Last Call

This has been an emotional, bittersweet morning for me, reading through old posts, as I close the book on my time at this beloved publication. Today is my last day before moving on to embrace a new challenge in the world of tech.

In 2013, the year I started writing at the Tavern, just 17.4% of the web was running on WordPress, but the momentum I felt at that last WordCamp San Francisco was intoxicating and undeniable. It marked the ascendency of the global WordPress community and the move to embrace new tools like Slack and GitHub for contributing to core.

At that time, one frustrating thing I frequently heard was “It’s just WordPress, don’t take it so seriously.” Yet there we were, standing on the edge of an amazing acceleration of WordPress’ adoption and expansion of the ecosystem that brought meaningful work to millions and gave people a voice on the web. It was never “just WordPress” to me. As the software enters its third decade, powering 43% of the world’s websites, WordPress continues to be an irrepressible force of good on the web. I’d like to think the Tavern had a small part in that.

I want to thank past colleagues Jeff Chandler, Justin Tadlock, and Nathan Wrigley, as well as Matt Mullenweg for supporting the publication for so many years. We have done a lot of daily reporting but the Tavern keeper is a watchdog at heart. Our commitment to serving the public interest was instrumental in holding companies, authorities, and the open source project accountable, and I am proud of the work we did together.

When I started, I had no idea how I would fully embrace the challenge of writing, editing, and publishing WordPress news every day. It changed me. Writing news is an intensely public job that comes with a nearly constant onslaught of criticism. I found that showing up even on my worst days forged a level of discipline that was previously inaccessible to me. Today, 3,021 articles later, publishing is in my blood.

To our wonderful community of readers: Thank you for trusting us to tell your stories. Thank you to every one of you who chose to speak to the press – both on the record and anonymously when something needed to come to light. You made it possible for the Tavern to become the most authoritative and reliable source of WordPress news on the web.

We navigated many challenging times together and celebrated previously unbelievable milestones. I’ve been privileged to have a front row seat to your innovation and determination, and I’ll continue cheering for your success. Thank you, beautiful WordPress community.

In honor of 10 years at the Tavern, I’ll leave you with 10 of my favorite articles for a short trip down memory lane.

Finding Freedom and Opportunity With WordPress: How Wolf Bishop Overcame Prison and Addiction to Launch a Career

How The Welch News Uses WordPress To Keep Local News Alive in West Virginia

AMP Has Irreparably Damaged Publishers’ Trust in Google-led Initiatives

WordPress Turns 20

Tectonic Shifts in Retail Industry are Creating Unprecedented Opportunities for Independent Stores

Finding WordPress in the Post-Print News Era

WordPress 5.0 RC Expected on U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday, Despite Last-Minute Pushback from Contributors

WordPress Smiley Wars: Will Core Adopt New Emoticons?

RIP BuddyPress Default Theme: Finally Laid to Rest in 1.9

WordPress Beyond Boundaries: A Recap of WordCamp Europe 2014