WordPress for All - WordCamp Rochester 2019

@andymci
WordPress for All
Andy McIlwain
WordCamp Rochester 2019

@andymci
Hi! I’m Andy.
@andymci on Twitter

@andymci
WordPress is versatile.
It’s the IKEA of website builders

@andymci
New to WordPress?
Welcome!
We’re weird and you’ll get used to it

@andymci
Experienced user?
Check your assumptions.
Where we were before
isn’t where we’re going next

@andymci
A talk, in three parts:
Part 1:
How did we get
here?
Part 2:
Enter the
blogosphere
Part 3:
WordPress past,
present, and
future
Also, GIFS!

@andymci
Part 1:
How did we get here?

@andymci
To understand WordPress,
let’s back up.
Like… REALLY back up

@andymci
1958: ARPA
(Advanced Research Projects Agency)
Started by
Eisenhower
Response to the
Soviets/Sputnik
Funds high-tech
military research

@andymci
1969: ARPANET
Computer
network
Academic
project
Connects
Stanford & UCLA

@andymci
Early ’70s: Another ARPANET
East Coast
Connects
Harvard & MIT

@andymci
1973: Europe connects
New ARPANET-
like networks
1st international
ARPANET node
University
College London

@andymci
1974: A modest proposal
Create a global
“inter-network”
Connect existing
networks
Decentralized
infrastructure

@andymci
1975: First email client
*NEW* Reply *NEW* Forward

@andymci
1977:
First PC modems
sold to hobbyists

@andymci
1978: Bulletin Board Systems
First BBS in
Chicago area
Local users can
post messages
Also: First spam
in California

@andymci
1979: Usenet
Connects users
globally
Organized by
topic/newsgroup
Decentralized
infrastructure

@andymci
1980: ENQUIRE at CERN
Program to
organize info
Info connected
with hyperlinks
Created by Tim-
Berners Lee

@andymci
1983: ARPANET + TCP/IP
TCP/IP began w/
DARPA in 70’s
Standard, open
protocol
Still used today!

@andymci
1984: Domain Name System
+ Domain Name
Servers (DNS)
= Memorable
internet
addresses
Still used today!

@andymci
1985: Virtual Communities
Mutual hobbies,
interests, jobs
The WELL, from
Whole Earth
Review mag
The WELL
outlasts the mag

@andymci
1987:
Global internet reaches
30,000 hosts

@andymci
1988: IRC
Internet Relay
Chat protocol
Real-time
conversations
Pre-IM private
messaging

@andymci
1989: AOL comes online
Pre-internet,
pre-web
CompuServe for
non-techie users
Offers exclusive
content, games

@andymci
1989:
Tim Berners-Lee proposes
the World Wide Web at CERN

@andymci
1990: ARPANET shuts down
1st commercial
dial-up ISP
HTTP, HTML,
URL protocols
Global internet
carries on

@andymci
1991: First web page
Open &
accessible to
anyone
An “About” page
for the WWW
+ Gopher, first
search protocol

@andymci
1993: Mosaic
First web
browser for the
masses
White House &
UN get .gov,
.org TLDs
CERN moves
WWW to public
domain

@andymci
1994: Netscape & friends
Netscape
Navigator
Tripod &
GeoCities launch
WIRED launches
“hotwired.com”

@andymci
1995: Commercialized web
SSL encryption
= $$$ecurity
eBay + Amazon
launch
JavaScript, PHP,
HTML 1.0

@andymci
1995:
…oh, and Internet Explorer.

@andymci
1996: Keeps it goin’
Hotmail
launches
Microsoft buys
FrontPage
CSS 1.0

@andymci
1996: …and goin’
Web
Accessibility
Initiative
More WYSIWYG
editors
New books on
web design

@andymci
It’s one hell of a timeline.
Military
Research
Academic
Projects
Globalized &
commercializedbecomes becomes

@andymci
It didn’t happen all at once.
It was a gradual community effort

@andymci
1960’s  1990’s
Open
Technology
Private + Public
Collaboration
Mutual Benefit
This is the world WordPress comes from
built on leads to

@andymci
Part 2:
Enter the blogosphere

@andymci
90’s online presence
Domain Email Address Home Page
Trifecta!

@andymci
Your home page
Build in code or
WYSIWYWG
Save your HTML
file(s)
Upload to your
web server
Artisanal, handcrafted webpages

@andymci
1994: Links.net,
One of the first.

