374 – WordPress turns 21. Hear from 21 voices about what WordPress means to them.

[00:00:00] Nathan Wrigley: Hello there, and welcome once again to the WP Builds podcast, you have reached episode number 374 entitled, WordPress turns 21. It was published on Thursday, the 23rd of May. 2024.

My name's Nathan Wrigley, and I shall be joined by 20 other guests a little bit later, but before we get to that, a few bits of housekeeping.

The first thing to mention is that the page builder summit is still going on. If you're listening to this on the day this podcast episode aired, ie the 23rd of May, then there's still some presentations going on. Head over to page builders summit.com to get your free ticket. And you should be able to see many of the presentations for free.

The other thing to mention is that if you would like to advertise on the WP Builds podcast and get your product or service in front of a WordPress specific audience, I'd love you to do that. Head over to WP Builds.com forward slash advertise, and you will see some options there.

One of the companies that did that is Bluehost. Bluehost redefine your web hosting experience with Bluehost Cloud. Managed WordPress hosting that comes with lightning fast websites, 100% network uptime, and 24 7 priority support. With Bluehost Cloud, the possibilities are out of this world. Experience it today. At bluehost.com/cloud.

The other company that you're used to hearing about is GoDaddy. And of course GoDaddy are a sponsor of this podcast. However, I'm not going to read out the usual ad because I have something a little bit special to announce.

It was in fact GoDaddy, and Adam Warner and Marcus Burnette, particularly from GoDaddy who contacted me a few weeks ago and said they would like to do something a little bit special with WP Builds to celebrate the 21st birthday of WordPress.

Now, I don't know where you live in the world, but 21 is a pretty significant birthday for people here in the UK. It's a bit of a milestone and it marks a real rite of passage. And so I took them up on this offer, and we set up a whole bunch of interviews, of which many are done by GoDaddy employees.

And you're going to hear in the moments to come the thoughts of a bunch of GoDaddy employees, plus a bunch of other people in the community who I reached out to. And they're going to give their thoughts on a whole wide range of subjects. What does WordPress mean for you? What has it enabled in your life, and a whole load more.

Now I'm going to mention something to do with GoDaddy our sponsor because they have an offer going on. This offer is already live by the time that you're listening to this podcast. And it goes like this.

WordPress turns 21 on the 27th of May. To celebrate this significant milestone in WordPress's community, some GoDaddy staff members have shared thoughts on what WordPress means to them. To show their appreciation for the WordPress community, GoDaddy is offering the time limited low price of $5.27, during the week 5 27. Do you get it? $5 27, 5 27. It's a date. On managed WordPress, which is their basic plan. The offer is valid on managed WordPress plans that are 12, 24 or 36 months in length. And the offer expires at the end of the 28th of May. And the link, which I'll put in the show notes, is godaddy.com forward slash hosting forward slash WordPress dash hosting. Once more go daddy.com forward slash hosting forward slash WordPress dash hosting.

So we've collaborated with GoDaddy, many of the 21 people that you're going to hear in this podcast episode, are GoDaddy employees, like I said, many of them are not. It is an absolute pleasure to have them all on. I'm going to list them all out by names so that we get a nice big, thank you. So thank you goes to Adam Warner, Elena Brescacin, Marcus Burnette, Maja Loncar, Courtney Robertson, Alycia Leno, Gaurav Nakul, Olivia LaFleur, Luiz D'Elboux, James K, Michelle Frechette, Corey Maass. Chris Badgett, Ka Leng Ler. Mark Westguard, Derrick Hernandez, Miriam Schwab, Imtiaz Mahub. Katie Keith, Dan Maby, and I also sneak myself into this episode as well.

It's like no episode we've ever done before, just 20 people plus myself. Telling us what they love about WordPress. And I really hope that you enjoy it.

[00:05:12] Adam Warner: Hi, I'm Adam Warner. What does WordPress mean to me? Well, that's a pretty long story, but I'll try and keep it short.

