John Donne said, “No man is an island,” to help us cope with the loneliness we feel at times. We’re social creatures, even if we sometimes forget it.
With the rise of the Internet and the growth of freelance work and remote jobs, it’s easy to feel isolated. When you’re building a site on WordPress or selling products on WooCommerce, it’s not always easy to interact with other people.
WordPress is built on the idea that no one is alone. In fact, it’s a bit like Donne’s famous quote: No person is alone, every person is WordPress.
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It all started with the blog
WordPress got its start back in 2003, and since then it’s come a long way. It’s now used in more than 40% of online sites and has reached users all over the globe.
The huge number of people using it has led to the creation of a vibrant community of developers, graphic designers, copywriters, marketers, artists, and many more. They’re the ones who have shaped WordPress into what it is today.
Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little came up with WordPress, and from the start, it’s been all about inclusiveness and collaboration. It’s open source, too, so it’s a great example of how a single platform can bring together millions of people with different jobs and interests to help each other out.
The pinnacle of this collaborative effort came in 2006 with the inaugural WorldCamp in San Francisco. Matt Mullenweg was the driving force behind the first event, but even he couldn’t have predicted that there would be more than 1,200 WordCamps in less than twenty years.
There are WordCamps all over the globe—in six continents, 65 countries, and 398 cities. They’ve helped to break down the barriers that can sometimes exist in online spaces.
The WP community is big and successful, and you can see that online thanks to all the great content and active forums. But it’s at WordCamps where people are discovered beyond WordPress websites, beyond avatars, and beyond usernames.
And these are the people we talked to to write this article. Because a WordPress article cannot come from a single person, but must be the result of the collective experience of those who live WP every day.
People like Wajari Velasquez, an organizer on the community team for WordCamp Europe and WordCamp Pontevedra (as well as a contributor to WordPress TV), who talked to us about how his life has changed thanks to WP:

Wajari Velásquez
Some people, like Wajari, went to WordCamps to find something they were missing while working alone. Others, as we’ll see, wanted to give back to the platform. Some felt the limits of working alone and were looking for new opportunities. There are so many reasons people go, but they all find a welcoming community.
WordPress’s Open Source Philosophy
In today’s world, where transparency is becoming more and more important, the open-source philosophy of WordPress is a great example to follow. The platform is built on the idea that software should be accessible to everyone, so that anyone can study its code and make improvements.
This means that the platform’s progress isn’t driven by a few elites, but rather by the entire community. Some people are directly involved in programming, while others are users who provide feedback and guides, or who inform and help other people.
The philosophy of WP can be summed up by going back to the four freedoms of software:
- Freedom of use – Anyone can use WordPress however they want, without any kind of discrimination. This means more and more people are using the CMS to create all kinds of sites, from personal blogs to big, successful eCommerce sites.
- Freedom of study – The WordPress source code is public and accessible to anyone, at any time. This is a really important part of the process. It helps us find and fix any problems faster, improve the platform, and build trust in the CMS because it’s completely transparent.
- Freedom of modification – Anyone who feels the need can modify WordPress code to meet the needs of their site. Lots of WordPress plugins and advanced features were created by people making custom changes that other users needed. WordPress is always changing and has millions of users.
- Freedom of distribution – The basic version of the WordPress code and any of its modified versions can be shared freely, which is great for fostering collaboration and helping the platform keep improving.
All these factors combined make WordPress what it is: a constantly evolving, adaptable platform that meets the needs of millions of users.
It’s the WP community that makes this CMS stand out from the rest. Every day, the millions of users and developers who use it find and fix problems in the code, add to it, improve it, create WordPress themes and plugins, and are actively involved in the evolution of the platform.
In today’s world, it’s becoming more and more common for decisions to be made from above and then imposed on end users. WordPress is a different experience. It’s a collaborative effort where each voice is important and has an impact.
The importance of DEIB
What is DEIB? This acronym stands for four words: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging which are the four core principles that have been at the heart of the WordPress community for years.
Let’s look at them together:
- Diversity – Representing diverse identities and perspectives within the WordPress community. Diversity should not only be interpreted in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, and sexual orientation. While all of these should be part of diversity, it also extends to expertise and roles. A writer needs to find his or her place just as much as a developer; a beginner needs to be welcomed just as much as a professional.
- Equity – Ensure honest, fair, and equal treatment of all people within the community, breaking down the barriers and prejudices that too often exist elsewhere. Everyone is welcome at WordCamps, regardless of background. No voice is silenced in the WordPress chorus.
- Inclusion – Create an environment, both online and in the physical world, that makes everyone who comes feel at home, without belittling their ideas or making them feel unwelcome.
- Belonging – Those who join the community must be able to choose to stay, to find a home and a family that is willing to welcome everyone. This can be achieved by promoting WordPress’ ideologies of inclusivity and acceptance, as well as by creating events and programs that help newcomers find their own dimension.
All of this may seem utopian, but it can and must be achieved. And all it takes is an online search to see how the community is always embracing new ideas and changing to accommodate them.
Sometimes, all it takes is a good idea and a proposal to make a big impact. Birgit Olzem is a great example of this. In 2023, she proposed founding a team dedicated to DEIB in WordPress, and the DEIB team was born! They have weekly events and meetings.
We had a chat with Marta Torre, a freelancer and web developer, as well as the organizer of the WordPress Santander meeting and WordCamp Europe 2024, and the spokesperson for diversity in the community.