@andymci
1997:
Robot Wisdom Weblog

@andymci
1999: “weblog”  “blog”
RSS LiveJournal Blogger
On the cusp of something big

@andymci
2000: …and blogs carry on
Fueled by
Blogger
Niche blogs
emerge
Blogs beat MSM
to the punch
Thus begins the heyday of blogging

@andymci
2001: b2 + Movable Type
Self-hosted,
OSS blog tools
Alternatives to
Blogger
Six Apart
incorporates
Two households, both alike in dignity…

@andymci
Two households, both alike in dignity…

@andymci
2002: New players emerge
Google AdSense
launches
Mozilla org splits
from Netscape
WordPress
forked from b2
…on the open web, where we set our scene…

@andymci
2004: Year of WordPress
Movable Type
changes license
WordPress 1.2,
a critical release
MT users switch
to WordPress
…from licensing grudge, break to mutiny

@andymci
2004: Year of WordPress
WordPress &
blogs take off
People make a
living with blogs
Conferences &
meetups pop up
The momentum keeps building

@andymci
2005: Blogs, blogs everywhere
MSM embraces
blogs & bloggers
TheFacebook 
Facebook
New ”Web 2.0”
startups emerge
Uh oh.

@andymci
Web 1.0 vs Web 2.0
Open vs.
closed platforms
Selling access
vs. selling ads
User privacy vs.
convenience
“Move fast and cripple society”

@andymci
WordPress is a bit of both
Community-
driven OSS
platform
Sale of add-on
products &
services
User freedomenabling while
preserving

@andymci
Example: WordPress.com
Built on
WordPress
Sells upgrades &
features
Contributes to
WordPress core
If your business builds on WordPress, give back!

@andymci
Part 3:
WordPress past, present,
and future

@andymci
October 2004
Matt Mullenweg
joins CNET
Runs their blog
operation
Leaves in
October 2005
2005 and beyond: Full-time WordPress BDFL

@andymci
December 2005:
WordPress 2.0, “Duke”
New admin UI TinyMCE functions.php

@andymci
January 2007:
WordPress 2.1, “Ella”
Autosave
Search Engine
Privacy
Set page as
homepage

@andymci
May 2007:
WordPress 2.2, “Getz”
WordPress
Widgets
Blogger
importer
Hardcode URLs
in wp-config.php

@andymci
September 2007:
WordPress 2.3, “Dexter”
Post tags
Improved URL
handling
”Pending
Review” status

@andymci
March 2008:
WordPress 2.5, “Brecker”
Happy Cog’s
controversial UI
Dashboard
widgets
Custom
taxonomies

@andymci
July 2008:
WordPress 2.6, “Tyner”
Theme previews
Bulk manage
plugins
Theme directory
goes live

@andymci
December 2008:
WordPress 2.7, “Coltrane”
Redesigned
dashboard
Customizable
screens
One-click core
updates

@andymci
June 2009:
WordPress 2.8, “Baker”
One-click theme
installations
Overhauled
widgets UI
CodePress back-
end editor

@andymci
December 2009:
WordPress 2.9, “Carmen”
Global undo
“Trash” feature
Built-in image
editor
Batch plugin
updates

@andymci
June 2010:
WordPress 3.0, “Thelonious One”
Twenty Ten
default theme
Tons of new
developer APIs
WordPress MU
rolled into core

@andymci
July 2010:
WordPress hits
100,000,000 downloads

@andymci
February 2011:
WordPress 3.1, “Reinhardt”
Admin toolbar
New CMS
capabilities
Network Admin
for Multisite

@andymci
July 2011:
WordPress 3.2, “Gershwin”
Twenty Eleven
default theme
Refreshed UI
Distraction-free
writing mode

@andymci
December 2011:
WordPress 3.3, “Sonny”
Drag-and-drop
file uploader
Tooltips New editor API

@andymci
June 2012:
WordPress 3.4, “Green”
Theme
customizer
Embed support
for tweets
WP_Query
improvements

@andymci
December 2012:
WordPress 3.5, “Elvin”
Twenty Twelve
default theme
New “Add
Media” flow
”Links” manager
removed

@andymci
August 2013:
WordPress 3.6, “Oscar”
Twenty Thirteen
default theme
Post locking &
better autosave
New custom
menu editor

@andymci
October 2013:
WordPress 3.7, “Basie”
Auto-updates
Plugin-first
development
Improved global
support

@andymci
December 2013:
WordPress 3.8, “Parker”
Twenty Fourteen
default theme
Redesigned
admin area
Overhauled
theme screen

@andymci
April 2014:
WordPress 3.9, “Smith”
Visual editor
improvements
New theme
browser
New previews in
the customizer

@andymci
September 2014:
WordPress 4.0, “Benny”
Overhauled
plugin browser
Easier content
embeds
Responsive
visual editor

