my.WordPress.what! - CourtneyR.dev's 2nd Brain

my.WordPress.what?! ![rw-book-cover](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EAkUKVyeCW0/maxresdefault.jpg) 🔗 **Source:** [my.WordPress.what?!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAkUKVyeCW0) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: #wordpress #playground #marketing #developer-tools > author: WP Builds > source: YouTube > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAkUKVyeCW0 > date created: 2024-12-19 12:00 > > # 🏷️ Title: my.WordPress.what?! - A Critical Look at WordPress's Latest Launch >  ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Compare my.wordpress.net vs playground feature sets — marketing confusion #wordpress - [H2] Review WordPress nomenclature changes (plugins→apps, blueprints→apps) — branding consistency #wordpress - [H3] Analyze WordPress marketing perception issues — community feedback #marketing ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [[#📝 Summary]] - [[#📖 Main Content]] - [[#🗒️ Notes]] - [[#📚 References]] - [[#🗣️ Paraphrase]] - [[#📰 Newsletter]] - [[#✅ Action Items]] - [[#🧪 Hypotheses]] - [[#📊 Methodology]] - [[#❓ Questions]] - [[#🔮 Future Research]] - [[#💡 Implications]] - [[#🧠 Learning Styles Assessment]] - [[#📊 Accessibility Assessment]] - [[#🌍 DEIB Assessment]] - [[#✅ Logical Validity]] - [[#🛡️ DARVO Analysis]] - [[#🎯 Conclusion]] ### 🔗 References - [my.wordpress.net](https://my.wordpress.net) - [playground.wordpress.net](https://playground.wordpress.net) ## 📝 Summary - What happened: WordPress launched my.wordpress.net as a new browser-based WordPress environment, seemingly duplicating existing Playground functionality - Why it matters: This highlights ongoing WordPress marketing and perception challenges, potentially confusing users and developers - Key stakeholders: WordPress community, developers, end users, Automattic - Risks and tradeoffs: Brand confusion, resource duplication, missed marketing opportunities - Bottom line: The launch raises questions about WordPress's strategic direction and communication ## 📖 Main Content The video critiques WordPress's launch of my.wordpress.net, questioning why it exists when playground.wordpress.net already provides similar (and more advanced) functionality. The creator argues this represents broader WordPress marketing struggles and missed opportunities to showcase existing tools effectively. Key concerns include: - Terminology shifts from established WordPress language (plugins→apps, blueprints→apps) - Feature disparity between the two platforms - Marketing presentation quality differences - Strategic clarity around product positioning The critique comes from someone who loves Playground and regularly recommends it, making the frustration more about missed opportunities than product quality. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=0) — [H1] Introduction and Setup - Key idea: Comparing my.wordpress.net vs playground.wordpress.net side by side - Evidence: "I have my.wordpress.net on the left, playground.wordpress.net on the right, and I just don't get it" #### ⏱️ [00:30](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=30) — [H2] Love for Playground - Key idea: Despite the rant, Playground is highly recommended - Evidence: "I love Playground. In fact, it is one of the things I recommend most in almost all of my videos" #### ⏱️ [01:15](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=75) — [H1] Designer Criticism - Key idea: WordPress community members criticize the marketing approach - Evidence: "Rafal Tamal... says this is why other platforms make fun of WordPress" #### ⏱️ [02:00](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=120) — [H2] Playground's Superior Presentation - Key idea: Playground has better documentation and feature presentation - Evidence: "Hello from the playground. It explains what it can do. You've got a video you can watch" #### ⏱️ [02:45](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=165) — [H1] WordPress Marketing Struggles - Key idea: WordPress has ongoing perception and marketing challenges - Evidence: "WordPress struggles with marketing. It struggles with perception" #### ⏱️ [03:30](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=210) — [H2] Brandon's Announcement Analysis - Key idea: The my.wordpress.net announcement describes existing Playground functionality - Evidence: "Your browser becomes your WordPress. I thought that's what Playground already did" #### ⏱️ [04:45](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=285) — [H2] Duplicate Functionality Concern - Key idea: my.wordpress.net appears to replicate what Playground already offers - Evidence: "You're placed directly into a complete WordPress environment that runs entirely in your browser. Again, that's what we're doing with Playground" #### ⏱️ [06:00](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=360) — [H1] Terminology Confusion: Apps vs Plugins - Key idea: WordPress is abandoning established terminology without clear reasoning - Evidence: "Sparking creativity with apps. What about plugins? What about blueprints?" #### ⏱️ [07:30](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=450) — [H2] Missed Automattic Integration Opportunities - Key idea: WordPress showcases generic CRM instead of Automattic's own products - Evidence: "WordPress has automatic owned something called Clay... why aren't we showing some kind of solution for automatic here" #### ⏱️ [09:00](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=540) — [H2] AI