Ryan is a Developer Advocate at Automattic. He focuses on removing barriers to adoption for developers working with Gutenberg and WordPress. He is a seasoned WordPress developer and regular contributor to WordPress and the Gutenberg project. He also streams on Twitch as RyanWelcherCodes were he focuses on custom block development.
Q&A with Ryan
Who or what helped you find your footing in WordPress, and how do you try to pay that forward today?
I have to thank Adam Silverstein and Helen Hou-Sandi for helping me find my way into contributing to WordPress. They encouraged me and shared their experience freely. Without them, I would never have been able to get my first props in 4.2. I try to offer the same to anyone wanting to get involved in WordPress. Just come up to me and ask!
If you could engineer one connection at WCEH 2026 — a conversation, an intro, a collaboration — what would it be?
I really want to hang out with Troy Chaplin, I hear he’s a pretty cool guy.
WordPress powers 43% of the web, but it’s the people who keep it alive. What’s a moment in this community that reminded you why you stay?
I was lucky enough to attend the first WordCamp Asia in Bangkok in 2023 and Contributor Day was amazing. I vividly remember three people working on an issue where one person lent their laptop to someone who’s own computer had died. So they worked together on the patch while a third person was updating the trac ticket using their mobile phone! What a great example of how this community works together!
What does the WordPress community get right that other tech communities don’t. What could we still do better?
I think we’re very good at welcoming new people into the fold. I think that we can do better at stepping outside of community to see what is working in other ones to try and bring that back to WordPress.
What’s a form of contribution you think is undervalued, and why does it matter?
Testing, Documentation, and Translations. They are so important and don’t always get the praise they deserve. Without these teams and the people doing the work, things would fall apart. We’d have buggy software that no one would know how to use and could only be used in English
A lot of people want to contribute but feel they’re not technical enough. What would you say to them?
Unless you want to write code for WordPress, you don’t need to be technical at all. Take a look at my answer from the previous question for a great place to get started. Any team you join will help you get up and running and offer any help you need along the way.