Wp Builds

In this WP Builds episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Anne-Mieke Bovelett about her experience leading a winning accessibility project at the CloudFest Hackathon 2025. Anne-Mieke shares her passion for digital accessibility, discusses the challenges and impact of her team's AI-powered WordPress plugin that converts infographics into accessible formats, and reflects on the need for ongoing support and funding for hackathon projects. The conversation also touches on the broader importance of accessibility and potential improvements for future hackathons. Go listen...

On "This Week in WordPress #358," Nathan Wrigley, Michelle Frechette, Davinder Singh Kainth and Marc Benzakein discuss the release of WordPress 6.9, including new features like block-level collaboration and accessibility improvements. They cover WordPress community news, ongoing Black Friday deals, trending plugins, and the growing impact of AI. The episode also highlights awards within the WordPress space and the rise of WordPress in non-English markets, especially Asia. The panel shares laughs, personal stories, and their appreciation for contributors driving the platform forward.

In this episode, Nathan Wrigley chats with Dave Grey about Nag Me Not, a plugin and browser extension designed to clean up WordPress admin screens by removing nagging banners and ads. The conversation explores the unique approach Dave is taking to market and sell the tool, partnering with hosting providers and service companies to offer Nag Me Not as a free benefit to their customers, potentially reducing support payloads and enhancing the user experience. They discuss this sponsorship-based model, its benefits for hosts, and invite listener insights on pricing and distribution.

In "This Week in WordPress Episode 357," Nathan Wrigley, Michelle Frechette, Steve Burge, and Marcus Burnette cover a playful Cards Against Humanity Black Friday sale, Michelle’s tech award nomination, and the upcoming WordPress 6.9 release. They discuss the return of a three-release cycle for WordPress, plans for core AI integration, and recent Cloudflare outages. Other topics include WordPress security mishaps, accessibility, PublishPress plugin updates, creating a Wapuu for WordCamp Asia, and the new AI Experiments canonical plugin. The episode blends WordPress news, community events, and lively discussion. Oh, and dad jokes!

In this episode, Nathan Wrigley chats with Jonathan Jernigan about Pie Calendar, a simple-yet-powerful WordPress event calendar plugin. They discuss the plugin’s evolution, including major new features like Eventbrite and ICS calendar integration for easy ticketing and syncing with external calendars. Jonathan also shares insights into his WordPress-focused community and YouTube channel. The conversation highlights Pie Calendar’s user-friendly setup, flexibility for different organisations, and the team’s focus on simplicity. Future plans for additional integrations are teased, as well as stories of how a wide range of clients, from breweries to city councils, use the plugin. Go listen...

In this episode, I'm joined by Taco Verdonschot, Jonathan Bossenger, Birgit Pauli-Haack to discuss WordPress 6.9, including new blocks, performance improvements, accessibility updates, and upcoming live events to help users prepare for the release. The panel pays tribute to WordPress contributor Zeel Thakkar, and covers news about a new leader at Jetpack, Black Friday deals, and community appreciation initiatives. They also highlight developer resources and recent plugin launches, making this a comprehensive update on what's happening in the WordPress ecosystem.

In this episode, Nathan Wrigley chats with Rodolfo Melogli about the growing isolation in the WooCommerce and WordPress communities due to remote work and AI, and his mission to “bring humans back” through in-person interaction. Rodolfo shares his journey as a WooCommerce expert, the challenges of working remotely, and the inspiration for organising Checkout Summit, a people-focused, content-rich WooCommerce event in Palermo designed to foster genuine connections, collaboration, and community in a relaxed, inclusive setting. If you’ve been feeling the effects of remote work and the rise of automation, or simply want a better way to connect with your fellow WordPress peers, this episode is for you.

In "This Week in WordPress #355," Nathan Wrigley, Michelle Frechette, and Rhys Wynne discuss the Kagi search engine, Michelle's job search, and WordPress updates including 6.9’s new features like collaborative editing and abilities API. The episode covers the challenges faced by open source projects like FFmpeg, security concerns with AI-powered tools such as Telex, the Global Partner Program for WordPress event sponsorships, and developments in full site editing, highlighting the Ollie theme. Listener comments add depth to discussions about the future and risks of WordPress plugin and block creation through AI.

In this episode, Nathan Wrigley chats with Nick Hamze, a quirky and creative force in the WordPress community. Nick shares his unconventional journey from law school to working at Automattic, running a wildly successful Pokémon card shop, and building unique WordPress blocks using AI tools like Telex. Their conversation gets into the joy of creating weird, fun projects, the empowering possibilities of AI for non-coders, and the importance of injecting creativity and personal touch back into the web. If you’ve wondered how AI tools can transform your workflow, felt weighed down by the pressure to build serious, polished things, or just want to be reminded why fun and experimentation are so important in WordPress, this episode is for you. Go listen...

On this episode of WP Builds, Natalie MacLees joins Nathan Wrigley to talk about the new accessibility tool, Aaardvark Accessibility. They discuss Natalie’s background in web accessibility, the evolution and importance of accessible web design, and how their SaaS platform helps agencies and developers find, fix, and monitor accessibility issues across client websites. The conversation also covers practical and moral reasons for improving accessibility, details about automated and manual testing, reporting features, explanations in plain English, and pricing plans.

