With leadership backing and fresh momentum, contributors see a rare window to fix long-standing issues with WordPress’s contribution program.

A social post has sparked renewed questions about who controls WordCamp US programming, highlighting broader concerns about transparency, delayed planning, and the fallout from last year’s controversial keynote.

Founded after WordCamp US 2024, AspirePress laid the technical foundation for the FAIR project and is continuing to build out a distributed, community-driven alternative to WordPress.org’s core, plugin and theme delivery system.

A diverse coalition of contributors, businesses, and infrastructure partners is building FAIR to decentralize plugin distribution and reset the culture around WordPress governance, viewing it as a long-term bet on a more resilient ecosystem.

Hundreds signed a petition at WordCamp Europe urging Matt Mullenweg and Mary Hubbard to reverse a controversial decision, but sustainability advocates aren’t giving up yet.

Billed as an independent space for free speech and open dialogue, the Alt Ctrl Org event ran alongside WCEU 2025 and featured talks on governance, ethics, and the surprise launch of the FAIR project.

More than 1,800 attendees from 84 countries gathered in Switzerland for this year’s flagship event, with over 20,000 joining online.

From blog posts to Slack debates, the WordPress community is grappling with FAIR’s bold proposal to decentralize theme and plugin distribution and governance.

The FAIR project, supported by the Linux Foundation and as many as 300 contributors, aims to decentralize WordPress services and empower users.

Do the Woo is now OpenChannels.fm, bringing together 14 series across five shows hosted by voices from across the WordPress community.

As Contributor Day wraps up and day one gets underway, discussions at WordCamp Europe 2025 span AI, accessibility, sustainability, and the future of WordPress.

The markdown, first reported by Samuel Sidler, reflects a 63.5% decline in Automattic’s value since BlackRock’s 2021 investment, now worth just $31.03 per share.

Created by longtime community members Michelle Frechette and Marcus Burnette, the free platform helps match independent contributors with companies willing to sponsor their work on WordPress.

From cautious optimism to blunt skepticism, the community is split on whether Mary Hubbard’s proposed reforms can rebuild trust in WordPress governance, especially without accountability for past bans.

From cakes and community meetups to questions about leadership and governance, WordPress’s 22nd birthday comes at a turning point for the open-source project.