2024 WordPress Recap: A Lot More Happened Than Just #WPDrama

As we kick off the 22nd year of WordPress, many people are anxious about the ongoing #wpdrama. But it's important to remember that there were almost ten months of exciting things happening in WordPress before Matt fired shots at WP Engine. In an effort to provide some counterbalance, I present to you a recap of what happened in the world of WordPress throughout 2024.

WordPress Ticket #30465 Was Opened 10 Years Ago – Is 2025 Going to Be the Year It Finally Gets Resolved?

Back in November 2014, a WordPress developer named Sergej Mueller raised what seemed like a reasonable concern: users had no way of knowing if a plugin they were using had been removed from the official repository - even if it was removed for security reasons. His ticket - officially #30465 - was closed relatively soon after, but with no resolution. Little did Sergej know that it would be reopened almost ten years later.

My 5 Favorite WP Simple Pay Alternatives for WordPress

WP Simple Pay has been a staple payment processor plugin for many years now. While we can admire its longevity, it's not without its faults. You're likely aware of them already. Otherwise you wouldn't be here looking for alternatives. Well, let me not keep you waiting any longer. Here are my five favorite payment processors for WordPress users that I like better than WP Simple Pay - and why.

Are Block Themes Better Than Classic Themes? Here’s What People Think

Twenty Twenty-Two was the first official default block theme that was released with WordPress 5.9. Ever since then, WordPress aficionados have been going back and forth on whether block themes are better than classic themes or vice versa. I have my own thoughts, which I'll share, but I also reached out to my colleagues and other WordPress professionals to crowdsource some opinions. Here's what I discovered...

(Nearly) 20,000 Free-to-Use Images Now Available in the WordPress Photo Directory

Almost 20,000 free, high-quality images are part of the WordPress community-submitted Photo Directory. They are free to use on any site (not just WordPress) for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. You read that correctly – these photos are CC0-licensed, meaning they are part of the public domain. They can be downloaded and used for any purpose, including marketing and branding, with no cost or attribution required.