with 80 posts but break down on a site with tens of thousands. Additionally, contributors are encouraged to increase scope gradually, starting with bug fixes, so they can build trust, demonstrate commitment, and avoid burnout or disappointment when larger proposals stall. * Personal Motivation Can Guide Your Niche in Open Source Work: Felix shared how his contributions to WordPress core initially grew out of real-world problems he encountered during freelance work. This insight reinforces the idea that contributors should follow their authentic interests and pain points when selecting where to focus their energy, making their efforts more sustainable and impactful. * Relationships and Community Are the Heart of the WordPress Project: Michelle and Felix agreed that building personal relationships—whether at WordCamps, online, or through collaborative work—is not just rewarding personally, but also essential for project momentum. Felix shared how meeting someone briefly in person changes how online collaboration feels. Michelle told a moving story about how her community connections helped her navigate an inaccessible travel situation, underscoring the tangible power of WordPress friendships.
Mentioned in the Show:* This Week in WordPress * Felix-Arntz.me
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Felix Arntz (Senior Software Engineer, Google) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frechette and June Lui introduce Speed Network Online, a new virtual networking initiative for the WordPress community and beyond. They discuss the origins of the idea, event logistics, and the benefits of relaxed, pressure-free networking. The hosts explain how the event will operate, including registration, costs, and future dates, emphasizing the importance of building genuine connections and fostering collaboration in a supportive environment.
Top Takeaways:* Speed Network Online Was Born from a Real Networking Challenge: The idea originated during a casual conversation where June expressed her struggles expanding her network at large events like WordCamps. Michelle immediately acted on the concept, purchasing a domain and jumpstarting the project. This quick collaboration shows the power of shared vision and execution between community members. * The Format Focuses on Accessibility and Practicality: Speed Network Online is designed to be a virtual, low-pressure alternative to traditional networking events. It uses Zoom breakout rooms for one-on-one chats and provides participants with a spreadsheet of contact info afterward, eliminating the need for frantic note-taking. The event is purposefully inclusive, affordable at $20, and structured to reduce anxiety and improve accessibility. * The Platform Encourages Relationship-Building, Not Just Pitching: Unlike speed dating or surface-level interactions, the goal is not to “close deals” or just market yourself but to build a lasting network of complementary professionals. The event supports deeper connections that may evolve into partnerships, project collaborations, or referrals over time. * Speed Network Online Is Community-Driven and Evolving: June built the website from scratch, and they’ve begun promoting the project through a new Twitter (X) account: @SpeedNetOnline. They also encourage participants to create WP World profiles to make it easier to stay connected post-event. Michelle emphasizes that these types of grassroots initiatives are powered by genuine collaboration and shared community goals.
Mentioned In The Show:* Backpocket Ace * WP Accessibility day * Speed Network Online * The WP World * Zoom * Mark Westguard * WS Form * Nathan Tyler * N Squared * Meet Michelle.online
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests online:* June Liu (Marketing Consultant, backpocket ACE) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frechette and Marcus Burnette introduce "Sponsor Me WP," a new platform designed to connect WordPress contributors with potential sponsors. They discuss the motivations behind the project, their collaborative development process, and the platform’s user-friendly features. The conversation highlights the importance of community engagement, transparency, and direct connections between sponsors and contributors. Listeners are encouraged to provide feedback and share their experiences to help shape the platform’s future, reflecting the hosts’ commitment to supporting and empowering the WordPress community.
Top Takeaways:* Sponsor Me WP was created to connect WordPress contributors with sponsors in a simple, transparent way: Michelle and Marcus collaborated to launch Sponsor Me WP—a platform where WordPress community members can share their contributions and availability for sponsorship. It was born from Michelle’s need to supplement her income after being laid off, combined with Marcus’s technical skills and his existing work on WP World. The site allows contributors to create a profile, import data from WP World, and indicate their available hours for sponsorship, while letting sponsors reach out directly—no intermediaries, no money flowing through the platform. * The platform is intentionally simple, inclusive, and community-driven: The site avoids complex monetization, user gating, or financial processing. It’s designed to be lightweight and easy to use, with user control over profiles and direct sponsor-contributor communication. Michelle and Marcus emphasized that it welcomes both established and aspiring contributors, and they’ve taken steps to ensure fairness (e.g., randomized listing order) and community safety (e.g., ability to remove bad actors if needed). * Michelle and Marcus are passionate about building community-first tools—and open to evolving based on feedback: They view this project (like WP World and WP Speakers) as a gift to the WordPress community. The hosting was donated, and their time volunteered. They’re also actively seeking ideas for improvement or expansion, especially from people with experience in seeking or providing sponsorships. Their approach centers on reducing friction, encouraging transparency, and enabling community members to support each other’s contributions meaningfully.
Mentioned In The Show:* Kinsta * WP World * WP Speakers * Underrepresented In Tech * Sponsor Me WP * GitHub * Speed Network Online * Pressable
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Marcus Burnette (Creator, The WP World) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette welcomes Carrie Dils, Mika Epstein, and Ryan McCue to discuss their roles in the WordPress community and the new FAIR project. The group explores FAIR’s mission to create a federated independent repository system for WordPress plugins and themes, focusing on decentralization, community-driven moderation, inclusive governance, and privacy. They address challenges like supporting premium plugins, reducing environmental impact, and fostering global participation. The episode highlights FAIR’s collaborative, open-source approach and invites listeners to get involved through GitHub and community meetings, aiming to shape a more innovative and inclusive WordPress ecosystem.
Top Takeaways: FAIR Is Reimagining Plugin Discovery and Trust for WordPress: FAIR is building a more open, decentralized ecosystem for WordPress plugin discovery—empowering both end users and developers. By enabling verified directories and authenticated plugin listings (via methods like DNS verification), FAIR provides an alternative to the limitations of the WordPress.org repo, while increasing transparency, user safety, and trust. * Community Participation Is Central to FAIR’s Success: The FAIR initiative is deeply community-driven. Contributors are encouraged to get involved through GitHub Discussions, introduce themselves, offer help, or join working groups. The leadership team is intentionally building these groups based on people’s skills and availability, rather than predefined roles—making FAIR flexible, inclusive, and open to evolving needs. * FAIR Encourages Innovation Outside Traditional WordPress Constraints: The project provides an alternative path for plugin creators who may not want to follow the traditional WordPress.org model (e.g., having to release a free version first). With FAIR, creators can request to be listed in aggregator directories that are more flexible, values-aligned, or niche-focused—fostering innovation and lowering barriers to entry. * FAIR Is Still in Early Development*—and Actively Growing: While the FAIR plugin and protocol are live (accessible via fair.pm), the ecosystem is in its formative stages. The team is prioritizing essential needs (the “MVP”) and building infrastructure to support future growth in documentation, marketing, design, development, and user testing. They welcome feedback on plugin issues, conflicts, and ideas, encouraging broad experimentation and iteration.
Mentioned in the Show:* FAIR * LinkedIn Learning * Awesome Motive * Lez Watch TV * Human Made * Aspire Press * Gravatar * Linux Foundation Project * Bluesky * WPCC * Black Press * Mastodon * Drupal * Courtney Robertson * Automattic * MediaWiki * Monster Insights * Gravity Forms * Fastly
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on socials:* Carrie Dils (Independent Consultant & Web Instructor, Carrie Dils Consulting) * Mika Epstein (Senior Developer, Awesome Motive) * Ryan McCue (Director of Product, Human Made) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette and Darian Lusk share their journey launching and managing the official WordPress.org TikTok account. They discuss overcoming initial nerves, embracing influencer marketing, and collaborating across generations to create daily, authentic, and engaging videos. The duo highlights their creative process, community-driven content, and the importance of spontaneity over corporate polish. They also reveal behind-the-scenes stories from WordCamp events, tease upcoming collaborations, and encourage audience participation, all while emphasizing the fun and connection at the heart of their WordPress TikTok adventure.
Top Takeaways:* TikTok is Being Used to Energize and Expand the WordPress Community: Michelle and Darian are using TikTok as a playful, engaging platform to showcase the global WordPress community. Their content captures behind-the-scenes moments at events like WordCamp Europe and aims to connect with younger, more diverse audiences in an authentic, unscripted way. The vibe is intentionally fun, personal, and accessible—not overly polished or corporate. * Community and Team Collaboration are Key to Real-Time Content Success: The success of the TikTok initiative was made possible by the fast support of the Automattic team across time zones. From helping Michelle access the TikTok account while traveling, to teammates assisting with content ideas, the distributed team model enabled agile, in-the-moment content creation and reinforced the value of strong internal collaboration. * Personal Joy, Humor, and Relationships Fuel the Project: Michelle and Darian’s enthusiasm and personal connection shine throughout the project. Their humor, openness (including joking about stunts and family involvement), and genuine love for the WordPress community create a sense of fun that draws people in. They prioritize joy and connection as central to their content and outreach.
Mentioned In The Show:* TikTok * Automattic * WordPress.org * Adobe Premier * Vid Cap * Cap Cut * WP Community Collective
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests online:* Darian Lusk (Social Media Manager, Automattic) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Zach Hendershot, creator of Miruni, a tool designed to streamline client feedback and project management for web developers, especially within the WordPress ecosystem. Zach explaining how Miruni automates mundane tasks, allowing developers to focus on strategic work. The episode highlights Miruni's features, such as capturing client requests and automating edits, and touches on future enhancements like automated SEO optimization and advanced client communication. The discussion underscores Miruni's potential to enhance efficiency and client satisfaction.
Top Takeaways:* Miruni is Built to Streamline Client Feedback for Agencies: Miruni enables clients to leave feedback directly on live websites by clicking and commenting, which then creates a structured request in the agency’s dashboard. This direct, contextual input eliminates miscommunication, reduces friction, and speeds up the revision cycle. * Transparency and Communication Are Core to Its Value Proposition: One of the standout benefits is accountability: Miruni provides a record of what clients requested. Agencies get a traceable history of requests, improving trust and transparency. * The Platform Is Actively Evolving Based on Real-World Use and Community Feedback: Miruni is addressing practical challenges like mismatched image formats, file size optimization, and the need for better reporting. The team is responsive to feature requests—like client change logs and multi-user identification—and is working to enhance collaboration tools, user roles, and automation without sacrificing human oversight or quality. * The Miruni Team Is Approachable and Focused on Helping Agencies Succeed: Zach emphasized their openness to demos, direct support, and ongoing learning from users. Their hands-on, collaborative approach makes them a valuable partner for agencies navigating complex client relationships and content workflows.
Mentioned In The Show:* Miruni * Elementor * Breakdance * Bricks * Divi * Beaver Builder * Hubspot
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Zach Hendershot (CEO, Miruni) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette chats with Adam Warner, GoDaddy's Director of Field Marketing. Adam discusses GoDaddy's latest tools, including the Site Optimizer for enhancing SEO and the AI-powered market research tool for client management. The conversation highlights GoDaddy's commitment to the WordPress community and upcoming developments.
Top Takeaways:* GoDaddy Airo is an AI-Powered Productivity Boost for Web Professionals: GoDaddy Airo offers a suite of tools designed to help web designers and developers (a.k.a. “web dnds”) save time and improve quality. It helps with tasks like writing copy, generating SEO meta descriptions, creating alt text for images, and performing overall site optimization. * The Site Optimizer Ensures Strong SEO and Accessibility Foundations: The Site Optimizer tool scans pages for SEO opportunities and accessibility issues—like missing alt text—and provides automatic or manual suggestions to improve them. It covers headline hierarchy, content structure, social sharing cards, and more. * Client Management is Streamlined with Built-In Tools and AI-Generated Market Research: Each client entry includes a simplified project/task list covering everything from discovery to site launch and maintenance. The standout feature is AI-powered market research, which generates useful client-specific data like industry demographics and SEO opportunities—great for discovery calls and proposal prep.
Mentioned In The Show:* WordPress.org * GoDaddy * GoDaddy Airo * Managed WP
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests online:* Adam W. Warner (Director Of Field Marketing, GoDaddy) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette interviews Ryan Bracey, co-organizer of WordPress Accessibility Day and director of web development at Second Melody, discusses the upcoming event with Michelle. Ryan, who has been involved with the event for four years, shares insights on the speaker application process, event format, and accessibility features. The event, a 24-hour global virtual conference, aims to feature diverse speakers and will include pre-recorded talks followed by live Q&A sessions. The host and Ryan emphasize the importance of accessibility in web development and encourage listeners to apply as speakers.
Top Takeaways: Call for Speakers Now Open: WP Accessibility Day 2025 is currently accepting speaker submissions for its global, 24-hour virtual conference, scheduled for October 15th, 2025. The event focuses on accessibility within the WordPress ecosystem and is seeking approximately 75 proposals to fill 23 speaker slots plus one keynote. Submissions are open through May 26th. Organizers are especially encouraging talks from individuals with lived experiences of disability and welcome a wide range of accessibility-related topics. * New Format: Pre-Recorded Talks with Live Q&A: This year, the event introduces a new structure featuring pre-recorded presentations followed by live Q&A sessions. This format offers greater flexibility for speakers while ensuring a more stable and inclusive experience for attendees. In appreciation of their time and expertise, speakers will receive a $300 honorarium. * Commitment to Accessibility and Inclusion:* Accessibility is at the core of WP Accessibility Day. The event will include live captioning and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation to ensure it is accessible to a global audience. To support diversity and fairness, speaker applications are reviewed anonymously. The organizers are especially encouraging submissions from individuals in underrepresented regions and communities. Proposals promoting overlays or superficial fixes that do not adhere to true accessibility standards will not be considered.
Mentioned in the Show:* WordPress Accessibility Day * Second Melody
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on socials:* Ryan Bracey (Organizer, WordPress Accessibility Day) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette welcomes Brad Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Web Dev Studios, to discuss the new Theme Switcher Pro plugin. Brad introduces Theme Switcher Pro, a plugin designed to help WordPress users transition from the classic editor to the block editor (Gutenberg) without a complete site rebuild. They discuss the plugin's features, including its ability to switch themes for specific posts or pages, and its benefits for businesses and developers. The episode concludes with a focus on community support and upcoming WordPress events.
Top Takeaways Theme Switcher Pro Simplifies Testing and Switching Between WordPress Themes: Theme Switcher Pro is positioned as a powerful utility for developers and agencies to easily preview, switch, and test multiple WordPress themes on a live site without affecting the frontend user experience. It removes the friction from theme testing, making it safer and faster to compare themes, especially during redesigns or audits. * Built Specifically for Agencies, Developers, and High-Volume Users: Brad Williams emphasized that Theme Switcher Pro is not just a hobby plugin—it's designed for professional workflows. Agencies managing many client sites or developers constantly evaluating new themes are the target audience. Features are built with this high-usage context in mind, including the ability to bookmark themes, preview them privately, and manage theme stacks. * Theme Switcher Pro Reflects Real-World Workflow Pain Points:* The product emerged from Brad’s direct experience at WebDevStudios and feedback from others facing the same problem: managing and previewing themes across many sites was a repetitive, manual, and risky process. Theme Switcher Pro directly addresses these workflow inefficiencies and turns them into a smooth, controlled experience.
Mentioned In The Show:* Web Dev Studios * Theme Switcher Pro * Ollie * Aster * Git Commit
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Brad Williams (CEO, Web Dev Studios) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette interviews Amadeu Arderiu, an industrial engineer from Barcelona and co-owner of Sirvelia. Company specializing in custom WordPress plugins. They discuss Amadeo's innovative project, Ploogins, an AI-driven search engine that enhances plugin discovery through natural language queries. Amadeu demonstrates how users can find both free and premium plugins by describing their needs conversationally. The episode also covers the project's potential to fill gaps in the current plugin ecosystem. Amadeu invites feedback to refine the tool further, aiming to benefit the WordPress community.
Top Takeaways* Ploogins Aims to Be a Comprehensive, AI-Powered Plugin Discovery Tool: Ploogins is designed to help users—especially WordPress newcomers—discover relevant plugins using natural language search, not just keyword matching. It fills a significant gap by indexing both free and premium plugins (like Gravity Forms and LearnDash), which are often missing from the official repository or difficult to find via general search. * Submission and Visibility for Developers Are Central: Plugin developers can submit their premium plugins for free. The team is currently indexing submissions manually but plans to build a developer dashboard with search analytics and performance metrics. This could eventually evolve into semantic-based analytics, giving plugin creators deeper insights into how users find and interact with their plugins. * Community Involvement and Feedback Are Critical: Amadeu emphasizes that they need real-world usage and feedback from both novice users and veteran developers to refine the tool. Michelle suggests the importance of finding and showcasing lesser-known or premium plugins, and both agree on the value of making plugin discovery more inclusive and efficient for the broader WordPress ecosystem.
Mentioned in the Show:* Ploogins * WP Speakers * WordPress.org * Sirvelia
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Amadeu Arderiu (Co-Owner, Sirvelia) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette interviews Kyle Van Deusen, who runs a small web agency in Richmond, Virginia, and founded "The Admin Bar," a community for freelancers and agency owners. They discuss the 2025 WordPress Professional Survey, which Kyle conducted to gather insights from web professionals. The survey, which received 1,233 responses, highlights the experiences and challenges faced by freelancers and agency owners.
Top Takeaways* Many Agency Owners Lack Business Fundamentals: A lot of agency owners start by accident, not with a business plan. As a result, many undercharge and lack confidence in setting prices. Kyle pointed out that few are reaching their income goals—not due to market limits, but because they don’t know what’s possible. This shows a big need for basic business education around pricing, value, and financial planning. * Marketing and Networking Are Largely Overlooked: Nearly 60% of respondents aren’t doing in-person networking, and many aren’t investing in marketing. Too many rely on being found organically, which isn’t enough anymore. Kyle and Michelle highlighted that growth requires showing up, building relationships, and actively promoting your services. * Community Helps Build Confidence and Clarity: Talking with peers can shift your mindset and pricing strategy. Kyle shared how learning what others charged helped him raise his rates confidently. Community support helps agency owners avoid mistakes, learn faster, and feel less alone in their journey. * The Survey Is a Valuable, Underused Resource: Kyle stressed that the real power of the survey lies in how people use it. By digging into the data, agency owners can find paths others have taken to success. The more participation it gets, the more valuable and representative it becomes for the whole community.
Mentioned in the Show:* https://theadminbar.com/2025-survey/ * https://theadminbar.com/ * https://www.facebook.com/groups/2147806538801573
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on socials:* Kyle Van Deusen (Founder, The Admin Bar) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette discusses the upcoming Page Builder Summit with guests Dan Maby and Nathan Wrigley. Scheduled for May 12-16, 2025, the summit aims to unite the WordPress community. Michele highlights the collaborative spirit and the importance of community engagement. Dan and Nathan share insights into the planning process, the diverse range of sessions, and the evolution of page builders. They emphasize the summit's role in fostering learning and connections.\
Top Takeaways* The Summit Is Exceptionally Accessible and Flexible: The Page Builder Summit is designed to be easy and low-pressure for attendees. With free access to pre-recorded sessions for 48 hours, viewers can tune in when it's convenient for them. The optional Power Pack gives extended access and extra bonuses. * Visibility for Lesser-Known Creators and Speakers: One of the summit’s highlights is giving a platform to a diverse lineup of speakers, many of whom aren’t regularly featured at large in-person WordCamps or other conferences. It’s a space for new voices and fresh perspectives to shine. * Sponsorships Make the Event Possible—and Deserve Support: Nathan highlighted that without sponsor support, the summit wouldn’t happen. Sponsors like GoDaddy, WS Form, BigScoots, and many others contribute more than just funds—they provide energy, tools, and community-building support.
Mentioned In The Show:* WPLDN * PageBuilderSummit.com * Magento * Drupal * Anchen le Roux * Kadence * Elementor * Divi * Beaver Builder * GoDaddy * Kinsta * Melapress * Blackwall * Press Forward podcast * Big Orange Heart * WP Coffee Talk podcast * Big Scoots * Web Designer Pro * Your Moxie Maven * Web Designer Academy * Zainatain * Dynamic.ooo * AB Split Test * BS-Free Business * WP Mavens * Croco Block * WS Forms * Check View * Droip
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests online: Dan Maby (Founder / Executive Director, Big Orange Heart*) * Nathan Wrigley (Founder, WP Builds) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Neel Schivdasani a product manager in the AI division at Automattic, about the integration of AI into WordPress.com. Neil discusses his background and the development of an AI website builder designed to simplify website creation for users without technical expertise. The conversation covers the evolution of AI in web development, the challenges faced, and future enhancements. A live demonstration showcases the tool's user-friendly features, emphasizing its potential to democratize web publishing. The episode concludes with a discussion on user feedback and the collaborative spirit of the WordPress community.
Top Takeaways* The AI Website Builder Lowers Barriers for Non-Technical Users: The builder is specifically designed for people who don’t know what WordPress is, or who feel overwhelmed by traditional website tools. It's aimed at helping individuals quickly create a professional-looking site without needing to learn plugins, themes, or complex design tools. The assistant guides users through content creation, layout choices, and even image sourcing. * A Major Intelligence Upgrade is Coming: Neel teased an upcoming “step function” increase in intelligence for the assistant. This includes improved reasoning, contextual awareness, and the ability to understand abstract commands. Future iterations will allow users to describe desired layouts or functionality in natural language, and the assistant will generate the appropriate code or configuration—bridging the gap between vision and execution. * Commerce and Custom Layouts Are on the Roadmap:The team is working to support broader use cases, especially eCommerce. The assistant will eventually be able to understand what a user is trying to sell, recommend necessary plugins (like for payment or shipping), and configure stores accordingly. Users will also soon be able to generate specific layouts (e.g., “2x2 image grid with a CTA button”) just by describing them. * It’s Not Replacing Developers—It’s Growing the Ecosystem: There’s pushback from some developers, but Neel emphasized this tool isn't meant to replace them. Instead, it's about helping people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford or access web development. It gives them a starting point, and ideally, they’ll grow into more advanced needs—eventually hiring developers or agencies.
Mentioned In The Show:* Automattic * WordPress.com/AI * Mailchimp * Cursor * Lovable
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Neel Schivdasani (Product Manager, Automattic) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Tim Bouchard, and Ron Brennan discuss the upcoming Color Code event, a conference focused on design, technology, and marketing. Unlike traditional WordCamps, Color Code aims to be more inclusive, welcoming participants from various platforms and technologies. The event will feature a diverse lineup of speakers, interactive elements like a live graffiti art competition, and networking opportunities. Set to take place in Buffalo, New York, the conference emphasizes accessibility and community involvement, promising a dynamic and engaging experience for all attendees.
Top Takeaways:* Networking and Collaboration Opportunities: The Color Code event emphasizes the power of in-person connections. With a focus on creative professionals, marketers, and developers, the event is designed to facilitate collaboration through both formal presentations and informal networking (the "hallway track"). Attendees can expect meaningful conversations and potential partnerships that might not happen in a purely virtual setting. * Diverse and Relevant Topics: The event will cover a range of cutting-edge topics, such as AI, content strategies, and the challenges of decoupling from major tech players like Google. These presentations, led by volunteer speakers, aim to provide valuable insights and practical knowledge, making the event a great opportunity for professionals to stay informed on industry trends. * Affordability and Accessibility: With an affordable ticket price ($40), including lunch and the after-party, Color Code positions itself as an accessible event for professionals of all backgrounds. The organizers also plan to record sessions and make them available online, ensuring that those who can’t attend in person still have access to the valuable content.
Mentioned In The Show:* Color Code * Press Conf * WP Engine * Meetup * Seneca One Tower * Douglas Development * Luminous * Gene McCarthy's
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Tim Bouchard (Owner/CEO, LuminusAgency) * Ron Brennan (Managing Partner, CANI Marketing Group) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Roger Williams from Kinsta. Who serves as the Partnerships and Community Manager for North America. They discuss various topics including the WordPress community, Kinsta's new affiliate program, and their global sponsorship of WordCamps. The episode also highlights the creation of collaborative music playlists within the Post Status Slack community and the importance of concise, engaging content. Additionally, the guest shares insights on supporting WordPress contributors and the launch of Kinsta's new automatic updates feature for themes and plugins.
Top Takeaways:* The Importance of Thorough Testing in Software Development and Releases: Michelle emphasized the critical role of testing and feedback during the release cycle of WordPress 6.8, particularly as they approach its official launch. Despite having a dedicated testing community, the need for more testers is constant to ensure compatibility with a wide range of plugins and themes. The takeaway is that comprehensive testing is vital for minimizing issues at launch, and encouraging more community involvement can help ensure smoother releases. * The Value of Consistent Community Contribution and Support for Open Source Projects: Roger highlighted the importance of documentation in open-source projects like WordPress, noting that it's often underappreciated until something goes wrong. He also spoke about Kinsta’s involvement in supporting the community through contributions, such as sponsoring WordCamp and supporting documentation initiatives. The takeaway is that consistent, behind-the-scenes contributions, like documentation and community support, are crucial for the sustainability and success of open-source projects, even though they are often taken for granted. * Kinsta’s Automatic Updates Feature Enhances Site Reliability: Roger introduced Kinsta’s new Automatic Updates feature, which ensures WordPress sites remain updated while minimizing risks. The system takes a before-and-after screenshot during updates and automatically reverts changes if visual differences are detected, helping prevent website issues that could impact business operations.
Mentioned In The Show:* Kinsta * Linux container project * LinkedIn * WordCamp US * Sevalla * Cloudflare Enterprise * StackOverflow * Meetup.com * WordPress Foundation * EsoTerra Cidery * Kinsta Automatic Updates
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Roger Williams (Community Manager, Kinsta) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Cami MacNamara a seasoned web designer and solopreneur. Cami shares insights into her business, Web Cam LLC, and her new initiative, "Web Designer Habits," which aims to help web designers develop productive habits. They discuss the importance of accountability, time management techniques like time blocking and the Pomodoro technique, and the benefits of joining online and local networking groups. The episode also teases a collaborative project between Michelle and Cammy involving a planner designed to support web designers in maintaining their habits.
Top Takeaways:* Small Changes Lead to Big Improvements – Cami emphasized the power of incremental progress, whether in business, design, or personal productivity. Tackling tasks in small steps can make overwhelming projects more manageable and sustainable. * Be Prepared for the Unexpected – Michelle shared practical travel and everyday preparedness tips, from keeping essential items in the car to ensuring that your luggage complies with airline regulations. Thinking ahead can save time, stress, and even money. * Documenting Processes is Key – The discussion touched on the importance of writing down systems and workflows, especially for solopreneurs. Whether through standard operating procedures (SOPs) or simple notes, having a record helps maintain efficiency and organization. * Community and Support Matter – Both Michelle and Cami highlighted the value of connection in professional spaces, particularly within the WordPress and web design communities. Engaging with peers through newsletters, Facebook groups, and live discussions fosters learning, growth, and mutual encouragement.
Mentioned In The Show:* Web Cami, LLC * webdesignerhabits.com * StreamYard * WebCamiCafe * GoDaddy * Shein * Pomodoro Technique * WordPress TV * Managed WP * Admin Bar * Beaver Builder * Calendly * WPCoffeeTalk
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Cami MacNamara (Owner & Designer, WebCami LLC) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Gen Herres from Easy A11y Guide to discuss web accessibility. Jen shares her background as a developer and her journey in understanding and implementing accessibility standards. She emphasizes the importance of simplifying complex accessibility concepts for clients and offers strategies for agencies to sell accessibility services. Jen introduces a five-day challenge to help agencies qualify potential clients and sell their first accessibility package. The conversation highlights the significance of making websites accessible to a broader audience and the various reasons why accessibility is essential for businesses.
Top Takeaways:* Accessibility Doesn’t Have to Be Scary: Many people find web accessibility intimidating, but experts like Gen Herres help simplify the process. There are resources available to make accessibility more approachable. * Planning for Accessibility Takes Time: Implementing accessibility properly requires time for strategy, testing, and client approvals. Starting now helps businesses integrate it seamlessly into their workflow instead of rushing later. * Accessibility Can Help Generate More Revenue: Learning how to sell accessibility services effectively can help web professionals increase their income by offering more value to clients.
Mentioned In The Show:* Easy A11y Guide * WCAG * Mozilla * 17 Hats * Equalize Digital * Wacom * New York E-Z Pass * Apple VoiceOver * Deque * JAWS * Cloudflare * WPAccessibility.day * Cami MacNamara * 5-Day Accessibility Selling Challenge * Agency Accessibility System * Guidebook for Accessibility at Your Agency
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Gen Herres (Web Accessibility Specialist, Easy A11y Guide) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this special edition of the "Get Hired" podcast, the hosts, including Nicky Bulmer, co-host Misty Combs, and guest Michelle Frechette, answer listener-submitted questions on job seeking. They discuss how to address job hopping by providing context on resumes, the pros and cons of functional versus chronological resume formats, and strategies for explaining employment gaps. The episode also covers handling common interview questions, the importance of being honest about salary expectations, and the role of social media in hiring. The speakers offer practical advice to empower job seekers in their application process
Top Takeaways:* Job Interviews Are a Two-Way Street: Candidates should ask insightful questions, such as how salary ranges are determined and what differentiates top earners from lower earners.It’s important for job seekers to showcase their skills and experience even if the interviewer doesn’t directly ask about them. * Thinking Beyond Standard Questions: Candidates should anticipate questions beyond their resumes and prepare to discuss communication tools, remote work habits, and problem-solving approaches. * Tailor Your Resume to the Job You're Applying For: It’s important to customize your resume for each job application. Highlight relevant skills, experiences, and achievements that directly relate to the position. A generic resume may not stand out as much, while one that speaks to the specific needs of the company and role shows that you've taken the time to understand what they’re looking for, making you a more appealing candidate
Mentioned In The Show:* Liquid Web * Get Hired Podcast
🙏 Sponsor: OmnisendAll-in-one marketing for WordPress - From popups to email & SMS, automation & more, Omnisend helps you turn first-time visitors into lifelong subscribers. Spend less on ads, connect more with your audience.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Misty Combs (Human Resource Director, Liquid Web) * Nicky Bulmer (Technical Hiring Coordinator, Liquid Web) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Jono Alderson, an independent technical SEO consultant and WordPress advocate. Jono shares his journey of creating and submitting his first plugin to the WordPress repository, focusing on image optimization for website performance. They discuss the complexities of managing multiple image sizes in WordPress and how Jono's plugin generates images on-the-fly using services like Cloudflare, reducing server load and improving performance. The conversation also covers the environmental impact of web hosting, Jono's background, and his experience with AI-assisted coding.
Top Takeaways:* Image Optimization Plugin for WordPress:Jono Alderson’s plugin focuses on solving WordPress image optimization issues by addressing the inefficiencies in how images are handled. WordPress often generates unnecessary image sizes, which leads to slower load times and inefficient storage use. His plugin dynamically generates the appropriately sized images for each device, improving both website performance and storage efficiency. By eliminating the need for WordPress to create multiple versions of images, the plugin optimizes the backend and frontend performance of a website. * Environmental Impact of Image Management: The discussion highlights the environmental impact of inefficient image management. Storing and serving large or redundant images increases the carbon footprint due to the energy used in data centers and transmission networks. Optimizing images and reducing excess storage can help lower this impact, making even small changes in image management significant for sustainability. * Jono Alderson’s Plugin Submission Experience: Jono Alderson shared his experience submitting a plugin to WordPress, noting initial nervousness due to his self-taught background. After carefully following guidelines, the submission went smoothly, with only minor issues to address. Once live, Jono quickly fixed bugs and found updating easier with practice.
Mentioned In The Show:* Yoast * Cloudflare * WooCommerce * Gravity Forms * Slack * WhatsApp * Facebook * Google Discover * Fortnite * Hello Beautiful * GitHub * Cursor * JonoAlderson.com
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Jono Alderson (Founder, Edge Images) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette interviews Mary Hubbard, the newly appointed Executive Director of WordPress. They discuss Mary’s professional journey, including her roles at Automattic and TikTok, and her recent move to the Pacific Northwest. The conversation covers her experiences with e-commerce, technology, and parenting. Mary shares her excitement about the WordPress community and her vision for its future. The episode also touches on the evolution of technology, the importance of adaptability, and personal anecdotes, creating a lively and insightful dialogue about leadership and innovation in the tech world.
Top Takeaways* The Power of Context in Leadership: Mary emphasizes the importance of understanding context in leadership and decision-making. By knowing the "why" behind decisions, team members can navigate challenges more effectively, even if they don't always agree with the direction. This context-sharing fosters trust and clarity, making everyday tasks easier and enabling better decision-making. * Being a Supportive and Approachable Leader: Mary shows the value of being available and responsive to her team. She is proactive in offering help, as shown when she reached out to Michelle during the co-release coordinator role process. This type of outreach helps people feel seen and supported, contributing to a positive team dynamic. * Being Comfortable with the Unknown and Seeking Help: Mary highlights that it's okay not to have all the answers. She encourages others to reach out when they don’t know something, emphasizing that asking questions is an important part of learning and improving. This openness to seeking help fosters a growth-oriented environment, where curiosity and learning are welcomed.
Mentioned in the Show:* TikTok * Automattic * WordPress * WooCommerce * WordPress.com * TikTok shop * eBay Motors * Walmart * Instagram * Saved by the Bell * StellarWP * Built With * Granola * Roblox * Kadence * Mark Westergaard * WS Form * Zoom * State of the Word * Press Conf * CloudFest * DeLonghi * Nespresso
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Mary Hubbard (Executive Director, WordPress, Automattic) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette and guests Tamara Niesen and Beau Lebens. They discuss WooCommerce's recent rebranding, emphasizing the distinction between "Woo" and "WooCommerce." Tamara highlights the importance of community and customer focus in their marketing strategy. Beau outlines the roadmap for WooCommerce, including improvements in core features, payment solutions, and shipping integrations. The episode underscores WooCommerce's commitment to evolving its platform to meet diverse business needs while maintaining strong community engagement and support.
Top Takeaways* Marketing Focus on Community-Driven Development: WooCommerce's marketing approach emphasizes listening to merchants and the community. By integrating feedback into product development, they ensure their solutions address real user needs. This transparency strengthens trust and engagement with the ecosystem. * Collaboration and Ecosystem Strength Matter: WooCommerce sees the entire ecosystem as interconnected—whether it's developers, merchants, or marketers. By improving core functionality and providing better tools, they aim to ensure that all WooCommerce-based businesses thrive, as their success reflects on the entire platform. * Community Feedback is Essential: WooCommerce’s marketing and product teams are committed to keeping the feedback loop open. They encourage users and developers to share their thoughts on new features, usability, and how the company can better support merchants and builders in the ecosystem.
Mentioned in the Show:* Woo * Automattic * StellarWP * Iconic * Orderable * Somewhere Warm * Elementor * Kadence
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on socials:* Tamara Niesen (CMO, WooCommerce) * Beau Lebens (Artistic Director, WooCommerce) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the "Get Hired" podcast, host Nicky Bulmer and co-host Michelle Frechette interview Tatiane, an experienced WordPress developer. Tatiane shares her journey in WordPress development, emphasizing her skills in creating and customizing themes and plugins. The discussion covers Tatiane’s approach to handling feedback, collaborating with teams, and optimizing WordPress sites. Nicky and Michelle provide Tatiane with resume and interview tips, highlighting the importance of clear communication and showcasing both technical and soft skills. The episode concludes with practical advice for job seekers, reinforcing the podcast’s mission to enhance job application materials and interview skills.
Top Takeaways:* Cover Letters Should Be Concise & Tailored – A strong cover letter shouldn’t just repeat the resume. Instead, it should highlight why your skills and experience are a great fit for the specific role and company. Less is often more—focusing on one key project or skill that directly relates to the job can make a stronger impact than listing everything. * Confidence & Clarity Matter in Interviews – Candidates should confidently communicate their skills, especially when discussing technical expertise. Using specific language, such as naming programming languages or frameworks, helps interviewers understand the depth of knowledge. Additionally, if an interviewer has an accent or uses unfamiliar words, repeating for clarification or asking them to rephrase is a good strategy. * Continuous Improvement & Adaptability Lead to Success – Surrounding yourself with the language, culture, and best practices of your industry (as Tatiane did with English) makes growth easier. Being open to feedback, refining application materials, and improving communication skills over time can significantly increase job prospects.
Mentioned In The Show:* The Events Calendar * Liquid Web * Dungeons and Dragons * GitHub * WPIncludes.me
🙏 Sponsor: OmnisendAll-in-one marketing for WordPress - From popups to email & SMS, automation & more, Omnisend helps you turn first-time visitors into lifelong subscribers. Spend less on ads, connect more with your audience.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Tatiane Pires (Founder and Software Developer, SmartCoding.dev) * Nicky Bulmer (Technical Hiring Coordinator, Liquid Web) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette and guest Marcus Burnette discuss the importance of contributing to the WordPress community. Michelle highlights updating WordPress.org profiles and the "Five for the Future" initiative. Marcus introduces his project, The WP World which connects WordPress users by aggregating profile information and event details. They explore features like business directories, user ratings, and privacy options. The episode emphasizes the value of community engagement, showcasing contributions, and leveraging tools like The WP World to foster connections and enhance the WordPress ecosystem.
Top Takeaways:* WP World Enhances WordPress Community Connections – WP World is a platform that helps WordPress professionals showcase their contributions, connect with others, and enhance their visibility in the WordPress ecosystem. It complements WordPress.org profiles by allowing users to add more details and interact with community members. * Community Engagement is a Priority – Beyond just networking, WP World fosters deeper engagement through features like WP Speakers, interactive maps, and a focus on celebrating community members. The discussion highlighted the value of making meaningful connections in the WordPress space and how WP World serves as a tool to strengthen those relationships. * WP World Encourages Contribution Tracking – The platform makes it easier for WordPress professionals to log and showcase their contributions within the ecosystem. By maintaining an updated profile, users can highlight their involvement in various WordPress-related projects, events, and communities.
Mentioned In The Show:* Five for the Future * WP World * wordpress.org * Bluehost * Bluehost Cloud * GitHub * Slack * Gravatar * StellarWP * WP Speakers * Hero Press * Press Conf * Stellar Spark
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Marcus Burnette (Founder, The WP World) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Stephanie Hudson from StellarWP about Stellar Pay, a new payment gateway plugin for WordPress users. Stephanie, the Product Marketing Manager, discusses her background in web development and marketing. They explore Stellar Pay's features, including its integration with Stripe, subscription management, and no additional fees for essential features. They also address e-commerce challenges like shipping and taxes and future plans for Stellar Pay, including potential PayPal integration. Additionally, Stephanie teases the upcoming launch of Stellar Sites, a new website solution combining the best features of popular platforms with WordPress's power.
Top Takeaways:* Stellar Pay Simplifies E-Commerce: Stellar Pay is designed for those who either actively run e-commerce businesses or avoid it because they find it difficult. The tool aims to make the process easier and more accessible. * Free and Easy to Get Started: Users can download Stellar Pay for free from the website. Signing up directly on the site comes with added benefits like onboarding tips and extra resources to help users get started. * Stellar Pay Provides E-Commerce Tips: The team behind Stellar Pay offers a newsletter that provides useful insights and strategies for running an online store successfully. Michelle encouraged users to subscribe for ongoing guidance.
Mentioned In The Show:* StellarWP * Stellar Pay * Liquid Web * Give WP * The Event Calendar * SolidWP * Learndash * Restrict Content Pro * Devin Walker * Stripe * Joel Butler * PayPal * Poodle Press * Ben Ritner * WP Accessibility Day * Solid Academy * Jono Alderson
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Stephanie Hudson (Product Marketing Manager, StellarWP) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the "Get Hired" podcast, Nicky Bulmer and Misty Combs interview Corey Maass, a WordPress developer, discuss the hiring process for WordPress developers. Corey shares his extensive experience in WordPress development, emphasizing the importance of community, communication, and continuous improvement. The conversation covers optimizing WordPress sites, handling client feedback, and the significance of authenticity in interviews. Nicky and Misty provide feedback on Corey's resume and portfolio, highlighting the need for clarity and measurable achievements. The episode offers valuable insights into job seeking, negotiation, and presenting oneself effectively in the tech industry.
Top Takeaways:* The Importance of Staying True to Yourself in Job Searches: The panel emphasizes that not every job or company is a good fit for everyone. It's more important to be authentic and align with roles that reflect your values and personality rather than trying to conform to something you're not. However, desperation during challenging times can complicate this, making it harder to prioritize alignment over necessity. * Every Job is a Learning Experience: Even if you accept a role that isn't ideal, you can use it as a stepping stone. Challenging or mismatched experiences still offer valuable lessons about what to look for (or avoid) in the future, help grow your skillset, and shape your career trajectory. * Shifting Hiring Trends and Perceptions: The job market's expectations are constantly changing. For example, job-hopping is more accepted in tech compared to other industries, and long tenures at one company are sometimes viewed as stagnation. Different generations and industries value different qualities, making it crucial to stay adaptable and aware of trends in your field.
Mentioned In The Show:* Liquid Web * Omnisend * Corey Maass’ Portfolio
🙏 Sponsor: OmnisendAll-in-one marketing for WordPress - From popups to email & SMS, automation & more, Omnisend helps you turn first-time visitors into lifelong subscribers. Spend less on ads, connect more with your audience.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Nicky Bulmer (Technical Hiring Coordinator, Liquid Web) * Misty Combs (Human Resource Director, Liquid Web) * Corey Maass (Founder, OMGIMG) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Taco Verdonschot from Progress Planner, a tool designed to gamify WordPress website maintenance. They highlight the tool's features, including its free and upcoming pro versions, and emphasize its role in making website upkeep engaging and fun. Taco announces a limited-time pre-launch sale, offering the planner at a discounted rate. They also discuss the importance of user feedback and community engagement, and preview upcoming content, including a discussion with Stephanie Hudson about Stellar Pay. The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to try the Progress Planner.
Top Takeaways:* Gamification for Website Management: Progress Planner uses a gamified approach to motivate users to maintain and improve their websites. By assigning points for tasks like updating content, writing new posts, or fixing technical SEO issues, the plugin makes website management engaging and enjoyable. This concept mirrors successful apps like Duolingo, which transform routine tasks into rewarding challenges. * Practical Features with Growth Potential: The plugin focuses on high-impact tasks that enhance website performance, such as setting up foundational site elements or optimizing content. It also plans to introduce integrations with third-party tools like JIRA and onboarding wizards, offering users more flexibility. Future features may include personalized task recommendations, progress tracking for agencies managing multiple sites, and expanded customization options, making it even more versatile. * Community Feedback and Accessibility:User feedback is central to the development of Progress Planner. The team actively invites suggestions and critiques to refine the tool and better address user needs. Additionally, its pricing model—offering a pre-launch discount and a free tier—makes it accessible to a wide audience. With its colorful bird-themed branding, the plugin presents an approachable and motivating experience for website owners.
Mentioned In The Show* Progress Planner * Joost van Valk * Marieke van de Rakt * Fitbit * Duolingo * WordCamp Asia * Marcus Burnette * TheWPWorld * wordpress.org * Gravatar * WPSpeakers.com * Hero Press * Stephanie Hudson * StellarWP * StellarPay
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Taco Verdonschot (Founder, Progress Planner) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Ian Stewart, a seasoned WordPress enthusiast and lead at WordPress.com. They discuss Ian's journey with WordPress since 2006 and his role at Automattic. The focus shifts to "Studio," a local development environment for WordPress. Ian highlights Studio's features, including ephemeral sites and an AI assistant, which simplify development and enhance learning. They also discuss the educational potential of Studio and its future developments. The episode underscores the importance of community feedback and continuous improvement in the WordPress ecosystem.
Top Takeaways* Focus on Data Liberation: Ian emphasizes the importance of making it easy for users to export data and move away from WordPress.com if they choose. This includes offering flexibility in database options and ensuring there are clear workflows for migrating data from Studio. * Encouragement for Open-Source Contributions: Ian highlights that Studio is open-source and encourages users to contribute by reporting issues, suggesting features, or even forking the repository to experiment with new ideas. * WordPress.com’s Growing Feature Set: Ian addresses the misconception that WordPress.com doesn’t support plugins or themes. He encourages users to explore the pro-level tools available on WordPress.com, such as Studio, which help users manage and customize their sites more effectively.
Mentioned In The Show* Blogger * Drupal * ThemeShaper.com * Corey Miller * Automattic * WordPress.com * Jamie Marsland * Studio * Steve Jobs * WP Environment * Docker * Composer * GitHub * SQLite * Suno AI * Taco Verdo * Progress Planner
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Ian Stewart (Lead, WordPress.com) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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 Takeaways* The 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:* Omnisend * StellarWP * Rytis Lauris * WPCoffeeTalk * WordCamp Asia * WordCamp Germany * WordCamp US * Suno AI * The PIC
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Bernard Mayer (Sr. Director of Communications & Creative, Omnisend) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Mark Westguard from WS Form. Mark discusses the new styling system and enhanced accessibility features, emphasizing user customization and flexibility. The episode also highlights upcoming events, community engagement, and the importance of user feedback.
Top Takeaways* WS Form Updates and Community Engagement: Mark Westguard highlighted the updates and improvements made to WSForm, a WordPress form builder. He expressed enthusiasm for users testing these updates and providing feedback. * Community Emphasis on Constructive Feedback: Both Mark and Michelle emphasized that feedback is welcome, but it should be communicated respectfully, avoiding negativity. * Mark’s Hard Work on WSForm: Mark noted that creating the latest updates for WS Form involved four months of work. He’s eager for users to explore the new features and looks forward to receiving feedback. His dedication to continually improving the product was a key point of the discussion. * Focus on Accessibility and Learning: Throughout the conversation, there was an emphasis on making tools like WS Form accessible and easy to use for everyone.
Mentioned In The Show* WS Forms * Admin Bar * WPML * Kevin Geary * Mark Szymanski * WP builds * Bob WP * Do the Woo * PressConf * WordCamp Europe * Ian Stewart * WP studio
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Mark Westguard (Founder, WS Form) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Raquel Manriquez and Carol Stambaugh. They discuss their new venture, Press Conf, a conference focused on the business side of WordPress. Raquel, a former community manager for Elegant Themes, and Carol, co-owner of RadiateU, share their motivations for creating this event. They emphasize the need for a business-centric conference within the WordPress community, contrasting it with the user-focused WordCamps. Press Conf aims to foster deep connections among attendees through a single track of sessions and an intimate setting. The episode highlights their commitment to inclusivity, meaningful networking, and authentic conversations.
Top Takeaways* Press Conf addresses a significant market gap by being the first WordPress conference specifically focused on business aspects, filling an unmet need in the community for business-oriented professional development. * The conference prioritizes meaningful engagement through intentional design choices like single-track sessions, no recordings, and an intimate setting - all aimed at fostering authentic discussions and deeper connections among attendees. * Careful curation is central to the event's strategy, from thoughtfully selected speakers to a sustainable pricing model, ensuring high-quality content and long-term viability while delivering value to participants. * The conference emphasizes building an inclusive community that welcomes both industry veterans and newcomers, focusing on fostering constructive dialogue and relationships within the WordPress business ecosystem.
Mentioned In The Show:* PressConf * Elegant Themes * WPWonder Women * RadiateU * Jeremy Saxey * WordCamp Phoenix * PressNomics * Sally Strebel * Joshua Strebel * Doc Popular * WP Speakers * The WP World * Marcus Burnette * wp.org * Troy Dean * Alex King * Chris Lema * Karim Marucchi * Dave Ryan * Bluehost * Nathan Atkinson * Nathan B Weller * Brian Richards * Matt Medeiros
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Raquel Manriquez (Community, ElegantThemes) * Carol Stambaugh (Co-Founder, RadiateWP) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass discuss their newly developed website, emphasizing its improved design and functionality. They delve into the importance of mobile usability, coherent design, and effective marketing strategies. The conversation also touches on the challenges of reaching their target audience and the significance of language in communication. Additionally, they explore cultural observations about music, generational differences, and personal anecdotes related to advertising. The episode concludes with reflections on the evolution of music curation in retail environments and the impact of commercials on musicians' careers, ending on a light-hearted note with gratitude to their listeners.
Top Takeaways:* Nostalgia and Cultural References as Marketing Tools: Michelle and Corey highlight the power of nostalgia in marketing, referencing Carly Simon’s song in ketchup commercials and Reagan's use of "Born in the USA." These examples demonstrate how emotional and cultural connections can strengthen brand messaging and resonate with audiences. * Music as a Branding Opportunity: The idea of creating a theme song for OMGIMG underscores the potential of music to add personality and memorability to the brand. Michelle’s experiment with AI-generated music shows the team’s willingness to explore innovative tools for creative marketing. * Swag and Interactive Experiences to Engage Users:Corey’s enthusiasm for branded swag, like T-shirts and creative QR codes, emphasizes the importance of tangible, fun items for user engagement. Adding interactive elements, such as QR codes linking to a custom song, creates a playful and memorable experience. * Balancing Creativity with Practicality: While the team enjoys brainstorming playful and imaginative ideas, they remain focused on aligning these concepts with the product’s purpose and audience. This balance ensures OMGIMG maintains professionalism while staying approachable. * Consistency Builds Trust and Engagement: The commitment to regular streaming, even while planning breaks around the holidays, reflects a focus on consistent communication with their audience. This approach builds trust and strengthens their connection with users.
Mentioned In The Show:* Beaver Builder * Ron Popeil * The Pocket Fisherman * Microconf * Rob Walling * Mike Taber * Weebly * Wix * Mitsubishi * Lifehacker * Mint * YNAB * Product Hunt * Kanban * Social Link Pages * Mark Westguard * Dirty Vegas * Holly Hobbie * Carly Simon * Barenaked Ladies * Diesel Jeans
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Editor, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass discuss their ongoing project focused on website and product development. They reflect on their progress, addressing the challenges of balancing time and managing tech debt. The conversation highlights their experiences working with a designer, emphasizing the importance of effective communication and feedback. They also touch on the significance of collaboration, and share personal anecdotes about organizing their workspaces. As they prepare for Black Friday, they discuss promotional strategies and the impact of seasonal changes on their work schedule.
Top Takeaways:* Steady Progress Amid Prioritization Challenges: Both Corey and Michelle recognize the challenges of juggling tasks across IPAWP and OMGIMG. While there’s excitement about big-picture ideas (e.g., Meetups, collective empowerment, SEO experiments), they understand the importance of incremental progress. * AI and Designer Collaboration for Website Improvements: Corey utilized AI-generated content alongside a designer’s expertise to rework their website. While the AI helped quickly produce a series of articles for SEO experimentation, a designer was brought in to enhance the visual appeal and user experience. This blend of automation and human creativity reflects a strategic approach to balancing efficiency with quality. * Cross-Platform Engagement is Essential: Michelle’s experience with followers migrating to Bluesky reinforces the need to maintain a presence across multiple platforms. Both agree that while Twitter remains valuable for now, having an established Bluesky presence ensures they’re ready if a platform shift occurs. * Black Friday and Marketing Planning: Michelle and Corey are focusing on Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions. Michelle plans to queue social media posts, while Corey wants to analyze current traffic bumps to inform their approach.
Mentioned In The Show:* Elgato Key Light * Fiverr * Upwork * Claude * Luke Netti * Cory Miller * We Work * Text Expander * Josh Pigford * Bluesky * Nathan Wrigley * Cuppa * Beaver Builder * ThumbPress
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Ryan Logan from Influence WP, a platform aimed at fostering connections within the WordPress community. Ryan shares his background in IT and his transition to WordPress, highlighting Influence WP's focus on partnerships and consumer benefits. The platform offers exclusive deals and a unique "bad actor bounty program" to address industry issues. An unnamed participant contributes by asking questions and providing feedback. The discussion underscores the importance of collaboration, transparency, and community engagement within the WordPress ecosystem, showcasing Ryan's dedication to making a positive impact.
Top Takeaways:* About InfluenceWP: InfluenceWP is a platform designed for WordPress users, businesses, and partners to collaborate and share resources. Members can create unlimited listings to showcase deals, services, or projects. The platform aims to foster connections and encourage community growth rather than focusing solely on generating revenue. Additionally, it offers features like viral giveaways and opportunities for cross-promotion among members, making it a valuable tool for collaboration. * Membership Details: Membership on InfluenceWP caters to both consumers and partners. Partners can list their offerings, such as deals and resources, while consumers benefit from accessing these opportunities. Notifications about new listings are sent through newsletters, keeping members informed and engaged. Ryan Logan, the founder, emphasizes that members are encouraged to maximize the platform’s features, including interlinking listings for added visibility. * Opportunities for Advertisers: InfluenceWP’s newsletter presents a unique opportunity for partners to promote their offerings through paid advertisements. This feature is especially beneficial during sales periods like Black Friday, where deals are abundant. By integrating advertising into the platform’s ecosystem, InfluenceWP provides an additional revenue stream for itself and its members, while also enhancing the visibility of partner contributions. * Future Plans: Looking ahead, InfluenceWP aims to expand its offerings through collaborations and community-driven initiatives. Ryan envisions a future where the platform includes projects like user-generated podcasts or sponsored content. These initiatives would allow contributors to share in the success of the platform while bringing fresh ideas to its ecosystem. Ryan is committed to keeping InfluenceWP open to diverse forms of collaboration.
Mentioned In The Show:* influenceWP * Patchstack * Twitter * Bluesky * LinkCentral * Bug Bounty Program * StellarWP * WP Weekly * WP Wonder Women * Mark Westguard * WS Forms
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Ryan Logan (Founder, InfluenceWP) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Maddy Osman, founder of Blogsmith Content Agency and author of "Writing for Humans and Robots." They discuss the importance of developing a unique brand voice in an era dominated by generative AI. Maddy emphasizes the need for clear style guidelines to maintain consistency, especially for brands producing listicle content. She shares insights on using custom AI models to uphold brand style and the ethical implications of AI in content creation. The episode concludes with Maddy recommending the "Three-Body Problem" series and inviting new clients for 2025.
Top Takeaways:* Establishing a Distinct Brand Voice is Essential for Consistency and Connection: Maddy highlights the importance of defining and refining a brand voice, particularly as businesses integrate AI into their content processes. A well-crafted brand voice ensures that all content, whether generated by humans or AI, feels cohesive and authentic to the audience. It helps in building a recognizable identity, fostering stronger connections with the target audience, and differentiating the brand from competitors. Maddy's agency offers services specifically aimed at helping clients develop and refresh their brand voice, emphasizing its role as a core element of a successful content strategy. * Ethical Use of AI in Content Creation: Both Michelle and Maddy emphasize using AI responsibly. They suggest leveraging AI to identify content gaps, reformat existing work, or assist in editing rather than generating original content from scratch. This approach maintains the integrity of the creator’s voice and avoids ethical pitfalls like plagiarism. * Repurposing Existing Content: Maddy highlights a practical use case for repurposing content she previously created. By transforming her detailed personal notes into blog posts, she maximizes the value of her prior work, making it accessible to a wider audience while keeping the essence of her original writing. * Competitor Analysis for Content Strategy: Michelle points out that analyzing competitors’ content can be a valuable strategy to identify gaps and opportunities for new topics. They agree that while using AI to gather insights is acceptable, directly copying competitor content is unethical.
Mentioned Links* The Blogsmith Content Agency * Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style * Bring It On * LinkedIn * Instagram * Facebook * Furby * ChatGPT * Bing * Search GPT * The Four Dimensions of Tone of Voice * Nielsen Norman Group * Semrush * Slack * NotebookLM * Three Body Problem series
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Maddy Osman (Founder, The Blogsmith) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass delve into their experiences with product marketing for a WordPress plugin focused on open graph images. They highlight the significance of customer feedback, better onboarding processes, and innovative marketing strategies inspired by Spotify's year-end wrap-up feature. The discussion is peppered with personal anecdotes and humor, creating a light-hearted yet informative atmosphere. They explore ideas like using AI for targeted landing pages, conducting visitor interviews, and improving their website design to better reflect their brand. The episode concludes with a sense of camaraderie and optimism for their ongoing projects.
Top Takeaways:* Focus on the Problem and Solution: Corey emphasized the importance of clearly defining the problem OMGIMG solves. This includes addressing specific pain points, like the "image roulette" problem, where inconsistent images affect branding and engagement. Focusing on the problem in copy helps ensure users immediately see OMGIMG’s relevance to their needs. * Strategic Use of AI as a Creative Partner: Corey is using AI as a tool for creating, organizing, and refining content. This iterative approach—from generating headlines to drafting entire plugins—allows him to quickly put ideas on paper, then tweak them. Michelle also mentioned wanting to lean more on AI, which could further help streamline content creation and brainstorming. * Customer-Specific Landing Pages: Corey mentioned creating landing pages targeted at specific customer types, like bloggers, to highlight relevant features and value propositions. This strategy makes it easier for users to see exactly how OMGIMG fits their needs and helps make the messaging more personalized and effective. * Interactive Feedback with Visitor Interviews: The idea of using visitor interviews and live feedback sessions with WordPress community members (like Cameron and Marcus) was discussed as a way to gather insights on the product in real-time. This feedback could be essential for fine-tuning both the product and its messaging.
Mentioned In The Show:* Mark Westguard * This Week In WordPress * Nathan Wrigley * IPA WP * Justin Welsch * Saturday Solopreneur * Otter AI * Alan Fuller * Fullworks Plugins * Set App * Beaver builder * Claude AI * Chris Lema * Cameron Jones
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Topher DeRosa, founder of Hero Press, about his journey and the platform's impact on the WordPress community. They discuss HeroPress's origins, challenges, and successes, highlighting its role in amplifying diverse voices through published essays. Topher shares inspiring stories from contributors worldwide and touches on fundraising efforts and the community's support. The episode underscores the importance of inclusivity and the transformative power of sharing personal experiences within the WordPress ecosystem. The conversation concludes with reflections on community events and the significance of connection and support.
Top Takeaways* Community and Connection at Events: They discuss the importance of events like WordCamp as spaces for learning, networking, and finding belonging. Michelle emphasizes that these gatherings reinforce the idea that the WordPress community is friendly, welcoming, and eager to support each other. * Language as a Tool for Inclusion: Topher talks about making HeroPress content available in multiple languages to cater to non-English speakers. He learned that people, even if fluent in English, often prefer reading in their native language, feeling a stronger connection to the content. His approach shows how inclusive language access can make individuals feel valued. * Genuine Diversity Efforts: Topher initially counted contributors by gender to ensure balance, but he eventually stopped tracking as inclusivity became natural. This shift demonstrates that diversity efforts, when sustained, can evolve into an ingrained organizational culture. * Personal Stories as Inspiration: Michelle highlighted how HeroPress stories provide valuable insights into people’s journeys, which can be inspiring and informative for others, especially when considering hiring or collaborating. These stories create a sense of community by showcasing the resilience and achievements of individuals across different backgrounds.
Mentioned Links:* Topher DeRosa * Hero Press * Andrey Shevchenko * WordCamp Pune * Slack * Twitter * Nexcess * LiquidWeb * Human Made * WP Coffee Talk * Automattic * Collins Agbonghama * Tijana Andrejic * Thabo Tswana * Robert Cheleuka * WordPress.org * Morten Rand-Hendriksen * Josepha Haden Chomphosy * Weglot * Yoast * BlackPress
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Topher DeRosa (Founder, HeroPress) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews David Johnson, product owner at Solid WP, to discuss the launch of Backups Next Gen a rebranded version of Backup Buddy. David shares his background and the evolution of WordPress backup solutions, emphasizing the need for modern, cloud-based infrastructure to enhance performance and security. They delve into the features of Backups Next Gen including its user-friendly interface and incremental backup capabilities. The episode also highlights the importance of reliable backups and the supportive WordPress community. Michelle concludes by encouraging listeners to explore Solid WP's offerings.
Top Takeaways:* Backup Solutions and Features: David Johnson gives an in-depth overview of Backups Next Gen, highlighting its ability to perform incremental backups by only saving changed files daily, while backing up the entire database. Users can restore backups with a single click, and they can generate downloadable zip archives for specific moments in time. This makes it easier to choose the right backup and manage storage effectively. * Integrated Cloud Storage in Pricing: Backups Next Gen now includes cloud storage in its pricing. Previously, storage was sold separately, but the new pricing structure offers more storage per site as users increase their licenses. This simplified pricing model is designed to offer generous and cost-effective cloud storage. * Solid Suite and Black Friday Deals: SolidWP is offering a Black Friday sale for both Backups Next Gen and the Solid Suite, a bundle that includes Solid Security Pro, Solid Central, and the Solid Academy. The Solid Suite offers significant value for WordPress users by bundling multiple tools to enhance security, backups, and site performance. * Solid Academy: The Solid Academy, run by Nathan Ingram, offers extensive training resources with live streams and a decade’s worth of courses on topics such as AI email, WordPress plugins, and how to run a successful freelance or agency business. It’s designed for developers and agencies looking to grow and increase their revenue.
Mentioned Links:* Solid WP * Solid Backups * Elegant Themes * Woothemes * Divi * Kadence WP * Solid Central * Dropbox * Google Drive * Stash * Nexcess * WP-CLI * John Hooks * Solid Suite * Patchstack * Solid Security Pro * Solid Academy * Nathan Ingram * Give WP * Ben Meredith * Topher DeRosa * Hero Press
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* David G. Johnson (Product Owner, SolidWP) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass engage in a detailed discussion about their latest WordPress plugin development and marketing strategies. They introduce a new plugin designed to take website screenshots and save them to the media library, emphasizing its user-friendly features and accessibility standards. The conversation shifts to marketing plans for Black Friday, reflecting on past sales and contemplating pricing adjustments to create urgency and exclusivity. They also discuss the importance of email campaigns, social media content, and community feedback. The episode blends technical insights with strategic planning, highlighting their collaborative and thoughtful approach to product development and marketing.
Top Takeaways:* Black Friday Co-Marketing Plan: The IPAWP initiative is gearing up for a Black Friday co-marketing campaign where participants will be paired to promote each other’s products. This involves visiting their partner’s website, checking for Black Friday deals, and sharing it via social media, with an easy and light effort on the participants’ part. * Engaging and Humorous Marketing Approach: Michelle and Corey are using lighthearted, humorous content in their marketing for OMGIMG, including showcasing a personal photo of Corey with a playful caption about "embarrassing photos" and tying it to the product's purpose. This approach not only captures attention but also makes the marketing relatable and fun for potential users. * Open Feedback Loop for OMGIMG: The team is actively seeking feedback from users about the product and its homepage. They are open to ideas and suggestions, highlighting their commitment to continuous improvement and ensuring OMGIMG meets user needs and expectations. This openness encourages user involvement and helps shape the platform's development. * Progress on IPAWP's First Version: A developer is working on the first version of the IPAWP co-marketing tool. It will allow businesses to be paired randomly for co-marketing tasks, with the team overseeing pairings to ensure compatibility. The tool will also help track whether participants have completed their marketing assignments.
Mentioned In The Show:* Admin Menu Editor Pro * TypingMind * Claud.ai * Katie Keith * Alex Standiford * Underrepresented in Tech * Samah Nasr * Stellar WP * Dense Discovery * James Lau
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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 Day * Equalize Digital * WordPress * WordCampUS * Automattic * ChatGPT * Dall-E * Stellar WP * Green Geeks * Yoast * Claude * Email Octopus * Canva * Photoshop * Setapp * TypingMind * Bartender * CleanshotX * The Repository * Appsumo * Social Link Pages * WP Builds * Mark Westergaard * WS Forms
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Robert Abela from Melapress to discuss WordPress security. They emphasize the importance of adopting security best practices, the challenges faced by website administrators, and the critical role of user training in preventing breaches. Robert shares insights from a survey by Mala Press, revealing common security issues and misconceptions. They explore authentication methods like two-factor authentication (2FA) and passkeys, stressing the need for continuous education and awareness. The episode underscores that human error often contributes to vulnerabilities, highlighting the necessity of proactive security measures.
Top Takeaways:* Use Password Managers for Stronger Security: Both emphasize the importance of strong, unique passwords across different platforms. Using a password manager simplifies this process, generating and securely storing passwords, which helps users avoid the common mistake of reusing passwords across multiple accounts. * Auto-Updates Are Essential but Need Careful Implementation: Auto-updates in WordPress, especially for minor updates, are crucial for keeping websites secure. However, using a staging environment to test updates before applying them to a live site is a best practice. It ensures that any potential issues can be resolved without affecting the live site. * Backups Are a Must-Have: Regular backups are vital for website security and recovery. Although backups are not always seen as part of security, they play a crucial role in recovering from incidents like hacking or failed updates. Many web hosts offer backup services, making it easy to implement. * Outsourcing Security Can Be Beneficial for Non-Technical Users: Businesses without technical expertise (e.g., small shops or bakeries) may benefit from outsourcing website management to agencies. These agencies have experience with hundreds of websites and can handle security updates and maintenance more efficiently, reducing the risk of security breaches. * Proactive Security Measures Are Key: The conversation stresses the importance of proactive security practices. Having security solutions, policies, and a recovery plan in place before a security breach occurs is critical. Waiting until after a breach happens can result in higher costs, operational downtime, and damage to reputation.
Mentioned In The Show:* WordCamp * WordPress * Kathy Zant * Nathan Ingram * Black Hat * Give WP * Liquid Web * WP Accessibility Day * Topher DeRosia * Cate DeRosia * Hero Press
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Robert Abela (Founder, Melapress) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Katy Boykin, marketing manager at Kadence WP, discussing the upcoming Kadence Amplify event on October 25th. Katy shares her journey from using another page builder to Kadence WP, emphasizing its user-friendly features and new block releases. The episode highlights the importance of accessibility in web design, with Kadence WP's commitment to creating an inclusive platform. The speakers also touch on community engagement, learning opportunities, and upcoming promotions. Overall, the episode underscores Kadence WP's dedication to enhancing the WordPress experience and fostering a supportive community.
Top Takeaways: * Upcoming Kadence Features: Kadence is set to release five new blocks, including three for advanced header navigation, allowing users to create headers using blocks without relying on themes. This change is aimed at improving full-site editing, offering more customization options. An advanced search block and site icon block will also be part of this release, providing users with more flexibility without needing to touch code. * Accessibility Focus: Kadence is prioritizing accessibility in its design, driven by the personal experiences of lead developer Ben Ritner, who has worked closely with people using screen readers. While Kadence is not 100% accessible, they are continuously working towards improving this aspect. * Community and Events: Kadence will hold a free event called Kadence Amplify, with information available on their website and social media. It will include educational talks and demonstrations of the new features. Stellar WP and Kadence are also sponsors of WordPress Accessibility Day (October 9-10), promoting accessibility in the WordPress ecosystem. * Learning and Discounts: Attendees of both Kadence Amplify and WP Accessibility Day can benefit from learning opportunities and potentially access Kadence discounts through event swag.
Mentioned In The Show:* Kadence WP * Stellar WP * Kadence Amplify * WP Speakers * SureCart * Jamie Marsland * Pootle Press * Sherif Abuzid * Melissa Love * StyleCloud * Héctor de Prada * Modular DS * Fernando Cintra * Jeffrey Costa * Cathy Mitchell * WP Barista * Jake Pfohl * Start Blogging 101 * Nathan Ingram * Timothy Wood * Jessica Wangelin * Christian Taylor * Paul Sokol * Kathy Zant * Ben Ritner * WordPress Accessibility Day * Robert Abela * Melapress
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Katy Boykin (Marketing Manager, Kadence WP) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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 Takeaways* User-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 World * WP Coffee Talk * WP Speakers * Seriously Bud? Podcast * Bud Kraus * ChatGPT * HeroPress * Javi Guembe * Topher DeRosia * Elementor * Do the Woo Podcast * WP WonderWomen * WP Career Pages * WordPress.org * Nexcess * Katy Boykin * Kadence Amplify
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Marcus Burnette (Creator, The WP World) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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:* LifterLMS * Udemy * PayPal * Stripe * Kadence * Affiliate WP * WooCommerce * Easy Digital Downloads * LearnDash * North Commerce * Personalized WP * Restrict Content Pro * Google Drive * PartnerShip Podcast * WP World * Marcus Burnette * WordCampUS
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Alex Standiford (Owner,Siren Affiliates) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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:* Yoast * Rank Math * Stellar WP * StreamYard * MorgueFile * Dense Discovery * Seattle Magazine * Paws of Coronado * Squirrelly * Dall-E * Fiverr * Mastermind Group * Alex Standiford * Marcus Burnette
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frechette Danielle Zarcaro, and Isla White discuss their roles and experiences with WordPress Accessibility Day. Michelle, the lead organizer for marketing, expresses her excitement and facilitates the conversation. Danielle, a web developer, emphasizes the importance of web accessibility for all users and shares insights from her three-year involvement. Isla, the project manager, highlights the event's global impact and the collective responsibility of ensuring web accessibility. The speakers also discuss the significance of the 24-hour event format, the practical aspects of implementing accessibility, and the importance of community and sponsorships in making the event successful.