@andymci
December 2014:
WordPress 4.1, “Dinah”
Twenty Fifteen
default theme
Choose install
language
Recommended
plugins update

@andymci
April 2015:
WordPress 4.2, “Powell”
Character
support
Switch themes
in customizer
One-click plugin
updates

@andymci
August 2015:
WordPress 4.3, “Billie”
Menus added to
the customizer
Password
strength checker
Performance
improvements

@andymci
December 2015:
WordPress 4.4, “Clifford”
Twenty Sixteen
default theme
Responsive
images
Core REST API
infrastructure

@andymci
April 2016:
WordPress 4.5, “Coleman”
Inline link editor
Formatting
shortcuts
Responsive
previews in the
customizer

@andymci
August 2016:
WordPress 4.6, “Pepper”
Improved one-
click updates
Google Fonts
removed
Editor leverages
browser caching

@andymci
December 2016:
WordPress 4.7, “Vaughan”
Twenty
Seventeen
default theme
Major
customizer
updates
REST API
content
endpoints

@andymci
June 2017:
WordPress 4.8, “Evans”
New widgets for
media & text
Local events in
the dashboard
New editor link
boundaries

@andymci
November 2017:
WordPress 4.9, “Tipton”
More customizer
features
Error checking
in code editor
Preview themes
in customizer

@andymci
December 2018:
WordPress 5.0, “Bebo”
“Gutenberg”
block editor
Twenty Nineteen
default theme
Classic Editor
plugin

@andymci
February 2019:
WordPress 5.1, “Betty”
Block editor
improvements
Site Health
features
Multisite
metadata

@andymci
May 2019:
WordPress 5.2, “Jaco”
Site Health
improvements
Recovery Mode
Accessibility
updates

@andymci
Today?
WordPress 5.3, WIP
Twenty Twenty
default theme
More block
editor features
Performance
improvements

@andymci
Yep. That’s a lot of stuff.
And it’s worked really well

@andymci
WordPress dominates the CMS market.

@andymci
Three phases:
Early fit:
Core features,
responding to
user feedback
Maturity:
UX changes,
performance,
stability
Growth:
Big changes to
attract new
users
…but why?

@andymci
It’s not “switch to WordPress”
it’s “start with WordPress”
…but how?

@andymci
So it went with the web…
Open
Technology
Private + Public
Collaboration
Mutual Benefitbuilt on leads to

@andymci
…so it goes with WordPress
Open
Technology
Private + Public
Collaboration
Mutual Benefitbuilt on leads to

@andymci
Open technology:
A private & public collaboration
leading to mutual benefit
This is WordPress

@andymci
Is WordPress right for you?

@andymci
WordPress is a tool
More flexible
than a website
builder
You can’t set it
and forget it
Learn to DIY or
hire someone
WordPress needs maintenance

@andymci
What can you make with it?
A side gig
building sites for
other people
Membership site
with paying
subscribers
Online store
selling digital or
physical goods
No code required, TY plugin developers!

@andymci
Are you a developer?
Treat WordPress
as the back-end
Web apps built
with REST API
Static w/
GatsbyJS
Headless WordPress is all the rage!

@andymci
Why WordPress, in general?
Test your ideas
with quick &
easy changes
You’re not
locked in to one
company
You can easily
pull data out of
WordPress
You’re in control

@andymci
How can you give back
to the WordPress community?

@andymci
Running a business?
Support makers
– pay for what
you use!
Don’t use the
GPL as a
loophole
Consider hiring
full-time
contributors
Don’t steal from other small businesses

@andymci
Are you a developer?
Contribute to
WordPress Core
Release some
work under GPL
Submit plugins
to the repo
Pay it forward, share your code

@andymci
Not a developer?
Share what you
know via blog
posts & video
Help other users
in the .org
support forums
Write docs for
your favourite
plugins
You can still give back!

@andymci
Join the community!
Speak at or host
a local meetup
Volunteer at a
local WordCamp
Join a Make
WordPress team
You can still give back!

@andymci
Okay. Final thoughts.

@andymci
WordPress has come a long way from its
humble blogger beginnings.
The official WordPress mission is to
democratize publishing. But WordPress
represents much more than publishing.
WordPress represents an alternative.
An alternative to closed platforms.
An alternative to centralized networks.
An alternative to behemoth corporations.
It's a free choice, an open choice, a responsible
choice. It's free for all to use, and free for you
to make what you want of it.
So press on.

@andymci
Make the web you want.

@andymci
Thank you!
@andymci on Twitter & LinkedIn
@andy.mcilwain on Instagram
Find the slides + post @ andymci.ca/rochester

WordPress for All - WordCamp Rochester 2019

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