It’s a new year, but the WordPress community’s drama continues. Automattic, the company that runs (link unavailable), said that it would reduce its contribution to WordPress core, the open-source project that acts as the backbone of most of Automattic’s products and ensures the longevity of WordPress as a technology and community.
Automattic CEO and WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg has debated with WP Engine since September 2024 whether to contribute to WordPress as an open-source and community project.
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Matching WP engine’s contribution: A new era for Automattic’s Involvement
In a blog post, the company said it would reduce the number of hours it commits to the Five For the Future program to match rival hosting provider WP Engine’s contribution in the number of weekly hours.
The company added that it will redirect the resources to the ongoing legal battle against WP Engine.
A call for fairness and shared responsibility in the WordPress community
“WP Engine’s historically slim contributions underscore the imbalance that must be addressed for the health of WordPress. We believe in fairness and shared responsibility, and we hope this move encourages greater participation across all organisations that benefit from WordPress,” Automattic said.
According to Five for The Future’s dashboard, it automatically contributes around 2,560 hours per week. This number is significantly less than the 3,900 hours the company contributed in September.
The company’s new blog post also sarcastically noted that members of the “community” have considered working on commercial products like (link unavailable), Pressable, WPVIP, Jetpack, and WooCommerce as contributing to WordPress.
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Changes in WordPress leadership: Thijs Buijs steps down
Earlier this week, Thijs Buijs, a WordPress core contributor who led the sustainability team, decided to step down as a representative.
Mullenweg’s approach to the legal battle with WP Engine has attracted calls for different leadership in the WordPress world.
Last month, Joost de Valk, the creator of Yoast, a popular WordPress SEO tool, outlined a plan to create a “federated” approach to the WordPress repository. This would allow decentralised access to assets like plug-ins and themes.