Remember how I told y'all I have some news coming today? Here we go!
Today, I'm announcing 2 new tools for decentralizing WordPress plugins and themes.
Part 1: Wormhole Sync - a tool for syncing/merging WordPress plugins/themes from external sources.
When I was Pressable marketing, I made it very clear that these plays would never be acceptable. We would hit hard, but we'd never pull this kind of dirty, underhanded tactic.
I thought they learned something from my time there. I guess not.
Load the cannons. Burn it down.
If you're not happy with your hosting at WP Engine but you bought into an annual contract, we want to help set you free.
Check out our special offer here:
PSA to all the WordPress hosts out there:
Don't be ambulance chasing. Running campaigns to sell your hosting because of this Matt/Automattic/WP Engine thing is lame. Find a better way to get an edge on your competitors.
Thanks for attending my TED Talk.
Remote work tip: Take a lunch break.
For real. No eating food at your desk. Set a timer, get up, and walk away.
Don’t just eat and go back either. Take a serious break.
Personally, I eat and play a few matches of an online game.
It helps prevent mid-day burnout really well.
My post is now live!
As promised, Here's what I have to say about Matt's callout to WP Engine during
#WCUS
, the legal nonsense, Automattic, and "existential threats":
What sucks is that a lot of the time, I genuinely agree with
@photomatt
on topics like predatory VCs, FOSS freedoms, challenging the status quo, leveling the playing field, and advocating for users.
It’s the approach, delivery, and shaky motivations that I take issue with.
In case you missed the Tweet I put out last night, a project I've been working on in my spare time has been released to make it easier for people to share WordPress code snippets and allow others to download them packaged within an installable plugin.
I’m proud to announce that I’ve finally settled in at my new position with
@Pagely
/
@GoNorthStack
as the Minister of Propaganda (I shit you not, that’s my actual job title 😎)
I’m so happy to continue my journey in perfecting the world of documentation and connecting communities!
Alright, y'all. This is gonna be a long one to update y'all on the last couple of months. Probably better suited as a blog post, but I don't feel like writing up a whole post right now. YOLO - it's going on X/Twitter.
First off, I am no longer at
@Pressable
/
@automattic
. Here's
Welp, today marks the day that my layoff from
@GoDaddy
is final.
All of my $GDDY RSUs that were granted as part of the
@Pagely
acquisition have officially disappeared. No accelerated vesting.
I can’t wait to watch this dumpster fire burn to the ground.
My good friend Allison was shot in Vegas and took this picture (screenshot with permission). I can't imagine seeing a bill like this.
Get shot by a terrorist? Here's $200k to go with it.
This is a reminder that contributions to the WordPress ecosystem come in many forms.
ICYMI,
@gridpane
sponsored me to go to
#WCUS
this year. Not to stand at tables, wear their swag, or be a corporate tool.
Instead, it’s all about community and building lasting relationships.
Late night realization:
To this day, people still ask what I did at Pagely. Even some of the people who worked with me didn't quite know unless they worked closely with me. "The do anything guy" is a weird thing to describe.
Wormhole Sync is a pretty good example of what my job
Y'all are due for an update on Wormhole, my effort to decentralize the WordPress plugin/theme ecosystem. Here's the latest:
- First and foremost, thanks so much for all of the support! All of the retweets, mentions, links, and GitHub stars have been a great motivator to keep
On Wednesday, I got "the email" from GoDaddy.
After 4 years of building
@Pagely
into what it has become today, my position has been eliminated as part of the GoDaddy layoffs.
If you're doing something awesome and interested in what I bring to the table, hit me up. Let's chat.
Last night, after 4+ years, I started digging into the
@gravityforms
codebase.
Wow. I'm really impressed with how far it's come. Modern design patterns, logical components, a domain-based file structure - it's a breath of fresh air.
Well done. Y'all have really been focusing on
If you need a code review for your open source project, let me know.
If you sell a digital product and need it marketed/sold, pitch it. If it’s interesting, I’m always happy to consult.
Having a shitty day? Want generic advice? Think I’m rad and just want to chat? Hit me up!
I just want to give a shoutout to
@pollyplummer
for being one hell of a journalist.
It must be super hard to write articles like this - having to report on someone who pays her salary. It shows a real commitment to accurate, unbiased journalism.
My re-creation of the Twenty Nineteen theme in
@gatsbyjs
is now available here:
It serves as an example of how you can use Gatsby for a frontend with a headless WordPress site running
@wpgraphql
as a backend. Complete with working comments. Check it out!
@Pressable
I really thought that if y'all learned anything from me, it would be that you should always be bold and hit hard, but that you should never, ever pull this kind of dirty, underhanded tactic.
I guess you learned nothing.
Load the cannons. Burn it down.
My job, right now, isn’t to make sure I find a new job. I have no issues printing money.
It’s to make sure the rest of the the other 8% of GoDaddy gets taken care of.
Follow this thread. I’ll serve y’all up some gems.
@tannermoushey
@stellarwp
@LiquidWeb
@codeablehq
@nexcess
It's a private, unofficial party for folks who want to attend.
I'm not gay. I don't care if someone is or not. I'm going because it looks like a dope venue and a lot of fun with friends - friends who have their own reasons for going.
No reason to shit on it. Let people have fun
Something that
@GoDaddyLife
does amazingly well:
They have a program called Everyday Champions for employees to praise each other. Points can be redeemed for real items.
I just got $350 in Amazon gift cards to buy a new camera lens on the company dime.
Everyone should do this.