Top Takeaways:* Register Early for WP Accessibility Day: The event registration is open, and participants are encouraged to sign up early, even before the speaker list is finalized. This allows attendees to receive updates and stay informed about the event. * Seek Guidance and Explore Accessibility: Danielle Zarcaro emphasizes the importance of seeking help and asking questions when starting with accessibility. She encourages exploring different aspects of web design and accessibility to enhance knowledge and skills. * Diverse Perspectives on Accessibility: Isla Waite highlights the value of attending talks from international speakers. Gaining perspectives from around the world can greatly enrich understanding and appreciation of accessibility work. * Accessibility and Aesthetics: The discussion challenges the misconception that accessible websites are inherently unattractive. Both Danielle and Isla argue that accessibility does not preclude beauty and creativity in design. They stress that accessibility can be integrated with design principles to create functional and appealing websites. * User Control and Preferences: There’s a focus on allowing users to control their experience, such as providing options for dark mode or animation toggles. This approach respects users' preferences and improves accessibility by accommodating different needs and settings.
Mentioned In The Show:* WP Accessibility Day * Lainey Feingold * Structured Negotiation * LinkedIn * Underrepresented In Tech
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Danielle Zarcaro (Founder, Overnight Website) * Isla White (Brand Strategist, Marketing by Design) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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 Morsali * Search & Filters * IPA WP * WP Speakers * WP Coffee Talks * WP Tavern * WP Wonder Woman * Canva * Fiverr
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frechette talks with Nathan Ingram and Kathy Zant. They delve into the critical topic of online security, emphasizing the necessity of user education, particularly for WordPress users. Nathan from Solid WP and the Academy introduces Monster Secure, a new course designed to help agencies educate their clients on security best practices. Kathy, an online security expert, shares her experiences and stresses the importance of security education for overall business protection. The discussion highlights the challenges of online security, the evolving nature of cyber threats, and the need for proactive measures to safeguard digital assets.
Top Takeaways* Security Awareness is Critical & Need for Vigilance: Effective security involves more than just technical measures; it requires continuous vigilance and education about potential threats. Kathy Zant and Nathan Ingram emphasize the importance of understanding and responding to security risks proactively. * Education and Empowering Users: Both Kathy and Nathan stress the significance of educating users and clients about security. They argue that security knowledge should be accessible to everyone, not just experts. * Security is for Everyone, Not Just Big Targets: Nathan explains that hackers don’t only target large, high-profile websites; they also exploit smaller, less-secure sites for resources. This underscores that security is a concern for everyone, regardless of the size or perceived importance of their website
Mentioned In The Show:* Thomas Raef * WeWatchYourWebsite * Solid WP * Solid Academy * Monster Secure * Go Safely Online * LearnDash * Jack Kitterhing * YouTube
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Nathan Ingram (Founder, MonsterSecure) * Kathy Zant (Founder, MonsterSecure) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass dive into a whirlwind of creative brainstorming for OMGIMG's latest marketing campaign. They explore playful and engaging ideas, from whimsical scenarios involving iconic landmarks and beloved characters to inventive ways to offer value to potential customers. Listen in as they discuss how to craft compelling advertisements, balance creativity with professionalism, and explore innovative approaches like free trials and fun, interactive elements. Whether you're a marketer looking for inspiration or just enjoy a good brainstorming session, this episode is packed with actionable insights and a touch of humor.
Top Takeaways:* Creative Advertising Concepts: Michelle and Corey brainstorm various creative approaches for OMGIMG’s advertisements, including playful scenarios with iconic landmarks and fictional characters. They explore the idea of using humorous or memorable references to make their ads stand out, such as incorporating Wizard of Oz themes or classic Halloween elements. * Engaging with AI Tools: Corey highlights the potential of AI to generate creative content and ideas. They consider using AI for tasks like creating random character scenarios and generating unique images for websites based on specific data points. * Providing Value and Building Relationships: Michelle emphasizes the importance of presenting constructive feedback positively. They discuss offering free trials or samples, like generating initial images for a website for free, as a way to provide value and build rapport with potential customers. * Integrating Fun and Professionalism: The discussion underscores the importance of balancing creativity with professionalism. Michelle and Corey aim to craft ads that are both engaging and respectful, ensuring they effectively communicate the benefits of OMGIMG’s services while avoiding negative or potentially problematic messaging.
Mentioned In The Show:* Ben LairWP * WS Forms * Stellar WP * Yoast * Siren Affiliates * GiveWP * Hype Edit * Church Plugins * Dense Discovery * WP Minutes * Post Status
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frechette sits down with Doc, a professional yo-yoer and creator of engaging content around the Fediverse. They delve into the evolution of social media platforms, exploring how different channels like Twitter, TikTok, and Mastodon offer unique ways to connect with various audiences. Doc shares insights on integrating WordPress with the Fediverse and discusses his work with Automatic, including the quirky and creative content he produces. They also touch on the importance of local community engagement and the future of social media platforms. Tune in to learn about the latest in WordPress, social media trends, and how to embrace the diverse digital landscape.
Top Takeaways: * Evolving Social Media Landscape: Social media platforms continually evolve, with newer platforms like TikTok and Mastodon offering different ways to connect and engage compared to older ones like Facebook and Twitter. * Importance of Platform Diversity: Using a variety of social media platforms can help reach different audiences and fulfill different purposes. Doc Pop highlights the benefits of embracing both mainstream and niche platforms to connect with specific communities. * Fediverse Integration: Connecting WordPress sites to the Fediverse through plugins like Activity Pub can enhance visibility and engagement within decentralized social networks, allowing content to reach broader, niche audiences. * Creative Content Production: Doc Pop discusses the value of producing creative and engaging content, such as hand-drawn animations and cheesy puns, to make technical topics more accessible and enjoyable. * Community Building and Local Engagement: Building and participating in local communities, whether through small events or local meetups, can be rewarding and impactful. Doc emphasizes the importance of fostering these connections in both the WordPress and yo-yo communities.
Mentioned In The Show:* Torque Magazine * Doc Popular * Facebook * X * TikTok * Mastodon * Threads * Activity Pub * Buddy Press * Fediverse * Reddit * Automattic * The Verge * Doc Popular About Page * Fediverse * The Fediverse Files
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Doctor Popular * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frechette chats with Jess Frick to explore the latest advancements in the WordPress community, focusing on Pressable's newly redesigned website. Jess provides an inside look at the new features and improvements on Pressable’s site, including its enhanced user experience and functionality. The episode also covers the Independent Plugin Alliance for WordPress (IPAWP), a new initiative to support smaller plugin companies, Michelle’s new role at Post Status Executive Director and some new things they are up to. The episode also teases an upcoming conversation with Doc Popular about his innovative work with WordPress on the Fediverse.
Top Takeaways: * Pressable's Integration and Community Engagement: Pressable, as discussed by Jess, is committed to providing valuable hosting solutions and integrating with various community and plugin initiatives. Jess highlights how Pressable supports the WordPress community through partnerships and is open to exploring collaborative efforts with plugin developers, such as confirming compatibility and assisting with marketing strategies. This reflects Pressable's dedication to fostering a supportive ecosystem for WordPress users and developers. * Pressable's Role in the WordPress Ecosystem: Pressable is actively involved in the WordPress community, offering robust hosting solutions and working closely with other organizations and plugin developers. Jess Frick emphasizes how Pressable is committed to providing high-quality service and support, and how it engages with the community by being a resource for plugin developers and exploring ways to collaborate on marketing and growth strategies. This involvement showcases Pressable’s dedication to both technical excellence and community support. * Community Engagement and Support: Michelle and Jess discuss the importance of community support and engagement, highlighting how they’ve used platforms like Post Status and WP Coffee Talk to foster connections and growth within the WordPress community. * Focus on Inclusivity: The conversation emphasizes the significance of inclusivity in content creation. Michelle and Jess appreciate tools like Yoast's inclusive language checker for helping writers avoid unintentional offense and promote better practices. * Learning from Mistakes: Both Michelle and Jess share experiences where they learned from mistakes and used them as opportunities for growth. Michelle recounts instances where she acknowledged errors in accessibility and inclusion and took steps to improve.
Mentioned In The Show:* Pressable * Kadence * Yoast * Omnisend * Underrepresented In Tech * OMGIMG * Independent Plugin Alliance for WordPress * WS Form * Kathy Zant * Cory Miller * Corey Maass * Doc Popular
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Jessica Frick (VP of Operations for Pressable) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Corey Maass and Michelle Frechette engage in an in-depth brainstorming session focused on refining a logo and website for their new plugin directory. The conversation begins with a discussion about creative solutions for leveraging limited resources and transitions into a detailed exploration of logo design using Canva. Michelle and Corey experiment with different design elements, including a playful beer-themed logo, and debate the merits of various fonts and color schemes. They also touch on practical aspects like image compression and the importance of avoiding trademark issues. As they finalize their design choices and discuss strategies for gathering feedback, they highlight the iterative nature of creative projects and the value of collaboration. This episode captures the essence of merging creativity with technical considerations to build a compelling brand identity.
Top Takeaways:* Logo Design Iteration: Michelle and Corey are working on a logo for their project. They discuss different design versions, including one with a playful beer theme that represents camaraderie and humor. They agree that the logo is a placeholder and plan to refine it further, possibly involving professional help for final tweaks. * Feedback and Collaboration: They plan to send their current work to contacts for feedback on wording and collaboration aspects. This feedback will help them refine their approach and ensure their messaging and presentation are effective. * Excitement and Progress: Both Corey and Michelle are enthusiastic about the progress they've made and the potential for further development. They recognize that while their current work is a good start, there’s room for improvement and refinement as they move forward.
Mentioned In The Show:* Beaver Builder * Canva * WS Forms * Slack * Fiverr * Mark Westguard
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Corey Maass and Michelle Frechette discuss their new initiative to create a collaborative WordPress plugin directory. They share their vision for a dynamic platform that goes beyond listing plugins to become a marketing resource fostering community growth and engagement. The discussion covers their approach to inclusive yet targeted guidelines, creative marketing campaigns, and leveraging networks like Post Status. Corey and Michelle also explore the potential for cross-promotion among members and outline their plans for a summer sale and engaging assets. If you're a WordPress plugin developer or business owner eager to connect and innovate, this episode offers a glimpse into an exciting new project and how you can get involved.
Top Takeaways: * Collaborative Directory Concept: Corey and Michelle are developing a WordPress plugin directory that emphasizes collaboration over competition. The goal is to create a platform where businesses can support each other and engage in joint marketing efforts rather than focusing on traditional affiliate models. * Inclusive Yet Targeted Guidelines: They plan to establish guidelines that are inclusive but also target specific types of plugins and businesses. This approach aims to maintain quality while allowing for diverse participation. * Cross-Promotion and Marketing: The initiative will include cross-promotion among participants. They plan to use creative marketing assets, such as memes and other visual content, to boost visibility and drive traffic to the directory. * Community Engagement: There’s a focus on building an active community around the directory. Corey and Michelle propose using Slack and Post Status for discussions and idea sharing, and envision bringing in experts for talks and workshops to benefit members. * Early Stage and Rapid Development: The project is in its early stages with a goal to move quickly, aiming for a summer sale and rapid development. They emphasize the importance of getting involved early and contributing ideas to shape the initiative's success.
Mentioned In The Show:* MexicanTrain.online * Zach Katz * WS Form * Post Status * Slack * WP Tavern * OMG IMG * Stellar WP * Freemius * Letter People * Fiverr * Deadpool * Wolverine * WordCamp US * Mahjong * GravityKit
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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 Form * Eventbrite * WordCamp US * WordCamp Asia * WordCamp Europe * GiveWP * Bootstrap * Foundation * WooCommerce * Barn2 Plugins * Liquid Web * Datakit * Zach Katz * GravityKit
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Mark Westguard(Founder, ws_form) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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:* Shopify * Wix * Squarespace * Motivation Code * CrowdStrike * StellarWP * WordCamp US * Nathan Ingram * Mark Westguard * Kathy’s website
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Kathy Zant (CEO, Zantastic LLC) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette and Drew Griswold discuss the upcoming Stellar Spark event, a free gathering featuring 15 speakers on various WordPress-related topics. Highlighted speakers include Josepha Haden, Tammy Grant, and Nestor Angulo, covering subjects like WordPress security, SEO, and content creation. The event will have two tracks, with all sessions recorded for later access. Michelle and Drew emphasize the importance of registration for accessing recordings and networking opportunities. They also announce a 40% off sale on Stellar products for registrants. The episode reflects their enthusiasm for connecting with the WordPress community through this event.
Top Takeaways: * Stellar Spark details: The event is completely free.Videos will be recorded and available for viewing after the event.Registration encouraged for easy access to post-event materials. * Networking Opportunities: Hallway track Zoom room staffed by the Customer Success team for networking and speaker interactions.
Mentioned In The Show:* StellarWP * Stellar Spark Conference * Josepha Haden Chomphosy * Tammie Lister * Nestor Angulo * Yoast * Xaver Birsak * Lana Rafaela Cindric * Ivailo Hristov * Alex Standiford * Bud Kraus * Lindsay Miller * David Wolfpaw * Adam Weeks * David Afolabi * Corey Mass * Bet Hannan * WordCamp * Fiverr * WordPress * LearnDash * GiveWP * RCP * The Events Calendar * Solid * Kadence
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Drew Griswold (Director of Outbound Marketing, Stellar WP) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, host Corey Maass and Michelle Frechette discuss a variety of topics, focusing on their recent travel experiences, encounters at the Canada border, and interactions with the WordPress community. The guest shares insights into their work with WordPress, including creating open graph images and developing tools for image cropping and batch multi-image generation. They also introduce Open Graph Online, a tool for archiving open graph data. The episode highlights the importance of user-friendly tools and previews an upcoming online conference where the guest will present on maximizing image engagement in WordPress.
Top Takeaways: * Use of Tools: Both Michelle and Corey emphasized the importance of using specialized tools like character counters and image generators to enhance efficiency and quality in their work processes. * Product Development Insights: Corey discussed his approach to product development, highlighting the shift towards user-friendly features based on user feedback, rather than focusing solely on technical capabilities. * Event Promotion: Michelle promoted Corey's upcoming presentation at the Stellar Sparks event, showcasing their collaborative effort in preparing for and marketing the event. * Casual and Engaging Communication: The conversation between Michelle and Corey was informal and engaging, incorporating humor and personal anecdotes to maintain interest and connection with their audience. * Continuous Learning and Improvement: Corey's ongoing refinement of his presentation content for the event demonstrates a commitment to continuous learning and improvement in their respective fields.
Mentioned In The Show:* Word Counter * Grammarly * OMGIMG.co * Yoast * Open Graph Online * Crop Express * Basil Hayden * Underrepresented in Tech * Stellar WP * Stellar Spark * Blossom
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass delve into their product's development and marketing strategies. They discuss the technical challenges of image management, including resizing and the potential for automated featured and open graph image placement. The conversation also explores the idea of creating media kits and the integration of their product with platforms like WordPress. The speakers consider customer-driven feature prioritization and the importance of aligning marketing and development efforts. Additionally, they mention using an app for plant identification, highlighting the diverse applications of their product and the continuous pursuit of enhancing user experience.
Top Takeaways: * Value of Customer Feedback: Recording all ideas, even seemingly insignificant ones, can lead to valuable insights and features that resonate with customers. Customer demand should guide product development. * Importance of Collaboration: Collaboration between development and marketing teams is crucial for creating products that meet customer needs effectively. Both teams bring unique perspectives that contribute to product success. * Content Repurposing: Creating comprehensive onboarding materials, such as videos, can enhance user education and promote the product. Snippets from these materials can be repurposed for social media and documentation. * Continuous Improvement: Regular updates, planning, and communication ensure alignment between team members and facilitate ongoing product improvements. Iterative development allows for flexibility and adaptation to evolving user needs. * Customer-Centric Approach:Prioritizing features based on user feedback and demand ensures that the product remains relevant and valuable to its target audience. Keeping the customer at the center of decision-making drives product success and growth.
Mentioned In The Show:* Unsplash * PictureThis app * Divi * Cadence * Instagram * WP Speakers * Underrepresented in tech * WP Wonder Woman * Derek Ashauer * Adobe Lightroom * WP World * Faizan
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, MIchelle Frenchette and Corey Maas discuss the plugin's features and user experience. They address user feedback, particularly issues with the onboarding process and interface design. The host demonstrates how to create a site and install the plugin, emphasizing the importance of template creation for image generation. They also consider improvements to the plugin's UI/UX and integration with WordPress, including the management of admin settings.
Top Takeaways: * Importance of Understanding User Experience: Corey emphasizes the significance of understanding how users interact with a product, especially for someone like Michelle, who is new to using it. This helps in refining the product's usability and functionality. * User Feedback Drives Product Development: The conversation highlights the iterative nature of product development based on user feedback. Corey listens to Michelle's questions and feedback to better understand areas where the product can be improved or clarified. * Clarity in Product Communication: Corey recognizes the value of clear communication in explaining the product's features and functionality. He uses the conversation as an opportunity to articulate how the product works, helping Michelle and potentially other users understand it better. * Productivity Enhancement: The conversation underscores how the product aims to streamline repetitive tasks and enhance productivity. By automating image generation and template usage, users like Michelle can save time and effort in creating visual content for their websites or social media platforms.
Mentioned In The Show:* Canva * Photoshop * Beaver Builder * Yoast * Squirrly SEO * WooCommerce * Admin Menu Editor Pro
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Michelle Frechette, co-hosts of a live marketing session, delve into the nuances of marketing a WordPress product. They explore the creation of customer personas, the differentiation between various customer types, and the importance of tailored marketing strategies. The discussion covers the challenges of targeting decision makers and users, the role of agencies, and the significance of language in marketing to diverse customers. They also emphasize the need for understanding the product's benefits from each persona's perspective and adjusting marketing efforts to effectively engage with each group.
Top Takeaways:* Understanding Customer Personas: Corey and Michelle emphasize the importance of understanding and defining different customer personas based on their roles and decision-making processes. * Tailoring Marketing Language: They discuss the need to tailor marketing language and messaging to resonate with each customer persona, highlighting their unique motivations and pain points. * Identifying Benefits and Features: Corey suggests creating a matrix or spreadsheet to map out the benefits and features of the product across different customer personas, helping to identify areas of overlap and nuances specific to each persona. * Speaking Each Persona's Language: They stress the importance of speaking each persona's language, focusing on what resonates with them and addressing their specific needs and concerns. * Iterative Marketing Strategy: Corey and Michelle acknowledge the iterative nature of marketing strategy development, expressing their willingness to adapt and refine their approach based on feedback and new insights.
Mentioned In The Show:* Coca Cola * Beaver Builder * HubSpot * ChatGPT * Canva * Photoshop * Content Journey * Lindsey Miller * Stellar WP * Freemius
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass delve into their experiences with design and technical challenges. They discuss the intricacies of using Beaver Builder for creating a 404 page, with Corey expressing frustration over camera issues and a desire to enhance brand representation. Michelle brings up an accessibility oversight in a newsletter and the necessity of attention to detail, exemplified by Google's logo updates. The conversation highlights the significance of accessibility and meticulous design in creating content that resonates with and is accessible to all users.
Top Takeaways:* Transparency in Business: Corey discusses how transparency has become more prevalent in the startup world, particularly with the rise of platforms like WordPress. He reflects on the value of transparency, even if he doesn't always agree with or fully understand its implications, suggesting that it fosters relatability and authenticity in business interactions. * Continuous Improvement: Throughout the conversation, Corey and Michelle emphasize the importance of continuous improvement and learning. They discuss how podcasts, businesses, and individuals evolve over time, highlighting the value of feedback, reflection, and adaptation in achieving growth and success. * Collaboration and Support: Corey and Michelle express gratitude for the support they receive from their audience, as well as from other podcast hosts within the community. They highlight the collaborative nature of the WordPress community and the willingness to help each other succeed in their respective projects.
Mentioned In The Show:* Beaver Builder * Balsamiq * Joel Spolsky * Peldi * Adobe * Pippin Williamson * Ben Laird WP * Seriously, Bud? podcast * WP Coffee Talk * The Tipping Point * Drunk Tank Pink * WP Motivate * Kathy Zant
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass dive into the intricacies of optimizing their website's homepage and refining their pricing strategy for their product, OMGIMG. They discuss the importance of incorporating captivating images above the fold to enhance user engagement and consider the visibility of pricing information in the website navigation menu. The conversation also delves into the value of lifetime deals and the potential for a secondary market. Throughout the discussion, they emphasize the iterative nature of website development and the collaborative effort required to continuously improve user experience and drive conversions. Tune in for insights into effective homepage design and pricing strategies for online products.
Top Takeaways* Importance of Homepage Optimization: They recognize the significance of having a captivating image above the fold on their website's homepage. Michelle suggests adding an image to make the page more visually appealing and engaging for visitors. * Consideration of Pricing Visibility: Michelle points out the absence of a pricing link in the website navigation menu. They discuss the importance of prominently displaying pricing information for potential customers, as it's often one of the first things visitors look for on a website. * Value of Lifetime Deals: Corey mentions the success they had with offering lifetime deals during Black Friday sales. They discuss how some customers prefer lifetime deals and how others may collect them without immediate use, indicating potential interest in a secondary market for such deals. * Continuous Iteration and Collaboration: Michelle and Corey plan to collaborate on optimizing the homepage together. They emphasize the importance of treating the homepage as a living document that requires regular updates and refinements based on feedback, observations, and evolving business needs.
Mentioned Links* Matt Cromwell * Zoom * StreamYard * WP Builds * WP Coffee Talk * WP Constellations * Give WP * Post Status * WordCamp * Appsumo
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass explore the intricacies of managing online communities within the WordPress ecosystem. Michelle shares insights from their involvement with a Mastermind group and moderating a Facebook group for LearnDash, emphasizing the importance of nurturing community connections. Corey discusses their experiences with various online platforms, including email groups, and the pursuit of the most effective platforms for WordPress community engagement, such as Twitter and Reddit. Together, they delve into the challenges of maintaining active and engaging communities, highlighting the significance of platform choice and community care in fostering a thriving WordPress network.
Top Takeaways:* Embrace Growth and Change: Corey and Michelle discuss how their approaches to work and life have evolved over time. They acknowledge that as they grow older, they become more selective about where they invest their time and energy, focusing on what feels right for them personally and professionally. * Authentic Engagement: They emphasize the importance of authentic engagement on social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit. Rather than adhering to rigid posting schedules or following trends blindly, they advocate for genuine interaction and contribution within communities that align with their interests and values. * Community Support: Both Corey and Michelle highlight the supportive and inclusive nature of the WordPress community. They contrast this with negative experiences they've had in other professional settings, emphasizing the value of finding a supportive network of peers. * Balancing Work and Enjoyment: Despite their professional responsibilities, Corey and Michelle prioritize enjoying life and having fun. They acknowledge the importance of self-care and finding moments of joy, whether it's attending a party or indulging in a favorite beverage, even while maintaining a busy schedule.
Mentioned In The Show:* Facebook * Discord * Slack * Twitter * Reddit * LinkedIn * Beaver Builder * WordCamps * WP Accessibility Day * WP Coffee Talk * WP Motivate * Ben Layer * Asana * Zoom * WP Speakers * 10Up * Cory Miller
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass discuss their experiences at a WordPress Rochester April Meetup. Michelle recounts giving a talk on WordPress and image optimization, focusing on audience engagement and technical challenges. Corey reflects on the presentation's success and its technical and engagement aspects. They also explore broader topics like content management, SEO, accessibility, and the balance between technical and non-technical content. Additionally, they address the difficulties of organizing Meetups, the need for engaging content, and the nuances of marketing and self-promotion for introverts and small businesses. The conversation highlights the importance of community knowledge-sharing and the journey of building an online presence.
Top Takeaways: * Value of Incremental Growth: The participants recognize the importance of celebrating even small victories in their online presence, such as an increase in views on tweets or website traffic. They understand that consistent efforts over time lead to gradual growth and are encouraged by the progress they observe. * Engagement with Community: Michelle emphasizes the significance of community engagement, not just content marketing, in building their online presence. They discuss strategies for interacting with their audience, participating in Meetups, and leveraging social media to foster connections and expand their reach. * Adapting Marketing Strategies: Corey acknowledges the need to adapt marketing strategies based on their current resources and audience size. They discuss the challenges of scaling efforts and recognize the importance of starting where they are, rather than aiming for strategies designed for larger organizations. * Balancing Work and Marketing: Corey reflects on the challenge of balancing work responsibilities with marketing efforts. He highlights the need to prioritize tasks and allocate time effectively, recognizing that while marketing is essential, it cannot consume all his resources. They discuss strategies for maintaining a sustainable marketing effort while managing other responsibilities.
Mentioned In The Show:* WordPress Rochester's April Meetup * Yoast * WordPress TV * WordPress events * Give WP * Stellar WP * WordCamps * Meetups * Graham Lawlor * Gary Vaynerchuk * Twitter * Post Status
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass engage in a casual and candid conversation about the intricacies of marketing, public speaking, and community building within the WordPress and tech sectors. They touch upon their personal experiences with managing social media, attending WordCamp Asia, and the challenges of live broadcasting. The discussion also veers into the use of profanity in professional settings, with personal anecdotes about cultural differences in communication styles. The episode concludes with reflections on generating new projects and the power of sharing ideas within a community.
Top Takeaways: * Creativity in Marketing: The conversation emphasizes the importance of creativity in marketing strategies, particularly in the context of WordCamp events. They discuss unique ideas such as offering bespoke poems, using disposable branded cameras, and creating interactive experiences to engage attendees. * Personalization and Engagement: Michelle and Corey highlight the value of personalization and engagement in marketing efforts. They discuss the potential impact of offering customized experiences, such as bespoke poems or personalized photo opportunities, to create memorable interactions with their audience. * Importance of Standing Out: The transcript underscores the importance of standing out from the crowd, especially in competitive environments like WordCamp events. They emphasize the need for unique and memorable marketing approaches to capture attention and leave a lasting impression on attendees.
Mentioned In The Show:* Slack * Twitter * WordPress * Indie Hackers * Post Status * Zoom * Beaver Builder * Paragon Digital * WP Minute Newsletter * Indiegogo * WP Coffee Talk * WP Minute * Omnisend * Matt Medeiros * Stellar WP * OMGIMG.co * Mailchimp * EmailOctopus * MailJet * Etsy * Mad Men * Hacker News * Sticker Mule * GitHub * TED Talk by Renee Gleason * Bluehost * WordCamp US * That 70’s Show * WordPress.com
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette and Corey Maass brainstorm strategies to enhance their product's appeal and visibility. They discuss adding engaging features to their website, similar to how children desire flashy bike accessories. They explore the idea of reframing their website to highlight the product's awesomeness, keeping an updated blog, and engaging in public speaking to be genuine and relatable. The conversation shifts to outreach for non-profits, suggesting giveaways, leveraging SEO, and integrating with other software. They consider sending products to post offices, aligning with national events for promotions, and sponsoring meetups. The episode concludes with excitement for future plans.
Top Takeaways: * Diversified Marketing Strategies: Corey and Michelle discuss a variety of marketing strategies to promote OMGIMG, including speaking at events, participating in podcasts, hosting giveaways, sponsoring meetups, and organizing discount events. This highlights the importance of diversifying marketing efforts to reach different audiences and maximize exposure. * Focus on Education and Value: Michelle emphasizes the importance of educating potential users about the benefits of OMGIMG and why it's essential for their websites. This underscores the value of providing educational content and positioning the product as a solution to common challenges, such as improving website imagery and open graph implementation. * Community Engagement and Support: The conversation explores ways to engage with the WordPress community, including supporting nonprofits, participating in WordCamps, and sponsoring meetups. This highlights the significance of community engagement and building relationships within the WordPress ecosystem to foster trust and credibility. * Strategic Planning and Execution: Corey and Michelle discuss the importance of strategic planning and execution in marketing initiatives. They outline specific action items, such as creating presentation topics, developing a media page, initiating outreach campaigns, and organizing discount events. This emphasizes the value of setting clear objectives, prioritizing tasks, and implementing strategies systematically to achieve marketing goals effectively.
Mentioned In The Show:* Give * Big Orange Heart * WordCamp * WordCamp Canada * Yoast * RankMath * Post Status * StellarWP * National Today * Canva * Sticker Mule * BuiltWith * Meetups * SquirrellySEO
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode,Cory Miller interviews Ian Peatey, a seasoned trainer in nonviolent communication (NVC). Ian shares his journey with NVC and its profound impact on his life and work. He discusses the origins of NVC, developed by Marshall Rosenberg, and its emphasis on empathetic listening and honest self-expression. Ian and Cory, explore the challenges of emotional literacy and the importance of recognizing and expressing complex emotions nonviolently. They discuss the practical application of NVC in personal development, parenting, and business, highlighting the need for patience and supportive communities in practicing NVC. The episode underscores the transformative power of NVC in creating respectful and honest interpersonal connections across various life aspects.
Top Takeaways:* Nonviolent Communication (NVC): The conversation revolves around the principles of Nonviolent Communication, emphasizing its value in fostering empathy, honesty, and respectful dialogue in various aspects of life, including personal relationships and business interactions. * Emotional Literacy: Ian and Cory discuss the importance of emotional literacy, which involves recognizing, understanding, and expressing one's emotions effectively. They highlight the significance of identifying feelings accurately and expressing them in a nonviolent manner to enhance communication. * Power Dynamics: The conversation explores power dynamics in relationships and organizations, emphasizing the difference between using power over others and power with others. They advocate for a more collaborative, respectful approach to leadership and decision-making, rather than a top-down, command-and-control style. * Practice and Patience: Implementing NVC requires practice and patience. Ian Peatey discusses the challenges individuals may face when attempting to change communication patterns, emphasizing the need for self-awareness, feedback, and supportive environments such as practice groups. * Integrity and Empathy in Business: Ian and Cory advocate for integrating integrity, empathy, and transparency into business practices, challenging traditional hierarchical structures and promoting a culture of mutual respect and honesty. They argue that compassionate leadership can lead to better employee engagement, decision-making, and overall organizational success.
Mentioned In The Show:* Marshall Rosenberg * Carl Rogers * Center for Nonviolent Communication * Inside Out Movie * Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Ian Peatey (Certified Trainer and Assessor, Center for Nonviolent Communication) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Michelle Frechette discuss plans for a future Rochester meetup presentation on images and open graph, with intentions to record and share the session on YouTube. They explore the idea of teaching using their own examples, similar to how a forum might demonstrate a product. The conversation also touches on reviewing the homepage for typos and excitement about making good plans. They encourage listener engagement through Slack, YouTube, and Twitter for ideas and feedback. The episode concludes with one speaker needing to prepare for a massage appointment and the other ensuring the next episode will proceed as scheduled.
Top Takeaways* Importance of Alt Text: Michelle and Corey discuss the importance of alt text for images on websites, highlighting the need for proper descriptions to ensure accessibility. * Utilizing Open Graph: Corey explains the limitations of Open Graph in describing images and the need for additional metadata like OG image alt to improve accessibility. * Engagement at WordCamps: Michelle and Corey discuss the value of attending WordCamps for networking, learning about new plugins, and engaging with the WordPress community. * Feedback and Collaboration: Michelle and Corey emphasize the importance of feedback and collaboration in the iterative process of website development, indicating their willingness to receive input from others. * Iterative Improvement: Corey mentions the ongoing process of iterating and improving the homepage, highlighting the quick iteration phase and the importance of continuous improvement in website design and content.
Mentioned In The Show:* Open Graph * Matt Medeiros * Dense Discovery Newsletter * WP Beaver Builder * Pexels * Unsplash * Pixabay * WP Minute * Cadence website * Matomo * Sticker Mule * WordCamp US * WordCamp Ottawa * BBC Radio One * Orbital * Underworld * WP Campus * WordCamp Montclair * WordCamp Rochester * Post Status * WordCamp Montreal * Canva * Twitter * YouTube * 404, the story of a page not found
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Michelle Frechette discuss the strategic pivot of the podcast to concentrate on marketing a WordPress product. They delve into the changes needed for their homepage, refining their messaging, and creating educational content tailored for their audience. They emphasize the importance of demystifying technical jargon like "open graph" for their customers. The episode also covers their business decisions, branding strategies, and the integration of image APIs into their plugin. They highlight the need for clear communication of the plugin's features and benefits, as well as the importance of a user-friendly website design.
Top Takeaways:* Importance of Homepage Design: The conversation underscores the critical role of a homepage in capturing visitors' attention within a few seconds and enticing them to explore further. Corey and Michelle discuss the significance of crafting compelling visuals and messaging to keep visitors engaged. * Consideration of Target Audience: They emphasize the importance of tailoring the homepage to different customer segments or niches, such as content creators, agencies, marketers, and bloggers. Understanding the specific needs and preferences of each group helps in creating targeted messaging and visuals. * Show, Don't Tell: Corey and Michelle stress the value of demonstrating the benefits of their product rather than simply describing them. They discuss the effectiveness of using before-and-after visuals and examples to showcase the transformation their plugin can bring to users' websites. * Collaborative Approach: The conversation highlights the benefits of collaboration and fresh perspectives in homepage design. Michelle's input as an outsider brings new ideas and insights to the process, helping Corey overcome analysis paralysis and make progress on refining the homepage.
Mentioned In The Show:* Chat GPT * Slack * Unsplash * Pexels * Pixabay * Canva * Photoshop * DALL-E * Post Status * Yoast * Eli Finer * Radaar * TikTok * Robin Williams * Mork and Mindy
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette and Anne McCarthy discuss the development of a mentorship program and an empowerment grant aimed at supporting the LGBTQ+ community in the WordPress ecosystem. They highlight the need for a safe and inclusive environment, address financial barriers, and consider privacy for those not ready to come out. The episode covers the importance of genuine community support, the mentorship program's timeline, and expectations for engagement. They urge underrepresented groups to apply, offer information on the LGBTQ press website, and invite feedback to improve the initiative. The conversation underscores the value of lived experiences and the commitment to financially empower individuals within the WordPress community.
Top Takeaways:* Queeromattic Mentorship Program: Anne McCarthy discusses the launch of the Queeromattic Mentorship Program, aimed at supporting individuals in the queer community within the WordPress ecosystem. * Financial Support for Queer Individuals: The program involves financial support for selected mentees, allowing them to focus on contributing to WordPress without financial constraints. * Collaboration with Mentorship Programs: The mentorship program collaborates with existing mentorship initiatives, leveraging their expertise and guidance in the selection and support of mentees. * Application Deadline: Interested individuals are encouraged to apply for the mentorship program, with a deadline set for February 7th, offering a six-week duration from February 19th to March 29th. * Feedback and Collaboration: Anne invites feedback, collaboration, and ideas from the community to ensure the program evolves to address the needs and challenges faced by queer individuals in the WordPress space.
Mentioned In The Show:* LGBTQ Press * Automattician Resource Groups * Make WordPress Community * Black Press * Automattic * Queeromattic * Underrepresented in Tech * Out In Tech * Lesbians Who Tech
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Anne McCarthy (Product Wrangler, Automattic) * Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this co-branded podcast episode, Cory Miller from Post Status and Matt Medeiros from WP Minute discuss the "WP drama" within the WordPress community, focusing on leadership challenges and the impact of internal conflicts. They share personal experiences, emphasizing the importance of civility and understanding towards leaders like Matt Mullenweg. They highlight the need to listen to diverse voices within the community, including agencies and businesses, and acknowledge external competition from other platforms. They stress the human aspect of leadership and community engagement, encouraging constructive dialogue and community contributions through platforms like Post Status and WP Minute.
Top Takeaways:* Passion and Emotion in the WordPress Community: The discussion emphasizes the passion that individuals in the WordPress community have for the project. However, it acknowledges that this passion can sometimes lead to heated debates and conflicts. * Leadership and Decision-Making: The conversation delves into the challenges of leadership in the WordPress project, specifically focusing on the roles of Matt Mullenweg and Josepha Haden. It touches upon the difficulty of balancing the diverse perspectives within the community. * Community Engagement and Support: Both speakers encourage community members to engage in constructive ways. They discuss platforms like WP Minute and Post Status as spaces for contributing content, discussing issues, and seeking support from fellow members. * The Human Element in Online Interactions: The conversation highlights the importance of remembering the human element in online interactions. It suggests that amidst disagreements and debates, it's crucial to approach discussions with empathy and to recognize the person on the other side of the screen.
Mentioned In The Show:* Slack * WordPress * WP Minute * Post Status
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Matt Medeiros (Publisher, The WP Minute) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Cory Miller welcomes Greg Zakowicz from Omnisen to discuss the effectiveness of various marketing channels such as email, SMS, and web push messages. They explore the increasing impact of SMS marketing, especially during peak shopping periods, and the growing trend of automation in marketing communications. Greg shares insights from Omnisen annual report, emphasizing the success of behavior-based automated messages in driving sales. They also discuss the simplicity of starting with SMS marketing and the potential of web push notifications. The episode concludes with an offer for Post Status listeners to try Omnisen and a reminder of the accessibility and support provided by the Omnisen team.
Link for 15% off first three months: our.omnisend.com/poststatus
Top Takeaways:* SMS Marketing Growth: SMS marketing is experiencing significant growth, with a 396% increase in 2021 over 2020. Greg emphasizes the importance of leveraging SMS as a valuable marketing channel. * Web Push Notifications: Web push notifications have shown a 27% year-over-year lift, and the growth of using push messages has been consistent. Automation plays a key role in the effectiveness of push notifications, with 21% of all automated push message orders coming from 3% of the sends. * Automation Impact: Automated messages, whether through email, SMS, or push notifications, are highly impactful. For instance, 41% of all email orders come from automated emails, despite comprising only 2% of sends. Greg suggests focusing on high-intent messages, such as welcome, cart abandonment, and browse abandonment.
Mentioned In The Show:* Omnisend * Mailchimp * Klaviyo
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress.comBuild and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Greg Zakowicz (Sr. Ecommerce Expert, Omnisend) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Cory Miller interviews Roger Rosweide, co-founder of WildCloud, shares his journey with WordPress and WildCloud, and introduces the concept of website as a service. He discusses how this model can provide pre-built, managed websites for a monthly subscription fee, benefiting agencies, marketers, business consultants, and individuals. Roger also explains how agencies can incorporate this model into their business and discusses pricing and packaging strategies for selling websites through WildCloud. He emphasizes the collaborative spirit of the WordPress community and the potential benefits of a WordPress website as a service for marketers. Cory and Roger also discuss the importance of businesses functioning as communities.
Top Takeaways* Niche Focus and Blueprints: Agencies can benefit from creating specialized services for specific niches and using pre-built blueprints. This approach allows them to target particular industries or professions, such as therapists, and deliver tailored solutions that cater to the unique needs of those clients. * Community Collaboration: Building a community around the WaaS model fosters collaboration among agencies, developers, and marketers. This collaborative spirit strengthens the WordPress ecosystem by encouraging dialogue, sharing insights, and addressing challenges collectively. * Adapting to WordPress Changes: As WordPress evolves, particularly with the introduction of Gutenberg and other updates, agencies may face challenges in adapting their existing solutions. However, these challenges can be viewed as opportunities to enhance and innovate, pushing agencies to improve and stay competitive. * Business Growth Through Community: By transitioning from a customer-centric to a community-centric approach, businesses can create more value for their clients. Providing resources, best practices, and a supportive community enables businesses to grow while helping clients achieve their goals.
Mentioned In The Show:* Zoom * Porsche * Axel Springer * WP Calorie Calculator plugin * Google My Business * WooCommerce * Shopify * Wix * Weebly * Squarespace * OWASP * All Counseling
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Roger Rosweide (Co-Founder Wildcloud) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller discuss marketing a WordPress plugin, focusing on the use of open graph data across different platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. They emphasize the importance of customizing images and content for specific pages and posts, and the value of rich content for SEO. They also discuss the use of a social previewer tool and the necessity of a default image for every URL. The conversation includes the significance of educating clients on updating their websites and the need for a strong online presence.
Top Takeaways:* Strategic Approach to OG Images: The discussion emphasizes a strategic approach to Open Graph (OG) images, focusing on the main brand image, specific OG images for pages and products, and additional opportunities for content like blog posts. * Importance of OG Images for Branding: OG images act as a visual representation of a brand when content is shared on various platforms. Ensuring a strong, visually appealing OG image is crucial for brand recognition and engagement. * Understanding Channel-Specific Requirements: Different social media channels have unique requirements for displaying OG images. The conversation touches on the importance of understanding these nuances, such as Twitter's preference for image-only display and the need for specific image sizes. * Educating Clients and Website Owners: The conversation discusses the significance of educating clients or website owners about the importance of OG images and the potential pitfalls of neglecting them. It highlights the need to guide them in creating compelling content for sharing on social media.
Mentioned In The Show:* OMGIMG * Facebook * Pinterest * Instagram * Twitter * Google * Discord * Post Status
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller discuss the performance of their WordPress product, launched in October, during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They talk about their marketing strategies, including the importance of building a mailing list and repurposing content from a WordCamp talk. They also discuss their target audience and the potential of their product which helps implement open graph on WordPress websites. They plan to create a presentation showcasing the benefits of OMGIMG.
Top Takeaways:* Targeting Technical Audience: The focus of the discussion is on tailoring the presentation for a technical audience, particularly agencies and developers who already understand the concept of Open Graph. * Channel-Specific Examples: To resonate with agencies, the plan is to provide channel-specific examples, such as Pinterest for food bloggers or Facebook for local businesses, showcasing how OMG can enhance visibility on various platforms. * Lead Magnet Strategy: The speakers propose turning the refined presentation into a lead magnet, allowing agencies to download the slide deck as a brochure. The goal is to encourage sharing and make the information easily accessible.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordPress * Twitter * Facebook * WordCamp * Kanban * Social Link Pages * ChatGPT * Pinterest * Instagram * Buffer * Main WP * Yoast * All in One SEO * RankMath
🙏 Sponsor: ElementorElementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece, without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Cory Miller interviews Amber Haynes, CEO of Equalize Digital, about the importance of accessibility in WordPress and web design. They discuss the recent award received by Equalize Digital for their Digital Accessibility Checker plugin, which audits WordPress websites for accessibility. Amber highlights the challenges faced by screen reader users and the increasing legal requirements for website accessibility. She also shares insights on the role of plugin developers in improving web accessibility and the competitive landscape of different platforms in terms of accessibility. The episode concludes with Amber discussing upcoming improvements to their plugin.
Top Takeaways: * Accessibility as a Skill Set: Agencies and web developers are encouraged to recognize the growing importance of accessibility in web development due to upcoming legislation. Amber suggests adding accessibility as a skill set and recommends starting with tools like the Accessibility Checker plugin to identify and address issues. * Practical Steps for Improvement: To enhance accessibility, developers are advised to incorporate the Accessibility Checker plugin into their starter themes, whether custom or using a page builder. Amber emphasizes the importance of testing websites using only a keyboard, focusing on navigation, and ensuring that all functionality is accessible without a mouse. * Evolution of the Accessibility Checker Plugin: The Accessibility Checker plugin has evolved over time, with a focus on improving user experience and introducing features such as full site reports and audit history. The plugin is continually refined to provide developers with meaningful insights into accessibility issues on their websites. * Challenges and Opportunities in WordPress Accessibility: While WordPress powers a significant portion of the internet, there are ongoing challenges with accessibility, particularly in the core product. Amber discusses the need for a more strategic approach to accessibility within the WordPress community, addressing issues and making accessibility a priority in the development process. The conversation also touches on how other content management systems, such as CraftCMS, are actively prioritizing accessibility.
Mentioned in the Show:* Equalize Digital * Accessibility Checker plugin * GAAD Foundation * Gaady Award * Slack * European Accessibility Act * Craft CMS * Drupal * Meetup * Shopify * Squarespace * Lone Rock Point * NASA
🙏 Sponsor: ElementorElementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece, without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Amber Hinds (CEO, Equalize Digital) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller discuss plans for the second season of their show. They consider rebranding and focusing on marketing a WordPress product. They discuss potential topics such as selling and scaling a business, and the progress they've made with their WordPress product. They also discuss the importance of open graph data, optimizing images for SEO, and the value of simplicity in marketing a WordPress product. They plan to submit a talk to a WordCamp and provide tools to optimize content sharing. They also discuss upcoming product features and the importance of providing value to their audience.
Top Takeaways:* Product Value Proposition: The conversation underscores the value proposition of their product, focusing on its ability to simplify complex tasks related to image optimization and branding. The product is positioned as a solution that goes beyond existing options in the market, providing a unique set of features. * Anticipation of New Features: The anticipation of upcoming features, such as branding, watermarking, and pixel-perfect device mockups, is highlighted. This serves as a persuasive element for potential customers, suggesting that the product will continue to evolve and provide additional value beyond its initial offerings. * Cost of Staying in the Status Quo: A recurring theme revolves around the "cost of staying where you're at." The conversation emphasizes that maintaining the status quo, especially in terms of content visibility and marketing efforts, may have negative consequences. This concept is presented as a compelling reason for users to consider their product. * Balancing Technical Details and Simplicity: The participants discuss the balance between catering to users who may want to delve into technical details and those who seek a simplified solution. The product is positioned as a tool that can be beneficial for both types of users, providing straightforward solutions while acknowledging the more intricate aspects for those interested in them.
Mentioned in the Show:* Canva * Photoshop * Beaver Builder * Google Docs * Social Media Examiner * WordCampUS * Twitter * Yoast * Instagram * LinkedIn * Slack * Pinterest * ChatGPT four * Crop Express * Fiverr * Upwork * Rank Math * WP Minute * Post Status
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller brainstorm marketing strategies for their upcoming WordPress product launch. They discuss the importance of creating engaging social media content, reaching out to potential customers, and leveraging partnerships with influencers. They also consider writing articles comparing their product with competitors to increase search traffic. Corey and Cory emphasize the need to share their journey, including their failures and successes, to attract a wider audience. They also reflect on the challenges of entrepreneurship and the importance of celebrating wins and seeking support from others. The episode concludes with them expressing excitement for the future and hinting at the topic of their next season's first episode.
Top Takeaways:* Importance of Collaboration: They emphasize the value of not going alone in the entrepreneurial journey. Collaborative discussions provide different perspectives, balance, and emotional support, helping navigate challenges more effectively. * Readiness to Pivot: Corey and Cory discuss the significance of being open to pivoting and having no loyalty to ideas. This flexibility allows them to adapt to changing needs and find optimal solutions for potential customers. * Customer Awareness and Education: Corey Maass shares insights into the challenge of introducing a product where customers may not be aware they have a problem. Educating customers about the problem and its solution becomes a crucial aspect of their marketing strategy. * Gratitude and Celebration of Wins: They express gratitude for their collaborative effort and celebrate the achievements, recognizing the importance of taking a moment to acknowledge wins, whether big or small. They emphasize the need to pause and reflect on the journey.
Mentioned in the show:* WordPress * Post Status * Twitter * Open Graph * Bob Dunn's "Do the Woo" * Adobe Banner Maker * OMGIMG * YouTube * Facebook * LinkedIn * Yoast * WordPress Weekly * The Tavern * WP Builds * WP Minute * WP Mayor * WeWork * Halt and Catch Fire * The Social Network * Below Deck (reality TV show)
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Michelle Frechette and Matt Medeiros discuss the importance of being a good podcast guest. They emphasize the need for high-quality audio, preparation, and engaging conversation. They advise against using built-in microphones or AirPods and suggest investing in a good microphone. They also stress the importance of avoiding sales pitches and providing informative, engaging answers. They highlight the need for guests to understand the podcast and its audience, and to promote the episode after its release. They also mention the rise of YouTube as a podcast platform and the value of establishing rapport with the host.
Top Takeaways:* Preparation is Key: Guests should research the podcast, its audience, and the host's style to provide unique, engaging content. Tailoring answers and having multiple perspectives on common questions can make a significant difference. * Engage and Collaborate: Guests should build rapport and collaboration with hosts, understanding it's a partnership. Being responsive, timely, and cooperative, even in providing necessary information after the interview, is crucial. * Authenticity and Value: Guests need to be genuine, sharing their unique expertise without trying to be someone they're not. They should focus on offering value—be it entertainment, education, or information—to the audience. * Technical Preparation: Good audio quality is a must. Using a quality microphone and wearing headphones during the interview significantly improves the recording quality, and it's equally important to test equipment beforehand.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* ATR 2100 microphone * Descript * Studio Sound * YouTube * Twitter * DOLL-E * SquadCast * WordPress * WP Speakers * Post Status
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Matt Medeiros (Community, Gravity Forms) * Michelle Frechette (Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller discuss their product launch strategy, including pricing and discount considerations for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They also talk about the importance of authenticity in business, sharing personal anecdotes to illustrate their points. The conversation then shifts to sales and marketing, Corey and Cory reflect on their experiences and preferences. They explore the challenges of direct sales and the comfort of marketing, particularly for introverts. They also touch on the distinction between business and personal relationships, and the importance of setting boundaries.
Top Takeaways:
- Strategic Shifts Around Black Friday Sales: The discussion indirectly highlights the evolution of sales strategies surrounding Black Friday. Mentions of altered sales experiences and challenging times due to Black Friday might reflect the changing dynamics of this retail event. It underscores the necessity for businesses to adapt their sales approaches during such peak shopping periods, possibly indicating shifts in consumer behavior or industry trends.
- Distinguishing Between Business Relationships and Personal Connections: Corey Miller grapples with understanding the distinction between business connections and personal friendships. This confusion arises when business associates exhibit personal gestures, leading to misconceptions about the depth of the relationship.
- Evolution of Sales Strategies: They discuss the evolution of sales strategies, mentioning the shift from direct partnerships with hosting companies to more indirect sales efforts involving affiliate programs and agency collaborations. This evolution showcases the adaptability necessary in the constantly changing tech industry.
Mentioned in the show:* Radioshack * Halt and Catch Fire * Microsoft * IBM * Pingdom * OMG IMG * Post Status * LayerWP * WP Constellations
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
This promotional episode for the "Breakdown Gravity Forms" podcast discusses the benefits and versatility of Gravity Forms and Gravity SMTP. The speakers share their personal experiences, highlighting its ease of use for all types of users, from beginners to experts. They discuss its application in various use cases, such as opt-in forms and automation. The listeners are encouraged to tune into the podcast for more insights into Gravity Forms' new product updates and future enhancements or visit the Gravity Forms website for more information
Top Takeaways:* Introduction to Gravity Forms Podcast: The transcript introduces a podcast related to Gravity Forms. This podcast will be a behind-the-scenes look at Gravity Forms, providing updates on new product features and enhancements for the popular contact form plugin for WordPress users. * Versatility and Ease of Use: Gravity Forms is easy to use, making it suitable for users of all levels, from beginners to experts. It's highlighted as a versatile tool that can be used in various ways, including for opt-in forms, content analysis, and automation. * Positive Reviews: Gravity Forms is a top-recommended form platform for WordPress users, emphasizing its effectiveness and power in various use cases.
In this podcast episode, Corey Miller and Cory Maass discuss the development of their WordPress product. They talk about the recent updates, beta testing, and user feedback that have helped shape the product. They also discuss their marketing strategies, including the use of newsletters, ads, and an intro video. The duo also plans to offer an introductory rate and consider a Black Friday sale. They express gratitude for the feedback received and discuss the importance of reaching out to relevant communities for promotion. They conclude by agreeing to work together on upcoming plans.
Top Takeaways:* Soft Product Launch Strategy: The conversation discusses a soft launch strategy for their product, OMG IMG. They plan to leverage their mailing list and create promotional content like explainer videos and slides to ensure a successful initial release. * Promotional Content Creation: The conversation highlights the importance of creating various promotional content types, including explainer videos and slides, to showcase the product's features and benefits to potential customers. * Leveraging Social Media: They discuss the value of sharing promotional content on social media platforms and how using their product to create eye-catching images for social sharing can demonstrate its practicality. * Introductory Pricing Strategy: The product launch will involve an introductory pricing strategy, with the idea of encouraging customers to purchase multiple licenses by offering a unique "share with a friend" incentive.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Balsamiq * Canva * Google Docs * Tailwind * Post Status * WordPress * Microsoft Word
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Miller and Cory Maass delve into the challenges and mindset required for entrepreneurship. They discuss the sacrifices, persistence, and a bit of luck needed to succeed, and how their drive to create has shaped their entrepreneurial journeys. They also explore the balance between work and personal life, the concept of success and retirement, and the importance of diversifying one's identity beyond work. The conversation also touches on the role of resilience, setting boundaries, and managing expectations in business. They conclude by emphasizing the significance of focus when starting something new.
Top Takeaways:* Resilience in Entrepreneurship: The conversation underscores the importance of resilience in the world of entrepreneurship. Both Corey Miller and Cory Maass emphasize that setbacks and challenges are an inherent part of the entrepreneurial journey. They stress the need to endure through difficult times, as surviving these challenges can lead to personal and professional growth. * Balancing Passion and Realism: The dialogue explores the balance between entrepreneurial passion and realism. It's noted that while passion can drive individuals to venture into entrepreneurship, it should be coupled with a sense of realism about the inherent difficulties and uncertainties. * Managing Expectations and Boundaries: Corey Miller shares insights about managing expectations and setting clear boundaries in business. This includes discussing how to handle customer interactions and respond to criticism, emphasizing the importance of maintaining professionalism and not allowing disagreements to become personal.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Lego * Mexican Train * 10up * 37 Signals * Joel Sapolsky * Rob Walling * Derek Sivers
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of Post Status Draft podcast, Cory Miller interviews Marc Benzakein, a member of the MainWP team. Marc explains that MainWP was created to manage affiliate marketing sites and prioritize privacy and security. They discuss MainWP's unique pricing model, offering a free version and a premium pro pack for advanced features. The Cory and Marc talk about the various extensions and plugins offered by MainWP, as well as the importance of reporting for agencies. They also discuss the improvements made to WordPress over the years and the significance of MainWP's ten-year anniversary. Marc recommends joining the MainWP users Facebook group for interactive discussions.
Top Takeaways:* MainWP's Unique Approach: MainWP stands out by offering a unique approach to managing multiple WordPress sites. Unlike many other solutions, it's not a central dashboard in the sense of a SaaS service. Instead, it allows users to manage their WordPress sites from their own dashboard, emphasizing privacy and security. * Pricing and Unlimited Sites: MainWP offers a simple pricing model, which is a significant benefit for agencies and businesses. It starts with a free version that's powerful enough for most users. When you need advanced features, you can purchase the Premium Pro Pack. The unlimited site management feature is a significant advantage for those with multiple sites, as you can manage as many sites as you need without incurring additional costs. * Extensions and Reporting: MainWP provides a wide range of extensions that cover key functionalities such as WooCommerce, reporting, collaboration tools, and more. The ability to generate customizable reports is particularly valuable for agencies, as it helps in demonstrating the value of their services to clients.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordPress * WooCommerce * Jetpack * Twitter
🙏 Sponsor: ElementorElementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece, without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Marc Benzakein (Marketing Manager, MainWP) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller discuss their progress in building presets and creating images for a project. They talk about the layout, formatting options, and design elements they are working on, including adding columns, background colors, and logos. They also discuss the idea of using excerpts, bulleted lists, and block quotes to enhance articles, as well as the importance of selecting the right OG image for social networks. They explore the potential of AI integration in automating image generation and improving workflow efficiency.
Top Takeaways: Template-Based Design: The platform allows users to create templates for content design, making it efficient and consistent. These templates can be customized to create different types of content, such as social media images and featured blog post images. * AI Integration: The conversation mentions the potential integration of AI to automate tasks like image generation and text summarization. This would save users time and enhance their content creation process. * Column-Based Layouts: The platform offers a user-friendly approach to design with column-based layouts. Users can easily drag and drop elements to create layouts without requiring advanced design skills. * Testing and Feedback:* Corey Maass is in the process of testing the platform and seeking feedback from users, including Cory Miller, to identify and address any bugs or issues before wider deployment.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Canva * WordPress * Unsplash * Beaver Builder * Photoshop * TinyMCE
🙏 Sponsor: ElementorElementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece, without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Cory Miller and Corey Maass discuss the progress and updates on their project. They talk about refactoring the app using React and the importance of simplifying the workflow and talking to customers to understand their needs. They also discuss their approach to building products and the importance of conviction and belief in their work. They touch on topics such as creating visually appealing images, using presets and templates, optimizing images for SEO, and the potential for AI-generated content. They also discuss the challenges and possibilities in marketing and accommodating different users. The episode ends with plans for future improvements and excitement for the project's progress.
Top Takeaways:* OG Image Importance: The conversation highlights the significance of OG (Open Graph) images in content marketing. Creating visually appealing OG images is essential to engage audiences and drive traffic to websites or content. * Templates for Visual Consistency: The use of templates is emphasized to maintain visual consistency across OG images. Templates offer a structured approach for users to create appealing visuals that align with their brand. * Guidance and Best Practices: Providing users with guidance and best practices is crucial. This includes offering tooltips, color suggestions, and layout tips to help users make design decisions effectively and create compelling OG images.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* YouTube * Canva * React * WordPress * Netflix * Twitter * Amazon * Photoshop * ChatGPT
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Cory Miller interviews Jake Goldman, the President and Founder of 10Up, a WordPress company. They discuss the progress and good work that 10Up has done in the WordPress community over the years. Jake talks about his experience in web development and the journey leading up to forming 10Up. They also discuss the recent merger between 10Up and Fueled, and the opportunities it presents in the digital transformation space. Jake shares his thoughts on the future of WordPress, including exciting projects like their AI plugin called ClassifAI. They also discuss the challenges and tensions faced by organizations using WordPress, the changing landscape of open-source software, and the importance of maintaining an open web. Overall, they express optimism about the future of WordPress and its ability to adapt to the changing needs of its users.
Top Takeaways:* Challenges in Open Source vs. Closed Platforms: Jake highlighted the challenge of open-source platforms like WordPress in competing with closed platforms like Squarespace and Wix. While open source provides transparency and flexibility, it can be harder to deliver seamless user experiences for consumers and prosumers. * WordPress's Positioning: Jake expressed concerns about WordPress's positioning in the market. He mentioned that WordPress seems to be trying to cater to various user segments simultaneously, from beginners to enterprise-level users. This could potentially lead to being less competitive in specific use cases. * Accessibility and Approachability: Jake raised the question of whether WordPress remains as accessible and approachable as it was in the past for newcomers. He emphasized the importance of ensuring that WordPress continues to be a welcoming platform for those who want to experiment and build websites without extensive technical knowledge. * The Evolving Open Web: The conversation touched on the changing landscape of the open web, especially in light of the dominance of social media platforms. While open-source technologies remain strong in certain areas, the user-facing experiences on social media have evolved significantly, making it more challenging for open-source solutions to compete.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* 10Up * Fueled * ClassifAI * ElasticPress * Warby Parker * Deloitte * Accenture * WordPress * Squarespace * Webflow * Wix * Adobe InDesign * Adobe Photoshop * Pantheon * Mastodon * Twitter * IBM * Linux * Apache * Nginx * IIS * WP Engine * GoDaddy
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Jake Goldman (Founder, 10Up) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordPress * WordCamp US * Twitter * LinkedIn * Facebook * Zoom
🙏 Sponsor: A2HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* OMG IMG * Canva * WordPress * Rank Math * Yoast * WordCamp US
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Cory Miller and Corey Maass discuss preparations for WordCampUS and designing business cards for the event. They receive feedback on their design and decide on a winning business card design that includes pricing information and a QR code. They also discuss the content and layout of their product's landing page, adding a coupon code and creating an intro video. They plan to create videos together at WordCampUS to promote their mailing list and discuss the importance of having tangible items like business cards to hand out. They also talk about showcasing their product in different devices and browsers to make it visually appealing.
Top Takeaways:* Collaboration and Progress: Corey Maass and Cory Miller demonstrate effective collaboration and progress in their project. They discuss the successful execution of their plan, highlighting their teamwork and positive momentum. * Schema Markup: They discuss the importance of schema markup for images, which impacts how Google displays images in search results. This feature allows for better control over how their images appear in search engine results. * Device Image Mockups: The conversation highlights the addition of device image mockups to OMG IMG, enhancing the presentation of images and improving the service's overall user experience.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordCamp US 2023 * OMGIMG.co * Yoast * Google * WordPress.org Plugins
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Fiverr * WordCamp US * Sticker Mule * Venmo * OMGIMG.co * Canva * Yoast * Beaver Builder WP * Favicon * Gravity Forms
🙏 Sponsor: A2 HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this podcast episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller demonstrate and discuss the features of their OMG IMG plugin. They showcase how the plugin allows users to show or hide sections, customize settings, and create images for social media posts. They also address challenges related to layout and templates, including different image sizes and orientations. They talk about the appearance and customization options of the plugin, such as incorporating logos and avatars into posts. They mention the importance of branding and discuss potential improvements and future developments for the plugin.
Top Takeaways:* Iterative Development and Real-World Testing: Corey Maass and Cory Miller emphasize the importance of iterative development and testing by real-world usage. User feedback and real-world scenarios play a crucial role in shaping the final product. * Balancing Functionality and Design: While the technical aspects of generating images are important, they also discuss the visual appeal of the images. They mention the need to make the plugin capable of creating images that not only work but also look professional and engaging. This highlights the importance of user experience and aesthetics in software development. * Use Cases and Customization: The developers discuss various use cases for the plugin, including creating images for blog posts and social media sharing. They explore ways to customize images, add branding elements, and adjust layouts based on the needs of different users. This highlights the role of user-centered design and customization options in creating a versatile and adaptable tool.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Canva * Slack * Post Status * OMG IMG * Google Slides * Easy Digital Downloads
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
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.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordCamp US * Google Fonts * WordPress * WooCommerce * omgimg.co
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is a powerful form builder for WordPress and the #1 choice for businesses and web professionals across the globe. Its vast array of features, intuitive drag-and-drop form editor, and extensive ecosystem of add-ons, ensure customers can design beautiful, intelligent, and accessible forms for any project requirement.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Episode Highlights:
- [00:00:00] The role of coaching and introduction of Kelly Gallagher-Cory introduces Kelly Gallagher as his professional coach and discusses their working relationship for four and a half years.
- [00:01:25] Kelly's background in business development and coaching training- Kelly shares her background in business development and her coaching journey, including her training and pursuit of a master's degree.
- [00:07:38] The difference between coaching and therapy, and the value of coaching for high achievers-Cory and Kelly discuss the definition of coaching, the distinction between coaching and therapy, and the importance of coaching for high achievers.
- [00:11:39] The distinction between therapy and coaching-Discussion on the differences between therapy and coaching and how they complement each other.
- [00:12:41] The value of having a coach for high achievers-Exploration of the benefits of coaching for high achievers and the importance of self-awareness.
- [00:13:55] Times when people seek coaching-Identification of common situations that lead individuals to actively seek coaching, such as career conflicts, the desire for personal growth, and the need for support during organizational changes.
- [00:23:31] The role of coaching and the importance of ICF certification-Discussion on the role of coaching, the significance of ICF certification, and the difference between coaching and therapy.
- [00:28:34] The value of having a coach for high achievers-Exploration of the benefits of coaching for high performers and the potential negative stigma associated with coaching as a remedial tool.
- [00:31:58] Coaching for entrepreneurs-The essentiality of coaching for entrepreneurs, particularly in navigating change, making big decisions, and improving performance.
- [00:34:24] The role of coaching and seizing opportunities-Cory reflects on the importance of having a coach and making the most of opportunities in business.
- [00:35:18] The importance of personal happiness and joy in work-Kelly discusses the significance of finding joy and personal happiness in one's work and how it affects performance.[00:37:09] The passion for helping others and personal growth-Kelly shares her passion for helping others find personal growth in coaching and how it is more rewarding than pure sales.
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Elementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece, without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* University of Texas at Dallas Coaching Program * International Coach Federation
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Kelly Gallagher (Executive Coach, Gallagher Executive Coaching Partnerships) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Episode Highlights:
The Growth of Lone Rock Point [00:00:32] JJ discusses the growth of his agency, Lone Rock Point, from 4-5 people in spring 2020 to 16 people now.
Remote-first Approach [00:02:29] JJ talks about adopting a remote-first organizational structure from the beginning and how they didn't miss a beat when the pandemic hit in 2020.
Focus on Public Sector and NASA [00:04:02] JJ explains his background in government contracting and how his agency focuses on working with the public sector, particularly in the federal level, including clients like NASA.
The federal government ecosystem [00:11:29] Discussion on the ecosystem and governance of federal government agencies, including guidance and policies.
Starting Lone Rock Point [00:13:39] JJ's decision to start his own agency after exploring side hustles and feeling the desire to be more entrepreneurial.
Niching down to WordPress [00:18:25] The growth and success of Lone Rock Point after focusing on WordPress as their main service offering.
Topic 1: Using WordPress as a Content Management System [00:22:17] Discussion on using WordPress as a content management system and adapting WooCommerce for check payments.
Topic 2: WordPress and the Public Sector [00:22:58] Exploration of using WordPress in the public sector, particularly in government agencies like NASA, for managing and publishing content.
Topic 3: Web Modernization Project with NASA [00:28:26] Overview of a web modernization project with NASA, including evaluating different CMS options and deciding to invest in WordPress.
The SEO and Accessibility Tools in WordPress [00:32:35] Discusses the real-time analysis tools in WordPress for SEO and accessibility, such as Yoast, and how they differentiate it from other CMS platforms.
The Resources and Knowledge Sharing in the WordPress Community [00:34:57] Explains the abundance of resources, knowledge sharing, and community support available in the WordPress ecosystem compared to other CMS platforms.
The Importance of Open Source and User Experience in WordPress [00:37:11] Highlights the significance of open source adoption in the public sector and how WordPress's user experience and inclusivity differentiate it from commercial solutions.
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy Pro
Manage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Lone Rock Point * WordPress * NASA * Automattic * WordPress VIP * FedRAMP * WordPress Agency Partnership Program * Raytheon * Nasa Ames Research Center * "Recoding America" by Jennifer Palka * WooCommerce * Wikis * Ticketfly * Integrated Digital Experience Act * Drupal * Adobe Experience Manager * Wagtail * Contentful * Gutenberg * Atomic Design System * Yoast * WordPress plugins * Stack Overflow
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* JJ Toothman (Owner, Lone Rock Point) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Top Takeaways:
- Website Security and Budgeting: Businesses must prioritize website security and allocate appropriate budgets for maintenance and protection. Websites are now integral to modern business operations, and their value should be recognized and treated as essential as physical security measures.
- Effective Client Communication: Clear and proactive communication with clients is crucial. Agencies should manage client expectations, set boundaries, and communicate any limitations, such as response times during vacations or other periods of unavailability. Managing client communication helps build trust and ensures a smoother working relationship.
- Community Engagement and Personal Well-being: Engaging with the WordPress community and participating in events like WordCamps can be valuable for networking, knowledge sharing, and staying updated with industry trends. Additionally, individuals need to prioritize their own well-being and take care of their health.
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🔗 Mentioned in the show:* LastPass * Kathy * Post Status * WordCamp Buffalo * WordPress Montclair * LinkedIn * Courtney Robertson * WordPress
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Rob Cairns (Founder, CEO, & Chief Creator of Amazing Ideas, Stunning Digital Marketing) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Top Takeaways:
- Self-care is Essential for Leaders: Leaders need to prioritize their own well-being and practice self-care. Leaders need to take care of themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally in order to lead and support their teams effectively.
- Leaders Must Practice Reflecting: Leaders must hold up a mirror to themselves. To address burnout and prevent talent loss, leaders should reflect on their own actions and behaviors. They should examine the role they play in creating a safe and supportive work environment and be willing to make changes to policies, procedures, and practices that may contribute to employee dissatisfaction.
