Post Status Podcasts

"If plugin authors were better educated maybe they would make some different choices."

In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory and David talk about WordPress's reputation relative to its performance. This discussion unfolds in light of a new proposal for a Performance Team for WordPress core. What should happen to improve the WordPress experience (for both the user and for search engines) on the front-end and the admin experience as well? Education? Notifications to the user?

Also covered in this episode: We are formally announcing the existence of the new Post Status homepage, which is still a work in progress. We're also encouraging listeners to check out the "Week at WordPress.org" (get the feed here), and submit your Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals to us at Post Status.

Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧

🔗 Mentioned in the show:

• Proposal for a Performance team
• The Legend of the Headless Website — Post Status Live with Brad Williams, Lisa Sabin-Wilson, Greg Rickaby, and Amor Kumar
• This Week at WordPress.org (October 11, 2021)
• Share Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deals With Post Status
• David Bisset (Twitter)
• Cory Miller (Twitter)
• Post Status (Twitter)

🙏 Sponsor: Wordfence

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"While WordPress does democratize publishing there are people today that can't take advantage of that."

In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Cory comes back freshly tanned from CaboPress to share his experiences and one big takeaway point that everyone can appreciate. David brings up how Facebook's outage this week made him start to give pause before quipping on Twitter about "owning your own content." He asks if or how WordPress and the open web can help the people for whom Facebook is the internet.

Also covered in this episode: A shout out to WordCamp US 2021 which was held virtually for the first time on October 1st — a fine virtual event after only eight weeks of planning!

Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧

🔗 Mentioned in the show:

• #CaboPress on Twitter
• CaboPress.com
• WordCamp US 2021 Summary (Post Status)
• Thinking First Before Saying "Own Your Own Content!"
• David Bisset (Twitter)
• Cory Miller (Twitter)
• Post Status (Twitter)

🙏 Sponsor: iThemes

Take the guesswork out of building, maintaining, and securing WordPress websites. Professional plugins and training from iThemes help you create and manage your sites. Secure, back up, and manage them quickly and easily. Master leading-edge WordPress skills to grow your business and make more money. Learn and grow with the experts at iThemes.

"Remember to put people before software and community before code."

In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David and Cory recover from an overwhelming week of acquisition news in the WordPress space. Four well-known WordPress companies announced acquisitions almost back-to-back. Next, Cory notes Michelle Frechette's article on Post Status about the challenging and difficult choices some employees of newly acquired companies may have to make.

Also covered in this episode: David shares what has (and hasn't) changed in the WordPress space in terms of business and opportunities. Then he considers the possible ways developers can look at acquisitions as a whole.

Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧

🔗 Mentioned in the show:

• Post Status Draft Podcast: Chris Lema
• Post Status Draft Podcast: Pippin Williamson
• Liquid Web Acquires LearnDash
• Awesome Motive Has Acquired Sandhills Development
• ThemeIsle Acquires WP Landing Kit
• Keanan Koppenhaver Acquires Branch and WPPusher
• Your WordPress Company Has Been Acquired: Now What?
• Paul Lacey's Tweet
• David Bisset (Twitter)
• Cory Miller (Twitter)
• Post Status (Twitter)

🙏 Sponsor: Bluehost

Everything your website needs — from start-up to success story — is at Bluehost. Whether you're looking to create a website, blog, or online store, Bluehost will get you started with an all-in-one website platform tailored to your specific needs. Get a free domain name in your first year, free 24/7 lifetime support, and total design freedom with WordPress at Bluehost.

Awesome Motive Acquires Sandhills Development

Post Status CEO Cory Miller chats with Pippin Williamson, the Founder and Managing Director of Sandhills Development, about Awesome Motive's acquisition of his company. 

Pippin announced today that Awesome Motive has acquired his company — their whole team and plugin portfolio: Easy Digital Downloads, AffiliateWP, Sugar Calendar, WP Simple Pay, and the Payouts Service. Syed Balkhi, Founder and CEO of Awesome Motive, outlines the commercial plugins and notes the deal includes several free plugins as well. From Sandhills, Chris Klosowski, Andrew Munro, and Phil Derksen will be joining Awesome Motive as partners, and Chris will continue to lead Easy Digital Downloads. 

Pippin, however, intends to take a very long break from WordPress and software development.

Sitting down with Cory Miller for some reflection on the past and thoughts about the future in the WordPress space, Pippin offered advice to developers and product owners today. He also identified what he sees as the biggest threat emerging for WordPress today.

