Business

The business of WordPress.

Post Status Excerpt (No. 70) — Trust and Distrust: Microaggressions, Active Install Growth Data for Plugins, and Open Source Security

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Dan Knauss
In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Dan and Ny take on three issues in the WordPress community that can threaten or impair trust while also revealing how foundational trust and healthy communication are: 1) racism and microaggressions, 2) the sudden removal and uncertain fate of the active install growth chart in the WordPress.org plugin repository, and 3) open source and security. Briefly discussed: emerging US federal policy that aims to secure open-source software. Zero-trust architecture might work well for networked machines, but human relationships and communities need trust.

Active Install Charts Removed from Plugin Repo

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Dan Knauss
In reaction to as-yet-unpublicized details about the abuse of active install data in the WordPress.org plugin repository, the charts displaying that data have been removed from plugin pages in a move expected to be temporary. Important (and some familiar) questions are emerging as this story unfolds: how to balance the values of openness, security, and privacy as well as cooperation and competition at WordPress.org — still the central hub for WordPress plugin businesses.

What is WP Cloud?

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Dan Knauss
WP Cloud is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) built on the hosting infrastructure that’s behind WP.com, Pressable, and WordPress VIP with GridPane soon to follow. Agencies that want to white label their client hosting are ideal customers for WP Cloud via GridPane.

The Unofficial Directory of WordPress WBEs

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Dan Knauss
Last week, Steve Burge asked on Twitter, "how many female-run WordPress companies are there?" A big list emerged in the replies: https://twitter.com/SteveJBurge/status/1569754167241228288?s=20&t=l-zqN1WSUMzOeZ_H-NYNYg

WP Biz Dev Job Board

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Dan Knauss
Lawrence Ladomery has launched WP Biz Dev, "the first job board dedicated exclusively to Marketing and Sales roles for WordPress businesses." MORE →

First of the Independents

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Dan Knauss
Consolidation through mergers and acquisitions isn't the only big business story in WordPress. Partnerships are increasing too. Founders investing in founders. Product companies and agencies expanding their own ecosystems. Informal partnerships to protect common interests. There are a lot of ways to grow on your own terms in WordPress.

Business Roundup for the Week of September 19, 2022

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Dan Knauss
Vito Peleg, Atarim‘s cofounder and CEO, explains how he “cracked” the partnership problem to find alignment with other companies that can help them all accelerate their growth. Alex Denning on the launch of Ellipsis' Weather Report: “We’ve never had this insight before, and it is exciting and terrifying to bring this kind of ‘live' view of the industry, to the industry.” The acquisition trend is still up, on average. Meet Post Status business member Penske Media CorporationPMC.

The Ellipsis Weather Report is Live

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Dan Knauss
Every week, Ellipsis' Weather Report will show how much WordPress and WooCommerce search and advertiser activity has increased or dropped relative to the previous week. By watching these two trendlines, you can gauge whether your own search and sales trends are performing in line with the industry at large.

Why do designers quit their jobs?

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Dan Knauss
Matej Latin did a survey of designers who quit their jobs and discovered: No career progression opportunities and unhappiness with the work they do were about equal, at about 20% each.Problems with company culture came next.A lack of UX maturity…
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