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The WP Tavern Jukebox is a podcast for the WordPress community. We interview people who are pushing change in how WordPress evolves. Plugins, Blocks, Themes, Community, Events, Accessibility and Diversity; we try to cover all the bases. Subscribe to be updated when we bring you new content.
180 Episodes
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In this WP Tavern episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Mary Ann Aschenbrenner at WordCamp US 2025 about transitioning websites from classic to block themes in WordPress. Mary Ann shares her journey from community activism to web design, explains the benefits of block themes, including easier maintenance and better SEO, and provides a step-by-step guide for migrating sites. They discuss practical challenges, client education, and the evolving user experience, emphasising that block themes can eliminate the need for page builders and are generally more accessible for clients. Mary also shares anecdotes from her own migration projects and involvement in the WordPress community. Whether you’re a seasoned WordPresser, or are just starting out, and keen to know how block themes are making site building more accessible for everyone, this episode is for you.
In this episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Rachel Cherry (founder of WP Campus) and Alex Aspinall (Human Made) about the state of WordPress in higher education. They discuss the WP Campus organisation, its mission to support WordPress users in higher ed, insights from a new research report, ongoing challenges like limited resources and slow adoption of new features, and the critical need for accessibility and enterprise-level tools. The episode also explores collaborative opportunities, plugin needs, and how agencies and developers can better serve this complex, resourceful sector. Whether you’re a WordPress professional, agency, educator, or are just curious about the unique needs and opportunities the higher education space offers, this episode is for you.
In this WP Tavern episode, host Nathan Wrigley talks with Destiny Kanno, Isotta Peira, and Anand Upadhyay about WordPress’s growing role in education. They discuss WP Campus Connect, which brings free, hands-on WordPress workshops to schools and universities, helping students develop valuable tech skills and connect with career opportunities. Anand shares success stories from India, while Isotta introduces WordPress Credits, a program allowing students to earn official academic credits for contributing to WordPress. The episode also covers WordPress Student Clubs, giving students ongoing ways to engage and learn. Together, the guests highlight the importance of accessibility, community, and making WordPress education available to young people everywhere. If you’re curious about how to bring WordPress into your local school, university, or community, or if you just want to hear how WordPress is making a difference far beyond the web, this episode is for you.
On the podcast today we have Michelle Frechette and Jonathan Desrosiers, and we're here to unravel the key differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. We explore the historical development, technical distinctions, and user experiences of both platforms, including issues of ownership, ease-of-use, open-source philosophy, community contributions, and the evolving feature sets. The discussion also touches on branding confusion, community perceptions, and the value of both approaches, emphasising that the right choice depends on individual needs rather than a strict rivalry between the two versions. If you’ve ever wondered which version of WordPress is right for you, why the project seems split into two variants, or how community and commerce intertwine in the WordPress ecosystem, this episode is for you.
In this episode, Nathan Wrigley interviews Bob Dunn about his journey from hosting Do the Woo, a WooCommerce-focused podcast, to launching OpenChannels.fm, a broader podcast network covering the open web, open source, and technology makers. Bob discusses the motivations behind the rebrand, his multi-channel and multi-host format, challenges with managing a growing podcast network, the technical side of production, and the evolving sponsorship model. He shares insights on maintaining flexibility, expanding to new topics and voices, and his ongoing commitment to staying engaged while giving others a platform to host and share content. If you’re interested in open source, podcasting, or building community-driven content, this episode is for you.
In this episode, Nathan Wrigley talks with Karla Campos, a lead organiser for WordCamp US 2025 in Portland. Karla shares her journey into organising the flagship event, describing the volunteer-driven, time-intensive process, and how her background in marketing and large-scale event planning helps. They discuss event logistics, the role of production teams, community involvement, challenges faced, efforts to engage students, and some new event features like a hackathon and remote collaboration. Karla emphasises the welcoming community spirit of WordCamp and encourages everyone, especially newcomers and students, to attend. If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of WordCamp US, how it’s organised, how volunteers are supported, and what motivates people like Karla to invest their own time and resources, this episode is for you.
