In 2025, more than 1,400 attendees from 71 countries gathered in person, with nearly 15,000 more joining online for WordCamp Asia 2025. With notable guests like WordPress Co-founder Matt Mullenweg and Gutenberg Lead Architect Matías Ventura, and a diverse lineup of speakers and panelists from across the ecosystem, WordCamp Asia 2025 brought together a community actively shaping the future of the open web.

It’s the people. It’s the friendships and the stories.

Matt Mullenweg, WordPress Cofounder

WordCamp isn’t just about sessions and schedules. It’s about connection. It’s about learning directly from people who are building, scaling, and sustaining WordPress in the real world. It’s about sharing ideas, debating the future of the open web, and leaving with renewed energy for the work ahead. And in 2026, that spirit returns stronger than ever.

Tickets for WordCamp Asia 2026 are on sale now, and this is the moment to secure your spot. WordCamps are intentionally priced to remain accessible, and early ticket sales help organizers plan an inclusive, high-quality experience for everyone.

Join 3,000+ Web Professionals

April 9 – 11, 2026 | Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai, India

Get Your Event Pass

WordCamp Asia is also made possible by the organizations that step up to support it. Sponsorship plays a critical role in keeping the event accessible, supporting contributors and volunteers, and ensuring the experience reflects the values of the WordPress project. For sponsors, WordCamp Asia 2026 offers a rare opportunity to connect with a highly engaged, global audience in a setting built on trust, collaboration, and shared purpose.

Sponsorship packages are designed to support a wide range of organizations, from local companies to global businesses building products and services on WordPress. Beyond visibility, sponsors become part of the story—helping sustain the ecosystem and invest directly in the community that makes WordPress possible.

At every level, WordCamp Asia is powered by people. Organizers, volunteers, speakers, sponsors, and attendees all contribute to an experience that reflects WordPress’s shared values of openness and collaboration. It’s a place where new voices are welcomed, long-time contributors reconnect, and ideas move from conversation to action.

WordCamp Asia 2026 is more than an event—it’s a moment to come together, reflect on where we are, and help shape what comes next. Whether you’re attending for the first time, returning for another year, or supporting the event as a sponsor, your involvement helps strengthen the WordPress ecosystem and the global community behind it.

We’ll see you in Mumbai.

With hands-on initiatives and supportive communities, participants can grow new skills and take their first steps as contributors. Across campuses and communities worldwide, learners publish real projects, build practical experience, and gain confidence as part of open source creation.

A clearer path into the WordPress ecosystem

WordPress Education is designed to help students turn knowledge into practice, discover their strengths, and understand how their contributions can make a real impact through three core programs: WordPress Campus Connect, WordPress Credits, and WordPress Student Clubs.

Through hands-on campus events, such as WordPress Campus Connect, on-campus groups like WordPress Student Clubs, and a practice-based program called WordPress Credits, participants can gain practical experience, publish real-world projects, and build confidence as contributors to a global culture of open-source creation.

At its heart, these WordPress education programs are about three simple ideas:

Learn. Build. Connect.

This update brings WordPress education programs together in one place, with an easy way to explore initiatives, understand how they work, and take the next step.

You will find:

• A home for WordPress Education programs and updates
• Clear “how to get involved” paths for students, educators, mentors, organizers, and sponsors
• Stories, highlights, and examples of real projects created through the programs
• Links to the Education Handbook for program guidelines and resources

Support This Growing Movement

Help spread the word, and let friends, students, and others know how they can contribute to this growing effort, including a widely expanding translation effort. WordPress Education has already been translated into 10 new languages. WordPress Education is powered by people who believe in open learning and the power of collaboration.

Why Choose Global Sponsorship?

Instead of managing multiple individual sponsorships, this streamlined program consolidates your efforts into one efficient and impactful partnership.

Efficiency and Simplified Administration

Skip the complexity of coordinating invoice payments with numerous volunteer teams. Our centralized approach saves time and resources. In 2026, sponsors will benefit from:

• A dedicated Slack channel for direct communication with the WordPress Community Support team and Community Program Managers
• Monthly updates listing upcoming WordPress events, their current planning stages, and scheduled dates

Expanded Reach and Impact

Your sponsorship amplifies your presence worldwide, ensuring consistent visibility across global WordPress community events.

