#free wordpress themes for blogs

[sktthemes1]

Why Should You Use SKT Meditation – Free Yoga Studio WordPress Theme for Your Wellness Website?

Introduction

In a world where mindfulness and wellness are growing trends, having a calming, intuitive, and trustworthy website is essential for attracting and retaining clients. The SKT Meditation – Free Yoga Studio WordPress Theme is an ideal solution for yoga instructors, wellness coaches, meditation centers, and holistic health practitioners looking to make an impact online.

Built for the Wellness Niche

This theme is designed with the needs of yoga and meditation businesses in mind. From soothing visuals to simple navigation, every element reflects the peace and balance your services aim to bring to your clients’ lives. If you're looking for a free theme that mirrors your spiritual and wellness brand, the Free Yoga Studio WordPress Theme is the perfect choice.

Mobile-Friendly and Responsive

With more users accessing websites from their phones than ever before, this theme ensures a fully responsive experience. Whether browsing class schedules or reading wellness blogs, your visitors will enjoy a seamless experience across all devices.

Easy to Set Up and Customize

No technical background? No problem. The theme comes with user-friendly customization tools. Change colors, fonts, and layouts to match your brand identity—without writing a single line of code.

Showcase Your Classes and Schedule

Display your class offerings, timings, and instructor bios in a clean and organized format. This helps visitors decide which session suits them best and improves conversions from visitors to paying clients.

SEO-Optimized for Local Reach

The theme is optimized for search engines, making it easier for people searching for yoga classes or meditation centers in their area to find you. Increased visibility means more clients and higher attendance rates.

Fast-Loading and Lightweight

Nobody likes waiting for a slow website to load. This theme has been optimized for speed, keeping bounce rates low and enhancing user experience. That’s essential for a modern website that reflects trust and professionalism.

Supports Blog and Content Marketing

Whether you want to share yoga poses, mindfulness techniques, or nutrition tips, the integrated blog section allows you to educate and engage with your audience while also improving your SEO.

Secure and Reliable

Security is vital, especially if you're collecting user data or appointment bookings. This theme is built with best practices in security and performance, keeping your site safe and stable.

Conclusion

If you're a yoga instructor or wellness coach ready to build a tranquil yet professional website, the Free Yoga Studio WordPress Theme offers everything you need. It's fast, flexible, SEO-friendly, and designed to elevate your digital presence in the wellness space.

[jcmarchi]

10 Best Free Landing Page Themes for WordPress in 2025 — Speckyboy

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/10-best-free-landing-page-themes-for-wordpress-in-2025-speckyboy/

10 Best Free Landing Page Themes for WordPress in 2025 — Speckyboy

Landing pages are a great tool for marketers. They introduce your product or service, promote key selling points, and aim to increase conversions. All of that sounds wonderful, but building a great page is easier said than done.

The right WordPress theme can streamline the process. A theme optimized for landing pages includes clean layouts, compelling typography, and top-notch performance. The result is a faster build with all the basics you’ll need.

The advent of the WordPress Block and Site editors adds even more convenience. They reduce the need for custom code and give you more control over design and layout.

We’ve rounded up a collection of ten of the best landing page themes on the market. You’ll find options to fit every need and technical preference. Let’s get started!

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Vexis is a block theme with a clean and modern look. The 20+ included block patterns cover a variety of common design components. You’ll also find a whopping 19 style variations that pair attractive fonts and colors. Note that Vexis is a child theme of Plover and requires that theme to run.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Here’s a classic theme focused on building landing pages. For example, there’s an option to hide the navigation – perfect for one-page sites. There’s also a handsome blog layout to help you keep visitors in the know. It features a responsive layout and is ready for translation into various languages.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Poe comes loaded with block patterns to make customizing your landing page a breeze. There are multiple post grids, calls to action, headers, and footers to choose from.  The theme also includes style variations with light and dark options. There’s enough here to get your project off the ground in short order.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Variations is a multipurpose theme with great potential for landing page design. It includes dozens of block patterns to match just about every need. That level of convenience means you’ll spend less time building and more time optimizing. The theme is also free, which is better for your bottom line.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Naming aside, BB Mobile Application is a great theme for showcasing a wide range of products and services. Inside, you’ll find a slider, social sharing features, and helpful page templates. It’s also fully responsive, making it easy to serve mobile users.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Here’s a lightweight landing page theme to help you build quickly and beautifully. It features a responsive layout, custom widgets, and an ultra-clean look. The theme is Gutenberg-friendly and is compatible with all the popular page builder plugins.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Gutentools has everything you need to build a stunning landing page. The included block patterns and style variations offer convenience and a business-like aesthetic. You can use them to create an informative and easy-to-read page that encourages conversions.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Are you looking for a landing page with a dark and sleek style? Solarium is a theme that comes with a block pattern containing an entire page’s worth of blocks. Tweak the styles, add content, and you’re good to go.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Templazee is a block theme that encourages customization. Use the included block patterns to build the foundation of your landing page. From there, make it your own with custom styles and images. The theme comes with all the basics and lets you add the finishing touches.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Big and bold, wpOpus Studio brings an array of options for building the ideal landing page. The theme comes with light and dark style variations to match your desired atmosphere. You’ll also find block patterns to give your content a stylish home.

