A Look Back at WordPress News in 2014, Part 1 of 2

photo credit: mathrong – cc

In the course of a year, a lot of things happen in the WordPress ecosystem and in 2014, the Tavern published over 900 posts. I’ve created a list of headlines from the first-half of 2014 where you can see the progression of stories, businesses, and products at a glance. The list indicates it was a busy year for several companies.

The stories included here are handpicked based on their newsworthiness, importance, and whether they generated a healthy discussion in the comments. The posts are in chronological order starting with January.

January

WordPress Plugin Repository Now Rejects Commits With PHP Errors

Aesop Story Engine: An Open Source WordPress Plugin For Storytelling

AcademiaThemes – WordPress Themes Specifically For Academia

WordPress Core Trac Gets a Design Refresh, New Features and Enhancements

Mentor Others In The WordPress Community With WPMentor

AppPresser Launches First Mobile App Development Framework For WordPress

Encouraging Women To Speak At WordCamps

Cultivating a Culture of Respect in the WordPress Community

WordPress Adds Per-Ticket Notifications to Trac

ManageWP Is Now Integrated Into cPanel With SiteGround Hosting

Matt Mullenweg Takes On New Role As CEO of Automattic

Data.gov Is Using WordPress and All the Code is Open Source

WordPress Managed Host NodeKi Goes Bust: No Refunds For Lifetime Customers

Google Releases Its First Plugin For WordPress Publishers

Official Git Mirror Now Available for WordPress Core Development Repository

New WordPress Trac Features Have Been Ported to bbPress and BuddyPress

GoDaddy Launches Managed WordPress Hosting Service

WordCamp Paris 2014: Uniting The French WordPress Community

CodePen Releases Official WordPress Plugin

Behind The Scenes In The WordPress Plugin Directory With Mika Epstein

WordPress 3.8.1 Released: Fixes Twitter oEmbed Issues

PressCastle Aims to Put Every WordPress Theme in One Place

WordPress Co-Founder Mike Little Gets His Own Wikipedia Page

WordCamp Norway 2014: WordPress In a Winter Wonderland

Aesop WordPress Storytelling Plugin Is Now Fully Funded

High Demand For WordPress Education Prompts Treehouse to Launch New Beginner’s Course

WordPress Trac Gets New Core Components Overview Page for Filtering Tickets

Why Post By Email Is Still Available In WordPress

How WordPress Obtained The W.org Domain

Jetpack 2.8 Introduces Markdown Module and Adds Publicize Support for Custom Post Types

February

Try To Locate WordPress On The Map

New Site Highlights Acts Of Kindness In The WordPress Community

Gust Plugin Brings the Ghost Admin Panel Into WordPress

How to Set Up Email Alerts For Topics on WordPress.org

WiredTree To Sponsor All North American WordCamps In 2014

WordPress Service Provider BruteProtect Secures Funding, Forms Parka LLC

Fine-Grained WordPress Trac Notifications Help Core Contributors to Specialize

WordPress.org Plugin Authors Receive Suspicious Requests For Repository Access

Piklist WordPress Development Framework Rebrands, Plans to Launch Commercial Products

Joost de Valk Author Of The WordPress SEO Plugin Acquires WPForce.com

WPCollab Provides Collaborative Opportunity For New WordPress Plugin Developers

UpThemes Publishes Open Letter, Sounds Wakeup Call To Other WordPress Theme Shops

WordPress.com Joins Google, Reddit and Tumblr in Protesting NSA Surveillance

WordPress E-Commerce Plugins Update to Support Stripe’s Global Expansion of Currencies

How One Police Chief Is Using WordPress and Jetpack to Fight Crime

First Steps Taken To Add WordCamp Data To WordPress.org User Profiles

WooThemes Replaces Theme Club With All Themes Package

Open Source Federal Learning Registry Offers A Plugin For WordPress Integration

Aesop Story Engine Now Available On WordPress.org

Own Your Content: Postcard Social Sharing App Launches With WordPress Integration

