After removing the mandatory WordPress.org login checkbox and the WP Engine Tracker CSV file, Automattic has reinstated WP Engine’s WordPress.org repository access and control over the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin repository. This follows a court ruling that required Automattic to restore these rights within 72 hours. In October, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg announced the…
After the court issued a preliminary injunction in favor of WP Engine, Automattic has begun complying with the orders. The mandatory login checkbox in WordPress.org website has been removed, and the WP Engine Tracker website has been updated, including removing the controversial domains.csv files. The mandatory login check box in WordPress.org, introduced in October this…
Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern California District Court has granted WP Engine’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg. The ruling follows a November 26, 2024, hearing where the judge expressed an inclination to approve WP Engine’s request for injunction. Both parties were directed to collaborate on a stipulated order, but…
The highly anticipated preliminary injunction hearing in the WP Engine v. Automattic case took place yesterday at the Northern California District Court. Presiding Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín made it clear that while she was “inclined to grant some sort of injunction,” WP Engine’s proposed version was “exceedingly vague” and “not particularly narrowly tailored.” The judge emphasized…
In the latest chapter of the ongoing dispute between Automattic and WP Engine, a new plugin “Secure Custom Fields” (https://wordpress.org/plugins/secure-custom-fields/) has been added to the Plugin Repository by WordPress.org. This plugin has 90+ active installations and exhibits the features of ACF Pro plugin like repeater, flexible content, clone fields gallery, options pages, and ACF Blocks.…
After Automattic launched the WP Engine Tracker website to monitor the number of websites departing WP Engine hosting, WP Engine updated its ongoing lawsuit against Automattic and its founder, Matt Mullenweg. The revised document with 144 pages, opens with strong accusations: “This is a case about abuse of power, extortion, and greed. The misconduct at…
The ongoing WordPress-WP Engine dispute has escalated with Automattic launching a new website – WP Engine Tracker, to track the number of websites leaving WP Engine hosting. “An Automattic thingamajig,” this website tracks WP Engine hosting migrations from September 21, 2024, and also provides a downloadable CSV list of websites currently hosted on WP Engine,…
Automattic and Matt Mullenweg have filed a response asking the court to dismiss counts 1-6 and 9-11 of WP Engine’s lawsuit. WP Engine had filed a motion on October 18, 2024 for a preliminary injunction in a Northern California court, seeking restored access to WordPress.org and a reversion to conditions as of September 20, 2024. …
WP Engine filed a motion on October 18, 2024 for a preliminary injunction in a Northern California court, seeking restored access to WordPress.org and a reversion to conditions as of September 20, 2024. The hearing is set for November 26, 2024. The Injunction filed claims that Matt and Automattic have “engaged in a self-proclaimed “nuclear”…
As the Automattic-WP Engine controversy continues, Automattic published the term sheet delivered to WP Engine on September 20, 2024. “In the interest of transparency, we’ve published the term sheet we offered to @LeeEWittlinger and @heatherjbrunner, it’s a simple one-pager.”, tweeted Matt Mullenweg. The announcement post reveals that initial discussions between Automattic and WP Engine began in…
After a brief reprieve, WP Engine has been banned again from WordPress.org and the company took to X to share: “Thousands of WordPress community members have once again been blocked from accessing WordPress.org. WP Engine has commenced deployment of its solution for accessing updates and installations for plugins and themes across our customers’ sites. We…
Matt Mullenweg has announced that the restrictions on WP Engine will be temporarily lifted until October 1, 00:00 UTC, allowing them to access WordPress servers. WP Engine was banned on September 25 from utilizing any WordPress.org resources following legal actions related to trademark disputes, which left WP Engine customers unable to access the Plugin/Theme directory…
The dispute between Automattic and WP Engine has intensified. Both companies have issued Cease and Desist orders to each other, leading WP Engine to remove the news feed from the WordPress admin dashboard. In response, WordPress.org has now banned WP Engine from utilizing any of its resources. The WordPress.org statement read: “Pending their legal claims…
Delicious Brains, a WordPress product company founded in 2012 by Brad Touesnard, has sold five of its plugins to WP Engine: Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), WP Migrate, WP Offload Media, WP Offload SES, and Better Search Replace. Over the past four years, WP Engine has been scooping up developer tools through acquisitions, including StudioPress and the…
Local, a popular WordPress development tool maintained by WP Engine, has launched a new add-on for quickly spinning up headless WordPress sites on its new Atlas platform. The company has been working to capture the headless WordPress hosting market over the past few years, investing in a new team dedicated to building out its headless…