This version of the WordPress software is under development.  Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites.  Instead, it’s recommended that you evaluate RC1 on a test server and site.

Reaching this phase of the release cycle is an important milestone.  While release candidates are considered ready for release, testing remains crucial to ensure that everything in WordPress 6.8 is the best it can be.

You can test WordPress 6.8 RC1 in four ways:

You can test the RC1 version in four ways.

The current target for the WordPress 6.8 release is April 15, 2025.  Get an overview of the 6.8 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.8-related posts in the coming weeks for further details.

What’s in WordPress 6.8 RC1?

Get a recap of WordPress 6.8’s highlighted features in the Beta 1 announcement.  For more technical information related to issues addressed since Beta 3, you can browse the following links:

• GitHub commits for 6.8 since March 18
• Closed Trac tickets since March 18

Want to look deeper into the details and technical notes for this release? These recent posts cover some of the latest updates:

• Speculative Loading in 6.8
• WordPress 6.8 will use bcrypt for password hashing
• Roster of design tools per block (WordPress 6.8 edition)
• More efficient block type registration in 6.8
• Updates to user-interface components in WordPress 6.8
• Interactivity API best practices in 6.8
• Internationalization improvements in 6.8

How you can contribute

WordPress is open source software made possible by a passionate community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development.  The resources below outline various ways you can help the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.

Get involved in testing

Testing for issues is critical to ensuring WordPress is performant and stable.  It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute.  This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.8.  For those new to testing, follow this general testing guide for more details on getting set up.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report.  You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general?  Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Search for vulnerabilities

From now until the final release of WordPress 6.8 (scheduled for April 15, 2025), the monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled.  Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.

Update your theme or plugin

For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.

Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 6.8 beta releases.  With RC1, you’ll want to conclude your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.8.

If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the support forum.

Help translate WordPress

Do you speak a language other than English?  ?Espa?ol?  Fran?ais?  Русский?  日本語? ??????? ?????? ??????  You can help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages.  This release milestone (RC1) also marks the hard string freeze point of the 6.8 release cycle.

An RC1 haiku

March fades, nearly there,
Six-eight hums—a steady beat,
RC greets the world.

Thank you to the following contributors for collaborating on this post: @joemcgill @benjamin_zekavica @courane01 @mkrndmane @audrasjb @areziaal @ankit-k-gupta @krupajnanda.

This beta version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it is recommended you evaluate Beta 3 on a test server and site.

You can test WordPress 6.8 Beta 3 in four ways:

The current target date for the final release of WordPress 6.8 is April 15, 2025. Get an overview of the 6.8 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.8-related posts in the coming weeks for more information.

Catch up on what’s new in WordPress 6.8: Read the Beta 1 and Beta 2 announcements for details and highlights.

How to test this release

Your help testing the WordPress 6.8 Beta 3 version is key to ensuring everything in the release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important. This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.8.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general?  Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Vulnerability bounty doubles during Beta/RC

Between Beta 1, released on March 4, 2025, and the final Release Candidate (RC) scheduled for April 8, 2025, the monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled. Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.

Beta 3 updates and highlights

WordPress 6.8 Beta 3 contains more than 3 Editor updates and fixes since the Beta 2 release, including 16 tickets for WordPress core.

Each beta cycle focuses on bug fixes; more are on the way with your help through testing. You can browse the technical details for all issues addressed since Beta 3 using these links:

• GitHub commits for 6.8 since March 12, 2025
• Closed Trac tickets since March 12, 2025

A Beta 3 haiku

Beta three refines,
WordPress shapes with steady hands,
Code grows into form.

Props to @benjamin_zekavica @krupajnanda @ankit-k-gupta @joemcgill for proofreading and review.

This beta version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites.  Instead, you should evaluate Beta 2 on a test server and site.

You can test WordPress 6.8 Beta 2 in four ways:

The current target date for the final release of WordPress 6.8 is April 15, 2025. Get an overview of the 6.8 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.8-related posts in the coming weeks for more information.

