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If you follow WordPress at any level, it’s hard not to have heard about the drama surrounding Matt Mullenweg’s attack on WP Engine at the tail end of WordCamp US, something that marred what otherwise seemed like a very lovely event.

Recently, I was working on a rewrite of one of our theme list posts and in the process I tested over 30 themes. By the end, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that the majority were junk. My gut feeling was that the “shiny cover, empty box” syndrome I encountered was more widespread than only the niche I worked on. So I decided to fire up a test instance of WordPress and went through 31 additional themes in a separate niche. These are the results of my research.

Hey there, WordPress fans! I am checking in today to let you know that WordCamp US 2024 is about to kick off!

I’ve been working with WordPress hosting for years, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about “cheap” WordPress hosting plans, it’s that they’re only cheap for the first year. After that, the renewal rates kick in, and suddenly…well, tough luck, pay up!

Ever since we started this site, we’ve been deeply involved in the topic of hosting a WordPress website. Personally, it wasn’t something I deliberately set out to learn that much about; rather, the topic found me. If you’re using WordPress, hosting is just essential, and there’s no way to ignore it. You just can’t run a site without it. So naturally, you’d want the best hosting available and steer clear of the sub-par options.

If you like ambitious projects, I think this news tidbit will be right up your alley. In late August, Matt Mullenweg and Automattic announced plans to migrate all of the existing Tumblr websites to WordPress. Given that Tumblr hosts more than half a billion blogs (yes – that’s a “B”), I think this might just be one of the largest migration projects ever undertaken.

If you’re attending WordCamp US 2024 in person or online, I have great news! In late August, we got our first look at the full lineup and schedule for this year’s event, which will be held in Portland, Oregon from September 17-20.

As the title of this article says, I have no formal development experience. Prior to taking this plunge into building my first plugin, the most coding I was capable of, was fumbling my way through some HTML and CSS. But! I was damn enthusiastic about building a WordPress plugin, so I decided to see if all the fear mongering about AI replacing junior developers had any merit.

Over the past few months, I’ve been diving deep into what people really think about WordPress’ block editor – Gutenberg. I thought this was going to be a fun project. I analyzed over 340 opinions from platforms like Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, and WordPress.org. I also spoke with developers, colleagues, and other professionals in the WordPress community to get a well-rounded perspective.

If you’re a fan of default WordPress themes, I have great news! On August 15, we got our first look at the upcoming Twenty Twenty-Five default theme in this WordPress.org post. The new Twenty Twenty-Five theme will be released as part of WordPress 6.7 (which is currently scheduled for release on November 12, 2024).