SiteGround Sponsors a Full-Time Contributor to WordPress Core

Iseulde Van Dorpe is joining SiteGround to work full-time as a contributor to WordPress core. She expects to work on a variety of different tasks, particularly those that relate to media and the editing experience. Van Dorpe’s recent core contributions helped to improve the editor for users in the 4.0 release.

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SiteGround identified and selected its new contributor based on recommendations from others involved in core development. “In search of developing our WordPress involvement even further, we made some inquiries as to what is most needed by the project at the moment,” said Tina Kesova, VP of Strategic Partnerships at SiteGround.

“The answer we received was that front-end and Javascript specialists will be very valuable. A recommendation for Iseulde’s work in this field was also received from several key WordPress people, who have been impressed with the things she has done for the last year since she first started contributing on a volunteer basis,” she said.

For the past five years, SiteGround has been actively involved with supporting the project by sponsoring community events, dedicating employees to help with event orgranization, and sending speakers to share their knowledge at WordCamps around the world.

“We also already have a great relationship with Mario Peshev, who is contributing to the core on a part-time basis sponsored by our company,” Kesova said. This experience helped with the company’s decision to sponsor Van Dorpe as a full-time contributor.

“What truly won us after we had personally met her, was that she is not just a capable WordPress developer, but she is also a great fit for our company culture,” Kesova said. “She has the same passion for quality and efficiency that drives SiteGround.”

What does a full-time WordPress core contributor do?

SiteGround isn’t the first hosting company to sponsor an employee’s time for working on the WordPress project. WP Engine, Dreamhost, and a handful of others have been doing so for the past several years. The job varies, depending on the amount of time the company can lend and the contributor’s areas of specialty and interest.

“As part of the SiteGround team Iseulde will be working full time contributing to WordPress core and helping with some maintenance tasks,” Kesova said. “She has some great ideas about improvements in the WordPress backend, including the editor and the media manager, and she will be also doing some support work for WordPress by reviewing and closing tickets and patches.”

Van Dorpe, originally from Belgium, will be working remotely from her current home in Glasgow, Scotland. SiteGround’s main headquarters are in Sofia, Bulgaria, but it also has two offices in Bulgaria and one in Spain. The company is in the process of hiring its first American employee and plans to open an office in the USA soon.

“As a web hosting company, we are aware of the big significance open source projects like WordPress have for our business, by helping people build their websites on top of the hosting service we provide,” Kesova said. “That is why we believe it is our duty to support such projects in a meaningful way that can help further their development.”