The Future of WordPress

Title slide

Hello!

My name is Francesca

WordPress Community & Partnership Manager SiteGround
Release Co-Lead 5.3 and 5.4 WordPress.org

Release Coordinator

I was the release coordinator of WordPress 5.3 + 5.4

How do changes happen

Stakeholders and driving forces

Tentative schedule

Before the end of 2021 there will be at least 6 more released

Coming up Next

WordPress 5.5 August 11 2020 WordPress 5.6 Mid December 2021

Security Improvements

Auto updates for plugins and themes: expose the UI of an existing function

Don't fear the auto-updates

It Can Be Done!

More security improvemebts

Auto-updates for major Core releases
Drop PHP 5.6 + Support PHP 8.0
Updating jQuery Version shipped with WordPress

Speed Improvements

Introduction of images lazy-loading

Why speed matter

Even if you are not an eCommerce

Accessibility improvements

The WP Campus Gutenberg Accessibility Audit

Driven by the community

The results of the audit report

Bad. But also some good news.

WCAG compliance

For higher education

SEO Improvements

Native XML Sitemaps

SEO Improvements

Example of an XML Sitemap

Wait! There is more

Gutenberg (WordPress) Phases

The Editor - Completed
Full Site Editing - In the Works
Collaboration
Multilingual

Gutenberg (WordPress) Phases

The Editor - Completed
Full Site Editing - In the Works
Collaboration
Multilingual

Full Site Editing

My personal concerns

Full Site Editing Concerns

Is the timeline doable?

Full Site Editing Concerns

What will happen to theme shops?

Full Site Editing Concerns

What does it mean for old themes?

Stay in the Loop

Beyond 2020

A bit unknown but yet so exciting

Phase 3

Collaboration

Phase 4

Multilingual Support

The Future is Bright

But

WordPress needs us all

To contribute selfishly & generously

The Cathedral and the bazaar

Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer’s personal itch

Let’s continue the conversation

Thanks!

The Future of WordPress Title slide