Stability and Reliability

Your commitment strengthens locally organized events by providing predictable funding that supports venues, logistics, and growth.

Flexible Branding Options

Adapt across your portfolio—Global Sponsors can represent different brands at different events (subject to approval and advance notice).

Program Benefits

	Global Leader	Regional Powerhouse	Community Builder
Best for:	Established brands seeking global reach and year-round visibility.	Companies aiming for regional dominance and strong brand recognition.	Organizations supporting the next generation of WordPress education.
Sponsorship payable in full or through quarterly installments	$180,000	$110,000	$60,000
Top tier sponsorship benefits at all local WordCamp events (excludes flagships) with priority access to claim a sponsor table at in-person WordPress events
Option to feature multiple brands across events
Dedicated sponsor landing page
Complimentary WordPress event tickets for your team
Recognition across all WordPress events
Sponsor Spotlight post on WordPress.org/news featuring highlights from recent WordCamps	Quarterly	Annually
Inclusion of your company logo in signage and materials for WordPress Campus Connect events	All signage & materials for the year (digital and printed)	Signage & materials for 5 events per year (printed only)	All signage & materials for the year (digital and printed)
Opportunity to be featured in an exclusive digital binder for WordPress Campus Connect event organizers	Priority placement (logos & text)	Feature listing (text only)	Feature listing (text only)
Regular recognition in monthly education buzz report

How Sponsorship Funds Are Used

Global Sponsorship funds directly support:

• Local WordPress events worldwide (venue rental, catering, A/V, and more)
• Meetup.com license fees for over 671 WordPress Meetup groups globally
• Administrative costs like insurance, banking, and annual financial audits that ensure transparent operations

Your partnership helps sustain the community that powers more than 43% of the web. Together, we can keep the WordPress project thriving and expanding for years to come.

If you’d like to go one step further, please consider donating directly to the WordPress Foundation. We operate lean—every dollar goes toward keeping WordPress free, supporting education, and funding the community that makes the web a better place. In short, your donation helps us keep the lights on and the mission alive.

State of the Word 2025 brought the WordPress community together for an afternoon that felt both reflective and forward-moving, blending stories of global growth with technical milestones and glimpses of the future. This year also marked the twentieth State of the Word since the first address in 2006, a milestone noted in the WordPress history book Milestones: The Story of WordPress as the beginning of a tradition that has helped the project tell its own story.

From the outset, the keynote carried a sense of momentum shaped by thousands of contributors, educators, students, and creators whose steady participation continues to define the open web. It was a reminder that WordPress is more than software. It is a community writing its future together.

What we have is more than code. It’s momentum, it’s culture, and it’s a system that lets people learn by doing and lead by showing up.  — Mary Hubbard, WordPress Executive Director

Mary opened the evening by reflecting on her first full year as Executive Director, a year spent listening deeply and seeing firsthand how people across regions learn, contribute, and lead. Her remarks grounded the keynote in the lived reality of a community that grows because people invest in one another, teach openly, and build trust through contribution.

I’ve met people using WordPress to unlock new careers. I’ve met contributors who started a single translation or forum post and are now leading major pieces of the project. In LatAm, Europe, and the States, I’ve seen students get access to WordPress tools and start building faster than we could have ever imagined. I’ve watched communities build in public, resolve disagreements in the open, and collaborate across languages and time zones.

That reflection offered a clear reminder of what makes WordPress resilient through change: a culture of showing up, learning by doing, and supporting others along the way. The project moves forward because people choose to participate in ways both large and small, strengthening the foundation that has carried WordPress for more than two decades.

With that foundation in place, the keynote moved through a series of stories and demonstrations that highlighted where WordPress stands today and where it is headed next — from a historic live release of WordPress 6.9 to expanding global education pathways, emerging AI capabilities, and deeper collaboration across the entire ecosystem.

WordPress by the Numbers

Project Cofounder Matt Mullenweg began with a wide-angle view of the project’s growth. WordPress powers over 43% of the web, with 60.5% of the CMS market. Shopify, its nearest competitor, holds 6.8%. Among the top 1,000 websites, WordPress’s share climbed to 49.4%, up 2.3% from the previous year.