- Communication and Vulnerability Are Key: Open and honest communication between leaders and employees is crucial. Leaders should ask questions, actively listen, and create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their concerns. Encouraging vulnerability and empathy fosters a culture of support and helps identify potential issues before they escalate.
🙏 Sponsor: Elementor
Elementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Lyndi Zavy * Rivers and Roads * Craft & Commerce * Google * Google Docs * Zoom
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Lyndi Zavy (Founder & CEO, Rivers and Roads) * Cory Miller ( CEO , Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Top Takeaways:
- Redefining Success and Goals: The idea of reevaluating one's definition of success. Instead of solely focusing on financial gain or external measures, there is a shift towards valuing the impact and value brought to others through one's work or personal projects. Success is viewed as creating something meaningful that brings joy or usefulness to users rather than solely pursuing monetary goals.
- Importance of Collaboration and Connection: The value of collaboration and building connections with like-minded individuals. The joy derived from hobbies or personal projects can be enhanced by sharing experiences, exchanging ideas, and working together with others. Building lasting friendships and relationships through shared interests can be a source of support and fulfillment.
- Embracing the Process and Finding Fulfillment in the Journey: The importance of enjoying the process and finding fulfillment in the act of creating or working on something rather than solely focusing on the end result. The journey itself, the learning, the challenges, and the growth that occur along the way can be sources of joy and satisfaction. It's about finding meaning and enjoyment in the present moment rather than solely fixating on the outcome.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * Balsamiq * Meetup.com * Slack * WordPress * Twitter * Instagram
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Top Takeaways:
- Consider customer preferences. It is critical to understand customer preferences and needs when determining pricing plans. Exploring options, such as lifetime licenses and differentiating plans based on the number of sites, can help you strike a balance between value and affordability for customers.
- Seek feedback. Recognize the value of seeking feedback from others in relevant communities. Reach out for input and opinions. External perspectives can provide valuable insights and help refine your approach.
- Focus on website messaging and design. Acknowledge the importance of presenting information in a coherent and engaging manner. Consider using design elements to enhance a website's overall visual appeal and user experience.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * Easy Digital Downloads * BackupBuddy
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Cory Miller and Corey Maass explore the delicate balance between professionalism and creativity in branding and marketing. They also discuss the importance of incorporating feedback into the product development process, utilizing user testing and testimonials to refine features and continually improve. The impact of their collaborative efforts has led to clarity around the momentum of partnering can bring to the creative process.
Top Takeaways:
- Balancing Professionalism and Creativity. The balance between professionalism and creativity in branding and marketing can be difficult. Even for playful, fun brands, there is a need to maintain a level of professionalism. Clean designs, corporate markets, and conveying value to potential customers are important.
- Using Feedback for Product Refinement. There is value in receiving feedback and incorporating it into the product development process. User testing, testimonials, and refining the features offer continual improvement opportunities. Creating a product that meets the needs of the target audience and continually improving it based on user feedback requires commitment.
- Leveraging Collaboration for Productivity. The productive nature of collaboration and bouncing ideas off each other is energizing. Take time to brainstorm, make suggestions, and provide insights that contribute to refining the product and marketing strategies with your teams. A collaborative approach helps generate new ideas, solve problems, and keep the momentum flowing.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * OMGIMG * ChatGPT * WordCamp * Lindsey Miller
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Michelle Frechette talks with Marieke van de Rakt and Joost de Valk of Emilia Capital about their new company and their plans to invest in sustainable and female-led WordPress companies. They discuss their upcoming participation at WordCamp Europe, where they will be sponsoring and offering investment opportunities to new companies. They also delve into the challenges of running a profitable open-source software company and the importance of discussing business models in open-source software. Their passion for supporting sustainable and diverse businesses and their commitment to promoting gender equality through a year-round training and coaching program for women are inspiring!
Top Takeaways
- Importance of Fit: Finding a good fit when considering investments is crucial. Consider factors like valuation, adding value to the ecosystem, and the ability to contribute to and improve upon a product or service. The need for alignment between an investor's goals and the potential investment is paramount.
- Women Empowerment: Empowering women through focusing on personal and organizational change can shift the future. Programs that address both an individual's growth within a company and the organization's commitment to gender equality are needed. A comprehensive approach to empowering women in the workplace is necessary to bring real change.
- Growth and Excitement: Being passionate about your investments can lead to increased growth. Building on your investments within WordPress enables you to build momentum and enthusiasm to achieve real growth. It can also lead to new opportunities and partnerships.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Yoast * Equalized Digital * WPCS * Extendify * Castos * WordCamp Europe
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Joost de Valk (Founder, Emilia Capital) * Marieke van de Rakt ( Founder, Emilia Capital) * Michelle Frechette ( Director of Community Relations, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Cory Miller and Corey Maass discuss their progress on a project related to image generation and sharing. They explore the use of Open Graph (OG) images, social media platforms, and the importance of consistent branding. They mention the need for a logo and discuss the design concept, leaning towards a fun and vibrant style. They also touch on website development, pricing, and marketing assets. The conversation revolves around simplifying the image generation process and creating a user-friendly product. Overall, they aim to finalize the project's features, branding, and logo to move forward with the launch.
Top Takeaways:
- Logo and Branding: The importance of creating a logo and establishing consistent branding for your project. You want a logo that represents image generation in a fun and vibrant way, potentially incorporating bright colors and a big, fun font. It should look good on different merchandise items like t-shirts and baseball caps.
- Image Generation and Sharing: The main focus of your project is image generation and sharing. Using a logo generation tool and exploring concepts related to image generation, sharing, and open graph images. The goal is to make the process of generating and sharing images easy and efficient for users.
- Project Progress: The project's progress, including bug fixes and updates. The plan is to address the bugs and implement additional features and improvements. Once the sitewide and post-level functionalities are handled, the project will be ready to share with others. Defining the project's style, including the logo and overall branding, is an important next step.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * WordPress * OpenAI * Post Status * WP Beginner * Fiverr * WordCamp * MakeLogo.ai * Vova Feldman * Syed Balkhi * Open Graph Image
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Cory Miller interviews Anil Gupta, CEO of Multidots, about WordPress in the enterprise space. They discuss the importance of collaboration in WordPress, particularly for enterprises, and how tools like Multi Collab can address content creation needs. They also touch on the ongoing developments in Gutenberg and the significance of AI in content creation. Key takeaways include understanding the enterprise requirements, leveraging collaboration tools, engaging with the WordPress community, recognizing the impact of AI, and embracing the flexibility and power of the WordPress platform.
Top Takeaways:
- Collaboration is crucial: We should recognize the importance of collaboration in content creation platforms. Enterprises and users expect collaboration features similar to those offered by platforms like Notion, Canva, and Google Docs. Lack of collaboration functionality may lead users to explore alternative platforms. We also should stay updated on the Gutenberg roadmap and actively contribute to the development of collaboration features in WordPress.
- Keep up with evolving workflows: We should understand that changing workflows can have a significant impact, considering WordPress's imprint on the internet. It is important to keep up with evolving workflows and ensure that the necessary functions and features are available to meet users' needs. Gutenberg's ongoing development aims to democratize publishing on the web while adapting to changing requirements.
- Explore AI opportunities: Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents opportunities in content creation, which can have a significant impact on enterprise WordPress projects. We should explore and leverage AI technology to enhance content creation processes and deliver innovative solutions to clients. We should stay informed about AI advancements and explore how AI can be leveraged within WordPress to improve content creation workflows. AI-related developments in the WordPress ecosystem can lead to innovative solutions and opportunities for professional growth.
🙏 Episode Partner: Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms is a powerful form builder for WordPress and the #1 choice for businesses and web professionals across the globe. Its vast array of features, intuitive drag-and-drop form editor, and extensive ecosystem of add-ons, ensure customers can design beautiful, intelligent, and accessible forms for any project requirement.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Multidots * WordPress * Multi Collab * Notion * Canva * Matt Mullenweg * Open AI
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Anil Gupta (CEO of Multidots) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Cory Miller and Corey Maass discuss implementing an image-generation tool for content marketing. They explore the idea of creating templates for generating images that can be used in blog posts, social media, and other channels. The tool aims to enhance the visual appeal of content, highlight key quotes and summaries, and make sharing easier. They envision a workflow where marketers can quickly generate various image templates based on their content, ultimately improving their posts' overall presentation and value.
Top Takeaways:
- Continuous Learning: The WordPress ecosystem constantly evolves, so staying updated with the latest trends, technologies, and best practices is crucial. Engage in continuous learning through online resources, forums, and communities, and attend WordPress events and conferences.
- Security Measures: WordPress security should be a top priority. Implement robust security measures such as using strong passwords, keeping themes and plugins up to date, using reliable security plugins, regularly backing up your website, and staying vigilant against potential vulnerabilities.
- Performance Optimization: Website speed and performance are essential for user experience and search engine rankings. Optimize your WordPress site using lightweight themes and plugins, optimizing images, leveraging caching techniques, and minimizing HTTP requests. Regularly monitor and optimize your site's performance to ensure a smooth and fast user experience.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * Instagram * Vida Bars
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Sheryle Gillian, co-owner and CEO of CauseLabs, shares her journey and the evolution of her purpose-driven web agency with Cory Miller. She discusses how her personal journey led her to prioritize making a difference through her work. Sheryle emphasizes the shift towards sustainable digital stewardship and the role of WordPress in helping businesses adapt and evolve over time. She encourages WordPress professionals to embrace the open-source ethos, attend WordCamps, and use technology as a force for good. Sheryle's story highlights the importance of purpose-driven work and the power of community in the WordPress ecosystem.
Top Takeaways:
- Embrace Sustainable Digital Stewardship: Adopting a long-term approach to website development and maintenance is important. Rather than considering a website as a one-time project, advocate for becoming a steward of clients' digital investments. This involves continuously evolving websites to keep up with technology changes and client needs and offering ongoing support and guidance.
- Recognize the Value of WordPress for Business Growth: WordPress provides a versatile platform for businesses to expand their online presence. Many physical businesses, such as yoga studios, had to pivot during the pandemic and realize the potential of their websites as an essential part of their operations. WordPress offers the flexibility and scalability necessary for businesses to adapt, evolve, and explore new opportunities.
- Use WordPress as a Force for Good: WordPress professionals should leverage the platform for business success and for making a positive impact. Using technology and business for social and environmental good is valuable. By aligning with a purpose-driven approach, WordPress professionals can contribute to building a better world through their work.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Michael Gillihan * CauseLabs Twitter * Raspberry Pi * Pearl S Buck Foundation * WordPress * Theme Forest * Craigslist * WordCamp * Purpose WP Twitter * Purpose WP * IDEO * Kickstarter * B Corp * Lego * Onward Press
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Sheryle Gillihan (CEO and Co-Owner of CauseLabs) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Cory Miller and Corey Maass discuss the importance of OG (Open Graph) images for social media sharing and branding in WordPress. They highlight the benefits of using OG image templates to create visually appealing and professional content. They also emphasize the need for WordPress professionals to offer variety and customization options to cater to different client needs. Cory and Corey suggest considering pricing models and beta-testing strategies to determine market value and gather feedback. This episode provides valuable insights for WordPress professionals seeking to enhance their services and deliver impactful OG image solutions.
Top Takeaways:
- Explore OG image templates: OG (Open Graph) images are essential for social media sharing and branding. WordPress professionals should consider incorporating OG image templates into their projects to enhance their content's visual appeal and professionalism. This could involve adding a logo, screenshots, or other relevant images within browser frames or mobile device mockups. Professionals can easily create engaging OG images that align with their clients' branding and marketing strategies by utilizing templates.
- Embrace variety and customization: With the availability of different OG image templates and design options, WordPress professionals should strive to offer their clients a diverse range of choices. By understanding common patterns and elements used in OG images, professionals can create customized templates that cater to various needs, such as showcasing logos, headlines, taglines, or even incorporating screenshots of website pages. The ability to provide personalized options and adapt to different social media platforms will greatly enhance the value of their services.
- Consider pricing and beta testing: As WordPress professionals develop their OG image solutions, it's crucial to think about pricing models and beta testing strategies. Offering a base product with well-defined features and functionality can serve as an entry point for clients. Professionals should assess the market value and determine appropriate pricing that reflects the benefits and customization options provided. Beta testing can be a valuable step to gather feedback, refine the product, and generate initial user testimonials or case studies. These efforts contribute to building credibility and attracting future customers.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * Canva * Chat GPT * Slack
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
This episode features Bet Hannon, agency owner of AccessiCart, which specializes in accessibility for websites, particularly e-commerce sites. Bet talks with Cory Miller about the significance of accessibility, the agency's focus and niche, and tips for starting a business. Bet shares their journey in starting their business and how they became interested in accessibility. This interview emphasizes the importance of considering accessibility as a crucial aspect of user experience optimization and the benefits of providing transcripts for videos and podcasts. AccessiCart is currently experimenting with productized services for accessibility and remediation.
Top Takeaways
- Embrace Accessibility: Accessibility is crucial in web design and development. Prioritizing making websites accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, is critical. It's important to consider different user personas and their needs and continuously work on improving the accessibility of websites.
- Continuously Evolve and Optimize: The field of e-commerce and web development is constantly evolving. As WordPress professionals, we should be willing to adapt, experiment, and continuously optimize our websites and services. This includes staying informed about new tools, technologies, and strategies for improving user experience, conversion rates, and accessibility. Continuous learning and professional development are key to providing high-quality services and staying competitive in the industry.
- User Experience Optimization: Accessibility and user experience go hand in hand. We should focus on optimizing the user experience of websites by considering factors like intuitive navigation, clear content presentation, fast loading times, and mobile responsiveness. A seamless and enjoyable user experience leads to better engagement, higher conversions, and increased customer satisfaction.
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* iThemes * Nathan Ingram * Artisteer * Benjamin Bradley * BackupBuddy * AccessiCart
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Bet Hannon (CEO of AccessiCart) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes,
Corey Maass and Cory Miller continue the development of their new WordPress plugin, Crop.Express. They discuss the current state of WordPress, its future, and what it means for WordPress professionals. Discover the top takeaways for developers, designers, and business owners in the WordPress ecosystem. Expect to gain insights on navigating the evolving WordPress landscape and staying ahead of the game.
Top Takeaways:
-Adapt and Upskill. The WordPress ecosystem is vast and constantly evolving. This growth brings challenges, such as increased competition and the need for WordPress professionals to continuously adapt and upskill to stay relevant in the industry. Keeping up with the latest trends and technologies in the WordPress ecosystem is critical. This includes learning new programming languages and frameworks, as well as staying up-to-date on design trends and best practices.
-Engage Community. The WordPress community is a supportive and collaborative group of individuals and organizations. WordPress professionals can benefit greatly from participating in the community, whether that's by attending local WordPress meetups, contributing to open-source projects, or joining online communities like the WordPress subreddit or the WordPress Slack channel. By building a strong community around your WordPress website or business, you can establish yourself as a trusted authority in the WordPress space and create long-term relationships with your audience.
-Content is STILL King. When it comes to building a successful WordPress website, you need excellent, engaging content. To stand out in the crowded online marketplace, WordPress professionals need to create valuable, high-quality content that resonates with their audience.
-Security Should Be a Top Priority. Since WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world, it's also a popular target for hackers. Ensuring you take all necessary security measures to protect your websites and your clients' websites is essential.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:
Crop.Express
- iThemes
- Liquid Web
- WP Engine
- GoDaddy
- Automattic
- Gravity Forms
- Zapier
- Slack
- Stripe
- WooCommerce
- Chris Lema
- Matt Mullenweg
- Jason Cohen
- Andrew Norcross
- Rebecca Gill
- Brad Touesnard
- Pippin Williamson
- Syed Balkhi
- Carl Hancock
- Jeff Chandler
- Brian Krogsgard
- Matt Medeiros
- Chris Coyier
- Kori Ashton
- Nathan Ingram
- Jennifer Bourn
- Troy Dean
- Adam Warner
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Cory Miller is joined by Karim Marucchi, Pat Ramsey, and Alex Nitu of Crowd Favorite to discuss the evolution of WordPress, its growing importance in the enterprise space, and the challenges faced by WordPress professionals. They also talk about the future of WordPress and the impact of emerging technologies on the platform. Overall, the speakers highlight the need for continuous learning and adaptation in the rapidly changing world of WordPress development.
Top Takeaways:
- Freedom for Growth. One of the benefits of WordPress at the enterprise level is its customization and flexibility. It allows enterprises to build a site that is tailored to their specific needs and requirements. Another important aspect of WordPress at the enterprise level is its ability to integrate with other enterprise tools and systems. This can include tools for content management, customer relationship management, analytics, and more. By integrating with these tools, enterprises can streamline their workflows and improve their overall efficiency to maximize growth.
- Connection is the WordPress Way. WordPress has a large and active community of users, developers, and designers. Networking with other professionals and participating in the community can help you learn from others, stay informed about industry trends, and build valuable relationships. As a WordPress professional, building and maintaining strong relationships with your clients is key. This involves not only delivering quality work but also communicating effectively, being responsive, and understanding their needs and goals. By doing so, you can build a loyal client base and generate repeat business.
- Mindset Matters. By practicing mindfulness, you can learn to observe your thoughts and emotions without judgment, which can help you develop greater self-awareness and emotional resilience. Cultivating a growth mindset can help you overcome challenges and achieve your goals. By focusing on learning and development rather than fixed abilities, you can approach challenges with a sense of curiosity and a willingness to learn, which can help you persevere through difficult times and ultimately achieve success.
🙏 Sponsor: A2 Hosting
A2Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be easily deployed on ANY web hosting plan from A2: Shared, VPS, or Dedicated. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crowd Favorite * Automattic * Gravity Forms * Ninja Forms * Beaver Builder * Liquid Web * Pagely * WP Engine * GoDaddy * Flywheel * Kinsta * WPBeginner * Elegant Themes * WPMU Dev * iThemes * The Events Calendar * Gravity Flow * Formidable Forms * WPForms * Matt Mullenweg * Taylor Otwell * Pippin Williamson * Brian Gardner * Syed Balkhi * Chris Lema * Brad Williams * Helen Hou-Sandí * Andrew Nacin * Tony Perez * Miriam Schwab * Nathan Wrigley * BobWP * Dan Maby * Joe Howard * Christie Chirinos * Rich Tabor
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Karim Marucchi (CEO of Crowd Favorite) * Pat Ramsey (Director of Technology at Crowd Favorite) * Alex Nitu (Project Manager at Crowd Favorite) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Kim Lipari, owner and CEO of Valet, talks with Cory Miller about their insights and experiences on entrepreneurship, including how to handle challenges, the importance of building relationships, and the role of vulnerability in leadership. They offer advice on building a successful WordPress business and emphasize the need for continuous learning and personal growth. Overall, this episode provides valuable insights and advice for anyone interested in entrepreneurship and building a successful WordPress-based business.
Top Takeaways:
- Focus on the customer: It's important to understand the customer's pain points and what they're looking for in a website. By focusing on the customer, you can create a website that meets their needs and helps them achieve their goals.
- Prioritize security: As a WordPress professional, it's important to make sure that your client's websites are secure and protected from hackers and other online threats. This means staying up-to-date on the latest security best practices, using secure hosting providers, and regularly updating plugins and themes.
- Stay up-to-date on the latest trends: It's important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies in the WordPress ecosystem. This means attending conferences, following industry blogs and publications, and networking with other WordPress professionals. By staying on top of the latest trends, you can ensure that you're offering your clients the latest and greatest in WordPress technology.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:
- Valet
- Nathan Wrigley
- Beaver Builder
- Jennifer Bourn
- Chris Lema
- Pagely
- WP Engine
- GoDaddy
- Flywheel
- Media Temple
- Kinsta
- Liquid Web
- Pippin Williamson
- Restrict Content Pro
- AffiliateWP
- Sandhills Development
- Easy Digital Downloads
- Gravity Forms
- iThemes
- Liquid Web
- Carl Alexander
- Lindsay Halsey
- Nathan Ingram
- Jason Resnick
- Matt Medeiros
- Hallway Chats
- Trello
- Slack
- Zoom
- HubSpot
- Infusionsoft
- ActiveCampaign
- Salesforce
- AgileCRM
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Kimberly Lipari (Owner and CEO of Valet) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller move from personal to professional. They offer impactful transparency, from discussing the importance of website speed, user experience, and SEO to practicing mindfulness and finding balance. They share insights on optimizing WordPress websites for performance, including hosting, caching, and image optimization tips. They also discuss the role of content in driving traffic and engagement, as well as strategies for leveraging social media to grow an online presence.
Top Takeaways:
- Imposter Syndrome. Imposter syndrome is very common among people who work in tech, and it's important to acknowledge it and understand that it's okay to feel this way. It's helpful to talk to others about your feelings and to remind yourself of your accomplishments and skills. It's important not to compare yourself to others and focus on your progress and growth. Seeking support from a therapist or coach can be very helpful in managing imposter syndrome.
- Slow Hustle. Take a more intentional, thoughtful, and sustainable approach to work and life. Instead of constantly hustling and working long hours, “slow hustle” focuses on balancing work and rest, taking breaks, and being intentional about your work. Finding a pace that works for you helps in avoiding burnout. “Slow hustle” can help you find more fulfillment and purpose in your work and can be beneficial for long-term success.
- Personal Brand. Building a personal brand can help in various aspects of life. Establish your personal brand by identifying and highlighting your unique skills and strengths, being authentic and consistent, and cultivating relationships. Use social media and online platforms to share your expertise and connect with potential clients or collaborators. Continually invest in your personal and professional development, whether through learning new skills, attending conferences, or seeking mentorship or coaching. Remember the importance of maintaining a positive and professional online presence and reputation, as this can greatly impact your personal brand and career success.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * Crop.Express * Apple * WordPress * SquareSpace * Medium * Substack * Ghost * Matt Mullenweg * Chris Coyier * Jeff Bezos * Mark Zuckerberg * Tim Ferriss * Marie Forleo * Gary Vaynerchuk * Casey Neistat * Ben Thompson * Peter Thiel
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Cory Miller and Corey Maass discuss the future of WordPress. From the adoption of the block editor to the rise of headless WordPress, they consider the impact on the growing WordPress community. Gain insights on how WordPress professionals can stay ahead of the curve, the importance of keeping up with the latest updates and developments in the WordPress ecosystem, and the significance of fostering a strong and supportive community. This is an honest and hopeful look at the current and future state of WordPress.
Top Takeaways:
- Keep up with the latest WordPress updates. It's important for WordPress professionals to stay up-to-date with the latest WordPress updates, including security patches, bug fixes, and new features. This will ensure that your WordPress site stays secure and runs smoothly.
- Invest in continuous learning. As WordPress evolves, it's important to invest in continuous learning to keep up with the latest trends, technologies, and best practices. This can include attending conferences, networking with other professionals, and regularly reading blogs and publications related to WordPress and web development. Keeping up with the latest trends and best practices can help professionals stay competitive and provide the best possible service to their clients.
- Focus on user experience. User experience should be at the forefront of any WordPress professional's mind. This means designing websites that are easy to use, fast-loading, and visually appealing, as well as ensuring content is relevant and engaging for the target audience. By focusing on user experience, WordPress professionals can create websites that are both effective and enjoyable to use.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:
- Crop.Express
- Jetpack
- Automattic
- WooCommerce
- Matt Mullenweg
- Chris Coyier
- CSS-Tricks
- CodePen
- Yoast
- WP Engine
- GitHub
- Atlassian
- Trello
- Asana
- Basecamp
- Zapier
- Dropbox
- Zoom
- Notion
- Figma
- Sketch
- InVision
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Cory Miller is joined by Jess Friedman from WP Cloud discuss how hosting companies can improve their infrastructure and services to provide better performance and reliability to their customers. They also dive into the importance of customer support, the benefits of using managed hosting services, the ethics of data collection, and more. The experience and expertise offered are sure to inspire you to increase your standards of service.
Top Takeaways:
- Outsourcing Infrastructure. WordPress hosting companies can benefit from outsourcing their infrastructure to specialized providers such as WP Cloud. This can free up their customer support team from dealing with infrastructure-related issues and enable them to focus on providing better customer service and value-added services.
- Increase Customer Satisfaction. By democratizing publishing and providing a superior WordPress experience, hosting companies can reduce churn and retain customers who may otherwise switch to other platforms if their WordPress experience is subpar.
- Set Up for Speed. While many factors can impact website speed, some of the most important ones include optimizing images, using a content delivery network (CDN), and minimizing the use of plugins. By focusing on these areas, WordPress agencies can help their clients improve their website speed and ultimately provide a better user experience for their visitors.
🙏 Sponsor: A2 Hosting
A2Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be easily deployed on ANY web hosting plan from A2: Shared, VPS, or Dedicated. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WP Cloud * WP Hosting Benchmarks $25-50 * WP Hosting Benchmarks $201-500 * Kinsta * WP Engine * SiteGround * Bluehost * DigitalOcean * Pressable * cPanel * Plesk * Cloudflare
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Jess Friedman (Head of WP Cloud) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Cory Miller and Corey Maass share their insights and experience about the challenges of finding the right balance between simplicity and complexity and the importance of testing and documentation. They also share their personal stories of how they got started with WordPress and how their experiences have shaped their approach to plugin development. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in developing WordPress plugins, especially if you are looking to improve your development process and create more user-friendly plugins.
Top Takeaways:
- Building a successful plugin requires a deep understanding of user needs and pain points: Understanding your users' needs and pain points to develop a plugin that solves their problems effectively is critical. This requires continuous user testing and feedback to improve functionality and user experience.
- Collaboration and communication are crucial for plugin development: Plugin development is a team effort that requires effective communication, collaboration, and project management. Clear communication channels, regular meetings, and shared project management tools help ensure everyone is on the same page.
- Monetization strategies should align with user value: Considering various monetization strategies for plugins, including premium features, subscriptions, and sponsorships, is helpful. Your chosen strategy should align with the user's value proposition and offer a fair exchange of value. Being transparent with users about the plugin's monetization strategy and how it impacts their experience is important for successful adoption.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * WPEngine * Pagely * StudioPress
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
As Corey Maass and Cory Miller move further into their experience of launching a WordPress product in public, they delve into the insights they’ve gained and the obstacles they are facing. Listen to their perspectives on building a community around the product, overcoming challenges, handling feedback, and implementing effective marketing strategies.
Top Takeaways
- The impact of technology on personal and professional lives: Technology has revolutionized various aspects of our lives, from communication and information access to work and productivity. This brings about the benefits and challenges of living in a digitally connected world, including privacy, cybersecurity, and work-life balance issues. .
- The role of mindfulness in the digital age: Mindfulness practices can help individuals navigate the challenges of the digital age, such as reducing stress, improving focus and concentration, and promoting healthy technology habits. Integrating mindfulness into daily routines and setting boundaries with technology is more important than ever.
- The need for conscious and intentional technology use: Being conscious and intentional about how we use technology, including being mindful of the impact of technology on our physical and mental health, relationships, and overall well-being, is critical. Being thoughtful about developing healthy technology habits, such as managing screen time, practicing digital detox, and being mindful of online behavior, can have a significant impact
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * iThemes * Caldera Forms * Restrict Content Pro * WooCommerce * Gravity Forms
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Learn from Corey Maass, the go-to on WordPress product design topics, and Cory Miller, a master on the business of WordPress. They discuss finding the balance in the small and big pictures of product development, highlighting the process of trial and error.
Top Takeaways
- Courage Under Fire. After what feels like a miserable failure, it’s vital to keep trudging forward. Great product design takes time to build and grow in the space you are putting it into. Keeping your passion alive and remaining consistent in your efforts will eventually lead you to success.
- The Impact of Thoughtful Design. Developing a product is of course based on meeting some kind of user need, but it’s important to consider if you are really going to make that user’s life easier with your product. When the end user is your top priority, your product will shine, and you’ll be proud of the direct impact you made in someone’s everyday life.
- Finding the Spark in Your Product. Focusing on the overall product journey is key for great product development, but zooming in on the minor details is also just as important. Brainstorming and finding the spark is not easy, but it is crucial to set your product apart from the rest.
- Using Your Audience to Improve Development. Put your ideas and questions out there for your audience to speak to. If you are wondering how people will perceive a certain product aspect or want more information on what their exact pain points are, it’s good to directly ask. Getting information straight from your customers or peers can help you make well-informed decisions in product development.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * StickerMule
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Learn from Corey Maass, a master of WordPress plugins and apps, and Cory Miller, a marketing, business, and WordPress experience guru. The two discuss the intimacies of partnering on a product and how solopreneurs can benefit from support.
Top Takeaways:
- The Value of Partnerships. Starting a business can be a lonely experience. Having someone to bounce ideas off, talk through tough subjects with, and celebrate successes with makes a significant difference. Having that collaborative support system can make managing a business more enjoyable and streamlined, which is a huge benefit, especially for startups and small businesses.
- Discussion vs. Decision. It’s important to be intentional with communication considering the stage you are in when you are improving a product or creating something brand new. Being vocal about whether you are still discussing or whether you are ready to make decisive moves is critical to keep the process moving forward without missteps.
- The Art of Failing. Understanding that taking risks and being willing to fail in order to ultimately achieve success is key for solopreneurs and partnerships. Quantifying your success rate on projects isn’t the ultimate indicator of how successful you truly are. Stumbling through a myriad of shortcomings while still pursuing success is powerful.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * Elementor * Beaver Builder
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
The talented team from Modern Tribe joined Cory Miller for this critical discussion about accessibility in WordPress. They highlight accessibility as a non-negotiable aspect of web development and provide guidance for leaders, developers, and designers to ensure your websites are accessible to all people.
Top Takeaways:
- Why Value Accessibility? Accessibility ensures all people have access to the things we create. It can’t be an afterthought or something for the web dev team to figure out. It must drive the entire creative process and serve as an anchor to ground our teams and our work.
- Requirement vs. Challenge. Most creative projects work within a set of requirements. These don’t prohibit the creative process. Instead, they challenge us to enhance the things we build and make them better than we might have without thinking through and within these constraints.
- It’s All Around Us. We think of accessibility as a new idea, but in so many spaces, it’s the norm. We have curb cutouts and braille signage. We see this every day, so tech is catching up.
- Improving Usability. Developing through the lens of accessibility means delivering experiences that solve people’s problems and help them with tasks.
- It Takes Tools. The creative and engineering are just rails. Utilizing tools to ensure accessibility when publishing and setting up processes and guidelines will equip you to flex as requirements change. It’s necessary for your organization to resource accessibility for it to be done effectively.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Modern Tribe * Eric Meyer * MySpace
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Chris Kindred (Director of Backend Development, Modern Tribe) * Sarah Gless (Creative Director, Modern Tribe) * Mike Klanac (Director of Business Development, Modern Tribe) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Learn from Corey Maass, a master of WordPress plugins and apps, and Cory Miller, a marketing, business, and WordPress experience guru. The two discuss the intimacies of partnering on a product and how solopreneurs can benefit from support.
Top Takeaways:
- The Value of Partnerships. Starting a business can be a lonely experience. Having someone to bounce ideas off, talk through tough subjects with, and celebrate successes with makes a significant difference. Having that collaborative support system can make managing a business more enjoyable and streamlined, which is a huge benefit, especially for startups and small businesses.
- Discussion vs. Decision. It’s important to be intentional with communication considering the stage you are in when you are improving a product or creating something brand new. Being vocal about whether you are still discussing or whether you are ready to make decisive moves is critical to keep the process moving forward without missteps.
- The Art of Failing. Understanding that taking risks and being willing to fail in order to ultimately achieve success is key for solopreneurs and partnerships. Quantifying your success rate on projects isn’t the ultimate indicator of how successful you truly are. Stumbling through a myriad of shortcomings while still pursuing success is powerful.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * Elementor * Beaver Builder
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller focus on preparing Crop.Express for launch. They discuss building launch assets, utilizing a freemium model as a path toward a premium product, and future possibilities.
Top Takeaways:
- Value of a Soft Launch. This is a great way to test the waters and get initial feedback. If you utilize a soft launch, you need to be willing to make changes and improvements based on that feedback before you fully launch.
- Building a Sustainable Premium Product. Start by setting up a basic website and integration to attract customers. Establishing a freemium model allows you to identify what users will value enough to pay for and provides space for your plugin to become a recommended tool for users, agencies, and hosting providers as a premium product.
- Feedback as Fuel. Gathering input from customers and agency owners in the WordPress ecosystem can help you understand the barriers to adoption, like already established workflows, the challenge of installing and learning a new tool, and limitations within initial versions to full adoption.
- Importance of Image Use. Current workflows make images an afterthought in content creation, but they are critical to drawing interest, provide context, and evoke emotion. While there may be SEO value, the primary purpose is to appeal to human visitors. Creating tools to make this easier is the case for Crop.Express.
- Consider the possibilities. As product creators, you should continue to explore potential opportunities for development. Leveraging AI, increasing user engagement, and offering more value can uncover future revenue streams while you focus on current integration points.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * Canva * Photoshop * Stock Unlimited * Unsplash * Content Journey * Hacker News * Beaver Builder * Patrick Garman * Hendrick Luehrsen * Elementor * Jess Frick * Pressable * Kadence
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Brandon Dove, co-founder of Pixel Jar, joins Cory Miller to discuss his WordPress plugin, AdSanity Plugin. They dive into the nuance of advertising, evaluate the benefits of free and paid plugins, and talk through the challenges and opportunities available to agencies who invest in product development while providing other services.
Top Takeaways:
- Recurring Product Revenue. While it can be challenging for an agency to balance custom service work with product development, having a product that generates recurring revenue can provide a cushion and diversify the overall business revenue. AdSanity is a successful example of this, and the team is working on dedicating more resources towards the product to even out development between the two sides of their business. However, it can be difficult to maintain free plugins without generating revenue, and it's important to consider how to incorporate them into the business model.
- Value vs. Spam in Advertising. For many people, advertising has become a four-letter word, so there is a need to help customers become good advertisers rather than just spamming ads everywhere. It’s critical to empower your visitors by explaining the importance of creating a community around the site to allow for more meaningful conversations with visitors.
- The Point of Free Plugins. Building free plugins is more about passion and community engagement than being a lead generator. The main outcome has been connecting with people within the WordPress community, but those connections remember to come to you for solutions. So the increased exposure can lead to revenue in the long term.
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy Pro
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🔗 Mentioned in the show:
- Brandon Dove
- Ad Sanity
- Pixel Jar
- WebDev Studios
- Avatar Manager
- Admin Columns
- WordCamp New York
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Brandon Dove (Cofounder, Pixel Jar) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Brian Gardner initially found WordPress as a blogger. His journey led him to found Studio Press which eventually became part of WPEngine. Brian and Cory flashback into what was and lean into the potential future of WordPress.
Top Takeaways:
- Workflow Education. Getting adoption for workflows can be challenging. Agencies may resist changes to their workflow even if the change may bring significant benefits. Investing in education is key. Contributing to WordPress education by testing things and hosting workshops and demonstrations can ensure the project as a whole succeeds.
- Scaling is the Safety of WordPress. Many of the page builder softwares are not built for much beyond brochure-type sites. The extensibility of WordPress makes so much possible for businesses looking to deliver excellent customer experience or expand their site capabilities.
- Competition vs. Cooperation. Today there is far more competition in WordPress. In the early days, competition existed alongside cooperation. We were competing while we shared, learned, and grew together. This cooperation led to innovation within WordPress and cultivated a vibrant, growing ecosystem. A shift towards community innovation can remind us that a rising tide lifts all boats.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Blogspot * Revolution * Studio Press * Nathan Rice * WP Tavern * Justin Tadlock * Webflow * Figma * AJ Morris * Rafal Tomal * Design Kit * Frost * WordPress Learn * GoDaddy * Automattic * Squarespace * Wix * Weebly * Shopify * Sarah Dunn * Gravity Forms * Pagely * Beaver Builder * Elementor
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Brian Gardner (Developer Advocate, WPEngine) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller share the results of submitting their WordPress plugin, Crop.Express to the repo. As they continue to build their product live, they develop branding, messaging, and strategy to validate their business and cultivate an audience.
Top Takeaways:
- Expanding Outwards. Repo offers inherent discoverability for WordPress products, but cultivating broader awareness is necessary for a product to succeed. Creating brand assets, a website, and a newsletter create conduits for growth.
- Feel Out Your Brand. Be cautious not to box yourself in with branding. Consider what feeling you want people to get when using your product. Go a little deeper and have a little fun exploring the solutions and feelings you hope to offer as you create your branding. Move from literal to conception to better understand what defines your business.
- Ring the Bell. Identify your customer’s problem and keep talking about it. Invite ideal users to talk about it. Leverage your personal platforms to highlight the pain point and how your product improves it. By telling that story and having others do the same, you start to build a case for your business.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * Bill O’Reilly * Generate WP * Canva * Minesweeper * Photoshop * Stock Unlimited * Fiver * Instagram * Unsplash * YouTube * PayPal * Content Journey * Zoom
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
In this episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller share their initial version or MVP of the product they are building, Crop.Express. Together they work through enhancing UX, selecting the right business model, crafting marketing messages, and more.
Top Takeaways:
- Work Out the Workflow. You will teach people how to use your product with demos or tutorials. While you want to make adjustments to improve UX, you don’t want to constantly change the workflows for your product. Being thoughtful on the front end can result in better usability and less change.
- Business Models. Building a product also means determining a business model.Offering some functionality for free can gain exposure for a base product. Adding a pro or paid version with increased value to deliver a better end product for a customer.
- Focus on Feedback. As a product builder, you work to anticipate pain points and solve for them. With a quality product, you will solve real struggles for users. But there is a reason users are uninstalling. Accessing their input and experience could be the key to taking your product to the next level.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * Canva * Elementor
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
Learn from Mark Westguard, founder of WS Form, a powerful, next-generation WordPress form plugin. Mark and Cory discuss how AI is starting to integrate into the world of WordPress and how the WP Form software is leveraging its power.
Top Takeaways:
- Harnessing the Power of Open AI. The possibilities are endless with the revolution of AI as an open-source tool. Making the most of its capabilities allows WordPress users to create more intuitive and integrated content, like better fields and options in WordPress forms.
- Create, Edit, Moderate. AI should be seen as an assistant working alongside you to help generate your content. You’re still essential in the creation process, and it’s important not to rely on AI 100% for accuracy. You can get creative prompts, edit for grammar or spelling and generate unique images, but moderating that content is essential.
- The Future is All-in-One AI Integrated Tools. Limiting time spent running around to different AI software is good for business. So how can that be accomplished? By integrating the AI capabilities into WordPress tools, where everything you need is in one place. These are the things we look forward to in WordPress software and plugins
🙏 Sponsor: A2 Hosting
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🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Mark Westguard on Linkedin * WS Form * OpenAI * ChatGPT * DALL-EWordCamp Europe
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Mark Westguard, (Founder of WS Form) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
In this episode, Cory Miller and Arnas Donauskas, Web Hosting Product Owner at Hostinger, talk about what it means to truly value customer obsession. This core value has shaped Arnas’ career path, from his roots in customer service to creating products to provide simple website restoration and security for principal vulnerabilities.
Top Takeaways:
Customer Obsession. Users are facing daily challenges that need real-time solutions. Think about their problems. Value their feedback. Sometimes clients are limited because we haven’t kept up with the speed of evolving technology. Approaching things from a user perspective to prioritize and build products creates optimal impact.
Removing Manual Work. Wherever possible, we are working to automate things to provide more easy buttons for clients. Automating things, creating single-click solutions, and providing the best examples and guidance to reduce users' steps to accomplish tasks.
Possibilities with AI. Everyone is eager to see how AI will change the industry. Cory and Arnas discuss the potential opportunities AI creates to build even better products in the future.
🙏 Sponsor:Gravity Forms Gravity Forms is a powerful form builder for WordPress and the #1 choice for businesses and web professionals across the globe. Its vast array of features, intuitive drag-and-drop form editor, and extensive ecosystem of add-ons, ensure customers can design beautiful, intelligent, and accessible forms for any project requirement.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Hostinger * Hostinger Website * Backup Buddy * Chat GPT * Cloudflare
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Arnas Donauskas (Web Hosting Product Owner at Hostinger) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
Learn from the owner of Freemius, Vova Feldman, as he talks with Cory Miller about the opportunities for indie developers, how to best bring products into the industry, the importance of community, and more.
Top Takeaways:
- Living in an Open Source Ecosystem. Developers don’t need to reinvent the wheel. With such a large ecosystem of products, finding a secret niche spot to develop your product isn’t always the best or even attainable solution. Doing something better than the next company is sometimes all it takes for great success.
- The David and Goliath Struggle. It’s obvious that there has always been and will continue to be an unbalanced level of success between independent WordPress product owners and large companies. But that’s not to say there isn’t room for everyone; there is. An independent startup can move much faster into achieving short-term goals and growth than large-scale established companies can with a heavier workload and slower forward movement.
- Valuing Community Over All Else. The WordPress community is what drives the future of WordPress. It’s not so much all the great new things the system offers but the people behind the process. Taking that same thought into your business, making people the center of your solutions, is an undeniable way to create a business that is surrounded by community.
- Removing Language Barriers. Creating website language translation is becoming more of a priority. It ties in with the need for developing a better user experience for your customers. Your community needs a specialized way to interact with your products and site. That’s one main task Vova’s team is tackling for their customers this year
🙏 Sponsor: ElementorElementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece, without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Freemius * iThemes * Elementor * WooCommerce * Yoast * Vova Feldman on Linkedin * WordCamp Asia
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Vova Feldman (Founder & CEO, Freemius) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In 2001 Bradford Campeau-Laurion began his career in publishing technology at Forbes Magazine, which evolved into utilizing WordPress in the enterprise market. Today he leads Alley Interactive, an agency focused on publishers, non-profits, museums, and brands. Brad shares his extensive experience in publishing technology and his view of the strengths and challenges within the enterprise market of WordPress.
Top Takeaways:
- Shifting to Paywall Content. Perhaps a major misstep in early online publishing was setting the expectation of free content. Now print subscriptions are down. Publishers can’t secure advertising without extremely high volume. And consumers are hesitant to pay for online subscriptions.
- WordPress Creator Economies. Within WordPress there are software and content creators. Software creators the directory to serve as a centralized community and marketplace. Content creators face a bigger challenge to find their market because there isn’t a collaboration tool and algorithm like a social platform driving the creator economy of WordPress.
- Enterprise WordPress vs. Competition. The closed platforms have appeal-single providers, monthly pricing models, built-in solutions. To customers who aren’t aware of the benefits of open source, it can be confusing to help them understand the optionality and freedom they relinquish even if the initial investment of time and money is more. Enterprise WordPress faces the challenge of crafting appealing solutions without becoming the antithesis of open source.
🙏 Sponsor: PressableFounded in 2010, Pressable is a world-class managed WordPress hosting provider built on the same data network as WordPress.com and WordPress VIP. With industry-leading performance, 24/7 expert support, a 100% uptime guarantee, and seamless integrations with WooCommerce and Jetpack, Pressable provides the tools you need to manage your WordPress websites and grow your business all in one place. TRY PRESSABLE→
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Bradford Campeau-Laurion * Alley Interactive * Joomla * Drupal * Forbes * New York Times * New York Observer * Slate * Kaiser Family Foundation * National Science Foundation * Figma * Austin Smith * Matt Johnson * Time Magazine * The Points Guy * Washington Post * Defector * Deadspin * Bright Spot * Rebel Mouse * Brightcove * Tom Willmot * Human Made
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Bradford Campeau-Laurion (CEO, Alley Interactive) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Mario Peshev had an interest in technology from childhood. After working as a software developer, he transitioned into WordPress and founded his own agency, DevriX. They coined the term “WordPress retainer.” It is the mantra fueling their operations and one they hope other agencies will adopt. He joins Cory Miller to dive deep into the how and why of WordPress retainers, sharing his experience and his hopes for the future of WordPress.
Top Takeaways:
- WordPress Retainers: Business doesn’t have to be feast or famine. Several other industries utilize retainers because they provide consistent revenue and secure client commitment for ongoing work. The entire world is living around monthly costs. Not aligning your service-based business with that model is counterintuitive. Essentially it is just selling hours in bulk, turning services into products. Allotting 10% for project management while using the rest to prioritize and execute projects. The longevity and security enable you to plan, diversify, hire well and grow.
- Learn How the Sausage is Made: If you want to start your own business, work in a similar business for a few years. Learn what it takes to operate, what roles are needed, and how the pipeline works. Work with bosses, teams, and clients to learn how you want to build and operate once you’re on your own.
- Increase Adoption by Building Simplification: Many of us started in WordPress because of the famous 5-minute install, and any design could become a theme. It was easy, but now building on other platforms is actually easier. WP needs to create tools to solve for this in order to increase adoption by younger generations.
🙏 Sponsor: ElementorElementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece, without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Mario Peshev * DevriX * Oracle * Java * Blogger * Live Journal * HubSpot * React * NitroPack * Angel List * Envato * SAP * VMware * Cern * Hadron Collider Company * Unicef * Jango * Python * Figma * Elementor * Ghost * Fediverse
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Mario Peshev (CEO, DevriX) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Corey Maass and Cory Miller discuss the origin of the WordPress product they are creating. Together they explore the benefits of partnership, the challenges of being a creator, and what it takes to build viable solutions. This is only the beginning of their process and partnership, but it’s loaded with experience and insight from the journeys they have had within WordPress that brought them to this moment, as well as takeaways they’ve discovered with their new undertaking.
Top Takeaways:
- The Power of Partnering: Many entrepreneurs aren’t interested in partnership. But they create an opportunity to own and contribute the things you do well alongside someone who has other skill sets, strengths, and experiences. Partnerships offer space to practice open dialogue while showing respect and gaining perspective. They are a great solution for all the things you can’t do, don’t want to do, or shouldn’t do.
- Build for a Need: Sometimes we create things believing we have brilliant ideas that will attract an audience. But where problems exist, so do the needs for solutions. You can trust if you have a problem, other people likely have the same problem and need a solution.
- Look to Make Things Easier: When you have to go out of your workflow to do a task, things feel frustrating and clunky. Finding ways to integrate tools within our natural workflow adds tremendous value to the user experience.
- Products Require Passion and Capacity: Yes, you may have the ability to create really cool, helpful things. But if you lack a sincere passion for the products you build or truly don’t have the time they require, they tend to fall flat somewhere along the way. You tap out at the end of your skillset or energy, and even though there may be real potential, the passion and time to carry things forward are missing.
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy Pro
Manage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Crop.Express * WordCamp * Ninja Forms * Kanban for Wp * Photoshop * WooCommerce * ITM Security * Trello * Pippin Williamson * Dustin Bolton * Chris Jean * iThemes * Slack * Convert Kit * Nathan Barry * WordPress.org * Yoast
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Corey Maass * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Tiffany Bridge has been working in WordPress almost since the beginning of WordPress. She is the Product Manager for WordPress eCommerce at Nexcess and talks with Cory Miller about their hosting services and products, specifically highlighting the benefits and capabilities of Store Builder. They dive into optimizing UX in WordPress, the benefits of open source, and more.
Top Takeaways:
- WooCommerce Simplified with Store Builder. As you know, WordPress and WooCommerce love to hide settings in layers of menus. Nexcess saw the struggles people had in trying to set up eCommerce sites and created StoreBuilder as an easy tool to go from zero to having an online store. This removes the initial learning curve required to get started in Woo and sets up a DIY tool for merchants.
- A Platform to Grow with You: One of the great things about setting people up on WordPress and Woo as they start businesses is the flexibility available for future growth. If their model totally shifts, they can just uninstall a plugin and add another to obtain the functionality they need to sustain their business growth without the hassle of migration or the increased fees of a platform.
- Solving for What Users Shouldn’t Have to Know. Kadence and so many WordPress and WooCommerce plugins are designed for WordPress professionals. We are working to leverage the power of Kadence by creating a top-notch user experience for people who don’t know what things like a border radius or gutter are. These tools enhance and expand the power of WordPress, so creating solutions that lower the knowledge barrier to entry is the kind of work that moves WordPress forward.
- You Can Own Your Own Platform. Often people aren’t aware that this is an option. From Etsy to Twitter, controversies tend to increase demand for alternatives. Bringing more awareness to individual ownership on the web-for blogs, stores, or anything else-empowers people to show up online and conduct business on their terms.
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy Pro
Manage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Store Builder * Automattic * Team 51 * iThemes * Expression Engine * WooCommerce * Magento * Etsy * Ghost * Kadence * Liquid Web * Tiffany’s Blog * Tiffany’s Mastodon
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Tiffany Bridge (Product Manager of WordPress eCommerce, Nexcess) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Jannis Thuemmig, serial entrepreneur and founder of WP Webhooks, dives into the world of automation and Open AI with Cory Miller. Together they look at what is currently possible within the world of integration and automation within WordPress. Then they lean into what is unfolding as Open AI finds its way into the mainstream and discuss what this might mean for the WordPress community.
Top Takeaways:
- Integrations & Automations to Save Time: Everyone is in need of some kind of automation. Our main goal is to save time by creating automations wherever there are pain points. Rather than doing things manually, WP Webhooks enables you to automate them within your dashboard.
- Avoiding Automation through Software: Using software as a service partner means hosting your data on their platforms. Using Webhooks for integration and automation allows you to keep things on your server and within your complete control.
- Possibilities with Open AI Integration: Webhooks is focused on using Open AI as an advantage to speed up processes by creating integrations between services and generating original content. They are working on finding cool use cases and understanding the actual power of what it makes possible.
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress VIP
Founded in 2006, WordPress VIP is the agile content platform that empowers marketers to build content both faster and smarter so they can drive more growth. We empower content and development teams with the flexibility and ubiquity of WordPress—the agile CMS that powers more than 40% of the web—while ensuring the security and reliability organizations need to operate at scale.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Jannis Thuemmig * WP Webhooks * Open AI * Zapier * Teachable * How to Use Open AI within WordPress (Yoast SEO example) * Circle * Slack * Karim Marucchi * Crowd Favorite
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Jannis Thuemmig (Founder, WP Webhooks) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Winstina Hughes is a long-term community member and organizer within WordPress. She joins Cory Miller to discuss Support Inclusion in Tech, an effort to increase representation of minority and underrepresented speakers at WordCamp by providing needed financial support. This offers everyone in the WordPress community the chance to share their expertise and to contribute resources, so everyone has the opportunity to engage.
Top Takeaways:
- Creativity is our common bond.: WordPress is the playground where we all came to tinker and build for fun or business. It is the software magic where we discover what new things we can do each day, how to make ideas become reality, and how we might leverage what we learn to create a better world.
- Ripple effect of inclusion: When you provide the ability for a large group of people to participate, travel, and network, the impact extends beyond the WordPress community to create the bigger changes we want to see in the world. This is our community magic.
- Fifth Freedom in WordPress: We are all familiar with The Four Freedoms of WordPress. This is the 5th - full participation. Removing the financial barrier will bring us closer to the reality of being a truly inclusive community.
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms is a powerful form builder for WordPress and the #1 choice for businesses and web professionals across the globe. Its vast array of features, intuitive drag-and-drop form editor, and extensive ecosystem of add-ons, ensure customers can design beautiful, intelligent, and accessible forms for any project requirement.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* SUPPORT INCLUSION IN TECH * Steve Bruner * Kevin Cristiano * WordCamp * WPNYC * WordPro * Sustainable New Jersey * BuddyPress * GoDaddy * Yoast * Master WP
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Winstina Hughes * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Cory Miller talks with Matthias Pfefferle, creator of Activity Pub, about the growing potential for decentralization through innovation within WordPress. Current social networks have stripped creators of agency and power. The threat has been more acutely felt with the recent transitions within Twitter. Recognizing what is at stake and moving towards innovation could not only create needed solutions but could also propel the future of WordPress.
Top Takeaways:
- Decentralization: So much of the power of WordPress is rooted in decentralization. The silos created by social media platforms leave users without agency. The potential and appetite for decentralization is increasing along with the tools to make it a reality via the Fediverse, Activity Pub, and more.
- Portable Social Networks: If you are blocked or banned from a major social network, you lose your content and contacts. The need to create portable social networks so you can move your audience and retain your content if you opt to or are forced to switch platforms or hosts is crucial.
- Alternative Walled Gardens: The need for alternative social platforms where users have agency and ownership continues to increase. The Twitter debacle has been a huge catalyst for users to transition to other platforms like Mastodon, but the potential for WordPress to solve identifier issues and more could create the largest platform overnight. How can we create tools and empower people to be a part of social networks and retain ownership of all they create? How can WordPress build on the current momentum to create future relevance?
🙏 Sponsor: A2 Hosting
A2Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be easily deployed on ANY web hosting plan from A2: Shared, VPS, or Dedicated. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Matthias Pfefferle * Activity Pub * Activity Pub Plugin * Fediverse * Mastodon * Pixelfed * B2 * W3C * World Wide Web Foundation
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Matthias Pfefferle (Creator, Activity Pub) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Cory Miller is joined by North UX founder, Krissie VandeNoord to discuss her journey of agency ownership. Their work contributes to the businesses they serve, winning big and experiencing new levels of growth from the unique solutions they bring. From hearing about her background as a natural problem solver to her experiences engaging client needs with creative solutions, you will be inspired to break through limitations into the land of possibility.
Top Takeaways:
- Building for Nuance: North UX likes to hone in on what makes a business really unique and find solutions to highlight those things so they are experienced as an asset instead of a detractor.
- Problem Solving Spiral: Poking around, asking questions, and figuring out ways to develop solutions spiraled Krissie from seeing and experiencing challenges to being a solution-building developer. Navigating and figuring things out is the work it takes to give you the experience to increase your confidence threshold. This can act as a springboard to making great connections and solving more complex problems.
- Impact of Creating Efficiency: This isn’t just about creating solutions that get customers to take certain actions. It is also about saving hours or weeks of time spent on manual processes. As a small business owner, I know this makes a BIG difference, and that is exciting. Time can be invested in growth, making the impact exponential. Initial solutions fuel inspiration to shift from survival to ongoing enhancements.
- Empowering DIY-ers: Rather than viewing self-build solutions as a threat or an indication of impending obsoletion, Krissie frames this as an opportunity to educate and become a trusted expert who will be there when more complex solutions are needed.
🙏 Sponsor: Pagely
Top-Tier Managed WordPress hosting solutions for Enterprise, the Public Sector, and Media companies. We invented Managed WordPress, and we never stopped raising the bar. Expect Extraordinary!
🔗 Mentioned in the show:
- North UX
- Geovin
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:
- Krissie VandeNoord (Team Lead, North UX)
- Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status)
- Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode, Jess Frick, Pressable’s Director of Operations, discusses what differentiates the hosting performance and support Pressable offers WordPress users. They are a “small but mighty” hosting provider from the Automattic family powered by the agility to continuously evolve to better serve customers with diverse needs. Her enthusiasm, generosity, and honesty inspire us to use the power of WordPress for good. As a WordPress lover, Jess shares her thoughts on the benefits of being people-powered.
Top Takeaways:
- Differentiated by Support: When facing an issue with your site, Pressable understands you don’t have time to wait for answers or be redirected to articles and links that don’t deliver real time solutions. Pressable support is led by a team of WordPress experts with a proven record of responding in less than 3 minutes and solving issues in under 10 minutes on average.
- Technical, User-Friendly Interface: Pressable’s single dashboard offers simple site management with a clear view of site performance and metrics. More technical users can manage multiple sites from one platform, build API applications, test site versions, and more.
- Power of Decentralization: As we are seeing the real time impacts of power being held singularly in other organizations, it highlights the power of the open source community we have within WordPress. Jess shares her thoughts on how this insulates WordPress from experiencing toxic growth and protects the evolution of future technology powered by WP.
🙏 Sponsor: Pressable
Founded in 2010, Pressable is a world-class managed WordPress hosting provider built on the same data network as WordPress.com and WordPress VIP. With industry-leading performance, 24/7 expert support, a 100% uptime guarantee, and seamless integrations with WooCommerce and Jetpack, Pressable provides the tools you need to manage your WordPress websites and grow your business all in one place.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:
- Pressable
- Automattic
- Liquid Web
- Chris Lema
- Copy Blogger Media
- Studio Press
- WordPress Hosting Benchmarks by Review Signal
- Kevin Ohashi
- Titan Mail
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:
- Jessica Frick (Director of Operations, Pressable)
- Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status)
- Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Robert Jacobi shares his work as the Director of WordPress at Cloudways, or to put it simply-strategy, partnerships, and product marketing. After working for years as an agency owner, Robert joined the WordPress community. His experience enables him to foster the relationship between business and open-source projects and vice-versa. Robert shares how the products and services offered by Cloudways enable businesses of all sizes to accomplish their vision of “moving dreams forward”.
Top Takeaways:
- Cloudways Offers One-Click Easy: Staging in one click. Migration in one click. Scalability without the complexity.
- Open-Source Ecosystems Thrive: Communities are driving satisfaction. There are so many opportunities to take in feedback and make improvements. They are driving new niches for flexibility, freedom, and scalability.
- Find the Right Fit: Are you getting the value of what you are paying for? Are you getting less than you need? Are you taking advantage of all of the functionality you are paying for? Little things make a big difference for your site performance and user experience.
- WordPress is Comforting: WordPress has risk, but the history, knowledge repository, documentation, and training resources offer a level of security from the enterprise on down.
Sponsor: CloudwaysCloudways is proud to sponsor Post Status. Our managed hosting for WordPress and WooCommerce takes away the cloud server-related learning curve with a seamless and scalable web hosting experience. Trusted by over 250,000 WordPress users, Cloudways gives you the freedom to choose from any of the top IaaS (infrastructure as a service) providers for ultimate performance.
Mentioned in the show:* Cloudways * Joomla * Drupal * Digital Ocean * Cloudfare * WooCommerce * Linode * Vultr * AWS
You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Robert Jacobi (Director of WordPress, Cloudways) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of Post Status Draft, Cory is joined by D'nelle Dowis, CEO of Berry Interesting Productions. She and her husband have worked in WordPress for over a decade and run a small, consultative agency. D'nelle shares truly helpful insights about centering relationships in work and life. From being invested in clients for the long haul to being intentionally curious about knowing others and how they spend their days, D'nelle invites us to let connection be the fuel that informs and inspires who we are and how we work.
Top Takeaways:
- Build Long-Term Client Relationships: Building long-term relationships enables you to advise clients from a big-picture perspective, as opposed to just building technical solutions.
- Support is Serious Business: Doing what we do best should give our client's peace of mind that their sites will perform as needed when needed.
- Look Beyond a Client's Ask to Unseen Opportunities: As clearly reflected in D'nelle's experience share about her yoga studio client, leaning into hard seasons with clients to bring unique solutions with technology can transform the future trajectory of their business.
🙏 Sponsor: PressableFounded in 2010, Pressable is a world-class managed WordPress hosting provider built on the same data network as WordPress.com and WordPress VIP. With industry-leading performance, 24/7 expert support, a 100% uptime guarantee, and seamless integrations with WooCommerce and Jetpack, Pressable provides the tools you need to manage your WordPress websites and grow your business all in one place. TRY PRESSABLE→
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Troy Dean * The Caverns in Tennessee * Novo Fitness Studio * Divi
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* D'nelle Dowis (Owner, Berry Interesting Productions) * Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Tom Willmot has been a WordPress pioneer and leader in the agency space since co-founding Human Made in 2010. Just in the past year, Human Made has more than doubled its size with a team of 100. Tom is also CEO and co-founder of Altis DXP, Human Made's enterprise WordPress digital experience platform. I caught up with Tom this week to find out what he's thinking about the challenges and opportunities of the enterprise market for WordPress agencies today.
Sparked by Magne Ilsaas's ideas in The WordPress Enterprise Paradox, Tom started a Twitter thread and hosted a live discussion this week about the challenges of not having a well-defined brand and market for enterprise WordPress. In the minds of clients beyond the WordPress and open-source community not to mention unhelpful tech industry analysts, "WordPress" is something you can buy, and it's often confused with any number of related brands: Automattic, WordPress VIP, and managed WordPress hosts that support enterprise clients.
After getting an outline of the problem as it stands today, I asked Tom what might help differentiate "Enterprise WordPress" as a collective or entire ecosystem of agencies operating within it. Can open-source values of sharing and cooperation shape a unique global identity for enterprise WordPress agencies? Is it time for an inter-agency association or "guild" to take on these challenges? (Human Made has an internal "guild" structure of cross-functional teams — what could it look like to extend them across the whole agency space?)
And how might that look within the WordPress ecosystem and others adjacent to it? Are more inter-agency gatherings needed along with greater participation in existing tech and design conferences? Will agencies like Human Made resume hosting conferences like their Day and Week of REST events in the past? Can the larger WordCamps cater to an enterprise track? Does Enterprise WordPress need its own conferences? I like Jeremy Keith and ClearLeft as a model for agency thought leadership. Magne has pointed to the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) as a model for organized peer collaboration and North Patrol as a model for a research and advisory firm that connects agencies with clients and reports on regional enterprise webtech markets.
This is an open, ongoing conversation. If it piques your interest, connect with Tom on Twitter: @tomwillmot.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Human Made (GitHub) • Tom Willmot • Joe Hoyle • Noel Tock + Altis DXP (GitHub) • A Technical Introduction to Altis • Altis Accelerate (Plugin) + How Tom Works * Forrester Research + Now Tech: Agile Content Management Systems, Q2 2022 * Gartner Peer Insights 2022 DXP Reviews and Ratings + Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms 2022
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Tom Willmot (CEO, Human Made) * Dan Knauss (Editor, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of Post Status Draft, Cory is joined by James Farmer, CEO of Incsub, WPMU DEV, CampusPress, and Edublogs. James’ WordPress story goes all the way back to his launch of the first hosted WordPress multisite blogging platform — just a few days ahead of WordPress.com. Edublogs currently hosts millions of students’ and educators’ blogs. James talks about successes and failures, his views on Gutenberg, and how he stays competitive with Squarespace. Cory brings up the WordPress.org active install data question and gets James’ take on how he’d like to see it re-emerge with greater value for plugin businesses.
🙏 Sponsor: PressableFounded in 2010, Pressable is a world-class managed WordPress hosting provider built on the same data network as WordPress.com and WordPress VIP. With industry-leading performance, 24/7 expert support, a 100% uptime guarantee, and seamless integrations with WooCommerce and Jetpack, Pressable provides the tools you need to manage your WordPress websites and grow your business all in one place.
🔗 Mentioned in the show: Incsub - WPMU DEV, CampusPress, & Edublogs * WPMU DEV * CampusPress: WordPress for Education | Websites & ePortfolios * EduBlogs: Blogs & Websites* For Education
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* James Farmer (Founder, Incsub) * Cory Miller (Editor, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
About a year ago, Vikas Singhal launched InstaWP, a serverless platform for spinning up WordPress sites instantly for demos and sandboxes, development and testing, or training and education. Along with WordPress, any combination of plugins and themes can be included. There’s GitHub integration, and InstaWP has the ability to push sites to a large number of hosts or pull them to a local development environment. (InstaWP generates Blueprints — .zip packages for WP Engine’s Local app.)
InstaWP is being embraced by WordPress product developers and agencies. It has significant product testing and marketing applications since customers can spin up any number of demo sites based on a custom template, and this activity is logged. Vikas has picked up seed funding from Automattic and looks forward to announcing many new partnerships with WordPress businesses that have found InstaWP and valuable and complementary tool.
Vikas sees InstaWP’s future as a marketplace for agencies, developers, and freelancers. Because of its powerful site templating and cloning capabilities, it could ultimately become a way to generate bespoke WordPress-based SaaS platforms at scale.
🙏 Sponsor: StellarWPStellarWP provides WordPress solutions for all humankind. We’re a collective of leaders interested in growing WordPress companies. We build great plugins, but we don’t stop there; we continually challenge ourselves to keep innovating and improving. Reach out to us if you’re interested in learning more!
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* InstaWP – Instant WordPress Sites for Everyone
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Vikas Singhal (Founder, InstaWP) * Dan Knauss (Editor, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Transcript ↓
This week in Post Status Slack, Lesley Sim, the founder of Newsletter Glue, dropped this announcement:
"While everybody is offering discounts for Black Friday, we’re planning to significantly raise prices. We’ll be narrowing our target audience and focusing mainly on medium-large publishers and online businesses; working with them more closely and providing a high level of customization and support."
What motivated Lesley's decision? Where does she expect it to take her company?
For some background, listen to my recent conversation with Till Krüss, whose business model for Object Cache Pro and conversations following from it were part of Lesley's thinking about her own product.
In this conversation with Lesley, we talk about:
Pay attention to the shape of your market and your pricing.
Lesley Sim
- Lesley's experience with Black Friday sales tactics.
- "Lifetime" memberships and licenses.
- Where Newsletter Glue started and how its pricing model has changed.
- Why freemium didn't work for Newsletter Glue.
- Lesley's experience entering — and leaving — the WordPress plugin directory.
- How Newsletter Glue's pricing has steadily evolved toward a better match with its ideal customers.
- How Lesley accessed enterprise agencies and clients.
- What Lesley has learned and hopes to achieve in the future.
- The technical challenges and barriers to reaching a high-end market.
🔗 Mentioned in the show: Newsletter Glue is a WordPress plugin that connects your WordPress content and the block editor with a newsletter service, like Mailchimp. It simplifies newsletter publishing so you can focus on writing — in WordPress — and sending your content out from there without having to copy/paste/edit content or create layouts inside your newsletter service's separate, not-as-good design interface. * InstaWP is what it sounds like: a way to launch a WordPress sandbox/demo site in less than a second. * Groundhogg is Marketing Automation and CRM For Serious Agencies and Small Businesses using WordPress. * LifterLMS helps education entrepreneurs enable their learners to achieve their desired outcomes, to truly change lives, and make a great living in the process. * rtCamp is a WordPress VIP Gold Ageny Partner delivering enterprise-grade web publishing and digital commerce solutions with WordPress to Fortune 500 companies. * The Code Company* is a very specialized agency for publishers focused on the WordPress core competency: publishing! They are specialist WordPress engineers who solve complex publishing problems at scale. * Human Made is one of the oldest enterprise agencies in WordPress. They've been one of the largest contributors to the WordPress core project, and the wider ecosystem and community. They make Altis DXP, the evolution of how they work with WordPress. Human Made believes Altis is a fundamental and major step forward for the WordPress ecosystem.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Lesley Sim (Founder, Newsletter Glue) * Dan Knauss (Editor, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Transcript
Transcript ↓
This week in Post Status Slack, Lesley Sim, the founder of Newsletter Glue, dropped this announcement:
"While everybody is offering discounts for Black Friday, we’re planning to significantly raise prices. We’ll be narrowing our target audience and focusing mainly on medium-large publishers and online businesses; working with them more closely and providing a high level of customization and support."
What motivated Lesley's decision? Where does she expect it to take her company?
For some background, listen to my recent conversation with Till Krüss, whose business model for Object Cache Pro and conversations following from it were part of Lesley's thinking about her own product.
In this conversation with Lesley, we talk about:
Pay attention to the shape of your market and your pricing.
Lesley Sim
- Lesley's experience with Black Friday sales tactics.
- "Lifetime" memberships and licenses.
- Where Newsletter Glue started and how its pricing model has changed.
- Why freemium didn't work for Newsletter Glue.
- Lesley's experience entering — and leaving — the WordPress plugin directory.
- How Newsletter Glue's pricing has steadily evolved toward a better match with its ideal customers.
- How Lesley accessed enterprise agencies and clients.
- What Lesley has learned and hopes to achieve in the future.
- The technical challenges and barriers to reaching a high-end market.
