Post Status Podcasts

In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette  welcomes Felix Arntz, a senior software engineer at Google, about his decade of contributions to the WordPress community. Felix shares insights on effective communication, persistence, and attention to detail in open-source collaboration. He highlights the importance of building relationships, learning from others, and embracing the welcoming nature of the WordPress community. The episode also introduces Felix’s new "View Transitions" plugin, designed to enhance user experience. Listeners are encouraged to engage, contribute, and build connections within the WordPress ecosystem.

• Attention to Detail Is a Key Marker of ProfessionalismFelix and Michelle emphasized that small details—like capitalizing the "P" in WordPress—may seem trivial but are taken seriously by seasoned professionals. This attention to detail reflects pride in one’s work and often becomes a litmus test for developers and marketers alike when assessing quality and seriousness.
• Thinking at Scale and Growing Gradually Are Crucial in Open Source Contribution: Felix discussed the importance of thinking at scale, especially when contributing to WordPress core. A feature might work well for a blog with 80 posts but break down on a site with tens of thousands. Additionally, contributors are encouraged to increase scope gradually, starting with bug fixes, so they can build trust, demonstrate commitment, and avoid burnout or disappointment when larger proposals stall.
• Personal Motivation Can Guide Your Niche in Open Source Work: Felix shared how his contributions to WordPress core initially grew out of real-world problems he encountered during freelance work. This insight reinforces the idea that contributors should follow their authentic interests and pain points when selecting where to focus their energy, making their efforts more sustainable and impactful.
• Relationships and Community Are the Heart of the WordPress Project: Michelle and Felix agreed that building personal relationships—whether at WordCamps, online, or through collaborative work—is not just rewarding personally, but also essential for project momentum. Felix shared how meeting someone briefly in person changes how online collaboration feels. Michelle told a moving story about how her community connections helped her navigate an inaccessible travel situation, underscoring the tangible power of WordPress friendships.

• This Week in WordPress
• Felix-Arntz.me

Build and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts. 

• Felix Arntz (Senior Software Engineer, Google)
• Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status)
• Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)

The Post Status  podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝

Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧

In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frechette and June Lui introduce Speed Network Online, a new virtual networking initiative for the WordPress community and beyond. They discuss the origins of the idea, event logistics, and the benefits of relaxed, pressure-free networking. The hosts explain how the event will operate, including registration, costs, and future dates, emphasizing the importance of building genuine connections and fostering collaboration in a supportive environment.

• Speed Network Online Was Born from a Real Networking Challenge: The idea originated during a casual conversation where June expressed her struggles expanding her network at large events like WordCamps. Michelle immediately acted on the concept, purchasing a domain and jumpstarting the project. This quick collaboration shows the power of shared vision and execution between community members.
• The Format Focuses on Accessibility and Practicality: Speed Network Online is designed to be a virtual, low-pressure alternative to traditional networking events. It uses Zoom breakout rooms for one-on-one chats and provides participants with a spreadsheet of contact info afterward, eliminating the need for frantic note-taking. The event is purposefully inclusive, affordable at $20, and structured to reduce anxiety and improve accessibility.
• The Platform Encourages Relationship-Building, Not Just Pitching: Unlike speed dating or surface-level interactions, the goal is not to “close deals” or just market yourself but to build a lasting network of complementary professionals. The event supports deeper connections that may evolve into partnerships, project collaborations, or referrals over time.
• Speed Network Online Is Community-Driven and Evolving: June built the website from scratch, and they’ve begun promoting the project through a new Twitter (X) account: @SpeedNetOnline. They also encourage participants to create WP World profiles to make it easier to stay connected post-event. Michelle emphasizes that these types of grassroots initiatives are powered by genuine collaboration and shared community goals.

• Backpocket Ace
• WP Accessibility day
• Speed Network Online
• The WP World
• Zoom
• Mark Westguard 
• WS Form
• Nathan Tyler
• N Squared
• Meet Michelle.online

A2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2.  You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!