Create a Better Landing Page With WordPress

Building an effective landing page requires creativity and the right tools. A quality WordPress theme will help bring your ideas to life. It makes creating custom layouts and styles easier, leaving you to focus on content.

The themes in this collection provide you with helpful features. However, they differ in how close they get you to the finish line. Some themes offer a near-finished product, while others work best as a starting point. Choose the one that allows you to work your way.

There’s a landing page theme for you, no matter your goals or skill level. So, let your creativity shine and watch your conversion rates rise!

Landing Page WordPress Theme FAQs

What Are WordPress Landing Page Themes?

They are specialized themes designed to create effective landing pages on your WordPress site. They focus on converting visitors into customers or subscribers.

Who Should Use Landing Page WordPress Themes?

These themes are ideal for marketers, businesses, bloggers, or anyone looking to create a focused, goal-oriented page, like promoting a product, event, or service.

How Do Landing Page Themes Enhance Online Marketing Efforts?

They offer clear, persuasive designs and call-to-action (CTA) elements that are essential for successful online marketing and conversion rate optimization.

Are Landing Page Themes SEO-Friendly and Mobile-Responsive?

Many landing page themes are built with SEO best practices and are responsive, ensuring they perform well in search engines and look great on all devices.

Do These Themes Support Integration with Email Marketing Tools?

Most landing page themes are compatible with popular email marketing services and tools, allowing for easy integration of sign-up forms and contact capture features.

More Free WordPress Themes

Related Articles

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org – What’s the difference?

We get this question all the time, and we’re happy to help.

WordPress.org is the most powerful website building software on the web. You will need to find a hosting provider if you want that site online.

WordPress.com is our preferred hosting provider for medium-large traffic websites.

If you want to know why WordPress.com is our preferred host for ambitious passion projects and large website projects, read our review:

Related Topics

Written by Paul Andrew

Paul is the founder and editor of Speckyboy Design Magazine. He has a passion for UI design, print design, motion design, and graphic design, and loves discovering and sharing new resources and templates.

Read more articles by Paul Andrew

[thecolorfultravel]

Best WordPress Theme for SEO: What Real Website Owners Should Know

If you’ve ever spent hours scrolling through WordPress themes trying to find “the one,” you’re not alone. I’ve been there — eyes blurry, tabs open in every browser, comparing demos, reading reviews, and still unsure which theme would actually help my SEO, not hurt it.

Let’s be honest: a theme might look amazing, but if it’s bloated, slow, or not built with search engines in mind, it can quietly sabotage your rankings.

In this post, I’ll share the best WordPress themes for SEO, based on real-world experience — not just fancy demo sites. Whether you're a blogger, a service provider, or running an online store, these themes can give your website the clean code, fast load time, and flexibility Google loves.

Why SEO-Friendly Themes Matter

Before we jump into the list, let’s quickly talk about why this matters.

A poorly coded theme can:

Slow down your site (page speed is a ranking factor)

Mess with your content hierarchy (like improper use of heading tags)

Be difficult for search engines to crawl

Hurt mobile usability

On the flip side, a well-optimized theme makes Google’s job easier — and yours too.

1. GeneratePress – Lightweight and Lightning-Fast

If you want speed and simplicity, GeneratePress is a fan favorite among SEO professionals. It’s lightweight (under 30KB), mobile-friendly, and compatible with all major SEO plugins like Rank Math and Yoast.

🛠 Why it’s great:

Super fast load times

Clean, valid HTML

No unnecessary features to slow things down

💡 I’ve used GeneratePress on several client sites, and the difference in performance (compared to bulky multipurpose themes) is noticeable — especially when measuring Core Web Vitals.