@photomatt
@johnbillion
@wordpressdotcom
Dotcom can help by using schema markup that points to dotorg as the authority (using the "about" and/or "sameAs" properties). The dotorg pages already have the schema markup in place, you'll just need to point to it from dotcom.
This is helpful for dotcom too. Although Google
@bgardner
@wpengine
We have tried to engage on these issues for months. Silver Lake and WP Engine could fix their trademark and Stripe issues today and be back in good standing. They chose not to.
It’s going to be super interesting to see how this WordPress repo block plays out. Here’s why:
Remember how
@photomatt
claimed that
@wpengine
is causing brand confusion?
So by cutting off repo access to WP Engine sites…
Does that mean that WPE’s
I don’t know what the next 3 years has to offer, but if they’re anything like the last 3 years with
@Pagely
, I know it’s going to be a hell of a ride. I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner.
These last 2 talks have been a prime example of why independent conferences like
@PressNomics
are incredibly critical to the WordPress community as a whole.
#PN6
We are continually impressed by the work done by our small army of volunteers every year. The time and energy you've graciously donated to help make WordCamp 2023 a reality was essential, and we're grateful for it.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
As much as I enjoy doing my own thing, I've decided that I'm happiest when I get to collaborate with others.
That said, I'm going to start exploring job opportunities.
If you're interested in chatting, let me know.
By taking things to extremes with name calling and such, you’re only pushing people away.
Extreme responses only create more extreme responses.
End the vicious cycle. Help people see your perspective without attacking them. It takes effort, but it’s worth it.
Ugh. Okay. Fine.
@GoDaddy
, you win. I’ll wear your logo. As long as it’s next to the
@Pagely
logo on a custom North Face jacket.
I’ll still grumble about it, but I’ll let you win this one.
Alright, y'all - part 2 of my "Matt vs Everyone" series is out.
(I really wish this wasn't a series, but here we are...)
Bear with me - I'm a little behind right now. I'm writing as fast as my COVID-addled brain can process. More shortly.
Hey, pro tip to the GoDaddy comp set: nobody, including myself, who was laid off from GoDaddy has a non-compete (to my knowledge, obvs check with candidates).
Hire them all with no risk of contract breaches.
#GoDaddy
$GDDY
Shoutout to
@liamdempsey
for being an awesome person. No recent circumstance in particular or anything, but he's just a genuinely really, really nice guy. So cheers to you, Liam!
Want to get rock-solid top-notch support? Here are a few tips:
1) Don't be an asshole.
2) Listen to the advice of the support person.
3) Don't threaten with things like bad reviews.
4) Be willing the make an effort.
It's really, really easy! I promise!
As we discuss companies sponsoring open source contributions, it’s important to note that it’s not just assigning dedicated people to projects.
Lots of people (including myself) contribute throughout their work day and the company simply encourages it to happen.
(Continued…)
Why are we talking about the next phases of Gutenberg if it’s barely usable as it is.
Which phase is the one that doesn’t make me want to flip my desk?
#StateOfTheWord
Hey managed WordPress hosts:
You can stop with all of the local development environment tools. Your craving for ecosystem lock-in is showing.
Know what a better use of your time would be? An open source tool for everyone to use and empowers users, regardless of hosting choice.
All of 2022 and the latter part of 2021 took a massive toll on me. I’m really hoping that I can make some changes in 2023 to get me back on track. I miss happiness.
Evil WordPress plugin search ideas:
1) Hijack every single search listing to eliminate all possible competition.
2) Hosts: Use mu-plugins to force users to go a certain path.
3) Sell paid advertising space inside your 100% free plugin.
4) Replace all plugin results with cats.
Unlicensed WordPress plugins are all fun and games until there's a problem. Then you're in trouble.
That's why I wrote a thing to help keep people informed:
For those of you wondering about my work situation, I started a new job on Monday. I really didn’t expect to accept an offer that quickly.
I won’t say who it is quite yet, but I will say that they’re doing some insanely cool groundbreaking things that will rock your world.
My whole career is built on exactly this.
This is how I went from tier 1 support to building InMotion’s WordPress presence.
This is how I went from docs to leading marketing at Gravity Forms.
Pagely was literally 100% this.
Now Pressable will go even further.
Let your employees explore side projects, build an audience, voice their unique ideas, and engage with various communities. Their curiosity will lead to fresh insights and ideas for your company…
Best part about working from home? Taking breaks to cook breakfast. It’s an awesome way to step away from my desk for 15 minute and make something awesome.
If there's one thing I've learned from this recent unexpected loss, it's to never forget to tell people how much you appreciate them; as often as possible.
Even after all these years, I'm still getting shoutouts for my former docs work on
@gravityforms
.
Know your audience, write great content, build a quality docs platform that supports that content structure, and the rest all falls into place.
A ton of homies have been getting blocked by
@photomatt
,
@WordPress
,
@automattic
, etc. over the last week or two.
While it's *probably* just Matt being salty, try not to deserve it by acting like a dickhead.
Criticism = ⭐️
Solutions = ⭐️⭐️
Snark = ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Screeching = 💩
The point is, open source contributions come in many forms.
Whether directly or indirectly, by a company or as an individual contributor, it’s often still supported by someone’s bottom line.
Just because there isn’t a flag in the ground doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
@tessak22
@GoDaddy
@Pagely
I’ve never seen so much money vanish into thin air.
Layoffs are one thing, but offering someone money with strings attached so that they will stay through an acquisition, then laying them off a year later and taking that money back is entirely different. 😔