Catch up on what’s new in WordPress 6.8: Read the Beta 1 announcement for details and highlights.

How to test this release

Your help testing the WordPress 6.8 Beta 2 version is key to ensuring everything in the release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important.  This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.8.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Vulnerability bounty doubles during Beta/RC

Between Beta 1, released on March 4, 2025, and the final Release Candidate (RC) scheduled for April 8, 2025, the monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled. Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.

Beta 2 updates and highlights

WordPress 6.8 Beta 2 contains more than 14 Editor updates and fixes since the Beta 1 release, including 21 tickets for WordPress core.

Each beta cycle focuses on bug fixes; more are on the way with your help through testing. You can browse the technical details for all issues addressed since Beta 1 using these links:

• GitHub commits for 6.8 since March 4, 2025
• Closed Trac tickets since March 4, 2025

A Beta 2 haiku

Second wave refines,
Lines of code like rivers flow,
WordPress finds its form.

Props to @ankitkumarshah @vgnavada @krupajnanda @michelleames @audrasjb @marybaum @ecgan for proofreading and review.

This beta version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, set up a test environment or a local site to explore the new features.

How to Test WordPress 6.8 Beta 1

You can test this beta release in any of the following ways: 

The scheduled final release date for WordPress 6.8 is April 15, 2025. Your help testing Beta and RC versions over the next six weeks is vital to ensuring the final release is everything it should be: stable, powerful, and intuitive.

How important is your testing?

Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it’s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute—whether or not you have experience.  Details on what to test in WordPress 6.8 are here.

If you encounter an issue, please share it in the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums. If you are comfortable submitting a reproducible bug report, you can do so via WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against this list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general and how to get started? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

WordPress 6.8 will include many new features that were previously only available in the Gutenberg plugin. Learn more about Gutenberg updates since WordPress 6.7 in the What’s New in Gutenberg posts for versions 19.4, 19.5, 19.6, 19.7, 19.8, 19.9, 20.0, 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, and 20.4.

What’s New in WordPress 6.8 Beta 1

This is a polish release, with user enhancements throughout incorporated into the latest Gutenberg updates. WordPress 6.8 brings a luster and gloss that only a polish release can.

WordPress 6.8 Beta 1 contains over 370 enhancements and 520 bug fixes for the editor, including design improvements, polishing the query loop, and more than 230 tickets for WordPress 6.8 Core. Here’s a glimpse of what’s coming:

Editor improvements

Easier ways to see your options in Data Views, and you can opt to ignore sticky posts in the Query Loop. Plus you’ll find lots of little improvements in the editor!

The Style Book comes to Classic themes

The Style Book now features a structured layout so you can preview site colors, typography, and block styles more easily. You can use the Style Book in classic themes with editor-styles or a theme.json file and includes clearer labels, and you can find them under Appearance > Design.

Support for Speculation browser API

WordPress 6.8 introduces native support for speculative loading, leveraging the Speculation Rules API to improve site performance with near-instant page loads. This feature prefetches or prerenders URLs based on user interactions, such as hovering over links, reducing load times for subsequent pages.

By default, WordPress 6.8 applies a conservative prefetching strategy, balancing performance gains with resource efficiency. Developers can customize speculative loading behavior using new filters, since the API does not include UI-based controls. The existing Speculative Loading feature plugin will adapt to the core implementation, allowing deeper customization.  Please test this feature in supported browsers (currently Chrome 108+ and Edge 108+, with more browsers evaluating) and provide feedback on #62503 to help refine its implementation.

Major security boost

WordPress 6.8 will use bcrypt for password hashing, which significantly hardens WordPress. Other hashing is getting hardened, too, throughout the security apparatus. You won’t have to change anything in your daily workflow.

The features included in this first beta may change before the final release of WordPress 6.8, based on what testers like you find.

Get an overview of the 6.8 release cycle and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.8-related posts in the next few weeks for further details.