2. Astra – Speed Meets Design Flexibility

Astra is another top pick, especially if you want a little more style out of the box. It’s fast, customizable, and integrates beautifully with page builders like Elementor and Gutenberg.

🎨 Best for: Bloggers, marketers, small businesses

🔍 SEO Benefits:

Schema integrated for better snippets

Built-in responsive design

Loads in under half a second

👉 A client of mine switched from a page-heavy theme to Astra and saw a 30% drop in bounce rate after two weeks. That’s the kind of UX boost that can quietly lift your rankings too.

3. Kadence – Built for Modern WordPress

Kadence Theme is a newer but powerful option that’s quickly rising in popularity. It offers fast performance, tons of customization options, and built-in SEO optimizations like proper use of heading tags, schema, and responsive layouts.

⚡ Highlights:

Lightweight yet visually impressive

Works perfectly with Gutenberg

SEO-ready right out of the box

💭 If you’re planning to blog or run a content-heavy site, Kadence gives you a clean structure and flexibility without bloat.

4. Neve – Perfect for Beginners and Agencies

Neve by ThemeIsle is another solid SEO-friendly theme. It’s designed to be fast, mobile-first, and AMP compatible — which is great if your users are primarily mobile.

📱 Ideal for: Startups, freelancers, and anyone who wants fast setup

🚀 SEO Wins:

Fast load times with minimal dependencies

Easy integration with SEO plugins

AMP support = better mobile rankings

Neve’s one-click demo import makes it a good pick if you’re not a designer but want a professional-looking site fast.

5. Blocksy – Modern, Gutenberg-Ready, and SEO-Focused

Blocksy is a hidden gem. It’s built for speed, uses modern coding practices, and pairs beautifully with the Gutenberg editor.

💡 Why I recommend it:

Lightweight and blazing fast

Accessible markup (great for SEO)

Dark mode and header builder for design lovers

Blocksy also lets you control your layout on a per-post/page basis — which is amazing if you’re optimizing content for specific keywords or campaigns.

for more information please check the blog that you get the best information

[wpelemento]

The Premium Scuba Diving WordPress Theme is a high-quality theme designed specifically for businesses in the scuba diving and water sports industry. Its sporty design and code-free setup make it easy for anyone to create a professional website, even without any coding knowledge.

[hinglishhelp]

WordPress Website Me Themes Kaise Upload Kare

WordPress website me themes kaise upload kare iss post me hum janenge, wordpress me blog banane ke baad jo sabse pehla kaam hota hai vo hai blog designing karna aur wordpress theme ko upload karke aap badi aasaani se apni website ko ek attractive aur professional look de sakte hai. Agar aap wordpress par search karenge to aapko bahut si popular, featured aur latest themes mil jayegi jinko aap…

[bloggertipstalk]

7 WordPress Blogging Themes (Free + Premium)

WordPress is a fantastic CMS for starting your blogging career or online business.  One reason is its large community of developers making awesome themes, plugins, and other essential WordPress products.   However, choosing suitable WordPress blogging themes can be a touchy task since there are thousands, and they are not created equally.  In today’s post, I put my WordPress experience to the…

[hob28]

WordPress Web Development: Your Ultimate Course Guide

WordPress is the world's most popular content management system (CMS), powering over 40% of all websites. Its flexibility, ease of use, and powerful features make it the go-to platform for web developers and businesses alike. If you want to excel in web development, mastering WordPress is a crucial step. Enrolling in a WordPress web development course can provide you with the skills and knowledge needed to create professional, dynamic websites. This article will delve into the benefits of taking a WordPress web development course, highlight some top course options, and offer tips to get the most out of your learning experience.

Why Enroll in a WordPress Web Development Course?

Comprehensive Learning Experience

A well-structured WordPress web development course offers a complete learning experience, covering everything from the basics of setting up a website to advanced development techniques. This ensures you gain a thorough understanding of WordPress and its capabilities.

Practical Skills

Hands-on projects and practical exercises are a staple of most WordPress courses. These activities help you apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios, enhancing your understanding and building your confidence.

Expert Guidance

Courses are often taught by experienced professionals who provide valuable insights, practical tips, and personalized feedback. Learning from industry experts can significantly accelerate your learning curve.

Up-to-Date Knowledge

WordPress is constantly evolving with new features and updates. A good course ensures you stay current with the latest developments and best practices in WordPress web development.

Career Advancement

Completing a reputable WordPress web development course can enhance your resume and career prospects. It demonstrates your commitment to learning and mastering web development, making you more attractive to potential employers or clients.

