This is the home of the Make Community team for the WordPress open sourceOpen SourceOpen Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. project!
Here is where we have policy debates, project announcements, and assist community members in organizing events.
Everyone is welcome to comment on posts and participate in the discussions regardless of skill level or experience.
Get Involved
If you love WordPress and want to help us do these things, join in!
Last week, we announced WordPress Campus Connect, a new initiative bringing the power of WordPress to university campuses around the world.
We’re looking for designers in the community to help us create the official Campus Connect logo. Several universities have already expressed interest in hosting this event, and we’re actively working on workshop materials, presentations, and a webpage—so we need a logo soon to brand all our assets.
If you’re interested in contributing, please join the conversation in the #campusconnectSlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel and let us know! We’d love your creative input.
The Women in Tech initiative started as a simple idea but turned into a powerful global movement, empowering women in the WordPress community to step into leadership roles. As part of the Make WordPress Community Team’s global initiative, this event aimed to celebrate and uplift women in tech through inspiring talks, engaging activities, and community bonding.
The Idea Behind the Initiative
The idea for this unique format was inspired by a conversation I had with Aditya Kane, a friend & WordPress community team representative. Aditya shared a wonderful idea that was suggested by his sister, Arundhati Kane, to organize a local all-women’s meetupMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. in Mumbai on International Women’s Day. While discussing this, Aditya suggested, What if we expand this idea to a global scale, where WordPress communities worldwide could host women-led events? This concept took shape during our conversation, and with the support of the WordPress community team, I proposed this idea through a blog post on the community website. Soon, the WordPress Community officially supported this initiative. You can learn more about this inspiring movement at Hosting WordPress Events for Women on International Women’s Day.
Making the Vision a Reality
Turning this vision into reality required dedication, collaboration, and persistence. The journey involved inspiring conversations, countless messages, and building trust within communities. I personally reached out to 30-40 WordPress communities worldwide, encouraging them to participate. It wasn’t easy—many communities had never organized a women-led event before, and some faced difficulties finding female speakers or volunteers.
Despite these obstacles, the response was overwhelming. Through continuous follow-ups, guidance, and support, we saw over 25+ events take place globally. This was a powerful testament to the strength and unity of the WordPress community and the determination of organizers to make this initiative successful.
Special thanks toJuan Hernadofor his tremendous support in vetting events, creating the website, approving budgets, and ensuring the smooth processing of this initiative. His dedication played a crucial role in making this happen. Also, I would like to thank my amazing team for their support over the past two months to make sure everything ran smoothly!
Gathering all the information can be challenging, and I might have missed some details or cities. If your city isn’t mentioned here, please let me know in the comments!
The Women in Tech initiative created a powerful and lasting impact on the WordPress community worldwide:
Women felt welcomed, valued, and encouraged to participate in future WordPress events.
Attendees expressed feeling special and thoroughly enjoyed the events.
The initiative provided a comfortable platform where women spoke openly and confidently without hesitation.
This initiative has paved the way for greater female representation in WordPress leadership roles, ensuring more women feel empowered to contribute, lead, and shine in the tech industry.
This incredible journey wouldn’t have been possible without the WordPress community’s collaborative spirit. Here’s to breaking barriers and empowering more women to shine in tech! 🚀✨
Some glimpse of the celebration worldwide
Building momentum for the future
Organizing Women’s Day events across the WordPress ecosystem presented its challenges, but even more powerful were the stories of growth, connection, and transformation that emerged. Many events were led by women organizers for the first time. In WP LATAM, “four of the organizers were new, and during the planning process, we trained them so they can now organize events in their local communities.” The experience was marked by “transparency in every step and freedom to collaborate,” and the team praised the process for being “well-structured” and for giving everyone “a task and the autonomy to carry it out.”
This empowerment was echoed across continents. WP Nicaragua shared how the event “was entirely led and organized by women, most of whom had never led a community event before.” What made it so impactful was seeing “what’s possible when women are given space to step up, take the lead, and create something meaningful for their local tech community.”
From WP Bhopal came a celebration of diversity and inclusion, with sessions held in both Hindi and English “for better accessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility).” The audience ranged from “students, entrepreneurs, journalists, homemakers, designers, freelancers, social activists, and more,” and even included “our youngest attendee, a 5th-grade schoolgirl!”
