Shhhhh nobody tell them about All Hallows' Eve.

Remember how I told y'all I have some news coming today? Here we go! Today, I'm announcing 2 new tools for decentralizing WordPress plugins and themes. Part 1: Wormhole Sync - a tool for syncing/merging WordPress plugins/themes from external sources. github.com/JeffMatson/wormho… Currently, Wormhole Sync will store all data to a PostgreSQL database and files to an S3 (or compatible) object store. Part 2: The Wormhole API - a drop-in replacement for the WordPress plugin/theme repositories. As a drop-in replacement, it can be used seamlessly from inside any WordPress admin. Users would see no difference. Behind the scenes, the Wormhole API is doing a few things, including: - Delivering plugins/theme installs/updates from multiple sources. - Aggregating search results and dependencies. - Full-text search within WordPress - Checking file integrity, comparing across multiple versions available (including other Wormhole instances). + (a lot more that will be announced when Wormhole releases) While the Wormhole API is already functioning well within my development environments and on serverless providers, I have some more fine-tuning to do before I unleash it. Once the Wormhole API is ready, anyone will be able to spin up their own instance. Additionally, a publicly-accessible instance (or two) will be available for anyone to use. Check out Wormhole Sync and let me know what you think! Stay tuned for more in the near future!

Which one you you psychopaths made this? 🤣🤣🤣 automattless.com/

I'd be more concerned with tracking down those 100,000 for getting a BJ from a 5-year-old.

When I was Pressable marketing, I made it very clear that these plays would never be acceptable. We would hit hard, but we'd never pull this kind of dirty, underhanded tactic. I thought they learned something from my time there. I guess not. Load the cannons. Burn it down.

PSA to all the WordPress hosts out there: Don't be ambulance chasing. Running campaigns to sell your hosting because of this Matt/Automattic/WP Engine thing is lame. Find a better way to get an edge on your competitors. Thanks for attending my TED Talk.

Remote work tip: Take a lunch break. For real. No eating food at your desk. Set a timer, get up, and walk away. Don’t just eat and go back either. Take a serious break. Personally, I eat and play a few matches of an online game. It helps prevent mid-day burnout really well.

If WordPress belongs to all of us, open the trademarks. #WCUS

Props @weedmaps

POST REVISIONS?! Really?! Of all things, this is your hill?

My post is now live! As promised, Here's what I have to say about Matt's callout to WP Engine during #WCUS, the legal nonsense, Automattic, and "existential threats": jeffmatson.net/blog/matt-vs-…

Maybe @photomatt is just hungry. Have we tried reaching out to @SNICKERS for help?

What sucks is that a lot of the time, I genuinely agree with @photomatt on topics like predatory VCs, FOSS freedoms, challenging the status quo, leveling the playing field, and advocating for users. It’s the approach, delivery, and shaky motivations that I take issue with.

In case you missed the Tweet I put out last night, a project I've been working on in my spare time has been released to make it easier for people to share WordPress code snippets and allow others to download them packaged within an installable plugin. wordbits.io

@Paragon, did you know that your ads are running on a hate site? Contact @slpng_giants for steps to remove.

I’m proud to announce that I’ve finally settled in at my new position with @Pagely/@GoNorthStack as the Minister of Propaganda (I shit you not, that’s my actual job title 😎) I’m so happy to continue my journey in perfecting the world of documentation and connecting communities!

My good friend Allison was shot in Vegas and took this picture (screenshot with permission). I can't imagine seeing a bill like this. Get shot by a terrorist? Here's $200k to go with it.

Alright, y'all. This is gonna be a long one to update y'all on the last couple of months. Probably better suited as a blog post, but I don't feel like writing up a whole post right now. YOLO - it's going on X/Twitter. First off, I am no longer at @Pressable/@automattic. Here's the quick and dirty rundown: When the folks at Pressable pitched me this job, I was in the middle of doing my own thing – building products, taking contracts, consulting, and chasing rabbit holes. It sounded like we could have some fun, so I told them "fuck it, let's give it a shot. Worst case, I get you equipped with what you need, walk away, and go back to what I was doing." A few months ago, I began questioning if it was a good fit. Simply put, Pressable's goals, methodologies, and culture were drastically different than what I had signed up for. At that point, we worked together to see if there was a solution. We decided that I would back away from social, content, and other ongoing items to focus on another project to see how it goes. Some aspects improved, while many others drastically declined. We were miles apart. On 1/16, we parted ways. During this whole experience, I realized that I do best when: A) I have the resources to collaborate with others – bouncing around ideas and having fun. B) I'm empowered to carve my own path and own my outcomes, even if they might sound a little crazy. While those were fulfilled during my time at @Pagely, @gravityforms, and @inmotionhosting, I'm not sure that I can reliably replicate those experiences elsewhere. As a result, I'm going back to doing my own thing. Here's the plan: 1. Spend half of my time taking contract work to keep the cash flow cycling (prototype development, GTM strategy, brand strategy, and product management). 2. Spend the other half of my time, plus the late nights and weekends, on building my next big thing. Taking inspiration from successful founders I've worked for in the past (@strebel, @BizGirl, @carlhancock, and @sunilsaxena, to name a few), it's time for me to lead another group of passionate, outcast, unicorns to a place they can call home – just as they've done for me and so many others. I'm working on a bunch of things right now – some alone, some in collaboration with the usual suspects. A few prototypes are in the works right now that I'm incredibly excited to share when the time is right. If you're interested in booking time with me, don't hesitate to reach out. I'm working on filling out ~20 hours a week for contract work, and still have a few slots open. If you want to partner on a project, or even just have a great idea you'd like see made, pitch it. My DMs are open. LFG! ⚔️

