It’s surprising to receive messages asking if the current WordPress drama is as serious as it seems or if it’s being exaggerated.
In my 15 years of managing CanadaCreate, I never anticipated writing a blog post about any drama within the WordPress community. My primary goal has always been to offer high-quality, free WordPress tutorials aimed at non-technical beginners and small business owners.
Unfortunately, we are currently facing a situation where a significant amount of misinformation and fear is being circulated about WordPress by media outlets and influencers seeking attention.
This has led to concern among website owners, agencies, and individuals in large companies. Many are questioning whether WordPress remains a secure option and if they should consider alternative content management systems for their websites.
In this article, I aim to clarify the current WordPress drama, identify who it affects, and provide guidance on how to safeguard your websites.
Summary:No, this is NOT the end of WordPress, and your websites are secure.
My Disclaimer:
I am not a trademark attorney or legal authority. This post is intended for CanadaCreate readers who are concerned about recent developments. With 18 years of experience in the WordPress community, I am passionate about this platform. The insights shared here reflect my personal views based on industry knowledge and online research. I do not possess any insider information regarding the current situation and may revise my opinions as new information becomes available.
Now that we’ve clarified that, let’s dive into the ongoing WordPress drama involving WP Engine and Automattic.
- What is the Current WordPress Drama? (Brief Overview)
- Is This the End of WordPress as We Know It?
- Will My Website Be Affected by This Situation?
- How Can You Safeguard Your WordPress Site?
- What Actions Should I Take as a WordPress Agency with Anxious Clients?
- My Concluding Thoughts
- Sources
What is the Current WordPress Drama? (Brief Overview)
Summary:A lawsuit has emerged between two prominent WordPress companies, WP Engine and Automattic, concerning a trademark dispute. Their significant influence has led to heightened tensions and negative publicity for the WordPress ecosystem. Fortunately, the vast majority of WordPress sites are not affected by this situation.
The conflict began when two major companies in the WordPress ecosystem engaged in a legal dispute over trademark rights.
Automattic, founded by WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg, is known for developing WooCommerce, the WordPress.com hosting service, the Jetpack plugin, and other products.
WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting provider backed by the prominent private equity firm Silver Lake.
Automattic holds the exclusive commercial rights to the ‘WordPress’ trademark. They proposed that WP Engine negotiate a licensing agreement, which could involve either payments to Automattic or increased contributions to the free open-source WordPress project.
When the negotiations broke down, Matt brought the issue to light during the annual WordCamp US conference, stating that WP Engine, despite generating over $400 million in revenue, does not contribute sufficiently to the free open-source WordPress project.
As tensions rose, both companies exchanged formal legal Cease and Desist letters. In response to the legal threats, Matt, as a co-founder of WordPress, prohibited WP Engine from accessing the WordPress.org servers.
As a result of this ban, customers hosting their websites on WP Engine could no longer receive updates from WordPress.org servers.
The ban was eventually lifted.temporarilyto safeguard users and enable WP Engine to develop their own update servers. As WordPress is open source, the WP Engine team was able to create their own updater to ensure that users on their hosting platform receive timely software updates.
The server block was reinstated on October 1st. Soon after, WP Engine initiated a federal lawsuit against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg.
As a result of the situation, WP Engine’s team was prohibited from accessing their WordPress.org accounts. Consequently, the WP Engine team can no longer publish updates for their WordPress plugins through the official WordPress.org servers.
One of the plugins owned by WP Engine is Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), which is widely used by developers and powers over 2 million websites. To ensure that security updates are accessible to all users, the WordPress.org team created a fork of the ACF plugin, renamed it Secure Custom Fields (SCF), and took control of the original ACF plugin directory page without WP Engine’s consent. This action was justified as a means to maintain and provide updates to users who were unaware of the ongoing issues.
This decision was met with significant backlash and received numerous negative reactions from developers, influencers, and media outlets.
As of this post’s publication, all other WP Engine plugins remain available for download on the WordPress.org plugin directory. However, the WP Engine team is currently prohibited from using WordPress.org servers to provide updates.