In WP Pune, the message was one of ongoing inspiration: “Our hope is that this event will inspire even more women to step into the spotlight, whether by organizing sessions, speaking at conferences, or leading teams in the tech industry.” Similarly, WP Dhaka acknowledged the long-standing imbalance: “The lack of female participation has always been a concern. Events like Dhaka Women WordPress Day 2025 aim to bridge this gap by inspiring more women to explore the WordPress ecosystem.”
Each of these events proved that when we create space for women to lead, collaborate, and contribute, we don’t just run events, we reshape communities. As more organizers reflect on these experiences, one thing becomes clear: this isn’t a one-time celebration. It’s the beginning of a stronger, more inclusive future for the WordPress project.
Break out the confetti! We’re absolutely thrilled to reveal the final pieces of our Global Sponsorship puzzle for 2025! Drumroll please… Bluehost and Kinsta are officially joining our stellar lineup of WordPress champions!
These fantastic additions complete our powerhouse roster alongside Automattic, A2 Hosting, and Woo – creating the ultimate WordPress support squad for the year ahead!
Words cannot express our gratitude to these incredible organizations whose generosity makes the magic happen. Their support doesn’t just fund events – it breathes life into WordCamps and WordPress Chapter MeetupMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. groups worldwide, creating spaces where innovation, learning, and community thrive!
Curious about what this means for WordPress events in 2025? Find all the details here.
Together, these five remarkable sponsors are fueling the future of WordPress – one event, one connection, and one line of code at a time!
Hold onto your keyboards, WordPress Events fam—we’ve got some exciting news for you! 🚀
We’re rolling out the virtual red carpet and giving a big WordPress welcome to our newest Global Sponsor, Automattic (Jetpack + WordPress.com)! 🎊
Whether you’re here for the code, the community, or just the free coffee (we see you 👀), our Global Sponsors help make WordPress Events the go-to space for learning, collaborating, and celebrating the open-source magic we all love.
With Automattic’s support, we look forward to enhancing our events and continuing to strengthen the WordPress community worldwide.
Want all the details on the 2025 Global Sponsorship program? Check out our exciting announcement post where we give a warm welcome to Woo & A2 Hosting as the debut members of the Global Sponsorship family!
This recap is a summary of the Community Team monthly meeting. It will cover the discussion points, ideas, and decisions that came up during the meeting. The aim of this recap is to provide a quick overview for those who were unable to attend as well as an overview for everyone. These meetings were based on the Agenda for July and are held in our #community-teamSlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel on Make WordPress.
Please leave your comments if you have any feedback.
Additionally, each agenda item discussed may have its own Make post related to its topic with more information and you can add to the discussion directly to that post.
Chat Summary
Here are some discussion points from the meeting.
Reactivating Inactive MeetupMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. Groups
There are some community members helping with reactivation in some cities like: Karachi, Pakistan, Buenos Aires, Argentina. This month we are reactivating 370 inactive meetup groups around the globe. Also, there are some shared experiences in how to help to tackle challenges on the existing groups.
First time attendees post
The team recently published this post: First time attendees a key measure of success for WordPress events is the percentage of first-time attendees.
Addressing Overlapping Initiatives and Improving Collaboration Across Teams – An in-person meeting during WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Europe was convened to address the overlapping initiatives among various WordPress contributor groups and explore ways to enhance collaboration and streamline efforts.
A doubt was raised by community team members about the number of sessions per meeting. While other teams have only one session per meeting, they asked if the community team should also switch to one session each month instead of our traditional two sessions.
Some attendees agreed, if the meeting is running asynchronously, one session is ok.
“Something I’d like to bring to the attention is that our WordCamp websites need love, from an online marketing/SEO perspective. Old WordCamp websites are outranking current/upcoming WordCamps, WordCamp pages shared on social media don’t have proper descriptions/images, and quite a few more issues. Unfortunately, this is not a new problem, but I feel it’s important that we keep repeating the pain.”
According to some attendees, this is something that requires attention in order to improve SEO in events sites.
