WP Realm

WordPress news, community news, reviews and more from all over the world

Remkus de Vries

About Remkus de Vries

Avid and heavy WordPress user since 2005, so effectively a WordPress oldtimer. Started as developer and agency owner, now works as Manager Partnerships at Yoast.

Co-founded WordCamp Europe in 2012, and WordCamp Netherlands back in 2009.

Principal owner of WP Realm.

Give props in abundance, not in restraint

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Giving props, for those who are unaware, is where someone who has contributed to open-source code is given acknowledgment. Typically you’ll find these props given within a specific ticket in which a person has contributed a fix for the open ticket. In the WordPress realm, you’ll also find these props at the bottom of a new release post as you can see here in the section called The Squad.

Those who contributed the actual fix are the ones receiving props. But … that’s not very inclusive.  [Read more…] about Give props in abundance, not in restraint

WordPress.com, Jetpack and How It’s All Changing, Maybe?

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Having a commercial version of WordPress alongside a non-profit version has been confusing. Especially to those starting out with WordPress, but not exclusively those new to it. It would be a great win for the WordPress Community if Automattic’s flagship product, WordPress.com, would rebrand itself to Jetpack.com. I have said this, half-jokingly, in the past decade to anyone who would listen. #sorrynotsorry.

But with WordPress.com now allowing for plugins and themes to be activated on their platform, the lines get even more blurry.

The Need to Make Money

Since Automattic is running on venture capital money, at some point it’s going to focus on monetization even more. If you have been paying close attention to how the sign-up between a stand-alone WordPress installation and Jetpack has changed over the last couple of months, you will have noticed. For a brief period, the free option was even hidden in the “Skip for now” button below the pricing table you’re greeted with when you connect Jetpack to your site.

You may have also noticed Automattic opening up their affiliate program. It includes Jetpack, WordPress.com, and everything WooCommerce now. All clear signs that Automattic has made monetization a higher priority in recent months. And judging by a tweet sent out yesterday at the Affiliate Summit, Jetpack is taking a very prominent role:

Changes in Branding

What’s even more interesting, navigating to the WordPress.com main page–make sure you’re logged out–will show you a WordPress frontpage without any signs of a W. Meaning the WordPress logo. I’m not sure when this changed, but it’s a very clear sign that WordPress.com’s branding is changing.

It’s just pure speculation on my part that this will lead to switching from WordPress.com to Jetpack.com, but I for one would welcome the change. I also think it will help send less of a mixed message for those entering the WordPress Community, Automattic’s affiliate program or both. 😉

An Ode to the Unsung Heroes of PHP

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Over the holidays, Juliette Reinders Folmer published an interesting article over at 24 Days in December.net that is well worth your attention. Juliette talks about some of the most used projects in the PHP sphere are largely maintained by one person.

And while it’s bad enough that it’s a relatively thankless job for the maintainers, what scares me is this: what will happen if one of them steps down ? Or changes job and won’t get much time from their new employer to continue working on the project ? Or just loses interest ? Or – while we don’t like to think about this -: what will happen if one of them would die ?

[Read more…] about An Ode to the Unsung Heroes of PHP

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A Reboot of Some Sorts

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For many, many, many moons, this blog has been slumbered. Not quite dead, but certainly not alive and kicking. And as I’ve hinted on twitter a couple of weeks back, this is about to change. WP Realm started out as a multi-person project, but from now on this is a one-man project handled by me, Remkus.

Forces have been set in motion to give WP Realm a reboot of some sorts. Our focus on the community aspect of the WordPress project will remain strong, but we’ll be adding a few things to the mix.

New Content

[Read more…] about A Reboot of Some Sorts

What HeroPress does for the WordPress community

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HeroPress continues to publish excellent personal essays from across the WordPress Realm. They put the spotlight the different perspectives and different challenges facing people who work with WordPress.

This is an excellent write-up from Ana at Anariel Design, on the real value of HeroPress for the WordPress community:

Diversity is the key to the healthy world in which I want to live. Any community that wants to exist needs to let diversity to live and to embrace it. Sharing all these beautiful essays on HeroPress from different people is sharing diversity.

Ana’s conclusions are spot on and her essay is well worth your time to read. Go check out The Value of HeroPress for the WordPress Community.

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My Life

Are You a Plugin Author? .org Needs Your Opinion!

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Konstantin Obenland just posted an update about the plugin directory redesign. Basically, if you haven’t looked at the new proposed design yet, now is the time if you want to have any say in the choices being made. Do note, however:

Please keep in mind that it is by far not a finished product. There is still a lot of work to be done, mainly around front-end technology, search, and developer facing interfaces. Every decision that has been made so far is up for discussion, which is the purpose of this post.

So, log in with your WordPress.org credentials here and check out the new admin interface as well the new plugin page. Check out the open tickets before you create a ticket, but by all means, create tickets and start discussing.