Marta Torre
A lot of people in the WordPress community feel grateful and want to give back. These feelings will shape the platform of tomorrow.
And promoting these values happens all levels, big and small. Margherita Pelonara, who heads up the English-to-Italian Training team (and helps Italian WordPress members get easier access to content), as well as running the Italian Slack channel about the DEIB, fills us in on the details:

Margherita Pelonara
The Manifesto that Margherita Pelonara and Simona Simoniato promote can be found on this dedicated page and serves as a fantastic tool to instantly understand the values of WordPress.

The community is always changing, and we can all play a part in making WordPress better for everyone!
How to participate in the WordPress Community
So far, we’ve been talking about how important it is for us all to work together as a community. Ready to pitch in? No need to worry! Everyone has something to contribute. Some people have specific skills, while others can provide insights as observers or simply by living WordPress side by side with other members.
Let’s look at a few examples of how people get involved.
Contribute to WordPress code and develop plugins
Since version 0.7 came out on May 27, 2003, there have been about 50 different versions (plus lots of minor updates). Version 6.5.5 is the most recent, and it’ll be upgraded to 6.6 and 6.7 in the next few months.
This amazing growth is made possible by everyone who uses, tests, improves, and provides feedback every day.
If you’re interested in investing some of your time in this collective mission, you can join one of the many teams discovering Make WordPress. These teams are divided into:
- Core – You will be able to work directly on the code that makes up WordPress, and anyone with extensive experience in PHP, JavaScript, CSS, or HTML is welcome, as well as those who have recently discovered these programming languages but still want to be part of the conversation.
- Design – We will be talking about the visual appearance and how it works to make the platform easy for users.
- Mobile – Team that focuses on the development and improvement of iOS and Android apps.
- Accessibility – The team that keeps everything about WordPress easily accessible to everyone.
- Polyglots – Part of the inclusivity of WordPress is that it is available in dozens of different languages. Speak a language other than English? Help translate and improve current translations.
- Support – Helps by answering people’s questions, helping the community one answer at a time.
- Documentation – Guides and documentation are essential to making WordPress accessible to those with limited web experience.
- Themes – Helps to check and verify the suggested themes in the WordPress registry.
- Plugins – Helps to check plugins and their updates. Detects problems and guides users to the right tool.
There are lots of other groups too, like Community, Meta, Training, Testing, TV, and so on. Everyone has something to contribute, and the WordPress community will help you grow!

Plugins are really important for WordPress. They let you make the CMS do more, change how users experience your site, adapt it to your needs, and help improve the platform.
You don’t have to know how to develop plugins to contribute to them. Just testing them (in alpha and beta), giving feedback, and writing guides are great ways to help out.
Impact of WordPress events
The main WordPress events are called WordCamp and Meetup (we’ll talk more about these later), and they’re really important for keeping the community going and growing.
These events are also great for helping people rebuild the human connections that can sometimes be missing in online interactions. They offer a fantastic chance for personal growth, too. You can expand your network of colleagues and potential clients, and you can also promote learning, collaboration, and a sense of belonging.
So many other WordPress users may have faced the same difficulties as you. Listening to these people and finding out how they overcame them can help you on your personal journey.
But how do you find these events and what can you expect from them?
WordCamps
WordCamps are informal events created by the community, with the community and for… well, the community.They have mushroomed around the world and now offer annual events in as many cities on six different continents.
During these events, it’s pretty common to set up stages where anyone who wants to can speak on a topic they feel is important to the community. Over the years, we’ve seen technical and human talks, advice on developing programs, and guides for personal growth.
Just a heads-up: WordCamps are addictive!
The atmosphere at them is amazing. It’s not uncommon for even first-time participants to return home eager to do it all again.
The YITH team knows this well from our experience organizing and promoting lots of events over the years. For example, there was the 2023 WordCamp in Verona, and then there was the 2022 WordCamp Europe in Portugal and the 2023 WordCamp in Greece.
Or like WordCamp Europe 2024, which was held in Turin. We spoke with lots of different people from the community, like Enrico Battocchi. He’s a plugin developer who’s really active in the community, speaking at events like WordCamp Italy 2022 and WordCamp Turin 2023 (and also WordCamp Europe 2024):