🔗 Mentioned in the show: Newsletter Glue is a WordPress plugin that connects your WordPress content and the block editor with a newsletter service, like Mailchimp. It simplifies newsletter publishing so you can focus on writing — in WordPress — and sending your content out from there without having to copy/paste/edit content or create layouts inside your newsletter service's separate, not-as-good design interface. * InstaWP is what it sounds like: a way to launch a WordPress sandbox/demo site in less than a second. * Groundhogg is Marketing Automation and CRM For Serious Agencies and Small Businesses using WordPress. * LifterLMS helps education entrepreneurs enable their learners to achieve their desired outcomes, to truly change lives, and make a great living in the process. * rtCamp is a WordPress VIP Gold Ageny Partner delivering enterprise-grade web publishing and digital commerce solutions with WordPress to Fortune 500 companies. * The Code Company* is a very specialized agency for publishers focused on the WordPress core competency: publishing! They are specialist WordPress engineers who solve complex publishing problems at scale. * Human Made is one of the oldest enterprise agencies in WordPress. They've been one of the largest contributors to the WordPress core project, and the wider ecosystem and community. They make Altis DXP, the evolution of how they work with WordPress. Human Made believes Altis is a fundamental and major step forward for the WordPress ecosystem.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Lesley Sim (Founder, Newsletter Glue) * Dan Knauss (Editor, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Transcript
Can We Get to “Yes” on Better UX?What does WordPress need to do to appeal more to do-it-yourself website builders and creators who are trying to take a business, hobby, or side project online? This week in an article he shared in Post Status Slack, Eric Karkovack suggested some ways to improve the WordPress user experience, especially for DIY users setting up a website for the first time.
We also have lists of plugins we disrecommend — to the point that it's a dealbreaker if a client insists on using them. And of course, these lists change a lot over time.
We all know these things — but it's a kind of “open secret” within professional WordPress circles. That's understandable! Comparison is the thief of joy — and possibly revenue.
Some of the things Eric wants to see happen, like a standard interface for plugins and a curated view of the plugin ecosystem, are similar to views commonly expressed by designers, developers, and people in other professional roles at WordPress agencies serving enterprise clients. And why not? In the WordPress enterprise space, are the end users really that much different than mass-market WordPress users in what they don't need to know or see — and what they do need to perform routine content creation and management tasks as easily as possible?
That's where my thinking has been lately, so I had a conversation with Eric to see if we might identify areas where nearly everyone thinks WordPress offers a poor experience and how they might align themselves toward solutions. Can we get everyone to “yes” on a better UX?
Don't Play Favorites — Recognize ExcellenceStandardizing admin interfaces and notifications might be easier than figuring out how to curate best-of-breed themes and plugins. But imagine, as Eric and I do in this conversation, some kind of “plugin quality score” at wordpress.org based on neutral, objective data. It might be “gamed” — in a positive way. It would encourage developers to do better, deeper, ever-maturing work.
Personally, I'd like to see the maximum and the average number of queries a plugin adds to a page. That, along with PHP and WordPress versions that have been tested for compatibility (existing features of the plugin repository) would be key code quality indicators. Frequency of updates, reviews, and support responses would indicate a capacity for long-term sustainability. Raising standards for testing aimed mainly at security would be great too. All of this could be done or encouraged by key players in the WordPress ecosystem coming together to set standards for their industry. It would impact how all users of the plugin directory understand quality.
Don't Hide it from the Noobs: Too Many Open Secrets About Quality are Bad for EveryoneAs of today, there are 60,153 un-curated free plugins at wordpress.org that can only be explored via external search and a limited (arguably broken) site search tool. WordPress professionals with high-end client services would never expose their customers to this chaos — so why does the WordPress community expose its newcomers to it? Anyone who has developed WordPress sites for very long has a list of plugins they prefer, particularly in combination with each other, for common feature sets and use cases. We also have lists of plugins we dis-recommend — to the point that it's a deal breaker if a client insists on using them. And of course, these lists change a lot over time.
We all know these things — but it's a kind of “open secret” from professional WordPress circles. That's understandable! Comparison is the thief of joy — and possibly revenue. But we need to be more open and better at communicating these things in a problem-solving, always-learning way within appropriate channels. Open source security is a different issue, but performance and code quality standards — and the products/people who follow them in exemplary ways — should be much more visible and celebrated.
(What if someone did a tutorial series walking through current WordPress code standards and the history of their evolution?)
Information that maturing developers and product owners can learn from to improve their work doesn't trickle down as openly or as easily as it should. It's inside baseball, and it shouldn't be quite so insider-y. It's not out there alongside independent plugin performance reviews or clear standards and guidance for anyone who wants them.
Why not?
What are the barriers?
Who can lift them?
Industry peers and WordPress community members working together on common interests?
As we end up saying in our conversation, we hope so.
✨ Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
Learn More:The WordPress Coding Standards can be found evolving on GitHub.
🙏 Credits* Eric Karkovack, Owner at Eric Karkovack Web Design Services (Twitter) * Dan Knauss, Editor for Post Status (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset, Web Producer intern for Post Status (Twitter)
TranscriptDan Knauss: I'm here with Eric Car Kovac, and this morning on PostIt Slack, he shared his latest article published on Specy Boy. What can WordPress do to appeal to the do it yourself market? , what brought that topic up for you this week, Eric?
Eric Karcovack: I think it's a combination of things. For one, you know, we have full site editing that's been around for a little bit now, and, you know, we're not seeing like huge adoption rates with it.
We're getting people to, um, you know, kind of learn what's involved with that and block themes and, um, [00:02:00] and also at the same time we're, you know, the, the changes that we've seen, The block editor over time and you know, even the, kind of, the genesis of that project I think was to kind of compete with, um, more.
Content management systems, kind of like, you know, WS or Squarespace and what have you. Um, and it seems like WordPress is just going toward that market more and more as they, as they build on. And so I thought those were really nice steps in that direction, right? So we have tools that. Make it a little bit easier for someone who maybe isn't, uh, familiar with code to go in and and build a, a site.
But that led me to think about, well, what else should we be doing in that area? What else could WordPress do to make it. Uh, as foolproof as possible, um, to build a basic site, not something necessarily like, um, you know, a complex, you know, high end enterprise site, [00:03:00] but just something basic that someone can do within a couple of hours.
So that really kind of where that, the post came from.
Dan Knauss: Yeah. Yeah. Have you seen the, uh, videos where Jamie Marsland and, uh, who else did this had, had their daughters or, Um, I think of very different ages too, but it tried to do exactly that. And, um, he had, he had his kids do, um, um, Elementor versus Gutenberg, I think it was.
Yeah. Yeah. And that was, that was interesting. I mean, you really have to. That totally someone totally different from you, um, using it for the first time and Yeah, I think, I think a lot of, um, thought has gone into that user experience is, is huge. Uh, now, of course, always, always should have been, but um, Gutenberg is, is very squarely focused on the, on the user experience, building out your, your site and, and [00:04:00] pages.
And, um, my, my thought though was everyone wants that. Um, it's not just the mass market, the lower and middle end, um, of that, but, um, agencies to up. The, uh, those that are serving enterprise, enterprise clients, uh, WordPress, v i p partners, um, I hear, I hear the same things from them, like, you know, even very recent conversations, um, about.
How having standard interface that doesn't throw you different, totally different screens when you use, uh, a plugin in the back end. Um, that's a, a con basic design principle of there's much less cognitive load on you when the navigation is standard. Even if you've never used WordPress before, um, [00:05:00] you.
You're f it seems familiar because things are intuitively laid out. Cause it's, it's like a lot of other things. WordPress is, is old enough and in so influential that it's, it's, uh, backend interface has been copied in a lot of ways. It's very, very familiar. Um, interestingly, even if people haven't used it.
Um, so when you hit a plugin with, you know, crazy level of setting screens or its own interface design, um, that's not, that doesn't. Look good with, uh, with anyone really, but with a enterprise client. I, I think that's an issue. That's one of the things you talk about in here. Um, Yeah, we have you thought about that at all?
Um, how, Yeah. Pretty much every market, every WordPress market, uh, could benefit from.
Eric Karcovack: It's, it's funny you mentioned that cuz I really wasn't thinking of like the enterprise clients. And I [00:06:00] think the reason for that is because usually if I have a client who's a little more higher end on the, on the price scale, I'm usually building things to kind of account for all of that right?
Where I can, I mean, obviously I can't change a in ui, but I can certainly do things with custom fields or blocks or what have you to try and make the, the content creation and editing process. Simple as possible for them. So by, by doing some of these things at core level, you would take away the need to build all that extra stuff on top to, you know, to make it easier for the corporate client to use.
So I think it, it, it goes together pretty well. Um, The one example in terms of UI that I have in the article is, uh, you know, just looking at the standard WordPress settings page. We have the reading settings, and then next to it I have, uh, the opening screen of slider Revolution, which is, uh, plugin bundled with [00:07:00] a bunch of different schemes and, uh, like a theme forest, what have you.
Um, it's like a completely different thing. And to, to that end, even Elementor is as well, I mean the, a lot of. Popular page builder plugins basically take over, uh, the UI and it's like you're in a completely different planet. And think about if you're a brand new user and you've got just Elementor or Slider Revolution on your site, you bought this theme and it comes with these things, you're kind of thinking you're dropped into a middle of Mars or something.
You're not sure what, you know how to get back to where you were and what the difference is between. You know, that UI based versus, you know, the, the core WordPress ui. Uh, in a lot of ways that doesn't make sense. So I think that's something we have to try and unify. Um, I don't know how we go about doing that at the core level.
Um, but I, I think if we make core as clean as possible, maybe that's at [00:08:00] least a good start.
Dan Knauss: Yeah, there were, there would have to be, um, some, some standards in reusable. Patterns and, and tools. Um, I, I think that in the long run, the, uh, Gutenberg is, is supposed to eat the entire, you know, it's, it's a true ship of Tesus project where the entire thing gets rebuilt while moving.
Um, And in, in some way it will be a, the goal is, is to have a unified experience at the end of that, just how quickly that happens depends on, on core contribution. Um, on the velocity of that, um, Yeah, that's for lack of that. I, I think it's, um, it's a bad experience for everyone and Sure. Uh, uh, an enterprise client is really just at bottom end users, uh, employees who have as much experience maybe as the average DIY site builder, a [00:09:00] creator, someone who wants to start a podcast or, or sell a product, um, as a side project or something like that.
There's, there's really no difference there. Everyone, um, has the same, uh, usability needs in general, and more or less, there's, there's big differences when you, you started talking about compliance needs with accessibility and, and so on and, and things like that. But, um, yeah, it seems like to me that there, there's a lot of opportunity for aligning, um, different parts of, of the word.
Community and business community where. Plug in. Developers and owners should really want this. The same thing that, uh, agency people, um, do. And that's, they, they support each other. Um, they feed each other business. So I, I'm curious why. That hasn't [00:10:00] happened, and it seems to me like there's some information flows or I don't know.
There there are probably other, other sticky barriers. Have you, did you, did that question come up for you at all? Why? Um, why?
Eric Karcovack: Well, I know it's like, it's something we've talked about a little bit, right? I mean, yeah, just on, on a few different levels and with the, uh, you know, Active install data going away from wordpress.org, and maybe these folks need to band together a little more and, and share amongst each other.
I, I think the reason it hasn't happened yet is because it really hasn't had to, um, you know, maybe they haven't seen necessarily the benefit of it, but when you see kind of the, the yeah. Jumble of the, the UI right now and how it, how different it can be depending on what you have installed. You know, maybe there is something that, you know, some of these larger plugin developers could work together on.
Sure. Uh, it makes sense. You know, it makes sense for all of them. I mean, [00:11:00] I, I, I somehow see us heading towards some sort of consortium of, of, uh, folks who, who can't necessarily write strict standards, but maybe they have certain. You know, broad outlines of, of what they, they want to, to abide by. And, you know, the more people that do that, the better I think it is for WordPress users and for just really everyone involved, because the software's going to be easier to use and more uniform.
Right.
Dan Knauss: Yeah. There's, there's a lot that the, um, that, that part of the community could do for itself. I've, uh, Tried to be more vocal about, but I, I think there, there have been a few, few voices behind those ideas of you, Hey, you, there's a lot you can do, um, to shape your own industry. Um, Yeah, if you do have a shared, a shared interface framework and, um, formal or informal standards for [00:12:00] Yeah, we were talking about.
Admin notifications previously. Um, that's part of it. Um, it, it'd save you a lot of time if there was a base to build on. Um, more than, more than I think exists now. Um, so that, uh, anyone starting, starting out creating a, a new plugin, um, would have some kind of, uh, head start. Really a standard interface or, or guidance at least.
I don't know that there's that much, um, public information. And, uh, it's curious to me as, as, uh, as things like the W Commerce, um, partnership program kind of is a bit, looks like, a bit like a, getting into, uh, a relationship with WordPress, v i p. Um, there's criteria to go through, uh, that you have, well you have to meet, um, to become, um, a preferred agency working.
Um, with w commerce.com side with [00:13:00] automatic, um, what those criteria are and what the standards are, should I think, have some kind of trickle down effect, like know what they are and, um, and have them as at least aspirational for everyone. Um, there's been some talk in, in, uh, core of, um, bringing. Some changes on, uh, on standards and testing for, uh, coding, um, coding standards for security.
Uh, I think primarily performance and security. Um, and I hope those continue to get prioritized that that's what all seems, seems to need to happen to, um, to move this forward. But the one point you mentioned, um, where you're talking about modernizing the onboarding experience, Where you direct people to, where to find themes, where to find plugins that, uh, [00:14:00] that becomes challenging and touches, touches.
This other recent issue we've talked about, um, it is hard to search in the, in the plugin repository is not in an ideal state and people who are trying to sell. Their plugins there, um, have a number of frustrations with, with trying to surface their, their products as relevant to what people are searching for.
Um, do you think this could be part of a solution to that if, or a potential conflict point when you're curating, you're, you're curating and recommending, um, certain ones?
Eric Karcovack: Well, I think as far as, as core goes, um, my idea is more. Just pointing people to the repositories. Mm-hmm. , uh, for themes and plugins, not necessarily being a, uh, a [00:15:00] curator, but, um, I, I, I see the, you know, I see there, there, there should be more impetus to improve the, the repositories and make them easier for folks to search and figure out what it is they're getting and what, you know, um, allow new entries to be a little more, uh, visible.
But I think they're kind of separate things, you know, just to be able to, I mean, if, if you're installing WordPress now from the, you know, from, from your host, or if you're, you know, FTPing it up to your site, old school style, um, you know, you're, you're gonna get this little. Widget did on the, on the front screen of the dashboard that welcomes you to WordPress and gives you a few handy links, but it doesn't really tell you about how to actually use what you're, you've got.
And I think that was where I, I thought improvement could be made right now. I mean the person that doesn't understand where themes reside or where plug-ins reside, they're not [00:16:00] gonna know necessarily to go under the appearance menu and look to add a theme or you know, the plug-ins menu. You know, they may find that eventually, but why not put it right out there in front of 'em so that they can easily click and say, Okay, I know what I need.
I need to get a plugin that does this. And you know, cuz we have a nice interface to actually go in and. Poor plugins and themes, but Right. It's not necessarily, um, in front of, front of your mind when you, when you first install WordPress. So I thought that was, um, something that was important to, uh, you know, to, to emphasize in this.
Dan Knauss: Sure. Yeah. And that, that seems like it, it's potentially in a good way, open for change with, uh, potential changes to the.org repository. And, and I imagine that as, um, as the.com marketplace. Um, and, you know, potentially other, other things like that. Um, If, if other hosts hosting W Commerce or, or [00:17:00] WordPress were to do something similar, um, that, that, that requires some kind of curation at some point or some, some way of featuring particular things like, this is what you need to do.
Uh, for, for example, you know, one of my pet things is can you build a, uh, sub stack like, uh, site out of WordPress very quickly. Yes, if you know how. But, um, the, there's act, those documentations kind of emerged relatively recently for doing that with a, a couple of plugins. Um, if you dig around on wordpress.com, um, and I, like Kim Coleman is, uh, for, uh, uh, paid memberships.
Pro is giving a talk right about now, I think on. On how to do that with, uh, Mail poet and their product, the Coleman's product, uh, paid membership pro. Um, that's, that's something that, um, yeah, [00:18:00] I, I agree. It's, it's tri on the, on the mass market level. It's, it's sort of the level of suggestion of here's if you want to do this, here are some ways you can do that.
And. What gets recommended there, I, I guess, is, is maybe a, a thorny issue, but as you kind of move up the up the market, um, you don't want give that much. You don't want to have an onboarding screen that says install this and this and this to, uh, you know, an agency's client. Uh, you know, you don't, they don't wanna see that either.
So, um, you want to actually be making those choices. For them. So it occurs to me that the thing that's not talked about OP openly but is talked about everywhere is that the upmarket WordPress and building even, you know, freelancers, small agencies to v i P agencies generally, um, you know, have their own ways of doing things.
[00:19:00] That do a lot of curation and like you said, building, building custom materials. But the less you do that, the less you have to support yourself. Um, that they're essentially doing, making these choices and saying, these are the things that work well for these purposes under these conditions. And I've always thought, why should that be a proprietary trade secret, especially when it's out there, but.
We're hesitant to, uh, convey that or some version of that to the, um, to the mass market. Um, what, what do you, what do you think about that? Do you think there could be some synergies there? Cause there's learning potential too, if you, if you kind of disclose, this is how we're doing it up here. Um, people who are just starting out building with WordPress are learning from leaders then.
Eric Karcovack: Yeah. Um, well, one of the things I. I, I talked about with curation was, you know, maybe managed hosts are in the best [00:20:00] position to do kind of something like that, because I think some of them already do to, to a degree. I mean, many of them are buying up, you know, plugin and themes anyway. And so, you know, maybe they're in the best position to add something like this, The WordPress, um, for someone that has the fresh install, You know, in the community it's, it's interesting because there's just so many, there's so many plugins and so many opinions that you know mm-hmm.
I may ask, well how do you build a membership site? And somebody may tell me, paid memberships, pros the way to go. Somebody may say, Member press, or, you know, there there could be five or six other, you know, really big players in that market. Um, same thing for forms and, you know, e-commerce may be a little bit less, but, um, you know, cuz we have one dominant, uh, you.
Entity there in W Commerce. But, um, you know, if you ask about w commerce extensions, you'll probably get a couple hundred different answers on that, so. Right. You know, the curation is a, a [00:21:00] bit of a tough, a tough call. Like, I, I don't, I certainly don't think, you know, the WordPress project should be, um, doing anything other than generically taking you to the, you know, Repositories and saying, this is where you can find plugins.
Now, maybe in the future they write, you know, they, they share articles or something about, well, you know, if you're going to build an e-commerce site, maybe you should consider X, Y, and Z. Not necessarily talking about. Specific plugins, but things you need to consider on your end and find to help you find the, the tool that works best for your needs and, you know, design for what your workflow is going to be.
Um, so maybe if we can add some guidance in that way without necessarily favoring one product over another. Um, but I, I, I think they're, you know, for the new user, the person who wants to just build their own basic site, Having some sort of guidance in [00:22:00] not only what plugins to use, but just how to use WordPress, I think could be, you know, extremely helpful.
Dan Knauss: Yes. Uh, yeah, I, I agree with you. Um, you know, the way you, you put it here was, um, Uh, yeah, the, who would be responsible for curating is the, is the really tough issue. You'd need a, a third party of some, some kind to take that on. Um, and yeah, in the mass market where everyone's competing, um, with, with their product or service, um, that's a difficult one to do.
Who, who would be a third party? Who could, who could potentially navigate those, those waters? And are, are there things that the plugin repo could do that are sufficiently neutral with the kind of data that, that could be reported out that would, um, help that? Um, do we need something like Kevin Ohashi doing, um, you know, [00:23:00] plugin performance?
WP plugin performance reviews, like his hosting, uh, reviews.
Eric Karcovack: Yeah, that, that's interesting. You could, you, you could certainly see the repo. I mean, you know, again, you don't wanna play favorites. That's definitely, you know, gonna cause a lot of problems. Um, maybe there could be, you know, stats for, you know, different types of sites.
Um, if you are into publishing, these are the most popular plugins in that category. Because we don't, It may even be listed that way now, but we don't necessarily say that. Um, so you could look at, you know, membership sites, you could look at e-commerce, um, you know, selling digital goods, all those types of things.
Maybe we break it down by category a little more and just show what the trends are in that area. It doesn't necessarily have to favor anyone, but obviously it's going to show, you know, who's in the lead and who's not. Maybe that's [00:24:00] something to help people again and again, I, I put these out there as ideas.
They may be extremely flawed and, uh, you know, you can certainly tell me on Twitter if, if, if you don't agree. Uh, but just I think we need to find more ways to empower people to make good decisions with WordPress. Um, that's going to keep people on the platform. Throughout and they're going to hopefully have less frustration in trying to get started because I think that's, from my experience, that's the area where people are, you know, hit that wall after installing, They're like, Okay, well what do I do next?
Right.
Dan Knauss: Yeah. Yeah. I wonder, I wonder if something like a, uh, plugin quality score could be developed. Which, which to some extent is being done with, with, uh, review, like combining, uh, correlating, um, support tickets and response to those and, [00:25:00] um, installs and, and things like that. But I wonder if you could, you could do a quality, um, rating that would be sufficiently neutral that people would accept.
The curation that developed from that. Say, I, I keep thinking of this one. I don't, I don't know if it's realistic, but, um, I would love to know on every plugin if I install this, what's the, what's the maximum number of queries it will add to a page load? What's the average number? And, um, that right there creates an incentive to plug in developers to get that right.
Learn, you know, if you're just starting out, uh, coding something, um, learn what that means, why it matters. Um, because that's, that seems to be one of the real, real slow downs. Um, and, and that's a pretty objective measure. Fewer queries, quicker response, um, from the server, [00:26:00] something like that. I don't know.
Do you, do you think that that sort of thing could potentially be done, um, as. Sufficiently neutral thing coming from the, From
Eric Karcovack: I think so. I think so. I mean, one idea that just kind of popped in my head was, how about we do something activity based? Hmm. Like, just for example, um, we take into account how often a plugin updates, uh, how responsive, uh, Right.
You know, support requests are in the forms. That doesn't necessarily tell you the quality. Now I. You might be updating your plugin three or four times a week because it's broken, and you may be re responding to, you know, support requests without necessarily resolving problems. But that might be a way to, to, to help steer people away from plugins that.
Haven't been updated in years. I mean, we have that little warning on there now that, you know, when it's been, I think, what three versions. It'll tell [00:27:00] you that, hey, this hasn't been, you know, updated in, in a while, huh? But if you had maybe some sort of activity based scoring that, you know, I mean, you know, that, that puts everybody, I think on a.
Closer playing field. I don't know if it's completely level, but you know, I mean, the plugins with the most resources might, you know, be able to, to, uh, to win on some of that. But then again, if you have a, a solo entrepreneur who's got a plugin that you know, they really are passionate about and they're constantly trying to improve and they're, you know, we know there are a lot of those out there, you know, they might be able to, to compete on that.
Dan Knauss: Sure. Yeah. I, I feel, I feel like that could work if the repository made some distinction between completely free plugins and freemium model plugins, or those that have, uh, a recognized business entity behind it with. Staff and [00:28:00] like this, We exist here to support this in theory, in in perpetuity. Um, because actually there, there are some plugin if you base this on activity like TenUp.
Um, there's some, Jake Goldman still has under, under his account on, uh, on the repo that are really nice, simple, single purpose plugins and I completely trust. The support for them, for them, for the, for the most part. But, um, they're not, they're not gonna be high volume, um, uh, support activity there or updates, and they're pretty simple, yet reliable.
Um, it might be tricky to do that, but I, I think it would be fair to recognize. Leaders and high performers and recognized experts at, at some point. And, um, and the business, um, you know, the number of people who, you know, who actually exist to support [00:29:00] a particular plugin. That was when I was, when I'm doing things for clients and when I was doing that a lot more, um, you're looking at, I, I try to look at what's gonna be around for a long, long term.
You know, the, the fewer, uh, We don't wanna make changes to themes, to major plugin changes. Um, over time we want this to be really stable. So, so to me a concern would be, Hey, this is a really nice plugin, seems really well supported, but there's no business model behind it. Or it's not one that, yeah, I think will be here in five, even just five years.
Um, and the long term view. Yeah. Is another, is another criteria that's hard to, hard to suss out. Um, but those are, those are all potentially valid ways to curate, um, and indicate different, different categories of, of product that may really help people figure out what they need. Um, yeah, it's a [00:30:00] good, good question, uh, to open.
Eric Karcovack: Yeah, I think there's, there's potential for it. Um, you know, any, I think anything we can do to make it, give people more confidence that what they're installing is going to work and be, you know, stable and, you know, allow them to do. What they want to do easy in a more easy fashion. I think that would, you know, definitely be a benefit.
And just going back to the activity thing for just a second, I mean, how many plugins that are still, you know, somewhat maintained, Still say that their, their latest compatibility is like WordPress 5.8 or 5.9. Right. You know, just the simple fact of going in and, and testing with WordPress six or 6.1, maybe that gets you, you know, some brownie points in that as well.
Just that you version checked and you know, you're keeping up with that. Because I see that as another issue [00:31:00] in the repository where, There may be plugins that work perfectly well, but you're still a little hesitant because it, Yeah. You know, the compatibility hasn't been updated in two years or three years.
So that could also be, you know, a
Dan Knauss: factor. And it's not just compatibility to WordPress, it's, uh, you know, word WordPress, GUIs and, and compatibility for php. So plug in, plug in compatibility with, uh, which, what up to what version of PHP will it. Will it operate
Eric Karcovack: and Yeah. Just checking. Yeah, I know. Uh, like I'm looking at a, a plugin now it says PHP version 5.4 or higher.
So there you go. Ah, right, right, right. You're in good shape, even out in a really, really old install.
Dan Knauss: Yes. Right. So that raises some, some ideas. Well, that's, and that's something a DIY person isn't gonna know. They aren't, they aren't going to know. Um, you know, what version of PHP is my. Running and what does that mean and, and all that.
[00:32:00] Yeah. Support activity and development activity are, are good indicators, but then you, you can game that as well. Um, well, it creates, it creates a good incentive to do that work. But then, you know, are we adding features or minor updates just to, uh, to rank higher at that point. I don't know if it would have that, that kind of effect.
Eric Karcovack: I mean, we've seen it with reviews, right? Yeah. People put in the phony reviews and or higher out firms to, to do that for them. So yeah, any, anything that they put in probably could be gained. I don't know if we're gonna fully prevent that, but you hope that, you know, most developers take it as a, uh, a serious matter and, you know, try to actually put in the hard work to, to rank highly and, and.
Hopefully that that's a way for them to kind of go up the charts a little bit in, in terms of how many installs they have and how many paying customers they get because of it. Right. [00:33:00]
Dan Knauss: Yeah. And there's, there's such a categorical difference between people who are running their business that way. And well, it's a good, it's a good way to game things towards more support, more development, and, uh, taking an active interest in, in what's going on with your, your product.
And in the way it's, uh, presented to people who are going to install it. Um, and it's. Good idea. I, I do feel that those things go together. Any, anything that improves or changes in, in core to change the onboarding experience to, um, make it easier with respect to what you install, has gotta be corresponding somehow to, um, what you see on the on.org, um, what it's putting out publicly as a, as a signal for, um, for quality.
The last thing. Well close to where you, you closed was, was talking about outreach, um, that we should just show what, what WordPress can do. [00:34:00] Um, and do you think we just don't do that enough or it's not unified enough? Or just in the Gutenberg era, we're just beginning to see tutorials and guides, um, show up, especially for non-technical users.
And, um, that's, that's something. on.org, Learn, Learn. Um, wordpress.org is, uh, busy trying to do, there's a ton of meetups coming out that are really geared towards this sort of thing. Um, and, and also people who are building at sites at a more advanced level. Um, do you see that as something that's just starting to happen or something altogether different that you had in mind?
Eric Karcovack: I, I sort of see this as kind of like a, a. Coming of WordPress, right? Because when a lot of us, you know, who have been in this a while started, you know, if you went to a Word camp, you probably learned an awful lot about the basics of WordPress. Whether you were just [00:35:00] using it as, you know, a content creator, or you were a developer.
And I think we've kind of lost that along the way a little bit. We've kind of focused so much on the more advanced topics. And then of course, the pandemic, you know, took away a, a lot of the in person events. So I, I think, you know, the word camps are one way to really start showing, you know, new users what's possible and you know, how to, to do the basics.
Um, you know, I, I would, I honestly, I would love to see that at Word Camp us or one of the really. International events, you know, have a track just for new people, uh, you know, where they can ask experts questions, you know, that people that, you know, we, we see in the post status slack or we see on online all the time.
You know, if, if a new user's able to ask them questions that, you know, that can go a long way towards selling them on the platform and keeping them there. Um, and you mentioned the learn [00:36:00] tool. Well, I, I think that's fantastic. That's actually something I brought up on the, uh, on the slack the other day. You know, Has there been any effort to kind of integrate that with the core software so that you can easily find tutorials?
Uh, maybe through a plugin or, or something like that? Because we have various WordPress support, uh, tools that are third party, you know, that'll show videos on how to do different things. We have this wonderful resource and if somebody doesn't visit wordpress.org, they're really not gonna know it's. And I think, you know, it's such an opportunity to reach people and, and teach them how to do anything from the basics to, you know, once they level up to, you know, some more advanced things, it's all right there waiting and, you know, all we have to do in some way, some respects is, you know, put it in front of them, You know, give them the opportunity to see it.
Um, so those are things, you know. The WordPress community has so much great content, so many smart people. I think we [00:37:00] ought to be able to put our heads together and, and find ways to, you know, encourage new users and embrace them and, and, and, you know, kind of help them, you know, with any stumbling blocks.
And because, you know, if once we kind of. Hate to say the phrase die out. You know, what, what, what is the next generation of WordPress user going to look like? How, how are they going to use the software? You know, if we want to keep it as a market leader, we want to keep it, uh, viable, you know, the new users are, you know, just critical
Dan Knauss: to that, right?
Yeah. I, I think that Learn is, uh, learn. WordPress is. Logical, the content that's being developed there and also the meetups that are going on, the, um, kind of webinars that are, that are happening are, um, are logical to move into the dashboard for certain, um, certain use [00:38:00] cases, um, in the, in mass market, DIY users.
All right, well, It's been good talking to you again. I, I think this, this is a good, a good topic with a lot of questions in it that touch a couple of the main, main conversations and, and issues today that we've, we've been all, all thinking about, um, what to do with, uh, potential changes to the plugin repository and, and the kind of data that that comes out of there.
Dot org content and information can somehow fit into the, um, into the WordPress dashboard and, um, interface there to help people and connect them with the community. Um, how we could maybe standardize, uh, the experience and some interface design, how things are, are done on the back end that, um, makes [00:39:00] it a more palatable and, uh, Less busy interruptive, um, or confused experience on, on sites with a lot of things installed, whether it's, um, someone just setting up their own, their own site, or, uh, an agency doing it for a, a high end client.
Um, I think the more, the more we see those all as, uh, common problems everyone has. The better chance at br at bringing everyone towards a, an aligned solution where everyone wins. Um, ideally one, one would hope .
Eric Karcovack: There's potential there. Absolutely. Hope so. Um, you know, The, the, you know, if you start the conversation, hopefully, um, you know, you bring in some good ideas and if we see a few of them implemented, uh, that's like you said, that's gonna benefit everybody.
Dan Knauss: You have been listening to post status excerpt, a podcast from post Status, the [00:40:00] community for WordPress professionals. Check us out at poststatus.com. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter, or become a member and join us in post status. We have membership plans for freelancers, agency owners, product founders, and business partners who share and support our mission of investing in the open web by growing the WordPress ecosystem and coming together for fun and networking as we give and grow together.
Can We Get to “Yes” on Better UX?What does WordPress need to do to appeal more to do-it-yourself website builders and creators who are trying to take a business, hobby, or side project online? This week in an article he shared in Post Status Slack, Eric Karkovack suggested some ways to improve the WordPress user experience, especially for DIY users setting up a website for the first time.
We also have lists of plugins we disrecommend — to the point that it's a dealbreaker if a client insists on using them. And of course, these lists change a lot over time.
We all know these things — but it's a kind of “open secret” within professional WordPress circles. That's understandable! Comparison is the thief of joy — and possibly revenue.
Some of the things Eric wants to see happen, like a standard interface for plugins and a curated view of the plugin ecosystem, are similar to views commonly expressed by designers, developers, and people in other professional roles at WordPress agencies serving enterprise clients. And why not? In the WordPress enterprise space, are the end users really that much different than mass-market WordPress users in what they don't need to know or see — and what they do need to perform routine content creation and management tasks as easily as possible?
That's where my thinking has been lately, so I had a conversation with Eric to see if we might identify areas where nearly everyone thinks WordPress offers a poor experience and how they might align themselves toward solutions. Can we get everyone to “yes” on a better UX?
Don't Play Favorites — Recognize ExcellenceStandardizing admin interfaces and notifications might be easier than figuring out how to curate best-of-breed themes and plugins. But imagine, as Eric and I do in this conversation, some kind of “plugin quality score” at wordpress.org based on neutral, objective data. It might be “gamed” — in a positive way. It would encourage developers to do better, deeper, ever-maturing work.
Personally, I'd like to see the maximum and the average number of queries a plugin adds to a page. That, along with PHP and WordPress versions that have been tested for compatibility (existing features of the plugin repository) would be key code quality indicators. Frequency of updates, reviews, and support responses would indicate a capacity for long-term sustainability. Raising standards for testing aimed mainly at security would be great too. All of this could be done or encouraged by key players in the WordPress ecosystem coming together to set standards for their industry. It would impact how all users of the plugin directory understand quality.
Don't Hide it from the Noobs: Too Many Open Secrets About Quality are Bad for EveryoneAs of today, there are 60,153 un-curated free plugins at wordpress.org that can only be explored via external search and a limited (arguably broken) site search tool. WordPress professionals with high-end client services would never expose their customers to this chaos — so why does the WordPress community expose its newcomers to it? Anyone who has developed WordPress sites for very long has a list of plugins they prefer, particularly in combination with each other, for common feature sets and use cases. We also have lists of plugins we dis-recommend — to the point that it's a deal breaker if a client insists on using them. And of course, these lists change a lot over time.
We all know these things — but it's a kind of “open secret” from professional WordPress circles. That's understandable! Comparison is the thief of joy — and possibly revenue. But we need to be more open and better at communicating these things in a problem-solving, always-learning way within appropriate channels. Open source security is a different issue, but performance and code quality standards — and the products/people who follow them in exemplary ways — should be much more visible and celebrated.
(What if someone did a tutorial series walking through current WordPress code standards and the history of their evolution?)
Information that maturing developers and product owners can learn from to improve their work doesn't trickle down as openly or as easily as it should. It's inside baseball, and it shouldn't be quite so insider-y. It's not out there alongside independent plugin performance reviews or clear standards and guidance for anyone who wants them.
Why not?
What are the barriers?
Who can lift them?
Industry peers and WordPress community members working together on common interests?
As we end up saying in our conversation, we hope so.
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Learn More:The WordPress Coding Standards can be found evolving on GitHub.
🙏 Credits* Eric Karkovack, Owner at Eric Karkovack Web Design Services (Twitter) * Dan Knauss, Editor for Post Status (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset, Web Producer intern for Post Status (Twitter)
TranscriptDan Knauss: I'm here with Eric Car Kovac, and this morning on PostIt Slack, he shared his latest article published on Specy Boy. What can WordPress do to appeal to the do it yourself market? , what brought that topic up for you this week, Eric?
Eric Karcovack: I think it's a combination of things. For one, you know, we have full site editing that's been around for a little bit now, and, you know, we're not seeing like huge adoption rates with it.
We're getting people to, um, you know, kind of learn what's involved with that and block themes and, um, [00:02:00] and also at the same time we're, you know, the, the changes that we've seen, The block editor over time and you know, even the, kind of, the genesis of that project I think was to kind of compete with, um, more.
Content management systems, kind of like, you know, WS or Squarespace and what have you. Um, and it seems like WordPress is just going toward that market more and more as they, as they build on. And so I thought those were really nice steps in that direction, right? So we have tools that. Make it a little bit easier for someone who maybe isn't, uh, familiar with code to go in and and build a, a site.
But that led me to think about, well, what else should we be doing in that area? What else could WordPress do to make it. Uh, as foolproof as possible, um, to build a basic site, not something necessarily like, um, you know, a complex, you know, high end enterprise site, [00:03:00] but just something basic that someone can do within a couple of hours.
So that really kind of where that, the post came from.
Dan Knauss: Yeah. Yeah. Have you seen the, uh, videos where Jamie Marsland and, uh, who else did this had, had their daughters or, Um, I think of very different ages too, but it tried to do exactly that. And, um, he had, he had his kids do, um, um, Elementor versus Gutenberg, I think it was.
Yeah. Yeah. And that was, that was interesting. I mean, you really have to. That totally someone totally different from you, um, using it for the first time and Yeah, I think, I think a lot of, um, thought has gone into that user experience is, is huge. Uh, now, of course, always, always should have been, but um, Gutenberg is, is very squarely focused on the, on the user experience, building out your, your site and, and [00:04:00] pages.
And, um, my, my thought though was everyone wants that. Um, it's not just the mass market, the lower and middle end, um, of that, but, um, agencies to up. The, uh, those that are serving enterprise, enterprise clients, uh, WordPress, v i p partners, um, I hear, I hear the same things from them, like, you know, even very recent conversations, um, about.
How having standard interface that doesn't throw you different, totally different screens when you use, uh, a plugin in the back end. Um, that's a, a con basic design principle of there's much less cognitive load on you when the navigation is standard. Even if you've never used WordPress before, um, [00:05:00] you.
You're f it seems familiar because things are intuitively laid out. Cause it's, it's like a lot of other things. WordPress is, is old enough and in so influential that it's, it's, uh, backend interface has been copied in a lot of ways. It's very, very familiar. Um, interestingly, even if people haven't used it.
Um, so when you hit a plugin with, you know, crazy level of setting screens or its own interface design, um, that's not, that doesn't. Look good with, uh, with anyone really, but with a enterprise client. I, I think that's an issue. That's one of the things you talk about in here. Um, Yeah, we have you thought about that at all?
Um, how, Yeah. Pretty much every market, every WordPress market, uh, could benefit from.
Eric Karcovack: It's, it's funny you mentioned that cuz I really wasn't thinking of like the enterprise clients. And I [00:06:00] think the reason for that is because usually if I have a client who's a little more higher end on the, on the price scale, I'm usually building things to kind of account for all of that right?
Where I can, I mean, obviously I can't change a in ui, but I can certainly do things with custom fields or blocks or what have you to try and make the, the content creation and editing process. Simple as possible for them. So by, by doing some of these things at core level, you would take away the need to build all that extra stuff on top to, you know, to make it easier for the corporate client to use.
So I think it, it, it goes together pretty well. Um, The one example in terms of UI that I have in the article is, uh, you know, just looking at the standard WordPress settings page. We have the reading settings, and then next to it I have, uh, the opening screen of slider Revolution, which is, uh, plugin bundled with [00:07:00] a bunch of different schemes and, uh, like a theme forest, what have you.
Um, it's like a completely different thing. And to, to that end, even Elementor is as well, I mean the, a lot of. Popular page builder plugins basically take over, uh, the UI and it's like you're in a completely different planet. And think about if you're a brand new user and you've got just Elementor or Slider Revolution on your site, you bought this theme and it comes with these things, you're kind of thinking you're dropped into a middle of Mars or something.
You're not sure what, you know how to get back to where you were and what the difference is between. You know, that UI based versus, you know, the, the core WordPress ui. Uh, in a lot of ways that doesn't make sense. So I think that's something we have to try and unify. Um, I don't know how we go about doing that at the core level.
Um, but I, I think if we make core as clean as possible, maybe that's at [00:08:00] least a good start.
Dan Knauss: Yeah, there were, there would have to be, um, some, some standards in reusable. Patterns and, and tools. Um, I, I think that in the long run, the, uh, Gutenberg is, is supposed to eat the entire, you know, it's, it's a true ship of Tesus project where the entire thing gets rebuilt while moving.
Um, And in, in some way it will be a, the goal is, is to have a unified experience at the end of that, just how quickly that happens depends on, on core contribution. Um, on the velocity of that, um, Yeah, that's for lack of that. I, I think it's, um, it's a bad experience for everyone and Sure. Uh, uh, an enterprise client is really just at bottom end users, uh, employees who have as much experience maybe as the average DIY site builder, a [00:09:00] creator, someone who wants to start a podcast or, or sell a product, um, as a side project or something like that.
There's, there's really no difference there. Everyone, um, has the same, uh, usability needs in general, and more or less, there's, there's big differences when you, you started talking about compliance needs with accessibility and, and so on and, and things like that. But, um, yeah, it seems like to me that there, there's a lot of opportunity for aligning, um, different parts of, of the word.
Community and business community where. Plug in. Developers and owners should really want this. The same thing that, uh, agency people, um, do. And that's, they, they support each other. Um, they feed each other business. So I, I'm curious why. That hasn't [00:10:00] happened, and it seems to me like there's some information flows or I don't know.
There there are probably other, other sticky barriers. Have you, did you, did that question come up for you at all? Why? Um, why?
Eric Karcovack: Well, I know it's like, it's something we've talked about a little bit, right? I mean, yeah, just on, on a few different levels and with the, uh, you know, Active install data going away from wordpress.org, and maybe these folks need to band together a little more and, and share amongst each other.
I, I think the reason it hasn't happened yet is because it really hasn't had to, um, you know, maybe they haven't seen necessarily the benefit of it, but when you see kind of the, the yeah. Jumble of the, the UI right now and how it, how different it can be depending on what you have installed. You know, maybe there is something that, you know, some of these larger plugin developers could work together on.
Sure. Uh, it makes sense. You know, it makes sense for all of them. I mean, [00:11:00] I, I, I somehow see us heading towards some sort of consortium of, of, uh, folks who, who can't necessarily write strict standards, but maybe they have certain. You know, broad outlines of, of what they, they want to, to abide by. And, you know, the more people that do that, the better I think it is for WordPress users and for just really everyone involved, because the software's going to be easier to use and more uniform.
Right.
Dan Knauss: Yeah. There's, there's a lot that the, um, that, that part of the community could do for itself. I've, uh, Tried to be more vocal about, but I, I think there, there have been a few, few voices behind those ideas of you, Hey, you, there's a lot you can do, um, to shape your own industry. Um, Yeah, if you do have a shared, a shared interface framework and, um, formal or informal standards for [00:12:00] Yeah, we were talking about.
Admin notifications previously. Um, that's part of it. Um, it, it'd save you a lot of time if there was a base to build on. Um, more than, more than I think exists now. Um, so that, uh, anyone starting, starting out creating a, a new plugin, um, would have some kind of, uh, head start. Really a standard interface or, or guidance at least.
I don't know that there's that much, um, public information. And, uh, it's curious to me as, as, uh, as things like the W Commerce, um, partnership program kind of is a bit, looks like, a bit like a, getting into, uh, a relationship with WordPress, v i p. Um, there's criteria to go through, uh, that you have, well you have to meet, um, to become, um, a preferred agency working.
Um, with w commerce.com side with [00:13:00] automatic, um, what those criteria are and what the standards are, should I think, have some kind of trickle down effect, like know what they are and, um, and have them as at least aspirational for everyone. Um, there's been some talk in, in, uh, core of, um, bringing. Some changes on, uh, on standards and testing for, uh, coding, um, coding standards for security.
Uh, I think primarily performance and security. Um, and I hope those continue to get prioritized that that's what all seems, seems to need to happen to, um, to move this forward. But the one point you mentioned, um, where you're talking about modernizing the onboarding experience, Where you direct people to, where to find themes, where to find plugins that, uh, [00:14:00] that becomes challenging and touches, touches.
This other recent issue we've talked about, um, it is hard to search in the, in the plugin repository is not in an ideal state and people who are trying to sell. Their plugins there, um, have a number of frustrations with, with trying to surface their, their products as relevant to what people are searching for.
Um, do you think this could be part of a solution to that if, or a potential conflict point when you're curating, you're, you're curating and recommending, um, certain ones?
Eric Karcovack: Well, I think as far as, as core goes, um, my idea is more. Just pointing people to the repositories. Mm-hmm. , uh, for themes and plugins, not necessarily being a, uh, a [00:15:00] curator, but, um, I, I, I see the, you know, I see there, there, there should be more impetus to improve the, the repositories and make them easier for folks to search and figure out what it is they're getting and what, you know, um, allow new entries to be a little more, uh, visible.
But I think they're kind of separate things, you know, just to be able to, I mean, if, if you're installing WordPress now from the, you know, from, from your host, or if you're, you know, FTPing it up to your site, old school style, um, you know, you're, you're gonna get this little. Widget did on the, on the front screen of the dashboard that welcomes you to WordPress and gives you a few handy links, but it doesn't really tell you about how to actually use what you're, you've got.
And I think that was where I, I thought improvement could be made right now. I mean the person that doesn't understand where themes reside or where plug-ins reside, they're not [00:16:00] gonna know necessarily to go under the appearance menu and look to add a theme or you know, the plug-ins menu. You know, they may find that eventually, but why not put it right out there in front of 'em so that they can easily click and say, Okay, I know what I need.
I need to get a plugin that does this. And you know, cuz we have a nice interface to actually go in and. Poor plugins and themes, but Right. It's not necessarily, um, in front of, front of your mind when you, when you first install WordPress. So I thought that was, um, something that was important to, uh, you know, to, to emphasize in this.
Dan Knauss: Sure. Yeah. And that, that seems like it, it's potentially in a good way, open for change with, uh, potential changes to the.org repository. And, and I imagine that as, um, as the.com marketplace. Um, and, you know, potentially other, other things like that. Um, If, if other hosts hosting W Commerce or, or [00:17:00] WordPress were to do something similar, um, that, that, that requires some kind of curation at some point or some, some way of featuring particular things like, this is what you need to do.
Uh, for, for example, you know, one of my pet things is can you build a, uh, sub stack like, uh, site out of WordPress very quickly. Yes, if you know how. But, um, the, there's act, those documentations kind of emerged relatively recently for doing that with a, a couple of plugins. Um, if you dig around on wordpress.com, um, and I, like Kim Coleman is, uh, for, uh, uh, paid memberships.
Pro is giving a talk right about now, I think on. On how to do that with, uh, Mail poet and their product, the Coleman's product, uh, paid membership pro. Um, that's, that's something that, um, yeah, [00:18:00] I, I agree. It's, it's tri on the, on the mass market level. It's, it's sort of the level of suggestion of here's if you want to do this, here are some ways you can do that.
And. What gets recommended there, I, I guess, is, is maybe a, a thorny issue, but as you kind of move up the up the market, um, you don't want give that much. You don't want to have an onboarding screen that says install this and this and this to, uh, you know, an agency's client. Uh, you know, you don't, they don't wanna see that either.
So, um, you want to actually be making those choices. For them. So it occurs to me that the thing that's not talked about OP openly but is talked about everywhere is that the upmarket WordPress and building even, you know, freelancers, small agencies to v i P agencies generally, um, you know, have their own ways of doing things.
[00:19:00] That do a lot of curation and like you said, building, building custom materials. But the less you do that, the less you have to support yourself. Um, that they're essentially doing, making these choices and saying, these are the things that work well for these purposes under these conditions. And I've always thought, why should that be a proprietary trade secret, especially when it's out there, but.
We're hesitant to, uh, convey that or some version of that to the, um, to the mass market. Um, what, what do you, what do you think about that? Do you think there could be some synergies there? Cause there's learning potential too, if you, if you kind of disclose, this is how we're doing it up here. Um, people who are just starting out building with WordPress are learning from leaders then.
Eric Karcovack: Yeah. Um, well, one of the things I. I, I talked about with curation was, you know, maybe managed hosts are in the best [00:20:00] position to do kind of something like that, because I think some of them already do to, to a degree. I mean, many of them are buying up, you know, plugin and themes anyway. And so, you know, maybe they're in the best position to add something like this, The WordPress, um, for someone that has the fresh install, You know, in the community it's, it's interesting because there's just so many, there's so many plugins and so many opinions that you know mm-hmm.
I may ask, well how do you build a membership site? And somebody may tell me, paid memberships, pros the way to go. Somebody may say, Member press, or, you know, there there could be five or six other, you know, really big players in that market. Um, same thing for forms and, you know, e-commerce may be a little bit less, but, um, you know, cuz we have one dominant, uh, you.
Entity there in W Commerce. But, um, you know, if you ask about w commerce extensions, you'll probably get a couple hundred different answers on that, so. Right. You know, the curation is a, a [00:21:00] bit of a tough, a tough call. Like, I, I don't, I certainly don't think, you know, the WordPress project should be, um, doing anything other than generically taking you to the, you know, Repositories and saying, this is where you can find plugins.
Now, maybe in the future they write, you know, they, they share articles or something about, well, you know, if you're going to build an e-commerce site, maybe you should consider X, Y, and Z. Not necessarily talking about. Specific plugins, but things you need to consider on your end and find to help you find the, the tool that works best for your needs and, you know, design for what your workflow is going to be.
Um, so maybe if we can add some guidance in that way without necessarily favoring one product over another. Um, but I, I, I think they're, you know, for the new user, the person who wants to just build their own basic site, Having some sort of guidance in [00:22:00] not only what plugins to use, but just how to use WordPress, I think could be, you know, extremely helpful.
Dan Knauss: Yes. Uh, yeah, I, I agree with you. Um, you know, the way you, you put it here was, um, Uh, yeah, the, who would be responsible for curating is the, is the really tough issue. You'd need a, a third party of some, some kind to take that on. Um, and yeah, in the mass market where everyone's competing, um, with, with their product or service, um, that's a difficult one to do.
Who, who would be a third party? Who could, who could potentially navigate those, those waters? And are, are there things that the plugin repo could do that are sufficiently neutral with the kind of data that, that could be reported out that would, um, help that? Um, do we need something like Kevin Ohashi doing, um, you know, [00:23:00] plugin performance?
WP plugin performance reviews, like his hosting, uh, reviews.
Eric Karcovack: Yeah, that, that's interesting. You could, you, you could certainly see the repo. I mean, you know, again, you don't wanna play favorites. That's definitely, you know, gonna cause a lot of problems. Um, maybe there could be, you know, stats for, you know, different types of sites.
Um, if you are into publishing, these are the most popular plugins in that category. Because we don't, It may even be listed that way now, but we don't necessarily say that. Um, so you could look at, you know, membership sites, you could look at e-commerce, um, you know, selling digital goods, all those types of things.
Maybe we break it down by category a little more and just show what the trends are in that area. It doesn't necessarily have to favor anyone, but obviously it's going to show, you know, who's in the lead and who's not. Maybe that's [00:24:00] something to help people again and again, I, I put these out there as ideas.
They may be extremely flawed and, uh, you know, you can certainly tell me on Twitter if, if, if you don't agree. Uh, but just I think we need to find more ways to empower people to make good decisions with WordPress. Um, that's going to keep people on the platform. Throughout and they're going to hopefully have less frustration in trying to get started because I think that's, from my experience, that's the area where people are, you know, hit that wall after installing, They're like, Okay, well what do I do next?
Right.
Dan Knauss: Yeah. Yeah. I wonder, I wonder if something like a, uh, plugin quality score could be developed. Which, which to some extent is being done with, with, uh, review, like combining, uh, correlating, um, support tickets and response to those and, [00:25:00] um, installs and, and things like that. But I wonder if you could, you could do a quality, um, rating that would be sufficiently neutral that people would accept.
The curation that developed from that. Say, I, I keep thinking of this one. I don't, I don't know if it's realistic, but, um, I would love to know on every plugin if I install this, what's the, what's the maximum number of queries it will add to a page load? What's the average number? And, um, that right there creates an incentive to plug in developers to get that right.
Learn, you know, if you're just starting out, uh, coding something, um, learn what that means, why it matters. Um, because that's, that seems to be one of the real, real slow downs. Um, and, and that's a pretty objective measure. Fewer queries, quicker response, um, from the server, [00:26:00] something like that. I don't know.
Do you, do you think that that sort of thing could potentially be done, um, as. Sufficiently neutral thing coming from the, From
Eric Karcovack: I think so. I think so. I mean, one idea that just kind of popped in my head was, how about we do something activity based? Hmm. Like, just for example, um, we take into account how often a plugin updates, uh, how responsive, uh, Right.
You know, support requests are in the forms. That doesn't necessarily tell you the quality. Now I. You might be updating your plugin three or four times a week because it's broken, and you may be re responding to, you know, support requests without necessarily resolving problems. But that might be a way to, to, to help steer people away from plugins that.
Haven't been updated in years. I mean, we have that little warning on there now that, you know, when it's been, I think, what three versions. It'll tell [00:27:00] you that, hey, this hasn't been, you know, updated in, in a while, huh? But if you had maybe some sort of activity based scoring that, you know, I mean, you know, that, that puts everybody, I think on a.
Closer playing field. I don't know if it's completely level, but you know, I mean, the plugins with the most resources might, you know, be able to, to, uh, to win on some of that. But then again, if you have a, a solo entrepreneur who's got a plugin that you know, they really are passionate about and they're constantly trying to improve and they're, you know, we know there are a lot of those out there, you know, they might be able to, to compete on that.
Dan Knauss: Sure. Yeah. I, I feel, I feel like that could work if the repository made some distinction between completely free plugins and freemium model plugins, or those that have, uh, a recognized business entity behind it with. Staff and [00:28:00] like this, We exist here to support this in theory, in in perpetuity. Um, because actually there, there are some plugin if you base this on activity like TenUp.
Um, there's some, Jake Goldman still has under, under his account on, uh, on the repo that are really nice, simple, single purpose plugins and I completely trust. The support for them, for them, for the, for the most part. But, um, they're not, they're not gonna be high volume, um, uh, support activity there or updates, and they're pretty simple, yet reliable.
Um, it might be tricky to do that, but I, I think it would be fair to recognize. Leaders and high performers and recognized experts at, at some point. And, um, and the business, um, you know, the number of people who, you know, who actually exist to support [00:29:00] a particular plugin. That was when I was, when I'm doing things for clients and when I was doing that a lot more, um, you're looking at, I, I try to look at what's gonna be around for a long, long term.
You know, the, the fewer, uh, We don't wanna make changes to themes, to major plugin changes. Um, over time we want this to be really stable. So, so to me a concern would be, Hey, this is a really nice plugin, seems really well supported, but there's no business model behind it. Or it's not one that, yeah, I think will be here in five, even just five years.
Um, and the long term view. Yeah. Is another, is another criteria that's hard to, hard to suss out. Um, but those are, those are all potentially valid ways to curate, um, and indicate different, different categories of, of product that may really help people figure out what they need. Um, yeah, it's a [00:30:00] good, good question, uh, to open.
Eric Karcovack: Yeah, I think there's, there's potential for it. Um, you know, any, I think anything we can do to make it, give people more confidence that what they're installing is going to work and be, you know, stable and, you know, allow them to do. What they want to do easy in a more easy fashion. I think that would, you know, definitely be a benefit.
And just going back to the activity thing for just a second, I mean, how many plugins that are still, you know, somewhat maintained, Still say that their, their latest compatibility is like WordPress 5.8 or 5.9. Right. You know, just the simple fact of going in and, and testing with WordPress six or 6.1, maybe that gets you, you know, some brownie points in that as well.
Just that you version checked and you know, you're keeping up with that. Because I see that as another issue [00:31:00] in the repository where, There may be plugins that work perfectly well, but you're still a little hesitant because it, Yeah. You know, the compatibility hasn't been updated in two years or three years.
So that could also be, you know, a
Dan Knauss: factor. And it's not just compatibility to WordPress, it's, uh, you know, word WordPress, GUIs and, and compatibility for php. So plug in, plug in compatibility with, uh, which, what up to what version of PHP will it. Will it operate
Eric Karcovack: and Yeah. Just checking. Yeah, I know. Uh, like I'm looking at a, a plugin now it says PHP version 5.4 or higher.
So there you go. Ah, right, right, right. You're in good shape, even out in a really, really old install.
Dan Knauss: Yes. Right. So that raises some, some ideas. Well, that's, and that's something a DIY person isn't gonna know. They aren't, they aren't going to know. Um, you know, what version of PHP is my. Running and what does that mean and, and all that.
[00:32:00] Yeah. Support activity and development activity are, are good indicators, but then you, you can game that as well. Um, well, it creates, it creates a good incentive to do that work. But then, you know, are we adding features or minor updates just to, uh, to rank higher at that point. I don't know if it would have that, that kind of effect.
Eric Karcovack: I mean, we've seen it with reviews, right? Yeah. People put in the phony reviews and or higher out firms to, to do that for them. So yeah, any, anything that they put in probably could be gained. I don't know if we're gonna fully prevent that, but you hope that, you know, most developers take it as a, uh, a serious matter and, you know, try to actually put in the hard work to, to rank highly and, and.
Hopefully that that's a way for them to kind of go up the charts a little bit in, in terms of how many installs they have and how many paying customers they get because of it. Right. [00:33:00]
Dan Knauss: Yeah. And there's, there's such a categorical difference between people who are running their business that way. And well, it's a good, it's a good way to game things towards more support, more development, and, uh, taking an active interest in, in what's going on with your, your product.
And in the way it's, uh, presented to people who are going to install it. Um, and it's. Good idea. I, I do feel that those things go together. Any, anything that improves or changes in, in core to change the onboarding experience to, um, make it easier with respect to what you install, has gotta be corresponding somehow to, um, what you see on the on.org, um, what it's putting out publicly as a, as a signal for, um, for quality.
The last thing. Well close to where you, you closed was, was talking about outreach, um, that we should just show what, what WordPress can do. [00:34:00] Um, and do you think we just don't do that enough or it's not unified enough? Or just in the Gutenberg era, we're just beginning to see tutorials and guides, um, show up, especially for non-technical users.
And, um, that's, that's something. on.org, Learn, Learn. Um, wordpress.org is, uh, busy trying to do, there's a ton of meetups coming out that are really geared towards this sort of thing. Um, and, and also people who are building at sites at a more advanced level. Um, do you see that as something that's just starting to happen or something altogether different that you had in mind?
Eric Karcovack: I, I sort of see this as kind of like a, a. Coming of WordPress, right? Because when a lot of us, you know, who have been in this a while started, you know, if you went to a Word camp, you probably learned an awful lot about the basics of WordPress. Whether you were just [00:35:00] using it as, you know, a content creator, or you were a developer.
And I think we've kind of lost that along the way a little bit. We've kind of focused so much on the more advanced topics. And then of course, the pandemic, you know, took away a, a lot of the in person events. So I, I think, you know, the word camps are one way to really start showing, you know, new users what's possible and you know, how to, to do the basics.
Um, you know, I, I would, I honestly, I would love to see that at Word Camp us or one of the really. International events, you know, have a track just for new people, uh, you know, where they can ask experts questions, you know, that people that, you know, we, we see in the post status slack or we see on online all the time.
You know, if, if a new user's able to ask them questions that, you know, that can go a long way towards selling them on the platform and keeping them there. Um, and you mentioned the learn [00:36:00] tool. Well, I, I think that's fantastic. That's actually something I brought up on the, uh, on the slack the other day. You know, Has there been any effort to kind of integrate that with the core software so that you can easily find tutorials?
Uh, maybe through a plugin or, or something like that? Because we have various WordPress support, uh, tools that are third party, you know, that'll show videos on how to do different things. We have this wonderful resource and if somebody doesn't visit wordpress.org, they're really not gonna know it's. And I think, you know, it's such an opportunity to reach people and, and teach them how to do anything from the basics to, you know, once they level up to, you know, some more advanced things, it's all right there waiting and, you know, all we have to do in some way, some respects is, you know, put it in front of them, You know, give them the opportunity to see it.
Um, so those are things, you know. The WordPress community has so much great content, so many smart people. I think we [00:37:00] ought to be able to put our heads together and, and find ways to, you know, encourage new users and embrace them and, and, and, you know, kind of help them, you know, with any stumbling blocks.
And because, you know, if once we kind of. Hate to say the phrase die out. You know, what, what, what is the next generation of WordPress user going to look like? How, how are they going to use the software? You know, if we want to keep it as a market leader, we want to keep it, uh, viable, you know, the new users are, you know, just critical
Dan Knauss: to that, right?
Yeah. I, I think that Learn is, uh, learn. WordPress is. Logical, the content that's being developed there and also the meetups that are going on, the, um, kind of webinars that are, that are happening are, um, are logical to move into the dashboard for certain, um, certain use [00:38:00] cases, um, in the, in mass market, DIY users.
All right, well, It's been good talking to you again. I, I think this, this is a good, a good topic with a lot of questions in it that touch a couple of the main, main conversations and, and issues today that we've, we've been all, all thinking about, um, what to do with, uh, potential changes to the plugin repository and, and the kind of data that that comes out of there.
Dot org content and information can somehow fit into the, um, into the WordPress dashboard and, um, interface there to help people and connect them with the community. Um, how we could maybe standardize, uh, the experience and some interface design, how things are, are done on the back end that, um, makes [00:39:00] it a more palatable and, uh, Less busy interruptive, um, or confused experience on, on sites with a lot of things installed, whether it's, um, someone just setting up their own, their own site, or, uh, an agency doing it for a, a high end client.
Um, I think the more, the more we see those all as, uh, common problems everyone has. The better chance at br at bringing everyone towards a, an aligned solution where everyone wins. Um, ideally one, one would hope .
Eric Karcovack: There's potential there. Absolutely. Hope so. Um, you know, The, the, you know, if you start the conversation, hopefully, um, you know, you bring in some good ideas and if we see a few of them implemented, uh, that's like you said, that's gonna benefit everybody.
Dan Knauss: You have been listening to post status excerpt, a podcast from post Status, the [00:40:00] community for WordPress professionals. Check us out at poststatus.com. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter, or become a member and join us in post status. We have membership plans for freelancers, agency owners, product founders, and business partners who share and support our mission of investing in the open web by growing the WordPress ecosystem and coming together for fun and networking as we give and grow together.
This week I sat down again with Eric Karkovack to talk about the three top WordPress stories on the top of our minds. Independently, we made nearly the same selections! It seems the temporary loss of active install stats at WP.org has created an opportunity to rethink long-held assumptions and find new ways forward. Our news picks are all related to this in one way or another. So there's a single throughline in this episode — what works, what doesn't, and what will take WordPress businesses forward in the product, agency, and hosting spaces.
Are Active Install Counts Irrelevant to Your Plugin Business's Success? (Even if they were accurate?)
There are always going to be developers who push the envelope when it comes to littering the dashboard and just making it a difficult user experience. Maybe data is part of the way we solve that.
Eric Karkovac
First up is Alex Denning's article at Ellipsis, "WordPress.org is ineffective for plugin distribution in 2022." Alex argues the likely temporary loss of Active Install Growth data for plugin owners is not a bottom-line, business-relevant concern. Apart from the revelation that that data itself was not just obfuscated and inexact but "basically garbage," Alex draws on Ellipsis' marketing experience and extensive data (as well as Iain Poulson's insights at WP Trends) to show 1-2% conversion rates are the norm for plugins in the WP.org repository. Only a couple of big players can crack the 100k+ install tiers today.
The Plugin Repo's Glass CeilingAlex notes this "glass ceiling" has a lot to do with how the repo's search algorithm works. It's biased to favor plugins that have many active installs already, so if you're not there yet, it's not going to help you get there. As a result of these observations, Alex disrecommends the plugin repo for anyone thinking about launching a business there on the freemium model. He considers WP.org a poor distribution channel and assumes the freemium product model's fate is tied to it. On that point, we're doubtful and optimistic about exceptions and opportunities for plugin developers to make their own way, with or without the repo.
While Eric and I don't fully agree with Alex, his data-based analysis does establish that the plugin repository is "broken" if it's intended to be a place where a small entrepreneur with a good product can break in and take off.
Let's Fix What's Broken (The Plugin Repo) Not What Isn't (The Freemium Model)Matt Cromwell politely disagrees with Alex in a long, thoughtful post of his own: The Case for the WordPress Plugin Freemium Model. (There's a great Post Status Slack thread on it too.) In it, Matt describes ways plugin owners can make the wp.org plugin search engine work better for them, but he also notes a few of its deficiencies as well. His best point is that an average conversion rate is just that — an average. He's seen much better results due to marketing efforts he feels are accessible to many plugin vendors. Matt also points to examples of successful freemium plugin shops, like Paid Memberships Pro which recently did an A/B test with their pricing page, and the version with a freemium option converted better.
Where Alex and Matt agree is how much the plugin repo has changed due to market saturation. It isn't an easy place to win in anymore. And I'm pretty sure Alex would agree with Matt this is true across the web as a whole — you can expect to have to work hard with stiff competition and give high attention to Google as well — not to mention all the other things that go into making and supporting a good product.
Ideas for Improving the WordPress.org Plugin RepositoryEric and I also discussed the excellent suggestions for useful, actionable data that product owners — and even agencies — would like from a new, improved plugin directory. Vito Peleg's ideas are especially exciting and seemed to draw a nod from Matt Mullenweg on Twitter. We also note how better data for plugin owners might satisfy some needs that historically have led them to try all kinds of (often unpleasant) gimicks in the WordPress backend to connect with users and upsell or cross-market their products. In a comment at Post Status this week, Justin Labadie imagines how this could work as part of the plugin install process, along with other suggestions. Eric connected this line of thinking with Mark Zahra's question in a recent post at WP Mayor, Is Deceptive Marketing Ruining WordPress’ Reputation?
Plugin Developers Must Make Their Own WayEric asked (and answered) a big question at the WP Minute: What should plugin developers expect from WordPress? You've got to make your own way is a message I agree with, and I brought up my conversation with Till Krüss about Performance and the Plugin Business as an example of all the possibilities that open up if you think about meeting big needs nobody else is meeting or solving big problems others are creating!
Follow the Leaders, Adopt StandardsWhere we end up is 10up's newly released resource site for Gutenberg Best Practices. It's got tutorials, resources, references, example code — and they're encouraging use of their GitHub discussion board for the site. It's intended to go beyond the official WordPress documentation, according Fabian Kaegy's launch announcement. It's a “more client-services-centric approach tailored to engineering enterprise-level editorial experiences.”
To me, that's a signal WordPress has turned a corner with Gutenberg. Top agency adoption of Gutenberg is huge, and as we see a growing body of accumulated knowledge, standards, and best practices emerging, it signals and amplifies a wave of change.
Building Products to Scale Opens Doors and Creates Opportunities for GrowthToward the end of the show I suggest that plugin developers (as well as agencies) targeting middle and low-end markets have tended to neglect standards around performance testing and security because their customers don't need to scale and because they can treat performance and security as a hosting problem. That's a barrier to accessing high-value enterprise clients, hosts, and agencies connected to both. It represents lost opportunities and money left on the table.
🔗 Also mentioned in the show:Along with 10up's Gutenberg resource hub, several other future-facing WordPress sites sharing tools and knowledge catering to different audiences emerged in the last week or so:
- Ollie from Mike McAlister is shaping up to be "a blog where WordPress creators can get handy tips, tutorials, and tools for the WordPress block editor and full-site editing."
- WPTurbo from Alex Borto offers more than 40 free WordPress code generators, snippets saved by users, and there's a dev blog.
- Create Pro WordPress Page Layouts in Just 10 Minutes from Jamie Marsland is a fun video tour of some layout design fundamentals that are really essential for good results with full-site editing and the block editor's power and flexibility.
And, last but not least —WordPress 6.0.3 was released. Update as soon as you can! WordPress 6.1 is just around the corner, and it's a doozy. Dave Smith has the highlights on new features in this fun video.
👋 Credits* Eric Karkovack, Owner at Eric Karkovack Web Design Services (Twitter) * Dan Knauss, Editor for Post Status (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset, Web Producer intern for Post Status (Twitter)
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you a conversation about important news and issues in the WordPress community and business ecosystem. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
Back in August, I had a long conversation with Till Krüss (edited down to <60 minutes here) about his path into WordPress, Laravel, and performance. Till is the developer and owner of Object Cache Pro, "a business class Redis object cache backend for WordPress." OCP offers a unique and highly successful model for partnerships between a WordPress plugin product business and a valuable niche market: hosting companies and anyone running WordPress sites at scale. Nexcess is the latest host to adopt OCP, which they announced earlier this week.
Till’s particular niche is not for everyone, but some of his ideas and achievements are very portable. For one thing, what plugin owner has not felt the pain of an extraordinarily busy support forum? Till is up to (wait for it..) 5-10 minutes a day on support — which he aims to decrease. How? End-to-end unit testing to ensure the highest code quality. It’s an idea that needs to become a reality and a habit in the third-party WordPress product ecosystem, Till believes — and I think he’s right about that.