Multilingual usage continued its strong rise. Over 56% of WordPress sites now run in languages other than English. Japan stood out, with WordPress powering 58.5% of all Japanese websites and 83% of the CMS market. Japanese became the second most-used language on WordPress at 5.82%. Spanish followed, then German, French, and Brazilian Portuguese.

The plugin ecosystem saw explosive growth. The directory surpassed 60,000 plugins, and plugin downloads were on pace to reach 2.1 billion by year-end. Over 1,500 themes have been released this year as well.

Contributors also hit new highs. The 6.8 release included 921 contributors, the largest group yet. WordPress 6.8 saw 79.5 million downloads, up 13%, and WordPress 6.9 included contributions from 230 first-time contributors and more than 340 enhancements and fixes.

A Release Moment to Remember

This year’s keynote delivered something WordPress had never attempted before: a live on-stage release of WordPress 6.9.

Mary set the moment up earlier in the program, calling WordPress 6.9 “fast, polished, and built for collaboration.” She explained that it reflected a year of intentional iteration, improved workflows, and deeper cross-team participation. 

Matt took the stage with some of the release leads, the release button in hand. The room counted down, and then WordPress 6.9 shipped live, instantly updating millions of sites around the world. It was both a celebration and a testament to the reliability and trust the WordPress community has built into its release processes. Shipping a major version of WordPress in real time, on stage, without drama, is something the early contributors could hardly have imagined.

That reflection connected back to WordPress’s origin story. Matt talked about discovering the B2 forums, asking questions, and eventually reaching the point where he could answer someone else’s. That transition from learner to contributor remains at the heart of the project today. Two decades later, WordPress has grown from those early interactions into a platform that can ship a major release in front of the world, powered by thousands of contributors building together.

WordPress and the Future of AI

As the keynote shifted toward the future, Matt acknowledged what has become an essential truth of the moment: it would be impossible to talk about the next chapter of WordPress without talking about AI. He reminded the audience that in 2022, long before ChatGPT entered global conversation, he encouraged the community to “learn AI deeply.” The speed of change since then, he said, has exceeded every expectation, and WordPress has been preparing for it in ways both visible and behind the scenes.

Matt introduced one of the most important architectural developments of the year: the Abilities API and the MCP adapter. The Abilities API defines what WordPress can do in a structured way that AI systems can interpret, while the MCP adapter exposes those abilities through a shared protocol. This means AI agents — whether built by individuals, companies, or larger platforms — can understand and interact with WordPress safely and predictably. Instead of relying on one-off integrations or brittle interfaces, WordPress now participates in a broader ecosystem of tools that can query its capabilities and perform tasks using a standard, governed approach.

Matt then highlighted how developers are already using AI in their everyday work through tools like Cursor, Claude Code, and next-generation CLIs. These tools can explore entire codebases, generate documentation, produce tests, refactor large components, and even coordinate sequences of WP-CLI commands. For many developers, they expand what a single person can accomplish in an afternoon. They don’t eliminate the need for human judgment — they amplify it.

With that foundation laid, Matt turned the audience’s attention to Telex, the experimental environment designed to turn natural-language prompts into Gutenberg Blocks. Telex has already moved beyond experimentation and into real use. Matt showed examples from community creator Nick Hamze, who uses Telex to power micro-business tools that represent practical, revenue-generating workflows that previously required custom engineering.

Matt then widened the lens to show what companies across the ecosystem are building with AI. Hostinger’s Kodee can generate a complete WordPress site from a single description. Elementor AI demonstrated similarly rapid creation inside its own editor, producing full sections and layouts in seconds. WordPress.com showcased how its AI tools help users draft, rewrite, and refine content while keeping language aligned with the site’s voice. Yoast demonstrated how AI can support SEO workflows by generating structured suggestions and improving readability. Together, these examples illustrated that AI is not arriving in one place — it is arriving everywhere.

Experimental browsers can navigate WP Admin autonomously, performing tasks such as clicking buttons, opening menus, changing settings, and performing multi-step tasks without requiring any custom plugins or APIs. This raised a key question that Matt encouraged the community to consider: Which AI capabilities should live inside WordPress itself, and which should remain external, operating through the browser or operating system?

Matt closed the section by discussing WordPress-specific AI benchmarks and evaluation suites. These shared tests will measure how well AI systems understand and execute WordPress tasks, from enabling plugins to navigating WP Admin to modifying content and settings. The goal is to create a foundation where future AI tools behave predictably and responsibly across the entire ecosystem, giving creators confidence that intelligent tools understand the platform deeply.