• June Liu (Marketing Consultant, backpocket ACE)
• Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status)
• Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)

The Post Status  podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝

Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧

In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, Michelle Frechette and Marcus Burnette introduce "Sponsor Me WP," a new platform designed to connect WordPress contributors with potential sponsors. They discuss the motivations behind the project, their collaborative development process, and the platform’s user-friendly features. The conversation highlights the importance of community engagement, transparency, and direct connections between sponsors and contributors. Listeners are encouraged to provide feedback and share their experiences to help shape the platform’s future, reflecting the hosts’ commitment to supporting and empowering the WordPress community.

• Sponsor Me WP was created to connect WordPress contributors with sponsors in a simple, transparent way: Michelle and Marcus collaborated to launch Sponsor Me WP—a platform where WordPress community members can share their contributions and availability for sponsorship. It was born from Michelle’s need to supplement her income after being laid off, combined with Marcus’s technical skills and his existing work on WP World. The site allows contributors to create a profile, import data from WP World, and indicate their available hours for sponsorship, while letting sponsors reach out directly—no intermediaries, no money flowing through the platform.
• The platform is intentionally simple, inclusive, and community-driven: The site avoids complex monetization, user gating, or financial processing. It’s designed to be lightweight and easy to use, with user control over profiles and direct sponsor-contributor communication. Michelle and Marcus emphasized that it welcomes both established and aspiring contributors, and they’ve taken steps to ensure fairness (e.g., randomized listing order) and community safety (e.g., ability to remove bad actors if needed).
• Michelle and Marcus are passionate about building community-first tools—and open to evolving based on feedback: They view this project (like WP World and WP Speakers) as a gift to the WordPress community. The hosting was donated, and their time volunteered. They’re also actively seeking ideas for improvement or expansion, especially from people with experience in seeking or providing sponsorships. Their approach centers on reducing friction, encouraging transparency, and enabling community members to support each other’s contributions meaningfully.

• Kinsta
• WP World
• WP Speakers
• Underrepresented In Tech
• Sponsor Me WP
• GitHub
• Speed Network Online
• Pressable

Build and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts. 

• Marcus Burnette (Creator, The WP World)
• Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status)
• Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)

The Post Status  podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝

Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧

In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette welcomes Carrie Dils, Mika Epstein, and Ryan McCue to discuss their roles in the WordPress community and the new FAIR project. The group explores FAIR’s mission to create a federated independent repository system for WordPress plugins and themes, focusing on decentralization, community-driven moderation, inclusive governance, and privacy. They address challenges like supporting premium plugins, reducing environmental impact, and fostering global participation. The episode highlights FAIR’s collaborative, open-source approach and invites listeners to get involved through GitHub and community meetings, aiming to shape a more innovative and inclusive WordPress ecosystem.

• FAIR Is Reimagining Plugin Discovery and Trust for WordPress: FAIR is building a more open, decentralized ecosystem for WordPress plugin discovery—empowering both end users and developers. By enabling verified directories and authenticated plugin listings (via methods like DNS verification), FAIR provides an alternative to the limitations of the WordPress.org repo, while increasing transparency, user safety, and trust.
• Community Participation Is Central to FAIR’s Success: The FAIR initiative is deeply community-driven. Contributors are encouraged to get involved through GitHub Discussions, introduce themselves, offer help, or join working groups. The leadership team is intentionally building these groups based on people’s skills and availability, rather than predefined roles—making FAIR flexible, inclusive, and open to evolving needs.
• FAIR Encourages Innovation Outside Traditional WordPress Constraints: The project provides an alternative path for plugin creators who may not want to follow the traditional WordPress.org model (e.g., having to release a free version first). With FAIR, creators can request to be listed in aggregator directories that are more flexible, values-aligned, or niche-focused—fostering innovation and lowering barriers to entry.
• FAIR Is Still in Early Development—and Actively Growing: While the FAIR plugin and protocol are live (accessible via fair.pm), the ecosystem is in its formative stages. The team is prioritizing essential needs (the “MVP”) and building infrastructure to support future growth in documentation, marketing, design, development, and user testing. They welcome feedback on plugin issues, conflicts, and ideas, encouraging broad experimentation and iteration.