Integration Claims - Key idea: AI modification claims seem unsubstantiated based on testing - Evidence: "I asked could you modify my.wordpress.net in the browser and it said no" #### ⏱️ [10:15](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=615) — [H1] Feature Comparison - Key idea: Playground offers more developer features and blueprints - Evidence: "Playground is going to give you a lot more obviously developer features" #### ⏱️ [11:30](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=690) — [H2] Blueprint vs Apps Terminology - Key idea: Playground has 42 blueprints while my.wordpress.net uses "apps" terminology - Evidence: "WordPress is using apps which I don't know why we're making that departure" #### ⏱️ [12:45](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=765) — [H1] Advanced Playground Features - Key idea: Playground supports WordPress development workflows and testing - Evidence: "I can do a WordPress pull request... I can test that feature right here" #### ⏱️ [13:30](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=810) — [H1] Final Frustration - Key idea: Questioning the strategic need for my.wordpress.net when Playground exists - Evidence: "I just don't understand why we make the splash... when we already have playground" ## 📚 References - [my.wordpress.net](https://my.wordpress.net) - [playground.wordpress.net](https://playground.wordpress.net) - [Automattic Clay CRM](https://clay.earth) - Brandon Payton's announcement post ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - WordPress launched my.wordpress.net as a browser-based development environment, but it appears to duplicate existing Playground functionality with fewer features - The marketing presentation favors generic examples over showcasing Automattic's own products, missing integration opportunities - Terminology changes from "plugins" and "blueprints" to "apps" create unnecessary confusion without clear benefits ## 📰 Newsletter WordPress community members are questioning the recent launch of my.wordpress.net, which appears to duplicate functionality already available in the popular Playground tool. While both platforms offer browser-based WordPress environments, Playground currently provides more advanced features including 42 pre-built blueprints, developer tools, and WordPress core testing capabilities. The discussion highlights broader questions about WordPress marketing strategy and product positioning. Community feedback suggests focusing on improving existing tools rather than creating parallel offerings. For developers, Playground remains the recommended choice for testing, prototyping, and WordPress development workflows. Resources: [WordPress Playground](https://playground.wordpress.net/), [Learn WordPress](https://learn.wordpress.org/), [Developer Docs](https://developer.wordpress.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### WordPress - Core: Clarify strategic relationship between Playground and my.wordpress.net - Community: Address terminology confusion around apps vs plugins/blueprints - Marketing: Improve presentation quality and feature communication - Documentation: Create clear use case differentiation between platforms #### OSPO - Strategic Alignment: Review product portfolio for overlap and confusion - Community Engagement: Gather feedback on marketing approach effectiveness #### Community - Contributors: Provide feedback on product positioning and messaging - Maintainers: Consider consolidation opportunities for similar tools ## 🧪 Hypotheses - WordPress's marketing challenges stem from lack of unified product strategy - Parallel development of similar tools creates community confusion - Established WordPress terminology changes require stronger justification - Developer-focused tools need clearer end-user positioning ### 📊 Methodology - Compare feature sets between my.wordpress.net and Playground - Survey community perception of WordPress marketing effectiveness - Analyze terminology consistency across WordPress properties ### ❓ Questions - What strategic purpose does my.wordpress.net serve that Playground doesn't? - How can WordPress improve marketing coherence across products? - Should WordPress consolidate similar browser-based development tools? ### 🔮 Future Research - WordPress product portfolio optimization strategies - Community feedback mechanisms for product launches - Marketing effectiveness measurement in open source projects ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Developers may face choice paralysis between similar tools - Policy: Need clearer product launch criteria and differentiation requirements - Education: Training materials must address multiple similar platforms - Marketing: Brand confusion may impact WordPress adoption rates ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 8th grade #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Side-by-side platform comparison screenshots - Improve: Feature comparison charts, workflow diagrams #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Video explanation with narration - Improve: Podcast discussion format, audio summaries #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear terminology explanations, analogies to other platforms - Improve: Glossary of WordPress vs new terminology #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Hands-on platform testing and comparison - Improve: Step-by-step feature exploration guides #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Feature-by-feature