A Global Community Growing Together

Mary then returned to the stage to celebrate the ecosystem that supports WordPress’s growth. Across continents, diverse groups of people have hosted WordPress events, training new contributors and welcoming newcomers into the project. WordCamp growth in 2025 reflected that: more than 81 WordCamps across 39 countries, powered by over 5,000 volunteers and attended by nearly 100,000 people, with sixteen more events still underway.

Education played a major role in this community expansion. Learn.WordPress.org served over 1.5 million learners this year, with clearer pathways into more structured programs like Campus Connect and WordPress Credits. This bridging was deliberate. Many learners arrive through tutorials or workshops but need clearer guidance on how to deepen their skills. By reshaping navigation and improving wayfinding across WordPress.org, the project began closing that gap.

She spotlighted Costa Rica’s Universidad Fidélitas, where WordPress moved beyond extracurricular interest into formal academic integration. Long before signing an agreement with the WordPress Foundation, their students were hosting WordCamp San José, forming student clubs, and treating WordPress as a crucial part of digital literacy and professional development.

Wapuu appeared across events as a familiar companion and a cultural thread running through contributor tools and community projects. Its presence was a reminder that creativity and playfulness are as essential to open source as documentation or code.

Matt highlighted the story of Youth Day in Managua, Nicaragua. Seventy-five young people spent a full day building their first WordPress sites. Sessions were taught by teenagers, for teenagers. They learned to pick themes, customize layouts, create contact forms, and publish content. Contribution often starts with a simple moment of confidence, and those early sparks can shape entire careers.

Together, these moments illustrated a project expanding not just in numbers, but in depth, diversity, and global reach. WordPress is growing because communities are finding their own ways to embrace it.

What’s New in WordPress 6.9

Joining virtually, WordPress Lead Architect, Matías Ventura, shifted the keynote from vision to practice. Matías offered a detailed walkthrough of what makes WordPress 6.9 one of the most refined, collaborative, and forward-looking releases the project has shipped in years. He returned to the four familiar lenses of creation — writing, designing, building, and developing — and showed how each evolved in this release cycle.

He began with notes in the Block Editor, one of the most anticipated features. Notes allow collaborators to comment directly on individual blocks in a post or page. When a note is selected, the surrounding content subtly fades, helping contributors stay focused on context. Because notes are built on WordPress’s native comment system, they integrate seamlessly with existing communication workflows, including email notifications. Matías highlighted that notes development exemplified collaboration at its best, with contributors from various companies working together to bring the feature to life.

From there, he turned to refinements across the writing and design experience. Editor interactions feel smoother and more consistent. Patterns behave more predictably. Spacing and typography controls are clearer, more organized, and more intuitive. Together these capabilioties make the experience of writing and designing inside WordPress calmer, more reliable, and more empowering.

Block bindings now provide a more intuitive, visual way to connect blocks to dynamic data sources. Users can switch or remove bindings with a single click, and developers can register additional sources to support custom workflows. This work lays the foundation for a future where dynamic data flows more naturally through blocks, enabling site creators to build richer interfaces without writing code.

On the developer front, Matías focused on three foundational upgrades that represent major steps forward in how WordPress will evolve over the coming years.

• The first was the Abilities API, a unified registry that describes what WordPress can do — across PHP, REST endpoints, the command palette, and future AI-driven interactions.
• The HTML API introduces new ways of working with and modifying HTML server-side. The API ensures safer, more reliable handling, lowering the barrier for theme and block developers who work with dynamic or structured markup.
• The Interactivity API delivers smoother, faster interactions without requiring heavy JavaScript frameworks. Improved routing, better state management, and clearer conventions help developers create rich, modern interfaces without leaving the WordPress philosophy of simplicity and flexibility.