Caveat on testing 6.8 Beta 1 in versions older than 5.1

Due to an update made to the upgrade routine during this release, (see r59803), any upgrade from versions older than 5.1 will fail. Folks are working to resolve this specific issue, so please hold off on reporting on this while testing the Beta 1 release.

Vulnerability bounty doubles during Beta & Release Candidate

The WordPress community sponsors a monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities. This reward doubles during the period between Beta 1 on March 4, 2025 and the final Release Candidate (RC) scheduled for April 15, 2025.? Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies. You can find those on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper.

Just for you: a Beta 1 haiku

March winds shift the tide.
Hands unite in open source;
WordPress moves ahead.

Props to @audrasjb @marybaum @mamaduka @michelleames @bph @jorbin @joemcgill @krupajnanda @desrosj @benjamin_zekavica @lysyjan87 for reviewing and collaborating on this post!

Over 1,400 attendees from 71 countries gathered at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila, and nearly 15,000 more joined online, for WordCamp Asia 2025.

The flagship WordPress event started with a dedicated Contributor Day, followed by two days of engaging talks, panels, hands-on workshops, and networking. Notable guests included WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg and Gutenberg Lead Architect Matías Ventura, who were joined by a diverse lineup of speakers and panelists.

Throughout the event, the sponsor hall buzzed with activity as companies from across the WordPress ecosystem showcased their latest products, engaged with attendees, and offered live demos and giveaways. Each day, attendees refueled with diverse food offerings featuring Filipino favorites, turning meals into a prime networking opportunity where new connections were made and ideas were exchanged.

New Ways to Engage

This year’s event introduced several new programs to the schedule:

• Solutions Spotlight—a series of dynamic 10-minute lightning talks that gave an inside look at innovative products, cutting-edge strategies, and real-world solutions from top-tier sponsors, all designed to help attendees succeed in the WordPress ecosystem. These fast-paced sessions offered a unique opportunity to discover how leading brands are solving challenges, empowering users, and shaping the future of WordPress.
• YouthCamp, a dedicated event for kids and teens ages 8-17, offered a full day of free, hands-on sessions designed to spark creativity and introduce the world of WordPress and open source. Through interactive workshops covering web basics, design, and development, participants gained practical skills while exploring the power of building online. 
• The new Career and Social Corners enhanced networking, fostered meaningful connections, and created new opportunities for those within the WordPress community. Career Corner was the go-to space for attendees exploring career opportunities, connecting with sponsors, and discovering exciting new roles. Meanwhile, Social Corner offered a relaxed, lounge-style environment where attendees could engage in informal discussions over refreshments.

Contributor Day

WordCamp Asia kicked off with an incredible Contributor Day, bringing together almost 800 contributors, many of them new, to collaborate, share knowledge, and give back to WordPress. With 37 dedicated table leads and 16 experts from the Human Library guiding the way, participants of all experience levels engaged in meaningful discussions, tackled important tasks, and made a lasting impact on the WordPress project.

Key contributions included resolving a critical media bug, advancing vertical text editing in Gutenberg, and refining the editing experience with dozens of issue closures. Performance optimizations and accessibility improvements abounded, joined by seven fresh patterns, and over 44,000 newly translated strings.

New tools and workflows were explored to enhance testing and development. The day also saw meaningful conversations between hosting providers and users, improvements to event organizing processes, and hands-on training.

With innovative ideas, new faces, and significant progress across multiple areas, Contributor Day reinforced the spirit of open source collaboration that drives WordPress forward.

The Future is WordPress

On the first full conference day, attendees gathered to celebrate the power of open source collaboration and innovation. Opening remarks from global and local event leads reflected on the incredible journey of WordCamp Asia, tracing its roots back to the first Southeast Asian WordCamp in Manila in 2008. This full-circle moment underscored how the WordPress community has flourished over the years, driven by shared knowledge and a commitment to an open web. The excitement continued with a highly anticipated opening keynote from Matías Ventura, who shared insights into the future of Gutenberg and WordPress, inspiring attendees to embrace the next wave of innovation and creativity in content publishing.