When I found WordPress, I was working full-time, customer service for an audiobook company. Building little websites on the side, mostly for fun, and running a little side hustle business making photo to DVD memorial DVDs.

I was tinkering with WordPress almost every night. Again, building little hobby sites. That eventually led to me building sites for friends and family, which eventually led me into a job managing a WordPress multi-site installation for an HVAC company. It was then that I was in WordPress every single day, all day long.

It was also shortly after that that I went to my first WordCamp. I was welcomed into the community. I've met people who I've only known by name from the WordPress forums, and I knew that I wanted to make WordPress a long time career.

So WordPress has enabled really my entire career. The community is the best part about WordPress in addition to the software. Software is so extensible and in many ways, so is the community. It's inclusive, it's diverse. There's constant focus on making it more inclusive and more diverse, and I'm so pleased to be a part of that.

Happy birthday, WordPress. Happy 21st birthday.

[00:06:47] Chris Badgett: So in 2008, I discovered WordPress because I went to YouTube and I was searching for how to put a website online, because I wanted to write a blog about outdoor leadership, which was a topic I was really interested in, and comes from the world I came from before technology. And I didn't know it at the time, that I was stepping into a community and a movement.

That's what WordPress means to me. It's technology, but it's also community. It's also a way of being in the world of philosophy about open source, democratization, creating equal access.

And it's enabled me to impact the lives of many around the world with our e-learning software Lifter LMS, which has a free core plugin that provides a lot of value for free to people all over the world.

It's also enabled me to create location freedom in my life, so I can literally live anywhere and still run my business and run the Lifter LMS project.

And it's also enabled me to build a whole career. And I don't have a background in formal education in business, or engineering, or design. Yet here I am finding success because of WordPress, because of the community, because of the people that I've worked with. The customers, the users. It's really just a great gift to the world and I'm really looking forward to the next 21 years. So happy birthday WordPress.

[00:08:24] Courtney Robertson: Hey there. I'm Courtney Robertson. I'm a developer advocate at GoDaddy. These days you'll find me contributing to a number of teams, but did you know that I first found WordPress in version 2.3?

At the time, I was a fresh out of college teacher, and I needed a blog for my classroom and without any other options available, I self installed and built the databases and everything.

It was quite a journey that would later take me through learning PHP, because I needed a sidebar, and that wasn't possible to have a sidebar and add widgets at the time.

I began contributing to WordPress in 2009 by getting into my first camp as a volunteer, because I missed the deadline to get the tickets. Later, I went on to contribute to the training team, and you'll find me these days around with meta and working in sustainability and the WordPress project overall.

I can't wait to get to a WordCamp again near you, so that we can meet and connect. I'm always really happy to help other people express their voice and share their thoughts and contribute really, to where the future of WordPress is going.

Thanks for the first 21. I'm looking forward to the next 21.

[00:09:36] Miriam Schwab: Hi, I'm Miriam Schwab. What does WordPress mean to me? Well, WordPress is technically a piece of software or some may refer to it as a platform, but it's so much more. WordPress is a platform that enables all of us to develop our skills, broaden our horizons, move forward professionally.

It's thanks to WordPress that I was able to build businesses around it, offer services, build products, do sales, marketing, learn about the technicalities of running a business. All of these things fascinated me, and I was able to do that through working with WordPress.

Another very integral part, and aspect of WordPress is the community. It's thanks to WordPress that I've had the opportunity to meet so many kind, generous, interesting people. People who are happy to share their knowledge and just share a cup of coffee.

This is one of the most wonderful aspects of WordPress, being able to expand ones horizons in that way, all of us, to kind of move outside of our bubble a bit and learn about different people, different cultures, and just generally interact with great, great people.

