An Overview of the State of WordPress in 2023: Introducing the ¡Hola WordPress! Update
Exciting news for the WordPress community! Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress, delivered his annual State of the Word address from Madrid, Spain, this year. The event marked the 20th anniversary of WordPress and celebrated its incredible journey over the past two decades.
Reflecting on the Year’s Successes
During his address, Matt took a moment to reflect on the achievements within the WordPress ecosystem over the past year. He highlighted how WordPress has evolved from a simple blogging tool to a robust website-building platform and now a powerful application framework. The success of WordPress continues to amaze Matt and he described it as “the closest thing to sci-fi we have going on right now in WordPress.”
Introducing the Twenty Twenty Four Theme
One of the major highlights of the State of the Word address was the introduction of the Twenty Twenty Four theme. This new theme comes with 35 built-in patterns that cater to artists, entrepreneurs, and anyone seeking the full potential of Gutenberg, WordPress’s block editor. The theme’s versatility and design options make it a masterpiece for users looking to create stunning websites.
Other Highlights
Matt also shared some other exciting highlights from the past year. These included 70 WordCamps held in 33 different countries, with WordCamp Asia in Taipei, Taiwan, being one of the upcoming events. Additionally, Openverse, a project that aims to provide an open education infrastructure, was awarded the Open Education Award for Excellence.
Peering into the Future: Collaboration and Workflow Environments
Matías Ventura, WordPress Lead Architect, unveiled plans for the Site Editor during the State of the Word address. The focus is now shifting towards collaboration and workflow environments, with a working prototype already available. Users can test these developments and provide feedback on GitHub.
The prototype boasts several new features, including more versatile patterns that allow users to swap related patterns and apply theme JSON to specific patterns. Matías also announced the creation of a hybrid type of pattern that offers text editing while maintaining control of the global design. The aim is to enhance the experience for both writers and designers.
Custom fields are another feature that users can look forward to. This feature seamlessly connects blocks to custom fields, providing the best of both developer-friendly and user-friendly capabilities. In terms of performance, WordPress is gearing up for version 6.5, which promises significant speed enhancements.
AI in WordPress: Playground Blueprints
Looking ahead, Matt explored the opportunities of AI tools in WordPress. He introduced Playground blueprints, a feature that enables the creation of playground sites using natural language. Matt encouraged community members to embrace AI and use it to expand their knowledge.
Charting the Course for 2024: Data Liberation
Matt emphasized a new focus for 2024: unlocking the web’s full potential. This will be achieved by focusing on 1-click data migration, allowing users to easily move their data from other platforms to WordPress or between different WordPress sites. Matt invited community members to join the initiative and assured them that the necessary tools will be provided to make this goal a reality.
SOTW Reveal: WordCamp US Heading to…
In an exciting reveal, it was announced that WordCamp US will be held in Portland, Oregon, for the next two years. Matt described Portland as “super fun and weird in amazing ways,” promising an exciting event for attendees.
Conclusion
The State of the Word address for 2023 provided an exciting overview of the current state of WordPress and its plans for the future. With new themes, features, and a focus on collaboration and AI tools, WordPress continues to evolve and provide its users with a powerful and versatile platform. The WordPress community can look forward to an exciting year ahead as they work towards unlocking the web’s full potential and celebrating the 20th anniversary of this remarkable project.