• FAIR
• LinkedIn Learning
• Awesome Motive
• Lez Watch TV
• Human Made
• Aspire Press
• Gravatar
• Linux Foundation Project
• Bluesky
• WPCC
• Black Press
• Mastodon 
• Drupal
• Courtney Robertson
• Automattic
• MediaWiki
• Monster Insights
• Gravity Forms
• Fastly

A2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2.  You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!

• Carrie Dils (Independent Consultant & Web Instructor, Carrie Dils Consulting)
• Mika Epstein (Senior Developer, Awesome Motive)
• Ryan McCue (Director of Product, Human Made)
• Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status)
• Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)

The Post Status  podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝

Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧

In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette and Darian Lusk share their journey launching and managing the official WordPress.org TikTok account. They discuss overcoming initial nerves, embracing influencer marketing, and collaborating across generations to create daily, authentic, and engaging videos. The duo highlights their creative process, community-driven content, and the importance of spontaneity over corporate polish. They also reveal behind-the-scenes stories from WordCamp events, tease upcoming collaborations, and encourage audience participation, all while emphasizing the fun and connection at the heart of their WordPress TikTok adventure.

• TikTok is Being Used to Energize and Expand the WordPress Community: Michelle and Darian are using TikTok as a playful, engaging platform to showcase the global WordPress community. Their content captures behind-the-scenes moments at events like WordCamp Europe and aims to connect with younger, more diverse audiences in an authentic, unscripted way. The vibe is intentionally fun, personal, and accessible—not overly polished or corporate.
• Community and Team Collaboration are Key to Real-Time Content Success: The success of the TikTok initiative was made possible by the fast support of the Automattic team across time zones. From helping Michelle access the TikTok account while traveling, to teammates assisting with content ideas, the distributed team model enabled agile, in-the-moment content creation and reinforced the value of strong internal collaboration.
• Personal Joy, Humor, and Relationships Fuel the Project: Michelle and Darian’s enthusiasm and personal connection shine throughout the project. Their humor, openness (including joking about stunts and family involvement), and genuine love for the WordPress community create a sense of fun that draws people in. They prioritize joy and connection as central to their content and outreach.

• TikTok
• Automattic 
• WordPress.org
• Adobe Premier
• Vid Cap
• Cap Cut
• WP Community Collective

A2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2.  You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!

• Darian Lusk (Social Media Manager, Automattic)
• Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status)
• Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)

The Post Status  podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝

Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧

In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette interviews Zach Hendershot, creator of Miruni, a tool designed to streamline client feedback and project management for web developers, especially within the WordPress ecosystem. Zach explaining how Miruni automates mundane tasks, allowing developers to focus on strategic work. The episode highlights Miruni's features, such as capturing client requests and automating edits, and touches on future enhancements like automated SEO optimization and advanced client communication. The discussion underscores Miruni's potential to enhance efficiency and client satisfaction.

• Miruni is Built to Streamline Client Feedback for Agencies: Miruni enables clients to leave feedback directly on live websites by clicking and commenting, which then creates a structured request in the agency’s dashboard. This direct, contextual input eliminates miscommunication, reduces friction, and speeds up the revision cycle.
• Transparency and Communication Are Core to Its Value Proposition: One of the standout benefits is accountability: Miruni provides a record of what clients requested. Agencies get a traceable history of requests, improving trust and transparency.
• The Platform Is Actively Evolving Based on Real-World Use and Community Feedback: Miruni is addressing practical challenges like mismatched image formats, file size optimization, and the need for better reporting. The team is responsive to feature requests—like client change logs and multi-user identification—and is working to enhance collaboration tools, user roles, and automation without sacrificing human oversight or quality.
• The Miruni Team Is Approachable and Focused on Helping Agencies Succeed: Zach emphasized their openness to demos, direct support, and ongoing learning from users. Their hands-on, collaborative approach makes them a valuable partner for agencies navigating complex client relationships and content workflows.

