Latest WordPress Opinions

WordPress legal updates • July 25, 2025 Updates from the WP Engine and Keller cases against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg

WordPress legal updates • July 25, 2025

WPEngine v Automattic, and King Pyrrhus of Epirus - WP AND LEGAL STUFF Settlement conference On 9 July, a settlement conference was held in the court hearing the WPEngine v Automattic proceedings (proceedings that are now so well-known that there’s no need to describe them). Unfortunately, no settlement was reached. The court’s ‘Minute Entry’ records: Minute Entry for proceedings held before Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler: Settlement Conference held on 7/9/2025. Settlement conference held today. The case did not settle. The court asks the parties to confer with their clients, including decision-makers who were not at the settlement conference, to see whether a session with principals makes sense to identify if there is a path forward short of litigation. There is a utility to discussing settlement now: the parties should have a good understanding of the timeline that led up to the litigation, and discovery is not going to change that. The court envisions a process with the decision-makers and in-house counsel only. If this is something that could work, the parties should discuss it and circle back in the next couple of weeks with their proposals on timing. …

WPEngine v Automattic, and King Pyrrhus of Epirus

WordPress legal updates • July 4, 2025 Updates from the WP Engine and Keller cases against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg

WordPress legal updates • July 4, 2025

The mess that is ownership and licensing of WordPress contributions Who owns your contributions to the WordPress project, and how are those contributions licensed?

The mess that is ownership and licensing of WordPress contributions

I love the WP block editor, site editor and the Gutenberg project Header image: The Gutenberg logo was made by Cristel Rossignol, and is released under the GPL license How the Gutenberg project beganFrom idea to releaseWhat I loveAbout the block editorAbout the site

I love the WP block editor, site editor and the Gutenberg project

The document I shared with Mary and Matt Header photo by Paco Marchante ContextMeeting with Mary at WCEUSwitzerland and Typo3 as examplesTrust restorationMy personal opinion, as written in the documentThe documentRelated posts Context Three

The document I shared with Mary and Matt

WordCamp Europe 2025 as a co-organiser This post is part of a series. Links to upcoming posts will be added once published. The application team membersThe Local teamThank you organisersIt couldn’t have happened without P

WordCamp Europe 2025 as a co-organiser

Dissecting Matt Mullenweg’s comments at WordCamp Europe, part 2 Looking at Mullenweg’s comments about the WordPress Foundation and Five for the Future at WordCamp Europe 2025.

Dissecting Matt Mullenweg’s comments at WordCamp Europe, part 2

What If WordPress Became the Agentic Web’s Front End? - James Giroux Can WordPress power real-time, data-driven digital experiences? Enterprise teams are starting to ask. Here's what that means.

What If WordPress Became the Agentic Web’s Front End?

WordPress legal updates • June 13, 2025 Updates from the WP Engine and Keller cases against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg

WordPress legal updates • June 13, 2025

Dissecting Matt Mullenweg’s comments at WordCamp Europe, part 1 Looking at Mullenweg’s comments about the FAIR project at WordCamp Europe 2025.

Dissecting Matt Mullenweg’s comments at WordCamp Europe, part 1

A new path forward for WordPress, and for the open web Back in December, I wrote about the state of leadership in the WordPress ecosystem. I shared how too much power rests with one person, and how the lack of clear governance puts contributors and businesses alike in difficult positions. That post ended with a call: we need to lead. That wasn’t rhetorical. It was a ... Read more

A new path forward for WordPress, and for the open web

Innovation in WordPress: a look at plugin development

BlackRock further devalues its investment in Automattic BlackRock further devalued its shares in Automattic, now valuing it at just 36.5% of its 2021 Series E valuation.

BlackRock further devalues its investment in Automattic

A few more thoughts about the WordPress Foundation More background in support of my conclusion to avoid donating to the WordPress Foundation

A few more thoughts about the WordPress Foundation

WordPress legal updates • May 30, 2025 Back in February, I started posting quick links for subscribers (including free subscribers!). That went so well that I thought I’d start another new subscriber-only feature, writing about the latest updates in the ongoing legal dramas. At inconsistent and random intervals, I’m going to cover the latest updates

WordPress legal updates • May 30, 2025

Please reconsider donating to the WordPress Foundation Donations to the WordPress Foundation do not further the mission of the WordPress Foundation, nor benefit the WordPress community.

Please reconsider donating to the WordPress Foundation

WordCamp Europe 2025 Sustainability *Header image: The four ferries that cross the river using only the natural power of the river's current connect the larger southern part of the city (Grossbasel) with the northern side of the

WordCamp Europe 2025 Sustainability

A not-quite Silver Jubilee Did Mullenweg’s campaign of reflection originate from the death of Pope Francis? The timeline tells us no.

A not-quite Silver Jubilee

Conversation with ChatGPT: WordPress Community Conversation with ChatGPT Pro, model 4o, 18 January 2025. It’s quite fascinating to see the “big picture” of how things evolve when many people are involved. So I came up with the idea of ​​ask

Conversation with ChatGPT: WordPress Community

Build websites like it’s 2005 (and win in 2025) Last week was a whirlwind, first diving deep into AI and WordPress while working with the WP CLI as MCP host team at Cloudfest, then heading off to SMX Munich for non-stop conversations about SEO, AI, and the future of search. Two very different settings, one clear takeaway: The web has come full circle. Despite ... Read more

Build websites like it’s 2005 (and win in 2025)

The unintended consequences of making SEO “for everyone” At Yoast, we had one mission: make SEO easier. For a long time, SEO for everyone was Yoast’s tagline, and we meant it. We helped millions of people optimize their content. We made technical SEO more accessible. We gave small businesses, bloggers, and creators a real chance to be found online. And we were successful. ... Read more

The unintended consequences of making SEO “for everyone”

London, Baby! - James Giroux Another city in our European Family Holiday.

London, Baby!

From Paris with Love - James Giroux A big city with lots to see.

From Paris with Love

A Cool Plugin For WP That Strips The Meta Data From Your Uploaded Photos

Amsterdam with Family - James Giroux I’m on my own European family vacation.

Amsterdam with Family

Redirect-By HTTP headers Should we standardize Redirect-By HTTP headers?

Redirect-By HTTP headers

I don't remember taking this photo... - James Giroux This and other stories from WordCamp Asia 2025

I don’t remember taking this photo…

AI Is a Tool, But You Don't Have To Be - Brian Coords Just because something can be made quickly or even mass-produced doesn't mean it shouldn't also be made intentionally and with quality.

AI Is a Tool, But You Don’t Have To Be

Balancing Performance and Well-being - James Giroux Create a people-first, high-performance culture without burnout. Learn how realistic planning drives sustainable success.

Balancing Performance and Well-being