Welp, today marks the day that my layoff from @GoDaddy is final. All of my $GDDY RSUs that were granted as part of the @Pagely acquisition have officially disappeared. No accelerated vesting. I can’t wait to watch this dumpster fire burn to the ground.

I love finding all of the little breadcrumbs you've been leaving throughout the franchise and theorizing on every detail.

Late night realization: To this day, people still ask what I did at Pagely. Even some of the people who worked with me didn't quite know unless they worked closely with me. "The do anything guy" is a weird thing to describe. Wormhole Sync is a pretty good example of what my job was. nitter.app/TheJeffMatson/status/1… I got paid to turn abstract concepts into something tangible; as quickly, cheaply, and frictionless as possible. If someone had a problem, idea, or even just a half-baked thought, my job was to explore it, uncover the opportunities, and hunt down the side quests. Wormhole Sync (and the Wormhole API along with it) has reminded me a lot of those Pagely days. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a problem, had a few ideas, and started building - just to see what I could come up with. Worst case, I find a million ways *not* to do something. Best case, it leads to something much larger. Either way, that's a win. So yeah, that's what I did at Pagely. My job was to go on ADHD-fueled side quests. Still the best job I've ever had. (PS: If you're interested in hiring for this sort of thing, reach out. Let's talk.)

This is a reminder that contributions to the WordPress ecosystem come in many forms. ICYMI, @gridpane sponsored me to go to #WCUS this year. Not to stand at tables, wear their swag, or be a corporate tool. Instead, it’s all about community and building lasting relationships.

Y'all are due for an update on Wormhole, my effort to decentralize the WordPress plugin/theme ecosystem. Here's the latest: - First and foremost, thanks so much for all of the support! All of the retweets, mentions, links, and GitHub stars have been a great motivator to keep this rolling! - For sorting these Twitter updates, I'm going to start using the #WPWormhole hashtag. - Wormhole Sync has been getting plenty of updates and is getting more stable by the minute. Most of these updates are either small bugfixes or enhancements that improve the data provided to the upcoming Wormhole API. - Wormhole API is coming along wonderfully. I was hoping to have a preview version up today, but I'm going to delay it to next week. While it's functional and performing well in my tests, there are a few improvements that I want to make before I unleash it. Particularly, improvements to how data/file integrity is checked and compared across multiple sources and how that data is communicated between nodes. - A few companies have reached out to discuss sponsoring infrastructure. As we scale, infrastructure partners are going to be critical. If you're interested in sponsoring the project, either by providing hosting resources or sponsoring my work, please don't hesitate to reach out. My DMs are always open. Love y'all! ❤️

On Wednesday, I got "the email" from GoDaddy. After 4 years of building @Pagely into what it has become today, my position has been eliminated as part of the GoDaddy layoffs. If you're doing something awesome and interested in what I bring to the table, hit me up. Let's chat.

Last night, after 4+ years, I started digging into the @gravityforms codebase. Wow. I'm really impressed with how far it's come. Modern design patterns, logical components, a domain-based file structure - it's a breath of fresh air. Well done. Y'all have really been focusing on code quality and it shows.

Welcome to America! Can I get you anything? Donuts? Diabetes? A cop beating?

If you need a code review for your open source project, let me know. If you sell a digital product and need it marketed/sold, pitch it. If it’s interesting, I’m always happy to consult. Having a shitty day? Want generic advice? Think I’m rad and just want to chat? Hit me up!

Not sure how to address a group of people? Remember: "you fuckers" is a gender-neutral option.

I just want to give a shoutout to @pollyplummer for being one hell of a journalist. It must be super hard to write articles like this - having to report on someone who pays her salary. It shows a real commitment to accurate, unbiased journalism. wptavern.com/developers-clai…

I really thought that if y'all learned anything from me, it would be that you should always be bold and hit hard, but that you should never, ever pull this kind of dirty, underhanded tactic. I guess you learned nothing. Load the cannons. Burn it down.

