Four Things I’d Like to See in This Year’s State of the Word

This weekend, WordPressers from far and wide will descend upon Nashville, TN, for WordCamp US. One of the highlights of the event is Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word. Last year, Mullenweg shared a variety of statistics, made a few announcements, and plotted a new course for WordPress development.

As the event draws near, here are some things I’d like to see addressed in this year’s State of the Word.

Will There Be A Renewed Effort to Make Calypso Plugin Aware?

During the 2016 State of the Word, Mullenweg announced that Calypso became plugin aware.

Plugin Aware Calypso

The idea was that plugins that are actively installed on more than 1 million sites could participate in an experimental program that would add meta box support and other plugin specific features to Calypso. To this day, this has not materialized and I’d like to know what happened and if there will be a renewed effort in 2018.

An Update on WordPress Foundation Supported Initiatives

Last year, we learned that WordCamp Central became its own Public Benefit Corporation while the WordPress Foundation maintained its non-profit status. In addition, the Foundation announced support for like-minded non-profits such as, Hack the Hood, Internet Archive, and Black Girls CODE.

I’d like to know how much money the Foundation has contributed to these causes and if any progress has been made on providing educational workshops in underdeveloped countries.

An Update on WordPress’ Development/Release Strategy

A year into WordPress’ new development and release strategy, I’d like to know what challenges he and the team have faced and overcome. I’d also like to know if the results he has seen thus far warrant continuing the experiment in 2018.

Take an Opportunity to Explain What Gutenberg Really Is

Last year, Mullenweg surprised the community by announcing that the WordPress post editor would be revamped. Since then, we’ve learned that the project’s name is Gutenberg and it’s about more than just the editor. I’d like to see Mullenweg take this unique opportunity to provide a deeper explanation into what the project is and why it’s pivotal for WordPress’ continued success.

This year’s State of the Word will be presented on Saturday, December 2nd, at 4PM Eastern. If you can’t see it in-person, you can watch it for free via the livestream.