Jonathan Desrosiers, a principal software engineer at Bluehost and a long-time WordPress contributor and Core committer, discusses efforts to strengthen WordPress through synchronized releases, improved contributor experiences, and renewed community engagement.
Background and role
Jonathan has been involved with WordPress for well over a decade and is sponsored by Bluehost through the Five for the Future program to contribute to the project. His ongoing focus is on making contributor workflows clearer and lowering barriers so more people can participate—whether through mentorship, automation, or clearer processes that help contributors get things done and understand how decisions are made.
Synchronized releases and live events
A recent experiment paired a major WordPress release with State of the Word, creating a theatrical, communal “release moment” where attendees celebrated the launch. The idea is to bind releases to flagship community events—WordCamp Asia, WordCamp Europe, and WordCamp US—in 2026 to create more visible, shared milestones. The rationale is community-first: code and licensing matter, but the health of the project depends on shared experiences that build belonging and pride.
Logistics and constraints
Coordinating releases with events isn’t simple. Release timing has to account for global holidays, cultural calendars, and community availability—December in many regions is effectively a blackout for contributors due to holidays. Events themselves schedule around budget, venue availability, and regional considerations, not software release calendars. A pragmatic approach is necessary: design releases to allow global coverage, assemble geographically diverse release squads, and ensure travel to events isn’t a requirement to contribute. The goal is global continuity—contributors in different time zones can carry the work forward if others are offline.
Creating anticipation without slowing innovation
Jonathan and Nathan compare software releases to TV seasons—moments of fanfare and anticipation. There’s value to those penultimate, celebratory release moments, but there’s also an argument for more frequent, smaller releases so contributors see faster feedback and users receive features sooner. Architecturally, WordPress faces constraints: many editor components are interdependent packages, making single-feature releases complex. Still, Jonathan favors exploring feature-branch approaches and better compartmentalization so features can be showcased and tested independently when practical.
Improving discovery and testing
Most users don’t see release notes because auto-updates are seamless—success for stability, but it reduces awareness of new features. Jonathan suggests making it easier for users to discover what changed and to opt into testing earlier. Ideas include dashboard notices or Learn WordPress links that highlight new features and ways to try them. Better opt-in testing pathways and clearer release automation would improve early feedback loops, reduce surprises, and empower testers to raise issues before widespread rollout.
Adoption data and confidence
Jonathan reviewed adoption metrics and found major versions are being installed faster than in the past. For example, one recent release reached 50% of sites in 10 days—faster than previous releases—indicating growing confidence in auto-updates and release quality. The trend suggests improved stability and trust, and an opportunity to lean into that momentum with more engaging release communications.
Community health and rebuilding after COVID
Both hosts noted a decline in Meetup attendance and WordCamp numbers in some regions, a trend amplified by the pandemic. The in-person pipeline of leaders, speakers, and volunteers was disrupted; many local leaders didn’t return. This “long-tail COVID” effect manifests unevenly: APAC communities appear robust and growing, while parts of the US and Europe struggle to regain footing.
Efforts to reverse this include initiatives focused on education and contributor onboarding: WP Credits, Campus Connect, mentorship programs, and recurring contributor mentorship events. These programs have produced contributors who later mentor others and take on leadership roles. The challenge now is converting awareness into sustained participation and preparing clearer pathways so new contributors can continue beyond a single event.
Engaging younger contributors
Attracting younger people requires demonstrating value and offering clear, supported ways to contribute. Jonathan stresses the need to not only expose students to open source but also to activate them—provide small, achievable projects, visible outcomes (like seeing a patch committed), and mentorship. Education efforts tied to events provide opportunities to pilot onboarding approaches and gather feedback on what helps newcomers stay involved.
AI, empowerment, and the future of building
AI introduces new dynamics: it can democratize building and learning by summarizing complex information and lowering the barrier to experimentation. Jonathan sees AI as empowering individuals to prototype and create without heavy prior training, which could reignite interest in building and maintaining personal websites and services. This rises alongside a renewed interest in open platforms—RSS, blogging, and federated services are seeing resurgences as people seek control outside walled gardens.
That said, scale and robustness remain challenges. AI-generated solutions can be useful for personal projects but scaling those safely and securely still demands skilled developers. The tension between rapid personal empowerment and the need for maintainable, accessible, secure software is real, and WordPress can play a role by making it easier for newcomers to build responsibly and for communities to support them.
Making contributor moments meaningful
Jonathan wants release-related participation to be more tangible for contributors. Rather than ephemeral testing at release parties where good reports can disappear, the aim is to capture that input meaningfully and create follow-up pathways—turning a single-day contribution into a sustained journey. Having contributors attend in person makes it easier to trial new onboarding and release processes and iterate on them.
Outlook
Jonathan is optimistic: there’s renewed enthusiasm to build with WordPress, and data shows faster adoption of major releases. Reconnecting the software with community moments—through synchronized releases, better communication, and stronger onboarding—could help revitalize Meetups and WordCamps, attract younger talent, and reinforce the value of open source in a landscape shaped by AI and closed platforms.
Contact
Jonathan’s website is jonathandesrosiers.com and he uses the handle desrosej across platforms. He’s also active in the wordpress.org Slack.