WordStress

2024-10-17

Ugh, I've had enough of the WordPress community drama that's going on right now. I appreciate that I've contributed and amplified, and you can call me a hypocrite if you like, but sometimes you just need to step away and get on with things.

• I love WordPress. I've been blogging since 1998 and on WordPress since 2004. There are few or no pieces of software I've used as long. It's got some sharp edges and smells (Naming structures, legacy hooks, 50% of all plugins, fucking wpautop, etc.), but it's still a great CMS and an excellent blogging platform.
• I love open source. About once every 4 years I contemplate switching platforms for this blog. I often try out a few; sometimes I've even implemented like-for-like themes and functionality only to throw them away. The closest I've got to switching has been when I tried ClassicPress (I don't use Gutenberg functionality on this blog anyway, and I like their media library, but I can't make VaultPress JetPack Backup - which has saved my bacon a few times - work on it.), Kirby (I'm not impressed with the plugins for commenting and webmention integration in Kirby, yet. I'm also not a huge fan of their licensing model; I'm happy to pay for a license (I have paid for one, though I'm not actively using it!), but I don't want to feel forced to pay for one. That said, I'm contemplating trying it out on my family intranet as a P2-like tool.), and a homegrown toolchain that eventually grew into Bloq (which I must open source the rest of some day). But it's always to an open source solution.
• I love Automattic. I've worked there for five years, this week (Which means I'm eligible for my first sabbatical - that's crazy! - more on that later.), and that's primarily because I get to work on cool open source things that help the world, alongside smart and principled folks I get to learn from all the time. And I truly believe that Matt has the best interests of both Automattic and WordPress at heart, even when he sometimes trips over his own tongue and courts controversy (Hey, we've all done it. Well, any of us with enough influence and attention in our field, anyway. It's only a matter of time; that's part of being human!) by choosing his words, or his timing, badly.

Modified screengrab from Futurama; In this metaphor, Fry is played by Matt, but his understudy is, y'know, everybody else who's made a scene. Me included.

But man, the drama's gotten out of control. It's at the point where it's gone from a niggle to a distraction. It's stressful.

And I've got colleagues who've been affected by it much more than me: just today, a colleague announced that he'd be departing from his role at Automattic after close to nine years, and among the reasons he cited was a mention of the stress and uncertainty created by, y'know, recent stuff. He's clearly not the only one.

I just want to get back to writing blog posts about whatever random shit I'm thinking of when I'm not at work, and making awesome (and often open source) WordPress-adjacent software when I am at work. But right now, I can only achieve that if I put my fingers in my ears and close my eyes and sing "la la la la la" at the top of my lungs.

Ugh.

I look forward to a time with less WordPress drama. But, sadly, I don't think that's coming any time soon.