After Matías wrapped his presentation, Matt stepped back in to highlight several developments that build on the foundations of 6.9 and strengthen the overall WordPress ecosystem. He pointed first to the Plugin Check Plugin, a tool designed to help developers align with current WordPress standards and catch common issues early, making plugins more reliable for users and easier to maintain over time. Matt then spoke about ongoing progress in Data Liberation, noting improvements to the WordPress importer that make it easier for people to bring their content into WordPress without disruption or loss, an important step toward ensuring the open web remains portable and resilient. He also highlighted advances across the Playground ecosystem, including WordPress Studio, the Playground CLI, and an expanding set of Blueprints. These allow developers and learners to spin up complete WordPress environments in seconds, test ideas, and experiment without servers or configuration. Matt closed this portion by emphasizing work on safer updates, which help WordPress avoid partial installs and ensure that updates complete smoothly even in less predictable hosting conditions, reinforcing WordPress’s commitment to stability as the platform continues to grow.

Matt emphasized that WordPress 6.9 is not defined by any single headline feature, but by a broad spectrum of refinements across the entire experience. It is a release that deepens reliability, expands capability, and sets the stage for future innovation.

Insights from the AI Panel

The keynote transitioned into a live AI panel moderated by Mary Hubbard. The panel brought together four perspectives from across the ecosystem: James LePage (Automattic), Felix Arntz (Google), and Jeff Paul (Fueled, FKA 10up), and Matt Mullenweg. Their conversation touched on the philosophy, practice, and future of AI inside WordPress — not as a distant trend, but as an active part of the project’s evolution.

A central theme was AI’s ability to amplify human creativity. James LePage put it plainly:

It’s not that we’re going to just add sparkle buttons everywhere. We’re going to do some crazy stuff here — things we’re going to build into the way you interact with creating content, with expressing yourself digitally. We want to give you more power, more control, and make you more effective at creating.

Jeff Paul echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that AI should make developers more productive by handling repetitive work and freeing them to focus on higher-level decisions. Felix Arntz expanded the idea further, describing how Google sees AI as a way to make the web more accessible and intuitive, especially for new creators who may not have formal technical training.

Looking ahead, the panelists predicted deeper contextual integrations, AI-assisted debugging and scaffolding for developers, and workflows where agents can take on sequences of tasks while remaining directed by human decisions. They also highlighted the importance of standards, shared protocols, and privacy-focused design as essential components of WordPress’s long-term approach.

The next 20 years looks like WordPress remaining what it is today, which is the center of the open web.

The panel closed on a forward-looking but steady note. AI is accelerating, but WordPress is designing its foundations with flexibility and values that endure. The tools may change, but the commitment to openness, agency, and creative freedom remains the compass.

Questions That Push Us Forward

Matt introduced the Q&A as one of his favorite parts of State of the Word because it reveals what people are imagining, struggling with, or eager to build.

The first question addressed the growing interconnectedness of today’s web. What happens, a participant asked, when a major provider like Cloudflare goes down? As tools and agents rely more heavily on external services, failures can cascade. Matt acknowledged that outages are increasingly visible, but also argued that each one strengthens the system.

“Every failure, every edge case, everything that you never imagined is just another opportunity to find that new edge case,” he said. Resilience is not avoidance of failure, but the ability to grow stronger after it.

Another question focused on the longevity of web content. With platforms shutting down or links breaking over time, how can creators ensure their work endures? Matt pointed to the Internet Archive as one of the great stabilizers of the open web. He highlighted a new plugin that automatically scans posts and replaces dead links with archived versions, helping preserve the historical fabric of the web even as individual services come and go.

The next question turned to real-time collaboration inside WordPress. A participant asked how co-editing fits into the future of WordPress and how these tools might help creators work more confidently. Matt talked about how collaboration tools can support people who are just starting their creative journeys — whether they are entrepreneurs, students, or first-time site builders. He described real-time editing as part of a broader vision of WordPress “just doing the work for you” in high-pressure or early-stage creative moments.

The final question considered long-term decision-making. Matt noted that predicting what will change is difficult, but identifying what will remain the same is much easier. For WordPress, he said, the invariant is clear: people will always want agency, openness, and the ability to publish on their own terms. These values guide decisions not only in the present, but across decades of future evolution.

TBPN Podcast Appearance

After the Q&A, the keynote shifted gears with a live crossover segment featuring TBPN (the Technology Business Programming Network), a tech-focused podcast. The segment introduced a lively, unscripted energy into the room.