Key Takeaway: "The Biggest Threat We Have Today" 🦈

As both an opportunity and "a major threat" to "WordPress the platform" that comes from its openness, Pippin warns:

"We are getting to a point where WordPress is so big and there is so much money involved in the WordPress ecosystem that it is now very much in large companies' interests to create their own version of WordPress."

Pippin Williamson

Because "the WordPress experience is not consistent" between major hosting platforms — due to their attempts to improve their customer experience — Pippin is concerned end users won't be able to tell what is WordPress and what is the host.

Might that kind of platform balkanization carry over into the WordPress community, dividing developers, product businesses, and end users?

Pippin also referenced Kinsta COO Jon Penland's conversation with Anchor Hosting founder Austin Ginder back in June on Kinsta's Reverse Engineered podcast:

"...something that I’ve been thinking about a lot over the last year, which is a move I see in the WordPress space in general, at the host level, and I’m not going to name any names because I don’t want to throw stones, but to pull in more and more tooling that’s not part of the Core. And, I just worry that we’re going to end up in a situation, a few years from now, where we have a whole lot of walled gardens, right? Where WordPress at host A is not the same thing as WordPress at host B and is not the same at WordPress at host C, because as you described, a WordPress provider might try to solve this problem as an on-ramp for their own customers."

Jon Penland

🔗 Mentioned in the show:

• Cory Miller (Twitter)
• Pippin Williamson (Twitter)
• Pippin on the Sandhills Acquisition
• Syed Balkhi on Awesome Motive's Plans for Pippin's Plugins
• Acquisition Announcement at Easy Digital Downloads
• Jon Penland interviews Austin Ginder for Kinsta's Reverse Engineered podcast

🙏 Sponsor: Sandhills Development

No matter what you're working on with your WordPress website, Sandhills Development has a tool that can help you. Sell digital products with Easy Digital Downloads. Use AffiliateWP as your affiliate marketing solution. Sugar Calendar is event management made easy. And WP Simple Pay is a lightweight Stripe payments plugin. Craft superior experiences with the ingenuity of Sandhills’ plugins.

🎙️ Post Status Draft

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

Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on  Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️

Chris Lema talks about the latest WordPress acquisition: LearnDash is joining Liquid Web. Will it become the leading LMS turnkey solution?

Post Status CEO Cory Miller chats with Chris Lema, Vice President of Products at Liquid Web, about Liquid Web's acquisition of LearnDash. LearnDash will join Liquid Web's StellarWP brand, and Chris will step in as the General Manager of LearnDash.

It's been a boom time in recent years for edutech companies. As the online learning leader in the WordPress space with their Learning Management System (LMS) plugin for WordPress — which comes with a whole ecosystem of addons and integrations — it's no surprise LearnDash would be attractive as a platform for a hosting company to acquire. Get an inside look at the latest big deal in WordPress acquisitions with Chris Lema.

"Everyone knows LearnDash as the leader of online learning in the WordPress ecosystem. We are excited to welcome them to the Liquid Web family as we continue to build our strength in the digital commerce ecosystem. LearnDash takes us deeper into the digital commerce space by offering online educators the best tools to create online courses, quizzes, and dynamic content with built-in marketing and ecommerce features. We believe in their brand, and we know that with our backing, they will continue to deliver the online solutions educators need."  — Chris Lema

🔗 Mentioned in the show:

• Cory Miller (Twitter)
• Chris Lema (Twitter)
• LearnDash
• Liquid Web
• StellarWP

🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy Pro

Manage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.

🎙️ Post Status Draft

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

Browse past episodes and subscribe to our podcasts on  Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, Simplecast, or get them by RSS. 🎙️

“When it comes to the entrepreneurial journey - the highest highs and the lowest lows are always people.”

In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David and Cory first discuss how hard it is to do "the right thing" and potentially dealing with tough and negative feedback as a result. How does an entrepreneur prepare for "roller coaster" times — especially if the ride is heading down? What should you keep in mind? Cory shares an iThemes experience in response.

Also covered in this episode: Cory and David talk about the $12 billion acquisition of MailChimp by Intuit, and how that could potentially reshape the business landscape for WordPress users and entrepreneurs.

Note: David misspoke and said "Stripe" instead of "Square." Forgive him.

