Coming to WordCamp US with a Cautious Hope

I have to admit I am heading into WordCamp US this year with mixed feelings. Portland is a beautiful city, but the memory of last year and the sharp fracture of our community still lingers. As someone who cares deeply about this ecosystem, the recent unpleasantness in WordPress has been hard to endure.

That said, I remain hopeful. While ticket sales are noticeably lower this year, I believe this week has the potential to be a healing event for the US WordPress community. WordCamp has always been about people coming together to share knowledge, connect, and renew our collective energy for the work we do. My hope is that this conference is remembered for rebuilding trust, collaboration, and the spirit that has always made WordPress strong.

With that in mind, I have been looking over the schedule and picking out the sessions I am most eager to attend. Here are some of them:

• Establishing Authority: How Agency Owners Can Use Content to Elevate Their Thought Leadership — Kelly Schuknecht will explain how agencies can use content to build authority and attract better clients.
• Core AI: What We’re Building — James LePage, Felix Arntz, Jeffrey Paul, and Matías Ventura will share updates from the WordPress Core AI team.
• Fixing and Optimizing Websites with AI — Arnas Donauskas will show how AI can fix site errors and improve performance.
• Turn Your Local WordPress Install Into Your AI Coding Assistant — Jonathan Bossenger will show how to transform a local WordPress site into an AI-powered coding assistant.
• From Storefront to Strategy: What Happens When AI Shops for Your Customers? — Sonja Ibele will explore how AI assistants are changing e-commerce.
• The Silent Killer of Agency Growth (and How to Fix It) — Vito Peleg will reveal how agencies can overcome unstable revenue and build sustainable growth.

And of course, I’m looking forward to presenting my own session on Friday at 11:30 AM PDT: Confident Consultations: Qualify and Close with the SCOPE Strategy. I’ll be sharing a practical framework that helps agency owners manage client consultations more effectively and close more projects.

If you’re not able to attend in person, all the sessions will be available by livestream (view all the livestream links here). And of course, if you will be at WordCamp US in person, I’d love to connect with you!

Equalize Digital Releases 2025 Comparison of Page Builder Accessibility

• Amber Hinds of Equalize Digital has released a deep dive comparison of accessibility in major WordPress page builders.
• The report evaluates how well page builders support accessibility with their default tools.
• Builders were compared based on components (like navigation, search, accordion, carousel/slider, form, tabs, etc.) and WCAG guidelines (like skip to content link, keyboard navigation support, and labelled form fields).
• The Top 3:
  • Kadence — 100%
  • GeneratePress/GenerateBlocks — 81.66%
  • Greyd — 77.28%
• The Bottom 3:
  • Divi — 36.24%
  • Live Composer — 32.22%
  • Brizy — 22.94%

Is Your Host Blocking AI Bots Without Your Knowledge?

• Recent discussions in agency and SEO groups point out that some web hosts have started blocking AI crawlers without their customers knowledge.
• Restricting AI crawlers may protect server resources and content, but it risks keeping websites out of AI search overviews.
• This free analyzer tool can help you see whether or not the top AI bots can access your site.

Worth a Look

• EventKoi is a new event calendar plugin for WordPress from Post Status member Lesley Kim. A lifetime deal is available this week only.
• A technical walkthrough of how FAIR actually works with Chris Reynolds and Ryan McCue.
• Connectors for ChatGPT now let you access your data from tools like Canva, Dropbox, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Notion, and Outlook.
• Site Spotlight is a new weekly YouTube Series from Progress Planner where Marieke van de Rakt and Iris Guelen offer feedback on website designs.
• Barn2’s Katie Keith shared a helpful example of creating engaging 404 pages in response to incorrect URLs provided by in AI tools