What plugin owner has not felt the pain of an extraordinarily busy support forum? Till is up to (wait for it..) 5-10 minutes a day on support — which he aims to decrease. How? End-to-end unit testing to ensure the highest code quality.
Performance optimization in general — and caching in particular — are possibly the oldest and most persistent hard problems for people running WordPress and similar applications at scale. Historically, performance has been a problem passed to the hosting industry by WordPress developers and users of too many plugins — or too many plugins that use too many server resources, especially as measured in database queries.
A large part of the challenges people have with WordPress in the wild have to do with plugins that have not been built and tested to perform at scale. There’s likely a lot of opportunity in aligning people on performance as a key, common interest. What people are these? Product, agency, and hosting companies in the WordPress space. And, as Till’s example shows, a small WordPress company, or company of one that wants to stay that way, still can thrive today.
🔗 Mentioned in the show: Till Krüss's Object Cache Pro is a (closed-source) commercial product that grew out of and exists alongside Redis Object Cache (100k+ installs on WordPress.org). ROC is a fork of an unmaintained precursor Erick Hitter and Eric Mann launched in 2014. Relay looks like it will be a successor to OCP capable of speeds up to 100 times faster than Redis. It's "a PHP extension that is both a Redis client and a shared in-memory cache." * Felipe Elia recently wrote a great explainer on WordPress, Objecet Cache, and Redis. * Do the_Woo recently recorded this amazing open discussion between * Scaling WordPress (Post Status Draft #51) remains one of our all-time most listened to podcast episodes, from 2016. Brian Krogsgard and Joe Hoyle take a pretty comprehensive look at WordPress performance and caching, including Redis. * Jon Christopher is trying a unique business strategy with his OrganizeWP plugin that suggests cooperative ways to win outside centralized markets. * Kevin Ohashi's WP Performance Tester plugin will test your server's raw capacity and show you how it compares to the current industry average established by Kevin's testing at WP Hosting Benchmarks. * Mark Jacquith's Cache Buddy (2015) "[m]inimizes the situations in which logged-in users appear logged-in to WordPress, which increases the cacheability of your site." * Shaun Kester's Latency Tracker (2008) was a helpful diagnostic when pre-"Managed WordPress" hosts were struggling to keep up with the booming use (and abuse) of self-hosted WordPress and other PHP/MySQL-based publishing platforms. * Paul Jarvis talks about his book, Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business, with Brian Clark at Unemployable*. * The WordPress Core Performance Team is dedicated to monitoring, enhancing, and promoting performance in WordPress core and its surrounding ecosystem. We build and manage the Performance Lab plugin, a collection of performance-related “feature projects” for WordPress core.
🐦 You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:* Till Krüss (Rhubarb Group) * Dan Knauss (Editor, Post Status) * Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Transcript
Trust can be betrayed in so many ways or failed even with the best of intentions.
Dan Knauss
In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Dan and Ny take on three issues in the WordPress community that can threaten or impair trust while also revealing how foundational trust is, especially in open source.
First, they talk about Ny's article at MasterWP, "Enough with this woke stuff: and other racist speech you can unlearn," which explains microaggressions and received a significant number of macroaggressions in reply — but also far more positive support from the community.
Next, "How do we rebuild trust when it's harmed?" is a question that leads into the biggest WordPress story of the week — Matt Mullenweg's apparent decision to shut down access to active install data at the WordPress.org plugin repo due to an unspecified security breach and/or privacy concern. The way communication has happened — or hasn't happened — about this decision is clearly damaging trust in the WordPress community, particularly among business owners with a product in the plugin repository. Ny points out how this all looks to a newcomer to the WordPress community — again, trust takes a beating. But while we lack clarity about the possible return of install data in some form, Dan suggests asking why this data is trusted and valued by many plugin owners. What business decisions can it helpfully inform? Are there alternative and possibly better sources of data about a plugin's users?
Finally, Dan briefly talks about the emergence of draft legislation in the US Senate: the Securing Open Source Software Act. It seems likely that in the near future, US security agencies will be getting people, dollars, and new organizations involved in assessing risk in open-source software. Are WordPress auto-updates critical supply chain infrastructure? When should individual freedoms be exchanged for collective security? When do we need to know what our machines and software are doing? When don't we? Zero-trust architecture might work well for networked machines, but human relationships and communities need trust.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Nyasha Green, Enough with this woke stuff: and other racist speech you can unlearn (MasterWP) * Mark Zahra, A sudden change leaves WordPress plugin devs in the dark (MasterWP) * Dan Knauss, Active Install Charts Removed from Plugin Repo (Post Status) * Dan Knauss, Open Source Communities: You May Not Be Interested in CISA, But CISA is Very Interested in You (Post Status) * Cory Doctorow, Our technology is haunted by demons controlled by transhuman life-forms
👋 Credits* Nyasha Green, Editorial Director at MasterWP (Twitter) * Dan Knauss, Editor for Post Status (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset, Web Producer intern for Post Status (Twitter)
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you a conversation about important news and issues in the WordPress community and business ecosystem. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
Katie and Andy Keith started out as a WordPress agency almost a decade ago and then tried to break into WordPress products, first with themes and then plugins. Challenges arose with reliable project management on the agency side while they tried to establish a foothold in the WordPress plugin market. The WooCommerce Extensions Store is where their business took off. With niche extensions that had no competition, they ranked very quickly.
🙏 Sponsor: ElementorElementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece, without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Barn2 Plugins * WooCommerce Marketplace
🐦 You can follow them on Twitter:* Katie Keith (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
If [an employer] can't afford not to operate without suspicion and distrust, what does that tell you?
Dan Knauss
Dan and Ny talk about their WordCamp US experiences both good and bad. Their conversation focuses on accessibility and disability. Ny had an experience with Uber at WCUS that made her agree with Dan's preference for traditional and preferably unionized taxi companies or public transit. They both reflect on the accessibility challenges and failures Michelle Frechette shared in Five Days Without a Shower before turning to an important article by Piccia Neri that was published at Post Status this week.
Piccia's article considers the value of salary transparency in hiring and job listings after asking WordPress employers why they don't advertise a salary range in listings. Ny is optimistic pay transparency will soon be the norm in US law. Dan is optimistic the WordPress community can make the changes it needs out of empathy and regard for others plus the motivation to build a high-quality, professional workforce. They both close out this episode by expressing gratitude for the WordCamp organizers and volunteers who made WCUS possible this year.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Post Status Excerpt (No. 63) — Pay Transparency, Mutual Respect, and the Community We Need * Piccia Neri, Salary Transparency: Why Not? * Michelle Frechette, Five Days Without a Shower * Uber Executive Said the Company Would Spend ‘A Million Dollars’ to Shut Me Up * Uber Says It Was Likely Hacked by Teenage Hacker Gang LAPSUS$
👋 Credits* Nyasha Green, Editorial Director at MasterWP (Twitter) * Dan Knauss, Editor for Post Status (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset, Web Producer intern for Post Status (Twitter)
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you a conversation about important news and issues in the WordPress community and business ecosystem. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
There's always new people coming in, being embraced and accepted, [and being] shown the way
Cory Miller
In this episode, Cory and Michelle talk about their takeaways from WordCamp US. The Post Status Huddle ahead of the conference was a great experience for them and many Post Status members. Michelle explains her experience with some accessibility challenges. Cory stresses the need for empathy and awareness about these issues. What everyone agrees on: we love getting together as a community! WordPress is an industry, and it is people. The people come first. Cory also talks about his and Post Status' interest in serving its agency-based and European members.
🙏 Sponsor: PressableFounded in 2010, Pressable is a world-class managed WordPress hosting provider built on the same data network as WordPress.com and WordPress VIP. With industry-leading performance, 24/7 expert support, a 100% uptime guarantee, and seamless integrations with WooCommerce and Jetpack, Pressable provides the tools you need to manage your WordPress websites and grow your business all in one place.
🔗 Mentioned in the show: WordCamp US 2022 * Post Status Huddle at WCUS 2022 Photo Gallery * Michelle Frechette: Five Days Without a Shower * Cory Miller: It's Not the Code, It's the Humans * Post Status Calendar:* Regular Huddles for Europe and the Americas
🐦 You can follow them on Twitter:* Michelle Frechette (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
"So it's hard for people in the community to kind of branch out and communicate online. So imagine how hard it is for people who are new" —Nyasha Green
Dan and Ny are looking forward to attending WordCamp US this week, which is a first for them both. In a slightly more casual conversation touching their usual topics — the business of WordPress, careers, and community — they share the things they're looking forward to seeing and doing at WCUS and in San Diego.
Some of the WCUS sessions they're interested in have to do with WordPress security and bug bounty programs, cross-cultural communication, WordPress and performance, and getting young people into WordPress. Other tech and open source conferences also come up, as Ny is planning to attend All Things Open 2022 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Finally, Ny and Dan discover they both have non-tech backgrounds and started reading J.R.R. Tolkien at an early age. Ny talks about learning several languages and reading The Hobbit in Latin.
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👋 Credits* Nyasha Green, Editorial Director at MasterWP (Twitter) * Dan Knauss, Editor for Post Status (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset, Web Producer intern for Post Status (Twitter)
"We're not afraid to let our human side show." —Eric Karkovack
In this episode of Post Status Draft, Eric Karkovack joins Dan Knauss to discuss their top picks for important topics and news stories in WordPress this week. Then they take up the topic of "professionalism." What is it — what does it mean for us in the WordPress community, and how does it relate to a healthy open source project and business ecosystem?
Eric's Top News Picks:
- WP-Optimize "Cheating" Scandal (WP Tavern)
- WebP in WordPress 6.1 On Hold/Being Reconsidered
- WordPress.com Now Offering $499 Websites
Dan's Top News Picks:
- Unethical "GPL clubs" and "piracy" — and what we can do about it. (An emerging discussion in Post Status Slack and on Twitter.)
- Gravity acquires Gravity — Gravity Forms acquires Gravity Flow and Gravity Experts, product/service businesses in the Gravity Forms ecosystem owned by Steven Henty, Director of Product Development for Rocketgenius – the creators of Gravity Forms.
- Our spotlight on Jonathan Bossenger — and what he says (and personally represents) that touches our unique ideas about professionalism in the WordPress ecosystem here at Post Status.
🙏 Sponsor: A2 HostingA2Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be easily deployed on ANY web hosting plan from A2: Shared, VPS, or Dedicated. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🔗 Mentioned in the Show How Green is WebP Really? (Post Status) * Is There Such Thing as a Sustainable Internet? How Green is WordPress? (raidboxes) * Web Almanac (HTTP Archive) * Elinor Ostrom, A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems (Science, 2009) Ostrom identified "ten subsystem variables that affect the likelihood of successful self-organization of efforts to achieve a sustainable socio-ecological systems by the communities involved." These variables seem incredibly relevant as things we can do in the WordPress ecosystem to engage in self-regulation and self-governance to deal with bad actors and quality issues. (Summary at The London School of Economics) * Nulled Themes and Plugins (Post Status) * Demon-Haunted World (Cory Doctorow) "Cheating is a given..." * We don’t need no stinkin’ standards! (Post Status) * Sarah Schulman, The Trampoline Effect: Redesigning Our Social Safety Net* * Jonathan Bossenger, our Member Spotlight this week (Post Status) * Building and sustaining community through mentorship (Post Status) * Mentorship as Contribution (Post Status)
👋 Credits* Eric Karkovack, Freelance WordPress Web Developer (Twitter) * Dan Knauss, Editor for Post Status (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset, Web Producer intern for Post Status (Twitter)
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you a conversation about important news and issues in the WordPress community and business ecosystem. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
And I would say you're contributing by learning. Like if you're, if you're learning in community, that's a step
- Dan Knauss
How do we give back? We all want a community of creativity, cooperation, and contribution — how do we get there?
In this episode Dan and Ny talk about WordPress and giving back. Giving, making, creating... Looking at the search results for "Make WordPress" and "the firehose" of Make WordPress Slack where the #docs channel was having their weekly meeting, Dan and Ny look at the wide range of options there are for new contributors.,
Mentoring and organizing Meetups is a topic that comes up again. That's where Ny feels she has been given the most and most enjoys giving back. However, there are barriers to getting people engaged with the WordPress project — and to work for free.
Dan asks what needs to be done to reach younger people. Ny talks about the barriers from a BIPOC perspective, where sensitivity to history and personal stories matters. Dan relates that to an inner city gardening project he volunteered with that had an all-white leadership team. If contributing is a privilege, how can we help elevate more people to that level of privilege?
Also covered:
- How does the older open source culture of contribution (not) translate to the contemporary culture of the "creator economy?"
- Dan's initial experience with trying to onboard himself in #docs.
🙏 Sponsor: CloudwaysCloudways is proud to sponsor Post Status. Our managed hosting for WordPress and WooCommerce takes away the cloud server-related learning curve with a seamless and scalable web hosting experience. Trusted by over 250,000 WordPress users, Cloudways gives you the freedom to choose from any of the top IaaS (infrastructure as a service) providers for ultimate performance.
🔗 Mentioned in the Show Make WordPress * WordPress Slack * Daniel Schutzsmith's Tech Roundup (last week's) * Josepha Haden Chomphosy says a new WordPress mentoring program is in the works * Dan's post on languages of contribution and creation in WordPress and the Creator Economy * The WordPress Briefing: Episode 36: Beginner’s Guide to Contributions 2.0 * The WordPress Briefing:* Episode 27: Is WordPress Made for Me?
👋 Credits* Nyasha Green, Editorial Director at MasterWP (Twitter) * Dan Knauss, Editor for Post Status (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset, Web Producer intern for Post Status (Twitter)
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you a conversation about important news and issues in the WordPress community and business ecosystem. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
What's it like to enter this WordPress community media space, especially as the editor of a publication with many voices, personalities, and perspectives?
My friend and dialogue partner, Nyasha Green, is six months into her role as Editorial Director at MasterWP, so today we're talking about what that's been like for Ny, what she's learned, and how we look at the WordPress media space we both work in.
Unsurprisingly we talk about conflict, communication, personality, and the importance of in-person events. That brings up WCUS — a first for both of us — where we'll meet each other and a lot of people we've only known remotely. It also sounds like I might get roped into a karaoke duet. (Not if I can help it!)
👋 Your Hosts* Dan Knauss, Editor for Post Status (Twitter) * Nyasha Green, Editorial Director at MasterWP (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset, Web Producer intern for Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: ElementorElementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece, without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you a conversation about important news and issues in the WordPress community and business ecosystem. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
People don't realize how long ago "long ago" wasn't. We're not talking about two, three, four hundred years ago. My family always stressed working somewhere your employer respects you, because it wasn't that long ago they didn't have a choice.
Nyasha Green
We're rebooting Post Status Excerpt as a weekly chat between Nyasha Green and Dan Knauss (and guests—please join us!) about a few of the active topics and discussions in the WordPress community that we feel are most important. Big thanks to David Bisset in his former role as host and curator here, and also to our intern and post-production engineer, Olivia Bisset.
This week we're talking about pay transparency. Ny relates some personal experiences where an employer did not disclose pay or how employees were selected for raises. This leads us into a discussion of pay transparency in the hiring process — how it matters to everyone but especially job seekers who are black, indigenous, and other people of color. (Ny has written about this before, and Piccia Neri has been investigating the topic lately.) We also talk about how a lack of transparency can seem to emphasize an employer's distrust and an employee's disadvantaged position — and the effect that can have on a workplace culture.
Next, we talk about our own family histories which are touched — in living memory in Ny's case — by slavery and colonialism where work and dignity were extracted from some people by others with the power take their labor without compensation. Ny's great grandfather was born a slave in South Carolina in 1858 and lived until 1963. Dan's ancestors include German settlers in North Carolina who abandoned their earlier beliefs against slavery and began to practice it in the late 1700s. In the Americas and beyond, the past is much closer than we often assume, especially for BIPOC people. History only “bends toward justice” if people choose to bend it that way. It can also go the other way.
Finally, we close with how Allie Nimmons experienced a surprising level of hostility to a survey she presented to the WordPress community about the ways we contribute to the project and how we feel about it. There's the community we have now — and the community we need to become. How do we get there? What are the barriers? How can you help?
🔗 Mentioned in the Show: Piccia Neri started a discussion in Post Status Slack and on Twitter with a poll about job listings without salary ranges. * Nyasha wrote an article for MasterWP, “Put your money where your mouth is: Why we need pay transparency in tech.” * Nyasha's great grandfather, Jeff Doby was one of the Last Survivors of American Slavery. * Historical trauma is carried across the generations in our genetics, according to researchers like Bessel van der Kolk, the author of books like The Body Keeps the Score*. * Allie Nimmons shared this contributor survey on Twitter and commented later on some of the hostile responses she got to the survey itself.
👋 Your Hosts* Nyasha Green, Editorial Director at MasterWP (Twitter) * Dan Knauss, Editor for Post Status (Twitter)
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you a conversation about important news and issues in the WordPress community and business ecosystem. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
Jack Kitterhing joins David to talk about adopting (and adapting) Gutenberg — and Full Site Editing — at LearnDash for their LMS product. The conversation touches on the problem of people in the WordPress community having their course content stolen and resold. What can you do to protect and brand your learning product to deter theft?
Why This Matters: You'll gain insight into Learndash as a WordPress company and learn why it's crucial for product creators to onboard and help their customers do great work with their tools. Support the tool you build, the person using it, and the work they do with it if you want to keep them as long-term customers.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you important news and insights from guests working in the WordPress space. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Jack Kitterhing (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity Forms Gravity Forms is a powerful form builder for WordPress and the #1 choice for businesses and web professionals across the globe. Its vast array of features, intuitive drag-and-drop form editor, and extensive ecosystem of add-ons, ensure customers can design beautiful, intelligent, and accessible forms for any project requirement.
Mentor someone. Today! Don't wait. Start today! Talk to people. Connect with them. Go on Twitter. Just 15 minutes a day. Tell them why this community is great. Make them want to join!
Nyasha Green
For Nyasha Green, a healthy tech community prioritizes mentoring. She credits her mentors with helping her find her place in WordPress. How well does your part of the WordPress ecosystem support mentorship? Can we make mentoring a key way people contribute to WordPress's future?
In this episode of Post Status Draft, Nyasha Green joins Dan Knauss to tell her story about joining the WordPress community relatively recently. Ny is a Software Developer at Howard Development and Consulting as well as the Editorial Director for MasterWP. Ny credits Ken Elliot and Shambi Broome as mentors who got her into WordPress. Together they're getting two new WordPress Meetups up and running in Columbia, SC and Charlotte, NC.
Picking up on one of Kim Lipari‘s comments last week (“We're not a small village anymore.” A Conversation with Kim Lipari — Post Status Draft 121), Nyasha shares her thoughts on the ways the WordPress community can better embrace growth and change by enlarging its circles of leadership, innovation, and talent. For Ny, a culture that prioritizes mentoring relationships is essential. She sees value in paid internships at WordPress companies, intentional programming at Meetups and WordCamps, and the continued use of travel scholarships to welcome new people to an increasingly inclusive WordPress community.
Finally, we also talk about dealing with grief, loss, and emotional health in tech, how social media hurts and helps, and resources like Big Orange Heart that are there for you when you're all out of spoons.
🙏 Sponsor: A2 HostingA2Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be easily deployed on ANY web hosting plan from A2: Shared, VPS, or Dedicated. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Ken Elliot (Twitter) * Shambi Broome (Twitter) * “We're not a small village anymore.” A Conversation with Kim Lipari — Post Status Draft 121 * Howard Development and Consulting * Supporting Underrepresented Speakers at WCUS * Sponsor Inclusion in Tech (Winstina Hughes) * Underrepresented in Tech * Big Orange Heart and #spoonies * Spoon Theory * There's even a Spoonie Wapuu…of course.
🐦 You can follow Nyasha and Dan on Twitter:* Nyasha Green (Twitter) * Dan Knauss (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
Laura is the Marketing Manager at MailPoet — a popular email marketing plugin for WordPress. She’s been working in the WordPress space for the past eight years, with experience in both agency and in-house marketing teams.
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is a powerful form builder for WordPress and the #1 choice for businesses and web professionals across the globe. Its vast array of features, intuitive drag-and-drop form editor, and extensive ecosystem of add-ons, ensure customers can design beautiful, intelligent, and accessible forms for any project requirement.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Cory Miller (Twitter) * Laura Nelson (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Kim Lipari is my guest today on Post Status Draft. Kim started building a career in WordPress over ten years ago, and her agency, Valet, is almost that old. WordPress isn't a small village community anymore, says Kim, but we still talk about it as if it is. That tightly knit community is still there because — not in spite of — incredible growth. But what does the fact of growth mean for a small village culture? Can it turn into an enclave or cult? Is the language of a small village still an appropriate language for leadership? Do we need to act more like we're a busy city — and make an effort to get to know our newer neighbors' stories? Can we keep (let alone scale) the values, culture, and kindness of a healthy small community as we grow?
🙏 Sponsor: WP EngineWP Engine is the WordPress Digital Experience Platform that drives your business forward faster. WP Engine makes WordPress easier and faster. It does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your core business and win online.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Kim Lipari (Twitter) * Dan Knauss (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Miriam Schwab is CEO and co-founder of Strattic, the first WordPress hosting company to allow customers to quickly spin up fast static and headless WordPress sites. Strattic was recently acquired by Elementor. In this episode of Post Status Draft, Miriam talks with Post Status Editor Dan Knauss about her WordPress journey as a WordCamp organizer, agency owner, and web host founder.
In this conversation you’ll also learn about:
- WordPress and performance optimization
- Why everyone should embrace regular people building “terrible” websites
- Why WordCamps are special
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is a powerful form builder for WordPress and the #1 choice for businesses and web professionals across the globe. Its vast array of features, intuitive drag-and-drop form editor, and extensive ecosystem of add-ons, ensure customers can design beautiful, intelligent, and accessible forms for any project requirement.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Miriam Schwab (Twitter) * Dan Knauss (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
In this episode of Post Draft, Post Status Editor Dan Knauss is joined by Maddy Osman. Maddy is the founder of The Blogsmith, a well-known brand in the WordPress space for quality writing that appeals to your target audience and search engines. Maddy has a new book out that can teach you some of her finely-honed skills. It's called Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style.
Writing for Humans and Robots grew out of a style guide Maddy created — first as a freelancer and then, as her team grew, a sizeable agency. In this episode you'll learn about:
- Maddy's business journey: how she first got into web design and WordPress — and then how freelancing led to forming an agency and writing a book.
- What it means to write for people and algorithms: developing a consistent voice for your brand in writing that's optimized for search engines — while being empathetic and appealing to humans.
- Accessibility and AI — writing not just for machines but with them, and how that developing technology can be used best.
🙏 Sponsor: A2 HostingA2Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be easily deployed on ANY web hosting plan from A2: Shared, VPS, or Dedicated. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
🔗 Mentioned in the show: Maddy Osmon (Twitter) * The Blogsmith (Twitter) * Writing for Humans and Robots* (Amazon) (Media Kit) * Dan Knauss (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
David and Olivia Bisset sat down for a chat with Matt Mullenweg about open source, Tumblr, and how Matt deals with negativity. Matt has three roles today: CEO of Tumblr, CEO of Automattic, and project lead for the next release of WordPress. He shares what went wrong with post formats and what he would love to acquire next if he could. The answer may (or may not) surprise you!
This interview was recorded shortly before WordCamp Europe 2022.
🙏 Sponsor: A2 HostingA2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2. You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!
If you work in the WordPress space or would like to, check out the A2 hosting careers page. With data centers around the globe, A2 is a growing, founder-led company that relies on over 200 team members to bring their customers' digital visions to life every day. Check out a2hosting.com/about/careers to learn about current openings or the Post Status Job Board at poststatus.com/jobs
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordPress Openverse * Matt Mullenweg (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you important news and insights from guests working in the WordPress space. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
What if there was a "lite" version of WordPress that was still WordPress — still customizable under the hood but tuned up for a great user experience for particular use cases? For example — could a lite version be used to allow an admin to literally build an online store in minutes from a mobile device? How about just a note-taking app with cool open web features? What if, what if, what if...!!!
David Bisset, Bob Dunn, Jess Frick, and Eric Karkovack shared on Twitter Spaces what their own versions of WordPress Lite would do — what market or niche it would fit — and whether it's practical for something like this to run on WordPress at all.
Why it matters: WordPress has had more and more competition in recent years for very simple applications and tasks like simple blogs, simple storefronts, and simple ways of selling access to subscribers for digital content. Conversations during this episode were occurring while the WordPress space was discussing competition and declining market share.
🙏 Sponsor: CloudwaysCloudways is proud to sponsor Post Status. Our managed hosting for WordPress and WooCommerce takes away the cloud server-related learning curve with a seamless and scalable web hosting experience. Trusted by over 250,000 WordPress users, Cloudways gives you the freedom to choose from any of the top IaaS (infrastructure as a service) providers for ultimate performance. TRY CLOUDWAYS ›
Follow Our Panelists (and Post Status) on Twitter:* Bob Dunn (Twitter) * Jess Frick (Twitter) * Eric Karkovack (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
“Coming with the way you can help versus asking someone how you can help them can be very helpful.”
— Neisha Sweet
In this conversation for Post Status Excerpt, David is joined by Destiny Fox, Niesha Sweet, and Allie Nimmons. Previously they spoke about BlackPress, and now they explain why it's sometimes difficult to help people in an underrepresented group.
Why This Matters: It’s important to the WordPress community's growth and health that we ensure all kinds of people feel welcome and can contribute. For many, it's not easy, and some people are even stuck wondering what to do and how to do it. Destiny, Niesha, and Allie explain how understanding and empathy should enter our interactions to develop a more inclusive community
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you important news and insights from guests working in the WordPress space. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* How to be a WordPress ally * BlackPress * Destiny Kanno Fox (WordPress Profile) * Destiny Kanno Fox (Twitter) * Allie Nimmons (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WP EngineWP Engine is the WordPress Digital Experience Platform that drives your business forward faster. WP Engine makes WordPress easier and faster. It does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your core business and win online.
On May 25th, 2022 we celebrated WordPress's 19th anniversary. With the help of wp19.day — and partners Envira Gallery, Post Status, and GoDaddy Pro — two live events were held that day. Each had a group of guests that have been deeply involved in the WordPress community for some time.
This episode of Comments records the second event. It happened later in the day as a celebration. Several different WordPress meetups also joined us on Zoom along with our guests.
As in our previous episode, we started off sharing a few favorite memories but then quickly got into a deeper conversation about the state of WordPress now — and what we hope to see in its future.
Guests: Mary Job, Nathan Wrigley, Naoko Takano, Carrie Dils, David Yarde, Joe Simpson Jr., Pat Ramsey, John Jacoby, Yvette Sonneveld, and Taco Verdo.
Post Status Comments 💬 is a stage for WordPress professionals to exchange ideas and talk about recent topics and trends.
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* wp19.day
🙏 Sponsor: WP EngineWP Engine is the WordPress Digital Experience Platform that drives your business forward faster. WP Engine makes WordPress easier and faster. It does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your core business and win online.
Follow Our Panelists (and Post Status) on Twitter: Mary Job (Twitter) * Nathan Wrigley (Twitter) * Naoko Takano (Twitter) * Carrie Dils (Twitter) * David Yarde (Twitter) * Joe Simpson Jr. (Twitter) * Pat Ramsey (Twitter) * John Jacoby (Twitter) * Yvette Sonneveld (Twitter) * Taco Verdo* (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
Richard Midson is a podcaster, techie, public relations officer, as well as a journalism and communications veteran now working at Automattic. Richard sat down with Post Status Publisher Cory Miller during WordCamp Europe 2022 to talk about the future of podcasting and the opportunities for WordPress as a podcasting platform.
🙏 Sponsor: PagelyTop-Tier Managed WordPress hosting solutions for Enterprise, the Public Sector, and Media companies. We invented Managed WordPress and we never stopped raising the bar. Expect Extraordinary!
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Cory Miller (Twitter) * Craig Hewitt (Twitter) * Castos (Twitter)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
On May 25th, 2022 we celebrated WordPress's 19th anniversary. With the help of wp19.day (which partnered with Envira Gallery, Post Status, and GoDaddy Pro) two live events were held that day — each with a group of guests that have been and currently are deeply involved in the WordPress community: Mary Job, Nathan Wrigley, Naoko Takano, Olivia Bisset, Yvette Sonneveld, Taco Verdo, and Nyasha Green.
This episode truly represents the global and diverse culture that the WordPress community represents. As we got people sharing a few of their favorite WordPress memories, we quickly got into a deeper conversation about the state of WordPress today and what we hope to see for it in the future.
Post Status Comments 💬 is a stage for WordPress professionals to exchange ideas and talk about recent topics and trends.
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* wp19.day
🙏 Sponsor: WP EngineWP Engine is the WordPress Digital Experience Platform that drives your business forward faster. WP Engine makes WordPress easier and faster. It does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your core business and win online.
Follow Our Panelists (and Post Status) on Twitter: Mary Job (Twitter) * Nathan Wrigley (Twitter) * Naoko Takano (Twitter) * Olivia Bisset (Twitter) * Yvette Sonneveld* (Twitter) * Taco Verdo (Twitter) * Nyasha Green (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
“We are going to have two panels - one on acquisitions and another one about the community."
— Sabrina Zeidan
David sits down with Sabrina Zeidan (WCEU Content Team) and Evangelia Pappa (WCEU Public Relations Team) for a preview of the upcoming WordCamp Europe 2022 in Porto, Portugal. Sabrina and Evangelia briefly talk about the conference's COVID safety measures and the overall schedule and theme of WCEU. They offer some tips for things to do while you're attending, and if you're tuning in remotely, there's a surprise waiting for you too. This is the perfect travel episode for anyone en route to WCEU.
Why This Matters: WordCamp Europe is one of the first big in-person WordCamp and WordPress events to resume, post-pandemic.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you important news and insights from guests working in the WordPress space. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show: WordCamp Europe Schedule * WordCamp Europe Ticket Page * Sabrina Zeidan (Twitter) * Evangelia Pappa* (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: PagelyYou need durable Managed WordPress Hosting for all your mission-critical sites. Pagely offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with Pagely. Try it today!
“It's so nice to have a peer who's doing similar kinds of work in their own brands and just being able to collaborate and work at that level... that is kind of rare.”
— Zach Tirrell
David sits down with Zach Tirrell to talk about his new role as product manager (replacing Chris Lema) at StellarWP. Zach manages The Events Calendar and LearnDash plugins but also several other products that are under the StellarWP umbrella.
Why This Matters: You'll learn how StellarWP manages a number of popular WordPress products. Zach shares his thoughts about about Gutenberg, software licenses, and recent news about the WordPress market share.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you important news and insights from guests working in the WordPress space. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Zach Tirrell (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WP EngineWP Engine is the WordPress Digital Experience Platform that drives your business forward faster. WP Engine makes WordPress easier and faster. It does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your core business and win online.
“In order for WordPress to win, the rest of the competition doesn’t have to lose.” — David BissetHow should the WordPress community react to the first recorded dip in market share? Is a small decline something to be concerned about or more of an opportunity to examine what defines WordPress as a successful platform? Are the Gutenberg project, Full Site Editing, other core features, or competitor innovations important factors? Should some organizations in the WordPress space be playing a bigger role as contributors?
Special guests Joost de Valk, Alex Denning, and Jessica Frick discuss these subjects with host David Bisset — and near the end Ben Gabler join.
Post Status Comments 💬 is a stage for WordPress professionals to exchange ideas and talk about recent topics and trends.
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
🙏 Sponsor: WP EngineThe WordPress Digital Experience Platform that drives your business forward faster. Simply put, we make WordPress easier and faster, and we do the heavy lifting for our customers, so they can focus on their core business and win online.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordPress’ market share is shrinking * What WordPress has to do with the Discontinued iPod * A 0.4% drop in WordPress CMS market share doesn’t really matter (Article) * Alex Denning WordPress' Market Share Twitter Thread * Continuation of Alex Denning WordPress' Market Share Twitter Thread * Rich Tabor reply on Full Site Editing on Twitter * Nick Diego reply on Full Site Editing on Twitter Part 1 * Nick Diego reply on Full Site Editing on Twitter Part 2 * 105,495,450 searches for WordPress terms in the last 12 months, up 7.5% year-on-year
Follow Our Panelists (and Post Status) on Twitter:* Joost de Valk (Twitter) * Alex Denning (Twitter) * Jessica Frick (Twitter) * Ben Gabler (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
“Matching is key. That the individuals has the right skills, the right availability, and the right temperament to join an agency's team to help them meet their goals.”
— Morayo Orija
Have you ever considered outsourcing some aspect of your business? Have you hired a virtual assistant — for yourself or for your agency? David chats with Michael Short and Morayo Orija from GoWP about the value of outsourcing certain business operations. Learn what to look for, and why you might need to "let it go" and trust other people as you outsource parts of your business you can't handle.
Why This Matters: Most businesses and freelancers can't do it all — or they shouldn't. Whether it's accounting, content creation, or development — we sometimes have to acknowledge our limitations and weaknesses. Why not turn to trusted sources in the industry and WordPress community for help? If you've thought about outsourcing as a possible solution for your business, you'll benefit from listening to Michael and Morayo.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you important news and insights from guests working in the WordPress space. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show: Michael Short * Morayo Orija * GiveWP* * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WP EngineWP Engine is the WordPress Digital Experience Platform that drives your business forward faster. Simply put, WP Engine makes WordPress easier and faster, and they do the heavy lifting for our customers, so they can focus on their core business and win online.
“Back in the early days of WordPress development... I could only have one system on my local computer.” — Cal EvansIn this developer-oriented conversation for Post Status Excerpt, David talks about WordPress development with Cal Evans. Cal explains the basics of Docker and Lando — as well as the advantages of using them. Docker is an open platform for developing, shipping, and running applications. It can work with Lando to automate your development workflow.
Why This Matters: Developers — both individually and in teams — are building more complex applications with (and for) WordPress, so the software stack is getting more complex. How you setup your environment (local, cloud, or both) is becoming more important, and developers should educate themselves on the available options — especially with popular choices being explored by PHP developers.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you important news and insights from guests working in the WordPress space. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Docker Get Started * Lando, WordPress, and ngrok...oh my * Lando DB Helper * Lando and WordPress Development * Lando Website * Cal Evan's Personal Website * Cal Evans (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WP EngineWP Engine is the WordPress Digital Experience Platform that drives your business forward faster. Simply put, WP Engine makes WordPress easier and faster, and they do the heavy lifting for our customers, so they can focus on their core business and win online.
“Organizers running meetups wherever they may be — your first thought should be how I can make this inclusive for everyone?”
— Niesha Sweet
In this conversation for Post Status Excerpt, David is joined by Destiny Fox, Niesha Sweet, and Allie Nimmons to talk about BlackPress. BlackPress exists "to bring more creators of Black African descent into the WordPress Community" and to provide this part of the community with a network for support and learning. Find out how BlackPress got started and how the WordPress community (from meetup organizers to businesses) can help their cause.
Why This Matters: It’s important in the WordPress community that we make sure all kinds of people feel welcome and can contribute. By supporting and learning how BlackPress strengthens the community, we can apply that knowledge in our own way and do the same.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you important news and insights from guests working in the WordPress space. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* How to Be A WordPress Ally * BlackPress * Destiny Kanno Fox (WordPress Profile) * Destiny Kanno Fox (Twitter) * Allie Nimmons (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
“A style is the design language for a theme.” —Rich TaborIn this episode, David Bisset talks with someone who has moved the WordPress theme needle a long way: Rich Tabor. Rich believes the arrival of the Full Site Editing experience in WordPress 5.9 is the biggest innovation since themes emerged. Speaking from the experience of creating blocks and block themes, Rich explains how Full Site Editing will change WordPress's identity.
Why This Matters: WordPress professionals need to be familiar with more than just just “blocks.” There are block themes, styles, and more features that have already arrived in the WordPress editor. This episode helps put these new enhancements in context for builders, agencies, and creatives.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you important news and insights from guests working in the WordPress space. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* A new era of WordPress themes is finally here * All my blocks are now available on Github * Meet Wabi, a WordPress block theme for writers and publishers * Building a Generative Art Gallery with P5.js * Richard Tabor (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WordPress VIPFounded in 2006, WordPress VIP is the agile content platform that empowers marketers to build content both faster and smarter so they can drive more growth. We empower content and development teams with the flexibility and ubiquity of WordPress—the agile CMS that powers more than 40% of the web—while ensuring the security and reliability organizations need to operate at scale.
David: “What do you think the WordPress community takes for granted?”
Robert: “The support of Automattic.”Excerpt #54 — "What WordPress Can Learn from Joomla"
In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David and Dan team up to talk with Robert Jacobi. Robert is the Director of WordPress at Cloudways. He has also served as president of the Joomla open source project. With his experience and knowledge of Joomla's approach to governance, contributors, and the many challenges facing open source projects, the three dive into what the WordPress community can learn from a peer open source CMS of the same generation as WordPress.
Don't miss our previous episode about Drupal and what WordPress can learn from that project — with guest Amy June Hineline.
Why This Matters: WordPress might be big, but it’s not the only open source fish in the CMS ocean. Drupal and Joomla are the other two big names that have matured but taken their own unique paths with different governance models, cultures, and ways of getting things done. There's a lot to learn outside the WordPress bubble from other projects like Joomla as they experience unique challenges and navigate familiar ones.
"Settings expectations, communicating well, and being responsive are the top 3 things you can do to improve your customer support." —Dave RodenbaughIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David sits down again with Dave Rodenbaugh, founder of Recapture.io. Dave has been involved with the business of WordPress plugins since 2009 with products like Business Directory Plugin and Another Classified WordPress Plugin.
Why This Matters: Dave explains how to set expectations for the support you offer, especially in the WordPress repository where users can download plugins for free and request — or demand — free support too. How you deal with problem customers and discover who has the skills to work effectively in support is important for WordPress product owners. If you have plugins or themes for sale inside and outside the WordPress.org repo, you'll find value in Dave's insights.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will bring you important news and insights from guests working in the WordPress space. 🎙️
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Dave Rodenbaugh (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: BluehostEverything your website needs — from start-up to success story — is at Bluehost. Whether you're looking to create a website, blog, or online store, Bluehost will get you started with an all-in-one website platform tailored to your specific needs. Get a free domain name in your first year, free 24/7 lifetime support, and total design freedom with WordPress at Bluehost.
“Embrace Progress Over Perfection” —Roshanda Prattn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David meets Roshanda Pratt and welcomes her to the WordPress community. Soon, Roshanda will be speaking at the upcoming WP Career Summit on “Secrets to Being on Camera in Live Video.” Roshanda has been a television producer for a number of years and shares some tips to improve your image and confidence in video calls or at conferences and job interviews.
If you want to stand out and express yourself professionally, you'll want to hear Roshanda's advice and attend her WP Career Summit talk.
Every week Post Status Excerpt brings you insightful guests and timely conversations about WordPress, the WordPress community, and the WordPress business ecosystem. 🌐
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WP Career Summit * REP NETWORK * Roshanda Pratt (Linkedin) * Roshanda Pratt (Instagram) * Roshanda Pratt (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
"These [PHP] depreciation notices are warnings to project managers and developers... do we have enough time for core but especially the community to fix the codebases?” — Tonya MorkAnyone seriously invested in WordPress, from developers to agency owners, has a big stake in the primary language WordPress is built with: PHP. WordPress professionals have a lot to keep track of, so it's not surprising they often overlook important news from the PHP community and development team. To bring you up to speed, David Bisset speaks with Carl Alexander and Tonya Mork in this episode of The Excerpt. Tonya and Carl have been deep into WordPress and PHP for many years. Here they offer a "Cliffs Notes" take on the PHP news the WordPress community should be paying attention to now. This includes big changes to code for developers and the need for a PHP Foundation.
Why This Is Important: WordPress depends on PHP, so developers and professionals should be aware of what is coming down the road as features are added, modified, and deprecated. There are also challenges of governance and sustainability that PHP is facing now that impact WordPress and relate to similar issues in the WordPress project.
Post Status Comments 💬 is a stage for WordPress professionals to exchange ideas and talk about recent topics and trends.
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* PHP Project * PHP Foundation * Avoiding Buses * 2-1 * Juliette's Tweet * Key WordPress Statistics * How do you start unit testing existing WordPress code? * Rector
Follow Our Panelists (and Post Status) on Twitter:* David Bisset * Carl Alexander * Tonya Mork
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
"When it comes to contributing…. time is a true privilege" - Amy JuneThere are a lot of people in the WordPress community who also work (or previously worked) with Drupal, Joomla, and other open-source software projects. Amy June Hineline is Community Manager at Opensource.com. She is also a member of both the WordPress and Drupal communities. As DrupalCon 2022 approaches, Amy June shares the lessons she thinks WordPress can learn from Drupal’s relationship with its contributors and open source.
Why This Is Important: Drupal and WordPress are both mature open source PHP/MySQL CMS platforms that emerged in the early 2000s. They share a common goal and have similar communities, but there are notable differences between them. There are opportunities for each community to learn from the other.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Drupal Pod GitHub * DrupalCon * Opensource.com * Amy June (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: PagelyPagely offers Top-Tier Managed WordPress hosting solutions for Enterprise, the Public Sector, and Media companies. We invented Managed WordPress and we never stopped raising the bar. Expect Extraordinary.
"Culture is King. Content is the town crier." - Lance RobbinsIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Lance Robbins (Global Recruitment Lead at XWP) talks to David Bisset about WordPress companies struggling to find talent in the current job market. Lance believes employers need to think about how they market themselves to prospective employees. Traditional approaches to hiring won't work with the next generation of job seekers. What if open source values and ways of thinking point to solutions WordPress businesses can uniquely embrace?
Lance will be speaking at the upcoming WP Career Summit on April 8th, 2022. You can register to attend for free as a job seeker.
Why This Is Important: Finding the right talent (and being found by the right employer) is challenging in the tech space. If you are looking for the right employee (or boss) then this is worth a listen.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WP Career Summit * Lance Robbins (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: CloudWaysJust like you, we live and breathe WordPress! Cloudways is proud to sponsor Post Status. Our managed hosting for WordPress and WooCommerce takes away the cloud server-related learning curve with a seamless and scalable web hosting experience. Trusted by over 250,000 WordPress users, Cloudways gives you the freedom to choose from any of the top IaaS (infrastructure as a service) providers for ultimate performance.
"Site owners shouldn't be doing performance for the sake of performance but for their own success on the web." —Thierry MullerIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David decides it's a good time to check in on the newly formed WordPress Performance Team with Felix Arntz and Thierry Muller. They talk about the things the Performance Team targeted first (and why), backward compatibility, and what other CMSs (beyond WordPress) do a good job with performance. Find out how all of us in the WordPress community can support the performance team.
Why This is Important: Performance is an often-discussed topic when it comes to WordPress. The diversity of the plugin ecosystem brings unique performance challenges with it. WordPress core itself needs to remain competitive, if not lead, in performance.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 25 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Slack channel (meetings are on Tuesdays 16:00 UTC) * make.wordpress.org/core/tag/performance * Performance Plugin In Progress * Thierry Muller (Twitter) * Felix Arniz (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: PagelyTop-Tier Managed WordPress hosting solutions for Enterprise, the Public Sector, and Media companies. We invented Managed WordPress and we never stopped raising the bar. Expect Extraordinary.
“There is always some space [in the WordPress ecosystem] left for developers.” – Dave RodenbaughIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David has a conversation with Dave Rodenbaugh, founder of Recapture.io. Dave has been involved with the business of WordPress plugins since 2009 with products like Business Directory Plugin and Another Classified WordPress Plugin.
Why This Matters: Dave shares what he's learned while running a business in the WordPress space. Others in this space or looking to enter it will learn when (and what) they should outsource to SaaS and open source.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Dave Rodenbaugh (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: BluehostEverything your website needs — from start-up to success story — is at Bluehost. Whether you're looking to create a website, blog, or online store, Bluehost will get you started with an all-in-one website platform tailored to your specific needs. Get a free domain name in your first year, free 24/7 lifetime support, and total design freedom with WordPress at Bluehost.
“The only folks able to do a free plugin are ones that are supported by a big corporation...” — Matt Cromwell"They suck" might be one way to describe the state of WordPress admin notices as a whole, but that doesn't help us very much, does it? David Bisset is joined by Matt Cromwell, Jon Bossenger, Aurooba Ahmed, and several guests to discuss the current pain points and possible technical solutions. Why do developers overdo admin notices in the first place? Learn about WP Notify, how it approaches the problem, and how the WordPress community can help make this the core solution.
Post Status Comments 💬 is a stage for WordPress professionals to exchange ideas and talk about recent topics and trends.
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WP Notify - A Notification Center for WordPress (Feature Project) * WP Notify Status Update * Encourage Donations to your Free Plugins with a Delayed Admin Notice * Clarity Ad Blocker for WordPress Announced, Receives Mixed Reactions
Follow Our Panelists (and Post Status) on Twitter:* David Bisset * Aurooba Ahmed * Jon Bossenger * Matt Cromwell * Post Status
🙏 Sponsor: StellarWPWe are a collective of WordPress innovators, empowering business owners and creators with plugins and tools to help them thrive. We build great plugins, but we don’t stop there; we continually challenge ourselves to keep innovating and improving.
Our solutions include the most trusted names in WordPress, with more than 2.5 Million installs. Since 2021, we’ve grown to encompass seven brands and dozens of plugins.
StellarWP is part of the Liquid Web family of brands.
"It is now time for the community to weigh in and decide whether WordPress should stop and refuel in this new port." —Leonardo LosovizIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David talks with Leonardo Losoviz about The Block Protocol and why it might benefit WordPress to adopt it and allow more of the web to share and reuse blocks. Matt Mullenweg has expressed interest in taking this path.
Why This Is Important: Gutenberg, according to Matt, is "bigger than WordPress,", especially in the context of the Open Web. The Block Protocol is a way to create and share content across WordPress, half-WordPress, and non-WordPress sites, which supports the project's mission to democratize publishing.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Implications Of WordPress Joining The Block Protocol * Making The Web Better With Blocks * The Block Protocol * Matt Mullenweg on Twitter * Leonardo Losoviz (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: RocketgeniusGravity Forms is a powerful form builder for WordPress and the #1 choice for businesses and web professionals across the globe. Its vast array of features, intuitive drag-and-drop form editor, and extensive ecosystem of add-ons, ensure customers can design beautiful, intelligent, and accessible forms for any project requirement.
In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David continues a conversation with Lesley Sim to pick her brain about some ideas she has for rewarding core contributors to WordPress. Last month on Twitter and Post Status Slack Lesley floated the idea of special contributor badges on WordPress.org. These badges would give developers who earned them a boost to their plugin and theme rankings. The goal would be to encourage new contributors to enter the WordPress ecosystem and recognize those in the community who are doing typically unpaid work that carries the project forward.
Why This Is Important: Improving the contributor onboarding experience will help WordPress gain more core contributors. Some ideas going around the WordPress community involve additional sponsorships, new sources of funding, and public recognition. Some ideas will never make it off the ground but might lead to better ideas that do take off. We should never stop thinking about how to make the human factor in contribution to the project better for everyone. Maintaining a commons, like WordPress as an open source project, is a constant challenge for the WordPress community, as Lesley recently wrote for Post Status.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Lesley Sim (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David talks with Lesley Sim about Joel Spolsky on the Block Protocol, Matt Mullenweg for taking over for the exiting CEO of Tumblr, and a blog post by Dan Devine entitled "The Complicated Futility of WordPress."
Why This Is Important: It's good to examine the views of influencers inside and outside the WordPress community about managing content (especially with blocks) and how complex content management systems (like WordPress) have become. Tumblr is a potential wildcard — social network, gateway to more advanced publishing, both, or neither?
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Making the Web Better With Blocks * Twitter announcement: Matt "running Tumblr personally for a while" * The Complicated Futility of WordPress * Twitter conversation: Coderjerk / Matt & Others * Lesley Sim (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WordfenceWho can afford downtime, a black mark on their brand’s reputation, or the SEO impact of getting hacked? That’s why so many WordPress sites rely on the real-time protection provided by Wordfence Premium. Now, Wordfence Central offers Premium subscribers a powerful and efficient dashboard to manage security for all their sites from one central location. Try Wordfence today!
In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David talks with Collins Agbonghama, the Founder of ProfilePress and the author of a few other WordPress plugins. Collins shares what he called a “small” win in Post Status Slack early in January 2022: he acquired a plugin (now LoginWP) for “5 figures” and was able to break even on a revamped, commercial “Pro” version after only four months. David and Collins talk about this accomplishment and consider how similar opportunities may exist for other WordPress entrepreneurs.
Why This Is Important: Often you hear about large product acquisitions between relatively large companies in the WordPress space, but not so much the smaller ones — even though they can be just as impactful on people's livelihoods, especially for independent developers and freelancers.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* People of WordPress: Collins Agbonghama * WordPress Saved my Life * Interview with Collins Agbonghama of ProfilePress (Formerly WP User Avatar) * Collins Agbonghama * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WordfenceWho can afford downtime, a black mark on their brand’s reputation, or the SEO impact of getting hacked? That’s why so many WordPress sites rely on the real-time protection provided by Wordfence Premium. Now, Wordfence Central offers Premium subscribers a powerful and efficient dashboard to manage security for all their sites from one central location. Try Wordfence today!
"When it comes to accessibility lawsuits, we as developers should be proactive to ensure a site is as accessible as possible." — Amber HindsIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David chats with Amber Hinds about the things WordPress professionals should be paying attention to. Their conversation covers recent trends and news in the accessibility space: meetups, lawsuits, overlays, and design trends.
Why This Is Important: Accessibility is important to everyone, so it is critical for WordPress developers and designers to keep accessibility in mind. David and Amber only scratch the surface of this topic. Amber encourages developers to read this call from the Accessibility team to share their ideas, take part in the discussion, and suggest what to prioritize for WordPress in the near future.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡ You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* 2021 Year End Report - App & Web Accessibility Lawsuits Break Records * WordPress Accessibility Meetup * Accessibility Checker * 2021 lawsuit report-trends-and findings * Digital Lawsuits * Overview of the European Accessibility Act * A Guide to the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation * The ADA Lawsuit Selement Involving an Accessibility Overlay (Murphy v. Eyebobs) * Overlay Fact Sheet * Overlay False Claims * WP Accessibility Plugin * Accessibility and 2022: 13 Design Trends From a Usability Perspective * Accessibility Team’s goals for WordPress 6.0 and beyond * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
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"They don't talk about being at the summit until you're at the top, so [getting ahead] is a process." — Michelle FrechetteIn this episode of Post Status Draft, David sits down with Michelle Frechette to talk about what Post Status is planning for its community and the WordPress crowd as a whole in the first half of 2022. They cover three new events: the Weekly WordPress Job Chat on Twitter Spaces, WP Career Summit, and the first-ever Post Status Twitter Conference. (The conference theme is “Give. Grow. Together.”)
Why This Is Important: Post Status is listening to members and watching what discussions are happening in the WordPress community. Michelle points out why each of these events is important to certain sections of the community — each event will touch the lives of many WordPress professionals in some way.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WP Career Summit — Save the Date! * Post Status Twitter Conference * Post Status Events * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: BluehostEverything your website needs — from start-up to success story — is at Bluehost. Whether you're looking to create a website, blog, or online store, Bluehost will get you started with an all-in-one website platform tailored to your specific needs. Get a free domain name in your first year, free 24/7 lifetime support, and total design freedom with WordPress at Bluehost.
“I totally rely on [the community] now… it’s like an extended family… it means a lot to me and I’m glad that everybody’s hanging on in there with me.” —Nathan WrigleyAfter the first Post Status WordPress News Draft went so well, we decided to do a more European timezone-friendly version. The group of news “avengers” that assembled in this episode are Winstina Hughes, Tammie Lister, Nathan Wrigley, Amber Hinds, Yvette Sonneveld, and Malcom Peralty — with David Bisset hosting. In three rounds of draft picks, this group assembled new and interesting picks of the most noteworthy or influential WordPress news stories of 2021.
Also: Video recordings of some of our members' single biggest news picks were included in this episode.
Post Status Comments 💬 is a stage for WordPress professionals to exchange ideas and talk about recent topics and trends.
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
🔗 Mentioned in the show:Amber Hinds
- WP Tavern: ACF Solicits Lifetime License Holders for Contributions, Urging Them to Purchase Annual Subscriptions.
- Sheri Byrne-Haber's Blog: The ADA Lawsuit Settlement Involving an Accessibility Overlay. (Murphy v. Eyebobs)
- WP Tavern: WordPress Classic Editor Support Extended for at Least Another Year.
- WP Tavern: Wix Takes a Jab at WordPress with Bewildering New marketing Campaign and Wix’s Negative Advertising Campaign Falls Flat with WordPress Developers and Professionals.
Yvette Sonneveld
- WP Tavern: WordPress Community Team Proposes Using a Decision Checklist to Restart Local Events.
- Joost.blog: WordPress Market Share Growth Slows Down.
- Rian Rietveld: Accessibility Overlays: Common Sense and Nonsense.
- WIRED: An Open Source License that Requires Users to Do No Harm.
- The Guardian: Online Forums Provide Safe Haven for People Who Suffer from Mental Health Challenges During COVID.
Tammie Lister
- Make.WordPress.org: Pattern directory update.
- Matias Ventura: Theme.json horizon.
- Kjellr.com: Experimenting .
- Aino: Theme Update Guide.
Winstina Hughes
- Post Status Podcast 37 - David and Mary Job.
Nathan Wrigley
- WordPress.org: Openverse.
- Wordfest.com: Community.
Malcolm Peralty
- WP Tavern: Gravity Forms 2.5 Launches With an Overhauled UI and Focus on Accessibility.
- WP Tavern: ElasticPress.io Service Considers Next Move after Elasticsearch Abandons Open Source Licensing.
- WP Tavern: Elastic Hits Back at OpenSearch, Making Client Libraries Incompatible with Amazon-led Open Source Fork.
- Wordfence: GoDaddy Breached – Plaintext Passwords – 1.2M Affected.
- WP Tavern: Delicious Brains Acquires Advanced Custom Fields Plugin.
- WP Tavern: ACF 5.10 Introduces Block API v2 Support, Block Preloading, and Security Improvements.
- WP Mainline: Why Can’t I Transform Two Paragraph Blocks and an Ordered List Block Into A Quote Block?
Additional Contributions via ZipMesssage:* ZipMessage: Biggest News Story of 2021
Follow Our Panelists (and Post Status) on Twitter:* Yvette Sonneveld * Tammie Lister * Winstina Hughes * Nathan Wrigley * Malcom Peralty * Post Status
"The Hippy Times are going to end at some point." —Bob DunnIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David has an honest and deep dive with Bob Dunn into the "versions" of the WordPress community — something Bob covered in a recent blog post that has gotten some attention recently. They discuss what each "version" was like, how money can make a community act differently, and how people position themselves, for better or worse, in reaction to changes in the community.
Also: David asks Bob if certain changes are unavoidable once a community gets to a certain size and asks what is missing from the WordPress community today that existed in the early days.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Are We in WordPress Community Version 3.0? * Twitter Poll About WordPress Version/Generations * Conversation At Post Status * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better
"In 2022 at Post Status... we will be together and make the most of our online experiences." —Cory MillerIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David and Cory chat about the key events for Post Status in 2021, including Cory's acquisition of Post Status from Brian in May, StellarWP's sponsorship of Post Status Slack to go pro, and the acquisition tracker. Cory also explains how his understanding of Post Status has changed since acquiring it.
Also: David and Cory also discuss what they hope Post Status can become in early 2022.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Post Status Acquisition Tracker * Post Status Open Web Manifesto * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: Go Daddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
"This story reminded me that big company big money doesn't mean just more profit but can also mean big contributions." - Aurooba AhmedIt's the first-ever Post Status WordPress News Draft! The initial group of news "avengers" in this episode are Aurooba Ahmed, Jason Cosper, Daniel Schutzsmith, Robert Jacobi, and Lesley Sim — with David Bisset hosting. In three rounds of draft picks, this group assembled the most noteworthy or influential WordPress news stories of 2021.
Also: There was also a final "quick link" round with some interesting choices the guests brought to the table.
Post Status Comments 💬 provides a stage for WordPress professionals to exchange ideas and talk about recent topics and trends.
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordPress 5.9 Release (Aurooba Pick #1) * Frost being acquired and made open source (Aurooba Pick #2) * Stubbornella utilities classes twitter thread (Aurooba Pick #3) * WP User Avatar > Profile Press Debacle (Daniel Pick #1) * Blocks, Boards & Fishing Reels – How Gutenberg has Divided WordPress (Daniel Pick #2) * Podcast app Pocket Casts acquired by WordPress․com owner Automattic (Daniel Pick #3) * WordPress Performance Team (Jason Pick #1) * theme.json drops with WordPress 5.8 (Jason PIck #2) * Google’s FLoC and WordPress (Jason Pick #3) * Exciting news: Yoast joins Newfold Digital (Robert Pick #1) * Welcome to Openverse (Robert Pick #2) * American Airlines sues online publisher and host over fake website (Robert Pick #3) * AM Marketing Machine (Lesley Pick #1) * Founder's Field Guide Podcast: Matt Mullenweg – The Past, Present, and Future of the Internet (Lesley Pick #2) * Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software, Nadia Eghbal (Lesley Pick #3) * Can Matt Mullenweg save the internet? (David's Pick #1) * Awesome Motive Has Acquired Sandhills Development (David's Pick #2) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
"Too many things were interrelated and we didn’t have enough people who were looking across…" —Anne McCarthyIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David has an informative chat with Anne McCarthy. Anne is a Developer Relations Wrangler for Automattic and (among other things) has been responsible for many of the recent videos showcasing the features of Full Site Editing and WordPress 5.9. David and Anne talk about what decisions led to the delay of WordPress 5.9, her start with Automattic, COVID's effect on core contributions, and how polished Full Site Editing might be by the end of January 2022.
Also: David asks Anne what the future of the WordPress Customizer will be in a world of Full Site Editing.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
You can listen to past episodes of The Excerpt, browse all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or by RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordPress 5.9 Revised Release Schedule * Why I Voted To Delay WordPress 5.9 * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
Cory leads the first Post Status Year-End Member Huddle — on Zoom. It’s a mix of news about the year ahead for Post Status members, discussion, a year-end exercise for you, and some laughs over the best ugly sweater contest.
🙏 Sponsor: PagelyYou need durable Managed WordPress Hosting for all your mission-critical sites. Pagely offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with Pagely. Try it today!
"I believe our community can make significant contributions to Gutenberg and the Block Editor." —Cory MillerIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory shares his experience among the 30+ individuals who attended the State of the Word in New York in person. David and Cory talk about how Matt presented himself, his views on the necessary ratio of community contributions to open source projects, Five for the Future, the next generation of leaders, and what it means to give back to the community and WordPress core.
Also: Cory hints at what Post Status will be doing in 2022 when it comes to giving back — along with how Post Status will encourage and assist people in contributing to the WordPress community.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* YouTube: State Of The Word 2021 * GoDaddy Review And Timeline of State of the Word 2021 * The WP Minute (Audio + Transcript) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: Yoast SEOYoast is SEO for everyone. Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support and extra features like internal linking, social previews, a redirect manager, tutorial videos, and integration with Google Webmaster Tools. Get on board today with the premiere SEO plugin for WordPress — Yoast.
"You shouldn't be the one to always take, you want to be the one to always give." —Mary JobIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David chats with special guest Mary Job. Mary is a remote, "nomad" worker in Africa who travels from city to city. She is an engineer with Paid Memberships Pro but also spends a large amount of time growing and stimulating the African WordPress community. Mary has helped start WP Africa, a site devoted to the community of WordPress users on the continent. She talks about challenges they face, compares the WordPress presence with Google in Africa, and looks forward to the day when there can be a WordCamp Africa.
Also: Mary shares how she got involved in WordPress, and how appreciative she is of the giving nature of the WordPress community. David will have to figure out how to get Mary's invite to Matt.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WP Africa * David Bisset (Twitter) * Mary Job (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: PagelyYou need durable Managed WordPress Hosting for all your mission-critical sites. Pagely offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with Pagely. Try it today!
Matt on Acquisitions and Work in WordPress — An interview with Michelle FrechetteFollowing the 2021 State of the Word, Michelle Frechette spoke with Matt Mullenweg about the wave of mergers and acquisitions in the WordPress space this year and their implications for employment and the product ecosystem.
You can read Michelle's and the rest of the Post Status team's takes on this year's SOTW. We've also got a community discussion hosted by David Bisset following Matt's address for you to listen to, and we rounded up reactions to the event from the whole Post Status team.
Members of the WordPress Community on Their Takeaways from SOTWThis episode of Post Status Comments features a live conversation in Twitter Spaces that was recorded right after Matt Mullenweg's State of the Word 2021 broadcast on December 14th. Bet Hannon, Eric Karkovack, Maciek Palmowski, and Rae Morey joined David to share their reactions. Others from the audience join in, including Jeff Chandler, Ryan Marks, Hazel Quimpo, Scott Kingsley Clark, Jason Taylor, and Amber Hinds.
Among the questions discussed: What stood out in the State of the Word for each of our guests? What did they think of Matt Mullenweg's take on web3, NFTs, and ownership? Was there agreement about Matt's points on WordPress market share, acquisitions, and contributions to WordPress core teams?
This engaging conversation went on for a little over an hour.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* YouTube: State Of The Word 2021 * GoDaddy Review And Timeline of State of the Word 2021 * The WP Minute (Audio + Transcript) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: PagelyYou need durable Managed WordPress Hosting for all your mission-critical sites.
Pagely offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with Pagely. Try it today!
"The best documentation is written by people who are using it." —Milana CapIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Milana Cap tells David about the stark reality of the near-overwhelming workload facing the WordPress Documentation Team. Currently, about four sponsored volunteers and fewer than 10 volunteers in total make up the Docs team — a team that is assigned to manage documentation for software that powers over 43% of the web. If you have ever complained about outdated documentation or a lack of documentation for WordPress, listen to this episode.
Also: Milana shared some encouraging projects and efforts — much of which is recent and associated with the upcoming WordPress 5.9 release. Writers "shadowing" developers could be one of the keys to improving the quantity and quality of documentation in the future.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Docs team handbook (if anyone wants to join) * Developer Docs (DevHub) * End user docs (also known as HelpHub in Make teams) * Milana Cap (Twitter) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WordfenceWho can afford downtime, a black mark on their brand’s reputation, or the SEO impact of getting hacked? That’s why so many WordPress sites rely on the real-time protection provided by Wordfence Premium. Now, Wordfence Central offers Premium subscribers a powerful and efficient dashboard to manage security for all their sites from one central location. Try Wordfence today!
"We are trying to bring our community to the world." —Eric ChuangIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David chats with two organizers of the upcoming WordCamp Taiwan 2021 — Eric Chuang 莊桓亦 and Hend Chen 陳瀚宇. Learn what the WordPress community is like in Taiwan and how they've dealt with the pandemic and restrictions on in-person events. Crafting a smart “hybrid” approach, they share how they are tackling their upcoming WordCamp and how it will bring together their community. They hope having English sessions will bring more talent and influence to Taiwan's WordPress community.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordCamp Taiwan 2021 * David Bisset (Twitter) * Eric Chuang 莊桓亦 (Twitter) * Hend Chen 陳瀚宇 (LinkedIn) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: iThemesTake the guesswork out of building, maintaining, and securing WordPress websites. Professional plugins and training from iThemes help you create and manage your sites. Secure, back up, and manage them quickly and easily. Master leading-edge WordPress skills to grow your business and make more money. Learn and grow with the experts at iThemes.
WordPress news commentators on the nature of their work, their views on the community, and the future of the project.In this episode of Post Status Comments, David and Dan host a conversation with several members of the WordPress news community: Matt Medeiros (Matt Report Media), Joe Howard (WPMRR), Birgit Pauli-Haack (Gutenberg Times), and Sarah Gooding (WP Tavern). Find out how these WordPress journalists and news commentators understand their roles, how they view the WordPress community, and what they see for the future of the project.
Among the questions asked: What challenges exist for those of us who are following and reporting WordPress news? How can the WordPress project and and WordPress companies help improve communication? Where do we see WordPress heading — the software and it's community — in the short and long term? What are the biggest and most impactful stories of 2021, so far? What are the most significant but less noticed stories?
This engaging conversation was almost 90 minutes long! So we split it up into two audio parts. This is Part 2.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* The WP Minute * WP Tavern * Gutenberg Times * WPMRR Podcast * ZipMessage - Submitted Questions * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WP LookoutWP LOOKOUT tracks the plugins and themes you depend on. Get timely info on new WordPress plugin and theme versions, security updates, author changes, mentions in the news and more. Set customizable notifications by email, Slack, webhook and RSS.
WordPress news commentators on the nature of their work, their views on the community, and the future of the project.
In this episode of Post Status Comments, David and Dan host a conversation with several members of the WordPress news community: Matt Medeiros (Matt Report Media), Joe Howard (WPMRR), Birgit Pauli-Haack (Gutenberg Times), and Sarah Gooding (WP Tavern). Find out how these WordPress journalists and news commentators understand their roles, how they view the WordPress community, and what they see for the future of the project.
Among the questions asked: What challenges exist for those of us who are following and reporting WordPress news? How can the WordPress project and and WordPress companies help improve communication? Where do we see WordPress heading — the software and it's community — in the short and long term? What are the biggest and most impactful stories of 2021, so far? What are the most significant but less noticed stories?
This engaging conversation was almost 90 minutes long! So we split it up into two audio parts. This is Part 1.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* The WP Minute * WP Tavern * Gutenberg Times * WPMRR Podcast * ZipMessage - Submitted Questions * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WP LookoutWP LOOKOUT tracks the plugins and themes you depend on. Get timely info on new WordPress plugin and theme versions, security updates, author changes, mentions in the news and more. Set customizable notifications by email, Slack, webhook and RSS.
"I prioritized my mental health over my physical health until I realized it was all the same thing."In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David chats with Cory about taking care of your physical and mental health and how these factor into "Developer Overload." Far too often (especially younger) professionals do not prioritize their health so they can work or do more in a day — until it comes back to bite them.
Also: David shares that getting up early in the morning works for him and encourages people who have a hard time managing things in the morning to give it a shot — early mornings are usually quiet for many people, both in the place they live and the clients and employees they communicate with during the day.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
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"I expect the hallway track to be pretty busy during this event." - Nathan IngramIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David talks with special guests Nathan Ingram and Ryan Marks about WordCamp Birmingham 2022 — one of the first in-person WordCamps after almost two years of no live events anywhere in the world. With 200+ people expected to attend, Nathan and Ryan talk about the safeguards that will be in place, how they are managing expectations, how their sponsorships are being handled, the role of hybrid events, and how WordCamp Birmingham's reboot is being received in the WordPress community.
Also don't forget: We're encouraging listeners to check out the "Week at WordPress.org" — get the feed here — and submit your Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals to us at Post Status for us to share.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordCamp Birmingham / WP'Yall * David Bisset (Twitter) * Nathan Ingram (Twitter) * Ryan Marks (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
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"Focus on the skills people bring, what projects they've done that have been really great." — Jill BinderIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David talks with special guest Jill Binder about diversity and inclusion — how can people in underrepresented groups leverage resources in the WordPress community to increase their confidence, exposure, and potential hiring value? Learn how organizers can make their events feel more open and how they can encourage those in under-represented groups to participate. If we see a speaker who doesn't look like us at a conference and simply appreciate their contribution as a speaker as a normal feature of our conferences, that is an achievable win.
Also don't forget: We're encouraging listeners to check out the "Week at WordPress.org" — get the feed here — and submit your Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals to us at Post Status for us to share.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Allyship for WordPress event organizers (AMER/EMEA @ 6pm-8pm UTC) * How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events Southeast to Southern Asia (November 27, 2021 @ 7am-8:30am UTC) * How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events AMER/EMEA - Held during first two weeks of December. * WPDiversity on Make.WordPress.Org * diversein.tech * Jill Binder (Twitter) * Jill Binder (LinkedIn) * David Bisset (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
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Nellie Akalp joined Cory Miller to discuss trademarks and DBAs for small businesses. Nellie has dedicated her career to helping other entrepreneurs and business professionals succeed at business ownership. Nellie previously discussed expanding your business to another state. Business owners and freelancers will benefit from these live presentations and discussions where audience participation is encouraged.