WordPress Theme Shops Move Toward Preserving Data Portability

Bob Dunn Launches New WordPress Learning Site

“Adopt-Me” Plugin Tag Is Now in Use in the WordPress Plugin Directory

WordPress.org Profiles On Track to Be Totally Revamped

Jetpack 2.9 Introduces Multisite Support and Related Posts Module

Theme Foundry Partners With Typekit to Add Commercial Fonts to WordPress Themes

Better WordPress Security Plugin Gets Major Update To Address Security Vulnerabilities

WordPress.com Partners With Hosted E-Commerce Solutions to Launch Online Stores

March

BuddyPress to Adopt Features-As-Plugins Model to Develop New Media Component

WordPress.com Featured On Jeopardy

MediaTemple Launches WordPress Managed Hosting Package

CampusPress Launches Managed WordPress Hosting For Multisite Networks

Widget Customizer Officially Merged Into Core for WordPress 3.9

BuddyPress and bbPress Websites Are Now Open Source: Contributions Welcome

What Is The Future Of Comments In WordPress?

A Look Behind PropsPress: A Site Dedicated to WordPress Contributors

First WordCamp Dayton A Flying Success

Aesop Story Engine Launches Commercial WordPress Themes

WordPress’ Personality Shines Through Again

The Importance of Mentors: How a High School Student Became a Professional WordPress Developer

10up Hires CEO To Help Take Company To The Next Level

Treehouse Expands WordPress Education to Include BuddyPress Beginners Course

Better WP Security To Be Renamed, Undergoes Major Changes

WordPress.com Developer Site Gets a Fresh Look and Updated Documentation

WordPress.com Formally Opens Its Marketplace to Theme Developers

WordPress Plugin Repository Now Hosts Over 30,000 Plugins

CreativeMarket Acquired By The Makers Of AutoCAD

PhpStorm 8 To Add Official Support for WordPress

WordPress.com Gets New Standard and Secret Emoticons

Qik Is Shutting Down, How To Save Your Videos

WordPress Smiley Wars: Will Core Adopt New Emoticons?

Why Showing The WordPress Username Is Not A Security Risk

Pressgram 2.0 Removes Social Layer to Focus on Publishing

iThemes Working Fast To Fix Users Upgrade Woes

VagrantPress: A WordPress Development Environment for Themes and Plugins

April

Okay Themes Pulls Out of Themeforest, Rebrands as Array

Introduction To Underscores: A WordPress Starter Theme With Konstantin Obenland

The Combination Of Jetpack and Dreamhost Security Settings Lead To Lost Comments

WordPress.org Profile Redesign is Live

DevPress Sold To Unknown Buyer For $14k

The Idea Of Sponsored Comments Disqusts Me

Introducing Hookr.io: A New Resource For WordPress Developers

WordPress 3.8.2: First Security Release Shipped as a Background Update

Automattic Acquires Longreads, Invests in Digital Longform Publishing

Breaking: Jetpack Releases Critical Security Update, Immediate Action Required

Major Milestone For BuddyPress: 2 Million Downloads and Counting

WordPress Plugin CoSchedule Secures $500K In Funding

Why WordPress Theme Developers Are Moving Functionality Into Plugins

WordPress 3.8.3 Released, Fixes Quick Draft Bug

BuddyPress 2.0 Released: Big Performance Improvements and New Administration Tools

WordPress 3.9 “Smith” Released

BuddyPress Development Trunk to Adopt a Grunt-Powered Build System

Automattic Publishes Transparency Report, Reaffirms Support for Freedom of Speech

Automattic Introduces Postbot App for Scheduling Photo Posts

Have You Turned On Akismet 3.0’s Silent Discard Feature?

