My 2024 in WordPress  ## Metadata - Author: [[jorbin]] - Full Title: My 2024 in WordPress - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: - #WordPress - #OpenSource - #Community - #WebSecurity - #Contributions - #LGBTQPress - #Sponsorship - #2024Goals Author: Aaron Jorbin Source: https://aaron.jorb.in/my-2024-in-wordpress/ date created: 2025-01-07 08:00 --- # Title: My 2024 in WordPress ## Table of Contents: - [📝 Summary](#summary) - [📖 Main Content](#main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#notes) - [📖 References](#references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#methodology) - [❓ Questions](#questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#future-research) - [💡 Implications](#implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#logical-validity) - [🔍 DARVO Analysis](#darvo-analysis) - [🔍 SEO Evaluation](#seo-evaluation) - [🎯 Conclusion](#conclusion) ### References: - N/A ## 📝 Summary: In 2024, Aaron Jorbin reflects on his contributions to WordPress, particularly in the areas of security and community involvement. He faced challenges with sponsorship, falling short of his goal for sustainable support, and discusses his impact in enhancing web security for millions of websites. Key achievements include his role in WordPress core, leading minor releases, and his involvement in community-driven projects. ## 📖 Main Content: ### 🗒️ Notes: - **Sponsorship and Financial Sustainability**: Aaron highlights the difficulty in securing enough community sponsorship to make his work financially sustainable. He notes that unless the sponsorship doubles, he may need to look for a full-time job. - **Key Insight**: The difficulty in achieving sufficient sponsorship underlines the challenge many open-source contributors face in securing sustainable funding. - **WordPress Contributions**: Aaron lists several notable contributions, including: - 334 tickets contributed to. - 131 commits to WordPress core. - Leading and mentoring teams for minor releases, including security updates. - Publishing 5 articles on wordpress.org/news. - **Community Engagement**: Aaron’s involvement in the community extended to: - Publishing 10 monthly updates about WordPress. - Contributing photos to the WordPress Photo Directory. - Being recognized in the #wpkeralaphotos contest. - Engaging in the LGBTQ+PRESS Share Your Pride initiative. - **Appreciation of Sponsors**: Aaron thanks his sponsors by name, recognizing their support in enabling his contributions. ## 📖 References: - N/A ## 🗣️ Paraphrase: - **Original Text**: "The highlight for me is knowing that millions of websites are more secure. WordPress as an ecosystem is successful in large part because of the stability of the core software." - **Paraphrase**: One of Aaron's proudest achievements is contributing to the security of millions of websites, highlighting the importance of WordPress core stability in the success of the ecosystem. ## 📰 Newsletter: **2024 Reflections on WordPress** Aaron Jorbin reflects on a year full of contributions to WordPress, focusing on core security, leadership in releases, and his vital role in the community. However, a recurring challenge in 2024 was securing sustainable sponsorship to continue his work in the open-source ecosystem. Aaron continues to hope for increased support, so he can avoid seeking full-time employment and keep contributing to the future of web publishing. Learn more about his achievements and community impact on his blog. ## ✅ Action Items: - **Alignment with Open Source Advocacy**: Aaron's contributions directly support the WordPress ecosystem’s stability, which is crucial for the wider open-source community. His efforts exemplify how core software contributors shape the ecosystem's long-term sustainability. - **Focus on Contributor Engagement**: Aaron's reflection on sponsorship challenges brings attention to the importance of sustainable funding for open-source contributors. This is a key issue for future studies on the sustainability of open-source projects. - **Alignment with OSPO Goals**: Aaron’s leadership in WordPress releases and community contributions aligns with the principles of a thriving OSPO, focusing on fostering a supportive environment for contributors. ## 🧪 Hypotheses: - Increased sponsorship could directly correlate with more open-source contributors focusing on security tasks, contributing to long-term sustainability. - Leadership roles in open-source projects (e.g., WordPress core release leadership) may enhance the perceived value of contributors, leading to increased sponsorship. ### 📊 Methodology: - **Data Sources**: Track sponsorship data for open-source contributors, comparing sponsorship levels before and after taking on leadership roles. - **Analysis Techniques**: Correlate sponsorship increases with project impact (security releases, core software commits). ### ❓ Questions: 1. How can the open-source community increase sustainable funding for contributors? 