I've also continuously been impressed by the patience, tolerance, and understanding of the WordPress community. So sometimes when the product takes a direction that people don't understand, or decisions are made that people don't agree with, the reaction isn't one of anger or criticism necessarily. It's comes from a constructive place where people understand that the other people involved in the project are also just there to do what they believe is good for the project, they mean well. And so the reactions tend to be based on patience and understanding of that, and dialogue. Let's discuss. Let's all of us express our perspectives and opinions, and try to come to decisions that we all think are best for the project. Or maybe it's not what we think is the ideal direction, but acceptance. And that's a very impressive aspect of the community and the project itself.

[00:11:54] Marcus Burnette: So WordPress turns 21 this year. My name is Marcus Burnette, and I was much like WordPress when I was 21.

For starters, I was in college trying to figure out what I was going to be when I grow up. Do I stick to the classic things I liked before? Or do I change things up and fully embrace a new style?

Like a fresh install, I was a blank canvas, eager to be filled. The themes of my twenties were influenced by my current ambitions. From a minimalist theme of starting a career, to something more colorful in starting a family. I.

Each plugin along the way. Added skills and hobbies like photography, design and parenting. They say there's a plugin for everything, but parenting is one I've had to write along the way.

And just as WordPress frequently updates its core, I too learned to update my beliefs and my knowledge, making me more secure in who I am, while making me more adaptable in the long run.

In any case, I owe much of my career and relationships to WordPress and the WordPress community.

I started out in design and development and have been involved in almost every aspect of working with WordPress on my journey into the more community side of things. Just as WordPress continues to expand its network, connecting countless sites worldwide, I find myself on a similar path of connections through truly global relationships, experiences, and collaboration.

Thank you WordPress. It's co-founders. It's contributors, and the community. I hope we both continue to grow. Learn from those around us, and become the best version of ourselves for the community and the WordPress world.

[00:13:30] Michelle Frechette: Hi, I am Michelle Frechette, director of Community Engagement for StellarWP and Executive Director for Post Status.

I logged into my first WordPress website in 2011, and was immediately overwhelmed. I had come from a 20 year career in higher education administration, and the WordPress dashboard may as well have been the control panel of an intergalactic space mission.

But like any wouldbe astronaut, I shook off the fear and started to explore. Clicking publish on my first page felt like magic. I knew that anyone with access to the open web anywhere in the world could now read the words that I had put forth. I mean, I knew they weren't yet, but it was the potential that really struck me, and I was hooked.

I didn't even know that democratizing publishing was a thing, and I was already doing it.

A few years later, I was introduced to this wild, amazing, crazy community, and I had found not only a career, but friendships, meaning and opportunity.

Thank you WordPress for all that you've offered and all that is still to come. Your potential is still being realized. Happy birthday.

[00:14:37] Maja Loncar: Hi everyone. My name is Maya. The month of May carries couple of celebrations in our house, including the WordPress birthday.

When I learned about WordPress in 2011, I had no idea how much it would impact my life, professionally and privately.

Privately, I've met hundreds of great people enabling thousands of successful businesses online.

Professionally, WordPress and the community members empowered me to grow my ideas online, and assist others pave their way to their success. And for this reason, dear WordPress and community, Happy Birthday.

[00:15:19] Corey Maass: Hey, I'm Corey Maass, creator of the O-M-G-I-M-G WordPress plugin. I make plugins, but I also build and maintain websites using WordPress as my day job. I had been building websites, SaaS apps, and software for more than a decade when I got my first WordPress gig. I never expected it would become the focus of my tech stack for the next 14 plus years, and that's largely due to the community and the ecosystem.

There's a place for everyone in WordPress, even if you're an entrepreneur, a writer, a developer, an artist or musician, a spokesperson, or you just have something to say. It is been a pleasure to be part of it, and I look forward to 21 more years of WordPress.

[00:16:00] Alycia Leno: Hi, I am Alycia Leno and I work for GoDaddy, and previously Sucuri.