Top WordPress Web Development Courses

1. The Complete WordPress Development Course by Udemy

This comprehensive course by Udemy is perfect for those looking to master WordPress development. It covers everything from basic setup to advanced theme and plugin development. Instructor Juan Pablo De la Torre Valdez provides over 20 hours of video content and numerous practical projects.

Key Features:

Comprehensive curriculum

Extensive video content

Practical projects

Certificate of completion

2. WordPress for Beginners – Master WordPress Quickly by Udemy

Ideal for beginners, this course by Andrew Williams covers the essentials of setting up and managing a WordPress site. The course includes over 10 hours of video content, practical exercises, and lifetime access to materials.

Key Features:

Beginner-friendly

Comprehensive coverage

Practical exercises

Lifetime access

Certificate of completion

3. WordPress Development – Themes, Plugins & Gutenberg by LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning’s course, taught by Morten Rand-Hendriksen, focuses on essential web development skills using WordPress. The course covers theme customization, plugin integration, and working with the Gutenberg editor. Practical projects and a certificate of completion are included.

Key Features:

Essential web development skills

Practical projects

Certificate of completion

Access to LinkedIn Learning platform

4. Build a Professional Website with WordPress by Coursera

Offered by the University of London, this Coursera course is ideal for those who want to create professional websites using WordPress. The curriculum covers basic setup, theme customization, plugin integration, e-commerce functionality, and website security. A certificate from the University of London is awarded upon completion.

Key Features:

Professional-level training

E-commerce and security topics

Certificate from the University of London

Comprehensive curriculum

5. The Complete WordPress Website Business Course by Udemy

This course is designed for those who want to build a business using WordPress. It covers everything from website creation and customization to SEO optimization and e-commerce integration. The course includes over 20 hours of video content and practical projects.

Key Features:

Business-focused curriculum

Real-world experience

Practical projects

Certificate of completion

Tips for Success in a WordPress Web Development Course

Set Clear Goals

Before starting your course, define your objectives. Whether you want to build your own blog, develop custom themes, or start a web development business, having clear goals will keep you motivated and focused.

Create a Study Schedule

Consistency is crucial when learning a new skill. Set aside dedicated time each week to work on your course. A study schedule helps you stay on track and ensures steady progress.

Practice Regularly

WordPress and web development are skills that require hands-on practice. Make it a habit to practice regularly, even outside of your course assignments. Experiment with different themes, plugins, and customization options to gain confidence.

Engage with the Community

Participate in course forums, join study groups, and share your work for feedback. Engaging with other learners provides new perspectives, inspiration, and support when you encounter challenges.

Utilize Additional Resources

While your course will provide a wealth of information, don't hesitate to seek out additional resources. There are countless tutorials, blogs, and forums dedicated to WordPress and web development that can supplement your learning. Websites like WordPress.org, YouTube channels, and web development blogs are excellent places to find tips and inspiration.

Conclusion

Investing in a WordPress web development course is a fantastic way to enhance your web development skills and boost your career prospects. With the flexibility, expert instruction, and comprehensive learning materials that online courses offer, you can learn WordPress effectively and efficiently. Whether you're a beginner looking to get started or an experienced user aiming to refine your skills, there's a WordPress course out there that suits your needs. Start your learning journey today and unlock the full potential of WordPress!

[jonahyawi]

10 Best WordPress Blog Themes That Are Most Popular in 2024

Are you looking for a best WordPress blog theme that are lightweight and fastest for your website? There are thousands out there, making it hard for beginners to choose between all the different varieties.   But Here’s Our best Pick for Your Sites and Also, Handpicked by Famous WordPress Bloggers in 2024 Your free theme needs to be reliable and easily customizable, and well designed. Right? And…

[insolent--son]

remember when websites used to not hate us?

[sktthemes1]

Why Black and White Lite is the Best Free Theme for Minimalist Websites

Introduction

Simplicity is powerful—especially in web design. When you want your content to shine without distraction, a minimalist theme is your best ally. The Black and White Lite – Free Black and White Website Template provides a sleek canvas for bloggers, designers, writers, and anyone who values elegance in design.

This free WordPress theme focuses on clarity, readability, and usability without sacrificing customization or performance.

Benefits of a Black and White Website Design

1. Focused User Experience A monochrome layout removes visual clutter and keeps attention on your message or product.

2. Better Performance Minimal design means faster load times, fewer issues, and improved SEO performance.

3. Versatility for All Niches This theme isn’t locked into one industry. It’s great for personal blogs, artist portfolios, business landing pages, and more.