In this episode, Nathan Wrigley talks with Mariya Moeva from Google about Site Kit, Google's official WordPress plugin. Mariya shares her journey from studying classical Japanese literature to leading SiteKit's development, emphasising its goal of making Google tools accessible and easy for WordPress users. They discuss how Site Kit integrates services like Analytics and Search Console, its popularity, support structure, recent features like Reader Revenue Manager, and future plans including more actionable insights for site owners. Mariya also highlights Google's motivation to support the open web and WordPress community. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by analytics dashboards, or are looking for ways to make data more practical and valuable inside WordPress, this episode is for you.
On the podcast today we have Adam Silverstein. He's here to discuss how new browser APIs and web technologies are transforming the WordPress experience. Adam explains advancements like the Popover API, Scroll Animations, CSS carousels, customisable selects, view transitions, and speculative loading, many of which reduce reliance on heavy JavaScript and improve accessibility, performance, and user experience. He also touches upon modern image formats, browser-based image processing, and running AI directly in the browser. Adam highlights the growing collaboration among browser vendors and encourages developers to engage in shaping browser standards for the open web. Whether you’re a theme designer, plugin developer, or site owner simply curious about what’s next, this episode is for you.
In this episode, Nathan Wrigley talks with Charlotte Bax at WordCamp Europe about making websites more environmentally sustainable. Charlotte shares her journey into sustainable web design, offers practical advice on reducing a website’s carbon footprint, like choosing green web hosting, optimising images, improving UX, applying caching, and managing visitor traffic, and introduces advanced concepts like grid-aware websites. The conversation also touches on WordPress’s role in digital sustainability and recent efforts to revive its sustainability team. Charlotte offers resources and invites listeners to connect for further advice on building greener websites. If you’ve ever wondered how digital choices impact the planet, and what steps you can take today to help, this episode is for you.
On the podcast today Nathan Wrigley talks with Héctor de Prada, co-founder of Modular DS and an organiser of the WordPress Meetup in León, Spain. Héctor shares his motivations for fostering local WordPress communities, details how the team organises popular, well-attended Meetups, and explains their strategies for inclusive topics, sponsorship, and creating a welcoming atmosphere. They also discuss the importance of variety in event formats, supporting new organisers, and the positive impact Meetups have on networking and opportunities within their local tech ecosystem. If you’ve ever thought about starting a WordPress Meetup in your city, or want to bring new energy to an existing group, this episode is for you.
On the podcast today we have Jennifer Schumacher. Jennifer shares her journey from freelance web developer to agency leader, focusing on the mistakes agencies often make, like unbillable support hours, poor design handoffs, and scope creep, and how to learn from them. She emphasises the importance of process improvement, mental health, honest reflection, and open conversations within the WordPress community to avoid repeated mistakes, find balance, and create healthier agency cultures. Jennifer also highlights the value of sharing experiences and continuously adapting, rather than seeking perfection. If you’ve found yourself frustrated with agency workflows, or are hoping to build a healthier business in the WordPress ecosystem, this episode is for you.
On the podcast today we have Joe Dolson and Jonathan Desrosiers. We're talking about the concept of canonical plugins in WordPress, focusing on accessibility. We discuss what canonical plugins are, their potential benefits and drawbacks, and whether accessibility features should move from Core to a dedicated plugin. The conversation explores the complexities of accessibility, legal requirements, user experience, and the importance of keeping WordPress inclusive while ensuring essential features remain discoverable and maintained. Whether you're a developer, a site owner, or someone interested in the ethical questions at the heart of open-source software, this episode is for you.
On the podcast today we have Tom Willmot and Jon Ang. This episode was recorded at WordCamp Europe, and we're talk about how Human Made built and manage the Standard Chartered Bank’s global WordPress platform. We discuss the scale and complexity of serving 70 countries, 500+ CMS users, and hundreds of millions of monthly page views, concentrating upon compliance, accessibility, multilingual strategies, and deep customisations built on the block editor. The conversation also covers Human Made’s open source contributions, the shift in enterprise perceptions of WordPress, and how close partnerships make massive, mission-critical WordPress projects possible. If you’re curious about how WordPress powers mission-critical web infrastructure for some of the world’s biggest organisations, or how you might pitch WordPress for enterprise use, this episode is for you.