In summary, the core issue behind this WordPress drama is a contentious legal trademark dispute involving the WP Engine hosting company, Automattic, and Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress.
Given that WP Engine has initiated a federal lawsuit against Automattic, only the courts can determine the outcome unless both parties reach a mutually agreeable resolution outside of litigation. The official WordPress Twitter account indicated that the situation could be resolved under certain conditions:
Is This the End of WordPress?
The answer is a resounding NO. Absolutely not.
WordPress powersover 43% of websites.on the internet, and it’s a significant issue that transcends any individual or organization. Most small business owners and WordPress users are unaware of this ongoing situation because it doesn’t directly affect them.
I spoke with a local small business owner who is also my personal trainer, and he had no knowledge of the negative news surrounding WordPress. When I briefly explained the situation, he responded with the following:
“I’m not going to switch from WordPress just because some large companies are in a trademark dispute. What matters to me is that my website is functioning well and my business is thriving.” – Sean Nelson, Founder of Hustle Training 360.
The truth is that the WordPress software you used to create your website remains unchanged.
If you’re utilizing popular plugins like Elementor, WPForms, WooCommerce, AIOSEO, Duplicator, and over 60,000 others, they continue to operate as usual.
A significant platform like WordPress doesn’t come to an end just because two companies are involved in a trademark disagreement.
In the broader context, only a small fraction of users are affected, and I will explain how you can determine if your website is impacted and what steps you can take.
Is My Website Impacted by This Situation?
The vast majority of users and websites utilizing WordPress areNOTis affected by the ongoing legal conflict between Automattic and WP Engine.
If you are utilizing a free plugin created by WP Engine and are not hosted on their platform, your websites will be affected as you will not receive updates for those free plugins from WordPress.org.
Below are the popular free plugins developed by WP Engine that are currently unable to receive updates from WordPress.org servers:
- Advanced Custom Fields
- Nitropack
- Better Search Replace
- WP Migrate Lite
- WP Offload SES Lite
- Frost
- Genesis Blocks
- Genesis Custom Blocks
- For a comprehensive list, please refer to the plugins created by WP Engine.
How Can You Safeguard Your WordPress Site?
As mentioned earlier, if you are not using the plugins developed by WP Engine, there is no action required on your part.
Your WordPress site is secure and functioning properly.
However, I always recommend maintaining regular backups of your WordPress site and utilizing a firewall such as Cloudflare (check out more WordPress security tips).
If you are using the plugins developed by WP Engine, you will need to either install the WP Engine updater plugin to keep receiving updates or seek an alternative based on your preferences.
How Should a WordPress Agency Address Client Concerns?
You can share this blog post with them to reassure that WordPress remains a secure and leading open-source CMS option available today.
A legal trademark dispute between two companiesdoes NOTalter the fact that WordPress powers 43% of all websites and continues to grow. With over 60,000 free WordPress plugins and thousands of free themes, users can easily create any type of website they desire.
The core development of WordPress is ongoing, with WordPress 6.7 on the horizon.
Here are additional insights into WordPress market share and trends.
My Final Thoughts
Despite the current situation, my passion for WordPress remains strong, and I have faith in our incredible WordPress community.
Having dedicated more than half my life to the WordPress community, I will continue to do everything I can to support both the community and our users. Check out my recent post about contributing to the WordPress ecosystem.
Finally, I sincerely hope that the two esteemed companies involved in the lawsuit can reach an agreement soon, allowing us all to concentrate on advancing WordPress and promoting the democratization of publishing and commerce worldwide.
Thank you for your ongoing support of CanadaCreate. I am excited to continue providing valuable content and resources for you in the years ahead.
Sincerely,
Syed Balkhi
Founder of CanadaCreate
References:
- Cease and Desist Letter from WP Engine
- Cease and Desist Letter from Automattic
- Formal Lawsuit by WP Engine against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg
- Comprehensive Commentary on The WP Minute