The hosts kicked things off by asking Matt what the “word of the year” should be. He chose “freedom”, connecting it directly to the core philosophy of open source. He described open source licenses as a kind of “bill of rights for software,” giving users inalienable rights that no company can revoke. In a world increasingly shaped by software platforms and digital ecosystems, these freedoms form the heart of what keeps the web open and accessible.

Conversation then moved to Beeper, the multi-network messaging client. Asked whether Beeper aims to “tear down walled gardens,” Matt rejected that framing. Instead, he offered a more collaborative metaphor: bringing gardens together. Most people have friends and colleagues scattered across WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Messenger, and SMS. Beeper doesn’t replace those apps — it brings messages together into a unified interface..

The conversation eventually returned to publishing. Matt referenced the same principle he noted earlier: the importance of identifying what won’t change. For WordPress, he said, that means doubling down on freedom, agency, and the ability to publish without gatekeepers. Even as AI evolves, even as platforms shift, even as new tools emerge, these are the values that will guide the project forward.

Building the Web We Believe In

As the keynote drew to a close, Matt returned to a message that had threaded through every section of the evening. The future of WordPress is not arriving from outside forces — it is being crafted, questioned, tested, and expanded by the people who show up. Contributors, students, educators, community organizers, designers, developers, business owners, and first-time site builders all play a role in shaping the platform.

He spoke about the opportunities ahead: new tools that expand what creators can build, collaborative features that make teamwork feel natural, and AI systems that enhance creativity rather than diminish it. Across continents, generations, and skill levels, people are discovering WordPress as a path to learning, empowerment, and expression.

The values that brought the project this far remain the ones that will carry it forward: freedom, participation, learning, and community. These aren’t abstract principles. They are lived every day in the decisions contributors make, the ideas they pursue, and the care they bring to the work.

Future Events

If you’re feeling inspired to revisit past moments from the project’s annual address, the State of the Word YouTube playlist offers a look back at years of community milestones and product progress. The excitement continues into 2026, with major WordPress events already on the horizon: WordCamp Asia in Mumbai, India,WordCamp Europe in Kraków, Poland, and WordCamp US in Phoenix. We hope to see you there as the community continues building what comes next.

Check out the full schedule and start planning your WordCamp experience.

Contributor Day — Connect, Collaborate, and Give Back

Kicking off the week on Tuesday, August 26 is Contributor Day, it is your chance to roll up your sleeves and make a direct impact on WordPress. Whether you’re a seasoned developer, creative designer, translator, marketer, or simply passionate about open source, there’s a place for you to get involved. Join WordPress teams working on real projects, share your skills, and connect with people across the global community. Contributor Day is also a fantastic place for hiring managers or business owners to meet emerging talent and see contributors in action. Lunch is provided, and both in-person and select remote participation options are available. If you’ve ever wanted to help shape the future of WordPress, this is your moment!

Read more: Start planning your Contributor Day activities >>

Showcase Day — See WordPress in Action

Showcase Day on Wednesday, August 27, shines a spotlight on what’s possible with WordPress. Get inspired by live demos, case studies, and actionable presentations from experts and innovators using WordPress in creative and impactful ways. You’ll see how changemakers, nonprofits, publishers, and agencies use WordPress to solve real-world problems, build new products, and drive the web forward. Highlights include hands-on workshops, technical talks, and practical sessions covering everything from design systems to modern AI. It’s a full day dedicated to celebrating the talent, creativity, and innovation of the WordPress community.

Read more: See where these inspirational showcases take you >>

Conference Days — Learn, Connect, and Level Up

The main event days for Thursday and Friday, August 28-29, feature a robust mix of technical deep-dives, product masterclasses, and sessions designed for all experience levels. Whether you’re a developer, designer, business owner, or just starting out, you’ll find plenty to explore—from future-focused discussions on AI and performance to hands-on workshops and networking events that bring the community together.

Keynote Highlights:

• Amy Sample Ward, CEO of NTEN: The Tech That Comes Next: How Changemakers, Philanthropists, and Technologists Can Build an Equitable World. Featured Wednesday, August 27.
• Danny Sullivan, from Google Search: Industry leader, featured Thursday, August 28.
• Matt Mullenweg, Co-founder of WordPress: Featured Friday, August 29.
• More keynotes announcing soon!

With dozens of sessions across multiple tracks, plus workshops and networking opportunities, WordCamp US is set to be an unforgettable experience. Don’t miss your chance to connect, share ideas, and help shape the future of the web.