WordPress has had an awesome imprint on my life. I've been working in content marketing and SEO for the longest, and working with the WordPress community, attending major WordCamps and speaking at them. And the community itself is really so amazing to be a part of.

The people really wanna help you, and it really does feel like there's community over competition in this space, which I really appreciate.

I've always been using WordPress for all of the blogs that I've managed, and being able to extend it in any way that I can. Being able to understand how I can submit feature requests, and contribute to the project, has been really incredible.

And to think that when I first was introduced to it, I didn't realize just how accessible it was to become part of the community and make contributions, and I didn't need to be a developer to do it. So I'm really excited to see what the next 21 years of WordPress brings to us all.

[00:16:56] Imtiaz Mahbub: Happy birthday WordPress.

[00:16:59] Nathan Wrigley: Hello there. It's me back again. Nathan Wrigley answering the same questions as everybody else. You're going to have to forgive the ramble, but I'm winging this.

So first up, what does WordPress mean to me? Well, ever since I discovered the software in about 2015, it rarely has become the fulcrum of my life. And I have a family, and so obviously that comes first, but kind of in second place comes. WordPress, the community and everything surrounding that. So it really does mean a great deal.

It's been the means for me to create a revenue stream. It's been the means for me to create friendships. It's been the means for me to do a whole host of things. And to connect with people on a completely global stage.

It also feels like the right thing to be involved with. And I know that sounds a little bit ephemeral and hard to get a hold of. But I do love the principle of open source, and I love the idea that everybody, almost everybody, can get themselves online with a piece of software like WordPress and is therefore able to publish their own thoughts. And trivially easily, access that kind of capability, which just a couple of decades ago was inconceivable.

Not only was the internet, not really capable of doing that, but there was no system in place to connect people on a global stage. And I think WordPress is a really credible way of doing that. And I love the fact that it's not siloed. It's not some kind of social network where the content is locked down and monetized. It allows you to do all of this of your own free will.

What has WordPress enabled for me? Well, like I said, a moment ago, it's enabled my career. And I think one of the most important things that I value from doing the podcast over these many years is the friendships and relationships that I've built up. Uh, it's probably hard for you to understand just how many people I talk to on a daily basis about WordPress, it's ridiculous, in all honesty. I've made hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands, I don't know, of relationships over the years, thinking about WordPress. And I love the WordPress community. I love what it has enabled in my life.

And so at the age of 21, I'd just like to say a great to big happy birthday to WordPress.

[00:19:32] Gaurav Nakul: Hello everyone. My name is, Gaurav Nakul. What does WordPress mean to me? When I think about WordPress, the first thing that comes to my mind is the human side of it, or the WordPress community, as we all know it.

To me, that's really the driving force behind how WordPress is enabling millions of people around the world to bring their ideas online, their stories, their business and vision online. And doing it for 21 years is a really strong and an amazing story.

What do I think about the WordPress community? Well, the WordPress community, I think is the lifeline of WordPress. To me, the strength of the community comes from the fact that it is extremely diverse and global, which also represents ideas and reasonings from all walks of life. Also, I think it is extremely passionate, committed, and is always very welcoming to people who are new to WordPress.

Who introduced me to WordPress? I got introduced to WordPress in 2016 through GoDaddy. When I attended my first WordCamp in Mumbai in India.

If I had to describe WordPress in a few words. I think WordPress is shaping how people around the world today are engaging with the internet and how the digital world exists today, and also how it will exist for years to come.

With that I also wanna wish WordPress and everyone who has been involved with WordPress a very, very happy 21st birthday. Thank you.

[00:20:52] Katie Keith: Hi, I'm Katie Keith from Barn2 Plugins. WordPress has allowed me to build a flexible business where I can work from home, grow a fantastic team, and earn more than I ever could in a conventional job.

It has also allowed me to make lots of friends from all over the world and be part of an incredible community of like-minded people.