comparison, strategic analysis - Improve: Decision trees for platform selection #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Community discussion and feedback incorporation - Improve: Moderated debate forums, peer reviews #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Individual platform exploration opportunities - Improve: Self-assessment tools for platform needs #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Platform evolution and ecosystem context - Improve: Tool lifecycle analogies, ecosystem health metrics ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear video structure with spoken headings - Improve: Transcript with proper heading hierarchy #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard video player controls - Improve: Timestamped navigation links #### Contrast and readability - Present: High contrast in video interface comparisons - Improve: Larger text overlays, better color differentiation #### Media and captions - Present: Full transcript provided - Improve: Synchronized captions, audio descriptions ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: Focus on global WordPress community impact - Improve: International perspective on marketing effectiveness #### Inclusive language - Present: Technical terms explained, minimal jargon - Improve: Plain language alternatives for technical concepts #### Representation - Present: Community member perspectives included - Improve: Diverse stakeholder viewpoints ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Inductive strength: Good evidence from feature comparison and community feedback - Causal reasoning: Clear connection between marketing confusion and perception issues #### Fallacies - False dilemma: Implies my.wordpress.net vs Playground is either/or choice, weakness: may serve different audiences, fix: explore complementary use cases #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Frustrated but constructive, passionate about WordPress success ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - No DARVO patterns detected - critique focuses on product strategy rather than personal attacks - Emotional cues: Frustration expressed constructively with repeated affirmation of Playground team ## 🎯 Conclusion The video raises legitimate questions about WordPress's product strategy and marketing approach. While the criticism comes from a place of caring about WordPress's success, it highlights the need for clearer communication about product differentiation and strategic direction. The WordPress community would benefit from more transparent discussion about how multiple similar tools serve different user needs and contribute to the overall ecosystem. ## 🧱 Refactor Appendix ### 📚 Literature Split Pad ### [H1] WordPress struggles with marketing and perception > [!quote] [my.WordPress.what?!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAkUKVyeCW0) by [[WP Builds]] via [[YouTube]]. Published 2024. Accessed 2024-12-19. > "WordPress struggles with marketing. It struggles with perception" Community feedback indicates ongoing challenges with product positioning and communication effectiveness. [view highlight](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=165) #xref #articleseed ID:rw_wordpress_marketing ### [H2] Playground provides comprehensive WordPress development environment > [!quote] [my.WordPress.what?!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAkUKVyeCW0) > "Playground is going to give you a lot more obviously developer features" Established tool offers advanced capabilities including blueprints, version switching, and core testing. [view highlight](https://youtu.be/EAkUKVyeCW0?t=615) #xref ID:rw_playground_features --- ### 🔖 Atomic Split Pad (Zettel Candidates) #### [Z1] Product duplication creates community confusion - Applies when similar tools serve unclear different purposes - Pointer to 13:30 timestamp discussion - Links: [[Product-Strategy]] [[Community-Feedback]] #### [Z2] Terminology changes require strong justification - Condition: established community vocabulary exists - Pointer to 6:00 apps vs plugins discussion - Links: [[WordPress-Terminology]] [[Change-Management]] --- ### ✏️ Fleeting Queue - [F1] Research Brandon Payton's full announcement post — context/analysis #fleeting #inbox - [F2] Compare my.wordpress.net and Playground feature matrices — documentation #fleeting #inbox - [F3] Investigate Clay CRM integration opportunities — product strategy #fleeting #inbox --- ## Full Transcript [00:00] In the latest installment of what the is [00:02] going on with WordPress, I have [00:04] my.wordpress.net on the left, [00:06] playground.wordpress.net [00:08] on the right, and I just don't get it. [00:12] If anything, do me the justice of [00:14] listening to me rant for a little bit. [00:15] I'm going to make this as short as [00:16] humanly possible because it is a rant [00:19] and I don't think that's uh ultimately [00:20] fair. Uh because I love Playground. In [00:24] fact, it is one of the things I [00:25] recommend most in almost all of my [00:27] videos is to go to playground.wordpress [00:29] WordPress.net. So, anything that you [00:32] hopefully take away from this video, it [00:33] is me recommending Playground and you [00:35] get to see a little bit of Playground [00:37] and what's happening behind the scenes [00:38] because I think it's one of the most [00:40] exciting things to come from WordPress [00:42] with the most opportunities. [00:45] And then it's like