Recently I was looking into what make the WordPress Community so effective. Lots of companies would love to have anything like the WP Community as the power behind their offerings.
After some diligent Googling around and a little chat with ChatGPT I didn’t find much that would explain why the WordPress Community is successful by any measure.
I took it upon myself, one who has been attached to the WP Community for years now, to answer my own questions.
3 Things That Makes The WordPress Community Special
1. Building Something Together Of Significance
WordPress is an open-source platform, which means its source code is freely available to the public. This openness encourages collaboration and contributions from a vast community of developers, designers, and users. The collective efforts of this diverse community result in constant improvements, bug fixes, and the development of new features.
Working collaboratively on a project that many have a vested interest in its success and that is important to millions is a cohesive factor.
Here are those who fit this description.
- An extender (the term given to those who extend WP’s core functionality through third party services, plugins or themes).
- Web hosting companies that specialize in hosting WP sites and providing related services.
- A huge number of small businesses and freelance website designers and developers.
- WP Agencies of which there are numerous around the world and some of the thigh care getting very large. working on multi-million-dollar projects.
- Website instructors and/or WP content creators (me).
- Website owners.
2. An Active And Engaged Community
The WordPress world consists of millions of users and developers worldwide who participate in forums, discussion groups, and online communities dedicated to WordPress. This vibrant ecosystem fosters knowledge sharing, problem-solving, and mutual support. It enables users to seek help, share experiences, and learn from each other, ensuring that the community remains responsive and effective.
At its heart are in-person and online MeetUps as feeders to large WordCamp events. Before Covid there were 2 -3 WordCamps every weekend somewhere in the world.
Each year there are 3 flagship WordCamps – WC US, WC Europe and WC Asia.
While WordCamps are about to undergo some format changes typically they feature 3 things in addition to the adhoc networking that goes on.
- Presentations
- Hands-on WordShops
- Vendor Displays – these are the companies and individuals who underwrite the majority of what a WC costs and where I spend most of my time.
Usually, the day before a WordCamp is Contributor Day which I have never attended. This is where groups the 22 WordPress teams work on something related to the WordPress Project – documentation, training, security, and community are just a few of the teams.
This year there is a 2 day Community Summit before WC US in Washington, DC and I’ve been asked to attend.
The WP Community Fosters Contributions And Feedback Loops
The WordPress community encourages and values contributions from its members. Developers can contribute to the WordPress core, plugins, themes, and documentation. Users can provide feedback, report bugs, suggest improvements, and contribute translations. This inclusive approach fosters a sense of ownership and collaboration, making the community more effective in addressing issues and evolving the platform.
Summing Up
The people of the community are egoless (at least that has always been my impression). That might be an exaggeration but I have never met one person who was not approachable. No matter how well-known they are or how successful they have become everyone is so damn nice. A lot of this has to do with the fact that people are happy doing what they do and that spreads to others.
The effectiveness of the WordPress community stems from its open-source nature, active engagement, focus on security and usability, extensive plugin/theme ecosystem, and the continuous contributions and feedback from its dedicated members.
You don’t have to register for anything and there are no fees. Just show up!