On the podcast today we have Reyes Martínez and Héctor De Prada. They're here to discuss the essential tasks involved in maintaining multiple WordPress websites, especially for freelancers and agencies. They explore the importance of ongoing updates, security, backups, uptime monitoring, and client education, highlighting proactive website care as a valuable business opportunity. They also introduce their tool, Modular DS, which helps automate and centralise maintenance tasks, and share practical advice on selling care plans, building recurring revenue, and the evolving landscape of web maintenance. If you’re a freelancer or agency owner looking to scale up your business, perhaps you offer care plans to clients, or are considering adding maintenance plans to your services, this episode’s for you.
On the podcast today we have Felix Arntz who discusses speculative loading, a new WordPress 6.8 feature designed to make websites faster by preloading pages before users navigate to them. Felix explains how it works, why WordPress uses a conservative default setting for broad compatibility, and how more eager configurations are possible with plugins or code. The episode also covers how performance gains, though seemingly small, add up at scale and are carefully measured using large datasets. Felix highlights the balance between speed improvements and environmental considerations, and shares insights into the data-driven work of the WordPress Performance Team. If you’ve ever wondered how large-scale, browser-level improvements make their way into WordPress Core, or simply want to know if there’s a way to make your own WordPress site that much faster, this episode is for you.
On the podcast today we have Chris Reynolds. He's a developer advocate at Pantheon, and we're talking about the similarities and differences between the WordPress and Drupal communities. Chris discusses Pantheon's dual focus on both platforms, their approaches to managed hosting, and community event structures. The conversation covers Drupal’s recent community-driven innovations, like Drupal CMS and “recipes”, and how the Drupal Association’s organisation compares with WordPress' governance. If you’re curious about how open source projects organise themselves, how their communities navigate growth and challenge, and what WordPress can learn from Drupal (and vice versa), this episode is for you.
On the podcast today we have Wes Tatters, and he's here to discuss the evolution of the internet, from early tech days and community-building on platforms like CompuServe, to the emergence of open-source projects and the rise of WordPress. Wes reflects on the transition from closed platforms to owning content and highlights the importance, and challenges, of online communities. He touches on the impacts of social media, AI, and the self-correcting nature of internet communities, while examining the strengths and growing pains within the WordPress ecosystem. The conversation underscores the enduring value of openness, collaboration, and listening. If you’re interested in how the history of the internet directly shaped WordPress, the open web, and the communities we build today, this episode is for you.
In this episode, I talk with Hari Shanker about the thriving WordPress community in India, and the innovative WordPress Contribution Health Dashboards project. Hari discusses his background, the growth of WordPress among India’s youth, challenges in tracking contributions across teams, and the effort to build visual dashboards to help all contributors understand where help is needed in the project. The episode highlights the need for community feedback, technical support, and automation to make contribution data more accessible and impactful for the entire WordPress ecosystem. If you’ve ever wondered how to make your WordPress contributions matter even more, or how the project could be better supported by data-driven insights, this episode is for you.
On the podcast today we have Bud Kraus. He's a WordPress educator, content creator, and host of the “Seriously, BUD?” podcast. Bud shares his journey from web design to WordPress teaching, explaining what inspired his transition toward podcasting and content creation. We discuss Bud’s show format, tech stack, and why he values unexpected, personality-driven conversations over strictly WordPress-focused discussions. We also get into the evolution and accessibility of podcasting, how he approaches guest interviews, and the importance of curiosity and listening skills. Bud also opens up about the joys and challenges of editing, working with guests from diverse backgrounds, and why he keeps his podcast focussed on the WordPress community’s personal stories, rather than purely technical topics. If you’re curious about podcasting, interested in the art of conversation, or are thinking of starting your own show, this episode is for you.
On the podcast today we have Ryan Welcher. This was recorded at WordCamp Asia in Manila, and centres upon his developer relations work with Automattic, and his popular "Block Developer Cookbook" workshop. We discuss some recent new features in WordPress Core, including the Block Bindings API, Plugin Template Registration API, and Data Views, as well as the growing focus on documentation and developer experience in the WordPress community. We also touch on the impact of AI on WordPress development and the importance of interactive, engaging workshops at WordCamps. If you’re interested in what’s new in WordPress development, want to understand where the project is heading, or are curious about the real impact of recent changes and features, this episode is for you.
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