my.wordpress.net. [00:47] It's the same thing in my opinion. Let's [00:50] uh take a look at Rafal Tamal, friend of [00:52] the show. He also says this is why other [00:54] platforms make fun of WordPress. and [00:56] he's sort of hinting at this landing [00:58] page that we're looking at here in [01:01] my.wordpress.net. [01:02] And on the right hand side, at least we [01:04] have something with more teeth. Uh, [01:06] hello from the playground. It explains [01:08] on what it can do. You've got a video [01:10] you can watch. You can explore the [01:12] blueprints gallery, frequently asked [01:13] questions, how to get this running via [01:16] MPX locally. like it feels more meaty [01:19] where this is just like I mean I why [01:23] would I present this as like a new thing [01:26] for WordPress. This is the frustrating [01:29] part. WordPress struggles with [01:31] marketing. It struggles with perception [01:34] and I think Rafal is nailing it right on [01:37] the head. Of course he's one of the [01:38] leading designers for WordPress saying [01:40] like we got to put our best foot forward [01:42] with these types of things. I had no [01:44] issue and I don't even think I mean I [01:46] haven't talked to Rufall I don't think [01:47] anyone has issues with where playground [01:49] was going I think everyone's excited for [01:50] playground and you look at it as a [01:52] developer tool not like the enduser tool [01:55] and my argument is if you're going to [01:57] put out something for end users for that [01:59] average person to interact with is going [02:01] to be a little bit more than what we see [02:04] with my.wordpress.net Now, let's read [02:05] the uh announcement from Brandon [02:08] Payeyton. And again, uh he contributes [02:10] 40 hours a week to Playground. I love [02:11] Playground. I just want to make sure [02:13] everyone understands that. I just don't [02:16] get this. Your browser becomes your [02:18] WordPress. I thought that's what [02:19] Playground already did. New ways to [02:21] WordPress. I'm just going to skip ahead [02:22] here. Uh when you open up [02:24] my.wordpress.net, you're placed directly [02:26] into a complete WordPress environment [02:27] that runs entirely in your browser. [02:29] Again, that's what we're doing with [02:31] Playground. What makes this approach [02:32] meaningful is not just where WordPress [02:34] runs, but how it changes the [02:35] relationship between people and the [02:37] software itself. By removing the need to [02:39] sign up or make early decisions about [02:41] hosting visibility, my.wordpress.net [02:43] reframes WordPress as a space you can [02:45] enter and work within rather than a [02:47] service you have to configure before you [02:49] begin. Absolutely. This is why I love [02:51] Playground because I can just go to [02:53] Playground, spin up a WordPress site, [02:55] uh, and not only spin up a WordPress [02:57] site, which we'll look at in a minute, I [02:58] can do all kinds of other things that my [03:00] WordPress.net net doesn't do. So, I [03:02] think maybe we're just releasing [03:04] something that we haven't fully seen [03:06] baked yet. So, I'll give them that. But [03:10] I don't know if WordPress, the [03:12] perception of WordPress in the marketing [03:14] of WordPress in today's environment can [03:17] stand a [03:20] half-ass launch, pardon my French, [03:23] permanently and privately yours, yes, [03:24] but it's in the browser. So, I believe [03:26] you delete local storage, you end up, [03:28] you know, losing that uh WordPress site, [03:30] which we'll look at in a moment on how [03:32] you can kind of back that up or what [03:33] tooling they've put in to back that up. [03:35] Sparking creativity with apps. Let me [03:38] repeat that. Sparking creativity with [03:41] apps. [03:42] Sparking creativity with apps. What [03:46] about plugins? What about blueprints? [03:48] What about all the nomenclature we've [03:50] had for 20 years? And I'm not saying [03:52] that we should keep things for 20 years, [03:54] but suddenly we're thrusting apps upon [03:56] us. That's the headscratcher for me [04:00] because we've been calling it [04:01] blueprints. You know, I think many other [04:04] like hosting providers and other plug-in [04:06] solutions have called things blueprints [04:08] before and and I don't know if this is a [04:10] way to start making inroads with your [04:14] average WordPress user. I don't know if [04:17] my.wordpress.net net is going to tie [04:19] into an account system in the future [04:21] which would either I don't want to say [04:22] back channel but would connect to [04:24] WordPress.com as a hosting provider or [04:27] with WordPress.org or and then you can [04:28] ship it off to some other hosting [04:30] provider, whatever. Like I'm not here to [04:32] theorize that stuff right now. But the [04:35] whole like apps thing, why are we [04:37] getting away from plugins? Why are we [04:39] getting away from blueprints? We [04:40] showcase a personal uh CRM, which again, [04:44] this is the tugof-war that I have with [04:46] like wanting automatic to win and then [04:49] also [04:51] I don't understand what's happening half [04:53] the time at WordPress.org. Personal CRM. [04:55] I mean there's a million CRM solutions [04:58] obviously but um well WordPress has [05:01] automatic owned something called Clay [05:04] which is what I would call like an I've [05:06] done the video in the channel before you [05:07] can check it out I would