Matt Mullenweg Brings in Top Law Firm, Enterprise WordPress Growth 📈 WPMore - January 31, 2025
Plus: PressConf speaker lineup grows, and uncovered WordPress Foundation documents reveal original governance plans...
Hey WordPress enthusiasts! Welcome to another packed issue of WPMore. We have some fascinating WordPress ecosystem developments to share with you today (with more WP resources).
Let’s dive in —
Matt Mullenweg Bolsters Legal Team in WP Engine Battle
The WordPress co-founder is stepping up his game. Automattic and Matt Mullenweg have brought in heavyweight legal firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP to join their defense team in the ongoing WP Engine lawsuit. Their new representative, Rosemarie T. Ring, brings serious tech industry experience, having previously represented Meta and Facebook.
The addition of Gibson Dunn - a firm that's handled major cases like Bush v. Gore and Apple v. Samsung - signals that Matt and Automattic are reinforcing their position. While their original legal team from Hogan Lovells US LLP may still be involved, this move suggests they're preparing for an intense legal battle ahead.
→ Read full news here (searchenginejournal.com)
Enterprise WordPress Adoption Hits New Heights
Some encouraging news from the State of Enterprise WordPress Survey 2024. The second annual report shows major brands like Amnesty International, The Times, and Princeton University are leveraging WordPress at scale. With insights from over 100 large organizations, the survey provides a comprehensive look at how enterprises are using WordPress to drive their business goals.
This level of enterprise adoption demonstrates WordPress's continued evolution from a blogging platform to a robust enterprise solution. → Read the full report here.
Also Worth Checking - Top Accessibility Issues Found in 2024 (Infographic)
PressConf 2025 Draws Top WordPress Leadership
Despite recent controversies, PressConf is shaping up to be a must-attend event this April in Tempe, Arizona. Mary Hubbard, WordPress's Executive Director (with impressive stints at TikTok and eBay), and Matías Ventura, Gutenberg's Lead Architect, are confirmed as speakers.
This conference promises candid discussions about WordPress's direction, particularly timely given the recent debates about WordPress Foundation governance sparked by the surfacing of its founding documents. Speaking of which...
Historical Documents Reignite WordPress Governance Debate
A fascinating discussion has emerged around the WordPress Foundation's original intentions. Recently shared founding documents from 2008 reveal initial plans for the foundation to manage wordpress.org and the open-source code repository. The documents show a different vision than what ultimately materialized, raising interesting questions about WordPress's governance evolution.
The revelation has sparked community discussion, especially given the current dynamics between WordPress's commercial and community aspects. While some see this as merely historical context, others view it as an opportunity to revisit conversations about WordPress's governance structure.
WordPress.com Says Goodbye to Calypso Admin Interface
In a significant shift for WordPress.com users, Automattic has announced they're discontinuing their custom Calypso admin interface. The platform will transition to using the standard WordPress admin panel that self-hosted WordPress users are familiar with.
For those unfamiliar, Calypso has been WordPress.com's signature admin interface for years, offering a modern, JavaScript-based experience that set it apart from traditional WordPress installations. The interface was launched in 2015 as part of Automattic's efforts to modernize the WordPress.com experience.
The community response has been notably mixed, with many long-time WordPress.com users expressing concerns about the change in the official announcement blog. The standard WordPress admin panel, while familiar to the broader WordPress community, represents a significant shift for WordPress.com users who have grown accustomed to Calypso's workflow and features.
This move raises interesting questions about the future direction of WordPress.com and its relationship with the broader WordPress ecosystem. It could signal a strategy to align WordPress.com more closely with the core WordPress experience, potentially making it easier for users to transition between hosted and self-hosted solutions.
For WordPress.com users, this transition will mean adapting to a different interface and workflow. We'll be keeping an eye on how this change impacts the WordPress.com user base and what it might mean for the platform's future development direction.
[Note: This development is particularly interesting given Calypso's role in WordPress.com's historical differentiation strategy. What are your thoughts on this change? Hit reply to share your perspective.]
On other WordPress News
→ Re: WP Community Collective Naming Similarity Concern - WP Community Collective (WPCC) clears naming confusion and publishes the reply to WordPress Community Support (WPCS) for full community transparency.
→ Festinger Vault Returns After Settling Legal Dispute with Automattic - Festinger Vault’s founder Martin Groot says the controversial GPL club is “back and better than ever.”
→ Should You Still Use WordPress? - Last year was an interesting year for the CMS. WordPress Veteran Alex Moss discusses whether you should still use it or not. Spoiler: YES!
→ HumanMade published a guide on WordPress in 2025 - this guide unpacks how enterprise users can get the most out of WordPress in 2025.
→ Studio now syncs with WordPress.com - which helps you deploy local sites globally.
→ Worth reading - A Stronger Foundation for the Ecosystem
WordPress Resource
→ Introducing PootleWriter: Your Friction-Free WordPress Writing Companion - Jamie Marsland from WordPress Youtube, released a disctraction free writing tool. It’s an amazing tool that helps you write and publish to your WordPress website without any hassle. Great tool for writers, who don’t like the default writing dashboard of WordPress.
→ Rich Tabor from Automattic also experimenting with a text editor, which might be interesting (I did not test this).
→ Gutenberg 20.1 takes Full Site Editing inside the block editor. Now, pages display the header and footer, making the experience more WYSIWYG than ever.
Community Reaction of the Week
That's all for this issue! Next week, we'll be back with more WordPress news and resources.
What are your thoughts on these developments? Drop me a line - I'd love to hear your perspective.
Stay WordPress-curious!
Editor's Note: We aim to provide balanced coverage of ongoing situations. All legal proceedings and governance discussions are reported based on publicly available information.