4. No Technical Skills Required Even if it’s your first website, you’ll find it easy to work with. The layout is simple, intuitive, and works well with drag-and-drop editors.

5. Future-Proof Aesthetics Black-and-white design never goes out of style. It adapts to changing trends while staying true to its timeless roots.

Standout Features of Black and White Lite

Prebuilt homepage with clean sections

Support for Gutenberg and Elementor for editing

Blog templates for sharing ideas or stories

Fully responsive across all devices

Works with SEO plugins, cache plugins, and WooCommerce

Simple color and font options

One-click demo content import

Translation support for multilingual sites

Ready to simplify your site and focus on what matters? Try the Free Black and White Website Template now.

Final Thought

You don’t need bright colors or flashy graphics to build a strong website. Sometimes, less is more. Black and White Lite proves that minimalism can still be bold, effective, and beautiful—all while being 100% free.

FAQs

1. Can I use this theme for a business website? Yes, it’s versatile enough for blogs, portfolios, and small business sites.

2. Is the design mobile-friendly? Yes, it's fully responsive.

3. Does the theme support blog content? Absolutely. You can add posts, categories, tags, and more.

[jcmarchi]

10+ Best Free WordPress Themes for Photographers in 2025 — Speckyboy

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/10-best-free-wordpress-themes-for-photographers-in-2025-speckyboy/

10+ Best Free WordPress Themes for Photographers in 2025 — Speckyboy

A well-designed website is a great opportunity for photographers. It’s a personal space to showcase your best work, displaying your talent and style away from the chaos of social media. You can use it to transport visitors into your world.

WordPress is the perfect platform for building photography websites. You’ll find plenty of themes that put your images front and center and include features designed for professionals. There’s a great selection of free themes available.

These themes also aim for ease of use. Some have custom settings panels, while others use the WordPress Site Editor. Thus, you have options for how you want to build your site.

Let’s take a look at some of the best free WordPress themes available for photographers. You’ll be sure to find one that fits your desired aesthetic.

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org – What’s the difference?

We get this question all the time, and we’re happy to help.

WordPress.org is the most powerful website building software on the web. You will need to find a hosting provider if you want that site online.

WordPress.com is our preferred hosting provider for medium-large traffic websites.

If you want to know why WordPress.com is our preferred host for ambitious passion projects and large website projects, read our review:

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Here’s a block theme with a clean and minimal style. It features a full-width layout along with a selection of custom style variations. You’ll also find attractive block patterns to help you build your site faster. There is plenty of design flexibility for every niche.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

This beautiful dark theme will make your images the star of the show. It includes a plethora of assets that will help you personalize the look and content. The theme includes 25 block patterns, 16 templates, and 11 template parts to help unleash your creativity.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Showcase your wedding photography services with this classy WordPress theme. The theme includes support for WooCommerce and includes beautiful blog templates. It’s a great choice for photographers looking to attract new clients with a do-it-all website.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Bring your photography projects to life with Pixel Photography. You’ll find a clean and modern layout that’s perfect for photo bloggers. Tweak the custom gallery and portfolio options to make it your own. There’s something for every photo pro.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Featuring a colorful look and classic typography, Fashion Photography is an attractive complement to your images. The theme includes a featured slider section to show off your latest work. There are also multiple layout options to help you achieve the right look.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Get your photography website off to a quick start with this block theme. There are over a dozen handy block patterns included to simplify page building. You’ll also find stunning animation and hover effects. Gutenify Photography brings a professional finish to your project.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Fukasawa features a masonry layout and sidebar navigation to put your photos in focus. Extra goodies include a gallery slideshow, custom widgets, and support for custom post formats. The result is a simple canvas that lets your images speak for themselves.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

You can use Fotogenic to build a stunning photography website with minimal effort. A classic theme that uses the WordPress Customizer includes multiple archive layouts and a custom header. There’s plenty of room to let your images shine.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Here’s a block theme that caters to creatives. It features three black-and-white style variations and bold typography. The color-changing hover effects are perfect for showcasing your photographs. You’ll find style and substance with this theme.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Nexal includes everything you need to build a top-notch photography website. There are style variations covering a variety of color palettes and three dozen block patterns. Images are styled to stand out, while the typography is clean and easy to read. Full site editing support means that every element is easy to customize within WordPress.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

Colorful and unique, Freelance Portfolio provides photographers with a stylish home on the web. It features customizable portfolio templates to show off your projects. There are also attention-grabbing hover effects and helpful block patterns. This theme is proof that it’s good to be outside of the ordinary.