The day then began in earnest. Talks highlighted new ways to integrate WordPress with external applications, opening possibilities for more interactive and scalable digital experiences. Simultaneously, content strategists and marketers explored evolving best practices in SEO, learning how to optimize their sites for visibility, engagement, and long-term growth. These sessions emphasized the importance of adaptability in a constantly evolving digital landscape, ensuring that WordPress users stay ahead of industry trends.

Workshops throughout the day provided hands-on learning experiences tailored to a wide range of skill levels. Developers refined their expertise, gaining practical knowledge they could apply to their own projects. Accessibility advocates led discussions on designing for inclusivity, showcasing strategies to make WordPress-powered websites more navigable and user-friendly for people of all abilities.

As the conference continued into the afternoon, conversations expanded to performance optimization and emerging technologies shaping the future of WordPress. A dedicated session explored AI-driven workflows, demonstrating how artificial intelligence can enhance site performance, automate repetitive tasks, and create more personalized user experiences. These discussions showcased the evolving role of WordPress as a versatile platform that extends beyond traditional publishing.

The first day culminated in a thought-provoking keynote panel, WordPress in 2030, where industry leaders explored the future of the platform. The discussion covered the expanding open source community, emerging technologies, and the role of education and mentorship. Panelists shared their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges ahead, encouraging attendees to actively shape the future of WordPress by contributing, innovating, and advocating for an open web.

Returning for the final day of WordCamp Asia 2025, attendees explored a new set of sessions designed to push the boundaries of web development and strategy. Technical discussions on advanced Gutenberg block development highlighted innovative ways to build more dynamic and interactive content experiences, while another session examined performance optimization strategies to enhance site speed, accessibility, and overall user engagement. Content creators and marketers gained valuable insights into audience growth, effective storytelling, and data-driven content strategies to maximize impact.

The final sessions of the conference reinforced WordPress’s adaptability and innovation, equipping attendees with new skills and strategies.

Q&A

As the final day drew to a close, Matt shared historic photos from WordCamp Davao 2008 in the Philippines, and then answered questions from the audience.

Questions covered a variety of topics, incluiding: publishing on the open web, AI, headless WordPress, education, and Matt’s personal motivations. It was clear throughout the Q&A that the future of WordPress is as bright as the island-themed attire at the event’s after-party.

Closing

Thank you to all the hard-working organizers who made this event possible, the speakers who took the stage, the visitors who ventured to Manila, and everyone who tuned in from around the world. Our hope is that every WordCamp attendee leaves with new knowledge, new friends, and new inspiration to build a better web.

Be sure to mark your calendars for other major WordPress events in 2025: WordCamp Europe (Basel, Switzerland) and WordCamp US (Portland, Oregon, USA). Then join us in Mumbai, India for WordCamp Asia 2026!

Some of the key points we explore: 

• As proprietary “next-gen” CMS hype fizzles out and enterprise budgets shift priorities, open-source CMSs like WordPress are primed to gain ground in the commoditized CMS space. WordPress’ maturity and extensibility provide a high starting point for innovation.
• WordPress’ Block Editor has seen tremendous investment, amassing over 34,000 commits – more than entire competing CMS projects. New capabilities like Full Site Editing (FSE) give enterprises unprecedented ability to enable no-code site building.
• Just as being the first user-friendly publishing tool propelled WordPress’ initial growth, AI presents a similar opportunity. WordPress’ contributor community can build not just AI features, but an exciting multi-agent, LLM-agnostic ecosystem representing an intelligent content operating system.
• Pure-play headless vendors are working backwards to add no-code editing, while WordPress has long supported robust headless capabilities alongside its mature editor. For complex sites, hybrid architectures leveraging both are the pragmatic path forward.

Download the full WordPress in 2025 (PDF) report directly to learn more.