Nellie is a business expert, professional speaker, published author, and mother to four amazing kids. As CEO and Co-Founder of CorpNet.com, she has helped more than half a million small businesses and licensed professionals get their businesses and clients off the ground.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* PostStatus.com * corpnet.com * Nellie Akalp * Cory Miller (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
"My best advice is to get to know as many people as you can — network."In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David talks with special guest Michelle Frechette about the current landscape of the WordPress job market. What trends should a WordPress professional pay attention to right now? What should newcomers to the WordPress ecosystem do to stand out and be trusted by companies, especially for remote work? Michelle also shares a few tips for anyone trying to navigate their way to the right role and employer.
Also don't forget: We're encouraging listeners to check out the "Week at WordPress.org" — get the feed here — and submit your Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals to us at Post Status for us to share.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* StellarWP * WordPress Jobs * David Bisset (Twitter) * Michelle Frechette (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
It's a haunting but educational tale with Brad Williams, Lisa Sabin-Wilson, Greg Rickaby, and Amor Kumar.
Topics:
- What is a Headless WordPress Website?
- Considerations when deciding if Headless is a good approach for you.
- Learn how a Headless approach can be faster, more secure, and more scalable.
- Supporting advanced functionality like contact forms and user input.
- Recommended tools, hosting providers, and partners.
🔗 Mentioned in the show: WebDevStudios* * Next.js WordPress Starter * WP Engine Atlas * WP VIP * Frontity * Beach Body On Demand * Legend of the Headless WordPress Presentation * Embracing Headless WordPress with Greg Rickaby * Post Status (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter)
🙏 Transcript Sponsor: WP EngineWP Engine is a leader in Managed WordPress hosting. They're also a new breed of technology company at the intersection of innovation and service. WP Engine provides the solutions you need to create great WordPress sites and apps to drive your business forward — and faster. WP Engine's new Atlas platform is fully headless WordPress with support for multiple server-side environments, auto-deployments from GitHub branches, both static and dynamic headless architectures, your choice of JavaScript frameworks — React, Angular, Vue.js, or any other — and command-line that is 100% scriptable.
🎙️ Post Status DraftThe Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
"The tragedy of life is what dies inside a person while they live." — Albert SchweitzerIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory and David discuss some recent conversations in the WordPress community: Is the WordPress writing experience bad for "serious writers?" Does WordPress have to excel in this area, or is it fine to have third-party writing tools that feed into WordPress? Automattic acquired Day One for a reason. Tumblr might end up getting a WordPress.com writing-and-admin experience makeover.
Also don't forget: Posting content on a regular basis is a good skill to practice. Cory shares how he managed to publish a post every day in October. David points out that whether it's photography, music, or creative writing — regular publishing is important (and can be vital) to you now and in the future. For one thing, it keeps your mind limber, and by "thinking out loud," you invite unexpected, chance encounters and collaborations with other people.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Matt's Page Builder * Should You Really Write in the WordPress Editor? * David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: YoastYoast is SEO for everyone. Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support and extra features like internal linking, social previews, a redirect manager, tutorial videos, and integration with Google Webmaster Tools. Get on board today with the premiere SEO plugin for WordPress — Yoast.
"If you're a founder of a company go through your own customer experience yourself — with your own eyes."In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory and David talk about their best and worst support experiences as customers. If you are a freelancer or small agency and your ability to deal with support issues from customers isn't working, then that's a sign of something broken in your workflow. Companies should try to be more proactive and helpful to customers even if they can't help them immediately or solve all their problems.
Also don't forget: We're also encouraging listeners to check out the "Week at WordPress.org" (get the feed here), and submit your Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals to us at Post Status.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* SuperDuper! * Profitable Project Plan | Business Training For Web Designers * The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It * Share Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deals With Post Status * David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: YoastYoast is SEO for everyone. Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support and extra features like internal linking, social previews, a redirect manager, tutorial videos, and integration with Google Webmaster Tools. Get on board today with the premiere SEO plugin for WordPress — Yoast.
Cory Miller talks with Sean McCabe, CEO of Seanwes Media. While it’s likely never been easier to sell courses for an audience (especially if you are using a system like WordPress), what hasn’t changed — according to Sean — is the marketing and the validation of what you are marketing, how you are marketing it, and how you are pricing it. Sean shares his perspectives on these permanent problems, outlining what has and hasn’t worked for him. Sean also shares his thoughts on what comes first — the community, the courses, or both. This is a must-listen for anyone with a membership course or learning site, or anyone who is thinking of starting one.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Seanwes.com on presale profits * Sean McCabe (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: PagelyYou need durable Managed WordPress Hosting for all your mission-critical sites. Pagely offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with Pagely. Try it today
🎙️ Post Status Draft
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
"If plugin authors were better educated maybe they would make some different choices."In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory and David talk about WordPress's reputation relative to its performance. This discussion unfolds in light of a new proposal for a Performance Team for WordPress core. What should happen to improve the WordPress experience (for both the user and for search engines) on the front-end and the admin experience as well? Education? Notifications to the user?
Also covered in this episode: We are formally announcing the existence of the new Post Status homepage, which is still a work in progress. We're also encouraging listeners to check out the "Week at WordPress.org" (get the feed here), and submit your Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals to us at Post Status.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Proposal for a Performance team * The Legend of the Headless Website — Post Status Live with Brad Williams, Lisa Sabin-Wilson, Greg Rickaby, and Amor Kumar * This Week at WordPress.org (October 11, 2021) * Share Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deals With Post Status * David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: WordfenceWho can afford downtime, a black mark on their brand’s reputation, or the SEO impact of getting hacked? That’s why so many WordPress sites rely on the real-time protection provided by Wordfence Premium. Now, Wordfence Central offers Premium subscribers a powerful and efficient dashboard to manage security for all their sites from one central location. Try Wordfence today.
"While WordPress does democratize publishing there are people today that can't take advantage of that."In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory comes back freshly tanned from CaboPress to share his experiences and one big takeaway point that everyone can appreciate. David brings up how Facebook's outage this week made him start to give pause before quipping on Twitter about "owning your own content." He asks if or how WordPress and the open web can help the people for whom Facebook is the internet.
Also covered in this episode: A shout out to WordCamp US 2021 which was held virtually for the first time on October 1st — a fine virtual event after only eight weeks of planning!
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* #CaboPress on Twitter * CaboPress.com * WordCamp US 2021 Summary (Post Status) * Thinking First Before Saying "Own Your Own Content!" * David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: iThemesTake the guesswork out of building, maintaining, and securing WordPress websites. Professional plugins and training from iThemes help you create and manage your sites. Secure, back up, and manage them quickly and easily. Master leading-edge WordPress skills to grow your business and make more money. Learn and grow with the experts at iThemes.
"Remember to put people before software and community before code."In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David and Cory recover from an overwhelming week of acquisition news in the WordPress space. Four well-known WordPress companies announced acquisitions almost back-to-back. Next, Cory notes Michelle Frechette's article on Post Status about the challenging and difficult choices some employees of newly acquired companies may have to make.
Also covered in this episode: David shares what has (and hasn't) changed in the WordPress space in terms of business and opportunities. Then he considers the possible ways developers can look at acquisitions as a whole.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Post Status Draft Podcast: Chris Lema * Post Status Draft Podcast: Pippin Williamson * Liquid Web Acquires LearnDash * Awesome Motive Has Acquired Sandhills Development * ThemeIsle Acquires WP Landing Kit * Keanan Koppenhaver Acquires Branch and WPPusher * Your WordPress Company Has Been Acquired: Now What? * Paul Lacey's Tweet * David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
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Awesome Motive Acquires Sandhills DevelopmentPost Status CEO Cory Miller chats with Pippin Williamson, the Founder and Managing Director of Sandhills Development, about Awesome Motive's acquisition of his company.
Pippin announced today that Awesome Motive has acquired his company — their whole team and plugin portfolio: Easy Digital Downloads, AffiliateWP, Sugar Calendar, WP Simple Pay, and the Payouts Service. Syed Balkhi, Founder and CEO of Awesome Motive, outlines the commercial plugins and notes the deal includes several free plugins as well. From Sandhills, Chris Klosowski, Andrew Munro, and Phil Derksen will be joining Awesome Motive as partners, and Chris will continue to lead Easy Digital Downloads.
Pippin, however, intends to take a very long break from WordPress and software development.
Sitting down with Cory Miller for some reflection on the past and thoughts about the future in the WordPress space, Pippin offered advice to developers and product owners today. He also identified what he sees as the biggest threat emerging for WordPress today.
Key Takeaway: "The Biggest Threat We Have Today" 🦈As both an opportunity and "a major threat" to "WordPress the platform" that comes from its openness, Pippin warns:
"We are getting to a point where WordPress is so big and there is so much money involved in the WordPress ecosystem that it is now very much in large companies' interests to create their own version of WordPress."
Pippin Williamson
Because "the WordPress experience is not consistent" between major hosting platforms — due to their attempts to improve their customer experience — Pippin is concerned end users won't be able to tell what is WordPress and what is the host.
Might that kind of platform balkanization carry over into the WordPress community, dividing developers, product businesses, and end users?
Pippin also referenced Kinsta COO Jon Penland's conversation with Anchor Hosting founder Austin Ginder back in June on Kinsta's Reverse Engineered podcast:
"...something that I’ve been thinking about a lot over the last year, which is a move I see in the WordPress space in general, at the host level, and I’m not going to name any names because I don’t want to throw stones, but to pull in more and more tooling that’s not part of the Core. And, I just worry that we’re going to end up in a situation, a few years from now, where we have a whole lot of walled gardens, right? Where WordPress at host A is not the same thing as WordPress at host B and is not the same at WordPress at host C, because as you described, a WordPress provider might try to solve this problem as an on-ramp for their own customers."
Jon Penland
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Cory Miller (Twitter) * Pippin Williamson (Twitter) * Pippin on the Sandhills Acquisition * Syed Balkhi on Awesome Motive's Plans for Pippin's Plugins * Acquisition Announcement at Easy Digital Downloads * Jon Penland interviews Austin Ginder for Kinsta's Reverse Engineered podcast
🙏 Sponsor: Sandhills DevelopmentNo matter what you're working on with your WordPress website, Sandhills Development has a tool that can help you. Sell digital products with Easy Digital Downloads. Use AffiliateWP as your affiliate marketing solution. Sugar Calendar is event management made easy. And WP Simple Pay is a lightweight Stripe payments plugin. Craft superior experiences with the ingenuity of Sandhills’ plugins.
🎙️ Post Status DraftThe Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
Chris Lema talks about the latest WordPress acquisition: LearnDash is joining Liquid Web. Will it become the leading LMS turnkey solution?Post Status CEO Cory Miller chats with Chris Lema, Vice President of Products at Liquid Web, about Liquid Web's acquisition of LearnDash. LearnDash will join Liquid Web's StellarWP brand, and Chris will step in as the General Manager of LearnDash.
It's been a boom time in recent years for edutech companies. As the online learning leader in the WordPress space with their Learning Management System (LMS) plugin for WordPress — which comes with a whole ecosystem of addons and integrations — it's no surprise LearnDash would be attractive as a platform for a hosting company to acquire. Get an inside look at the latest big deal in WordPress acquisitions with Chris Lema.
"Everyone knows LearnDash as the leader of online learning in the WordPress ecosystem. We are excited to welcome them to the Liquid Web family as we continue to build our strength in the digital commerce ecosystem. LearnDash takes us deeper into the digital commerce space by offering online educators the best tools to create online courses, quizzes, and dynamic content with built-in marketing and ecommerce features. We believe in their brand, and we know that with our backing, they will continue to deliver the online solutions educators need." — Chris Lema
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Cory Miller (Twitter) * Chris Lema (Twitter) * LearnDash * Liquid Web * StellarWP
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🎙️ Post Status DraftThe Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️
“When it comes to the entrepreneurial journey - the highest highs and the lowest lows are always people.”In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David and Cory first discuss how hard it is to do "the right thing" and potentially dealing with tough and negative feedback as a result. How does an entrepreneur prepare for "roller coaster" times — especially if the ride is heading down? What should you keep in mind? Cory shares an iThemes experience in response.
Also covered in this episode: Cory and David talk about the $12 billion acquisition of MailChimp by Intuit, and how that could potentially reshape the business landscape for WordPress users and entrepreneurs.
Note: David misspoke and said "Stripe" instead of "Square." Forgive him.
Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show: Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life * Intuit confirms $12B deal to buy Mailchimp * Syed Balkhi on Twitter: Accept payments in WordPress using Square and WPForms*. * David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
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"A crisis can either build you or break you."In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David and Cory reflect on a tough question: What can help WordPress professionals weather the storm of being an entrepreneur in challenging times? Cory shares four types of people who can offer support in their own unique ways: spouses, counselors, coaches, and colleagues. It's important that you find the right combination of people and connections that works best for you.
Also covered in this episode: Cory and David thank their spouses and will later share the timestamps of the podcast with them as evidence.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* WordCamp Sacramento 2017 - Cory Miller on "Entrepreneurial Resilience" * David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
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New hires to Post Status and an acqui-hire for Automattic.In this episode, David and Cory talk about recent news from all corners of the WordPress community. First, they share how they will miss Andrea Middleton — who is taking a great new opportunity at Reddit after 10 years of full-time work on the WordPress open source project. Next, they talk about why keeping the Classic Editor plugin officially supported makes sense, and how the Frontity acquisition by Automattic can be viewed as an acquihire to advance Gutenberg's development.
Also covered in this episode: Cory and David welcome Jonathan Wold to the Post Status team.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Thanks for a great 10 years, WordPress! * Jonathan Wold (Twitter) * An Update on the Classic Editor Plugin * Frontity to Join Automattic * Frontity is joining Automattic * David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter)
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We Can Be Organized In How We Multitask.In this episode, David and Cory have a conversation about another way to prevent Developer Overload: organization. Cory shares how he benefited from a mentor, while David feels that documentation, commenting code, and following some best practices can help reduce anxiety overall — if you can convince yourself to adopt new habits. This show is worth a listen just for Cory's "going on a hike" metaphor.
Also covered in this episode: Cory encourages David to take the Kolbe A Index test.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * kolbe.com * strengthsfinder.com * Get Hired
🙏 Sponsor: Sandhills DevelopmentNo matter what you're working on with your WordPress website, Sandhills Development has a tool that can help you. Sell digital products with Easy Digital Downloads. Use AffiliateWP as your affiliate marketing solution. Sugar Calendar is event management made easy. And WP Simple Pay is a lightweight Stripe payments plugin. Craft superior experiences with the ingenuity of Sandhills’ plugins.
Avoiding ego, reinventing the wheel, and shiny objects.In this episode, David and Cory discuss Developer Overload, which David defines as what happens when "when you receive too much information and are unable to process it, resulting in negative responses and unhealthy effects." David shares tips on how developers can focus on what to pay serious attention to, how to avoid creating more work for themselves, how to increase focus, and what project managers can do to help.
Also covered in this episode: "As developers we often bite off more than we can chew... we also tend to take that bite from the wrong side of the sandwich."
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * Max Böck on Simplicity
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Allowing time to goof off or pursuing a passion improves team connections.Professor Jane Dutton from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business suggests "four ways to build high-quality workplace connections" — respectful engagement, support, trust — and play. Play is what Cory and David focus on in this episode — why should companies set aside time to explore, goof off, or entertain each other with no particular outcome in mind?
Also covered in this episode: Only an hour before recording this, Yoast announced it is being acquired by Newfold Digital — formerly known at least in part as Endurance International Group (EIG). David and Cory share their initial thoughts with more analysis still to come.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * Joost's Announcement In Post Status Slack * Exciting news: Yoast joins Newfold Digital * Joost's Personal Blog Post On Acquistion * Clearlake and Siris-Backed Newfold Digital Acquires Yoast to Help Customers Get Found Online * WordPress Acquisitions and Investments * 4 Ways to Build High-Quality Workplace Connections
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The first step to getting started might not be technical.As new people come into Post Status looking for some guidance, there is a tendency among old hands to say things used to be much easier. Although it was a simpler time ten years ago, getting started in WordPress development presented challenges to new developers much as web development generally does today for seasoned developers. With a mature WordPress ecosystem now, new and experienced developers should set their expectations about business success carefully.
Also covered in this episode: David remembers that a decade ago, even though the web and WordPress were less complex, development in many ways wasn't any less challenging. Remember WordPress MU (Multisite)?
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * Ron & Andrea Rennick: WordPress Multisite (WordPress.tv from 2011)
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Many plugins in the WordPress.org repository have shown a significant drop in active install growth this year.In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset and Cory Miller focus on a blog post David published on July 23rd on Post Status entitled "Is The Growth Of Active Installs of WordPress Plugins Declining in 2021?" Since about May or early June, the overall trends for some of the most popular and well-known plugins’ “active install growth” (as reported by WordPress.org) are pointing generally downward — their growth is in decline.
Also covered in this episode: Cory shares what he observed at iThemes regarding sales trends and how it might be related to the trends reported by Post Status. David thanks Iain Poulson for backing his observations with some solid numbers.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * Is The Growth Of Active Installs of WordPress Plugins Declining in 2021? * Post Status Slack Conversation - Link 1 * Post Status Slack Conversation - Link 2
🙏 Sponsor: iThemesTake the guesswork out of building, maintaining, and securing WordPress websites. Professional plugins and training from iThemes help you create and manage your sites. Secure, back up, and manage them quickly and easily. Master leading-edge WordPress skills to grow your business and make more money. Learn and grow with the experts at iThemes.
Acquisitions in the WordPress space, WordPress 5.8, WordFest Live, Elementor is 5, and #ClickPublishIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset and Cory Miller chat about how the new Post Status Acquisition Tracker is a window into significant moments and trends in WordPress history. With WordPress 5.8 released this week, it will be interesting to see how theme developers react and adapt to it in the coming months and years. It seems some people aren't happy about a certain change to the Media Library.
Also covered in this episode: On the eve of WordFest 2021, David notes Elementor's fifth anniversary and how they might be installed on about 12% of all WordPress sites. Cory shares the #ClickPublish movement he's started on Post Status Slack.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show: David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * Post Status Acquisition Tracker * WordPress 5.8* "Tatum" * 5 Years Of Elementor - Stats and Facts * W3Techs * WordFest Live 2021
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"Understanding who you are and who you are not goes a long way."In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset talks with Syed Balkhi about the acquisition of SearchWP by Awesome Motive. We get a little behind-the-scenes information about how this deal came to be. Syed shares his thoughts on how SearchWP fits in with Awesome Motive's brand and vision of providing support to small businesses.
Also covered in this episode: Syed talks about "plugin developers and entrepreneurs being true" to their mission when it comes to growing and monetizing their products and plugins.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * SearchWP is Joining the Awesome Motive Family * I Sold SearchWP to Awesome Motive
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"I realized that I wanted [SearchWP] to be long term and stable...it deserved a team behind it."In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset talks with Jon Christopher about his sale of SearchWP to Awesome Motive. The two talk about what motivated Jon — the sole developer (and marketer) of SearchWP — to part with his plugin. David also asks Jon about his view of search as it exists today in WordPress Core, what he might like to see in search going forward, and what his future plans are.
Also covered in this episode: Jon shares some advice for plugin developers who want to monetize their products and plugins, even if those plugins aren't well-known.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * SearchWP is Joining the Awesome Motive Family * I Sold SearchWP to Awesome Motive
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
Castos is a WordPress-powered podcast hosting provider with roots in the open-source community through their Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin for WordPress. They recently announced a $756K pre-seed funding round from a number of companies, including Automattic and Yoast SEO.
Cory Miller sat down with Castos CEO Craig Hewitt to talk about this move and how Castos is eager to expand its services in the private podcasting market.
⚠️ CORRECTION:In the audio recording, a $756 Million figure was mistakenly given. Castos has raised $756 thousand in investor funding.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Cory Miller (Twitter) * Craig Hewitt (Twitter) * Castos (Twitter)
🙏 Sponsor: SpinupWPSpin up your own extremely fast WordPress server in minutes with SpinupWP. Use any cloud hosting provider you want, and manage your servers remotely with a simple but powerful control panel. Get the security and performance of managed hosting without losing the independence of hosting your projects and your clients yourself.
🎙️ Post Status DraftThe Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
Take 10% of your time, energy, and even money and start investing it systematically in a “Next Chapter” project.In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset and Cory Miller talk about how to build a "career raft" for yourself — something Cory wishes he did when he sold iThemes and went looking for new ventures. Cory explains how to identify what might be a good fit for your "next chapter" project and how to maintain your motivation, whether you are a developer, marketer, or entrepreneur.
Also covered in this episode: Cory and David congratulate James Laws and the entire team at Ninja Forms who are celebrating their 10th anniversary this week. They proved that there was room (and then some) for another form plugin in the WordPress space.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * Conversation in Post Status Business Slack
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
$635.5 billion by the end of 2021?In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory Miller and David Bisset briefly touch on two more acquisitions this week — one involving Extendify and another by Automattic. Cory and David review some highlights from WP Engine's recent report on the WordPress economy. WP Engine estimates the WordPress market generated more than half a trillion dollars (USD) in 2020. They expect the market to grow to $635.5 billion by the end of 2021.
Also covered in this episode: A discussion of people who gave up on Gutenberg in its early phases release and how they might be convinced to give it another shot now. This topic came up thanks to an article written by Chris Lema and the conversation it provoked in Post Status Slack.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show: David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * WP Engine: WordPress Economy Drives More Than Half a Trillion in Revenue, New Global Study Shows * Chris Lema: Embracing Gutenberg Completely * Eric Karovack* comments in Post Status Slack.
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Raising eyebrows in the WordPress community — especially among developers — Delicious Brains announced they have acquired Advanced Custom Fields (ACF). Elliot Condon is the creator and has been the sole developer for ACF for about a decade. While Elliot will be involved in the transition, he will not stay with the Delicious Brains team in the long term, according to his blog post.
In this episode of Post Status Draft, Cory Miller talks with Brad Touesnard of Delicious Brains following the announcement that his company has acquired the Advanced Custom Fields plugin from Elliot Condon.
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* Cory Miller (Twitter) * Brad Touesnard (Twitter) * Elliot Condon (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * Delicious Brains (Twitter) * Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)
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🎙️ Post Status DraftThe Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
A Focus On Mental Health And Long-Term StabilityIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory Miller and David Bisset discuss the recently announced acquisition of Advanced Custom Fields plugin by Delicious Brains Inc. After having time to absorb community feedback and listen to a pre-recorded interview with those involved, David and Cory share why this move is a win for the WordPress community in the long run.
Also covered in this episode: For freelancers and solopreneurs with projects and products that grow close to an unmanageable size: where do you draw the line between owning your product and handing the reins of your creation to someone else? (Controlling your destiny is great, on the one hand, but having full responsibility and the stress that comes with it is tough to sustain, on the other hand.)
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * Epic WordPress Announcement / Podcast * 10 Years of ACF * Amazon.com: Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business * Iconic Has Joined the Liquid Web Family of Brands * PostStatus Member Survey
🙏 Sponsor: WordfenceWho can afford downtime, a black mark on their brand’s reputation, or the SEO impact of getting hacked? That’s why so many WordPress sites rely on the real-time protection provided by Wordfence Premium. Now, Wordfence Central offers Premium subscribers a powerful and efficient dashboard to manage security for all their sites from one central location. Try Wordfence today!
Monetization of WordPress PluginsThis episode features a conversation in Twitter Spaces that took place on May 28, 2021. Our topic is monetization of WordPress plugins. Speakers: Cory Miller, Joe Casabona, Joost de Valk, David Bisset (host) along with many others commenting live in Post Status Slack.
Post Status Comments provides a stage for WordPress professionals to exchange ideas and talk about recent topics and trends.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show: David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * How I Built It - Is ProfilePress' Move Indicative Of A Bigger .Org Problem?*
🙏 Sponsor: iThemesTake the guesswork out of building, maintaining, and securing WordPress websites. Professional plugins and training from iThemes help you create and manage your sites. Secure, back up, and manage them quickly and easily. Master leading-edge WordPress skills to grow your business and make more money. Learn and grow with the experts at iThemes.
Change and a vision for the future at Post StatusIn this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory Miller and David Bisset discuss the future of Post Status and Cory's full acquisition of it from its founder, Brian Krogsgard. Brian launched Post Status eight years ago. Today, Brian shared his announcement publicly, and Cory also outlined his plans for the future of Post Status.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * Cory: Our Future Together * Brian: A New Era for Post Status * Introducting A New Chapter: An Interview With Cory Miller
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In a move many people have admitted they didn't see coming, Liquid Web announced this week their acquisition of GiveWP. WP Business Reviews is also part of the deal. (Both belong to the Impress.org brand.) GiveWP and WP Business Reviews will join under a new brand, StellarWP. Stellar will house all of Liquid Web’s software assets. 🤝
This acquisition follows Liquid Web acquiring iThemes in 2018 and The Events Calendar in December 2020.
In this episode of Post Status Draft, Brian Krogsgard talks with GiveWP's (former) CEO and COO, co-founders Devin Walker and Matt Cromwell following the announcement that their company, Impress.org, has been acquired by Liquid Web.
🙏 Sponsor: iThemesTake the guesswork out of building, maintaining, and securing WordPress websites. Professional plugins and training from iThemes help you create and manage your sites. Secure, back up, and manage them quickly and easily. Master leading-edge WordPress skills to grow your business and make more money. Learn and grow with the experts at iThemes.
Announcement of LiquidWeb acquiring GiveWP sparks discussion: are all acquisitions good for WordPress?In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory Miller and David Bisset discuss the recent announcement of GiveWP and WP Business Reviews joining the Liquid Web Family of Brands. StellarWP will house all of Liquid Web’s software assets, including iThemes, The Events Calendar, Restrict Content Pro, and Kadence WP.
Also covered in this episode: David gets Cory's take on acquisitions in general for the WordPress space — what's the potential (good or bad), and how should the WordPress professional view the consolidation of their ecosystem under fewer, bigger companies?
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Post Status (Twitter) * GiveWP Joins the Liquid Web Family of Brands * Liquid Web Family of Brands Acquires Impress.org and Flagship Product GiveWP
🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.
In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory Miller recommends three books with great value to the WordPress community and people who make their living as professionals in it. From the business value of community itself to marketing fundamentals and how to avoid being a perfectionist, Cory explains why he thinks these books stand out. Cory also tells us how he reads "like a vampire." 🧛♂️ (No he does not sleep in a coffin.)
Also covered in this episode: David talks about a recent post on the Make WordPress site by Francesca Marano, "Updates on updating the updaters." David asks Cory how he handles WordPress core and plugin updates. Cory's answer may (or may not) surprise you! (Learning how to be an "Imperfectionist" might be useful when it comes to WordPress updates.)
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show: David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * The Business of Belonging: How to Make Community Your Competitive Advantage * Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Story Brand Guide for Any Business * How to Be an Imperfectionist: The New Way to Self-Acceptance, Fearless Living, and Freedom from Perfectionism * How To Read Strategically* * [Feature project] Updates on updating the updaters – Make WordPress Core * WordSesh 2021 * WPCampus: Call For Proposals
🙏 Sponsor: SpinupWPSpin up your own extremely fast WordPress server in minutes with SpinupWP. Use any cloud hosting provider you want, and manage your servers remotely with a simple but powerful control panel. Get the security and performance of managed hosting without losing the independence of hosting your projects and your clients yourself.
One of the oldest commercial WordPress Plugins gets a facelift.In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset and Cory Miller talk about the most recent update to Gravity Forms (version 2.5). Cory reflects on the early days of the WordPress ecosystem. David recounts how Gravity Forms was his first major plugin purchase as a freelancer. Find out what's in the new Gravity Forms and why it matters for WordPress professionals.
Also covered: David brings up this week's announcement from Matt Mullenweg about CC Search, a CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) image search engine: they are joining the WordPress project. Does this mean the WordPress Media Library might get some overdue attention?
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Gravity Forms 2.5 Release - Now Live! * Take a Sneak Peek at the New Gravity Forms 2.5 Form Editor! * CC Search to join WordPress.org – Matt Mullenweg
🙏 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
Danielle Joseph is the founder of Function Creative, a full-service brand and web design studio, and the author of The Brand Planner: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Brand Clarity & Business Direction. Her most recent project is Willowspace, a client management portal for freelancers and agencies that will be launching in the next few weeks.
In this episode of Post Status Draft, Danielle talks with Brian about her work with clients as a designer and how that has shaped the direction of her agency and Willowspace.
Freelance designers and any service-based businesses can benefit from a client management portal, but Willowspace goes a step further. it also has CRM style functions like lead capture forms to go with email integration, proposal generation, contracts, invoicing, and online payments. Leads become paying clients, and as they check in on their project status, you can offer them additional services. The client experience is very simple and can be managed through email with payments made in their own currency.
🔗 Mentioned in the show* Danielle Joseph (@hellofunction, LinkedIn) * Function Creative (Instagram: hellofunction) * Willowspace.co
👍 Sponsor: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.
Are you fed up with out of control Admin Notices in the WordPress dashboard? Us too.In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset and Cory Miller talk about Cory's recent negative experiences with admin notices in the WordPress dashboard. If the WordPress community cannot control and improve upon the location, frequency, language, and other aspects of notifications and notices inside the WordPress admin interface, the experience will continue to degrade for users, and Cory thinks WordPress.org will step in.
Also covered: David finds the animated GIFs (pronounced however David said it) starting to annoy him in the WordPress plugin repository.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * WP Notify Wiki * Feature Project Proposal: WP Notify – Make WordPress Core * WP Notify Planning Meeting Notes from Monday, February 8, 2021 * Is WP Notify the Silver Bullet WordPress Needs to End Admin Notification Spam?
🙏 Sponsor: Sandhills DevelopmentNo matter what you’re working on with your WordPress website, Sandhills Development has a tool that can help you. Sell digital products with Easy Digital Downloads. Use AffiliateWP as your affiliate marketing solution. Sugar Calendar is event management made easy. And WP Simple Pay is a lightweight Stripe payments plugin. Craft superior experiences with the ingenuity of Sandhills’ plugins.
In this episode of Post Status Draft, Brian Krogsgard talks with Beth Livingston, M. Ed.
Today, Beth is an Online Course Creator and Educator at WP Roadmaps and Coaching. Previously, Beth worked in education and corporate IT management. When she joined the WordPress community, Beth saw a need that combined these two roles: project management education and training.
WordPress Designers and Developers from Freelancers to Agencies Face the Same ProblemsWhile attending WordCamps, WordPress Meetups, and engaging in WordPress Facebook groups, Beth kept hearing the same questions:
- How do I get the client to give me the content?
- How can I control scope creep without angering my client?
- What does it take for my client to understand how much is involved in building a website?
Beth learned how to solve these problems during her many years as an IT Business Analyst, Instructional Designer, and Project Manager. For that reason, it was a logical step for her to help WordPress professionals by offering online courses and private coaching in project management.
Whether you are a developer, designer, or agency, if you manage WordPress projects, Beth can help.
Learn about the key principles of WordPress project management with Beth in this interview. She covers deep discovery, proper proposals and estimates, scope creep, and gold plating.
Project management is not a plugin or SaaS tool like Trello, Asana, or Wrike. It's a role and a task with a skillset you train to acquire.
🔗 Mentioned in the show* Beth Livingston (@BethLivingstoNC, LinkedIn) * https://wproadmaps.com/wordcamp/ * WP Roadmaps and Coaching * WP Project Manager's Academy
👍 Sponsor: Sandhills DevelopmentNo matter what you’re working on with your WordPress website, Sandhills Development has a tool that can help you. Sell digital products with Easy Digital Downloads. Use AffiliateWP as your affiliate marketing solution. Sugar Calendar is event management made easy. And WP Simple Pay is a lightweight Stripe payments plugin. Craft superior experiences with the ingenuity of Sandhills’ plugins.
In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset and Cory Miller talk about some upcoming Post Status webinars. One will feature Natasha Golinsky from On Purpose Projects. (You can RSVP here.) Natasha has a great take on scope creep and what she has done to obliterate it. WordPress freelancers and agencies live and die by setting their project estimates on target, so this is really valuable information in that line of work.
Also covered: David touches on the latest Full Site Editing news.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
🔗 Mentioned in the show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Zoom RSVP: May 4th Webinar with Cory Miller and Natasha Golinsky * Full Site Editing Scope for WP5.8 – Make WordPress Core * Full Site Editing Go/No Go | April 14, 2021 * High-level feedback from the FSE Program (March 2021) * FSE Program Testing Call #5: Query Quest
🙏 Sponsor: Yoast SEOYoast is SEO for everyone. Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support and extra features like internal linking, social previews, a redirect manager, tutorial videos, and integration with Google Webmaster Tools. Get on board today with the premiere SEO plugin for WordPress — Yoast.
Multidots recently released Multicollab, a Google Docs-style internal commenting tool to take suggestions from stakeholders and feedback from editors within your content inside a WordPress site. It's for use with the new visual editor (Gutenberg) and works with most blocks by allowing you to attach comments to them.
How Multicollab Works:
Key features for Multicollab are inline comments inside posts and pages, the ability to mention other admin users, reply to comments, and resolve comments. Email notifications about comment activity keep everyone engaged with a group site building, or content authoring and editing process.
🎧 Listen to the audio or watch the video at Post Status Draft. 📺
🔗 Mentioned in the show* Anil Gupta (@guptaanilg) * Anil on building Multidots in a 2019 Draft interview. * Multicollab
👍 Sponsor: Yoast SEOYoast is SEO for everyone. Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support and extra features like internal linking, social previews, a redirect manager, tutorial videos, and integration with Google Webmaster Tools. Get on board today with the premiere SEO plugin for WordPress — Yoast.
In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset and Cory Miller talk about two acquisitions. One involves iThemes, and the other involves GravityView. Cory mentions his recent interview with Michelle Frechette about UnderrepresentedInTech.com, while David notes some news from Post Status Slack that might have missed broader notice.
Also covered: Cory wants 🎧. Sigh.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash. ⚡
🔗 Mentioned in the Show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Kadence WP is Joining the iThemes Family! * Gravity Forms Entries in Excel, Brought to You By GravityView! * UnderrepresentedInTech.com * Testing Full Site Editing in WordPress * Taylor Arndt
👍 Sponsor: PagelyYou need durable Managed WordPress Hosting for all your mission-critical sites. Pagely offers managed DevOps and a flexible stack with the same enterprise-level support to all its customers. Peace of mind starts with Pagely. Try it today!
In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset and Cory Miller talk about some upcoming enhancements to the Post Status job board and Cory's experience with the current #gig channel in Post Status Slack.
Also covered: David talks about a Brian Krogsgard tweet rant on WordPress settings screens. David asks Cory if he thinks some old "wrinkles" in WordPress might eventually be harmful.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news relevant to the Post Status community — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash.⚡
🔗 Mentioned in the show* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * "Setting Screen" Conversation In Post Status Slack (Member Access Required) * Brian Krogsgard tweet and one from David Bisset. * Is the WordPress Comment System Still Relevant?
Sponsor: WordfenceWordfence protects over 4 million WordPress websites with a world-class firewall and malware scanner. It is the most popular security plugin available, protecting WordPress sites from spam, malware, and other threats through the real-time threat defense feed.
In the third episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset and Cory Miller talk about what they think the future of the "single" or "solo" WordPress plugin developer might be. They also share some good points made by club members in Post Status Slack earlier in the week.
Also covered: Cory talks about being approached by a member of the WordPress community about finding employment opportunities to "break into" the WordPress space.
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news relevant to the Post Status community — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash.⚡
🔗 Mentioned in the show* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * "Single Developer" Conversation In Post Status Slack (Member Access Required) * Paul Jarvis * Newsletter Glue
👍 Sponsor: iThemesTake the guesswork out of building, maintaining, and securing WordPress websites. Professional plugins and training from iThemes help you create and manage your sites. Secure, back up, and manage them quickly and easily. Master leading-edge WordPress skills to grow your business and make more money. Learn and grow with the experts at iThemes.
- Courtney Robertson
Quick previews from this week's Post Status newsletter, WPEngine's Atlas, and Learning JavaScript 🆕In the second episode of Post Status Excerpt, David Bisset and Cory Miller follow up on some positive developments in WordPress 5.7. Then they cover the highlights of this week's Post Status newsletter. David talks about WPEngine's release of "Atlas," which addresses a growing "headless WordPress" interest in the community.
Also covered: Cory checks in on "learning JavaScript deeply" with David. Is this still a priority for today's WordPress developer?
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news relevant to the Post Status community — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash.⚡
🔗 Mentioned in the show* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Decode 2021 Conference * Atlas * Matt Mullenweg: "Learn JavaScript Deeply"
Sponsor: BluehostEverything your website needs — from start-up to success story — is at Bluehost. Whether you're looking to create a website, blog, or online store, Bluehost will get you started with an all-in-one website platform tailored to your specific needs. Get a free domain name in your first year, free 24/7 lifetime support, and total design freedom with WordPress at Bluehost.
Chris Hardie has been a web developer since the late 1990s. In this episode of the Post Status Draft podcast, Chris talks with Brian Krogsgard about his career as a deep generalist. Chris has worked as a writer, journalist, political candidate, and consultant, as well as a technologist and web developer.
This conversation touches on the challenges of winding down an agency and handling clients. Chris also talks about his experiences with the Special Projects team at Automattic, running for local office, being a journalist, and now launching WP Lookout to help site owners and developers safely update WordPress websites.
☝️ Safe WordPress UpdatesAutomatic updates are great, but what if you could get critical information about potentially breaking changes to WordPress core? What if you could get notified about changes to the plugins and themes you and your clients rely on?
WP Lookout is a new service that monitors WordPress core, plugin, and theme updates so you can apply them safely. You can subscribe to get notices about potentially breaking changes to the software you and your business depend on.
🔗 Topics mentioned in the show* Chris Hardie (@chrishardie) * WP Lookout (@LookoutWP) * Automattic Special Projects
👍 Sponsor: BluehostEverything your website needs — from start-up to success story — is at Bluehost. Whether you're looking to create a website, blog, or online store, Bluehost will get you started with an all-in-one website platform tailored to your specific needs. Get a free domain name in your first year, free 24/7 lifetime support, and total design freedom with WordPress at Bluehost.
With this episode of Post Status Excerpt — the first of many to come — David Bisset and Cory Miller kick off the new show with a quick chat about the latest WordPress release (5.7 “Esperanza”) — what it addresses, and maybe a pet peeve or two about the new editor.
Also covered: PluginRank.com and the way it might be useful for WordPress entrepreneurs. 🔌
Every week Post Status Excerpt will brief you on important WordPress news relevant to the Post Status community — in about 15 minutes or less! Learn what's new in WordPress in a flash.⚡
🔗 Mentioned in the Show:* David Bisset (Twitter) * Cory Miller (Twitter) * Some 5.7 release highlights * WordPress 5.7 Field Guide * WPBeginner Guide To WordPress 5.7 * PluginRank.com
👍 Sponsor: GoDaddy ProManage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics — and then send reports to your happy clients. 🙌
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In this episode of Post Status Draft, David Bisset talks with Angela Jin. Angela joined Automattic in 2018 and is one of the community organizers for the WordPress open source project. She has been helping organize, start conversations, and setting policies for WordCamps over the last few years.
David recorded this interview around the time that WordCamp US 2020 would have normally taken place in St. Louis, Missouri. WordCamp US organizers decided to cancel the event months before it would have taken place due to COVID-19. There were questions about what led to that decision. Why didn't it become a virtual conference, like WordCamp Europe? What are organizers planning for future WordCamp US events and WordPress education in general?
David sat down with Angela to get a better understanding of the WordPress community and its needs during a pivotal time of change. Join us as we discuss what the future holds for the conferences, meetups, and other social gatherings we've enjoyed in the past.
Links* Angela Jin (Twitter) * WordCamp US 2020 Official Cancellation Notice * Learn WordPress
Sponsor: PagelyPagely offers best-in-class managed WordPress hosting, powered by Amazon's Cloud, the Internet’s most reliable infrastructure. Pagely helps big brands scale WordPress.Thank you to Pagely for being a Post Status partner!
David Bisset interviews Joe Casabona, an independent creator and teacher, and discusses what it's like to be a creator as his job, plus some news topics.
Links* W3C drops WordPress from consideration for its redesign * W3c selects Craft and selection report * Disabling full screen mode * Creator Courses * How I Built It recording notes * Camo
Partner: Sandhills DevelopmentSandhills Development crafts ingenuity, developed with care:
- Easy Digital Downloads – Sell digital products with WordPress
- AffiliateWP – A full-featured affiliate marketing solution
- Sugar Calendar – WordPress event management made simple
- WP Simple Pay – A lightweight Stripe payments plugin
David Bisset makes his podcast debut for Post Status, as he interviews Joost de Valk, of Yoast, and discusses all things WordPress marketshare related.
In this episode of the Draft podcast, Cory and Brian discuss creating and operating in healthy virtual environments: For work, conference, and personal use -- all in a world that prevents the familiar physical experiences.
Miriam Schwab is co-founder and CEO of Strattic, a business making a big bet on the future of WordPress — and in particular for using it to create static websites.
They recently raised $6.5 million dollars in an oversubscribed round. Strattic aims to enable the power and flexibility of a dynamic WordPress website like we all know, with the security and speed of a completely static website.
In this interview, Cory Miller talks to Miriam about her journey to this moment, the Strattic product, raising money, and more.
Partner: YoastThis episode is brought to you by Yoast, the best WordPress SEO solution, hands down. You can upgrade to Yoast SEO premium, or take advantage of their great bundles that include outstanding training resources so you can fully take advantage of all the awesome tools Yoast SEO provides.
Professional WordPress Plugin Development was one of the most helpful books I've ever read. To see a new edition with two returning authors, nine years after the original, is very exciting.
This edition of the book will be sure to offer a great resource for developer education for years to come. Brad Williams, Justin Tadlock, and John James Jacoby are each extremely talented developers and communicators. The work they can accomplish together is even greater.
Cory talks to them about their histories, the book, the process, and much more. We hope you enjoy this episode of Post Status Draft.
You can pre-order Professional WordPress Plugin Development now on Amazon. It is slated to be released June 10th.
- Brad's announcement
- Justin's announcement
- John's announcement
Episode Partner: Gravity FormsGravity Forms is the easiest, most trusted tool to create advanced forms for your WordPress-powered website. I use Gravity Forms on every WordPress site I own, and I know I can always rely on its power, flexibility, and reliability.
Try Gravity Forms today.
Dr. Sherry Walling is a psychologist and entrepreneur, adept at, “helping smart people do hard things.” She was gracious to talk in a Post Status Webinar with Cory Miller, about how to navigate life in uncertain times like we have now.
Topics discussed* Managing fear, worry, and anxiety * The Coronavirus, and how to handle it * Isolation, social distancing, remote work, and our mental health * Q&A on work boundaries, stress, and more
Links* Zen Founder * Dr. Sherry Walling's website * @zenfounder — Dr. Walling's Twittr
Episode Parter: WordFenceIf your website is mission-critical you can't afford the downtime, reputation challenges or SEO impact of getting hacked. That's why so many sites rely on the real-time protection provided by Wordfence Premium.
Wordfence protects your websites with the best WordPress security available, and offers a powerful and efficient way to manage security for multiple sites in one place with Wordfence Central.
Ken Wallace runs Mastermind Jam, which according to the website, “gives you everything you need to join, create, and manage your mastermind group, all without having to waste time cobbling together a bunch of different software, forms, and shared documents, even if you don't have a large personal network.”
Some of the topics discussed about Masterminds
- Defining what a mastermind is
- The difference between a mastermind and other community channels
- Why masterminds are important to hold with peers outside of your company
- Learning to trust your mastermind
- The importance of consistency, and setting up a regular cadence
- How to structure conversations
- How to find people for a mastermind
Episode Parter: Sandhills DevelopmentNo matter what you're working on with your WordPress website, Sandhills Development probably has a tool that can help you.
- Easy Digital Downloads – Sell digital products with WordPress
- AffiliateWP – A full-featured affiliate marketing solution
- Restrict Content Pro – A powerful membership plugin for WordPress
- Sugar Calendar – WordPress event management made simple
- WP Simple Pay – A lightweight Stripe payments plugin
Syed Balkhi joins me to discuss the acquisition of AIO SEO.
Some of the questions he answers:
- So who is your target customer with All in One SEO?
- How is the model structured? You’re directing strategy… is there a Christoff or Atchison in this setup?
- How does your vision for AIOSEO compare to what you see in Yoast SEO?
- How do you envision the free/premium divide?
- What are the first three things you plan to do?
- How did the conversation w/ Michael start? You approach him? He approach you? Tell me a story.
- How far do you think you can scale this business model?
- What do you think about the consolidation we’re seeing in the plugin ecosystem — the consolidation you’re a major player in?
Links:
- Awesome Motive
- AIO SEO on WP.org
- Acquisition announcement
A lot of folks in the WordPress economy, whether employed with a side hustle or self-employed, manage multiple things. Also, many of us work with partners, or are interested in partnerships.
Cory has long worked with partners, and we're now running Post Status as partners. Also, we are both working on several projects.
In this episode of Draft, we talk about how to balance multiple things, how we try and structure our weeks, and some things to consider when working with partners.
Show links* Kolbe * Strengthsfinder * Wait But Why
Sponsor: PagelyPagely offers best-in-class managed WordPress hosting, powered by Amazon's Cloud, the Internet’s most reliable infrastructure. Pagely helps big brands scale WordPress. Their new platform NorthStack is a completely serverless solution for managed application hosting. Thank you to Pagely for being a Post Status partner!
I created Post Status in January 2013 and started the Club in January 2015. January 2020 marks another huge milestone for this community and business.
I’m very excited to share that Cory Miller is now an equal partner of Post Status. Cory purchased half the business and will be working with me in the day-to-day management, writing, community engagement, and everything else we do with Post Status.
Many should know Cory from his ten years running iThemes. After they sold the business to Liquid Web and he spent some time there, he decided to step away and continue his entrepreneurial journey. He’s working on a few projects, and Post Status is a significant part of where he’s dedicating his time and energy.
Cory is a long-time friend, and iThemes has been a Post Status sponsorship partner since 2015. Cory understands the community, the role Post Status plays in the space, and he brings so much to the table, from established community relationships to product and business experience.
We’ve known one another going back to 2010 or so. I got to watch as he navigated the WordPress space as the CEO of a theme company turned plugin company, from inception to exit.
Cory has so many qualities I admire. Most of all, I admire his honesty, his compassion, his passion for people, and his vision for what’s possible. I look forward to working with a true partner on Post Status after so many years of managing the primary responsibilities with much help from many friends and contractors along the way.
In addition to Cory and myself, David Bisset and Dan Knauss continue to be integral parts of the Post Status effort. Cory and I are thankful for their energy, consistency, and talents.
We are working together in Oklahoma City this week to finalize our plans for the 2020 year. We already have a lot planned and are looking to get these new initiatives and processes off to a rocking start.
Potential in the WordPress communityThere is so much potential in the WordPress community, and Post Status plays an important role through news, community, and professional development. We are going to continue to do that, and we are also going to make changes that we think will benefit the community as a whole and Post Status Club Members in particular.
If you’ve ever thought about joining the Post Status Club, it’s a great time to do so. At a minimum, anyone in the WordPress community should subscribe to the newsletter. If you’ve been a member before, we thank you, and we hope we are able to continue to serve you for years to come — better than ever, better together.
Cory's thoughtsI asked Cory to share a couple of his own thoughts on why he’s investing in Post Status, both with his money and energy.
I’ve been a fan and supporter of Post Status since the beginning. At iThemes we were one of Brian’s first sponsors. Over the years I leaned on Brian’s insights and counsel — personally as well as through Post Status — to inform and grow iThemes.
When Brian approached me about becoming a partner my first reaction was, “Heck yes!” Over our weeks and months of conversations, my excitement grew and grew as our goals and aspirations for Post Status were revealed to be so well aligned.
I truly believe in what Brian has built. And I only want to be a value add and look forward to coming alongside Brian, the Post Status team and this great community.
We're so excited to finally be able to make this official. We look forward to continuing to serve you our readers, our Club members, our partners, and the broader community.
In this episode, Scott and I dig into his world as an indie developer within the WordPress landscape.
Scott has long used JavaScript as a core technology with AppPresser. I think he's on the forefront of thinking about various technologies that are newer to WordPress but out in full force in other worlds.
Scott is really into JAMstack (JavaScript, APIs, Markup). He's working on Static Fuse now, which helps connect WordPress to Gatsby -- which has a lot of attention in the web space right now.
We also dig pretty deeply into the challenges and opportunities facing independent developers, and the interest levels in WordPress from the indie dev crowd. It's an interesting episode and I learned a lot from Scott. I hope you enjoy.
Other links from the show* GraphQL and WPGraphQL * Scott's website * The Product Business podcast * Zac Gordon's JavascriptforWP courses
Sponsor: Sandhills DevelopmentSandhills Development makes a suite of excellent plugins to power your WordPress website. Whether you need to sell digital downloads, restrict content, create an affiliate program, or manage an events calendar, they’ve got you covered. Thanks to Sandhills for being a Post Status partner.
Today I talk to Matt Medeiros, in a wide-ranging conversation about the WordPress ecosystem. It's informal and we cover a lot of different topics, but they all narrow down to various fears and uncertainties some in the WordPress community are experiencing in recent years.
What's the future of WordPress? How about the business community? Can smaller businesses make it? What threats exist: leadership, corporate, other platforms?
We cover a great deal here. It's not very structured, but I do think it's valuable to be able to capture a common line of sentiment in the WordPress community. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks to Matt for being so open with me in this episode.
Links from the show* Matt Report * Matt on Twitter * WP Governance
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I talked with Kira Leigh, a full-stack creative entrepreneur and consultant. Skeptic may be too strong of a word, but she makes it clear that she thinks WordPress is too often used when it’s not necessary.
Kira handles every part of her projects, which typically stem with marketing and copywriting, but she takes on design, development, and whatever is required to get the job done. She is the type of person who WordPress should be able to serve quite ably. But more than not, she would rather steer clear.
In this episode of the Draft Podcast, I talk to her about her work, why she is pained by WordPress, and try to come to some conclusions from it all. I am not sure if I accomplish much, but I do feel like I am better able to see where she’s coming from.
This conversation stemmed from a friend linking me to a post Kira wrote that was (to my mind) a bit aggressive toward WordPress — and while perhaps not 100% accurate, it is 100% her perception of the reality that is working with WordPress.
Links from the show
- There Is No Design — Kira’s business
- Kira on LinkedIn
- Assembly — a pretty neat page builder I’ve never seen before
Sponsor: Pagely Pagely offers best in class managed WordPress hosting, powered by the Amazon Cloud, the Internet’s most reliable infrastructure. Pagely helps big brand scale WordPress. Their new brand Northstack is a completely serverless solution for managed application hosting. Thank you to Pagely for being a Post Status partner.
Ben Thompson recently wrote about Shopify and the Power of Platforms. He highlights the difference between an aggregator (e.g. Amazon’s Merchant Services) and a platform (Shopify) and makes a case for how Shopify can successfully compete against Amazon. If you’re new to Ben’s work, I highly recommend following the links he references in the opening paragraphs.
Aggregators vs Platforms As Ben explains, Amazon is an aggregator that owns the users (i.e. customers, Amazon Prime subscribers) and aggregates the suppliers (i.e. merchants, manufacturers). Amazon succeeds by providing a great user experience (e.g. one click checkout, same day delivery) and by treating products and their suppliers as commodities, all available to the customer in a single, aggregated shopping experience. While aggregation can provide high value for customers, it minimizes the opportunity for merchants to differentiate and can ultimately hurt customers as competition and innovation are stifled.
A competitor to Amazon might try becoming a larger aggregator. It’s a difficult endeavor. Walmart has been trying for years. The larger an aggregator grows, the more entrenched their position, and the less likely a competitor can unseat them by utilizing the same strategy.
There is another way to compete with an aggregator. Build a platform.
While an aggregator owns the customer and commoditizes its suppliers, a platform empowers those who build on it, relying on its suppliers being differentiated and successful in their own right.
As Ben details in the article, Shopify’s best shot at taking on Amazon is to double-down on their focus as a platform and, by all evidence, that seems to be their strategy. Shopify wants to be the platform that empowers its merchants to succeed.
There are several problems I suggest with Shopify’s strategy, though.
- Data Control – Shopify has taken a strong stance on centralizing control of customer data and using their terms of service to enforce their policies. Their recent clash with MailChimp (who decided to leave the platform) may be indicative of more to come. It makes sense to have a centralized source of truth for your data. Shopify’s position, though, is an all or nothing approach that results in more lock-in to the platform and more data in their control. Actions that stifle or remove choice from the equation for end users and the suppliers who serve them is aggregator thinking more than platform thinking.
- Closed Source – Shopify is a proprietary platform with closed source code. While they make efforts to show open source friendliness, the reality is that the platform code is theirs. If you stop paying Shopify, you lose it all and if you don’t like what they’re doing with the platform, you’re stuck unless you choose to leave.
- Growth Risks – Shopify is growing fast and as a publicly traded company, they are focused on accelerating growth. Products like Shopify Capital, and the emphasis on offline services through Point-of-Sale as well as the continued push into enterprise, deepen the risk of growing for growth’s sake, rather than doing what’s best for the merchants they serve.
Shopify is a goodsolution for independent merchants who want to be more than an aggregated commodity. There are problems, though, and while Shopify is likely continue to grow despite the problems I’ve suggested (they have no shortage of interested investors), there is a better approach.
WooCommerce on WordPressOS In my writing on Ecosystem Plugins, I introduced the concept of WordPress as an Operating System for the Open Web and cited WooCommerce as an example of an Ecosystem Plugin.
I believe strongly in the importance and value of WordPress as an Operating System, a platform, for the Open Web.
With WooCommerce, I see potential for it to become more than an Ecosystem Plugin and serve as the platform for ecommerce on the Open Web.
To do that, WooCommerce needs three things:
- A great core experience – Out-of-the-box, WooCommerce needs to have the essentials built-in and provide a great, user-focused onboarding and operating experience. It needs to be intuitive and accessible for non-technical, small business merchants, who should always be the core focus. Importantly, this is not about removing choices and dumbing interfaces down. This is about doing the harder work and teaching merchants how to make the right choices for them and use the power that WooCommerce provides.
- A vibrant partner ecosystem – Shopify has nearly 3000 apps in its “App Store” today. The WooCommerce marketplace has less than 300 extensions, and more than 30% are maintained by Automattic. For WooCommerce to succeed as a platform it needs to be trusted by its partners and seen as the best platform with clear short-term incentives and long-term value.
- A strong community – WordPress’ community is a huge key to its success. Meetups and WordCamps create a sense of belonging and shared ownership that drives a loyalty to WordPress that’s unparalleled. WooCommerce needs to create a similar community where merchants feel that they have each other’sbacks and are able to share their love for the platform that makes it all possible.
By many standards, Shopify is a giant compared to WooCommerce. With 4000+ employees, a $35+ billion dollar market cap, and a marketing budget to match, they seem to be the dominate ecommerce platform and show no signs of slowing down their efforts.
You can’t buy trust, vibrancy, and loyalty though. Deepening trust through a great core experience, investing in the partner ecosystem, and strengthening community loyalty is where I think WooCommerce has the opportunity to improve and succeed.
Here are three ideas for WooCommerce to increase its value and strengthen its position as the platform for ecommerce on the Open Web:
- Introduce a WooCommerce Subscription – Provide access to non-SaaS extensions for a flat, monthly rate and easy bundling of SaaS billing for those who want it. Make it a clear win for all involved, including the merchants and marketplace partners. Position the subscription as an investment in the Open Web. The code is GPL – they could stop paying at any time and keep access. Paying, though, provides support and capital for reinvestment, ensuring the continued success of the platform. A subscription also offers opportunity to streamline the user experience for customers, reducing friction for developers.
- Invest in the Partner Ecosystem – Make building a healthy partner ecosystem a priority. Provide guidance, mentorship, and funding to help developers succeed on the WooCommerce platform. Build strong relationships with SaaS providers, including ecommerce focused companies like BigCommerce, and help streamline their integrations into the platform.
- Cultivate Community – Invest in and support ecommerce meetups and create more ecommerce focused events. Double-down on the Open Web narrative and encourage community members to support each other in improving and maintaining their freedom as merchants on the Open Web.
Shopify provides a valuable service that empowers merchants. Unfortunately, their approach to centralized data control, their closed source platform, and the risks of a growth focus pose the potential for more harm than good.
I believe that WooCommerce, with data control in the hands of its users, an open source ecosystem, and a strong independent community give it the opportunity to become the best platform for ecommerce on the Open Web.
Special thanks to Caleb Johnson for his epic illustration.
This is a guest post by Jonathan Wold. Jonathan has been living and breathing WordPress for 14 years and believes its best years are still to come. He writes about WordPress on GrowInWP.com and blogs about life and habits on JonathanWold.com
I talked to Matt Mullenweg for over an hour recently, and here I share about 8 minutes of our conversation, a part where we discuss eCommerce, and where WooCommerce currently fits into that world.
I also spend several minutes talking about big changes happening with Post Status. I hope you'll check it out, and join us for Post Status Publish, and subscribe to the now free newsletter.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode of Draft, I talk to Anil Gupta, the founder of Multidots. Multidots is a 100+ person company and Anil has established a very people-first environment. We discuss his journey and philosophies building the company.
I met Anil at CaboPress and we had a great chat, which we followed up with in this episode, recorded at WordCamp US. Anil has a great story and a lot of insight. I hope you enjoy.
Sponsor: Jilt Jilt offers powerful email marketing built for eCommerce. Join thousands of stores that have already earned tens of millions of dollars extra sales using Jilt. Try Jilt for free
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, I am joined by Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic.
Just after releasing WordPress 5.0, and on the heels of WordCamp US, Matt and I review the event, the release, and discuss how he thinks things went, what could have gone better, and what he sees ahead.
We also dig into WooCommerce, various plans around core development processes, Automattic, and more. I hope you enjoy. Full transcript is coming soon.
Episode Links * Matt's blog * Automattic * WordCamp US State of the Word * Post Status's coverage of WCUS * 5 Stages of Grief
Sponsor: iThemes iThemes makes great WordPress plugins, themes and training to help take the guesswork out of building, maintaining and securing WordPress websites. I talk to iThemes CEO Cory Miller during the break to hear about what they are working on, and excited about for the coming year. Thanks to iThemes for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, I bring on Andrew Youderian. Andrew runs eCommerce Fuel -- a great website geared toward eCommerce store owners, specifically those making high six figures or seven figures in revenue per year.
Andrew keeps his ear low to the ground in the eCommerce landscape and carries no specific WordPress bias. If anything his experience is in other platforms -- making a discussion with him both on platforms and also just eCommerce in general particularly valuable to me.
Episode Links * eCommerce Fuel * State of the merchant
Sponsor: SiteGround Engineered for speed, built for security, crafted for WordPress. SiteGround offers feature-rich managed WordPress hosting with premium support, and is officially recommended by WordPress.org. Thanks to SiteGround for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, I bring on James Laws and Kevin Stover -- cofounders of Saturday Drive, the parent company of Ninja Forms -- to discuss why they are entering the world of eCommerce. I found this especially interesting given the market dominance of WooCommerce for general WordPress-based eCommerce needs.
Saturday Drive purchased Exchange, the plugin initially developed by iThemes and then handed off to A.J. Morris, with the intention of making a play for the eCommerce market, much like they did successfully once already for the somewhat-saturated forms market.
Episode Links * Ninja Shop plugin * Ninja Shop website * James Laws on Twitter * Kevin Stover on Twitter
Sponsor: Sandhills Development Sandhills Development makes a suite of excellent plugins to power your WordPress website. Whether you need to sell digital downloads, restrict content, create an affiliate program, or manage an events calendar, they've got you covered. Thanks to Sandhills for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, the Brians discuss the challenges of working on your own business website, when your company offers services or makes products for websites. Agencies often disregard their own websites, as do product companies. We discuss our own histories of attempting in-house redesign projects, strategies to get them done, and how we approach things today owning our own tiny businesses.
Links * CodeInWP Transparency Report: Redesigning Your Business Website
Sponsor: Pagely Pagely offers best in class managed WordPress hosting, powered by the Amazon Cloud, the Internet’s most reliable infrastructure. Post Status is proudly hosted by Pagely. Thank you to Pagely for being a Post Status partner
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, the Brians have a chat about a number of different acquisitions that have occurred in the WordPress space over these past few weeks. Listen in as they unpack some of the news surrounding StudioPress, WPEngine, Automattic, WPNinjas, Prospress, and AutomateWoo. Check out our episode links for further stories about each of those businesses as well as the virtual JavaScript for WordPress conference taking place live on July 29.
- Links
- WPEngine acquired StudioPress
- Automattic acquired Atavist
- WPNinjas acquired ExchangeWP (formerly iThemes Exchange)
- Prospress acquires AutomateWoo
- Prospress announced Subscribe.me
- JSforWP Conf on Friday
- WCGR on Saturday
- WCEU Photos
Sponsor: Jilt Jilt offers powerful email marketing built for eCommerce. Join thousands of stores that have already earned over $28,000,000 in extra sales using Jilt. Try Jilt for free
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Brian is joined by guest-host Brian Casel. Brian runs Audience Ops, a productized service that offers all aspects of content creation for companies. Brian has been in the WordPress community for a long time, and for years has worked on creating processes around his business to enable him to get beyond a freelancer work life and into treating services like products.
Before Audience Ops, he ran Restuarant Engine -- a niche WordPress site provider, where he really honed many of the processes his company still uses today -- which he sold for six figures.
We dig in to why he decided to make a transformation with his businesses to be so process oriented, and how he turned that into the 30-person organization it is today, as well as the various courses and communities around Productize and Scale.
Links * Audience Ops * Productize and Scale newsletter * Productize Podcast * Productize Course * Restaurant Engine * Ops Calendar * Tropical MBA DC
Sponsor: Yoast Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support from a great support team and extra features such as a redirect manager, recommended internal links, tutorial videos and integration with Google Webmaster Tools! Check out Yoast SEO Premium.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Brian is joined by guest-host Jay Hoffmann. Jay is the Lead Developer at Reaktiv Studios and the creator and curator of The History of the Web. It is a good time to discuss the history of the web with Jay, as WordPress is ready to celebrate its 15th birthday.
Be sure to subscribe to Jay's newsletter on the History of the Web website to receive new articles on such a fascinating project.
Brian and Jay discuss his work at Reaktiv, his prior work at Sesame Street Workshop and Random House, and the project he's worked on for two years now documenting the web's timeline and history. It was a fun discussion on all fronts.
Links * The History of the Web * The history of Flash * The story of WordPress * The decade long path to web fonts
Sponsor: WooCommerce WooCommerce makes the most customizable eCommerce software on the planet, and it’s the most popular too. You can build just about anything with WooCommerce. Try it today, and thanks to the team at WooCommerce being a Post Status partner
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Brian and Brian discuss the upcoming WordSesh schedule and go spelunking through make.wordpress.org to surface some recent gems making their way to WordPress.org – both the project and the website.
Links * WordSesh schedule and tickets * REST API search endpoint * Help for Gutenberg migration guide * Theme review with trusted authors
Sponsor: iThemes This episode is sponsored by iThemes. The team at iThemes offers WordPress plugins, themes and training to help take the guesswork out of building, maintaining and securing WordPress websites. For more information, check out their website and thank you to iThemes for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Brian and Brian discuss meta data in WordPress, including the challenge of implementing data into new tools, such as the REST API and the Gutenberg editor.
With the endless options of data complexity that’s historically possible with meta fields, the way these features are implemented into new projects has to be well thought out. There is continued activity with both the REST API and Gutenberg to make sure meta is well supported. There are several things that are worth knowing, if you are a consultant or a product maker in regard to working with WordPress meta.
Links * Completing the implementation of meta data registration with the REST API * Gutenberg, REST API, and You * Fields Manager * Advanced Custom Fields * CMB2
Sponsor: Pippin's Plugins This episode is sponsored by Pippin’s Plugins. Pippin’s Plugins creates a suite of plugins that work great alone, or together. Whether you need to restrict content, sell downloads, or start an affiliate program, they’ve got you covered. For more information, check out their website and thank you to Pippin’s Plugins for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, the two Brian’s discuss the current conversations and controversy surrounding data collection and visitor privacy on the web. The duo dig in to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and what it means for you both as site visitors and site owners and, in particular, how WordPress core and plugin authors are (or should be) responding to the new regulation. It’s a pretty deep topic with many implications and ramifications. Be sure to follow the episode links, too, so that you can be best informed and prepared for when GDPR goes into effect on May 25, 2018.
Links
- CJR report on understanding the General Data Protection Regulation
- Core's roadmap for GDPR compliance
- Trac issues related to GDPR
- Pagely's GDPR guide
- Heather Burns' detailed GDPR analysis in Smashing Magazine
Sponsor: Valet This episode is sponsored by Valet. Valet helps keep your clients happy & coming back. They offer expert services and keep the websites they manage functioning flawlessly. They offer preventative care that provides peace of mind around the clock. For more information, check out their website and thank you to Valet for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Brian and Brian discuss a variety of news topics spanning design, development, and business. Tune in to learn about the history of WordPress and the web, the newest TechCrunch redesign, a WordCamp for WordCamp organizers, and more.
Links * Leaky Paywall * 2018 Design in Tech report * Gutenberg Development Course * TechCrunch redesign * WordPress turns 15, via History of the Web * Proposal for a WordCamp for WordCamp organizers
Sponsor: Gravity Forms Gravity Forms makes the best web forms on the planet. Over a million WordPress sites are already using Gravity Forms. Is yours? Thanks to Gravity Forms for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, the dynamic Brian duo discuss the highly-anticipated return of WordSesh, the different ways in which we all learn the same, and some of the problems we face in skill building. The guys also spend time finding and contacting the addressable market around WordPress, characterizing a business as WordPress-focused vs providing WordPress services in the context of a broader market, and some of the nuances of providing contextualized services (whether they be training, consulting, or otherwise).
Links * New human organ * WordSesh.com * WPSessions.com
Sponsor: OptinMonster OptinMonster allows you to convert visitors into subscribers. You can easily create & A/B test beautiful lead capture forms without a developer. Be sure to check out their new Inactivity Sensor technology.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
This week the Brians put their brains together and discuss content distribution across various mediums and platforms as well as subscriptions for both digital and physical products. The conversation shifts between different tooling and platforms that exist for enabling content distribution as well as some of the societal shifts that have shaped how we share and consume both content and products.
This is a good episode for anyone who is developing sites and selling solutions around content distribution or subscriptions as well as anyone who is running (or looking to run) a business based around a subscriber model (paid or otherwise).
Links * WP Jargon Glossary * Google News subscription initiative * Brent's blog post * Teams for WooCommerce Memberships * Target acquires Shipt
Sponsor: Pagely Pagely offers best in class managed WordPress hosting, powered by the Amazon Cloud, the Internet’s most reliable infrastructure. Post Status is proudly hosted by Pagely. Thank you to Pagely for being a Post Status partner
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Brian and Brian discuss the power of network effects and how they relate to WordPress’ increasing market share and maturity. WordPress has recently hit two major milestones, turning 15 years old and reaching 30% market share of the top 10 million websites, and we spend this episode reflecting on the innovations that brought us here and where innovations are likely to occur over the next 10 years.
We’ve come quite a long way in these 15 years. From the famous 5-minute install to being entirely pre-installed. From a supportive band of volunteers and vast ecosystem of free software to the commercially supported and highly-polished products that exist today. There is a lot about WordPress to be thankful for, and a lot of great things that will exist in the future because of it. And you can hear a bit about all of that on this episode of the Post Status Draft podcast.
Links * The Power of Network Effects * Mel Choice's LoopConf presentation on Customizing the Future
Sponsor: Yoast Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support from a great support team and extra features such as a redirect manager, recommended internal links, tutorial videos and integration with Google Webmaster Tools! Check out Yoast SEO Premium.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
This week BK and BR discuss a number of different aspects surrounding marketing and selling WordPress products and services. The conversation flows from selling benefits vs features, to social proof, to marketing and conversion funnels, to understanding and reacting to the problem space, to customer support, and many things in between. Whether you’re already selling products or services, about to sell something, or routinely buy things, there’s likely something for you in this episode.