• Miruni
• Elementor
• Breakdance
• Bricks
• Divi
• Beaver Builder
• Hubspot

Build and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts. 

• Zach Hendershot (CEO, Miruni)
• Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status)
• Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)

The Post Status  podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝

Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧

In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette chats with Adam Warner, GoDaddy's Director of Field Marketing. Adam discusses GoDaddy's latest tools, including the Site Optimizer for enhancing SEO and the AI-powered market research tool for client management. The conversation highlights GoDaddy's commitment to the WordPress community and upcoming developments.

• GoDaddy Airo is an AI-Powered Productivity Boost for Web Professionals: GoDaddy Airo offers a suite of tools designed to help web designers and developers (a.k.a. “web dnds”) save time and improve quality. It helps with tasks like writing copy, generating SEO meta descriptions, creating alt text for images, and performing overall site optimization.
• The Site Optimizer Ensures Strong SEO and Accessibility Foundations: The Site Optimizer tool scans pages for SEO opportunities and accessibility issues—like missing alt text—and provides automatic or manual suggestions to improve them. It covers headline hierarchy, content structure, social sharing cards, and more.
• Client Management is Streamlined with Built-In Tools and AI-Generated Market Research: Each client entry includes a simplified project/task list covering everything from discovery to site launch and maintenance. The standout feature is AI-powered market research, which generates useful client-specific data like industry demographics and SEO opportunities—great for discovery calls and proposal prep.

• WordPress.org
• GoDaddy 
• GoDaddy Airo
• Managed WP

A2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2.  You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!

• Adam W. Warner (Director Of Field Marketing, GoDaddy)
• Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status)
• Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)

The Post Status  podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝

Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧

In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette interviews Ryan Bracey, co-organizer of WordPress Accessibility Day and director of web development at Second Melody, discusses the upcoming event with Michelle. Ryan, who has been involved with the event for four years, shares insights on the speaker application process, event format, and accessibility features. The event, a 24-hour global virtual conference, aims to feature diverse speakers and will include pre-recorded talks followed by live Q&A sessions. The host and Ryan emphasize the importance of accessibility in web development and encourage listeners to apply as speakers.

• Call for Speakers Now Open: WP Accessibility Day 2025 is currently accepting speaker submissions for its global, 24-hour virtual conference, scheduled for October 15th, 2025. The event focuses on accessibility within the WordPress ecosystem and is seeking approximately 75 proposals to fill 23 speaker slots plus one keynote. Submissions are open through May 26th. Organizers are especially encouraging talks from individuals with lived experiences of disability and welcome a wide range of accessibility-related topics.
• New Format: Pre-Recorded Talks with Live Q&A: This year, the event introduces a new structure featuring pre-recorded presentations followed by live Q&A sessions. This format offers greater flexibility for speakers while ensuring a more stable and inclusive experience for attendees. In appreciation of their time and expertise, speakers will receive a $300 honorarium.
• Commitment to Accessibility and Inclusion: Accessibility is at the core of WP Accessibility Day. The event will include live captioning and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation to ensure it is accessible to a global audience. To support diversity and fairness, speaker applications are reviewed anonymously. The organizers are especially encouraging submissions from individuals in underrepresented regions and communities. Proposals promoting overlays or superficial fixes that do not adhere to true accessibility standards will not be considered.

• WordPress Accessibility Day
• Second Melody

A2 Hosting offers solutions for WordPress and WooCommerce that are both blazing fast and ultra-reliable. WordPress can be used on ANY Web Hosting plan from A2.  You can deploy WordPress easily on Shared, VPS, or Dedicated Hosting plans. A2 also offers Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting. Take a look at a2hosting.com today!

