This year, at WordCamp Porto, I had the opportunity to interview Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Executive Director of WordPress.
She provided some very in-depth answers about what’s happening in the world of WordPress and what we can expect from the top CMS in the future.
WordPress powers nearly half of the web. What challenges does WordPress face as a CMS in the coming year, and how does it plan to overcome them?
Chomphosy: “WordPress in the next year… One of the biggest difficulties we face is the fact that we are rewriting our entire codebase while continuing to function as a piece of software.
In many cases, you would see software halt every contribution from the community and rebuild everything using a closed model to re-envision its functionality.
We are five years into this probably ten-year project. So the next year, like all years in a project like this, involves making sure we remain as stable and capable as a CMS as people expect while also pushing forward with a newer, more modern way to manage content online.
No big deal. Small problems.”
I know about Matt [Mullenweg]’s “Five for the Future” initiative, which aims to solve the challenges of supporting WordPress as it grows. How do you see that working? Do you see enough response rates from the community?
Chomphosy: “The Five for the Future initiative has been around since 2014. We didn’t have a more codified program around it until 2016 or 2017, where people could pledge their time to specific teams, and those teams could utilize volunteer efforts.
It funds the project from a time perspective, making it easy for individual contributors to express their interests. We’ve expanded that program to include what’s considered a Five for the Future team.
I believe major corporations in the WordPress ecosystem should give back significantly, especially if they earn substantial revenue using WordPress.
Overall, we’ve seen a good response from our community of contributors and economic partners in the ecosystem. While we can always use more involvement, the response has been positive.
The WordPress CMS is maintained by less than 1% of the people who benefit from it, so I always want more people to be involved. But we have seen good engagement.”
Do you foresee any changes like WordPress becoming paid, for example?
Chomphosy: “It’s hard to predict the future, but I don’t see any way for that to happen.
Free, open-source software can be confusing. People often wonder if it means free of cost or providing freedom. We like to remind everyone that it’s free in terms of providing freedom while also being freely available. So I can’t see a future where we’d suddenly charge for licenses."
What’s going to make WordPress continue to stand out/above its peers and competitors? How is WordPress future-proofing?
Chomphosy: “The community around WordPress sets it apart. Our in-person event series especially distinguishes us. Though we haven’t had these events for two and a half years, this flagship event marks a return.
We had 800 people at the contributor day, the largest for a flagship event. The number of attendees and those interested in contributing back to WordPress shows the strength and sustainability of our project.
From a future-proofing standpoint, our investment in contributors and the way we bring them into the space is crucial. Ensuring organizational longevity beyond current leadership is important to me. I constantly train others to do what I know, to prevent critical knowledge from being limited to few individuals.”
The CMS market is becoming competitive day by day. Do you see a decline in WordPress’s market share, or is it growing?
Chomphosy: “There was a small decline according to W3Tech’s market share and usage numbers, which was publicly discussed.
However, I don’t think it’s concerning. W3Techs’ changes, such as deprecating major datasets, affect these numbers. So, there’s a lot we can’t be certain about, but overall, things seem level.”
There were complaints from users that WordPress changes too frequently and drastically with the introduction of full site editing. They now spend a lot to relearn and fix things. What’s your message to those users?
Chomphosy: “I know it’s frustrating to relearn something you’ve already mastered, but our phased evolution aims to let people learn gradually over time.
We are making editing interfaces in the CMS similar so users can apply their understanding across the platform. Feedback on usability helps us improve, and while change may seem fast, following Beta releases can make it more manageable. My message is to update regularly rather than waiting for numerous releases, which can be overwhelming.”
There are classic editor plugins for those who prefer old style WordPress. Will you maintain them long-term or deprecate them?
Chomphosy: “We evaluate this year by year based on user need. We don’t plan to remove it from the repository or make it disappear entirely. It’s better to keep up with updates gradually to avoid being overwhelmed by changes.”
How do you decide what features to ship in new versions? What does the process look like?
Chomphosy: “It’s a public process involving core chats every week. Major components have their chats discussing current work, prioritizing based on user impact and feasibility within given timelines. Decisions depend on readiness and overall impact.”
What is one major fix you would like to see WordPress make?
Chomphosy: “Our next big need is focusing on menus and navigation, which is complex. Spending time on user-tested and approved fixes is the right approach.”
Almost all WordPress users complain about built-in internal search. Any plans to improve it?
Chomphosy: “Yes, there are ongoing discussions and research but no consensus on an optimal solution. Improving search is a common topic of community discussion.”
Gutenberg has Full Site Editing (FSE) but is still in Beta. Is there an ETA for the label to come off?
Chomphosy: “There’s no ETA. We use ‘Beta’ differently, meaning it will continue evolving rather than being unstable. It will stay in Beta through the current phase.”
WordPress has a performance team working on core improvements, but themes can undo this work. Any plans to address this?
Chomphosy: “Themes are considered an integral part of WordPress, resembling core issues. We need themes and plugins to focus on performance but have no rules in place yet. As functionality evolves, we may establish refreshed guidelines.”
Any plans to introduce badges like “WordPress Certified” for developers?
Chomphosy: “The community is currently discussing certifications, especially given our training materials. Historical logistical and philosophical hurdles are being reconsidered. We aim to recognize people completing training, making it a revived discussion.”
The Redirection plugin is widely used. Any plans to integrate similar functionality into the core?
Chomphosy: “Better native features don’t make WordPress harder to use. There’s no current discussion about integrating redirection. Feature plugin proposals undergo a public process; updating documentation around this is necessary. This would be the first step to core inclusion.”
Conclusion
We hope you’ve enjoyed these insights into the current and future plans for WordPress. Remember that the WordPress project continues to improve based on the contributions of its users. Be sure to learn more about the many ways you can contribute to and give back to the WordPress community.
