Greetings! What a year 2020 was…we sure do miss our beloved in-person WordCamp events. We hope you all are staying healthy and safe as we adjust to a new normal. The wapuu hasn’t made an appearance at a WordCamp event in nearly a year. However, we’ve been busy behind the scenes keeping the WordPress community up-to-date with online meetups and the future of WordPress.
The Future of WordPress
Review of the 2020 State of the Word
For the first time in the history of WordPress, project co-founder Matt Mullenweg delivered his State of the Word address virtually.
Just as we are missing our beloved WordCamp events, Matt also expressed how he misses the usual conferences and events. He recognized the WordPress community and the adjustment to virtual meetups. We summarized some of the main points of the address.
Gutenberg Updates and the Future
The Gutenberg editor has been a popular WordPress plugin since it was first released in 2018. In Mr. Mullenweg’s address, he outlined a 10-year plan for Gutenberg that will be split up into four phases.
- Phase 1: Easier editing
- Phase 2: Site customization
- Phase 3: Collaboration
- Phase 4: Mutli-lingual
WordPress Releases in 2020
The three major WordPress releases in 2020 were brought together by nearly 2,000 contributors.
- WordPress 5.4 – Adderley (named after jazz trumpeter Nat Adderley)
- WordPress 5.5 – Eckstine (named after vocalist Billy Eckstine)
- WordPress 5.6 – Simone (named after vocalist Nina Simone)
The first WordPress release saw the creation of a welcome guide for new users, privacy updates, performance enhancements, and design tools. WordPress 5.5 saw the most contributors ever with over 800! The final release of 2020 saw another milestone as this release was led by women and non-binary members of the WordPress community.
Firsts in WordPress
Aside from 2020 being the first virtual State of the Word address, there were some more record-breaking moments.
- WordPress grew by 4% which amounts to 39.3% of the internet using WordPress to power their websites!
- This is the fastest the WordPress community has grown since the statistic was first tracked in 2011.
Conclusion on the Future of WordPress
Mullenweg concluded his presentation with his mention of the Five to the Future program. The program encourages organizations to contribute five percent of their resources to WordPress development.
You can watch the State of the Word 2020 address here:
Discovered Wapuus During the Pandemic
We’d like to highlight two wapuus we recently discovered that summed up the year 2020 perfectly.
The Covid Wapuu
This wapuu couldn’t sum up the year 2020 any better. Designed by life coach Birgit Olzem (@CoachBirgit), The “CovaWapuu” is helping fight the coronavirus so we can soon see each other again at a WordPress event.
Bernie Sanders Wapuu
The presidential inauguration of 2021 was historic given the global pandemic, the news surrounding the election, and unfortunate national events that preceded the swearing-in of President Joe Biden.
What captured the attention of the nation was Bernie Sanders; sitting, watching the inauguration, looking incredibly cold and flaunting some sporty mittens. Designed by Pedro Mendonça (@pedro_gaspar), the “Wernie Panders” garnered attention in the wapuu community just as fast as the original picture did.
Announced WordCamp 2021 Events
Past WordCamp Events
- WordCamp India 2021: January 30th – Feburary 14th
Upcoming WordCamp Events
- WordCamp Prague: February 27th
- WordCamp Centroamérica: April 15th – 17th
- WordCamp Greece: April 16th – 18th
- WordCamp Japan: June 20th – 26th