In this WP Builds podcast episode, Nathan Wrigley chats with Amadeu Arderiu about three innovative WordPress AI projects: ploogins.com, an AI-powered search engine for both free and premium plugins. Joinchat, a plugin that adds an AI chatbot to your site, answering queries using your website's content. And Suggerence, an experimental tool that lets users interact with, and build inside, the Gutenberg block editor using AI-driven natural language and even drawings! They discuss technical challenges, future possibilities, monetisation, and the evolving role of AI in WordPress. Go listen...

This episode covers WordPress 6.9’s new features and testing guide, major UK cyber attacks, security insights, and why Malwarebytes chose WordPress. The panel discusses plugin lifetime deals, the rise of newsletters, and the pros and cons of web design trends. AI’s impact on WordPress is explored, including new agentic browser capabilities and WS Form’s integration with Elementor’s AI agent. The episode also highlights collaborative editing in WordPress, a dramatic smart bed malfunction due to AWS outage, and the importance of owning your data, plus fun detours like the year’s best animal photos.

In this WP Builds episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Matt Cromwell about his recent article on the future of WordPress product businesses. Matt shares his evolving passion for the WordPress plugin ecosystem, discusses anxieties around the future, especially user expectations and the rise of AI, and highlights the importance of better UI/UX and partnering with marketers and designers. The episode talks about how focusing on user experience and collaboration can help WordPress products thrive, even as the landscape shifts. Plenty of humour and mentions of Matt’s podcast WP Product Talk are sprinkled throughout! A LOT! Go listen!

"This Week in WordPress #353" covers the AWS outage and its impact on major online services, WordPress security trends (including Wordfence and Patchstack reports), upcoming features in WordPress 6.9 (like block visibility controls and the accordion block), the Blocktober project by Tammie Lister, and discussions on plugin/UI design trends and product advice. The panel also celebrates WordCamp Canada, accessibility efforts, and highlights AI’s role in WordPress development. There's a lot more than this, so have a listen...

In this episode, Nathan Wrigley talks with Jonathan Bossenger, a developer advocate at Automattic, about his journey into WordPress and developer relations (DevRel). Jonathan shares how his passion for teaching led him from software development to DevRel, explains the varied roles within DevRel, and discusses the importance of both technical skills and the ability to teach and communicate effectively. The conversation covers team collaboration, feedback processes in open source, and advice for those interested in pursuing a similar path. Jonathan emphasises humility, adaptability, and a love for helping others as key traits for success in DevRel.

This episode dives into the debate over the WordPress mascot Wapuu, discussing its value to the community versus criticisms about its professionalism. The panel explores the possibility of Ollie’s Menu Designer joining WordPress core, shares insights on plugin marketing and discoverability, highlights the new blueprint feature in WordPress Studio for easily sharing site setups, and reviews a flurry of upcoming WordPress events. Plus, they touch on the launch of Fluent Cart as a new e-commerce solution and discuss branding, community, and engaging content in the WordPress ecosystem.

In this episode of WP Builds, Nathan Wrigley interviews Amber Hinds, CEO of Equalize Digital, about her comprehensive 2025 WordPress page builder accessibility comparison research project. Amber explains her background in accessibility, the meaningful motivation behind her work, and the in-depth methodology of her study, which tested 19+ page builders for accessibility issues. They discuss the importance of accessible website tools, key findings, and the ongoing need for improvement in the WordPress ecosystem. Amber also highlights that accessible tools still require knowledgeable implementation for truly inclusive websites. If you want to understand not just which page builder is technically the most accessible, but also what it takes to critically evaluate, improve, and select tools for accessible WordPress development, this episode is for you.

This episode of "This Week in WordPress" dives into the nature of randomness in computers, highlights upcoming WordPress and tech events, and discusses the WordPress 6.8.3 security release. The panel explores Tammie Lister’s "Blocktober" project, new experiments to improve plugin discoverability, and updates on WP Accessibility Day, including a new accessibility knowledge base. They celebrate the free release of the Ollie Menu Designer plugin and touch on community news including PodcasterPlus, a local meetup, Bluesky’s patent pledge, and ongoing discussions about codes of conduct in open source communities.

In this episode, Nathan Wrigley talks with Pradeep Sonawane about WebAuditor IO, a SaaS tool designed to help developers, agencies, and non-technical users quickly identify and fix website performance issues. Pradeep shares the origin story of the tool, how it evolved from an internal CLI project to a user-friendly SaaS with AI-powered insights, and its usefulness for WordPress sites. They discuss current features, integration plans, audience scope, and pricing, as well as the potential for future developments like a WordPress plugin and deeper workflow integration. Check out WebAuditor IO for a closer look at the tool in action, and stay tuned for a conversation that’s sure to inspire you to take your website optimisation to the next level!

Episode 350 of TWiW, hosted by Nathan Wrigley, tackled key topics in the WordPress ecosystem, including updates on RT Camp’s GoDAM plugin, Site Spotlight site reviews, and upcoming features in WordPress 6.9. The panel discussed WordPress’s marketing struggles, the “cool kids” debate, community events calendar conflicts, and recent layoffs at major agencies like 10Up. Notable news included Shopify’s new WordPress plugin and WooCommerce’s POS app launch. Accessibility initiatives and innovative plugins were also highlighted, reflecting the ongoing evolution and challenges in the WordPress community.