Free to Download | Demo | WordPress Hosting

This masonry theme adds an elegant touch to your photo blog. It comes packed with six style variations and is compatible with the WordPress Site Editor. Take it, customize it, and show the world your art.

Your Photos Deserve a Great Website

Your website is an integral part of your photographic journey. Professionals and hobbyists alike benefit from a site that reflects their personality. It’s all about creating the right mood while guiding users through your portfolio.

The WordPress themes above provide a path to achieve your goals. There’s something here for all manner of specialties – nature, weddings, landscapes, portraits – you name it. You won’t have to bend to what the theme can do. Rather, you can shape it to match the look and feel you want. The new breed of block themes is especially flexible in this respect.

Great photography requires vision and top-notch tools. The same can be said of your website. Choose the right theme, and it will paint your images in the best possible light.

Photography WordPress Theme FAQs

What Are Photography WordPress Themes?

They are WordPress themes specifically designed for photographers and photography websites. They focus on showcasing images in high quality and often include galleries, sliders, and portfolio features.

Who Should Use Photography WordPress Themes?

Professional photographers, photography enthusiasts, and anyone wanting to create an online photography portfolio or gallery would benefit greatly from these themes.

Why Choose a Photography-Specific Theme for Your WordPress Site?

They are optimized to handle high-resolution images and present them in an attractive, easy-to-navigate manner, improving the visual appeal of your photography work.

Can Photographers Customize These Themes to Fit Their Style?

Yes, these photography themes offer a range of customization options, allowing photographers to adjust layouts, colors, and fonts to match their brand and style.

If you’re getting ready to launch your photography website or if you’re in need of a redesign, choosing the right theme is crucial. These themes are packed with features geared for photographers, and they offer an attractive design to boot. They are also free, so be sure to try them today!

More Free WordPress Themes

Related Articles

Related Topics

Written by Eric Karkovack

Eric Karkovack is a web designer and WordPress expert with over two decades of experience. You can visit his business site here. He recently started a writing service for WordPress products: WP Product Writeup. He also has an opinion on just about every subject. You can follow his rants on Bluesky @karks.com.

Read more articles by Eric Karkovack

[seohabibi]

Unlock the potential of your website with our curated list of the top WordPress themes for 2023. This comprehensive guide showcases the latest themes that offer stunning design, cutting-edge features, and the flexibility to create a website that truly stands out. Whether you're building a blog, portfolio, e-commerce site, or a business website, these themes are handpicked to help you make a powerful online impression.

[virounoticiasbr]

Divine Blog - Wordpress Themes

Divine Blog é um tema de blog limpo e minimalista, perfeito para escritores que precisam criar um blog pessoal com recursos e efeitos criativos simples para fazer os leitores sentirem o prazer de ler postagens e artigos de blog.

[tinystepsforward]

autocrattic (more matt shenanigans, not tumblr this time)

I am almost definitely not the right person for this writeup, but I'm closer than most people on here, so here goes! This is all open-source tech drama, and I take my time laying out the context, but the short version is: Matt tried to extort another company, who immediately posted receipts, and now he's refusing to log off again. The long version is... long.

If you don't need software context, scroll down/find the "ok tony that's enough. tell me what's actually happening" heading, or just go read the pink sections. Or look at this PDF.

the background

So. Matt's original Good Idea was starting WordPress with fellow developer Mike Little in 2003, which is free and open-source software (FOSS) that was originally just for blogging, but now powers lots of websites that do other things. In particular, Automattic acquired WooCommerce a long time ago, which is free online store software you can run on WordPress.

FOSS is... interesting. It's a world that ultimately is powered by people who believe deeply that information and resources should be free, but often have massive blind spots (for example, Wikipedia's consistently had issues with bias, since no amount of "anyone can edit" will overcome systemic bias in terms of who has time to edit or is not going to be driven away by the existing contributor culture). As with anything else that people spend thousands of hours doing online, there's drama. As with anything else that's technically free but can be monetized, there are:

Heaps of companies and solo developers who profit off WordPress themes, plugins, hosting, and other services;

Conflicts between volunteer contributors and for-profit contributors;

Annoying founders who get way too much credit for everything the project has become.

the WordPress ecosystem

A project as heavily used as WordPress (some double-digit percentage of the Internet uses WP. I refuse to believe it's the 43% that Matt claims it is, but it's a pretty large chunk) can't survive just on the spare hours of volunteers, especially in an increasingly monetised world where its users demand functional software, are less and less tech or FOSS literate, and its contributors have no fucking time to build things for that userbase.