I spent my twenties working in a conventional job, and dreaming of working for myself. My husband was a Java developer, and my background was in project management and marketing, so we thought it was a good combination of skills for building a business together. However, Java development didn't fit with this plan because that's more suited to office-based enterprise work.

Instead, we discovered WordPress as the perfect vehicle for building a business where we could work remotely and fit it around our lifestyle.

We started off in 2010 by building websites for clients, and switched to selling plugins in 2016.

I think the WordPress community is special because it's so welcoming and inclusive. People from all walks of life get together, both remotely, and in person, at WordCamps and other events, bonded by their shared love of WordPress.

As WordPress turns 21, we can all celebrate how it has changed so many lives and look forward to an equally strong future. Happy birthday WordPress.

[00:22:11] Olivia Lafleur: Hello, my Olivia Lafleur. For me, WordPress is pretty much useful as a tool to put writings on the web easily. So, when I built my first blog, I find it really complicated. When I found WordPress like 15 years ago, I was able to put my writings on the web, really, really easily.

And after that, as a teacher, I was able to make my students, while they were learning PHP install WordPress, and after that, use it easily as a way to write their internship status reports. So for us, the freedom of it being, yeah, free in open source, brought opportunity.

And also I was able to build websites for nonprofits. So it allowed me to, like in a really cost effective way have these nonprofit, and their causes be known to more people, just by being able to build a website this way. So, yeah.

And I could say lastly that it gave me the best job I could hope for. Where I'm working now, I'm working, I'm directly building WordPress tooling, so that's really a dream come true for me. So yeah, a lot of positive for me.

[00:23:29] Mark Westguard: Hi, I'm Mark Westguard. WordPress used to be software that my employees raved about and went to WordCamps for. We used it to build websites for clients, but now WordPress is so much more. It's my community, my job, and my way of providing for my family and others. It allows me to give back in ways my former business couldn't.

For me, the WordPress community is more than just business partnerships and collaboration. It's friendships and a network of some of the kindest, most generous and fun people I know.

Focusing my career on WordPress has been a fantastic choice, and one I intend to build on for the long term. WordPress is a vibrant web community.

Thank you WordPress.

[00:24:11] Luiz D'Elboux: Hi, my name is Luiz D'Elboux. WordPress gave voice to those who didn't have any platform to share their ideas, thoughts, emotions in the past. And continues to do so nowadays.

And more importantly, WordPress guarantee you the ownership. It's your space, your platform, your rules. So love WordPress. Keep doing, keep rocking.

[00:24:36] Elena Brescacin: Hi, I am Elena. I am from Italy and I use WordPress since 20 years. Yes, maybe 20 years. On and off because it did not always satisfy my needs. But, since 2021 I am full-time on WordPress. I have spoken also in two WordCamps in 2021 and 2023.

And Gutenberg with its full site editing is now the very first CMS solution to help me as a blind site creator with no code. I have basic HTML skills, but the code of templates and themes is very, very complex. And, this time, with Gutenberg, I can customize almost everything independently, because it's accessible. The developers of WordPress are keeping attention, paying attention to accessibility.

[00:25:51] Ka Leng Ler: Hi everyone. My name is Ka Leng and I'm from Singapore.

So I consider myself to be a newbie in WordPress, but my very first encounter with WordPress was back in 2014 where I had to occasionally edit content on a blog that my organization managed. So I did not actually know that it was a WordPress blog until months later when I Googled it, and back then I was just an end user.

But what really changed, for me, was when I started attending WordPress meetups in Singapore, and my very first WordCamp in Singapore back in 2017.

My favorite memory of the event was making new friends when I attended this event alone. And that's why if I had to describe WordPress in just one word, it'll be welcoming.

Why do I say that? So I reconnected with the community after joining GoDaddy and attended my very first WordCamp Asia in 2024. I've met so many friends. I've learned so much more about WordPress and its efforts all around the world.

[00:26:48] Derrick Hernandez: Hello, I am Derrick Hernandez, the StellarWP affiliate manager. Wanted to wish WordPress a happy 21st birthday.

My start in my marketing career about seven years ago, we're closing in on seven years this July. Got my start at a web hosting company in the WordPress ecosystem, and I have been a part of the WordPress ecosystem for essentially my whole marketing career.

When I think about WordPress, I think about all the doors that's opened in my career. I think of all the people that I've met along the journey, all the great, amazing relationships that I have till this day, because of WordPress. My mentor, just a ton of great friends that are a part of my life till this day. And I can't fathom my life without 'em. So, you know, I'm very thankful.

And another thing I'm thankful for is how complex WordPress can be, which always keeps me on my toes and keeps me learning.

So, thank you. I'm very grateful for the WordPress ecosystem, and everything it's done for myself and my peers. Happy birthday, WordPress.

[00:28:00] Dan Maby: What does WordPress mean to me? Freedom. Freedom to express myself. Be that through the written word in a blog post, or through creativity in a design. Or even the freedom to collaborate with others across the open source community.

WordPress for me means freedom from the constraints of a traditional working environment. Allowing me to work from wherever I choose in the world. It's allowed me to collaborate with and learn from some incredibly talented people across the globe.

WordPress has provided me with the freedom to create a business and a life I can truly enjoy.

Thank you WordPress.

[00:28:50] James K: Hi everybody. Oh man, I'm excited to talk about WordPress. WordPress means a lot to me.

Number one, it means money. I mean, everybody, every business owner is in there for the money. So let's talk about that for a minute here. Number one, you can make a WordPress very, very simply using the AI tools, which is, it's just awesome.

Number two, with the plugins in there, that are available to you. You can actually make a website in about an hour if you need to. You can keep working on it. Most people can do this. There's no coding required. It's just all about putting it out there.

And yes, with a WordPress, you know, most of the world uses WordPress for commerce. WooCommerce has changed peoples lives.

So. Here we go. Here we go. And this is for WordPress.

Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's get on WordPress, and let's go.

[00:30:01] Nathan Wrigley: Well, I hope that you enjoyed that. If you did, please leave us a comment. Head to wpbuilds.com. Search for episode number 374, and leave us a comment there.

I mentioned everybody by name at the top of the show. I'm not going to do that again, but I would like to say a great big thank you to all of the 20 people who gave us a contribution there. You'll notice that I injected myself in that making 21 contributions. I hope you sold the significance of that and a big happy birthday. Happy 21st birthday to WordPress on the 27th of May. 2024.

I'd also like to thank GoDaddy for their contributions to this podcast. And just a reminder that GoDaddy, have an offer. You can find it at godaddy.com forward slash hosting forward slash WordPress dash hosting. You're going to be able to get them managed WordPress basic plan, for $5.27, during the week of 5 27.

The WP Builds podcast was brought to you today by GoDaddy Pro. GoDaddy Pro the home of managed WordPress hosting that includes free domain, SSL, and 24 7 support. Bundle that with the Hub by GoDaddy Pro to unlock more free benefits to manage multiple sites in one place, invoice clients, and get 30% off new purchases. You find out more at go.me/wpbuilds.

We're also sponsored by Bluehost. Bluehost redefine your web hosting experience with Bluehost Cloud. Managed WordPress hosting that comes with lightning fast websites, 100% network up time, and 24 7 priority support. With Bluehost Cloud the possibilities are out of this world. Experience it today. At bluehost.com/cloud.

And sincere thanks to both GoDaddy Pro and the Bluehost for their ongoing support of the WP Builds podcast.

Don't forget if you're listening to this soon after it aired, then head to pagebuildersummit.com. You might be able to catch several of the presentations there.

Otherwise, we'll see you in a podcast episode really, really soon.

Take care. Have a good week. Here comes some cheesy music. Stay safe. Bye-bye for now.