We’re Ruining WordPress

Every single time that someone experiences warnings, error messages, a white screen of death, or confusion, perception suffers. It doesn’t matter that a PHP fatal was caused by a plugin deactivation and a custom theme template tag not wrapped in a function_exists check. To the end user, it’s a problem with WordPress. No software is perfect, especially in the case of open-source software, because every time that a developer touches it he has the ability to either become its greatest ambassador or biggest enemy through choices made in coding practices, philosophical leanings, or business decisions.

I’m not a WordPress purist. I do not believe that it is a sacred cow. Other technologies excite me. Mobile thrills me. The WordPress Way isn’t always the right way. I do not believe that the word of Matt is gospel. I think WordPress is bigger than one man. I certainly don’t believe that the GPL is a matter of “good person” versus “bad person”. I generally think that the online community can be insular, aggressive, coercive, and naive at times. And I generally think that most of us are doing a good job of hiding our insecurities about not being smart enough or good enough for each other.

There’s a But.

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