Check out the full schedule and start planning your WordCamp experience.

Remembering Kim Parsell

Kim Parsell was a dedicated contributor and a beloved member of the WordPress community. Her passion for open source and her welcoming spirit inspired many, both online and in person. Each year at WordCamp US, the WordPress Foundation celebrates Kim’s legacy by supporting contributors who share her commitment and enthusiasm. The Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship aims to make it easier for deserving community members to attend WordCamp US, reflecting Kim’s belief in making WordPress accessible and inclusive for all.

If you’re unfamiliar with Kim’s story or her invaluable role in the community, we encourage you to read these heartfelt tributes collected from friends and colleagues.

Scholarship Eligibility

This year, a single scholarship will be awarded. To qualify, applicants must:

• Identify as a woman
• Be actively involved as a contributor to WordPress
• Have never attended WordCamp US before
• Demonstrate a need for financial support to attend the event

If you meet these qualifications, we invite you to apply before the July 25 deadline. All applicants will be notified of the decision by August 7, 2025.

For additional information, visit the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship page hosted by the WordPress Foundation.

Join the Celebration

• Tickets for WordCamp US 2025 are now available—secure yours soon!
• Volunteer applications are open until July 11, 2025
• Interested in supporting the event? Explore our sponsorship opportunities

Help us spread the word about this opportunity and make WordCamp US 2025 even more special.

The pilot program, developed in partnership with the University of Pisa, was announced on stage at WordCamp Europe 2025 by Matt Mullenweg and Mary Hubbard. Since then, it has attracted interest from students across various fields of study, including humanities, computer science, and communication. Companies in the WordPress ecosystem have also expressed support and interest in contributing to the project. In response to the growing interest from both community members and academic institutions, we are now inviting more universities to join the initiative.

Open to students from all fields of study, the program blends structured onboarding with a personalized contribution project. Activities are adapted to each student’s degree program and familiarity with WordPress, aiming to develop transferable skills, academic-related competencies, and active participation in the WordPress community. Internship durations may vary depending on the university or educational institution. Some may align with academic semesters (typically 3–4 months), while others, like the University of Pisa, allow students to sign up year-round with a requirement to complete a set number of contribution hours (e.g. 150 hours). Flexible arrangements can be discussed to meet the specific requirements of each institution.

Foundational Training includes:

• An introduction to open source principles and the WordPress Foundation
• Getting familiar with community tools (Slack, Make blogs, Learn platform, GitHub)
• Setting up a personal WordPress site and publishing content

Each student will choose a contribution area and design their own personal project within that area. Examples of possible projects include:

• Translating interfaces or documentation
• Creating multilingual subtitles for educational videos
• Contributing code or performing testing
• Supporting product development or design
• Writing or editing content
• Assisting with community event organization
• Developing training materials for Learn WordPress
• Creating open source tools
• And much more…
  

Interns are guided by an experienced mentor specific to their chosen area and supported by a dedicated WordPress Foundation contact person throughout the program. All student contributions, whether code, translations, documentation, or educational materials, will be publicly visible and integrated into official WordPress projects and resources, directly benefiting the wider community.

Interested universities and educational institutions interested in participating can reach out by filling the interest form.

We also invite companies in the WordPress ecosystem to support this initiative by sponsoring mentors who will guide and empower the next generation of contributors, or by providing tools and resources that help students succeed in their contribution journey. 

If your company is interested in getting involved, please visit the Company Guide to learn more and fill out the form to join the program.

By welcoming students, mentors, sponsors, and volunteers into this initiative, we are building a stronger and more connected WordPress community. Each person who takes part, whether they guide a student, share their experiences, provide sponsorship, or simply help spread the word, helps ensure that open source remains vibrant and accessible for all. Together, we are not just supporting individual contributors; we are shaping the future of WordPress and open source itself.

WordPress Campus Connect transcends the conventional workshop model by fostering a holistic learning community. It couples on-campus event learning with a diverse range of post-event activities, including meetups, website challenges, scholarships, and volunteering opportunities, all geared towards nurturing student development. The program’s efficacy has prompted other organizations in India to express interest in replicating its structure.