Next Meeting
Community Team Meetings are held the first Thursday of every month. There are two meetings to support different time zones. The meetings will take place on #community-team on Slack.
The Community Team Monthly Meetings happen on the first Thursday of every month. These meetings can be facilitated and run by any member of the community team, and is a great opportunity to engage with the rest of the community and team.
If you are interested in facilitating any of these meetings in the future, please feel free to comment or get in touch with any of the Community Team Reps.
If you wish to add points to discuss, comment on this post or reach out to one of the team reps:@peiraisotta, @Shusei, @leo, or @nukaga.
As part of the 2025 commitments we shared in this post, we’re taking a closer look at how we support the people who support our events and our team.
Over the next few weeks, a group of Community Team members will be reaching out individually to everyone listed as an active Event Supporter or Program Supporter. The goal is to better understand everyone’s current level of involvement and make sure we’re all set up for success.
Some of our supporters are highly active on SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. or mentoring events, while others may be on a break, have shifted focus, or might not be sure how to get involved. This check-in process will help us:
Confirmwho is actively contributing and in what capacity
Complete the offboarding for members who have stepped away recently, or identify inactive supporters and complete the offboarding process with them if needed
Ensure everyone has the right access and permissions to do their tasks
Identify blockers, interests, or areas for growth
We’ll start with a private message on Slack, and if there’s no reply within a week, we’ll follow up by email. In both cases, we’ll be sharing a short survey link to make it easier to collect and review everyone’s input in one place.
The survey includes a few simple questions:
What tasks are you currently doing in the Community Team?
How many hours are you able to contribute on average each week?
Do you have availability to mentorEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. events?
Would you be interested in receiving training for different tasks or refreshers sessions for supporters?
If yes, what topics would be most helpful for you?
We hope this process will give us a clearer picture of our strengths, help us improve how we collaborate, and make it easier to support each other moving forward.
If you’re a Supporter and want to proactively share your answers, ideas, or blockers, you’re welcome to complete the survey once it’s shared, or reach out directly in the #community-team Slack channel. We’re listening.
The Community Team chat generally takes place the first Thursday of every month in the #community-team channel on SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.. This month it will be the second Thursday of the month ie: 8th May 2025.
This meeting is meant for all contributors on the team and everyone who is interested in taking part in some of the things our team does. Feel free to join us, even if you are not currently active in the team!
You will find a preliminary agenda for the meeting below.
If you wish to add points to discuss, comment on this post or reach out to one of the team reps: @webtechpooja, @thehopemonger, @shusei or @adityakane. It does not need to be a blog post yet, the topic can be discussed during the meeting nevertheless. We use the same agenda for both meetings.
Call for meeting host and notetaker If anyone is available to host this month’s or next month’s Community Team meetings and/or write the recap notes , please reach out to one of the team reps: @webtechpooja, @thehopemonger, @shusei, @leo, @nukaga or @adityakane.
Check-ins: Program and Event Supporters / Contributors
What have you been doing and how is it going?
What did you accomplish after the last meeting?
Are there any blockers?
Can other team members help you in some way?
Highlights to Note
Here are a few things everyone should be aware of.
WordPress Campus Connect Expands. WordPress Campus Connect, initially launched in October 2024 as a pilot program, has now been formally established as an official event series due to its resounding success.
WCEUWCEUWordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. 2025 takes place next month. Get your tickets soon!
The call for WCEU 2027 host city is open, if you know any community that would love to bring WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Europe to their city/country, please invite them!
The activity will be probably ongoing through the month to offboard community team members who have left
To identify inactive members who might be waiting for more information and get help and support
To identify mentorsEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. to be assigned for newer community event and program supporters.
Open Floor
This is your chance to discuss things that weren’t on the meeting agenda.
We invite you to use this opportunity to share anything that you want with the team. If you currently have a topic you’d like to discuss, add it to the comments of this post and we will try to update the agenda accordingly.
Hope to see you on Thursday, either in the Asia-Pacific / EMEA (12:00 UTC) or Americas-friendly version (21:00 UTC) of the meeting (if we do not find anyone active in the Americas friendly timezone, we encourage to leave your comments and bring your questions suggestions asynchronously)
This year’s selection process was a true celebration of community spirit, with record-breaking engagement and a shared commitment to shaping the future of our vibrant team.
