Articles FROM

Track 2

  • Shipping WordPress Without Shipping Code: How Project Managers Can Lead Releases

    Jeffrey Paul Avatar
    Jeffrey Paul

    What does it take to lead a WordPress release or any major open-source initiative without writing a single line of code? In this talk, I’ll walk through how I’ve helped shape and ship multiple WordPress releases by leaning on product thinking, project management skills, and “glue work”.

    You’ll hear the story of a contributor who moved from helper to release deputy to AI team lead all without commit access. Along the way, we’ll explore the often-invisible roles that keep WordPress moving: coordinating feedback, managing timelines, nudging consensus across Slack and GitHub, and motivating volunteers across time zones. I’ll share practical tools, patterns, and gotchas for leading distributed contributor teams, with a focus on how you can lead even if you’re not an engineer.

    Whether you’re a project manager, designer, or just someone who makes things happen, this session will help you: Recognize what leadership looks like outside the code, Understand the real impact of “glue work” in open source, Find your place in the WordPress project and level up your contributions, Leave with clear ways to get involved in releases, roadmap work, or contributor organizing.

  • Keeping Humans in the Loop: Tactful AI in a Collaborative Community

    Jonathan Desrosiers Avatar
    Jonathan Desrosiers

    Open Source projects aren’t just about code. They’re about the people driving them behind the scenes. As AI tools become smarter and more capable, we face new challenges.

    How do we integrate these tools tactfully without losing what makes WordPress special? How do we utilize AI without eliminating low-friction paths for new contributors? How do we remain deliberate as we’re able to solve problems and implement faster?

    In this talk, we’ll explore the thoughtful, sometimes uncomfortable ways AI is reshaping how we collaborate, make decisions, and maintain trust in an Open Source project like WordPress. Let’s talk not just about what we can automate with AI, but what we should.

  • Beyond Microblogging: WordPress Leads the Way in Long-form Text on the Social Web

    Troy Chaplin Avatar
    Troy Chaplin

    Real-time sharing of short text messages and links — so-called “microblogging” — is the heart of social networks from LinkedIn to Twitter. But articles and blog posts, with finer details, deeper thought and more analysis, are a crucial part of what the Web is for. In this talk, Evan will go over the role of long-form text on the social web, and how publishers and readers are working together to make a smooth, integrated reading experience happen across sites.

  • WordPress and the open social web

    Dave Winer Avatar
    Dave Winer

    People talk about the “open social web” but there isn’t a whole lot of web to what they’re doing. WordPress has deep power and is very widely deployed, and of course is a central part of the open web. I felt it just needed a writer-friendly user interface. And that’s what I set out to do with WordLand. I’ll talk about how we got here, and what’s next, and the greater role WordPress can play in the evolving social web.

  • The Ultimate WordPress Performance Stack: Tools, Tactics & Tradeoffs

    Daniel Paz Avatar
    Daniel Paz

    In this talk, I’ll reveal the ideal toolset and configurations to achieve top-tier performance with WordPress — including caching strategies, optimization plugins, server setups, and CDNs. We’ll explore how to build a stack tailored for Core Web Vitals, scalability, and ease of maintenance — whether you’re optimizing a WooCommerce store or a high-traffic publishing site. I’ll also share real-world insights from client projects and audits, comparing results from tools like LiteSpeed, Cloudflare APO, Object Cache Pro, and more.

  • Search Marketing for WordPress in the Age of AI

    Alex Melen Avatar
    Alex Melen

    AI is revolutionizing the way search engines rank content and how advertisers optimize campaigns. For WordPress users, understanding these AI-driven changes is essential to staying competitive in both SEO and PPC.

    Whether you’re an entrepreneur, marketer, or agency professional, this session will provide actionable insights to help you maximize your search visibility and ad performance in an AI-driven world.

  • Software Supply Chain Security & Risk Management: Why the Future will be Federated

    Brent Toderash Avatar
    Brent Toderash

    This talk will cover a brief history of package management in WordPress, why centralized distribution was necessary, and why it’s time to decentralize now to address risk management for the supply chain needed for enterprise WordPress to continue growing. I’ll consider some security risks inherent in a federated repository model and some of the available mitigation strategies.

    Lastly, I’ll provide an overview from inside of the approach being taken by AspirePress and FAIR to provide the community with decentralized, secure, and robust package management for WordPress, including some specific advantages for the enterprise, for the ecosystem, and for end users.