Aw fuck, am I gonna have to write a blog post now? #WCUS

My re-creation of the Twenty Nineteen theme in @gatsbyjs is now available here: github.com/northstack/gatsby… It serves as an example of how you can use Gatsby for a frontend with a headless WordPress site running @wpgraphql as a backend. Complete with working comments. Check it out!

It's a private, unofficial party for folks who want to attend. I'm not gay. I don't care if someone is or not. I'm going because it looks like a dope venue and a lot of fun with friends - friends who have their own reasons for going. No reason to shit on it. Let people have fun

We know. We also know that all of it is really about @stripe revshare.

Accepting a job offer! Anyone wanna guess who?

My job, right now, isn’t to make sure I find a new job. I have no issues printing money. It’s to make sure the rest of the the other 8% of GoDaddy gets taken care of. Follow this thread. I’ll serve y’all up some gems.

Are space DUIs a thing? Asking for a friend. #WCUS

Something that @GoDaddyLife does amazingly well: They have a program called Everyday Champions for employees to praise each other. Points can be redeemed for real items. I just got $350 in Amazon gift cards to buy a new camera lens on the company dime. Everyone should do this.

Hmmmm. Maybe I should start a full-service web agency.

I've just launched my new site. Enjoy! ❤️ jeffmatson.net/blog/new-site…

Anyone else keep expecting to turn a corner and see twins? #WCUS

Best Gutenberg feature? The job security of knowing that shit will randomly break.

CALLED IT.

To anyone surprised by me joining @Pressable: THEIR OLD LOGO IS A FUCKING ARCADE BUTTON. How could I possibly resist?!

Dotcom can help by using schema markup that points to dotorg as the authority (using the "about" and/or "sameAs" properties). The dotorg pages already have the schema markup in place, you'll just need to point to it from dotcom. This is helpful for dotcom too. Although Google likely gives special treatment to both sites and the chance of a penalty is low, it can help to prevent these dotcom pages from getting flagged for duplicate content.

@Hyperloop @SpaceX God dammit, Elon. You brilliant, genuinely amazing human being. You give me hope.

Y'all really think I'd skip a #WCUS?! NOPE. See y'all next week! 🤘

These last 2 talks have been a prime example of why independent conferences like @PressNomics are incredibly critical to the WordPress community as a whole. #PN6

Woohoo! None of y’all MFs (or the ones on the plane) gave me the Rona! ❤️ #WCUS

I don’t know what the next 3 years has to offer, but if they’re anything like the last 3 years with @Pagely, I know it’s going to be a hell of a ride. I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner.

It’s going to be super interesting to see how this WordPress repo block plays out. Here’s why: Remember how @photomatt claimed that @wpengine is causing brand confusion? So by WordPress.org cutting off repo access to WP Engine sites… Does that mean that WPE’s customers are about to start thinking that WordPress (DotOrg) is unreliable? Would they leave WordPress altogether if they don’t know any different? A8C’s cease and desist included someone mistakenly tweeting to @wordpressdotcom about a WPE issue. So did flipping that switch just cause an influx in support tickets to @Automattic from non-customers? If so, what are they telling them? I’d bet that 99% of those customers know nothing of this fiasco. I wonder what they’ll think once they find out. Does all of that new FUD eventually cause a decrease in WordPress market share?

For real. Y’all made it an awesome event.

#WCUS Realization: All of my current and former bosses except @strebel are all in the same building. How doomed am I?

As much as I enjoy doing my own thing, I've decided that I'm happiest when I get to collaborate with others. That said, I'm going to start exploring job opportunities. If you're interested in chatting, let me know.

Well guys, looks like I’ll be speaking in Chicago on promoting your WordPress-based business!

It’s finally jacket weather! Time to break in this ⁦@Pagely⁩ jacket.

I decided that the @Pressable logo wasn’t “pressable” enough. Nothing a little bit of CAD software and 3D printing can’t solve.

I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up.

I just want to once again remind all of y’all to go touch some grass. Maybe smoke some. Much love. ❤️ #WPDrama

Hmmmm… WCUS 2023 is within driving distance… and I have a shitload of arcade machines… and a truck… 🤔

Remember when I mentioned that I hadn’t gone beardless in a decade and was curious? Well, I did a thing and I totally look like a dork. 😂

Crashing the @GoDaddyPro booth and teaching these corporate drones how to party the @Pagely way.

Starting to feel better. Fever broke. Blog post soon. #WCUS #WPDrama

By taking things to extremes with name calling and such, you’re only pushing people away. Extreme responses only create more extreme responses. End the vicious cycle. Help people see your perspective without attacking them. It takes effort, but it’s worth it.