Browse past episodes from all our podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe to them on your favorite players. Post Status' Draft, Comments, and Excerpt podcasts are on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Castro, YouTube, Stitcher, Player.fm, Pocket Casts, and Simplecast. (RSS) 🎧

🔗 Mentioned in the show:

• Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life
• Intuit confirms $12B deal to buy Mailchimp
• Syed Balkhi on Twitter: Accept payments in WordPress using Square and WPForms.
• David Bisset (Twitter)
• Cory Miller (Twitter)
• Post Status (Twitter)

🙏 Sponsor: GoDaddy Pro

Manage your clients, websites, and tasks from a single dashboard with GoDaddy Pro. Perform security scans, backups, and remote updates to many sites on any host. Check up on site performance, monitor uptime and analytics, and then send reports to your clients. GoDaddy Pro is free — and designed to make your life better.

"A crisis can either build you or break you."

In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, David and Cory reflect on a tough question: What can help WordPress professionals weather the storm of being an entrepreneur in challenging times? Cory shares four types of people who can offer support in their own unique ways: spouses, counselors, coaches, and colleagues. It's important that you find the right combination of people and connections that works best for you.

Also covered in this episode: Cory and David thank their spouses and will later share the timestamps of the podcast with them as evidence.

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

🔗 Mentioned in the show:

• WordCamp Sacramento 2017 - Cory Miller on "Entrepreneurial Resilience"
• David Bisset (Twitter)
• Cory Miller (Twitter)
• Post Status (Twitter)

🙏 Sponsor: SpinupWP

Spin up your own extremely fast WordPress server in minutes with SpinupWP. Use any cloud hosting provider you want, and manage your servers remotely with a simple but powerful control panel. Get the security and performance of managed hosting without losing the independence of hosting your projects and your clients yourself.

New hires to Post Status and an acqui-hire for Automattic.

In this episode, David and Cory talk about recent news from all corners of the WordPress community. First, they share how they will miss Andrea Middleton — who is taking a great new opportunity at Reddit after 10 years of full-time work on the WordPress open source project. Next, they talk about why keeping the Classic Editor plugin officially supported makes sense, and how the Frontity acquisition by Automattic can be viewed as an acquihire to advance Gutenberg's development.

Also covered in this episode: Cory and David welcome Jonathan Wold to the Post Status team.

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

🔗 Mentioned in the show:

• Thanks for a great 10 years, WordPress!
• Jonathan Wold (Twitter)
• An Update on the Classic Editor Plugin
• Frontity to Join Automattic
• Frontity is joining Automattic
• David Bisset (Twitter)
• Cory Miller (Twitter)
• Post Status (Twitter)

🙏 Sponsor: Gravity Forms

Gravity Forms is the easiest and most trusted advanced forms solution for your WordPress website. Packed with time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is the only WordPress form management plugin you will ever need. Stop losing valuable leads and grow your business with Gravity.

We Can Be Organized In How We Multitask.

In this episode, David and Cory have a conversation about another way to prevent Developer Overload: organization. Cory shares how he benefited from a mentor, while David feels that documentation, commenting code, and following some best practices can help reduce anxiety overall — if you can convince yourself to adopt new habits. This show is worth a listen just for Cory's "going on a hike" metaphor.

Also covered in this episode: Cory encourages David to take the Kolbe A Index test.

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

🔗 Mentioned in the show:

• David Bisset (Twitter)
• Cory Miller (Twitter)
• Post Status (Twitter)
• kolbe.com
• strengthsfinder.com
• Get Hired

🙏 Sponsor: Sandhills Development

No matter what you're working on with your WordPress website, Sandhills Development has a tool that can help you. Sell digital products with Easy Digital Downloads. Use AffiliateWP as your affiliate marketing solution. Sugar Calendar is event management made easy. And WP Simple Pay is a lightweight Stripe payments plugin. Craft superior experiences with the ingenuity of Sandhills’ plugins.

Avoiding ego, reinventing the wheel, and shiny objects.

In this episode, David and Cory discuss Developer Overload, which David defines as what happens when "when you receive too much information and are unable to process it, resulting in negative responses and unhealthy effects." David shares tips on how developers can focus on what to pay serious attention to, how to avoid creating more work for themselves, how to increase focus, and what project managers can do to help.

Also covered in this episode: "As developers we often bite off more than we can chew... we also tend to take that bite from the wrong side of the sandwich."

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

🔗 Mentioned in the show:

• David Bisset (Twitter)
• Cory Miller (Twitter)
• Post Status (Twitter)
• Max Böck on Simplicity

🙏 Sponsor: Yoast

Yoast is SEO for everyone. Yoast SEO Premium gives you 24/7 support and extra features like internal linking, social previews, a redirect manager, tutorial videos, and integration with Google Webmaster Tools. Get on board today with the premiere SEO plugin for WordPress — Yoast.