🌟 Reflecting on Progress: Evolving the Role of Team Reps
In 2024, we introduced a new structure for Community Team Reps, inspired by thoughtful discussions at the 2023 Community Summit. This updated framework brought several key changes:
Extending the term for Team Reps to two years to ensure deeper impact and continuity.
Increasing the number of Team Reps to four,
with two Team Reps continuing from the previous year.
and two Team Reps newly elected annually.
These adjustments fostered a smoother transition between terms and allowed for a balance of fresh perspectives and experienced guidance. In 2024, our incredible team consisted of:
Their leadership and dedication have made a lasting impact, and we are profoundly grateful for their service.
💪 The 2025 Selection Process: A Community Effort
This year’s nominations and voting process set a new standard for community participation! We received an impressive nine nominations, reflecting the enthusiasm and dedication of our members.
During the final voting, we saw unprecedented engagement, with the highest voter turnout in recent history. The results presented us with an exciting challenge: a tie for the second new Rep position. After thoughtful deliberation, the current Team Reps made the decision to welcome all three top-voted nominees, recognizing the value they bring to the team.
🌟 A Fond Farewell and New Beginnings
As we welcome the new Reps, we also celebrate the achievements of those stepping down.
Leo Gopal (@leogopal) and Junko Nukaga (@nukaga) have completed their two-year terms, leaving a legacy of leadership and dedication.
Shusei Toda (@st810amaze) will continue into his second year, offering his invaluable experience and guidance.
Isotta Peira (@peiraisotta) will transition into an honorary role as a Team RepTeam RepA Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts. Supporter, providing mentorship and advice to the new Reps while stepping back from the official title.
We deeply appreciate their contributions and know their influence will continue to shape the Community Team’s future.
🎉 Welcoming the 2025 Team Reps
Please join us in giving a warm welcome to the three exceptional reps who will help guide the WordPress Community in 2025:
Pooja began her WordPress journey in 2013 as a developer. In 2015, she co-founded WPVibes, a pluginPluginA plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party development company. Her involvement with the WordPress community deepened in 2017 when she attended her first WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more., marking the start of her contribution journey.
Within the WordPress project, Pooja has held several significant roles. She served as Co-Team Rep of the Training Team for the 2022 and 2023 terms and made notable contributions to the WordPress releases.
She was part of the release squad for 6.3 & 6.4 as Test Lead. In 2024, she represented the Test Team and continues to serve as a General Translation EditorGeneral Translation EditorGeneral Translation Editor – One of the polyglots team leads in a geographic region https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/. Further information at https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#general-translation-editor. (GTEGeneral Translation EditorGeneral Translation Editor – One of the polyglots team leads in a geographic region https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/. Further information at https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#general-translation-editor.) for the Hindi locale. She is a member of the Plugin Review Team, and a co-organizer of the Ajmer WordPress MeetupMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook.. She is one of the organizers of the WordCamp Asia.
Pooja’s dedication to WordPress was recognized with the Kim Parsell Scholarship, which granted her the opportunity to attend WCUSWCUSWordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event. 2022.
Unfortunately, visa issues prevented her attendance. Based in Ajmer, a picturesque city in Rajasthan, India, Pooja balances her WordPress contributions with hobbies like gardening, exploring new places, and listening to music.
He is passionate about community building and that passion led him on starting his journey as a contributor in 2012. He co-founded the WordPress meetup in Mumbai, which was the very first one in India.
He currently contributes to the project as a Program ManagerProgram ManagerProgram Managers (formerly Super Deputies) are Program Supporters who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule. on the Community Team, along with being part of the WordPress Incident Report Team.
Aditya Kane lives in Pune, India. He works as a freelance consultant for WordPress projects and agencies.
He believes that open-source, the open web, an open culture that nourishes, informs, changes and invites participation feels inherently authentic.
Arthur Kasirye is a founding member of the WordPress community in Uganda, renowned for his leadership and mentorship roles. He has supported the global WordPress ecosystem as a community lead, mentorEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues., and program supporterProgram SupporterCommunity Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook., guiding numerous WordCamp organizers worldwide.