Don’t miss WP:25, the virtual event.

Save your spot at our free event, WP:25, exploring the future of WordPress and featuring key people working with many of the ideas discussed in the report.

About the report’s author, Noel Tock — Having built his first website back in 1995, Noel has long been watching the evolution of the CMS space. As a co-owner at one of the leading enterprise WordPress agencies, Human Made, his belief in the power of open source is as great as ever. Human Made is a WordPress VIP Gold Partner specializing in DXP, headless, AI and more.

The first major WordCamp of the year is here! WordCamp Asia 2025 lands in Manila, Philippines, from February 20-22, bringing together open source enthusiasts, developers, and WordPress professionals from across the region—and the world.

With three packed days of learning, networking, and collaboration, this year’s event promises fresh insights, dynamic discussions, and plenty of opportunities to connect.

Solutions spotlight

Throughout the conference days, multiple presentations will focus on the solutions provided by our amazing sponsors. This is a great opportunity to learn more about their initiatives and solutions.

Keynotes, panels, and deep dives

The main conference, which will be held on February 21-22, will feature a lineup of notable keynote speakers, including digital innovation leaders and open-source advocates. Attendees can expect diverse sessions on business strategy, development of best practices, and technical advancements.

For those looking to sharpen their skills, presentations will dive deep into topics like SEO for WordPress, performance optimization, and AI-powered content creation. Plus, don’t miss the electrifying WordPress Speed Build Battle, where developers race to create stunning sites in record time.

YouthCamp

On February 22, WordCamp Asia 2025 will host YouthCamp, a pre-registered event designed to introduce young minds to WordPress and its endless possibilities. This initiative aims to engage the next generation of WordPress users, developers, and contributors through hands-on activities and interactive sessions

Closing Q&A with Matt Mullenweg

WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg will wrap up the event with a live Q&A session on February 22. Whether attending in person or tuning in online, you can catch his insights live on the WordPress YouTube channel at 4:00 p.m. Philippine Time (08:00 UTC).

After party

As the sun sets on WordCamp Asia 2025, the excitement continues with the After Party (theme: Island Vibe)! Get ready to experience the vibrant spirit of the Philippines with a lively gathering at The Forum at PICC. Expect a night filled with great conversations, music, and a celebration of the WordPress community.

Get WordCamp-ready

• Secure your WordCamp Asia 2025 tickets (if you haven’t already!)
• Browse the full schedule of sessions to plan your experience
• Follow WordCamp Asia on X, LinkedIn, and Instagram for real-time updates

As always, be part of the conversation! Whether you’re attending in Manila or following along online, share your experiences using #WCAsia and #WordPress.

Manila is calling—see you at WordCamp Asia 2025!

This minor release includes 35 bug fixes, addressing issues affecting multiple components including the block editor, HTML API, and Customize.

WordPress 6.7.2 is a short-cycle release. The next major release will be version 6.8 planned for April 15, 2025.

If you have sites that support automatic background updates, the update process will begin automatically.

You can download WordPress 6.7.2 from www.ads-software.com, or visit your WordPress Dashboard, click “Updates”, and then click “Update Now”. For more information on this release, please visit the HelpHub site.

Thank you to these WordPress contributors

This release was led by Aaron Jorbin.

WordPress 6.7.2 would not have been possible without the contributions of the following people. Their asynchronous coordination to deliver maintenance fixes into a stable release is a testament to the power and capability of the WordPress community.