Matt runs Automattic, which is a privately-traded, for-profit company. The free software is run by the WordPress Foundation, which is technically completely separate (wordpress.org). The main products Automattic offers are WordPress-related: WordPress.com, a host which was designed to be beginner-friendly; Jetpack, a suite of plugins which extend WordPress in a whole bunch of ways that may or may not make sense as one big product; WooCommerce, which I've already mentioned. There's also WordPress VIP, which is the fancy bespoke five-digit-plus option for enterprise customers. And there's Tumblr, if Matt ever succeeds in putting it on WordPress. (Every Tumblr or WordPress dev I know thinks that's fucking ridiculous and impossible. Automattic's hiring for it anyway.)

Automattic devotes a chunk of its employees toward developing Core, which is what people in the WordPress space call WordPress.org, the free software. This is part of an initiative called Five for the Future — 5% of your company's profits off WordPress should go back into making the project better. Many other companies don't do this.

There are lots of other companies in the space. GoDaddy, for example, barely gives back in any way (and also sucks). WP Engine is the company this drama is about. They don't really contribute to Core. They offer relatively expensive WordPress hosting, as well as providing a series of other WordPress-related products like LocalWP (local site development software), Advanced Custom Fields (the easiest way to set up advanced taxonomies and other fields when making new types of posts. If you don't know what this means don't worry about it), etc.

Anyway. Lots of strong personalities. Lots of for-profit companies. Lots of them getting invested in, or bought by, private equity firms.

Matt being Matt, tech being tech

As was said repeatedly when Matt was flipping out about Tumblr, all of the stuff happening at Automattic is pretty normal tech company behaviour. Shit gets worse. People get less for their money. WordPress.com used to be a really good place for people starting out with a website who didn't need "real" WordPress — for $48 a year on the Personal plan, you had really limited features (no plugins or other customisable extensions), but you had a simple website with good SEO that was pretty secure, relatively easy to use, and 24-hour access to Happiness Engineers (HEs for short. Bad job title. This was my job) who could walk you through everything no matter how bad at tech you were. Then Personal plan users got moved from chat to emails only. Emails started being responded to by contractors who didn't know as much as HEs did and certainly didn't get paid half as well. Then came AI, and the mandate for HEs to try to upsell everyone things they didn't necessarily need. (This is the point at which I quit.)

But as was said then as well, most tech CEOs don't publicly get into this kind of shitfight with their users. They're horrid tyrants, but they don't do it this publicly.

ok tony that's enough. tell me what's actually happening

WordCamp US, one of the biggest WordPress industry events of the year, is the backdrop for all this. It just finished.

There are.... a lot of posts by Matt across multiple platforms because, as always, he can't log off. But here's the broad strokes.

Sep 17

Matt publishes a wanky blog post about companies that profit off open source without giving back. It targets a specific company, WP Engine.

Compare the Five For the Future pages from Automattic and WP Engine, two companies that are roughly the same size with revenue in the ballpark of half a billion. These pledges are just a proxy and aren’t perfectly accurate, but as I write this, Automattic has 3,786 hours per week (not even counting me!), and WP Engine has 47 hours. WP Engine has good people, some of whom are listed on that page, but the company is controlled by Silver Lake, a private equity firm with $102 billion in assets under management. Silver Lake doesn’t give a dang about your Open Source ideals. It just wants a return on capital. So it’s at this point that I ask everyone in the WordPress community to vote with your wallet. Who are you giving your money to? Someone who’s going to nourish the ecosystem, or someone who’s going to frack every bit of value out of it until it withers?

(It's worth noting here that Automattic is funded in part by BlackRock, who Wikipedia calls "the world's largest asset manager".)

Sep 20 (WCUS final day)

WP Engine puts out a blog post detailing their contributions to WordPress.

Matt devotes his keynote/closing speech to slamming WP Engine.

He also implies people inside WP Engine are sending him information.

For the people sending me stuff from inside companies, please do not do it on your work device. Use a personal phone, Signal with disappearing messages, etc. I have a bunch of journalists happy to connect you with as well. #wcus — Twitter I know private equity and investors can be brutal (read the book Barbarians at the Gate). Please let me know if any employee faces firing or retaliation for speaking up about their company's participation (or lack thereof) in WordPress. We'll make sure it's a big public deal and that you get support. — Tumblr

Matt also puts out an offer live at WordCamp US:

“If anyone of you gets in trouble for speaking up in favor of WordPress and/or open source, reach out to me. I’ll do my best to help you find a new job.” — source tweet, RTed by Matt

He also puts up a poll asking the community if WP Engine should be allowed back at WordCamps.