• Ryan Bracey (Organizer, WordPress Accessibility Day)
• Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status)
• Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)

The Post Status  podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝

Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧

In this episode of the Post Status Happiness Hour, host Michelle Frechette welcomes Brad Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Web Dev Studios, to discuss the new Theme Switcher Pro plugin. Brad introduces Theme Switcher Pro, a plugin designed to help WordPress users transition from the classic editor to the block editor (Gutenberg) without a complete site rebuild. They discuss the plugin's features, including its ability to switch themes for specific posts or pages, and its benefits for businesses and developers. The episode concludes with a focus on community support and upcoming WordPress events.

• Theme Switcher Pro Simplifies Testing and Switching Between WordPress Themes: Theme Switcher Pro is positioned as a powerful utility for developers and agencies to easily preview, switch, and test multiple WordPress themes on a live site without affecting the frontend user experience. It removes the friction from theme testing, making it safer and faster to compare themes, especially during redesigns or audits.
• Built Specifically for Agencies, Developers, and High-Volume Users: Brad Williams emphasized that Theme Switcher Pro is not just a hobby plugin—it's designed for professional workflows. Agencies managing many client sites or developers constantly evaluating new themes are the target audience. Features are built with this high-usage context in mind, including the ability to bookmark themes, preview them privately, and manage theme stacks.
• Theme Switcher Pro Reflects Real-World Workflow Pain Points: The product emerged from Brad’s direct experience at WebDevStudios and feedback from others facing the same problem: managing and previewing themes across many sites was a repetitive, manual, and risky process. Theme Switcher Pro directly addresses these workflow inefficiencies and turns them into a smooth, controlled experience.

• Web Dev Studios
• Theme Switcher Pro
• Ollie
• Aster
• Git Commit

Build and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts. 

• Brad Williams (CEO, Web Dev Studios)
• Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status)
• Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)

The Post Status  podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝

Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧

In this podcast episode, host Michelle Frechette interviews Amadeu Arderiu, an industrial engineer from Barcelona and co-owner of Sirvelia. Company specializing in custom WordPress plugins. They discuss Amadeo's innovative project, Ploogins, an AI-driven search engine that enhances plugin discovery through natural language queries. Amadeu demonstrates how users can find both free and premium plugins by describing their needs conversationally. The episode also covers the project's potential to fill gaps in the current plugin ecosystem. Amadeu invites feedback to refine the tool further, aiming to benefit the WordPress community.

• Ploogins Aims to Be a Comprehensive, AI-Powered Plugin Discovery Tool: Ploogins is designed to help users—especially WordPress newcomers—discover relevant plugins using natural language search, not just keyword matching. It fills a significant gap by indexing both free and premium plugins (like Gravity Forms and LearnDash), which are often missing from the official repository or difficult to find via general search.
• Submission and Visibility for Developers Are Central: Plugin developers can submit their premium plugins for free. The team is currently indexing submissions manually but plans to build a developer dashboard with search analytics and performance metrics. This could eventually evolve into semantic-based analytics, giving plugin creators deeper insights into how users find and interact with their plugins.
• Community Involvement and Feedback Are Critical: Amadeu emphasizes that they need real-world usage and feedback from both novice users and veteran developers to refine the tool. Michelle suggests the importance of finding and showcasing lesser-known or premium plugins, and both agree on the value of making plugin discovery more inclusive and efficient for the broader WordPress ecosystem.

• Ploogins
• WP Speakers
• WordPress.org
• Sirvelia

Build and manage professional sites with secure managed hosting on WordPress.com. Beautiful themes, built-in SEO, and payment tools, and access to over 50,000 plugins. Everything you need for your business, plus 24/7 support from WordPress experts. 

• Amadeu Arderiu (Co-Owner, Sirvelia)
• Michelle Frechette (Director of Community Relations, Post Status)
• Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)

The Post Status  podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis. 📝

Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS. 🎧