In this month’s World of WordPress, we talk about a big acquisition by WP Engine, an upcoming WordCamp, eCommerce, customizing the client dashboard, and a tweet that set fire.
Let’s ride.
WP Engine acquires Flywheel
Probably the biggest news of the last month was the acquisition of Flywheel by WP Engine.
How big of a deal is this? Well, Crunchbase news picked up the story.
“Austin-based WP Engine, which focuses on hosting and powering WordPress sites, has acquired digital experience platform Flywheel to create a better workflow, digital experience, and creative process for its customers. It is not disclosing the price of the acquisition.”
What does this mean for the future of WordPress? I’m not sure, but it is a sign of cash being injected in the space.
Automattic has had their own share of acquisitions according to this article in WP Tavern (2015).
Of course, GoDaddy has made its own share of acquisitions in the WordPress space as well.
When acquisitions begin to happen, it is a sign of market maturity.
We're excited to announce that WP Engine is acquiring Flywheel! By combining our strengths we'll enhance the WP Engine Digital Experience Platform, deepen our investment in the WordPress community, and use our shared values to serve our 120K customers. https://t.co/RycCgwQGD4 1/2 pic.twitter.com/TkygeXQBjn
— WP Engine (@wpengine) June 24, 2019
WordCamp for Publishers is hosting its third-ever event August 7-9.
WordCamp for Publishers is hosting its third-ever event August 7-9.
“What is WordCamp for Publishers?
WordCamp for Publishers is a community-organized event bringing together folks who use WordPress to manage publications, big or small.”
Source: https://2019-columbus.publishers.wordcamp.org/
This year’s event is being held in Columbus, OH. Previous events were held in Denver and Chicago.
Here is schedule, including speakers and topics.
???? At @wcpublishers next week, we’ll be represented by @kadamwhite, Libby Barker, and @lonnietapia. Come and chat enterprise WordPress!https://t.co/Jw1JXzu7LY #wcpub
— Human Made (@humanmadeltd) July 31, 2019
What WordPress eCommerce platform should I use?
The future of eCommerce is ripe for explosion. Many of the existing brick and mortar stores will need to be more proactive about using eCommerce and not just consider it as a nice addon.
CodeinWP published a nice breakdown of various eCommerce platforms that many in the WordPress ecosystem use, including Easy Digital Downloads, Freemius, Gumroad, and WooCommerce.
The good thing about the article is that they give you the best case use of each platform. That way, depending on what you are selling, you can quickly assess the best platform to use.
They created several tables with easier access information at a glance.
The CodeinWP team gives you their opinions on winners in various instances. The article is an excellent breakdown for selling products using WordPress.
Setting up a WP Admin Dashboard
Collin Newcomer is one of my favorite WordPress writers, and he wrote this review of WP Admin Pages Pro at WP Mayor.
The need to customize our customers’ experience in the WordPress dashboard can be something it is really helpful.
It can help make your company look like a more polished, professional business.
WP Admin Pages Pro is a premium plugin that helps customize your client’s dashboard and helps you brand it as well.
Currently, it supports Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Brizy. They mention on their site that more page builders are to come.
The pricing is pretty modest and would be a great investment if you want to take the WordPress dashboard from dull to more custom.
Collin talks more about how you can customize the dashboard. He does a great job of walking you through a quick tutorial of setting up your dashboard.
The tweet heard round the WordPress world and Bob Dunn’s take
Earlier this year, we put out a post honoring women in the WordPress industry. I enjoyed doing that and knew that it was only a conversation starter. There are far more than 10 women in WordPress that make an impact.
Birgit Pauli-Haack has created a huge Twitter list of amazing women in WordPress. Currently, her list is at 240 members.
Our friend Bob Dunn then posted an article calling for one featuring women of WordPress in the eCommerce space.
The article started with a tweet I posted sharing the article from MainWP.
I talk about ten women influencers in #WordPress in my latest at @mymainwp — Who is in your list?
.@JosephaHaden
.@hellofromTonya
.@meherbala@Ana_Segota
.@jpalmes
.@naokomc
.@maryojob
.@ginnymcinneny
.@pollyplummerThis is far from a conclusive listhttps://t.co/734OpjXz0X
— Todd E. Jones (@tejones) March 28, 2019
I got to thinking, what kind of visibility did that tweet have?
Since Twitter likes to give us a look at some of the analytics, I decided to peek. I knew I had been getting a steady stream of notifications for the past couple of weeks as the conversation restarted.
The top-level analytics say that it has 14 Retweets and 46 Likes. But, as Bob says in his article, the conversation forked along the way.
“That first tweet is here. It became a long thread, there were twists and turns that shot off into other threads. Many others, too many to list here, continued adding even more awesome names. So it’s hard to list them all.”
Then I opened up the Analytics box. It looks something like this
The impressions sit just shy of 7K with total engagement at 381. Those are not Kim Kardashian numbers, but not too bad either.
I recommend you follow Birgit Pauli-Haack’s list if you want to learn about more women in WordPress.
Here’s to the trailblazers and those willing to keep a conversation going.
Wrapping it up
What stood out to you this past month in the World of WordPress? Have you ever had a tweet catch fire? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
