Another month, another successful series of conversations with the WordPress community through Build Mode. This month we continued our free-form, agendaless calls, which yielded lots of ideas and sparked meaningful conversations about the future of WordPress.
What is Build Mode
Live conversations with the community about modern WordPress, the future of the Site Editor, and how it all impacts site builders. Co-hosted by Sam Munoz & Brian Gardner.
Summary
In August, we hosted 2 Build Mode Live calls with attendees spanning the gamut of WordPress use cases. All in all, we had representatives from the following groups of WordPress users:
- Agency owners
- Solopreneurs
- Product creators
- Small teams
- Page builder users
- Brand new to WordPress
- Experienced WordPress developers
Key Takeaways
- Users are looking for more depth with WordPress’ core features now that the high-level needs have been addressed.
- A desired focus on expanding existing features’ capabilities instead of introducing new ones and broadening the scope even more
- Are users really going to be switching themes that often anymore? We had a conversation about the Twenty-Twenty-Three theme, which has an emphasis on Style Variations.
- What is a “real developer”? What is a “real site”?
- Are modern WordPress features advanced enough for a sophisticated website?
- Documentation for developers is lacking, especially since WordPress developers are larger PHP focused, switching to React & JS is a transition.
- Are SquareSpace or Wix really competitors of WordPress? Do they serve the same audience or end user?
- Ultimately, clients don’t care what’s under the hood – they want a functional website that achieves their results and desired outcomes.
- The primary goal with the block editor should be to have a backend that accurately reflects the front end. We’re not quite there yet, but progress is being made.
What’s Next for Build Mode
During our calls, we discussed centering some conversations in September around specific topics. Collectively, there was agreement that this could yield even deeper conversations.
Some topics that sparked curiosity and interest include:
- A conversation around block locking (what is already possible, what features the community is asking for, and how this can support business owners).
- Building in time to learn modern WordPress features (while still offering services, running a business, and supporting clients)
If you are interested in attending an upcoming Build Mode session, you can sign up using this link and join us.
Here’s the list of September 2022’s sessions. All calls are at 11 am ET:
- September 2, 2022
- September 9, 2022
- September 16, 2022
- September 23, 2022
- September 30, 2022
Let us know you’ll be there by tagging or DM-ing us on Twitter, @hellosammunoz and @bgardner. You can also follow along with topics and feedback with #BuildModeLive on Twitter.
Until next time, get building! ðŸ›