ThemeLab Acquired By Syed Balkhi

Automattic Snaps Up Scroll Kit to Add to the WordPress.com Product Team

WordPress Code Reference is Now Live

WordPress 4.0 Kicks Off Development Today, Helen Hou-Sandí to Lead Release

WordPress Commercial Theme Businesses Offer Advice On Hiring Support Staff

May

WP Rocket Launches Commercial Caching Plugin for WordPress

The Mina Olen Free WordPress Theme Experiment

WordPress Query Monitor Plugin Crosses 10,000 Downloads

GoDaddy Removes Ticketing and Email Support In Favor Of Phone and Live Chat

Automattic Is Raising $160M in New Funding

New wptheory Service Launches WordPress Websites in a Day

WordPress Contributors Move Toward Automating Accessibility Testing

AppPresser Debuts AppBuddy Mobile App at BuddyCamp Miami

More Than 97% of Updates to WordPress 3.9.1 Were Automatic

BuddyCamp Miami 2014 In Review: Presentations and Slides From the Event

Recap Of WordCamp Miami 2014

WooThemes Continuing To Investigate Reports Of Fraudulent Activity

The Ability To Anonymously Complain About WordPress May Soon Disappear

WP Ninjas Launch Ninja Demo: A Complete Demo Solution for WordPress Products

Why BuddyPress and bbPress Themes Don’t Exist

Font Awesome Finally Adds WordPress Icon in 4.1 Release

Automattic Doesn’t Claim Copyright On Their APIs

WordCamp Miami Kids’ Workshop Launches the Next Generation of Bloggers

WordPress for Android Will No Longer Support Gingerbread

Jetpack 3.0 Released, Adds Bulk Module Management, Site Verification and Twitter Open Graph Support

WP Engine Addresses Critics Following Damaging Exposé of Its Customer Support

WordPress Entrepreneurs Group Reaches 500+ Members

The WordPress Training Initiative

WordPress JSON REST API Version 1.0 Released

bbPress 2014 Survey Results Show Users Are Still Disappointed with Lack of Features

WordPress for iOS Featured in Apple’s New iPad Advertising Campaign

WordPress Celebrates Its 11th Birthday

TeslaThemes Celebrates One Year Of Being In Business

Alex Shiels Proposal For Improving The WordPress Plugin Management Page

Feuilles App Aims to Replace Editorially, Offers Publishing to Github, WordPress, and Dropbox

WordPress Plugin All In One SEO Releases Important Security Update

June

Press75 Acquired by Westwerk for Undisclosed Amount

WordPress.com VIP Releases Presentation Documents and Resources Under Creative Commons License

WordPress in Vietnamese: Now 100% Translated

WordPress.com to Implement SSL for All Subdomains, Joins the Fight Against Mass Surveillance

bbPress 2.5.4 Security Release Available: Immediate Update Recommended

DMCA Takedown Notice Issued Against Fork Of WP Migrate DB Pro

Why Comments Still Matter

WP Engine to Sponsor Two Full-Time WordPress Core Contributors

Michael Oeser of DER PRiNZ Acquires WordPress Theme Company ThemeShift

New Data Shows WordPress Support Forum Registrations Surged Between 2009 and 2012

PressWork to Relaunch Under New Ownership

Clef Partners With Softaculous To Provide 2-Step Authentication For Automated WordPress Installs

VersionPress Aims To Bring Version Control To The Masses

ThemeFurnace Relaunches, Introduces Lifetime Club Membership

WordPress Trunk Adds New Beta Testing Tab to Plugins Screen

Forbes Publishes Transcript Of Extended Interview With Matt Mullenweg

VersionPress Adopts The GPL Software License

WordPress Themes Suck at Accessibility: It’s Time to Fix It

What’s Your Perception Of ThemeForest?

WordPress JSON REST API Version 1.1 Released with New Authentication Documentation

WordPress Security Alert: New Zero-Day Vulnerability Discovered in TimThumb Script

Pods Framework For WordPress Releases Update To Patch Security Vulnerability

The GPL License Doesn’t Provide The Freedom To Infringe Registered Trademarks

WPSeek Mobile: A WordPress Function Reference on the Go

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the list of posts from July-December. Which stories of 2014 do you remember most and are there any that you would add or remove from the list?