Aaron Jorbin, Alex Lende, Alexandre Buffet, Andreas Pedersen, Andrew Ozz, Ankit Kumar Shah, apermo, Benedikt Ledl, bernhard-reiter, Brian Alexander, Carlos Bravo, Carolina Nymark, Cyrille, Daniel Post, darerodz, David Calhoun, David Smith, Dennis Snell, dhewercorus, Dion Hulse, Doug Wollison, Ella, Eshaan Dabasiya, Fabian K?gy, Fabian Todt, Felix Arntz, Felix Renicks, Francis Cabusas, Frank B., George Mamadashvili, ghinamt, Glynn Quelch, Greg Zió?kowski, James Koster, Jarda Snajdr, Jb Audras, jdnd, jeryj, Joe Dolson, Joe McGill, Jon Surrell, Jonathan Desrosiers, juanwp22, Juliette Reinders Folmer, Karthick, Kazuto Takeshita, Kelly Choyce-Dwan, Ketan Niruke, Lena Morita, levskipg, Maciej Ma?kowiak, Mario Santos, Matthew Boynes, Mayank Tripathi, Michal Czaplinski, Miguel Fonseca, Mitchell Austin, mreishus, Mukesh Panchal, Nadir Seghir a11n, Narendra Sishodiya, Naresh Bheda, neotrope, Nick Diego, Olga Gleckler, Parth vataliya, Pascal Birchler, paullb, Peter Wilson, Pitam Dey, redkite, Rishav Dutta, robertstaddon, rvoigt, Sagar Tamang, Sainath Poojary, seanlanglands, Sergey Biryukov, Scott Reilly, Shyam Kariya, smerriman, Stephen Bernhardt, Sukhendu Sekhar Guria, TobiasBg, Tonya Mork, Vishy Moghan, Weston Ruter, wongjn, Yogesh Bhutkar, zaoyao

How to contribute

To get involved in WordPress core development, head over to Trac, pick a ticket, and join the conversation in the #core and #6-8-release-leads channels. Need help? Check out the Core Contributor Handbook.

Props to @joedolson, @joemcgill and @audrasjb for proofreading.

In open source, one thing that makes it even harder to ship great software is bringing together disparate groups of contributors who may have entirely different incentives or missions or philosophies about how to make great work. Working together on a team is such a delicate balance, and even one person rowing in the wrong direction can throw everyone else off.

That’s why periodically I think it is very healthy for open source projects to fork, it allows for people to try out and experiment with different forms of governance, leadership, decision-making, and technical approaches. As I’ve said, forking is beautiful, and forks have my full support and we’ll even link and promote them.

Joost is a self-proclaimed leader in the SEO space, an industry known for making the web better. He asked for and I gave him WordPress marketing leadership responsibility in January 2019 and he stepped down in June of 2019, I think we would both agree in those 5 months he was not effective at leading the marketing team or doing the work himself.

Karim leads a small WordPress agency called Crowd Favorite which counts clients such as Lexus and ABC and employs ~50 people.

Both are men I have shared meals with and consider of the highest integrity. I would trust them to watch any of my 15 godchildren for a day. These are good humans. Now go do the work. It probably won’t happen on day one, but Joost and Karim’s fork, which I’ll call JKPress until they come up with a better name, has a number of ideas they want to try out around governance and architecture. While Joost and Karim will be unilaterally in charge in the beginning, it sounds like they want to set up:

1. A non-profit foundation, with a broad board to control their new project.
2. A website owned by that foundation which hosts community resources like a plugin directory, forums, etc.
3. No more centralized and moderated plugin and theme directories with security guidelines or restrictions are what plugins are allowed to do like putting banners in your admin or gathering data, everything done in a federated/distributed manner.
4. The trademarks for their new project will either be public domain or held by their foundation.
5. “Modernization” of the technology stack, perhaps going a Laravel-like approach or changing how WordPress’ architecture works.
6. Teams and committees to make decisions for everything, so no single person has too much power or authority.

Karim has a similar post. Joost says he has the time and energy to lead:

Now, as core committer Jb Audras (not employed by me or Automattic) points out, within WordPress we have a process in which people earn the right to lead a release:

However in Joost and Karim’s new project, they don’t need to follow our process or put in the hours to prove their worth within the www.ads-software.com ecosystem, they can just lead by example by shipping code and product to people that they can use, evaluate, and test out for themselves. If they need financial or hosting support is sounds like WP Engine wants to support their fork:

Awesome! (Maybe it’s so successful they rebrand as JK Engine in the future.) WP Engine, with its half a billion in revenue and 1,000+ employees, has more than enough resources to support and maintain a legitimate fork of WordPress. And they are welcome to use all the GPL code myself and others have created to do so, including many parts of www.ads-software.com that are open source released under the GPL, and Gutenberg which is GPL + MPL.

