I have put my contributions to WP Core on hiatus.

I’ve been using WordPress since 2007. Throughout the vast majority of that time Matt has been an excellent steward of the WordPress project. It was never about ego. It was only about what was best for the project. I had the privilege of attending WCUS 2024 in Portland. I’ve been to many WordCamps in my native Southern California, Arizona, and have sponsored many of them.

Portland was the first WordCamp that I flew to attend. Normally I have this deal with my wife that I can go to any WordCamp I can drive to. Portland was an exception for several reasons. First, most of my Southern California WordCamps have gone dark since COVID. Second, I finally started charging a little for a plugin that I’ve been developing for 11 years now, Git Updater. It makes enough for me to pay for airfare, hotel, and maybe a bit more. This is the only income I’ve ever made from working with WordPress.

Some time after the WCUS 2024 keynote it seems to have become about ego — Matt’s ego. Matt has banned and removed access to WordPress.org for huge groups of people. Most he doesn’t even know, they simply host with WPEngine. Others seem to have drawn Matt’s ire in WP Slack, or on X/Twitter, which has resulted in them also being banned.

Matt added a checkbox to the WordPress.org login that must be checked in order to log in. It is a very simple statement, I am not affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise. Regrettably, this simple statement is unclear to many and hasn’t been further clarified. Matt’s response, to whether or not you should check the box, was to “ask your lawyer.” If I have to ask a lawyer; my default is to not check the box.

It’s not my intention to stop contributing, but it is for now. I’m very disappointed that Matt has chosen to make the Community suffer because of his legal maneuvering with Silver Lake. Let’s be clear, the Community is suffering because of his actions.

For those who know me, my day job is as a trauma/acute care surgeon. WordPress is a hobby and I tremendously savor the relationships and friendships I’ve made through it. The Community is far and away WordPress’ greatest feature. Unfortunately I think Matt is destroying the Community. I’m certain it’s not his intent, but it results from his actions.

I have contributed to almost every Core release in the past 9 years. Some of those contributions were fairly involved, complex features, others were not. Most of my contributions have been in code.

• Requirement checking for PHP version and the dashboard widget explaining if you have an outdated version of PHP.
• Requirement checking for plugin and themes for updating and installing using data from the Requires at least and Requires PHP headers.
• The Plugin Dependencies feature (with Colin Stewart).
• The Rollback feature in 3 parts (also with Colin Stewart and Paul Biron). I know you’re sensing a pattern here. 😉
• I am the primary maintainer and developer of the WordPress Beta Tester plugin, among many other plugins.
• I am a Component Maintainer for the Upgrade/Install component.
• Probably a few other things as well.

Many of the above features were several years in the making. In terms of Five for the Future, I was giving back anywhere from 5-15 hrs/week in answering forum posts, Trac, WP Slack, helping to run the weekly Upgrade/Install component meetings, creating PRs to core as well as maintaining feature plugins in support of feature projects, sponsoring many of my Southern California WordCamps, developing plugins, etc. I know that not all of these activities are deemed as counting towards 5ftF but I think that definition is flawed.

Since I refuse to check the box, my contributions now approach zero. I’m just one of the many non-compensated, independent Core Contributors. Matt should be encouraging us, not having us make value judgments on our participation.

I do plan on continuing to maintain my plugins and interact on GitHub. I don’t need to check a box to do that. Unfortunately, I cannot respond to any forum issues — sorry.

To be clear, I do not expect, nor am I asking to be removed as a Component Maintainer or from the Making WordPress Slack instance. Additionally, I do not expect, nor am I asking to have my WordPress.org user account suspended, deactivated, or deleted. I do hope to return to contributing when this whole process finishes playing out.

Matt, I’m disappointed. I know you’re capable of so much better. If you want to talk, reach out. Same goes for anyone else. I have no fear of speaking my mind or reprisal. I’m not post-economic, but my life and livelihood is quite insulated from any #WPDrama.

To all my friends who are hurting or just need to talk, DM me. I keep secrets.

Thanks to everyone who provided some pre-release feedback.