Links * Krogs’ WCUS funnel talk: and slides * Price Anchoring session on WPS * Tips for marketing WordPress products * SiteGround’s Publish presentation * TED talk on decision fatigue and the paradox of choice (also good “Why we make bad decisions”) * Stripe Atlas guide to SaaS pricing
Sponsor: SiteGround SiteGround is engineered for speed, built for security, and crafted for WordPress. They offer feature-rich managed WordPress hosting with premium support, and are officially recommended by WordPress.org. Check out SiteGround's website for a special deal for Post Status listeners, and thanks to SiteGround for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, the Brians chat about the steady change that has played out in the WordPress ecosystem throughout the past decade and speculate about what is still to come. One aspect they explore rather deeply is the future trajectory of a website’s purpose and the role WordPress has to play in this transition. Plus, don’t miss their conversation about the new WordPress.com president and Google’s move to hire WordPress talent.
Links * New WordPress.com President announcement * Google's WordPress job opportunity * micro.blog
Sponsor: SearchWP SearchWP makes WordPress search better. Instantly improve your site search without writing a line of code! SearchWP enables custom algorithms, searching custom fields, product data, and much more. Improve your site’s search today with our partner, SearchWP.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Lisa Sabin-Wilson shares about the entangled history of WebDevStudios and eWebscapes and how she and team are targeting every level of the market. WebDevStudios focuses heavily on the upper and enterprise market segments, providing a high degree of attention and support to those clients.
Sometime in 2017 Lisa did the math on all the lower-end projects that they were referring away and realized that WDS had a prime opportunity to re-introduce her former web studio, eWebscapes, as a way to serve these smaller-scope projects. This rebirth, so to speak, has positioned them to better target local communities, provide staff with more variety of work, and bring simplified processes alongside those they use for larger projects.
Key take-aways * Lisa observed a market opportunity and did the math first * Relaunching started with a solid content strategy * Simplified processes for managing a project * Utilized talent already on staff * Lots of opportunity to target local communities * Evaluating the success of this strategy after 6 months
Links * WebDevStudios * eWebscapes * Profitable Project Plan: * Lisa Sabin-Wilson on Twitter:
Photo Credit Sponsor: Prospress Prospress makes the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin, that enables you to turn your online business into a recurring revenue business. Whether you want to ship a box or setup digital subscriptions like I have on Post Status, Prospress has you covered. Check out Prospress.com for more, and thanks to Prospress for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Brian and Brian continue their discussion on WordPress market opportunities with a focus on the upper-market and enterprise clients. They take a look at discovery projects, pitching WordPress against competing platforms, and considerations to make before pitching on these high-budget projects. There are plenty of positives and negatives when working on long-term projects that may have a dramatic impact on your company in many ways.
In addition to these market opportunities, the boys also discuss recent news including iThemes acquisition by Liquid Web, a welcome change to the WordPress.org plugin directory, and an unfortunate and far-reaching bug that shipped with the 4.9.3 release last week.
Links * Liquid Web acquires iThemes * Plugin directory notice changes * 4.9.4 technical details * Infusing Websites with Brand VoiceWPS Team Training
Sponsor: WooCommerce WooCommerce makes the most customizable eCommerce software on the planet, and it’s the most popular too. You can build just about anything with WooCommerce. Try it today, and thanks to the team at WooCommerce being a Post Status partner
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Brian and Brian discuss market segmentation across the WordPress ecosystem. The focus for this discussion focused entirely on the entry-level segment of site assemblers and their small-business clients as well as the mid-level market of contractors and agencies selling additional levels of service. The duo talked through a few different strategies employed in each segment, including service differentiation, regional focus, building a network of complementary contractors, systemizing processes, delivering quality customer support flow, and selling ongoing service.
In addition to this look at market segmentation, the Brians shared a few useful resources for both Gutenberg and WP-CLI.
Links * Mike McAlister's Gutenberg News * Ahmed Awais's create-gutenberg-block * Delicious Brain's WP-CLI packages reviews * WordPress Website: How much should it cost? * Selling Ongoing Services with Sara Dunn
Sponsor: iThemes This episode is sponsored by iThemes. The team at iThemes offers WordPress plugins, themes and training to help take the guesswork out of building, maintaining and securing WordPress websites. For more information, check out their website and thank you to iThemes for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Brian and Brian discuss market segmentation across the WordPress ecosystem. The focus for this discussion focused entirely on the entry-level segment of site assemblers and their small-business clients as well as the mid-level market of contractors and agencies selling additional levels of service. The duo talked through a few different strategies employed in each segment, including service differentiation, regional focus, building a network of complementary contractors, systemizing processes, delivering quality customer support flow, and selling ongoing service.
In addition to this look at market segmentation, the Brians shared a few useful resources for both Gutenberg and WP-CLI.
Links * Mike McAlister's Gutenberg News * Ahmed Awais's create-gutenberg-block * Delicious Brain's WP-CLI packages reviews * WordPress Website: How much should it cost? * Selling Ongoing Services with Sara Dunn
Sponsor: iThemes This episode is sponsored by iThemes. The team at iThemes offers WordPress plugins, themes and training to help take the guesswork out of building, maintaining and securing WordPress websites. For more information, check out their website and thank you to iThemes for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and co-host Brian Richards.
In this episode, Brian and Brian discuss self-hosted vs managed ecommerce and whether or not conferences have outlived their usefulness. Specifically, they look at WooCommerce vs other solutions and explore Shopify and Liquid Web’s Managed WooCommerce hosting as viable done-for-you strategies. On the conference front, they talk about the good and the bad of conferences and ponder how tech conferences of the future may need to change to attract more attendees.
Links * The End of the Conference Era * Liquid Web introduces Managed WooCommerce * Liquid Web's WooCommerce Order Tables Plugin * Metorik * eCommerceFuel
Sponsor: Pippin's Plugins This episode is sponsored by Pippin’s Plugins. Pippin’s Plugins creates a suite of plugins that work great alone, or together. Whether you need to restrict content, sell downloads, or start an affiliate program, they’ve got you covered. For more information, check out their website and thank you to Pippin’s Plugins for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and his new co-host, Brian Richards.
Brian Richards, the creator of WPSessions.com, has been developing with WordPress since 2007 and training and leading development teams since 2011. In addition to investing his time into training, Brian has had the opportunity to work with many amazing WordPress agencies and experts over these last several years. This has allowed him to help develop sites for Microsoft, Disney, TIME, YMCA, and numerous others.
Brian has an affinity for self-directed learning and helping others to develop skills and workflows to better solve important and complicated problems. He can’t resist helping good people do great things!
Links * WPSessions.com * Crowd Favorite * WebDevStudios * Ramblings from a nobody * Brian Richards on Twitter * WPSessions on Twitter
Sponsor: Valet This episode is sponsored by Valet. Valet helps keep your clients happy & coming back. They offer expert services and keep the websites they manage functioning flawlessly. They offer preventative care that provides peace of mind around the clock. For more information, check out their website and thank you to Valet for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, I am joined by Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic and the co-founder of WordPress. In this episode, we discuss a range of issues facing WordPress today, as well as the various arms of Automattic's business:
- WordPress 4.9 features around customization.
- Progress on the Gutenberg Editor
- Feature projects and a year of day-to-day project lead
- The React decision for WordPress, and what came of it
- WooCommerce, Jetpack and issues they are facing
- Site building versus blogging on WordPress.com, and their ad campaigns
- WordPress community, the WordPress website
- And more!
This was a fun episode, and it's always a privilege to be able to talk to the leader of the WordPress project. I hope you enjoy it. Photo by Brian Richards, for Post Status
Sponsor: Gravity Forms Gravity Forms makes the best web forms on the planet. Over a million WordPress sites are already using Gravity Forms. Is yours? Thanks to Gravity Forms for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Brian is joined by Tom Willmot, the CEO of Human Made. Human Made recently released an employee handbook as an open source document for anyone to use, copy, or learn from. Tom and Brian discuss several elements of the handbook, and how they approach these things at Human Made:
- Employee onboarding
- Remote work processes
- Communication
- Employee feedback and mentorship
- HR policies
- And more!
This was a fun episode. Human Made has some of the lowest turnover in our industry and it was educational to hear from Tom. Sponsor: OptinMonster OptinMonster allows you to convert visitors into subscribers. You can easily create & A/B test beautiful lead capture forms without a developer. Be sure to check out their new Inactivity Sensor technology.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Brian and Joe are live at Post Status Publish and answer questions from the conference audience. They are asked about mistakes they think the WordPress product ecosystem is making, the challenges of working remotely, and many more existential questions.
Publish was a lot of fun, and we’ll have more audio, video, and pictures available over the coming weeks.
Sponsor: Liquid Web Liquid Web was the platinum sponsor of the Publish podcast, and therefore this episode of the podcast as well. If you haven’t tried Liquid Web’s Managed WordPress product, it’s time. They are doing awesome work in this space for mission critical sites.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by the creator and editor of Post Status, Brian Krogsgard, and this week's guest host, Patrick Rauland.
In this episode, Brian and Patrick Rauland discuss the state of eCommerce today, both from a product perspective, and for store owners. They also discuss Patrick’s own journeys in the land of eCommerce, as a former product manager for WooCommerce, a course author for Lynda (now LinkedIn Learning), consulting, and putting on an online eCommerce conference.
Links * Patrick's programming blog * Lift Off Summit * Amazon FBA for WooCommerce * ShipStation * Stitch Labs * Tropical MBA * WooConf * eCommerceFuel * Post Status Publish
Photo Credit Sponsor: Pagely Pagely offers best in class managed WordPress hosting, powered by the Amazon Cloud, the Internet’s most reliable infrastructure. Post Status is proudly hosted by Pagely. Thank you to Pagely for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by the creator and editor of Post Status, Brian Krogsgard, and this week's guest host, Joe Casabona.
Brian and Joe discuss the way they have learned WordPress over the years, and how they’ve gone about sharing and teaching what they’ve learned. They focus mostly on front-end parts of WordPress development.
Links * WP in one month * Casabona.org * How I Built It * WesBos.com
Sponsor: Yoast Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support from a great support team and extra features such as a redirect manager, recommended internal links, tutorial videos and integration with Google Webmaster Tools! Check out Yoast SEO Premium.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard.
Brian is joined by guest-host Rachel Cherry -- a Senior Software Engineer at Disney, and the organizer of WP Campus, an event for WordPress in higher education. They discuss many of the things that folks working with WordPress in higher education encounter during this episode.
Prior to working for Disney, Rachel spent around a decade working on the web in higher ed, most recently at the University of Alabama.
Links * Rachel's website * WP Campus, which will be held on July 13-14 in Buffalo, New York. * The Events Calendar, by Modern Tribe * University of Alabama Engineering * Washington State University Github
Sponsor: SiteGround SiteGround is engineered for speed, built for security, and crafted for WordPress. They offer feature-rich managed WordPress hosting with premium support, and are officially recommended by WordPress.org. Check out SiteGround's website for a special deal for Post Status listeners, and thanks to SiteGround for being a Post Status partner. Photo by Found Art Photography
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
Brian and Joe discuss many of the factors that are a part of maintaining a website for the long term. They discuss it both in the sense of when you own the site (like Brian with Post Status), and when you are doing long-term client work (like Human Made with retainers).
There are several things to consider, whether it’s in your own code, or the decisions you make on which third party developer’s tools to use.
Links * Semantic Versioning * WooCommerce 3.0 and moving to SemVer
Sponsor: SearchWP SearchWP makes WordPress search better. Instantly improve your site search without writing a line of code! SearchWP enables custom algorithms, searching custom fields, product data, and much more. Improve your site’s search today with our newest partner, SearchWP.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard.
Brian is joined by guest-host Matt Medeiros -- host of the Matt Report podcast, and many other ventures in the WordPress ecosystem. They discuss community building, their experiences building community in the WordPress world, and the challenges of getting involved in a new community.
Links * Crafted by Matt * Matt Report * Post Status WordPress Jobs * This WordPress community is not for the taking
Sponsor: Prospress Prospress makes the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin, that enables you to turn your online business into a recurring revenue business. Whether you want to ship a box or setup digital subscriptions like I have on Post Status, Prospress has you covered. Check out Prospress.com for more, and thanks to Prospress for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
Live from the A Day of REST workshops, Brian, Joe, and Zac talk about the state of working with JavaScript -- including several popular JavaScript frameworks -- and WordPress. They go through the pros and cons of using each one, what to watch out for when working with them and WordPress, and ways they think the process can improve.
Links * JavaScript for WP * React * Vue * Backbone * Underscores * Angular * A Day of Rest
Sponsor: WP Migrate DB Pro Today’s show is sponsored by Delicious Brains. WP Migrate DB Pro makes moving and copying databases simple. They also have an exciting new project for merging databases, called Mergebot. Go to Mergebot.com for updates on that, and deliciousbrains.com for more information on WPMigrate DB Pro. Thanks to the team at Delicious Brains for being a Post Status partner. Special Thanks: Bocoup Special thanks to Bocoup for allowing us to record this podcast episode in their office. Bocoup was a partner and workshop host for A Day of REST, and were incredibly hospitable. Checkout Bocoup to learn more about how they embrace open source as a consulting agency.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and this episode's special guest, Carrie Dils.
Carrie Dils has been self-employed for a long time. After years of client work, she now makes her full-time living through multiple different channels, but is not currently doing client services. In this episode, Brian and Carrie talk about various methods for generating revenue, and some helpful tools to do so.
Links * Why Procrastinators Procrastinate * ConvertKit * Mailchimp * Chimp Essentials Mailchimp course * Paul Jarvis on Carrie's podcast * Sunday Dispatches * Nerd Marketing * Amy Lynn Andrews * Todoist * Simplenote * Getting Things Done * 1Password * Interview with Diane Kinney
Links to Carrie's Work * Experience as an Uber driver * Office Hours * Carrie’s blog * WordPress courses * Utility Pro theme * Real World Freelancing book
Sponsor: Prospress Prospress makes the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin, that enables you to turn your online business into a recurring revenue business. Whether you want to ship a box or setup digital subscriptions like I have on Post Status, Prospress has you covered. Check out Prospress.com for more, and thanks to Prospress for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher.
In this episode, Brian interviews Ben May to talk about running The Code Company, a semi-remote agency based in Queensland, Australia. The Code Company works primarily with long term clients and repeat work, and they’ve grown from just Ben to a team of 11 almost entirely by referrals for new customers.
Links * The Code Company
Sponsor: WooCommerce This episode of the Draft podcast is sponsored by WooCommerce. WooCommerce makes the most widely used eCommerce platform on the web, and has the power and flexibility you need to power your store. For more information on how to run your store with WordPress and WooCommerce, check out their website and thank you to WooCommerce for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. In this episode, I interview Jason Cohen, the founder of WP Engine and current CTO.
I talked to Jason about a whole lot of things, mostly to do with growing well. Whether you're growing revenue, company size, or personal development -- this is a conversation about growth, and how to do it well.
Unlike many entrepreneurs in the WordPress space, WP Engine isn't Jason's first business. He's done this before, and made plenty of mistakes. He talks about what he's done differently at WP Engine and how its made him a happier person.
This interview took place at LoopConf, and Jason was a keynote presenter. His LoopConf talk pairs well with our discussion.
Direct Download
Links * WP Engine * LoopConf * Jason's blog
Sponsor: iThemes This episode is sponsored by iThemes. The team at iThemes offers WordPress plugins, themes and training to help take the guesswork out of building, maintaining and securing WordPress websites. For more information, check out their website and thank you to iThemes for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and Brian talk about two of the three WordPress core focus areas -- the customizer and the editor. There has been some news lately with initial ideas and mockups for each project, and we discuss the importance of these features, as well as what's happening with these projects so far.
Links * Customizer opportunities * Editor mockups * Editor technical challenges * Commerce Notebook
Sponsor: Pippin's Plugins This episode is sponsored by Pippin's Plugins. Pippin's Plugins creates a suite of plugins that work great alone, or together. Whether you need to restrict content, sell downloads, or start an affiliate program, they've got you covered. For more information, check out their website and thank you to Pippin's Plugins for being a Post Status partner.
After Post Status Publish's main talks concluded, Joe Hoyle and I recorded the podcast during the reception. It was a laid back format where we discuss the future of WordPress, including our own wishlist features, and then we spent the majority of the hour taking questions from the audience.
We recorded this prior to the announcement of the new development schedule and changes to major releases, but most of our conversation remains relevant, as many of our wishlist items are within the three release focus areas that have been chosen.
You can listen to just the audio, also on our podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher.
Or watch the video on YouTube. And don't forget to subscribe to my new channel on YouTube.
During contributor day of WordCamp US in Philadelphia, I was able to interview Matt Mullenweg to follow up on several items he announced in the State of the Word.
We mostly discussed the new WordPress development cycle and how it will work with the three focus areas. We also discussed how that will affect other non-major updates and WordPress features.
Matt also talked about the WordPress REST API, how he defines success for it, what he hopes to see out of it, and what he thinks would cause it to revert to a plugin only feature.
And as this was the second and final year of WordCamp US in Philadelphia, we reflected on the event, and talked about what there is to look forward to in Nashville for WordCamp US 2017 and 2018.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and Brian talk about how they learned WordPress development, how employers should look at candidates for skill hiring, and various resources they find valuable for learning WordPress.
Links * Just Build Websites * Lynda.com WordPress tutorials * WP in One Month * WordPress Development Stack Exchange * How to Become a Respected WordPress Developer
Sponsor: Gravity Forms This episode is sponsored by Gravity Forms. Gravity Forms makes the best web forms on the planet. Over a million WordPress sites are already using Gravity Forms. Is yours? For more information, check out their website and thank you to Gravity Forms for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and Brian talk about the WordPress REST API and the core approval process
Topics * The API's journey * How Core projects work * What to know about the API know that it's in trunk * What that means for the future of the API
Links * Build APIs you won't hate * Legacy v1 API * LEAN * McMansion Hell: The devil is in the details
Sponsor: OptinMonster OptinMonster allows you to convert visitors into subscribers. You can easily create & A/B test beautiful lead capture forms without a developer. Check out OptinMonster today!
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and Brian answer listener questions. You can go to poststatus.com/ask to ask questions for a future episode. We spent the second half of the show talking about innovation in WordPress and what makes big innovation difficult.
Topics and Links * What is Publish going to be about? + Post Status Publish * What is A Day of Rest? + A Day of Rest Boston 2017 * Managing sites between local, development, staging, and live + Mergebot + VersionPress * Theme review process + Theme handbook + WP Test * Donations for free plugins + The patronage model for free software freelancers + Using Kickstarter to fund open source * How can the WordPress project innovate?
Sponsor: Pagely Pagely helps the world’s biggest brands scale and secure WordPress. They are the original managed host, and have been at it for seven years now. Check out Pagely today, and thanks to Pagely for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and this week's special guest host, Diane Kinney.
Diane is a web professional and solo practitioner based in Florida. She’s writing a book with Carrie Dils called Real World Freelancing, and I thought it’d be fun to chat with her about freelancing.
Links and Topics * Real World Freelancing * The Versatility Group, Diane's primary business * How much should a website cost? * DianeKinney.com, a blog in development. It will focus on business topics, WordPress, and beyond
Sponsor: Yoast Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support from a dedicated support team and extra features such as a redirect manager, tutorial videos and integration with Google Webmaster Tools! Go to yoast.com for more information, and thanks to Yoast for being a Post Status partner
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and Brian discuss WordPress themes, the functionality people put into them, and the challenges that face the WordPress ecosystem with the current state of theming. They also discuss various theme frameworks and how they are setup, common post types and how they can better be supported, and the popularity of page builders.
Topics * What should a theme do? * Theme vs. Plugin functionality -- and mobility potential between themes + Canonical post types * Difference between commercial themes and .org distributed free themes + Restrictions + All-in-one solution "promises" + Page builders and their role in theming + Other theme options via the REST APILinks + On WordPress themes and frameworks + Underscores + CSS Zen Garden + Hybrid Core + Genesis + WordPress.com and Jetpack should lead the way to standardizing CPTsSponsor: WP101 The WP101 Plugin frees your time, enabling you to focus on what you do best, while providing our popular WordPress 101 tutorial videos directly in your client's dashboard. You can even add your own videos! Go to wp101plugin.com for more information, and thanks to WP101 for being a Post Status partner.
In this episode of Post Status Draft, I talk to Pippin Williamson, and we discuss the renewed effort he and his team have made to rejuvenate Restrict Content Pro.
Restrict Content Pro was initially sold without even a dedicated landing page, was successful on Code Canyon for a time, then he let it sputter as he and his team concentrated on Easy Digital Downloads and AffiliateWP.
But Pippin knew that Restrict Content Pro still had more life in it, and he wanted to see it become the kind of product he knew it had the potential to be. So when John Parris -- at the time primarily working with Easy Digital Downloads -- said he was interested in helping make RCP a proper membership plugin, Pippin jumped on the opportunity.
They have had a good bit of success early on in the attempt to rejuvenate this product:
Our goal was to double or triple the monthly revenue within six months. In March, 2016, RCP brought in $7,700. Last month, July 2016, it brought in $11,400. August, 2016, is estimated to bring in a little over $12,000. We’re at the five month mark and have increased monthly revenue by about 1.5. That’s not double yet, but it’s getting close. Within another few months, I expect we’ve surpass $15,000 in monthly sales. Even with just an increase of 1.5, we’re still looking at more than $100,000 in annual revenue, and the monthly revenue is higher than it ever was in the past, so we’re succeeding.
Our conversation picked up where the blog post left off. We talked about the pain points they encountered during this effort, some of the additional rewards they've had, and how he structures the business more generally to have the same team work on multiple products. If you are a business owner, or aspire to be one -- or if you are curious about managing multiple lines of business at once -- then I think you'll really enjoy this episode.
And, if you're a Post Status Club member, Pippin and I recorded a bonus segment, where we discuss hosted WordPress eCommerce, and Pippin shares his opinions on the concept, and whether or not it's something they are considering for Restrict Content Pro and/or Easy Digital Downloads.
Sponsor: Design Palette Pro makes customizing Genesis websites simple. The Design Palette Pro team has integrated with every Genesis child theme, and it’s the perfect place to send folks who need custom design, without a custom budget. Go to GenesisDesignPro.com for more information, and thanks to Design Palette Pro for being a Post Status partner.
Original photo credit: Marc Benzakein at WCSD
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and Brian talk about various third party publishing apps available and how they work with WordPress. They dig into apps that currently exist, how the connect to WordPress, how the future of WordPress could improve the third party ecosystem, and many of the challenges that must be tackled when interacting with WordPress as a third party application.
Apps We Discussed * WordPress mobile apps * Ulysses * Desk * Byword * MarsEdit * Windows Life Writer * Evernote to WordPress Zapier * iA Writer * OneNote to WordPress Zapier
Editor Interfaces * TinyMCE (web editor) * QuillJS (web editor) * DraftJS (web editor) * WordPress iOS editor (native editor)
Other Links * WordPress REST API * Vienna
Sponsor: Delicious Brains Today’s show is sponsored by Delicious Brains. WP Migrate DB Pro makes moving and copying databases simple. They are also working on an exciting new project right now for merging databases, called Mergebot. Go to Mergebot.com for updates on that, and deliciousbrains.com for more information on WPMigrate DB Pro, and thanks to the team at Delicious Brains for being a Post Status partner.
WordPress 4.6, “Pepper”, has been released. It’s named, as always, after a famous jazz musician, and this release is named after Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III, a baritone saxophonist and jazz composer.
The Release Lead for WordPress 4.6 was Dominik Schilling, known often as Ocean90, and the Deputy Release Lead was Garth Mortensen. There were 272 total contributors to this release. According to Aaron Jorbin, 85 of these contributors were first timers, so congratulations to all new WordPress contributors!
For this release, we did a special episode of the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle — the CTO of Human Made — and me, Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and I discuss WordPress 4.6 and deep dive on a few of its features.
About WordPress 4.6 Overall, this was a planned iterative release from the beginning, with a goal to fix as many longstanding bugs as possible, and to refine existing features, rather than to focus on a lot of brand new features.
Folks have been clamoring for a release like this for a long time, and in most respects 4.6 delivered. According to Trac, 489 tickets were closed, across 53 components, during the 4.6 milestone. Also, it shipped exactly on time.
User facing features WordPress 4.6 has a few user facing features that aren't huge functional changes, but nice interface enhancements. Shiny updates No more bleak screen of sadness, as the team working on this termed it. The plugin installation, updates, and delete process is much smoother than it used to be. There's a nice video of this from the initial proposal: This was the second release where "shiny updates" features were a focus. To see some under the hood considerations for developers, there's more information on that from Pascal Birchler.
Native fonts WordPress is leaving Open Sans. You may have seen GitHub’s change to native fonts. Or if you’re running 4.6 in development, you’ve seen native fonts replace Open Sans in the admin too. Matt Miklic explains the switch from Open Sans to native system fonts in the WordPress admin. By the way, the declaration of fonts has a good bit of science behind it, and may be useful for those of you who wish to do something similar for your site body copy. Marcin Wichary has a really interesting post describing Medium's process for the switch.
And if you're curious, the new declaration is this:
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif;
Inline link checker
WordPress will now automatically detect improperly formatted links, as you write. While this doesn't check the validity of any properly written URL, it will ensure the URL you add in an href is properly formatted. So, it will catch if you accidentally type something like htp://w.org or http:/w.org and outline it in read for you to fix.
If you copy and past a URL into the link editor, but don't include http:// at all (I do this a bunch), it auto detects and inserts it for you.
Browser content caching Yet more efforts have been made to always ensure that you do not lose your content as you write. I followed the steps in the Trac ticket to see exactly what happens here. So I typed the first sentence below, saved a draft, then typed the second paragraph:
What if I start typing and save a draft? Then start typing some more, because that's what bloggers do. And I chill here for a few seconds, then stupidly just reload this page?
Then I reloaded the page without saving again, and got a notice that there is a more up to date version available. And just like that, the content is back, because it was saved in the browser's local storage. Pretty cool.
Developer features
There are several important developer centric features that you should know about.
Enhanced meta data registration
This is a significant aid to the (pending) REST API meta handling, but also improves other meta data functionality. The register_meta() function allows developers to tell WordPress more about what specific meta data is designed to do. In WordPress 4.6, the arguments for this function have changed, enabling more information to be communicated in the third parameter, which is now an array.
The show_in_rest key, an experimental key (until the API endpoint goes in), finally solves the issue for the REST API for knowing when to include meta data in the API's default responses. It's one step of a few that need to be made to better support meta for the API, but it's a good step forward.
For plugin developers not using register_meta(), be sure to learn more about it and the advantages, as there are quite a few. Jeremy Felt describes how to use register_meta on Make Core.
Translation priorities and changes
WordPress will now default to the translations from Translate.WordPress.org community translations, then pull from theme or plugin translation files. A procedure called “just-in-time” translation loading will be utilized, and for plugins and themes distributed through the official repository, load_plugin_textdomain() and load_theme_textdomain() no longer need to be used.
Commercial plugin authors will still largely follow the same internationalization procedures they always have.
In a related note, and quite impressively, WordPress 4.6 shipped 100% translated in 50+ languages.
Resource hints Joe helped teach me more about resource hints on the podcast, and Aaron did a much better job detailing resource hints than I could, in his excellent field guide:
Resource Hints is a rather new W3C specification that “defines the
dns-prefetch,preconnect,prefetch, andprerenderrelationships of the HTML Link Element ()”. These can be used to assist the browser in the decision process of which origins it should connect to, and which resources it should fetch and preprocess to improve page performance. In 4.6, WordPress adds an API to register and use resource hints. The relevant ticket is #34292.Developers can use the
wp_resource_hintsfilter to add custom domains and URLs fordns-prefetch,preconnect,prefetchorprerender. One needs to be careful to not add too many resource hints as they could quite easily negatively impact performance, especially on mobile.
Resource hints can be very useful for certain situations, and it's a technique that I personally need to explore further. Those of you doing advanced performance-driven development will surely be excited about support for this in WordPress.
Customizer APIs
The Customize API continues to evolve and improve, and Nick Halsey walks through new developer-focused features and changes to the API for WordPress 4.6. Also quite notably, Weston Ruter describes new APIs for both settings validation and notification management in the customizer.
Other developer-centric changes
Multisite changes: Jeremy Felt describes WP_Site_Query and WP_Network_Query, and goes over a few new functions and filters.
There is now a persistent comment cache, allowing more performant comment loading functionality.
The WordPress HTTP API now uses the Requests library, as Ryan McCue describes.
Aaron Jorbin describes some of the lower level WordPress loading priorities and defaults that have changed. He also describes how WP CLI and core have reconciled their differences in wp-settings.php, which makes backward compatability for WP CLI possible now.
Boone Gorges describes the introduction of WP_Term_Query. He’s the term whisperer. As Joe and I discuss in the podcast, these sorts of changes make for better consistency in WordPress, and provide an improved developer experience.
Learn more WordPress 4.6 is the result of hundreds of community members. You can find their names and links to their profiles on the official release post. Also check out the official 4.6 Codex page that has a lot of handy information and links to source Trac tickets. You can see all closed tickets from 4.6 on the Trac milestone. View all new functions, classes, methods, and hooks on the official Developer Reference. And learn more about some of what I discuss above, and other items, on the ever-helpful field guide.
For the record, WordPress 4.5 was downloaded more than 45 million times. You can track 4.6 downloads on the page dedicated to the task.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to WordPress 4.6! I hope you have a 🍺 or 🍻 to celebrate if that's your kind of thing, or otherwise 🎉 your efforts.
Podcast Sponsor: Prospress Prospress exists to make the world’s best eCommerce platform a little better, because they want to help entrepreneurs prosper with WordPress. They are the creators of WooCommerce Subscriptions, PayPal Digital Goods, and One Page Checkout. Check them out at Prospress.com.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and me, Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and I discuss how we choose plugins, code libraries, and frameworks for our projects.
Direct Download
Topics & Links * How we pick plugins * Analyzing a plugin on WordPress.org * Using GitHub * Picking libraries or drop-in frameworks * Dealing with updates * Differentiating between picking tools for our personal or internal projects, versus doing so for clients
Sponsor: WooCommerce WooCommerce makes the most customizable eCommerce software on the planet, and it’s the most popular too. You can build just about anything with WooCommerce. Try it today, and thanks to the team at WooCommerce being a Post Status partner
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and Brian talk scaling WordPress, and what to do when you think you might’ve reached WordPress’s limits. From meta data, to users, to traffic management, they break down some of the most common scaling issues.
Topics * Posts * Meta * Search * Database * Users * Traffic (types of caching)
Links * Elasticsearch * ElasticPress * More Like This Query * Elasticsearch WP_Query * Memcached * Redis * Rarst Fragment Cache Plugin * Human Made Fragment Cache drop-in
Sponsor: iThemes iThemes has a full suite of excellent products to help you level up your WordPress website. From iThemes Security, to BackupBuddy’s new live backups, to Exchange for your next membership site, iThemes has you covered. Thanks to the team at iThemes being a Post Status partner!
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and Brian talk about Medium & WordPress and whether Medium and similar platforms are a significant threat to WordPress. They also discuss the benefits and challenges of open source platforms versus proprietary ones, and WordPress’s potential as a lower level item in the site stack.
Links * Interview with Matt * Joe's REST API talk * Vienna WordPress app concept * Billionaire's Typewriter * What to Consider When the Platforms Show up With Money * Medium.com * WordPress.com Calypso * Medium compared to LiveJournal
Sponsor This episode is sponsored by Pippin's Plugins. If you want to sell downloads, setup content restriction, or start an affiliate program, Pippin’s Plugins have you covered. If you need all three, even better. Pippin’s Plugins is well known for making some of the best coded and most reliable plugins in the market. Check out PippinsPlugins.com for more information.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. This episode of Post Status Draft is hosted by Sarah Gooding -- another WordPress journalist -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Sarah and Brian discuss how they do WordPress news, manage working remotely, and handle family life.
Links * WP Tavern opinion
Sponsor This episode is sponsored by Valet. Valet helps keep your clients happy & coming back. They offer expert services and keep the websites they manage functioning flawlessly. They offer preventative care that provides peace of mind around the clock. For more information, check out their website and thank you to Valet for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode, Joe and Brian discuss the structure and function of the WordPress.org website, which is the hub of the WordPress project. From the actual software distribution, to discussions about the project, to support, and buying swag: it all happens from WordPress.org. We break down what’s what and what we think you should know.
Notes Who owns WordPress.org? Who works on WordPress.org How WordPress.org distributes software updates Different Sections of WordPress.org Navigation * Showcase * WordPress theme directory -- and reviews -- and commercial themes * WordPress plugin directory -- and reviews * Mobile -- Redirects to .com * Support Forums / Codex "documentation" * Make WordPress (Get Involved) * About (many sub pages and also project structure) * Blog * Hosting * Download (button -- in future to be Get WordPress)
Other Sections * core.trac.wordpress.org * developer.wordpress.org * mercantile.wordpress.org * jobs.wordpress.net * learn.wordpress.org * Ideas
Other Linked Sites * WordCamp * WordPress.tv * BuddyPress * bbPress * WordPress.com * ma.tt
Active Projects for Improving * Helphub * Handbooks (theme), plugin published * Plugin directory
Links * Blog for WordPress.org projects
Sponsor This episode is sponsored by Gravity Forms. Gravity Forms makes the best web forms on the planet. Over a million WordPress sites are already using Gravity Forms. Is yours? For more information, check out their website and thank you to Gravity Forms for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
Joe and Brian discuss WordPress as a Headless CMS. They talk about what a Headless CMS is, WordPress’s strengths and weaknesses as a Headless CMS, popular frameworks to utilize, and offer up example websites to check out.
Examples * The Guggenheim * A Day of Rest Boston * ustwo * Skaled * Modern Tribe
Links * Angular * React * React vs Angular 2 * Lean, an Agular for WordPress framework * Decoupled CMS * What is a Headless CMS? * We Need to Talk about the REST API * Introducing the REST API Authentication Broker * Human Made's REST API White Paper
Sponsor Today’s show is sponsored by OptinMonster. OptinMonster allows you to convert visitors into subscribers. You can easily create & A/B test beautiful lead capture forms without a developer. They recently released OptinMonster 3.0, with an all new builder interface and other great features.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
Security -- in WordPress core, distributed plugins and themes, and in our custom code -- is a constant battle. It’s important to be vigilant with our security practices, from the perspective of managing our websites and when writing code. In this episode, Joe and Brian discuss the nature of WordPress security, best practices for writing secure code, and dig into various situations WordPress developers and site owners may run into.
Links * Hardening WordPress * About WordPress Security * A Guide to Writing Secure Themes * Writing Secure Plugins & Themes by Ben Lobaugh * $wpdb * WP Scan * Understanding Vulnerabilities
Sponsor: Pagely Pagely offers best in class managed WordPress hosting, powered by the Amazon Cloud, the Internet’s most reliable infrastructure. Post Status is proudly hosted by Pagely. Thank you to Pagely for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
Everybody creates workflows to accomplish their development work. And sometimes you come upon a new tool that completely changes how you do things, and helps you improve your productivity.
In this episode, Joe and Brian aim to share their tools in the hopes that it will help others review and refine their own processes. And Joe and Brian approach things quite differently themselves, so they compare and contrast their own workflows. Have something to add to the conversation, be sure to comment!
Tools * Gitify, lice-cap * Captured (straight to S3), Gifhub, Screenflow, Cloudup * Authy * F.lux * TunnelBear * Alfred * Slack
Coding Tools & Debugging * PHPStorm, Sublime, Atom, VIM, Coda * Xdebug, var_dump, XHProf * httpie * Atom Packages: php-autocomplete, WPCS, php-linter * React-console * Query Monitor * Sequel Pro, mysql command line * iTerm2 * wp-cli!!!
Build Tools * Grunt * Gulp * Make * ImageOptim * Grunt-sass vs. grunt-contrib-sass
Version Control / Review Tools / Deployment * Tig, Tower * Hub * Github * Araxis Merge * DeployBot / Beanstalk * Transmit (S3/SFTP)
Frontend Tools / Extensions * Chrome Inspector / Console * Postman * Chrome JS Debugger * IP & Domain Info extension * Web Developer * Wappalyzer * CodePen
Sponsor This podcast is sponsored by Yoast. Yoast SEO is the best WordPress SEO plugin available, with a premium version to provide expert support and additional features. Thank you to Yoast for being a Post Status partner.
Related Podcasts Understanding WP-CLI Local WordPress Development Strategies
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
WordPress 4.5 was just released, and comes backed with a lot of great new features. Some of our favorites have to do with the editing experience, but we go over all the new user facing features as well as under the hood bits of WordPress 4.5. We also dig into the earliest stages of WordPress 4.6, which is already underway.
If you’ve been enjoying Post Status Draft, would you considering rating us in iTunes? We’ve never asked for it, but it would help tremendously! You can do so by going to iTunes, click “Ratings and Reviews” and leave a quick review. Thanks!
Links * Brian's WordPress 4.5 Post * WordPress 4.6 wishlist * A Day of Rest is going to Boston!
Sponsor This podcast is sponsored by WP101. The WP101 Plugin delivers a set of WordPress video tutorials right in your clients’ dashboard, freeing your time to do what you do best! They also just released a great 22 part course on WooCommerce that you should definitely check out. Thank you to WP101 for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
Today, we answer questions from Post Status community members, who asked us all sorts of stuff on the Post Status Ask page. If you'd like to ask a question, be sure to go there and we'll see if we can answer it on a future show.
Questions & Links We answered the following questions: Why WordPress?
In a survey I did before my PressNomics talk, the top answer for what's important to people in regards to the WordPress world was the quality of the community. WordPress' ubiquity -- powering 26% of the web -- helps too.
What is the biggest mistake you made learning WordPress? (Or, what would you do differently?)
Joe and I each shared what we tend to do wrong when learning new things. We are fully on opposite ends of the spectrum. Recommended link: Just Build Websites. Also, my post on learning WordPress holds up pretty well, considering I wrote it in 2014.
Why did a lot of web and WordPress people get upset about the Mandrill pricing changes, when we want people to value the work we're doing ourselves?
We discuss what made Mandrill's pricing changes controversial, and why we think some level of "outcry" is understandable here. Basically, Mandrill isn't differentiated enough to warrant the new pricing, in our opinions. However, it's obviously their right to change their pricing and structure, and the questioner has a valid point in how we value other services versus our own.
Why isn't the WordPress importer being worked on more intensively?
Good question! We talk about the state of the importer, some other options like WP Migrate DB Pro, WP All Import, and WP CLI. We also discuss how to get involved with open source development.
Should taxonomies have the same feature capabilities as posts in the future?
There's been a lot of interesting work on taxonomies in the last several releases, and you can read more about some of that and find links going back from my release post for WordPress 4.4. However, we think taxonomies and posts should be different. With the introduction of term meta, it is more important to consider architectural choices well in advance. Finally, the Fields API will be interesting in how it affects customizing term edit screens.
How should I use my own domains with Multisite?
This turned interesting! Fortunately, Multisite component maintainer Jeremy Felt came through while we were on the show to point us to tickets that were merged in WordPress 3.9 for enabling simpler domain mapping, and in 4.3, when a better UI was introduced. So, today, it's much easier to use a custom domain in a network -- within the existing WordPress Multisite options interface -- versus using a tool like Mercator.
In addition to these questions, we also banter on about some other things and answer a few less serious questions we go from funny listeners. And at the end, I make a pretty big announcement...
Today’s podcast is sponsored by Design Palette Pro. Design Palette Pro makes it easy to customize pretty much any Genesis theme, without touching code. It’s perfect for when you’re helping a friend with a website, but they don’t have a full service budget and you don’t have time to custom code every element. Get a great website in no time, with Design Palette Pro. Go to GenesisDesignPro.com for more information. Thank you to the team at Reaktiv Studios, who builds Design Palette Pro, for being a Post Status partner.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
Software as a service (SaaS) is often viewed as a holy grail for successful online business. The ability to generate recurring revenue that doesn’t require hours-for-dollars is attractive to most entrepreneurs.
WordPress can be a helpful tool to get a lot of SaaS functionality out of the box. In today’s episode, we discuss WordPress and SaaS in two contexts: one, using WordPress as a technology basis for a SaaS in another industry, and two, creating a SaaS catered to the WordPress world.
Links We mentioned the following SaaS products, and probably some others too. * Happy Tables * Restaurant Engine * Event Smart * Faithmade * Varsity News Network * Rainmaker * WordPress.com * OptinMonster * iThemes Sync * WP Remote * Akismet * VaultPress
Today’s podcast is sponsored by WP Migrate DB Pro by Delicious Brains, the tool that makes syncing your databases effortless. Check out WP Migrate DB Pro and all their other great products on their website.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
WordPress hosting is always a hot topic of conversation, due to the difficult task of differentiating one host from another. There is also a lot of money and marketing involved in the industry -- an industry that includes some of the largest companies in the WordPress ecosystem.
In this episode, Joe and I attempt to break down what different types of hosting are available, how they are applicable to WordPress, and even dig in to some of the drama and politics that surround the hosting world.
The techical part of the conversation is the first 50 minutes or so, and around that mark, we get into the politics and non-technical issues around WordPress hosting, as well as tell some stories of how companies have successfully marketed themselves by getting embedded in the WordPress community.
Links * Review Signal is a great resource for comparing hosting. * The 2015 Review Signal WordPress hosting review is a nice guide. * WordPress recommended hosting page is a source of a number of questions. * We talk about a lot of different hosting companies during this episode. Just Google them.
This episode is sponsored by one of our great partners, Prospress. Check out Prospress's Post Status profile, as well as their website. They are the makers of the excellent WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin, amongst other helpful products.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
HTTPS and HTTP/2 are somewhat intertwined, and a lot has been going on lately in this realm. Google has made a big push to encourage the use of SSL for websites -- including making it a search ranking factor -- and LetsEncrypt and other services are offering new ways to deliver free SSL certificates, securely. And HTTPS is required for HTTP/2, which is making a big splash as well, quickly outpacing SPDY. Today, we’ll talk about what these terms are, and what it means for the web and for WordPress.
Links * Let's Encrypt * The Future Stack: Running WordPress with Tomorrow's Technologies * OAuth * HTTP/2 FAQs * WordPress and HTTP/2 * Software and services supporting HTTP/2 * Transitioning from SPDY to HTTP/2 * HTTP/2 and You * Introducing HTTP/2 * You're Listening to Delilah
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
Today, Joe and Brian discuss WordPress in the “enterprise," starting with a discussion on what the enterprise even is. We discuss WordPress’s value to the enterprise, and what enterprise level companies are looking for in their technology solutions.
The conversation turns into conspiracy theories and joking around by the 50 minute mark, so don’t be intimidated by the hour and fifteen minute timestamp.
Links * Quartz is an API * What is Code? * Make WordPress Marketing
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
Joe and Brian were joined by Ryan McCue, the Lead Developer of the REST API, Daniel Bachhuber, a contributing developer to the REST API, and K.Adam White, Aaron Jorbin, and Jack Lenox — each with unique experiences using the REST API. They discussed the talks from A Day of REST, but also about the impact of the new API more broadly as well.
If you’re at all interested in the REST API, this is an excellent round table to listen to.
Links * A Day of Rest * Post Status summary of the conference and links to slides
Photo credit: Aaron Jorbin
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
This week’s Post Status Draft podcast is hosted by Brian Krogsgard and Joe Hoyle. This week, they talk working in an agency and doing client work.
Joe and Brian discussed a variety of facets to agency and client work, including:
- Hourly billing, daily billing, and project billing
- Tracking time for internal or external purposes
- Pricing websites
- Taking on large versus small projects in both large and small agencies, and how risk changes in each scenario
- Making payroll and managing cashflow
- Being selective with clients
- Retainers and monthly maintenance plans, and how it can fit in
- Team structures for projects
- And more!
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and Brian Krogsgard.
In this episode of Draft, Joe and Brian discuss the biggest stories of 2015 and look forward to predict where the WordPress world will go in 2016.
Topics and Links
Stories of 2015 * Changes in lead developers * A move to active installs * Forced plugin updates become a thing * Comments / The Trojan Emoji * Hunting vulnerabilities in WordPress core * WordPress zero day vulnerability patched * Acquisition(s) * #wpdrama, Thesis edition * Rest API everywhere * JavaScript
What to expect in 2016 * REST API put to the test / endpoints to core * Remkus de Vries's "Learning JavaScript In WordPress, Deeply" * JavaScript for WP * A Day of Rest * More companies growing up (getting bigger, acquisitions) * More hosted service * MOAR JAVASCRIPT * Theming will change * Auto updates become more prevalent
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Post Status Draft is hosted by Joe Hoyle -- the CTO of Human Made -- and myself.
In this episode, Joe and I interview Scott Taylor, who works at The New York Times, is a WordPress Core Committer, and has lead the release of WordPress 4.4. We discuss dig into many WordPress 4.4 features, the thinking behind them, what it's like to lead a release, and core development in general.
We also talked about WordCamp US, where we recorded the podcast from, including Scott's experience speaking during the State of the Word. After the interview with Scott, Joe and I dig more into the State of the Word and WordCamp US in general.
The interview with Scott is first and Joe and I switch to WCUS and the State of the Word around 37 minutes in.
Helpful links * Scott's website * WordPress 4.4 field guide (reference for new features) * WordCamp US website * State of the Word summary and video
I had the opportunity to interview Matt Mullenweg about an ambitious project that included more than a year and a half of development to create an all new WordPress.com interface, both for the web and a desktop app. The project was codenamed Calypso, and we talked about many aspects fo Calypso, as well as a variety of subjects that relate to it.
Why did you make such a big bet on Calypso? Matt has talked for a while now about his vision that WordPress can become an "app platform", and this is an example of what that meant to him. He also notes how he's always looking for things that will "move the needle" for greater WordPress adoption. We were both thinking about the same statistic: that roughly 96% of WordPress.com users (and probably a high number of WordPress.org users too) essentially abandon their websites after a short tenure. So anything that can increase that number, to say 8% or 15% of folks that stick with it long term, can make a huge difference.
How do you think about investing in feature development for WordPress.com, and how it affects WordPress as well? When Matt considers what he wants to invest Automattic developer and designer time in, he says he thinks of WordPress as a whole first, before considering specifics for WordPress.com. He'd rather see WordPress.com as a gateway to a self-hosted install. And whether they stay on .com or move to a self-hosted install, he wants to help ensure that their problems are solved. WordPresses I guess it's new to me, because Matt says he's been saying it for years, but he calls WordPress websites "WordPresses", after a long time debate internally about whether to call WordPress.com sites sites or blogs. WordPress.com as a network versus a platform The new homepage for logged in users, or users in the WordPress.com app, default to the Reader view of the WordPress.com interface, versus the writing view. This intrigued me, as I don't personally think of WordPress.com as a read-first ecosystem, but rather a place to write. I think more of Tumblr or Medium when I think of a destination for reading, where I may write. Matt and I talked about the merits of WordPress as a network versus a platform. He thinks it can be both. And I think this touches on one of the big goals for Calypso that we haven't discussed yet: to make WordPress a better network.
To me, WordPress.com is a platform, but WordPress (both .com and Jetpack enabled sites) are ripe to be a hugely successful network, through the huge number of websites and independent publishers that are interconnected via WordPress.com.
There is more evidence that this is a goal for them too, with the launch of Discover WordPress along with the release of the new interface. Discover WordPress is a project by the editorial team to surface the best writing across WordPress.com and Jetpack enabled websites.
Furthermore, beyond the human curated content, much could be done in the future algorithmically. We didn't get as much into this stuff as I would've liked, but I think it's an enormous growth area for Automattic.
Open Sourcing Calypso The Calypso project code is fully open source, and is a top trending project on Github right now. There are few requirements to run the code locally, so you can pretty quickly get a working web view. There are a slew of fancy React components that could be pretty easily lifted from Calypso and used independently, as well as a guide to getting started with the full codebase.
How can the community anticipate the future, with more abstracted implementations of WordPress? As WordPress projects continue to use REST APIs to create fully custom frontends, backends, and inbetweens, I was curious what Matt thinks the community can do to anticipate and educate users on how to deal with these scenarios, that may fragment WordPress and be confusing for people who expect WordPress plugins and code to interract well with one another. He doesn't think it's too much of a problem, but says it's important that we experiment and learn from our experiments; he was hesitant to call the potential for confusion fragmentation as much as experimentation. Either way, I do think education and documentation will be important as other folks continue to use parts of WordPress to make impressive things, without supporting every specific thing that can also run on WordPress.
An example of this is the WordPress.com app itself. You can manage Jetpack enabled sites through it, but that doesn't mean you get everything in the editor you'd get with a WordPress.org site, like custom fields and other plugin functionality that the desktop app doesn't support.
What is Automattic's differentiating factor? I wanted to know what Automattic's differentiating factor is, in Matt's mind. He defaulted, I guess unsurprisingly, to "everything", but as I pushed him a little further, he dug a bit more into some of the things that make Automattic interesting. From a WordPress.org perspective, WordPress.com integrated tools like Stats, VaultPress, and Akismet are difficult to match with other tools.
For WordPress.com, he thinks the potential power of the Reader and network can be compelling. I agree there that the diversity of the WordPress.com and Jetpack author audience could make for a compelling Reading product, that has more potential than I see right now in a competitor like Medium, which is very tech heavy.
Matt says, [pullquote align="right"]"We've built up a lot of trust in the community, and that goodwill definitely pays back."[/pullquote] Part of what makes it hard to identify Automattic's specific differentiator is that they do a lot of things. Matt acknoledged this, but counters by saying that they work hard on user experience and being a good community citizen.
How have teams changed at Automattic over time? Automattic scales by splitting teams when they get too big. Today, there are 46 teams. Some of those teams are embedded in larger teams and have some hierarchy, but the company is still quite flat for a company of 400 people. The rule of thumb Matt wants to maintain is that someone should have no more than 10 people that report directly to them, though he has around 23.
According to the standards of the tech world, Automattic's scale in terms of the number of employees may be somewhat ordinary, but they have still had massive and consistent change over the decade of the company's existence. And they are hiring as fast as they can to this day.
The challenge of customizing WordPress sites A couple of years ago, someone from Automattic told me how concerned they were about the WordPress customizer's ability to scale, both for use on mobile devices, and as a utility that could manage a lot of features. And I wanted to know how Matt thinks that has evolved, now that the customizer is in such significant use on both WordPress.com and for self-hosted websites. As he notes, the customizer has undergone a lot of positive iteration over the last several releases, and today the WordPress.com and WordPress.org customizers are using the same base code; whereas for a while WordPress.com had their own custom implementation.
But he still says that, "if we're candid with ourselves, ... customization is still the worst part of WordPress, you know? It's the hardest. It's where people get stuck. It's where there's a real gap between the promise and what people are able to realize and create when they get started using WordPress."
It's not as much a problem with the use of themes, or if you can code, but for new users, "it's their biggest struggle."
One idea that I have is to have a more Medium-like interface be the "default" view, versus a changing default theme. That way, WordPress.com could be more opinionated about the default view, and change the theme at will, or along with trends, versus giving new users the default theme of a particular year and then that theme is untouched unless the user decides to switch.
Matt said they have that a bit on the Reader view, but that is what someone in the WordPress.com network would see, versus what an outside website visitor would see.
Anyway, there are definitely challenges ahead for making customization and, more importantly, just ensuring sites look good for users. I think that this is an area where other platforms -- like Medium and Squarespace, though in different ways -- are doing a good job.
The first line of the Automattic creed The Automattic creed states at the very beginning, "I will never stop learning." That was part of Matt's response when I asked just how they managed to cross-train a workforce that was primarily made of PHP developers to create a world-class JavaScript driven application. Additionally to the natural desires that Automattic employees should have to learn, they created internal resources for helping people, and are considering releasing some of that material, maybe in the form of webinars or an online conference.
Matt said Automatticians will also be sharing what they learn at other conferences, like the upcoming A Day of REST, where two Automatticians will be speaking.
Matt did admit that he hasn't made the PHP to JavaScript switch yet, and personally feels more comfortable in PHP; though some of his team have said it wasn't as intimidating as it sounds.
Bug bounties Did you know all Automattic properties are on Hacker One , the bug bounty community? If you find a security bug, you can get a bounty if you report it. I didn't know this until the Calypso launch. How is Automattic thinking about revenue? With my napkin math and a few small things I know about Automattic, I'd guesstimate they are somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million in annual revenue. I didn't even attempt to get confirmation of this, because I know they don't reveal this kind of information. So instead I wanted to get more insights of how Matt thinks about revenue at Automattic. Generally, he says they put their focus in, "three main buckets." The use that focus both for revenue purposes and product purposes. Those areas are WordPress.com, Jetpack, and WooCommerce.
They group things like VaultPress and Akismet under Jetpack; so it's basically their WordPress.org SaaS revenue stream. Those are paid subscription products. They have been transitioning that offering, as Matt shared, "a big trend over the past few years, has been to move away from a la carte upgrades, and have more bundles."
They've discovered that bundled plans of $100 per year and $300 per year have been successful. Here are those plans, for both WordPress.com and WordPress.org, as shown in the new WordPress.com/Calypso interface:
It appears they get most of their revenue from this stream. I do know, and have previously reported, that at least one point, WordPress.com VIP accounted for upwards of 25% of overally revenue, and though that gross number has gone up over the years, its percentage of overally revenue has gone down, meaning that these paid plans have outpaced VIP, growth-wise. I'd guess VIP revenue is now less than half of that 25% number now, but can't confirm it.
Total sites, versus engagement There are a lot of WordPress.com websites, but as Matt noted, it's a vanity metric due to the face that such a small percentage are active, from engaged users. So they are trying more to track engagement versus total blogs. I tried to get him to share the number of active websites, but that's not something he could share.
Helping site owners monetize, and WooCommerce integration to WordPress.com I talked about the roadmap some, and asked Matt about what they may offer in the future to help authors monetize their sites. They currently have a WordAds program, but that is a pageview driven strategy, and I'd love to see them introduce a way for authors to get paid via a tipjar, private paid posts, or subscription system like I've heard Medium is talking about. It's not on their current roadmap, but he says he'd be open to it. He also noted that since WooCommerce is now "part of the family," that there may be future monetization opportunities through that, though he said they don't have current plans for a hosted version of WordPress.com. I was honestly pretty surprised by this:
In the beginning, our focus is really going to be on people hosting their stores, you know, with web hosts. Because, part of the beauty of why WooCommerce is so popular is the flexibility, and I don't think the usability is there -- yet -- to be competitive with, like, a Shopify, or a BigCommerce. So, it's just a lot of work to do there.
[pullquote align="right"]Matt said he thinks of WooCommerce as how WordPress was around version 1.5. He called it, "very early days"[/pullquote], in that people are using it and see the potential, but knows, "there's just so much to work on and improve to make it accessible to a wider audience." He says the Woo team is now 63 people, and a number of Automatticians are doing "Wootations", or rotations with the Woo team.
What to expect next in the new WordPress.com interface They are still working on a lot of things for the new interface. There are certain things that aren't there yet. For instance, showing and hiding your blogs you are personally attached to still requires the regular admin. I actually experienced this myself. Some parts of the interface are pretty circular and confusing. But they expect to do more going forward. They want to see what there is demand for, and what other people do with the open source nature of the project.
Matt also noted that he'd like to "loop back" to content blocks (code named CEUX) -- the project that stalled last year. And he's like to see what can be done around collaboration, editing, and the suggestion process.
Power and ease of use One of the biggest challenges for WordPress is to continue to get easier to use, as other avenues for sharing information have gotten easier and easier, while continuing to enable powerful, feature rich implementations of WordPress. Matt thinks this balance is important, and that we must continue to improve in both directions to continue WordPress's growth.
Wrapping up I really enjoyed my first audio interview with Matt. He says we can expect more announcements around WordCamp US, which starts next week. The Calypso project is a fascinating one, and it's a great example of what we should continue to expect: powerful, catered tools that run on a RESTful API. They aren't always going to be tools for use everywhere, but we can expect to continue to see WordPress used in innovative ways, and be an exceptional platform for all kinds of applications.
And finally, at the end of the interview, I pitched Matt on one of my most hairbrained ideas. The naming conflict between WordPress.com and WordPress was really bad with this project, as nearly everyone not deeply embedded within the WordPress world got it wrong, and conflated Automattic's WordPress.com with WordPress the software.
And I think Jetpack's brand has really blossomed. I think there is an argument to be made that Automattic could change the name of WordPress.com to Jetpack, and both Automattic and WordPress would win from the change. It wouldn't be easy, but all I asked from him, is whether he'd read my post if I made one to give the pitch. He said he would, so expect that sometime soon.
Thanks to Matt for the interview, and thanks to Mark Armstrong for helping me get going with the new WordPress.com app and arranging the interview.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher.
Joe is away this week, so Brian goes solo. Brian highlights WordCamp US and A Day of REST and describes why you should attend these events. He also tells the story of his first ever WordCamp San Francisco (the precursor to WCUS). Then, he interviews Mike McAlister, of Array Themes, and they talk about the process of building a commercial WordPress theme from the ground up.
The interview with Mike starts around 14 minutes in.
Topics & Links
Event Links * WordCamp US * A Day of REST * Brian's post on A Day of REST * Brian's first WordCamp SF * Post Status and Pagely party * Join the Post Status Club * Podcast on the REST API
Interview with Mike * Array Themes * Previous interview with Mike * Typecast for testing typefaces * Typewolf for type inspiration and resources * Playing with type * Brian's 2010 article on the profit ceiling in the theme market
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Brian and his co-host, Joe Hoyle, a co-founder and the CTO of Human Made, discuss some of today’s hottest, current WordPress news.
In this episode of Draft, Joe and Brian discuss micro plugin businesses and playback a recent interview with Barry Kooij. They also tackle WP-CLI, what it is, why it’s useful, and ways they use it the most.
The interview with Barry starts around 3:00 in and ends 20:00 in, for members that would like to skip it, if they already heard it in the main newsletter. WP-CLI discussion starts around 44:00.
Topics & Links
Niche Plugin Businesses * Never5 * Shop Plugins * WP101 * SearchWP * FacetWP * SeedProd * GravityView * GravityPlus * Event Organiser * Theme of the Crop
WP-CLI * WP-CLI * WP-CLI Built-in commands * Community commands * S3 Uploads by Human Made (has built-in CLI integrations, instead of a UI) * A more RESTful CLI
In this episode of Draft, Joe and Brian discuss a popular site’s redesign, and how the developers viewed WordPress’s shortcomings. They also talk about WordPress’s chops generally for complex sites and applications.
Topics:
An outside look at WordPress * WordPress shortcomings, from developers that prefer other software * Redesigning The Toast * Timber, Twig templating for WordPress * WordPress MTV * Advanced Custom Fields * CMB2
WordPress as an application framework * Building a database abstraction layer * Nomad Base * ElasticPress, by 10up * SearchPress, by Alley * Elasticsearch on WordPress.com * Scaling WP queries with Elasticsearch
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Brian and his co-host, Joe Hoyle, a co-founder and the CTO of Human Made, discuss some of today’s hottest, current WordPress news.
In this episode of Draft, Joe and Brian discuss work life balance. We discuss working long hours, managing and preventing burnout, moonlighting and its challenges, side projects, embracing hobbies, and creating exercise routines.
Links
- Overcoming burnout
- People without phones in phone poses
- Epic procrastination series
- Don't moonlight long-term
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Brian and his co-host, Joe Hoyle, a co-founder and the CTO of Human Made, discuss some of today’s hottest, current WordPress news.
In this episode of Draft, Joe and Brian discuss Google’s AMP project for Accelerated Mobile Page loading, and what it means for WordPress. They also go in-depth on WordPress’s upcoming core support for handling responsive images.
Topics & Links Google's AMP * AMP * How AMP works * WordPress AMP plugin * AMP on Neiman Lab: What publishers need to know
Responsive Images (starts at 35 minutes in) * Responsive images merge * Merge Proposal * Plugin version
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Brian and his guest co-host, Brad Williams discuss some of today’s hottest, current WordPress news.
This week Brian and Brad talk about how to get involved in WordPress core, what to expect when you do, how to navigate the waters of core development. They also discuss term meta, its use cases, how it works, and why it’s a great feature for WordPress 4.4.
Brad is guest hosting this week, as Joe is out. He’s the co-founder of WebDevStudios, a co-organizer for WordCamp US, and wrote Professional WordPress Design & Development (my go-to book on WordPress development). You can follow Brad on Twitter @williamsba.
Topics WordPress core development process: * WordPress core components * Features as plugins * WordPress Trac * The WordPress core team * How to get on WordPress Slack discussions
Term meta: * Term Meta posts/notes on Post Status (some members only content) * The case for term meta (members only) * Term meta lands in core * Term Meta posts on Make Core * WordPress Fields API project
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Brian and his co-host, Joe Hoyle, a co-founder and the CTO of Human Made, discuss some of today’s hottest, current WordPress news.
This week, Joe and Brian go into depth discussing all aspects of the WordPress REST API, and the state of the API today.
With the recent merge proposal, there is a good chance it will be included in WordPress core via a two stage process in the WordPress 4.4 and 4.5 releases. The first release would be the core infrastructure and the second release would include the endpoints. This is our longest podcast, but we go in depth on one of WordPress's most anticipated features in years.
Topics: * Brief overview: what is the REST API? * Why is the REST API important, and why are people excited about it? * REST API proposal * Reviews from the core team * New REST API core component * Trac Ticket * Comparison's to Drupal's REST API * Customizer roadmap in regards to the API * Authentication and future REST API projects
Links: * REST API Version 2 site and docs * REST API merge proposal * Committer review requests for the REST API * Introduction to the WordPres REST API * How StoryCorp uses the REST API for mobile audio uploads * WordPress on OpenHub * The core ticket for merging the REST API infrastructure (Stage 1) * Lessons for WordPress from Drupalcon (members only) * Matt Mullenweg's excitement for the API on a Product Hunt AMA * Ryan McCue's "A Future API" post on possibilities, including centralized auth * Possible roadmap for the Customizer (including REST API integrations, perhaps) * The new REST API core Trac component * OAuth1 for the WordPress REST API * The API on Github * A Day of REST conference all about the API
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Brian and his co-host, Joe Hoyle, a co-founder and the CTO of Human Made, discuss some of today's hottest, current WordPress news
Links and stories discussed: Working locally * Varying Vagrant Vagrants (VVV) * Chassis * Salty WordPress * Get DesktopServer * MAMP and MAMP Pro * Docker Hub * Installing LAMP stacks with Homebrew * How to Dockerise and deploy multiple WordPress applications on Ubuntu * Docker Machine * VIP Quickstart * WP-CLI
Underscore.js * Underscore.js * Intro to Underscore.js templates in WordPress * Backbone.js, Underscore.js and why they matter for WordPress
Transparency * WPLift's Public income reports roundup * Buffer+Transparency * Is there a downside to transparency reports?
Nomadbase.io launch * Nomadbase.io
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Brian and his co-host, Joe Hoyle, a co-founder and the CTO of Human Made, discuss some of today’s hottest, current WordPress news.
Links and Stories Discussed Events links * A Day of REST and the Post Status post on it * WordCamp US * WordCamp Tampa * WordCamp NYC * PressNomics * WordCamp Europe * Are conferences worth it?
Comments links * Brian’s recommendations for comments * Performance for comments, part of Mark Jaquith's Cache Buddy * Featuring comments by Pippin Williamson * Comments Redux * Comment Trac tickets
PHP links * WordPress PHP stats * PHP releases * New in PHP7 * PHP benchmarks * PHP7 on WordPress
Segments * We start the show with events and discuss justification for them. * 25 minutes in or so, we switch to comment discussion. * 47 minutes in we switch to PHP.
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes and via RSS for your favorite podcatcher. Brian and his co-host, Joe Hoyle, a co-founder and the CTO of Human Made, discuss some of today's hottest, current WordPress news.
Stories discussed:
- Language packs background and details (members only)
- Plugin translation details
- WordPress.org sub-site for translations of WordPress, plugins, and themes
- Trac gardening
- ReactJS
- React Europe talks
- Redux framework
- Web Pack
- USTwo site in React with a WordPress backend
- Loopconf talk on React and Flux
- Nomadbase React app
- React and the WP API for a native app
- A Day of Rest: a WordPress REST API conference
- Details for A Day of REST
Welcome to the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes. My co-host, Joe Hoyle, a co-founder and the CTO of Human Made, and I discuss some of today's hottest, current WordPress news.
Stories discussed:
- WordPress 4.3 "Billie" released
- What is on your wishlist for WordPress 4.4?
- Don't add WP API to Core in 4.4?
- Mel Choyce's biggest issues with WordPress
- Who is using WP REST API and why?
- REST API Documentation
- A not-so-brief summary of the REST API
Welcome to The Excerpt Episode 4, part of the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes. With The Excerpt, we cover a few of our favorite stories from the Post Status Club over the last week or two. The primary goal is to keep it short and informational: we keep the podcast to around 15 minutes.
In Episode 3, I'm joined by Daniel Espinoza, who is a WordPress developer with a focus on eCommerce, and he also owns ShopPlugins, an eCommerce plugin marketplace for EDD and WooCommerce.
Stories discussed:
- Automattic versus WordPress
- WordPress 4.2, RC 1
- Clever use cases for the WordPress REST API.
- Taxes! (members only)
- Big marketing for hosted website solutions. Also in Notes (members only).
Welcome to The Excerpt Episode 3, part of the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can find on iTunes. Draft consists of two formats: long form interviews like I’ve done for a long time, and The Excerpt for a summary of news around the WordPress ecosystem.
With The Excerpt, we cover a few of our favorite stories from the Post Status Club over the last week or two. The primary goal is to keep it short and informational: we keep the podcast to around 15 minutes.
In Episode 3, I'm joined by Beka Rice, who writes the excellent eCommerce blog SellWithWP and is a partner at eCommerce company SkyVerge.
Stories discussed:
- Mesh by Automattic, an in-progress app I discovered by accident.
- Release leads for WordPress 4.3, and 4.4 were announced.
- April Fools' roundup (Club only, but we talk about them individually), including my own about Jetpack bundling WordPress.
- A theme shop's year in review. I also covered this in the Club.
StoryCorp is an organization that aims "to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share and preserve the stories of our lives." Featured stories are broadcast nationally on NPR.
StoryCorp has published more than 50,000 interviews with almost 100,000 participants since they launched in 2003. A small to mid-size non-profit organization, StoryCorp's interviews are logged in the Library of Congress, and over the years they have created new and ingenious ways to enable story telling.
There are recording booths in a number of cities throughout the country where anyone can go and record and interview or story. The first was in Grand Central Station, though it's since shut down due to budget issues. However, booths are open in Atlanta, San Francisco, and Chicago where anyone can make a reservation to record.
They also have an Airstream trailer that travels the country and records interviews all over the place. Creating ways for people to share stories is the heart of StoryCorps mission.
[caption id="attachment_12144" align="aligncenter" width="752"] The StoryCorps MobileBooth. Credit: StoryCorp Flickr[/caption]
One WordPress developer that worked on the StoryCorp project told me, "I cry almost every time" as they listen to StoryCorps on their local NPR station every Friday morning. The stories to tend to be very powerful. I was nearly brought to tears by one where a lady hugs her son's murderer. Another moving story (from my hometown no less), features a father that comes to terms with his daughter's homosexuality. Or there's one where President Obama interviews a boy who overcame adversity to join My Brother's Keeper.
Record stories anywhere The latest initiative for creating ways for people to share their story is via StoryCorps.me, a website and companion apps that make it easy for anyone with a smartphone to record an interview and publish it. StoryCorps.me is built on WordPress, and utilizes the WordPress REST API to enable access to a customized content architecture. The StoryCorps app utilizes the API to consume data and publish stories from the app back to the website.
I interviewed Dean Haddock, Director of Digital & Technical Innovation at StoryCorp, about how the idea for the app came about, how they use and think of WordPress, and other insights from their short three month development period.
A national day of listening Dean says he thinks the StoryCorps app really dates back to a program they ran three years ago called A National Day of Listening, where instead of shopping on Black Friday, they hosted an event where people could tell stories. Dean's team expanding on the idea, and the event turned into a micro-site using SoundCloud's API that made that process easier. That project eventually expanded into the idea that would become StoryCorps.me.