Joost also is a major investor (owner?) in Post Status (which he tried to sell to me a few months ago, and I declined to buy, perhaps kicking off his consternation with me), so they have a news media site and Slack instance already ready to go. He also is an investor in PatchStack and appears to be trying to create a new business around something called Progress Planner, both of which could be incorporated into the new non-profit project to give them some competitive distinctions from WordPress.

To make this easy and hopefully give this project the push it needs to get off the ground, I’m deactivating the .org accounts of Joost, Karim, Se Reed, Heather Burns, and Morten Rand-Hendriksen. I strongly encourage anyone who wants to try different leadership models or align with WP Engine to join up with their new effort.

In the meantime, on top of my day job running a 1,700+ person company with 25+ products, which I typically work 60-80 hours a week on, I’ll find time on nights and weekends to work on WordPress 6.8 and beyond. Myself and other “non-sponsored” contributors have been doing this a long time and while we may need to reduce scope a bit I think we can put out a solid release in March.

Joost and Karim have a number of bold and interesting ideas, and I’m genuinely curious to see how they work out. The beauty of open source is they can take all of the GPL code in WordPress and ship their vision. You don’t need permission, you can just do things. If they create something that’s awesome, we may even merge it back into WordPress, that ability for code and ideas to freely flow between projects is part of what makes open source such an engine for innovation. I propose that in a year we do a WordPress + JKPress summit, look at what we’ve shipped and learned in the process, which I’d be happy to host and sponsor in NYC next January 2026. The broader community will benefit greatly from this effort, as it’s giving us a true chance to try something different and see how it goes.

When every blog has the same hero section, when every portfolio follows the same grid, when every restaurant site looks interchangeable, we create an echo chamber of sameness. The cost isn’t just visual monotony – it’s the slow erosion of the web’s ability to surprise, delight, and showcase truly individual perspectives. WordPress, with its emphasis on complete ownership and control, offers an opportunity to break free from this convergence of design, allowing creators to build digital spaces that truly reflect their unique voice and vision.

Think of WordPress themes like album covers. They should have personality and create an immediate visual impact. The web has become too sanitized, with everyone chasing the same minimal, “professional” look.

Great themes should:

• Have a strong point of view – like how Kubrick (the classic WordPress theme) defined an era with its distinctive header gradient. Don’t try to be everything to everyone.
• Embrace specific aesthetics boldly – whether that’s brutalist design, pixel art, hand-drawn elements, or distinctive typography. Create themes that excite people rather than just working for everyone.
• Design for specific use cases – like a theme for photographers that’s all about full-bleed images or a theme for writers that treats typography as art or a theme for musicians that feels like an album cover.
• Break some rules thoughtfully – because not every theme needs a hamburger menu. Not every theme needs to be mobile-first. Sometimes constraints create character.

We need more themes that make people say “Wow!” or “That’s different!” rather than “That’s clean and professional.” The web needs more personality, more risk-taking, more fun.

After spending countless hours digging through the WordPress theme repository, searching for designs that break the mold and spark excitement, I came up nearly empty-handed. Don’t get me wrong – there are plenty of well-built themes out there. But where’s the daring? The personality? The unexpected?

If you’ve got a wild theme idea burning in your mind – that portfolio theme that looks like a vintage trading card collection, that blog theme inspired by zine culture, that restaurant theme that feels like a hand-drawn menu – now’s the time to build it. WordPress desperately needs your creativity, your weird ideas, your willingness to break the visual rules. The future of the web shouldn’t be a monochrome landscape of identical layouts. Let’s make WordPress themes exciting again. Let’s make the web weird again.