Sep 21

Matt writes a blog post on the WordPress.org blog (the official project blog!): WP Engine is not WordPress.

He opens this blog post by claiming his mom was confused and thought WP Engine was official.

The blog post goes on about how WP Engine disabled post revisions (which is a pretty normal thing to do when you need to free up some resources), therefore being not "real" WordPress. (As I said earlier, WordPress.com disables most features for Personal and Premium plans. Or whatever those plans are called, they've been renamed like 12 times in the last few years. But that's a different complaint.)

Sep 22: More bullshit on Twitter. Matt makes a Reddit post on r/Wordpress about WP Engine that promptly gets deleted. Writeups start to come out:

Search Engine Journal: WordPress Co-Founder Mullenweg Sparks Backlash

TechCrunch: Matt Mullenweg calls WP Engine a ‘cancer to WordPress’ and urges community to switch providers

Sep 23 onward

Okay, time zones mean I can't effectively sequence the rest of this.

Matt defends himself on Reddit, casually mentioning that WP Engine is now suing him.

Also here's a decent writeup from someone involved with the community that may be of interest.

WP Engine drops the full PDF of their cease and desist, which includes screenshots of Matt apparently threatening them via text.

Twitter link | Direct PDF link

This PDF includes some truly fucked texts where Matt appears to be trying to get WP Engine to pay him money unless they want him to tell his audience at WCUS that they're evil.

Matt, after saying he's been sued and can't talk about it, hosts a Twitter Space and talks about it for a couple hours.

He also continues to post on Reddit, Twitter, and on the Core contributor Slack.

Here's a comment where he says WP Engine could have avoided this by paying Automattic 8% of their revenue.

Another, 20 hours ago, where he says he's being downvoted by "trolls, probably WPE employees"

At some point, Matt updates the WordPress Foundation trademark policy. I am 90% sure this was him — it's not legalese and makes no fucking sense to single out WP Engine.

Old text: The abbreviation “WP” is not covered by the WordPress trademarks and you are free to use it in any way you see fit. New text: The abbreviation “WP” is not covered by the WordPress trademarks, but please don’t use it in a way that confuses people. For example, many people think WP Engine is “WordPress Engine” and officially associated with WordPress, which it’s not. They have never once even donated to the WordPress Foundation, despite making billions of revenue on top of WordPress.

Sep 25: Automattic puts up their own legal response.

anyway this fucking sucks

This is bigger than anything Matt's done before. I'm so worried about my friends who're still there. The internal ramifications have... been not great so far, including that Matt's naturally being extra gung-ho about "you're either for me or against me and if you're against me then don't bother working your two weeks".

Despite everything, I like WordPress. (If you dig into this, you'll see plenty of people commenting about blocks or Gutenberg or React other things they hate. Unlike many of the old FOSSheads, I actually also think Gutenberg/the block editor was a good idea, even if it was poorly implemented.)

I think that the original mission — to make it so anyone can spin up a website that's easy enough to use and blog with — is a good thing. I think, despite all the ways being part of FOSS communities since my early teens has led to all kinds of racist, homophobic and sexual harm for me and for many other people, that free and open-source software is important.

So many people were already burning out of the project. Matt has been doing this for so long that those with long memories can recite all the ways he's wrecked shit back a decade or more. Most of us are exhausted and need to make money to live. The world is worse than it ever was.

Social media sucks worse and worse, and this was a world in which people missed old webrings, old blogs, RSS readers, the world where you curated your own whimsical, unpaid corner of the Internet. I started actually actively using my own WordPress blog this year, and I've really enjoyed it.

And people don't want to deal with any of this.

The thing is, Matt's right about one thing: capital is ruining free open-source software. What he's wrong about is everything else: the idea that WordPress.com isn't enshittifying (or confusing) at a much higher rate than WP Engine, the idea that WP Engine or Silver Lake are the only big players in the field, the notion that he's part of the solution and not part of the problem.

But he's started a battle where there are no winners but the lawyers who get paid to duke it out, and all the volunteers who've survived this long in an ecosystem increasingly dominated by big money are giving up and leaving.

Anyway if you got this far, consider donating to someone on gazafunds.com. It'll take much less time than reading this did.