Enrico Battocchi
Once again, we hear Henry expressing gratitude, which is a common feeling in our community, as well as a desire to do one’s part.
If you’re interested in attending one of these events, you can check out WordCamp Central, where you’ll find a list of all the scheduled events, plus an interactive map to help you find the one closest to you!

Meetups
Meetups often get overlooked because they’re smaller than WordCamps, but they’re really important.
These are regular get-togethers that allow for a more intimate and personal approach with other community members. You can always network, share ideas, and address various challenges together rather than alone.
If you’re not ready to approach WordCamps just yet, you can start with Meetups. You never know where they will lead.
We heard from Gloria Liuni, who’s been part of the community since 2017 and was approached through a Meetup:

Gloria Liuni
It can be intimidating to approach a community, but remember that WordPress is open to anyone and everyone, regardless of ability, background, or anything else.
If you want to get closer to Meetups, find out about them at Meetup.com!

Communicating with the Community
The best way for us to give back to the community, though, is by opening up a line of communication. Here are a few ways you can connect with other people in the community:
- Slack – It’s one of the most popular tools for working with internet communications. Just head over to chat.wordpress.org and you can join the WordPress Slack team. This program was chosen because it shares many of WP’s values, including accessibility for anyone, a great user interface, high customizability, and availability on both iOS and Android (reaching as many people as possible).

- Channels – Through the channels of the teams that we have seen before.
- Forum – The official WordPress forum. This platform is especially important for sharing ideas, solving problems, and exchanging ideas.
If you’d rather talk in person, you’re in luck! WordCamps and Meetups are ready and waiting for you.
Resources to learn and grow in the Community
The best way to be free to use, study, edit, and share is to learn and grow individually. That’s why there’s so much great content online that can help you learn and grow, not just about WordPress but about the web in general.
One of the most useful resources out there, whether you’re a computer whiz or just getting started, is Learn WordPress. It’s a one-stop shop for tutorials and lesson plans on all things WordPress, from the platform itself to plugin development, theme usage, and even speaking at events.

The documentation is divided into four sections based on the user’s role: designer, user, developer, and speaker. This makes it easier to find what you need.
Aside from all this, there are also forums where you can find thousands of ideas and comparisons. Plus, there are lots of YouTube tutorials, webinars, and online courses on the web to help you brush up on your knowledge.
In 2023, the Contribution Mentorship Program for WordPress was also created. The goal was to create a group of mentors and approach others by developing tools and skills. The first experimental phase of the program was a big success.
Our contribution to the Community
YITH is also trying to be an active part of the community, just like we’ve seen many other companies do. We’re grateful for all the support we’ve received, and we’re happy to speak directly to you.
YITH also takes part in the Five for the Future initiative, where companies and individuals give 5% of their resources to developing and improving WordPress. We’re thrilled to be part of such a large and active community that has joined the program. Our 20 contributors, 6 teams, and 106 hours per week allocated to the project are ready to get to work!

We’ve also got a few team members who are really into organizing and taking part in Meetups and WordCamps. Francesco Grasso is one of them. He put together the WordCamp in Catania and is in charge of the Meetup. Then there’s Emanuela Castorina, who volunteered at WordCamp Europe and ended up organizing WordCamp Catania. We also have Marco Salvo, who speaks at WordPress events, as well as Tania Gonzalez and Carlos Rodriguez.
You’ll have met lots of other people (and you’ll meet many more) at the different events. We still have a lot to give back to the community that has given us so much!
Conclusion
It’s tough to sum up the past 20 years of WordPress growth in a few words, but we hope we’ve at least captured a bit of it.
WP is a great example of how working together is key to success and what we can achieve when we put our minds to it. It’s also easy to get around the limitations we face when we’re working alone by teaming up with the right people.
I encourage you to get more involved in this world if you haven’t already. Make the most of all the resources at your disposal to grow and get to know WordPress better through its events. The community is ready and waiting for you!