Funding for the app The StoryCorps app was funded thanks to StoryCorps founder Dave Isay winning this year's TED Prize Winner. He gave a TED Talk in Vancouver just a few weeks ago, where he shared how everyone has a story to tell. [caption id="attachment_12145" align="aligncenter" width="752"] Dave Isay at TED[/caption]
The TED Prize is awarded to an individual with a creative, bold vision to spark global change. By leveraging the TED community’s resources and investing $1 million into a powerful idea, each year the TED Prize supports one wish to inspire the world. - TED Prize website
His wish after winning the TED Prize was to "to grow this digital archive of the collective wisdom of humanity." During the TED Talk, he noted that StoryCorps is "the single largest collection of human voices ever collected." The new app makes this mission even more plausible, by having almost no barrier for interview creation. The $1 million TED Prize made it possible.
Development of the StoryCorps app
With "one tap", interviews can be created and uploaded to the StoryCorps.me website and the Library of Congress archive.
Dave shared some of his vision for the app during the TED Talk:
Imagine, for example, a national homework assignment where every high school student studying U.S. history across the country records an interview with an elder over Thanksgiving, so that in one single weekend an entire generation of American lives and experiences are captured.
Development of the app was managed on three levels. The StoryCorps team did project management, communication, and handled RFPs for app and website development. They also ensured that everything fit the StoryCorps model, and ensured that the new website and app talked to existing StoryCorps software and APIs properly.
10up built the website infrastructure, manages scalability issues, and managed the integration of the WordPress REST API.
MAYA design designed and built the app for the end-user, utilizing PhoneGap so that the app could be launched simultaneously to both iOS and Android platforms.
[pullquote align="right"]"We knew we going to use WordPress before we started looking for partners to help us build this thing."[/pullquote] As a "small to midsize non-profit," StoryCorps has few resources. StoryCorps.org has been on WordPress, and they wanted to use WordPress for StoryCorps.me as well.
The development phase was quite short: from funding to launch took only three months. They launched at TED after receiving the funding last October.
For public facing web technology, WordPress is so flexible and so malleable and amenable to whatever we need to do with it, that it really wasn't much of a question whether this was the right platform.
What their real question was, Dean shares, was how WordPress could scale if and when they hit a million users, and that's why they brought in 10up. What they learned They are really pleased with how the project has gone so far. However, not everything was a success. They had to pivot and make adjustments as they went along and learned new things and requirements. Dean noted, [pullquote align="right"]"You have to be willing to completely submit to the process."[/pullquote] He says it wouldn't have succeeded if 10up and Maya weren't committed as StoryCorps to the success of the project.
They also learned what Dean calls "more tangible" things, like the usage of PhoneGap. Without using a tool like PhoneGap, they wouldn't have been able to "get to market as soon as possible." However, he admits the app could be slightly better if it were built in a native platform to either iOS or Android.
Powerful stories I really enjoyed digging into StoryCorps mission and the new StoryCorps.me project. I'm addicted to their stories, and some of the stories that have been uploaded -- such as those in the audio intro -- are really endearing. While there may be an element of noise to the StoryCorps.me archive, it's already evident that many gems will emerge, and who knows what ideas people will come up with for creative ways to perform interviews and record stories.
The apps are available on Google Play and in the App Store. It'll be improving over the next weeks and and months. If you're excited about technology at StoryCorps, you can reach Dean at dhaddock@storycorps.org or you can also report issues or ask questions about the app at contactus@storycorps.me.
StoryCorps is a great testament to WordPress and its ability to be an infrastructure to an app at scale, while also enabling efficient development cycles. This is probably my favorite utilization of the new REST API yet.
Welcome to The Excerpt, part of the Post Status Draft podcast, which you can also find on iTunes. Draft consists of two formats: long form interviews like I’ve done for a long time, and The Excerpt for a summary of news around the WordPress ecosystem.
With The Excerpt, we cover a few of our favorite stories from the Post Status Club over the last week or two. The primary goal is to keep it short and informational: we keep the podcast to 15 minutes.
Content covered in The Excerpt will largely be samples from the members only content, but may also cover free articles and resources. You don’t have to be a member to enjoy The Excerpt, but it is a nice way to preview what members get every day.
Here’s Episode 2, which Julie Kuehl hosted with me:
- Shiny Installs removed from 4.2, in Beta 3 release, (Beta release and Aaron's post).
- Pagely and WP Engine are growing.
- Finding your place, by Rarst on HeroPress
- 1.2 of the REST API (Original release post).
Welcome to The Excerpt, part of the Post Status Draft podcast, which was submitted to iTunes recently. Draft will consist of two formats: long form interviews like I've done for a long time, and The Excerpt for a summary of news around the WordPress ecosystem.
With The Excerpt, we'll cover a few of our favorite stories from the Post Status Club over the last week or two. The primary goal is to keep it short and informational: we set a hard stop at 15 minutes.
Content covered in The Excerpt will largely be samples from the members only content, but may also cover free articles and resources. You don't have to be a member to enjoy The Excerpt, but it is a nice way to preview what members get every day.
Here's Episode 1, which Brian Richards hosted with me:
Stories discussed:
- WordPress Beta 1 & Beta 2 — April 22nd live date
- Recommendationss to improve the WordPress editor by Mark Root-Wiley.
- Yoast, WooCommerce, AffiliateWP, and others’ security updates.
- Growth from free themes.
I will try and have guest hosts as much as possible. They may rotate or it might just be a few people that are relatively consistent. We'll see how it goes, and your feedback will always be welcome. Let me know what you think about the new show.
Jonathan Williamson is the co-founder and COO of CGCookie, a membership website that provides as an educational resource for computer graphics and modeling. CGCookie has been around since 2008, and today is a network of five websites, has thousands of paying members, a team of six full time employees plus a number of contractors.
CGCookie is built completely on WordPress and has a built in membership component. Some astute readers may recognize both the site and Jonathan's name; Jonathan is Pippin Williamson's identical twin brother, and Pippin has worked with Jonathan on CGCookie many times. So, in this interview, you're not listening to me talk to Pippin -- though it sounds like it -- but I'm talking to Jonathan Williamson.
Jonathan is as passionate about CG, modeling, 3D printing, and the software that surrounds these disciplines as Pippin is about WordPress and programming. It was a pleasure to talk to Jonathan about what it's like to run a membership site that runs on WordPress. I think this interview will be beneficial for those that want to run a membership site, and also those that work with clients who make their living off of their website.
How CGCookie evolved CGCookie started as a blog with news, tutorials, and resources for CG enthusiasts. The first form of its monetization was by selling the source files for the various tutorials. Within about two years, Jonathan and co-founder Wes Burke decided to add a membership component that ended up working far better than they anticipated. Jonathan has been working full-time on CGCookie since around the summer of 2009. They originally launched on aMember, before eventually migrating to Pippin's Restrict Content Pro plugin, along with Easy Digital Downloads.
Today, CGCookie has more than 120,000 free users, and they have around 4,700 paid members.
Since 2008, CGCookie have managed to not have a full time web developer until February of 2014, when they hired Nick Haskins. You may recognize Nick as the founder of Aesop Stories as well. Nick manages front-end development for the site, and they still don't have a backend developer -- though a backend developer and designer are on their roadmap.
How CGCookie's eCommerce setup runs Considering Jonathan is using his brother's own plugins in the real world, it makes for a great avenue for feedback and insight for Pippin to improve those products. CGCookie is using Restrict Content Pro for memberships themselves, and EDD for their store. We talked about whether EDD could be used for both, or if there is room for improvement in the marriage between the two systems, and he believes there is and that it's a goal for the two plugins. For instance, currently, reporting and user management and a number of other features are independent between each plugin even though often times the users that utilize the system may overlap.
I asked Jonathan about scaling WordPress and eCommerce for their large user base. He says that scaling for eCommerce has not been difficult, but with over a hundred thousand users, some default WordPress functionality has not scaled well; for instance, some admin areas create dropdowns for all users, which does not work well. Fortunately, there are some trac tickets in place currently to help solve some of these problems.
Prioritizing goals for a membership site When discussing challenges running a membership site, Jonathan highlights the internal battles: balancing new features versus iterative improvements. Based on my short experience managing this membership site, I completely agree. For an example, Jonathan told me about a potential question and answer system to help his members get answers for specific technical topics that may be beyond the scope of a specific course. They believe a Stack Exchange style setup that allows them to refer their courses to specific questions would allow them to better serve their customers with the same content they already have.
How do you get people to find your content that answers their question, but you don't have a way of just explicitly saying that these are the questions this course answers?
They're considering a method of post to post relationships that direct courses as question answers and vice versa. For this feature and others, they try to do things with a short return on investment, but they also don't want to be a slave to it. They sometimes do things "that are important to the quality of CGCookie, that never make a dime." They removed ads last year under that very premise, to make CGCookie a better learning experience. Not the only place to learn Jonathan knows CGCookie isn't the only place to learn, so they focus on creating an excellent community and learning experience for their customers. Realizing that our sites aren't the only way to get certain information is an important thing to know to be able to better focus what we create for our users and why we create it.
Pricing for CGCookie CGCookie has pricing for monthly, quarterly, or yearly pricing; all plans renew automatically unless explicitly cancelled. This is a feature they actively A/B test to see what's working and what's not. Behavior of customers varies between the three levels. Jonathan says that the users are more invested in their purchases (and getting more out of it) when they sign up for longer. Quarterly members have 10% longer lifetime memberships and spend three times longer on the site.
However, they do have "a fair bit" of what I called "download and dash" members that sign up for a month, download a bunch of assets and cancel. Monthly memberships are also the most popular plan. They've considered locking down downloads for monthly signups but it's not something they want to do unless it becomes a bigger problem; however they do lose money on those customers that download gigabytes of files and videos but only stay subscribed for one month.
Testing During A/B tests, they have found that people will be just as likely to sign up for quarterly as monthly if monthly isn't available, and quarterly members are more engaged. One thing they noted is that once people stick around for a few months, the average tenure of a user skyrockets; they have some users that have been a paying member as long as the site has been running. One of my big takeaways talking to Jonathan was about how significant testing can be. Their tests help them decide on the optimal pricing and payment plans to maximize a lifetime value.
For testing, insights, and statistics they use both Optimizely, Mixpanel, and Google Analytics.
Mixpanel allows you to create custom events in your software, and does require some code knowledge, but it can deliver valuable insights if you use it correctly. Jonathan notes, "It's basically as comprehensive as you make it."
They can also mesh tools. They can track which A/B test from Optimizely a customer signed up with, and then use Mixpanel to track what they did and how they did it. They can get login metrics, renewal numbers, and more for each plan and signup flow.
Mixpanel requires PHP and JavaScript knowledge to utilize, but Optimizely has an extensive visual interface that doesn't require code knowledge to utilize.
What encourages membership signups "It varies day to day, week to week, month to month," in regard to how their signups work. A bad month in the economy can make their signups go down. Sometimes quarterly users will spike while monthly users are steady. Their biggest thing that affects signup rates is customer support. Some presale, but also support for new members to help answer questions and get people engaged. [pullquote align="right"]When they can help someone answer the question, "Where do I go next?", they are able to keep them for a long time.[/pullquote]
They have one or two courses that drive a ton of traffic to their site, and it is therefore their largest onboarding channel for new members. However, they don't have a silver bullet for what it takes to get new users. They are always trying new things.
On competing and the industry Jonathan doesn't see themselves as a part of a singular industry. While many think of CG as a part of the film industry, it's one of dozens of potential applications, and they don't want to narrow themselves to a particular one. They also poll users to get a feel for who they are and what industry actual users come from. Based on around a thousand responses, they had no real pattern at all. The results were all over the board.
So they don't want to compete with a film tutorials site or any other industry site. They want to focus on the tool itself. They want to teach people how to use Blender and show them how it can be applied to various industries their users are a part of.
Advice for those running membership sites
"Build your community would be the main one. It's one thing to offer a really good product. It's one thing to build a really good website. But if you don't have the community behind you that's going to be willing to trust in you with their wallet ... it's not going to go anywhere long term, sustainably."
Jonathan says it's about building the community as well as the sense of trust within that community. He believes that customers will want to know that not only the content will be worth it, but that it will continue to be worth it -- and that the communication and support from the team behind the site will be consistent as well. He believes that subscriptions and products are very different. With a subscription, the interaction is just as or far more important than specific content itself.
When he refers to community, he doesn't mean it has to be strictly through something like a forum. He considers it a broad term, and for them it evolved out of their Blender community user base. At the time we recorded this, they didn't have forums, a dedicated chat system, or an actual community integration part. But the community exists and thrives within comments and their gallery functionality.
Wrapping up Jonathan is full of great advice and I could listen to him talk about membership sites for a long time. I have no experience with CG but at the end of this interview he had me wanted to go build something with Blender. You can (and should) keep up with Jonathan on Twitter, or perhaps you'll see him at a conference near you -- but you'll probably think it's Pippin at first. Also be sure to checkout CGCookie's website; it's really great.
Last week, I was in New York City for WordCamp and some client meetings. The event was a huge success, with four full tracks of expert designers, developers, and WordPress professionals sharing what they’ve learned.
I had a great time with everyone there. I saw old friends, and met new friends.
I had my recording equipment with me, and I asked a question to some folks there: how has WordPress changed your life?
Here are their answers:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/PostStatus/DraftPodcast/how-has-wordpress-changed-your-life.mp3
Direct Download
And here are just a few of the pictures I took, from WordCamp and some just from around the city. I’m not much of a photographer, but feel free to use any of these however you wish:
I’d like to thank the organizers for their efforts, the sponsors for their investment in the WordPress community, the speakers for their wisdom, and the attendees for their hunger to learn and connect with like-minded individuals.
If you’ve never attended a WordCamp — especially one outside of your own city — I highly encourage you do. They are so fun. There are a number of events coming up that I’ll be at as well, so I hope you’ll say hi there: WordCamp Birmingham (August 16th), WordCamp San Francisco (October 25-26th), and PressNomics (January 22nd-24th).
On May 28th, 2012, I was virtually introduced to Chris Lema. He had 653 Twitter followers at the time. I know so, because that’s how we were introduced — through an email from Twitter telling me he was now following me. At the time, he’d not even started daily writing on his personal blog; he didn’t start that until September of that year.
It’s hard to imagine a time where I didn’t know who Chris Lema was, or a time where I wasn’t learning from him. Today, Chris is a significant voice in the WordPress world. He was just announced, deservedly so, in the first batch of speakers for WordCamp San Francisco.
He’s been blogging nearly every day for two years. I’ve met him at a number of events. We’ve shared meals together. We’ve had phone calls where Chris gave me advice for my career and life. We even spent a week in Cape Town, South Africa traveling together for a WordCamp that I won’t forget.
Chris Lema is my friend, and a mentor. I owe him a tremendous amount for his advice, his continuous generosity, and his kindness toward me. And I also know I can’t pay him back; giving to others is his passion, and I’ll never be able match that in return.
What I know I can do is pay it forward. As I gain knowledge, and maybe even a shred of my own wisdom, I can pay forward that mentorship to others that are up and coming in their careers, and be to them as Chris has been to me and as others have been to Chris.
I’m one of many, many people that feel this way about Chris. He now has 6,500 followers on Twitter — something I note purely as a way to compare to the beginning of this post, and highlight how many people he’s impacted in such a short time. He’s also a direct mentor to dozens of people who make their living with WordPress.
What if Chris did WordPress full time? Incredibly, Chris has had this influence and impact on the WordPress community without having a full time WordPress job.
For eight years, he’s been at Emphasys Software — a successful company, but not one you’d know of in the WordPress ecosystem — and he’s been coaching WordPress companies and blogging in his spare time.
It makes you wonder, what would he do if his full time job were WordPress-centric? I certainly have thought so. And as Chris notes in our interview, I asked him this question while we were in Cape Town.
I wanted to see what would happen with Chris full time in the WordPress world, and now we’re about to find out.
Joining Crowd Favorite as CTO Chris is announcing today that he’s joining Crowd Favorite full time as its new Chief Technical Officer.
Chris was already on the board of the VeloMedia Group, which has utilized the Crowd Favorite brand since its acquisition of the company late last year.
CEO Karim Marucchi has wanted Chris to be a full time part of the VeloMedia group for some time as well. But the logistics weren’t easy to work out. However, in the last month or so they really pushed to make it happen, and now Chris will be the CTO as well as a chief strategist for Crowd Favorite and other companies within the VeloMedia group.
Chris will focus heavily on reaching out to the enterprise space, via consulting opportunities and a variety of other concepts they are working on.
Hear about Chris’ journey to full time WordPress In this interview, Chris and I talk about his journey to working full time with WordPress. We talk about his career, his entry into blogging and the WordPress community, about the structure of Crowd Favorite, and the WordPress economy in general.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/PostStatus/DraftPodcast/chris-lema-post-status-draft.mp3
Direct Download
It was an absolute pleasure to talk to Chris, and I’m thrilled to see him join Crowd Favorite full time. You can see Chris’ announcement on his blog, as well as Crowd Favorite’s. Also be sure to follow Chris on Twitter, and definitely tell him congratulations on this new journey.
Chris Coyier is not a stranger to most of us web workers. He’s a designer at CodePen, a writer at CSS-Tricks, and a podcaster at ShopTalk.
He uses WordPress on all three of his primary projects. For years, Chris has been a consistent advocate for the platform. He develops his own websites with WordPress, but his day-to-day interactions are as a user.
Chris brings a unique perspective, I believe. He did some client work early in his career, but he’s been more involved in SaaS projects and membership websites; his current membership websites are on WordPress (CSS-Tricks) and Ruby on Rails (CodePen).
I asked Chris about his projects, his perspective on various aspects of WordPress, and the community around it. I enjoyed learning from him, and I hope you do too:
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What have you learned from working on membership websites?
It’s just a good dang business idea.
Chris was sold on the idea of membership websites from his tenure at Wufoo and SurveyMonkey (where he worked once they acquired Wufoo).
He uses Pippin Williamson’s Restrict Content Pro for managing The Lodge on CSS-Tricks. At CodePen, they spend time thinking about pricing, churn, and other membership metrics.
They talk about some of these things (and much more) on the CodePen Radio podcast — an awesome podcast for anyone interested in SaaS, not just CodePen.
Delivering value Another aspect Chris noted about membership websites is how it makes you want to continually deliver value for customers. He always wants to make people feel like they’re getting excellent features and value for the price of their membership.
Another thing he and the CodePen team are learning is prioritizing feature requests. When you are building for members, you want to build features members want; and sometimes that goes against other fixes that are less glamorous. So they are consistently trying to balance time spent on customer-facing features versus behind the scenes development.
Build the feature, get the reward Chris talked about how important it is for him to build something, then be rewarded for the work he does, versus selling something and then having to build the feature for it.
He experience this with his big Kickstarter project for a CSS-Tricks redesign a couple of years ago, and said that mentality was really difficult for him.
What do you appreciate more now about WordPress, after using other software? WordPress comes with a lot of built-in features that many of us (I do at least) may take for granted. Need a user system? Check. Need comments? Check. Need categorization? Check.
Building CodePen, Chris is able to appreciate (even more than before) just how powerful WordPress is and how much thought goes into every feature.
We dove into something seemingly simple as an example: tags. It turns out that something even that simple takes a lot of thought, consideration, and user experience considerations.
What it ends up as, is something you’ll have to iterate on for years to get anywhere close to how good the WordPress one works already. And that’s like the tiniest thing we could think about. Think about the login system, or something else.
So his advice was to focus on simplicity and decisions when building features, because required effort grows rapidly as a feature gets more complicated.
How would you compare the WordPress community to other web communities? Chris has exposure to a much broader web community than I do. I’m pretty locked into the WordPress bubble. He sees the Ruby on Rails world, the more generic web world, and attends and speaks at a slew of non-WordPress conferences every year.
Even though he says he’s mostly in a WordPress bubble himself (he’s not exactly attending Drupal conferences, he notes), he thinks that the WordPress community is pretty top-notch, and hasn’t seen other communities that are “better” than the WordPress community.
There’s definitely no other CMS that I’m jealous of that community.
What questions about WordPress are you always seeing on the ShopTalk Podcast Chris and his co-host Dave Rupert (seriously, follow Dave and gain laughs and knowledge in life) get a lot of questions about WordPress on the ShopTalk Podcast. Some of these questions are repeated pretty frequently, and they see trends of common issues.
Working locally and syncing remotely For WordPress, the most common questions tend to come around syncing the local development environment with the live environment. They’ve been recommending WP Migrate DB Pro for people trying to get around that, though Chris says he doesn’t think it’s perfect for huge websites like CSS-Tricks.
I think, to a degree, the common confusion is logical. WordPress development is really centered around three different layers of “stuff”: the content (posts, pages, etc), the files in the directory, and the site management database options. I think there is plenty of room for confusion when it’s not easy to decouple website management with website content, from a database perspective.
Learning more about WordPress through the lens of a different audience I used this segment to talk about other confusing aspects of WordPress. We talked about database management, the degree of PHP knowledge required for WordPress theming, using pre-processors in distributed versus custom themes, responsive images, and the asset-itis of many WordPress websites that utilize plugins that each load their own scripts and styles.
Regardless of the specific issues people are having, I find tremendous value listening to ShopTalk — which is not as hardcore of a WordPress audience as I have here — where the trends of people’s struggles help reveal real struggles that perhaps we could build better tools for in WordPress.
It’s also worth noting that some of the “struggles” we talked about are very modern struggles, and WordPress has been around for over eleven years. WordPress iterates pretty quickly and does a great job of supporting modern web features, but it’s rarely immediate, especially in terms of core support. But plugin support and the shear number of people innovating on top of WordPress is significant and awesome.
Just build websites!
So many people want to be told what to do and what to learn next. That’s for sure the #1 question on ShopTalk.
In the face of lots of new and changing technology, Chris is often asked about what to do first, or what to do next. He and Dave have a core mantra at ShopTalk to encourage people to “just build websites!”
The things that you learn will happen as a result of building those websites and things for other people.
The degree of paralysis by analysis they see is significant, and Chris and Dave hope that people will let their experiences guide them versus a to-do list of things they must learn today.
You’re desirable Another note is that pretty much everyone has something they can do to provide value to others. People surely know something from a tooling perspective that’s worthwhile; even sans-modern tools, basic knowledge of HTML and CSS — the building blocks of the web — could be a great asset to lots of business.
Even more important than tooling though, is the ability to solve problems. Chris used an example of a business that sells wrenches. If you can help a business that sells wrenches to sell more wrenches, then you are able to provide that business a lot of value; so focus on helping businesses do what they do better.
Learn by sharing I admire Chris’ degree of sharing what he’s learning, through ShopTalk, CodePen Radio, and for years on CSS-Tricks.
He doesn’t do anything special to write about what he learns. He keeps his drafts right there in WordPress. He doesn’t take special notes. He just writes, and he often writes about what he’s learning.
Over time he’s been able to refine his writing and learn what to expect, as far as feedback goes. But at the core he just writes, and through that writing he’s been able to grow his own audience and get better at everything else he’s doing professionally.
Staying consistent and avoiding burnout I was curious what Chris has done to stay so consistent online and avoid burnout. It seems to me that a lot of people get temporarily motivated and quickly disenchanted.
I’ve learned in my own experience with the web that any measure of success takes lots and lots of consistent effort. Chris hasn’t done a lot to think about avoiding burnout, but figures there are some things he subconsciously does to stay motivated.
That may be taking extended breaks from the web and disconnecting for a trip to the woods, or shorter breaks just in the day like stopping and playing the banjo for a few minutes.
Stay in touch with Chris At the end of every episode of ShopTalk, Chris and Dave give guests an opportunity to plug whatever they want.
Chris’ plug for our interview was to advise folks to take some time off from building their own product and instead go into their issues list and clean up after themselves and their project — which is what Chris and team are doing at CodePen right now.
He also noted that nothing would make him happier than folks going Pro on CodePen. If you teach, interact with others, or want a way to store private pens, you should definitely check it out. And it’s affordable too, at only $75 for the year.
While he didn’t take the opportunity to plug much of his own stuff, you should definitely still check out his various projects. I’ve learned a ton from Chris since I started my own journey on the web. If my learning journey on the web were a university, I’ve definitely taken multiple classes from CSS-Tricks and the ShopTalk Show. Chris’ business is built on a three-legged stool right now. Check them out:
- CodePen – a playground for the front-end side of the web.
- ShopTalk Show – a podcast about front-end web design (and sound effects).
- CSS-Tricks – where the whole internet learns CSS.
Also check out Chris’ fun about page with his life’s timeline and follow him on Twitter.
I’d like to thank Chris for the time he spent with me, and I hope that if you enjoyed this interview and write-up, that you’ll share it!
Finally, finally someone has done it. They’ve combined the power of self-hosted WordPress with the ease of hosted WordPress.com.
Evermore is WordPress for everyone. It comes with “the most important functionality built in.”
There aren’t loads of tiny upsells like other hosted services (I’m looking at you, WordPress.com), and there are only two plans. It is not free. You can pay $50 per month, or $75 per month, and each plan comes with a 10x setup fee.
But the result is exactly what you’d hope for: a very powerful, functional, easy-to-use website.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/PostStatus/DraftPodcast/evermore-cliff-seal-draft-podcast-poststatus.mp3
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If I had to give Evermore a competitor, I’d say it’s much closer to Squarespace than WordPress.com. But it’s built on WordPress, meaning you can leave Evermore any time and take your install with you.
In fact, they sell the ability to leave Evermore as a feature. Because they should.
Evermore offers you true portability and freedom: as your needs outgrow it, we’ll help you move to another service by giving you all the files and instructions you need. We’ll even suggest new hosts that will take care of you and your site.
I just love that. It reminds me of Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street sending people to another store instead of trying to side-sell them what they don’t want. Little will help establish my loyalty to a service like the ease one offers me to leave it.
I have no desire to take WordPress and try to hijack the open source process and make people feel like they’re closed into another product system.
Who is behind Evermore? Evermore is a project by Cliff Seal and Kyle Bowman. Cliff is a respected WordPress developer and works full-time at Pardot, a division of SalesForce.
Kyle is an accountant and avid WordPress fan who has invested heavily in the concerns of WordPress users. In our interview, Cliff accounts many Evermore decisions to Kyle’s attunement to the end user.
Together they make Evermore, a service that represents exactly three clients — or a 50% increase since I interviewed Cliff.
Yes, Evermore is a new service. But I haven’t been this excited about a relatively generic WordPress product in a long time.
For one, I think Cliff is a great developer. He’s the type of guy that will work through the difficult technical challenges a hosted service will inevitably face. For instance, he helped work on the ability to symlink plugins in WordPress 3.9 before launching Evermore so he could more easily share directories between sites.
Second, I love that Kyle has recently faced some of the same concerns as many of their future customers face. This allows him to be empathetic to their needs and better serve them. His business savvy as a self-described “recovering CPA” probably won’t hurt either.
Why a hosted solution? More than Cliff and Kyle’s qualifications to operate a service like Evermore, I just like their motivations.
Cliff and Kyle felt that there was a gap in the market for web design, development, and maintenance services. They would run into users and site owners with common frustrations: frustrations with getting their initial site setup, managing their hosting and updates, finding the right plugins to use for particular functionality, and more.
They decided they had an opportunity, and they wanted to see if they could fill the gap.
The process Evermore is a multi-stage process. First, there’s a setup fee. With this fee ($500 for the base plan, $750 for the secondary plan), they’ll walk you through getting a new domain or using your own, choosing a theme and setting up your site with demo content, including sample menus and widgets.
The setup period is currently 24 hours, since they haven’t automated every aspect of it. They are going to force themselves to scale in this arena, versus automating things that don’t need it yet. They also want to have that time to do the kind of individual site testing they want to do with early customers.
Once you get setup, they have some generic guides for helping clients manage their site. But for the most part, they don’t have an interest in massively changing the admin. They want people to feel like they are in WordPress.
The features Evermore is baked with a number of features. Some highlights:
- Forms
- eCommerce
- Google Analytics
- An events calendar
- A slider
- Podcasting functionality
They are also willing to add functionality over time to enable customers to do more with Evermore.
However, you will never be able to add your own plugins on Evermore. It is restricted in that sense just like other hosted website solutions. This is for support and maintainability reasons.
You have to have this critical mass of knowledge to operate — even the best CMS out there. So, instead what we’ve chosen to do is say, curate themes and plugins for you. Especially with plugins, we’ve gone through and combined some of the best plugins specific to features.
The plugins they use are a blend of commercial plugins they pay for and free plugins from WordPress.org; but importantly they curate the plugins and are able to manage them at a network level to benefit their users. For commercial plugins Evermore uses their own licensing, so site owners don’t need to own their own versions or manage license keys or anything else.
Evermore currently has 35 themes to choose from. Some are the WordPress default themes, many are from Genesis and StudioPress, and others are free or commercial options from a variety of locations.
Pricing The $50 per month (and $500 setup fee) for Evermore gets users a website setup with a commercial theme, and up to 50,000 monthly visits. The deal is for one website and includes a free domain registration.
The $75 option (and $750 setup fee) includes mostly the same features, but includes support for up to 100,000 monthly visits and the option to enable eCommerce.
Regarding the pricing, Cliff calls their choices, “a best guess” based on a year of research he and Kyle have done, to fit in the market that includes a variety of different styles of managed WordPress hosting and support solutions.
As far as the setup fee goes as well, that’s an attempt to kind of cover for us as well; because there is nothing stopping you from signing up for a day, getting your website back and asking for the dump and then leaving. … And so much of that setup is the difficult part. So much of that expertise, and automation, manual labor and things like that come at the beginning.
Nearly impossible to fail Another aspect I really enjoyed about our talk was that no matter how Evermore turns out, Cliff wouldn’t see it as a failure. They aren’t trying to scale a free product. They definitely have some up-front investments in Evermore, but more importantly, it equips them to better serve their own service clients both now and in the future.
Additionally, honestly I’m really tired of seeing people launch, sort of, products and SaaS products and things like that and not be able to support anything long term. They have to shut down in six months because they didn’t have enough money to keep it going.
If other people don’t think it’s a great idea, then they will be happy with it as a service even for just a few people. They can live with that. There isn’t a “runway” to consider, as so often motivates the startup culture. Worst case scenario, Evermore stops taking new customers and just maintains existing customers as long as they are happy. And as Cliff notes, customers have little risk.
No matter what, there’s no way to get locked into a bad business decision [as a customer], because you can always leave, and you always have that information, and it’s always yours to begin with.
Going generic versus a niche They basically didn’t see anyone looking for the market in same way they are.
We’re trying to explore whether we’re in the right place or not. … Instead of trying to pick a niche and go for it directly — we want to see if we can create some awareness in this space. Can we begin solving a problem?
Even if it ends up that other people come and take the exact idea and target them and “run them out of town”, they’ll still be happy because they’ll have helped drive the market forward.
While they think multiple people can work in the market together, and that they can do well even with competition, they would love to see the hosted WordPress space evolve.
The evolution of the hosted WordPress space While I think Evermore is going to need to rely on slow growth — since organic search will be competitive and hard to come by without a niche — I think they can still strike a chord and make some noise in the hosted space by referral and leveraging the power of WordPress as their platform.
I agree with Cliff. I think there is room for dozens of Evermores. Maybe hundreds of them.
It wouldn’t surprise me if many theme shops start creating a seamless theme purchase to hosted website transition for quick setups. Whether that works through white-labeling services with hosts, fully automated hosted solutions, or some kind of hybrid, I think it’s coming.
I also think that the framing of Evermore as a springboard to the greater WordPress experience shouldn’t be understated. As a WordPress consultant that often struggles with whether to recommend my friends to WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress, something like Evermore sounds like exactly the type of service I’d love to refer people to.
Do I think Evermore is perfect? No, of course not. It’s a brand new service and product, and I’m sure they’ll learn a ton as they onboard new users. But I’m incredibly excited to see that something like Evermore even exists, and that people like Cliff and Kyle are thinking of these kinds of problems to solve. I really look forward to following up with them in a year to see what they’ve learned and how Evermore has evolved.
If you enjoyed this post and interview, I’d really appreciate it if you share it. These type of posts take more effort than any other, with hours of research, interviews, processing, and writing. I love doing them, and also love seeing them shared on all your favorite social networks! Also check out Chris Lema’s post on Evermore, which compliments this one well.
You can follow Cliff and Kyle on Twitter if you want to stay in touch with them, and of course be sure to check out the Evermore website.
WP eCommerce is one of the oldest WordPress plugins you’ll find. That it’s an eCommerce plugin — built on WordPress, well before such a thing seemed sensible — is even more of a testament to just how impressive this plugin is. It’s been under development for eight years, and is nearing 3 million downloads on WordPress.org.
Today, WP eCommerce is working to shed layers of duplicate functionality that can now be replaced by WordPress core. It’s a wicked thing for a product to be ahead of its time. An eCommerce plugin built on WordPress is clearly — we know today — a viable thing. But for years, as WP eCommerce chugged along, many were skeptical that eCommerce and WordPress could — or even should — be harmonious.
That WP eCommerce is so old is its blessing and its curse. The blessing is that it was the only major player for a long time, allowing it to achieve great success, relative to other commercial plugins of the time. Its curse is that it gained a reputation for bugginess and as a product that was trying to be a round peg in a square hole.
It’s safe to say that WP eCommerce has passed the time where anyone should doubt it’s a viable product. But the question remains: can something old be new again?
Dan Milward and Justin Sainton believe so. And they are now 50 / 50 partners to ensure it.
For years, Dan ran WP eCommerce under the umbrella of Instinct Entertainment. While WP eCommerce wasn’t Instinct’s only project, it was its largest for a long time. Dan hired support staff and developers to help maintain the product and manage customers of their premium support tokens.
Justin Sainton has been contributing to WP eCommerce since 2010. He’s written nearly 70,000 lines of code and deleted nearly 30,000 lines of code from the codebase, just since they started tracking activity on Github in 2011. He’s got more commits to the project than any of the other 39 contributors. At times, Justin has been the lifeblood of WP eCommerce development.
Now that the two are partnered, they are ready to move ahead with full steam.
Or catch the audio:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/PostStatus/DraftPodcast/wp-e-commerce-audio.mp3
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Born out of need Dan was building websites with b2, pre-WordPress. He remembers when the repository was on a third party website, with only twenty or so plugins. He had a customer looking to sell plumbing related supplies online. Dan looked at osCommerce and Zen Cart to see if they could do the job. The hosted solutions we know today, and even Magento, didn’t exist yet. Dan had the wild idea to build it in WordPress, and the client let them release it to the public.
The world’s first eCommerce plugin for WordPress was born out of a need to cater to plumbers.
That was in 2006.
Instant growth The plugin took off very quickly. Dan remembers launching “Gold Cart”, their premium version of WP eCommerce, on a Friday, and was blown away by the transaction history he saw the very next day. The success was unexpected.
They never thought it’d be the kind of plugin “that would end up being used by millions of people around the world.” And if he could go back, he says he probably would’ve done it differently.
Today, WP eCommerce powers sites large and small. They know of sites with upwards of 100,00 products and / or seven figures in revenue. Impressive numbers.
Retro-fitted One of the hardest parts of development of WP eCommerce has been growing with WordPress and retro-fitting the plugin to utilize functionality and APIs that WordPress offers in core.
The best example of this is for custom post types. Custom post types were not introduced until WordPress 3.0, meaning that it took a significant effort and change of the WP eCommerce codebase to utilize custom post types, and all the benefits that go along with using them.
The Jetpack of WP eCommerce Gold Cart is what Dan calls the Jetpack of WP eCommerce. In an attempt at longevity, WP eCommerce was an early player in the commercial plugin market. They quickly offered a premium version of WP eCommerce.
They now monetize in two ways. They have support tokens, as well as commercial add-ons. Support for WP eCommerce is managed via Help Scout.
Justin’s entrance to WP eCommerce Justin also got into eCommerce with WordPress due to client work. He’s been working with WordPress since 2007, but he’s been doing eCommerce since 2005. So he quickly searched for WordPress eCommerce integrations, and therefore found WP eCommerce. By 2008 and 2009 he was using WP eCommerce for client work, and he reach out to Dan to figure out how he could start contributing.
Justin got heavily involved with WP eCommerce when they were making the switch to using custom post types. He helped guide the plugin from using around 40 custom tables to 13 custom tables today.
He’s been the biggest contributor to WP eCommerce ever since. With the release of WP eCommerce 3.9, their new partnership becomes official.
The new structure of Instinct Instinct is now focused on WP eCommerce, and Dan’s other projects (like Gamefroot, an impressive HTML5-centric gaming entity) have shifted over to a different organization. Justin and Dan are now managing the day to day of WP eCommerce through Instinct.
The team of support providers and paid developers will be managed under the new Instinct.
Long term opportunities WP eCommerce 3.9 will be a huge release for them. The features in this release include nearly five years of work between Justin, Ryan McCue, Gary Cao, and others.
All of these have been developed as the “features as plugins” concept over the last five years. So that was something that we were a little bit early to market with as a concept.
A few of the new features:
1) A new theme engine. It’s not as easy as it should be to create themes, so they are fixing that with 3.9. They have a number of commercial theme developers they are working with to help create themes with the new theme engine this year.
2) New payment gateway API WP eCommerce will have a much simpler and more flexible API for managing payment gateway integrations with 3.9. It will replace an API that’s been in existence since 2009.
3) Marketplace functionality The most impressive functionality to Justin (and to me too) is the marketplace functionality they’re building into WP eCommerce 3.9. This means that people who install WP eCommerce will be able to view and shop extensions for WP eCommerce through the admin, and purchase straight through that system.
They hope to open up third party development considerably with this feature.
A product to be proud of One of the most impressive parts of the interview was when Dan talked about the rise and slow fall of WP eCommerce as other platforms “leapfrogged” them.
At one point, they figured that around 250,000 users had migrated to using WordPress with WP eCommerce. But over time, as development stagnated some, he knew that it wasn’t the same type of product as it once was — a product that he was super proud of and ready to go to WordCamps and promote.
However, as they are now entering the final stages of 3.9 and even gear toward 4.0, they are ready to go head-on again marketing and promoting what they think can still be a go-to solution for WordPress eCommerce.
Evolve or die “Evolve or die.” This is the Darwinian quote Dan used to describe the necessary change that an open market creates for products. WP eCommerce has certainly had to evolve. Yes, they were early to market, but they were probably (in my opinion) too early to market.
Now, they’re evolving, and working hard to once again be the big player in the market. And they’ve got longevity on their side, which is a benefit that is often undervalued.
The WordPress space is a big space, right? … eCommerce can mean so much. … There’s plenty of opportunity to do new things.
They are excited and confident about what the future holds WordPress and WP eCommerce. They believe there are untouched niches and market segments that have a lot of potential.
We don’t want to just compete. We want to be doing new and innovative things — which is what we’ve always done.
I asked where some of that potential is, and Dan said at least a couple areas where he sees potential are in-app purchasing experiences and the user-interface.
Prioritizing goals Justin has a lot of plans for future development. While he has a list of long term goals, he’s also outlined shorter term plans.
The Product He wants to zero in on the WP eCommerce product itself. He’s not necessarily interested in WP eCommerce in terms of how it competes feature-for-feature with other WordPress eCommerce options as much as how strongly it stands on its own.
The community Justin wants to empower the developer community surrounding WP eCommerce to feel welcome and encouraged to contribute.
When I enter a community that I’m new to, and I feel immediately that I don’t have a voice, that’s going to turn me off pretty quick to staying active in that community.
Partnership development Justin and Dan both see a ton of potential with connecting and integrating with some of the thousands of other platforms, services, and softwares that are part of the overall eCommerce process.
Longevity as a feature Justin has run his consulting company, Zao, for ten years now. Both Justin and Dan have been involved in the WordPress community for a long time. They intend to be involved in the WordPress ecosystem for a long time to come.
In my mind, their collective experience and expertise are a considerable asset to the future of WP eCommerce. When someone is choosing what eCommerce platform to use, longevity of those providing the software is a huge feature. Nobody wants to invest in building a site on software that will become unsupported during the lifetime of the project.
WP eCommerce has been around longer than any other eCommerce platform, and I think they can combine this history with their more modern features to really strongly market their position in the WordPress eCommerce space and the eCommerce space in general.
Spreading the word WP eCommerce does still face a number of challenges. One of these is spreading the word. Not only do they need to spread the word that WP eCommerce exists, but also that it’s good again.
Justin used the example of a WordCamp he went to, where he asked the crowd who had heard of WP eCommerce, and about 70% of the room raised their hand. When he asked those that loved it to keep their hand raised, only about 20% of the room kept their hand up. Jokingly, he said, “Okay, I’ve got some work to do. Let’s talk.”
This is the kind of attitude that I think can make WP eCommerce successful, in a big way.
In addition to WordCamps and evangelizing to developers, they are also sponsoring and organizing sponsoring smaller events. Just last week, Justin headed up the organization of BeachPress, a micro event of about 30 developers in a beach house on Oregon’s coast. Events like this and the personal relationships that come from them are what will help them find willing contributors and product advocates.
A new stage for a new plugin While the WP eCommerce plugin approaches a new stage of life, you wouldn’t really know it by looking at GetShopped.org, the landing page for the plugin. This, along with other internal infrastructure issues, are additional goals for improvement for Justin and Dan.
They are planning to re-analyze business models, restructure documentation, rebuild the website, and much more. Dan notes that getting past the technical challenges of the upcoming versions of the plugin is like ridding themselves of shackles.
Depending on how well the changes are received, Dan and Justin are also prepared to put more and more of their focus on WP eCommerce versus their other projects. WP eCommerce is their priority, and they plan to see it through.
WP eCommerce really does remind me of the saying that, “what’s old is new again.”
I look forward to seeing how the rollout of WP eCommerce 3.9 goes, and how the community responds. I have a feeling that we’re going to see a second life for WP eCommerce, not as a replacement to other options, but to a place back in the front-runner category for viable WordPress eCommerce options.
If you want to keep track of WP eCommerce, you can do so on their main website, and follow Dan Milward and Justin Sainton on Twitter.
Mike McAlister has been an active member of the commercial WordPress theme space since 2009. He started by selling themes on ThemeForest. He transitioned to the Okay Themes brand in December of 2011. And at the end of March of this year, Mike transitioned yet again to Array.
While these transitions may seem like arbitrary branding, to me they represent broader shifts both in Mike’s style and the direction of the commercial WordPress space in general. He’s never really attempted to fit anyone else’s mold, but I believe he’s done quite well at predicting the market and staying ahead of the pack; and that’s why I love following his work.
Mike consistently challenges himself to succeed in a saturated space by attacking the market in a different way than the rest of the crowd.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/PostStatus/DraftPodcast/mike-mcalister-post-status-draft.mp3
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Selling WordPress themes on ThemeForest In 2009, Mike discovered WordPress and saw the opportunities of the commercial WordPress space. He quickly got his first ThemeForest theme put together, which he admits was probably sub-par code; but it got him started on his journey to consistently sell themes at a fairly early stage of the market.
ThemeForest has always been a controversial space. From a consumer side, with nice designs and a huge selection, it’s an easy way to discover themes — hence the popularity and explosive growth of the marketplace. From the non-ThemeForest developer side (developers dealing with ThemeForest themes), it’s often a frustrating marketplace because good code is very difficult to quantify on ThemeForest themes, making it difficult to steer people away from bad themes.
But there’s also the seller’s viewpoint. Exclusive sellers on ThemeForest start by making 50% of the revenue on a sale. Once they hit elite status ($75,000 in cumulative sales), they max out at 70%. But for non-exclusive partnerships, sellers only make 33.33% of the sale, which strongly encourages exclusive authorship for ThemeForest community members. More than four out of five ThemeForest authors are exclusive authors.
Moving the market forward Selling on ThemeForest means that you accept the terms of the marketplace, both as a buyer and a seller. Over the years, this has resulted in a variety of public debates. Mike started one such debate on pricing, when he advocated for a change in the pricing model. The debate Mike helped start is what led Envato to establish the elite program, which at the time gave elite authors more flexibility for pricing, and higher rewards for various achievements.
Throughout his tenure on ThemeForest, Mike was part of a core group of authors that helped move the marketplace forward. I saw Mike participate in community conversations regarding price, bucking design trends, methods for offering theme support, licensing themes, and more. Authors like Mike helped make Envato a better place.
Establishing Okay One of the things Mike discovered as he became a more experienced theme developer was that support was easier with simpler themes. Also, simpler themes allowed him to make design decisions versus offering design options.
In December 2011, Mike made the transition to simpler themes official with the launch of Okay Themes.
I don’t want that to be the bulk of my business. I don’t want to be answering questions about settings. You know, that seems adverse to everything I’m trying to do.
So, yeah, I started ripping things out slowly over the years, taking out various settings and going with the mantra of ‘decisions not options’ – that kind of thing – and really just spending the time to make these decisions, you know, add the details where I thought they needed to be and just whitling it down to a very, very simple theme that just works.
Such a decision doesn’t come lightly. When the proven model is options-centered, taking the other route takes guts.
Mike’s themes evolved into much simpler products. He tried to make a specific theme for a specific purpose versus creating a generic theme for any purpose that could be reused for dozens of sites.
Okay Themes had successes and failures on ThemeForest, but Mike was able to establish a reputation and a brand around well designed, simple themes that are reliably free of the bloat ThemeForest is infamous for. It’s what made his themes a go-to recommendation for many WordPress developers, myself included.
Over time, Mike realized he wanted to fully separate from Envato.
Despite all of the positive change over the years from Envato leadership, it doesn’t make the consumer’s decision making skills any better. And Mike’s style of theme didn’t really fit perfectly any more with the style of customer ThemeForest tends to have.
Selling themes on WordPress.com One way Mike has reached out to more user-centric customers, versus “flippers”, is through the WordPress.com marketplace.
Mike was invited to the WordPress.com marketplace and launched Publisher in August of 2013. The experience was enlightening for him.
Envato has theme reviews, but it has never reached anything close to the level of code critique that WordPress.com offers. Themes distributed to WordPress.com require complete review and assurances that they will be able to scale incredibly well. Therefore, all new authors are mentored under an Automattician “Theme Wrangler” that guides them as they prepare their theme for the marketplace.
This experience led Mike to re-evaluate and improve (with the help of his team) nearly all of his themes. The result was that he became even more committed to simple themes that do a job and do it well.
Okay is now Array The experience with WordPress.com and his desire to create a different kind of theme led Mike to further consider his relationship as a seller on Envato’s ThemeForest.
It’s hard to be a part of that, when ultimately my philosophy is quite drastically different these days, and I’m trying to target a different crowd. So, yeah, it culminated, and here we are in April, and Okay is now Array.
Mike completely rebranded Okay Themes to Array. The project included logo and identity work from Heavy Heavy, an entirely new website, and of course the new name. In the launch post, he assures that the change doesn’t mark a new “way of doing business,” but a transition:
Okay Themes will now be known simply as _ Array _. We (still) specialize in beautifully crafted, high quality WordPress goods. New name, new website, new logo, same way of doing business.
Pricing themes Array themes cost $69 each right now, or you can buy access to all of them for $199 per year. Currently Array does not auto-renew packages.
We spent some time talking about how renewals work across the industry, as well as some ideas for creating licenses for longer update periods, and perhaps separating those from support pricing (okay, this was mostly me spouting off).
Tools behind a theme shop We spent also spent some time going over the variety of tools Mike uses to power the Array website.
Like many theme shops nowadays, Array is running eCommerce with Easy Digital Downloads, which manages both digital downloads as well as software licensing and updates. They also switched from Tender to bbPress for support, which I thought was interesting, since I feel like there’s been a trend of moving away from forums.
The whole post about tools Array uses is really interesting and worth checking out.
Advice to other theme authors As one of a number of theme authors that have taken the route from a theme marketplace to his own marketplace, I was curious what Mike’s advice would be to others aiming to start their own theme shop.
In general, he would still encourage new authors to utilize a marketplace like ThemeForest to get started and get their name out there. We both largely agreed with Chris Lema’s post that a marketplace can be a great incubator for a WordPress product maker.
However, if someone does start on a marketplace, they do need to be aware that when and if they make the switch to their own shop, they basically have to start over from an SEO and marketing perspective.
SEO may seem like an odd thing to an outsider to the theme industry, but when the market is as saturated as it is, it takes a lot of work to get your themes out in front of a largely theme-uneducated audience.
Mike’s primary advice was to “make it manageable” from the very beginning.
Make it as manageable as possible. Write clean code, not just because it looks nice, but because it’s manageable, and then you won’t spend a bunch of time rewriting it later. And just spread that throughout your whole business. Make it simple to begin with. Make it manageable.
Use the right tools. Use quality tools that get the job done, and treat your customers with respect. It goes a long way when people actually get a nice quality response and conversation out of something.
Just talking themes I’ve tried to summarize much of Mike’s story in this post, as I’ve done with other interviews. However, we spent around 50 minutes talking about the ins and outs of WordPress themes, business, and other things. It was one of the most fun and laid back interviews I’ve ever had the privilege of conducting.
I hope that you listen to the entire thing, and I hope that you enjoy it. I love doing these, and I hope to keep bringing them to you. That said, I’d also really appreciate any feedback readers and listeners have as to how I can make these posts better.
Thanks to Mike for joining me for this interview, and everyone be sure to check out his excellent new adventure, Array.
I was privileged to be joined by six core contributors to WordPress 3.9 for a Google Hangout where we talked about the new release, contributing to WordPress, and more.
To learn more about WordPress 3.9, check out our summary.
You can watch the full video right here:
I was joined by an all-star cast. Of course, keep in mind, these six people are amazing, but a whopping 267 people made WordPress 3.9 happen. That said, here was our panel:
Andrew Nacin Lead Developer, 3.9 Lead ( Twitter | WP Profile)
- Favorite feature of WordPress 3.9: No more “Paste from Word” in TinyMCE
- Least favorite feature of WordPress: Settings screens and Mulitsite
Mike Schroder 3.9 Co-lead ( Twitter | WP Profile)
Photo Credit
- Favorite feature of WordPress 3.9: WP Views / Customizer enhancements
- Least favorite feature of WordPress: The plugin editor
Gregory Cornelius Contributing Developer ( Twitter | WP Profile)
Photo credit
- Favorite feature of WordPress 3.9: Widget Customizer
- Least favorite feature of WordPress: Managing page hierarchy
Helen Hou-Sandí Core Committer ( Twitter | WP Profile)
Photo credit
- Favorite feature of WordPress 3.9: Widget Customizer
- Least favorite feature of WordPress: Admin Menus
Scott Taylor Core Committer ( Twitter | WP Profile)
Photo Credit
- Favorite feature of WordPress 3.9: Customizer improvements
- Least favorite feature of WordPress: List Tables
Weston Ruter Core Contributor ( Twitter | WP Profile)
Photo credit
- Favorite feature of WordPress 3.9: Media improvements
- Least favorite feature of WordPress: Magic quotes
Brian Krogsgard Post Status editor, Panel Host
- Favorite feature of WordPress 3.9: Image editing
- Least favorite feature of WordPress: Default comment handling
Pantheon is a website development, deployment, and hosting platform. But they aren’t just any host. They like to think of their product as a hosting killer, because in their mind, they do much more than just hosting.
I heard about Pantheon for the first time last year, when it was a Drupal-only platform. When Pantheon announced last week that their platform would now support WordPress, I knew I had to check it out.
I spoke with Josh Koenig, one of the co-founders of Pantheon, and the Head of Developer Experience for the company. You can listen to our entire half hour conversation here:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/PostStatus/DraftPodcast/pantheon-josh-koenig-post-status-draft.mp3
Direct Download
How Pantheon works Pantheon markets itself differently than most hosts. For one, they target developers. They think about developers all the way down to the way to pay for services; they have a feature for developers to invite a client to pay for a service they’re managing, versus a client needing to share access with their developer.
The way Josh describes Pantheon, it’s more like Heroku than a traditional host in terms of how it runs. A Pantheon customer, like a Heroku customer, is on the exact same platform as every other customer. For scaling, Pantheon simply adjusts the number of containers that are running, similar to Heroku’s Dynos.
The containerization is much more nimble and much more efficient than virtual machines are. … If you have a bunch of virtual machines that are all running websites, they’re probably all running the same server software, using the same libraries, but they’re doing many copies of that for every virtual machine, whereas we have one host endpoint and that can share all the common binaries, all the common libraries, for all the containers that are located there.
Containers can spin up in ten or fifteen seconds, much faster than scaling your website from one type of hosting (like a shared environment) to another (like a VPS) with a traditional host.
How Pantheon compares their platform to traditional hosts
Using Pantheon Every new user gets two development environments with Pantheon for free. To begin, it asks you to start a new project or import a site. I was able to easily download my files and database into one zip file from WP Remote, and I purposefully did nothing special to make it easier on Pantheon.
When I uploaded my backup, I was amazed that in around one minute, it had perfectly imported my site, extracted and connected the database, edited my config file for the Pantheon setup, and my development website was ready to go.
There were some UX things with the dashboard that were a little weird to me. It took me a few minutes of digging around and figuring how where and how to do things. But once I got the hang of it, I could see how I could easily get used to a system like this.
As far as developing with Pantheon, you can work locally very easily, as their dev sites come setup as a Git repository and the Git clone URL is ready and waiting from the start. Or a developer can quickly grab SFTP connection details from the dashboard and edit their site straight in the development environment.
Once you are happy with your website, Pantheon makes pushing to testing and live servers easy, right from the dashboard.
Pantheon also has a paid feature called MultiDev, which allows for Git branching through the dashboard to quickly create entirely new installs for testing, training, feature building, etc. From a branch, users can then merge the code back to the main site through the dashboard.
Is Pantheon different from other Managed WordPress hosts? I was curious how Pantheon is really different from a WordPress managed host like WP Engine, Pressable, or Pagely. They certainly aren’t marketing themselves as a managed host. They are trying to expand their marketability beyond that.
The way Josh describes it, what makes Pantheon different is the smoothness of the development workflow, with automatic and simple management of development, testing, and live environments.
Another item Josh highlights is that Pantheon allows for more than just WordPress websites. This is something I’d never really considered, because I’ve never had a need beyond a WordPress website, but I can totally understand why a development shop that does both Drupal and WordPress work would really enjoy this.
Finally, Josh says that the smoothness of their scaling experience with their containers sets them apart.
Pantheon is one platform. Our biggest sites and our free sites all run on one coherent platform. So we really can say, ‘If you can make it work on your free dev site and you like the performance you got there, we can scale that to millions of users and you won’t have to, like, go through a migration.’
Josh said that they are pushing billions of pageviews per month on the platform right now, most of which are currently Drupal sites since the WordPress setup is so new.
While his statement about a single platform makes sense, I do think it’s more complicated than that. For one, it assumes the code quality is good. This is exactly why WordPress.com VIP reviews code before deploying to their system, even though it can also easily scale for large websites — any large website needs quality code running. So I hope that Pantheon has a way to determine that, or plans to police plugins and code a bit, as other managed hosts have done.
Whether Pantheon is truly different from managed hosts like Pressable, WP Engine, and Pagely, I don’t know. I think that they are after a more developer-centered audience means their tools may evolve further beyond what other options offer.
However, they are an opinionated platform, just like other managed hosts. You won’t have cPanel and the things that come with it. Multisite could be a pain (or maybe not available, I’m not sure). You’ll need a different solution for email. These things are fine, and they are what we’ve come to understand as part of working with a managed host.
Pricing for Pantheon Pantheon isn’t cheap, but it’s comparable to other managed hosts. They bill mostly on pageviews, though Josh notes it’s not a hard barrier (also consistent with how I know others work). The personal plan is $25 per month. Professional plans are $100 per month, with a $30 add-on for SSL. Their business plans scale to 1 million pageviews per month and dedicated phone support, for $400 per month.
In our conversation, we used my own site as an example. I have one site I really care about and am willing to pay a decent amount for hosting — this one. Other than that, I manage a few small websites for friends and family.
In a situation like mine, Pantheon would probably not be my only host. With other managed hosts, I can easily tack on domains for lower priority sites, mixed in with my main website account. Though Josh did throw out some interesting ideas about how they might actually want to offer “hobby” site hosting in the future, perhaps even for free — further evidence for their developer target.
Additionally, as I noted earlier in the post, it’s easy to invite a client to pay for a new site, without having to use different credentials. Pressable has a similar setup for this, which I really enjoy.
Is Pantheon a game-changer in WordPress website management? I think Pantheon is going to raise the bar for WordPress hosting. I don’t think they’ll suddenly convert the tens of thousands of customers currently using various WordPress managed hosts, but I do think others will integrate some of the features (and marketing tactics) from Pantheon.
Also, Pantheon isn’t new to this. They have a team of 30, appear well funded, and have a couple of years of experience doing this with Drupal already under their belt.
I know it’s a bit lame to do so, but I think Andrew Nacin, a lead developer for WordPress, really nicely highlighted how Pantheon has targeted features that could help them gain serious traction in the WordPress development community.
. @getpantheon has all the stuff I’d be looking for in a host: awareness of the application stack, focus on scaling, CLI access, rsync, etc.
— Andrew Nacin (@nacin) March 20, 2014
This is for professional web developers doing professional web projects.
Josh said this toward the end of our interview. I think if they stick to this tactic and this marketing, Pantheon could really do great.
The ecosystem of businesses that have been built around WordPress is huge, but shallow. Few companies are both large (relatively speaking) and central to a broad WordPress community. With 60+ employees, some of which are very well-known WordPress developers, 10up has quickly become a central figure in the WordPress world.
Big WordPress companies with significant community influence Until recently, Automattic has always been the primary example cited as a mature company in the WordPress space. But it’s hardly the only company using WordPress as a primary tool. Envato is similarly sized (just over 200 employees, and 50+ more this year), but Envato’s business spans well beyond WordPress themes and plugins on ThemeForest and CodeCanyon.
A 60+ person team doing web consulting is not particularly unique either. There are loads of more traditional design agencies, ad agencies, and regional web firms that do a good bit of their business using WordPress. But there aren’t very many companies in general, much less the size of 10up, that are so engrossed within the WordPress community.
Yet, as WordPress gains more and more traction as the CMS of choice for the web services and consulting industry, there are now WordPress focused service agencies that are growing quite rapidly. 10up leads this pack, despite being quite a young company; they just celebrated their 3 year anniversary.
Meet John Eckman, 10up CEO 10up Founder Jake Goldman has just announced that they’ve hired a CEO, John Eckman. The hire is representative of a new era for 10up, a company often analyzed by other agencies and professionals in the WordPress ecosystem.
I was fortunate to be able to interview Jake and John together to talk about the announcement, a number of other topics around running 10up, and the WordPress ecosystem in general.
John Eckman is from the Boston area, and is an organizer of WordCamp Boston. Prior to his new role at 10up, he was the managing director of ISITE Design‘s Boston office. John has experience working for and managing teams in a number of service companies over the years. He’s generally an open source advocate, with specific interests in Drupal and WordPress.
Jake and John met in 2009 during planning for WordCamp Boston. Jake has been thinking about bringing on a CEO for about a year and a half. Jake interviewed a number of candidates for the position, but specifically wanted someone with ties to the WordPress community, understanding of engineering disciplines, and experience managing teams within large web-based organizations.
This is the first interview Jake and John have done together. We talked about a number of things, largely around decision making and running a business.
Mini 10ups within 10up One of the things I was interested in was the growing pains. If you are like me, you’ve watched, flabbergasted, as 10up grew at an amazing rate. And Jake admitted that a significant challenge has been realizing when architecture needs to change.
The company was mostly flat until they scaled beyond a dozen people. At that time, they established a leadership team, most of whom have now evolved into Vice President or Director roles. However, he also notes the early lesson they learned that great engineers don’t always make great team managers and mentorship doesn’t have to be exclusive to managers.
When they got to around 30 employees, they switched to a pod system, with pod leaders. Each pod has dedicated production employees, a pod leader that acts as a manager and lead strategist, and they are now introducing a “producer” role to help the pod leader manage day to day managerial duties.
From what I could glean from the conversation, a pod within 10up basically functions like its own little agency, with each pod handling a variety of projects. The design pod, however, is independent from the others. 10up is better known for programming and implementation than design — something they are working to change — and currently the design pod acts more like an outsourced element from each pod on a per-project basis as needed.
Turnaround projects and managing cashflow I was curious about cashflow and managing clients when you have a lot of teams. If 10up was only doing new projects and not maintaining relationships longer term, it seems like it would be difficult to constantly manage everyone’s time.
While they didn’t downplay these challenges, both Jake and John highlighted how recurring revenue from large customers and also engaging customers beyond “positioning yourself as a coder” and simply doing what is asked. He notes that those who do so set themselves up for short term clients, and instead 10up offers advice for engaging a client long term.
In those early phases, bring value, bring strategy, bring ideas that help them build their business; to show that you’re a partner that has business solutions, right, that you create those kind of relationships. It’s why we call everybody at 10up engineers, instead of developers. Because the definition of an engineer is not a coder or a programmer; it’s somebody that builds a solution for a problem.
For those looking to get into these types of relationships, John advises to begin in the proposal phase, by introducing ideas and showcasing the experience the client would be buying, versus simply showing deliverables of your proposal.
You’re essentially selling a point a view. You’re bringing a consultative guidance to them on how things ought to operate. And as long as they’re hearing that value, they’ll be excited for it.
Jake estimates that between 60 and 70 percent of their business is reliably repeat business and another portion of their business is repeat business that was less planned. They are able to categorize these projections as expected repeat customers and not have to worry as much about constantly finding new work to make payroll every month.
As far as the size of projects, they like to take on large projects, which helps reduce churn, but they also like to stay open to smaller projects that excite them.
Jake didn’t exactly highlight what their “floor” is, but he did use $5,000 as an example of the type of budget that sometimes comes in and is usually unrealistic for them.
He also noted that they have some accounts that have spent over $1 million with them in a year, and “definitely” some that have spent that amount over the life of the project.
These long term, higher value clients rarely spend the money they do because of WordPress specifically, but rather consider 10up a partner to their web presence. And these longer term and higher dollar projects are what enable them to more effectively manage their team.
How big will 10up grow to be? When I asked the inevitable question of just how big 10up would grow to be, Jake responded the way he says he always does. “My reply to that is always, ‘as big as it can be while we do great work.’ To me the number of people is actually irrelevant.”
Adding to that, John notes, “growing does enable us to have more impact in places we want to have more impact.” The impact he’s referencing is to push into markets like “government, higher ed, the enterprise,” but also cites that it’s important for them to do so “without sacrificing culture or quality.”
Bringing in CEOs in tech companies There is some precedent for a founder of a tech company to bring in a CEO. Outside of WordPress, the examples are many; even within the WordPress world, there are a few worth noting:
- Matt Mullenweg brought in Toni Schneider to be the CEO of Automattic in 2006; and at the beginning of this year they actually switched jobs.
- In October 2013, WP Engine CEO Jason Cohen stepped down into a CTO role, and hired Heather Brunner to be CEO.
- Not exactly the same, but in November of 2013, VeloMedia acquired Crowd Favorite, and Crowd Favorite founder Alex King became the CTO — a role he felt more comfortable in.
It’s very impressive to me when a founder relinquishes a level of control and brings in a CEO to help steer a ship they’ve made such great efforts to build. I think in the instances I cite above the changes have been hugely successful for each company, and we’ve seen them all continue to grow and do a lot of impressive things since.
What will things look like three years from now? I do hope you watch the full interview with Jake and John. I think it’s very valuable for anyone interested in the business of WordPress, or want to know what life is like inside a company like 10up.
I haven’t gone into some of the topics we discussed at all, such as their stepping into the product business.
It amazes me just how fast our space is evolving. The “old” companies in the WordPress world aren’t even ten years old; WordPress itself hardly is.
A slew of companies are doubling (at least) in size every year.
Traditional web agencies around the world are abandoning proprietary software and advertising their WordPress chops — because their customers demand it.
Businesses that have historically just done services are getting into products.
It seems almost everyone is hiring.
The culture of work is being disrupted.
With all of these incredible shifts, it’s almost not surprising that a company like 10up could go from 1 to 60+ in three years, gaining a stellar reputation along the way. But it doesn’t stop it from being impressive.
I can’t wait to see what the landscape looks like three years from now, to see how existing companies continue to evolve. And most of all I’m excited to see how many other entrepreneurs enter the fray between now and then and how they change the conversation again.
I had the pleasure to interview Drew Strojny, founder of The Theme Foundry, about their work at The Theme Foundry, their philosophies about themes, and their latest theme release, Oxford.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/PostStatus/DraftPodcast/Post-Status-Draft-3-Drew-Strojny-ThemeFoundry.mp3
Direct Download
Drew is a former Duke football player that spent a few years in the NFL before he started a small business doing general marketing. Over time, his clients started asking for websites, so he discovered WordPress. His work with web projects led him to start designing WordPress themes, and he ended up being an early player in the commercial theme market in 2008.
Competition with themes over time In 2008, there weren’t many people selling themes. Chris Pearson was selling Thesis, Brian Gardner was selling Revolution, pre-Genesis. WooThemes was just underway. But the demand was enormous.
Well, I thought we’d just throw our hat into the ring and try a design and see how it goes, and we got a really huge response.
It was really great timing on our part. It was one of the best times to get into the theme market.
The WordPress theme space really exploded for a few years. Drew notes that they haven’t seen the explosive growth in the past couple years compared to the first two
The market is maturing and there are a lot more companies in the space, and a lot more options.
Setting themselves apart I asked Drew how The Theme Foundry sets themselves apart from the competition, considering just how many theme providers there are now. They like to tout their “world class design and clean code” when they market their themes.
They do most of their design in house, but they also commission some designs to get outside the bubble of the “WordPress theme” concept, and those commissioned themes help them expand their work.
John Hicks designed Shelf. Ryan Essmaker designed the Anthem theme, Dave Ruiz designed the Avid theme, and most recently Veerle Pieters designed the Collections theme.
The Theme Foundry notably doesn’t use any form of framework and attempts to limit theme options as much as possible. When they sell a theme to a customer, they want it to “just work” and be reliable over time.
The impact of selling themes on WordPress.com The Theme Foundry was one of the first providers invited to sell commercial themes on WordPress.com. They released the Shelf theme in early 2011, and today nearly their entire collection is available.
However, WordPress.com wants as many great themes in the marketplace as possible, so over time the overall impact WordPress.com plays on The Theme Foundry’s business has been reduced, but it’s still an important part of what they do.
Making big splashes with themes The Theme Foundry has made a number of big splashes in the theme market. Shelf, at the time, was an innovative theme, making use of post formats and responsive design when hardly anyone was doing it. Collections has a single page app (SPA) feel, using Backbone for loading pages, and Basis has a drag and drop builder that made a lot of waves.
Drew says that they don’t like to just put out themes, but prefer to create themes that target a specific concept, and then build the theme to fit well into that concept, without bloating the theme with unnecessary functionality.
Oxford theme and Typekit integration
Their latest theme is another that’s ready to make a splash. To date, no theme company has automated Typekit integration; as in, if a theme customer currently wants to use Typekit fonts, they need a separate account for it.
With Oxford ( demo), The Theme Foundry is including Typekit support, without a Typekit account, as part of the yearly licensing deal. What this means, is that Oxford offers the theme plus the Typekit font integration, for $79. And the yearly renewal fee is reduced to $39 for support, updates, and a continued Typekit font license.
The Typekit integration is the first of its kind in the WordPress theme landscape. To date, it’s a world limited by Google web fonts for hosted custom font integrations. There’s nothing wrong with Google web fonts, but Typekit is certainly a level up, and I’m excited to see this happen.
All of The Theme Foundry’s themes will be integrated with Typekit over the coming weeks. You can read more on their announcement post.
The Theme Foundry, Post Status, and what’s next Drew and I had a fifty minute convesation discussing the topics above and much more. We also spent some time talking about advertising, content marketing, and The Theme Foundry’s partnership with Post Status. If you’re interested in our relationship and Drew’s motivation for supporting what I do, I hope you’ll give this interview a listen.
It was a pleasure to talk to Drew, and I look forward to seeing what The Theme Foundry has coming next.
You can follow Drew on Twitter, The Theme Foundry on Twitter, and check out their website.