Following Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word 2024 presentation, which included critical comments about WP Engine, WordPress has been embroiled in controversy. This has resulted in lawsuits against both Automattic and Matt himself. Matt has since shared on his personal blog and in Automattic’s news updates that approximately 8% of employees have left the company in the aftermath of the talk.
Recently, Joost de Valk, creator of the Yoast plugin, published a post calling for a decentralized leadership structure in WordPress, sparking discussions within the community. His post follows Matt Mullenweg’s holiday announcement and the ongoing Automattic-WP Engine legal dispute.
I’m happy to meet with people on specific proposals and specific changes, but it’s hard to engage or take action with this. I understand that people don’t like the current setup, and I’m very open to experiments to try different structures, but they need to work better for our users. This is too vague… be specific with names, what work they’ll do, and what outcomes we should expect in what timeframe.
– Matt Mullenweg on The Repository Post comment
WP Tavern has covered de Valk’s post, and here’s a summary of its key points.
- Critique of WordPress Leadership: deValk has raised concerns about the concentration of power in WordPress under Matt, arguing that it deviates from the platform’s founding principles of democracy. He believes Mullenweg’s leadership has become less open and benevolent, limiting the ability of the community to voice dissent.
- Proposals for a New Leadership Structure: De Valk advocates for a shift toward a more democratic leadership model for WordPress, calling for a board made up of diverse voices to guide the project. He suggests that this change would ensure more balanced decision-making and greater community involvement.
- Federated Repositories and Decentralization: Along with leadership changes, de Valk proposes decentralizing the WordPress repository by introducing “Federated and Independent Repositories.” He believes that this approach would foster more openness in development and can be carried out without needing Mullenweg’s approval.
- Support and Willingness to Lead: De Valk is fully committed to leading this transformation. He is already in talks with key community figures like Karim Marucchi and is ready to dedicate his time, resources, and funding to drive the changes if needed.
- Karim Marucchi’s Vision for WordPress: Karim Marucchi supports de Valk’s vision of modernizing WordPress and improving its security. He warns against allowing any single entity to dominate the platform, as this could lead to stagnation and prevent WordPress from adapting to future challenges.
- Matt Mullenweg’s Response: In response, Mullenweg has suggested that de Valk’s proposals might be better suited to a completely new project with a fresh brand and approach. He believes that achieving de Valk’s vision would require starting from scratch, separate from the existing WordPress structure.
- Reactions to the posts: De Valk’s ideas have sparked a divided reaction within the community. While many support the call for a more democratic leadership model, others are skeptical about its practicality and whether it would truly benefit WordPress in the long run.
Based on comments, much of the support for de Valk’s approach appears to come from former Automattic employees who left in protest, as well as those with financial ties to WP Engine or personal investments in the WordPress ecosystem.
Comments in support of Matt
In response to Valk’s post, Dumitru Brinzan defends defends Matt’s leadership of WordPress, contending that a committee-led approach would be detrimental. They criticize those seeking to oust Mullenweg, suggesting that they prioritize profit over the project’s well-being. The author also argues that releasing WordPress trademarks would dilute the brand and benefit only those seeking to profit from it.
Tony Zeoli argues in comments on the WP Tavern posts that it’s unrealistic to expect Matt to give up control of WordPress.org and other crucial assets, which are essentially his private property. While criticizing Matt’s actions, especially regarding the WP Engine situation, it’s seen as unreasonable to compel him to surrender control over his intellectual property. The author suggests that the community’s reliance on Matt’s ownership stems from its choices, and it’s naïve to assume he’d easily give it up.
Around a decade ago, Morten wrote one of his strongest early critiques of the WordPress structure. After leaving the platform and exploring other projects, he revisited his stance in response to recent events. Morten believes that Matt Mullenweg is unlikely to give control of WordPress, even if ordered to do so by a court. In his opinion, Mullenweg sees himself as the only person capable of leading the project. Morten believes that any proposal requiring Mullenweg to relinquish control—such as Valk’s recent one— is highly unlikely to succeed.
In a comment on a recent KrautPress post, Fabian kage views that any meaningful change in prioritizing features requires investment and code contributions from players other than Automattic. Agencies, in particular, need to be more active in core development to shift the balance of contributors. In response to the post, Matt thanked Henrick for advocating for a canonical plugin that he strongly agrees should happen in canonical plugins.
Reduced Sponsored Contribution
In a recent announcement, Mary Hubbard of Automattic stated that the company will reduce its sponsored contributions to WordPress due to resource constraints and ongoing legal challenges. Instead, Automattic will shift its focus to for-profit projects like WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, and other commercial products.
The company will also match employee volunteer hours to support the WordPress community, prioritizing security and critical updates. This change follows lawsuits from WP Engine, which have diverted resources and underscored WP Engine’s historically low contributions.
Wrapping Up
The future of WordPress leadership remains uncertain, with a meeting planned for January 2025 to discuss next steps. The community must decide whether to embrace a more democratic approach or retain a single visionary leader.
Related Resource links
- Breaking the Status Quo | JoostdeValk Blog
- Joost de Valk Calls for Breaking the WordPress Status Quo, Community Reacts | WP Tavern
- Aligning Automattic’s Sponsored Contributions to WordPress | Automattic
- The Mullenweg/WPE Thing | Adrienne GitHub