say like an [05:09] AIcentric CRM if you will fantastic I [05:13] think it's a great product I hope to see [05:14] more of it why aren't we like showing [05:17] some kind of solution for automatic here [05:19] or dare I say jetack CRM here it's just [05:22] it's always like so random and [05:24] disjointed it it's mindboggling [05:28] personal RSS reader. Okay, cool. I AI [05:30] workspace and knowledge base [05:33] again like it says because [05:35] my.wordpress.net is powered by WordPress [05:37] playground an AI assistant can safely [05:39] modify empowering you to customize [05:40] beyond what you need to ask it to. I [05:43] actually tested this in with cloud code [05:46] locally on my terminal and I asked if it [05:49] could see the differences between [05:52] my.wordpress.net net and playground just [05:54] generally just not having it like run a [05:57] Python script or anything like that [06:00] to see if it could understand like what [06:01] the differences is. It basically said [06:03] they were the same. I I there's nothing [06:04] that it sees different. And I asked [06:06] could you modify my.wordpress.net in the [06:08] browser and it said no. It would need [06:10] authentication and all this other stuff. [06:12] So maybe we're moving in that direction [06:14] where [06:16] you're asking your local or your native [06:19] LM chatbot of choice to say, "Hey, [06:21] connect to my.wordpress. WordPress which [06:23] is locally on my computer and it can do [06:24] things. Okay, cool. But why don't you do [06:27] that for your own like live site? I [06:28] mean, of course, if you don't want it to [06:30] be logged in, that's a different [06:31] discussion. So, let's just take a look [06:33] at the the two side by side. And real [06:36] quick, there's like missing components [06:39] here which don't make a whole heck of a [06:41] lot of sense to me. So, if I open up the [06:43] sidebar, I can see the code of the [06:45] my.wordpress.net. I can get the see the [06:48] files, download the database, see the [06:50] logs. Uh this is very similar to what [06:52] you can do inside of inside of the [06:55] playground, but playground is going to [06:56] give you a lot more obviously developer [06:59] features to advance the version of [07:01] WordPress, advance PHP, you can run [07:05] blueprint JSON files right from here. If [07:08] I go to the four squares, if I go to the [07:12] four squares in my wordpress.net, you [07:16] see install apps on the right hand side [07:19] in the playground I have blueprints and [07:22] I have 42 blueprints in fact so if [07:24] you've never seen this before there's a [07:26] bunch of stuff inside of playground [07:28] where you can load these themes and [07:30] these pre pre-built sites the WordPress [07:34] is using apps which I don't know why [07:37] we're making that departure and then [07:39] there's more playgrounds to go to so [07:43] this is where like I'm at a standstill [07:46] and why are we making this when we have [07:48] that? I can do a vanilla WordPress [07:51] install. I can do a WordPress pull [07:53] request. I if I see something that's [07:55] being developed in GitHub on WordPress [07:58] or in Gutenberg, I can actually load [08:00] that into playground. So, I can test [08:01] that feature right here. Fantastic. I [08:05] can load a blueprint URL. I can import a [08:07] zip. And like I said, I can go through [08:08] and pick from these from these [08:10] blueprints. The install apps again. If I [08:13] go to AI assistant, [08:16] it's going to load theoretically loading [08:18] plugins or a plugin in the background [08:21] which gives me this AI assistant and I [08:23] can work with it here. So, I just don't [08:26] understand [08:28] why we make the splash or the post for [08:32] something like this when we already have [08:34] playground. [08:36] I don't know. I'm still scratching my [08:38] head trying to figure it out. You let me [08:41] know what you think in the comments [08:43] below. I love Playground. I love [08:46] Playground. I love Playground. And I [08:49] will repeat that and I will sing the [08:51] praises of the team. But sweet Jesus, [08:54] somebody tell me why we need [08:56] my.wordpress.net. [08:58] Net.  📄 **Full text:** ![[Full Document Contents/Articles/my.WordPress.what!|my.WordPress.what?!, YouTube]] ## Highlights - hopefully take away from this video, it is me recommending Playground and you get to see a little bit of Playground and what's happening behind the scenes because I think it's one of the most exciting things to come from WordPress with the most opportunities. And then it's like my.wordpress.net. It's the same thing in my opinion. Let's uh take a look at Rafal Tamal, friend of the show. He also says this is why other platforms make fun of WordPress. and he's sort of hinting at this landing page that we're looking at here in ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kkvv9x1f3j5emqgh6egpdb3p)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - something like this when we already have playground. I don't know. I'm still scratching my head trying to figure it out. You let me know what you think in the comments below. I love Playground. I love Playground. I love Playground. And I will repeat that and I will sing the praises of the team. But sweet Jesus, somebody tell me why we need my.wordpress.net. Net. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kkvv9x2jfnrnhtgxnssb4baa)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted