WordPress’ philosophy has sparked debate among WordPress YouTubers, who argue that it’s outdated, misaligned with the current needs of its diverse users—in particular freelancers and agency users—and needs updating.
The philosophy was a key focus of last week’s Uniting WordPress YouTubers call, organized by Automattic-sponsored contributor Anne McCarthy, who invited long-time core committer Aaron Jorbin to share insights into WordPress’ decision-making process.
Jorbin discussed WordPress’ philosophy, which many on the call were not aware of, and highlighted core principles, including minimizing options and designing for non-technical end users rather than site builders.
Kevin Geary, an entrepreneur and vocal WordPress critic, proposed updating the philosophy page, noting that its focus on publishing didn’t resonate with his audience, which he described as “zero bloggers.”
“They’re agency owners, they’re freelancers. They want to build business and marketing websites, and their scope goes beyond blogging,” Geary explained.
“We know WordPress has a history as a blogging platform, but that’s not what people use it for anymore… When my audience reads [the philosophy page], they’re not going to feel like it’s written for them, or that this software is necessarily designed for them.”
WPTuts’ Paul Charlton suggested polling WordPress users to understand how they actually use it—whether for blogging or website creation. McCarthy mentioned the annual WordPress survey, which some YouTubers on the call suggested could be refined to ask more directly about usage.
Overall, the discussion was civil. However, Geary shared more pointed criticism during his 1-hour 16-minute WDD Live livesteam this week, during which he dissected the philosophy line by line.
He highlighted several issues with the philosophy, such as the outdated focus on non-technical users, contradictions between the philosophy and user experience, lack of onboarding, overwhelming complexity, inconsistent application of the philosophy, and its failure to adapt to evolving user needs.
He criticized the lack of support for modern web design elements within WordPress, such as the absence of a native slider block or a streamlined way to handle advanced functionality like custom fields and post types. Meanwhile, he said the block editor included features misaligned with the needs of most users.
“I can’t get the fundamental blocks that I need to actually build the site I’m trying to build, but here’s a verse block… Maybe it’s like they’re saying, ‘Hey, take a break from serious work and try your hand at some poetry,’” he said.
Overall, he said: “The philosophy doesn’t align with the reality of WordPress… If WordPress lacks anything, it’s self-awareness.”
Long-time podcaster Matt Medeiros and YouTuber Mark Szymanski also weighed in on The WP Minute+ podcast. While Medeiros defended the philosophy as vital to WordPress’ identity as a free and open-source publishing tool, Szymanski said he was “kind of shocked” that the WordPress continued to maintain a blog-first philosophy despite its use by freelancers, agencies, and enterprise companies as a website-building platform.
“Do we still agree that this 20-year-old philosophy is the best one for WordPress, or do we need to evolve it to match the current needs of its users?” he said.
“It’s really eye-opening because if this is still the philosophy of WordPress, it makes you wonder if it’s time to evolve it. The world changes, software changes, and maybe we need to rethink what WordPress should be for its users today.”
Uniting WordPress YouTubers
The call was the second since McCarthy launched the Uniting WordPress YouTubers initiative in June. The calls have stoked conversations among YouTubers, both good and critical. Kicking off last week’s call, she described feedback as “really a kindness to me.”
Speaking to The Repository, McCarthy said similar to their work on the Full-Site Editing (FSE) Outreach project, she planned to let the iniative evolve organically with some “light guardrails to focus the space and discussion.”
The plan is to host calls every 4-6 weeks, grow a Slack space, action feedback provided during the calls, help YouTubers contribute to WordPress if they’re able to, and illuminate aspects of what’s being built in the software, McCarthy said.
“I’m intentionally keeping it open though as I’m not sure how it will evolve. I wasn’t asked to do this — it just came to me as something to pursue and explore,” they said.
In June, McCarthy shared their focus for the initiative on their blog, including:
- Helping YouTubers access accurate and relevant information about the open source WordPress project;
- Creating a feedback loop where creators can share feedback from their audiences back into the project; and
- Sharing tips and tricks to build a community where WordPress YouTubers can support each other
McCarthy noted that there was momentum and appetite for a space where WordPress YouTubers could share, learn, and collaborate.
“There’s a struggle to translate the WordPress roadmap into compelling, repeat content. It can feel like swimming against the current when up against page builder marketing, especially with affiliates and the like,” McCarthy said.. “There’s not a set way folks stay informed and there’s a wide range in understanding about how the project itself works, which is a gap to fill.”
On bringing Jorbin into last week’s call, McCarthy said they were keen to make introductions and connections to demystify aspects of how WordPress works and how to get involved.
“I take it seriously that we need to educate folks and provide them a contribution space,” they said.
“While I can run these calls and run around following up on as much as I can, I’m just one person. If I can empower 15 YouTubers to dig in themselves, that’s much more scalable and sustainable.
“For now, I am going to be that person who cares and does the work to both bring folks together and follow up, hoping it creates momentum. I think the folks who do decide to dive in will benefit.”
McCarthy said she wasn’t sure yet how Jamie Marsland, WordPress.org’s new Head of YouTube, might contribute to the initiative, but the plan was to bring him into a future call to share his plans.
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