WooCommerce, Blocks, Open Source and Today’s World with Matt Mullenweg

Update: 2020-06-11

Description

When you invite the co-founder of WordPress on your podcast, you never know exactly where the conversation will take you. Starting with the basics of WordPress and WooCommerce, the twists and turn took us through open source, blocks, eCommerce and the world as it is today. We not only hear about the tools, but some personal reflections from Matt.

A Chat with WordPress Co-Founder Matt Mullenweg from Automattic

In episode 58, Jonathan Wold and I chat with Matt about:

How Matt does the Woo
When WordPress and eCommerce hit that sweet spot
The growth of WordPress, now the growth of Woo
How open source competes with platforms
What can go wrong in an open-source project
Decision by committee
What Matt thinks if the biggest advantage to using WordPress and WooCommerce
What WooCommerce opens up for the user
WooCommerce blocks and more blocks
Where we are with Gutenberg
Moving online in today’s world
What Matt has on his mind in this interesting time

Thanks to our sponsors

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A conversation with Matt is always both inspiring and educational. And he didn’t fail us here.

Matt told us what he thought was the time when eCommerce and WordPress intersected—and when he really felt WordPress was prime for eCommerce.

We chatted about WordPress growth but also what inspired the growth of WooCommerce. That led into how WooCommerce as an open-source software can compete with other platforms, for example, Shopify.

Matt touched on what can go wrong with an open-source project we talked about our experiences with design by committee.

I asked him how we would answer the question for a beginner attending a WordCamp if they asked him what is the biggest advantage to using WordPress and WooCommerce to sell online. He took it a bit further, and for those of you who know Matt, I’m sure his answer will not surprise you.

We moved into what WooCommerce is bringing to new users and that naturally brought up blocks and WooCommerce blocks and blocks in general took over the conversation. Jonathan and myself, committed users of the new editor, shared our two cents.

We rounded it off with talk about the world as it is today and the challenges. Matt opened up with his personal perspective. To really understand this, you will juts have to take a listen yourself.

Where to Find Matt on the Web

The Conversation

Yes, this the transcript. But not in the traditional sense, transcribed word for word. We do not speak as we write. Often the flow of transcribed content is hard to follow. So I have taken it a few steps further by seriously editing, at times, the conversation and even using my editorial freedom to clarify some points. So enjoy.

Bob: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Do the Woo. We are at episode 58. How time flies. Anyway, I'm joined by my great co-host and today— not the day when we published this, but recording day— is Jonathan's birthday, so I might have to sing happy birthday.

Matt: (singing Happy Birthday)

Bob: Well, that's good because now I don't have to sing it. Our guest was able to pop in and sing it and that definitely will keep people around, versus me singing it. So, how is your birthday going, Jonathan?

Jonathan: So far, good. I've planned a lighter day. The kids are gone, so I'm going to probably do some writing this afternoon. I always look forward to some quiet writing time.

Bob: Excellent. All righty. Well, I'm anxious to get into this show. I know that Jonathan is anxious to get back to doing the birthday thing, so I want to dive in. First, I want to thank our sponsors. WooCommerce.com. I would suggest that if you want to get involved in conversation and community, check out their Slack channel and their Facebook group, the official WooCommerce Facebook group. There's a lot going on in there. You can get your questions answered. And you can also talk to Jonathan, which is always a bonus.

Jonathan: LOL.

Bob: And WPActivityLog.com, formerly WP Security Audit Log. They're focused on the activity log of your WooCommerce site, what shop managers and customers are doing, so you'll want to check them out at WPActivityLog.com And we also have Recapture.io as a sponsor. They're a cart abandonment and email marketing service for your shop. They have a great deal for our listeners, so stay tuned in, you'll hear about that later.

Anyway, I'm anxiou