A passionate advocate for localization, Arthur has contributed significantly to translating WordPress into Ugandan languages, including Luganda. He is also the founder of Kasiryelabs, a digital agency he established eight years ago, where he continues to excel as a web creator and creative designer.
Shusei is a creative director and business strategist based in Tokyo, Japan. With a background in web design and engineering, Shusei specializes in crafting comprehensive brand, corporate, and visual content for clients.
His expertise spans project management, photography, videography, and creative strategy. Since joining the WordPress Community, Shusei has been an active contributor both locally and globally.
We are excited to see their unique perspectives, creativity, and leadership come to life as they work alongside the broader community.
🚀 Looking Ahead
This announcement marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the WordPress Community Team. Thank you to everyone who participated in the nominations, voting, and discussions—it’s your engagement and passion that keep our community thriving.
Together, let’s continue to innovate, support one another, and grow as a community in 2025. Here’s to an incredible year ahead!
A big thanks goes out to (@nukaga) (@peiraisotta) (@st810amaze) for all their hard work and contributions during this process. None of this would have been possible without their deep care and understanding.
The Community Team has always had guidelines around sponsorships, especially for GPLGPLGPL is an acronym for GNU Public License. It is the standard license WordPress uses for Open Source licensing https://wordpress.org/about/license/. The GPL is a ‘copyleft’ license https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html. This means that derivative work can only be distributed under the same license terms. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD license and the MIT License are widely used examples. and WordPress trademark compliance. These guidelines are outlined in the WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Organiser Handbook and the agreement among WordCamp organizers, speakers, sponsors, and volunteers.
For years, the Community Team has trusted WordCamp and other event organizers to vet sponsors and ensure compliance with the guidelines. Program Managers have approved the sponsorship invoices to be sent, and trust that organizers will not issue invoices for a sponsor that does not align with guidelines. On rare occasions, Program Managers have had to intervene — typically when the sponsor has been known to have current issues aligning with guidelines.
Since late November 2024, a more thorough vetting process of sponsors has been in place. The project leadership mandated the new process, which Community Program Managers were tasked to manage.
The new process strictly enforces WordPress trademark and GPL compliance. This has meant, for example, requiring all sponsors to stop using terms like “WordPress Hosting” and avoid unauthorized use of the WordPress logo. Companies that want to sponsor but are not in compliance with the trademark or GPL guidelines have been asked to update their websites, materials, plugins, and other codes to comply.
In addition, all sponsorships need to be approved by Matt Mullenweg (@matt) and Mary Hubbard (@4thhubbard) from project leadership.
Currently, the Program Managers hold all invoices until the sponsor complies with guidelines and project leadership approves their sponsorship. This process has been sped up so that if a sponsor is recently approved, new invoices are sent without re-approval.
It is unclear how long this process will be in place. As we expect this to be in place long term, we will continue to look at ways to improve the process.
The new process has caused significant delays in receiving payments from sponsors, which is a requirement for events announcing their support. We, the Program Managers, understand organizers’ frustrations with the process and are working to improve it. We know how vital sponsors are and how important their support is for WordPress events.
Program Managers have sought to establish a process to speed up the processing time. A new batch of sponsors requiring approval is sent to project leadership at least once a week. We hope that this, and being transparent about the recent changes, alleviates some of the pressure event organizers have been under. Disclosing these changes should have been done earlier.
We’re excited to announce that volunteers at WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. events will now receive a dedicated profile badge on WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/! This update recognizes the invaluable contributions of volunteers who help make WordCamps successful worldwide.
Why This Matters
For years, WordCamp organizers and speakers have had profile badges to highlight their involvement in the WordPress community. Volunteers, who play a crucial role in ensuring the smooth operation of WordCamp events, now have their efforts acknowledged in the same way.
How It Works
WordCamp organizers can assign volunteer badges through the WordCamp site. For detailed instructions on how to register volunteers and assign badges, please refer to the Community Profile Badges page.
This update is a significant step toward recognizing all who contribute to the WordPress ecosystem. Thank you to all WordCamp volunteers for your dedication and hard work!