Looking ahead, multiple local WordPress communities in India aim to reach more students in India through WordPress Campus Connect events. The curriculum will include beginner content, delve into more advanced WordPress concepts, and feature specialized sessions tailored for students with prior WordPress experience. 

The official recognition of WordPress Campus Connect as an event series paves the way for further expansion, giving the series similar support and standing as WordCamps but with a student education-first goal and focus. Future plans include organizing large-scale student events, establishing WordPress clubs on college campuses, and facilitating mentorship connections for students.

To support these ambitious goals, volunteers identified several key next steps:

• Volunteer Handbook Development: Creating a comprehensive guidebook to equip volunteers with the necessary resources and information.
• GatherPress Integration: Exploring the feasibility of integrating GatherPress as a tool for student groups.
• Volunteer Recruitment: Actively seeking and onboarding volunteers to support WordPress Campus Connect initiatives through activities such as:
  1. Creating a workflow and guidelines for processing Student Club applications
  2. On-site facilitation or assistance for WordPress Campus Connect events
• Landing Page Creation: Creating a landing page describing what WordPress Campus Connect is all about
• Student Groups: Drafting a framework for students to create their own groups for hosting WordPress events and activities. 

The overwhelming success of WordPress Campus Connect and the enthusiasm it has generated serve as a testament to the transformative power of passion and dedication. As WordPress Campus Connect continues to evolve and expand, it holds the promise of shaping the future of WordPress education and community engagement.

If you’re interested in helping shape the future of education with WordPress, join us in the #campusconnect Make Slack channel today!

In nearly 1,000 days, the WordPress community has created 1,000 Block themes—coming together to use the full potential of the Site Editor and unleash new creative possibilities for everyone.

First introduced in WordPress 5.9, Block themes have steadily evolved, improving flexibility and functionality for themers, users, and agencies alike. Now, design tools allow customizing almost every detail. With style variations, users can change the overall look of their site in a few clicks. You can even use curation options to customize the editing process itself. But we’re not done! We can’t wait to keep pushing Block themes even further. Thank you to every early adopter who, by embracing early features with passion, helped shape the Block themes we love today with feedback and testing.

If you haven’t yet explored Block themes, check out some of the resources below to get inspired:

• Use one of the 1,000 Block themes available and see what you can create. For an easy way to explore, try WordPress Playground to quickly get started with a temporary site. 
• Read the Theme handbook to understand types of themes, how themes work, and how to get started building. 
• Use the Create Block Theme plugin to streamline Block theme creation with a dedicated tutorial on Learn WordPress that will help you get started.  
• Get inspired by watching and joining community members building themes together. This is a great way for folks new to Block themes to learn, hands-on. 

Let’s celebrate and share our contributions! Please comment on the Theme Team’s post dedicated to highlighting this milestone to share your favorite Block theme and thank those who have contributed along the way. 

Thank you to @kristastevens for editorial help, @beafialho for the featured image, and @kafleg for reviewing.

Why This Addition Matters

The relationships we build within our community often involve private discussions. These conversations may involve sensitive matters, personal experiences, or simply casual exchanges. Regardless of the content, every individual should feel confident that their private communications will remain private unless they grant explicit permission to share them.

Sharing private messages without consent is a breach of trust that can also lead to unintended harm, including emotional distress or misrepresentation. When members of our community feel they cannot trust others in their personal conversations, it undermines the collaborative spirit that is crucial to our collective success.

How This Change Protects the Community

By explicitly addressing the publication of private messages without consent, we are reinforcing an existing unacceptable behavior in our Community Code of Conduct: Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting. Sharing private communications without permission is a clear violation of professional integrity.

This new addition ensures that private messages receive the same level of protection as personal information and that sensitive communications shared in confidence will not be disclosed without prior consent. An important exception to this is when sharing private messages is necessary for reporting incidents or concerns to the Incident Response Team, as part of our commitment to maintaining a safe and respectful environment.

Ultimately, this change encourages honest, constructive engagement across all levels of participation.

Moving Forward Together

The strength of our community lies in the trust we place in one another. By clarifying and reinforcing our expectations, we are taking another step toward maintaining an inclusive, respectful, and safe environment for everyone.This new addition will take effect immediately, and violations will be handled in accordance with our existing enforcement guidelines. Together, we can ensure our community remains a place of collaboration, trust, and mutual respect.