Ugh. Okay. Fine. @GoDaddy, you win. I’ll wear your logo. As long as it’s next to the @Pagely logo on a custom North Face jacket. I’ll still grumble about it, but I’ll let you win this one.

Y'all pay attention - @browsercompany is crushing it at the innovation game. Even their changelogs are exciting.

I would like to interrupt your regularly scheduled #WPDrama programming to share this video of my dogs playing today. That is all. Carry on.

Halloween at the Matson house. Brought out 2 linked Cruis’n Exoticas, Viper Phase 1, Super Buster Bros, and Popeye.

Shoutout to @liamdempsey for being an awesome person. No recent circumstance in particular or anything, but he's just a genuinely really, really nice guy. So cheers to you, Liam!

Hey, pro tip to the GoDaddy comp set: nobody, including myself, who was laid off from GoDaddy has a non-compete (to my knowledge, obvs check with candidates). Hire them all with no risk of contract breaches. #GoDaddy $GDDY

Unboxed, set up, leveled, updated, and ready to rock. After 8 months of waiting for my number to come up, Scooby Doo is finally here! 😍

As we discuss companies sponsoring open source contributions, it’s important to note that it’s not just assigning dedicated people to projects. Lots of people (including myself) contribute throughout their work day and the company simply encourages it to happen. (Continued…)

Hooray for drunken late-night chicken nugget trays!

Alright, y'all - part 2 of my "Matt vs Everyone" series is out. (I really wish this wasn't a series, but here we are...) Bear with me - I'm a little behind right now. I'm writing as fast as my COVID-addled brain can process. More shortly. jeffmatson.net/blog/mo-lawye…

Clearly the time limit would be based on completion. Must be some damn good ones.

Want to get rock-solid top-notch support? Here are a few tips: 1) Don't be an asshole. 2) Listen to the advice of the support person. 3) Don't threaten with things like bad reviews. 4) Be willing the make an effort. It's really, really easy! I promise!

Why are we talking about the next phases of Gutenberg if it’s barely usable as it is. Which phase is the one that doesn’t make me want to flip my desk? #StateOfTheWord

Evil WordPress plugin search ideas: 1) Hijack every single search listing to eliminate all possible competition. 2) Hosts: Use mu-plugins to force users to go a certain path. 3) Sell paid advertising space inside your 100% free plugin. 4) Replace all plugin results with cats.

Hey managed WordPress hosts: You can stop with all of the local development environment tools. Your craving for ecosystem lock-in is showing. Know what a better use of your time would be? An open source tool for everyone to use and empowers users, regardless of hosting choice.

All of 2022 and the latter part of 2021 took a massive toll on me. I’m really hoping that I can make some changes in 2023 to get me back on track. I miss happiness.

No thanks. I’ve seen this movie.

Gooooooooood morning #WCUS! Now that I have coffee in my veins and food in my belly, I’m ready to socialize. 🤘

Agreed. Microsoft is doing wonderful things for open source as a whole. There was a time when I wouldn't come near them. Now I absolutely love what they're doing.

Bonus pics: my The Last of Us 2 prints that are in my stairwell. Also @cookbeck and the same awesome frame shop.

Unlicensed WordPress plugins are all fun and games until there's a problem. Then you're in trouble. That's why I wrote a thing to help keep people informed: pagely.com/blog/unlicensed-w…

For those of you wondering about my work situation, I started a new job on Monday. I really didn’t expect to accept an offer that quickly. I won’t say who it is quite yet, but I will say that they’re doing some insanely cool groundbreaking things that will rock your world.

First full day in San Diego. Who’s here today? #WCUS

My whole career is built on exactly this. This is how I went from tier 1 support to building InMotion’s WordPress presence. This is how I went from docs to leading marketing at Gravity Forms. Pagely was literally 100% this. Now Pressable will go even further.

Spotted this in the wild: Well done @dbrand. S-tier big-brain marketing campaign right here. Props. 😂 🔪 🐮

Pro tip: marry someone that you have way too much fun hanging out with. ❤️

Feels like an appropriate choice to end a long week.

Kinsta's new redesign be like...

I've spent most of my time on this 5 hour flight writing a certain blog post.

The point is, open source contributions come in many forms. Whether directly or indirectly, by a company or as an individual contributor, it’s often still supported by someone’s bottom line. Just because there isn’t a flag in the ground doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

I let @thejamiematson talk me into going to the casino tonight for a dose of dopamine. No regrets.

Cringe AF, but still better than the trademark play. Keep workshopping it.

I’ve never seen so much money vanish into thin air. Layoffs are one thing, but offering someone money with strings attached so that they will stay through an acquisition, then laying them off a year later and taking that money back is entirely different. 😔

If there's one thing I've learned from this recent unexpected loss, it's to never forget to tell people how much you appreciate them; as often as possible.

An Open Letter to the WordPress Community wpjeff.xyz/2c9fqNv