2. What are the long-term effects of leadership roles on contributor visibility and sponsorship? ### 🔮 Future Research: - Investigating the effectiveness of various funding models (crowdfunding, corporate sponsorships, grants) in sustaining long-term open-source contributions. - Examining the impact of community engagement activities (e.g., photo contests, contributor days) on contributor retention and sponsorship. ### 💡 Implications: - This research could lead to more sustainable funding mechanisms for open-source contributors, ensuring the longevity of critical projects like WordPress. - It could also inform how OSPOs can better structure their programs to attract and retain high-impact contributors. ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment: - **Visual Learners**: The article could benefit from visual representations of Aaron’s contributions, such as graphs showing his work over time. - **Aural Learners**: Adding a podcast or interview where Aaron discusses his 2024 achievements and challenges could appeal to auditory learners. - **Verbal Learners**: The article’s narrative is already engaging for verbal learners. Enhancing it with more detailed personal anecdotes could improve clarity. - **Physical Learners**: The article doesn’t directly engage kinesthetic learners. Including a section on hands-on tasks or real-world applications could be helpful. - **Logical Learners**: Logical learners will appreciate the clear, measurable metrics like ticket contributions and commits to core. - **Social Learners**: Group discussions or community feedback sections could be included to engage social learners. - **Solitary Learners**: Journaling prompts asking readers to reflect on their own contributions could resonate with solitary learners. - **Naturalistic Learners**: Adding references to nature or environmental initiatives related to WordPress or community engagement could connect with this learning style. ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment: - **Screen Reader Compatibility**: Ensure all images related to the community or contributions have proper alt-text for accessibility. - **Keyboard Navigation**: This site appears to be accessible via keyboard. Further tests for ease of navigation could be helpful. - **Contrast and Readability**: The article uses high contrast, making it readable, but a larger font size for mobile readers might improve accessibility. - **Text Resizing**: The content is mobile-friendly, but ensuring proper scaling on all devices would enhance accessibility. ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment: - **Cultural Relevance**: The article is focused on WordPress, which has a global impact. A more diverse set of examples could strengthen its cultural relevance. - **Inclusive Language**: The article maintains neutral and inclusive language, but could include more global perspectives. - **Neurodiversity Support**: The content structure is clear, though simplifying some of the longer sentences might improve clarity for neurodiverse individuals. - **Representation**: The article mentions LGBTQ+ contributions but could include more examples of diverse identities contributin - Document Tags: [[wordpress]] [[wordpress contribution]] - Summary: Oh what a year it’s been. 2024 was the year where I was sponsored by members of the community. This isn’t an easy task and I am not even hitting 50% of my goal which is what would allow for this to be sustainable. Unless I am able to double the sponsorship, I am afraid […] - URL: https://aaron.jorb.in/my-2024-in-wordpress/ Oh what a year it’s been. 2024 was the year where I was sponsored by members of the community. This isn’t an easy task and I am not even hitting 50% of my goal which is what would allow for this to be sustainable. Unless I am able to double the sponsorship, I am afraid this won’t last and I will need to find a full-time job instead. The highlight for me is knowing that millions of websites are more secure. WordPress as an ecosystem is successful in large part because of the stability of the core software. It’s something that people can extend to make their own. I’m happy to have played a role in 2024 and hope to continue playing a role in the success of web publishing. #### 2024 Contributions by the Numbers * Contributed to 334 tickets * Made 131 commits to core * Propped on 186 commits by others * Published 5 articles to [wordpress.org/news](https://wordpress.org/news/author/jorbin/) * [Spoke at WCUS about WordPress 6.4.1](https://wordpress.tv/2024/10/11/releasing-a-version-of-wordpress-in-8-hours-or-less/) * Led five minor releases of WordPress including all three security releases and mentored the team responsible for two other minor releases * Published 10 [“This Month in WordPress”](https://aaron.jorb.in/tag/my-month-in-wordpress/) updates where I outlined my work * Added 35 photos to the Photo Directory * [Runner up in the #wpkeralaphotos photo contest](https://aaron.jorb.in/the-story-behind-my-wpkeralaphotos-runner-up-photo/) * A [Top Contributor](https://aaron.jorb.in/pride-photos-ive-released-to-the-commons/) to the LGBTQ+PRESS [Share Your Pride Photo Drive](https://lgbtqpress.com/2024/05/share-your-pride-with-the-wordpress-photo-directory/) #### Thank you to my sponsors Thank you to [JeffMatson](https://github.com/JeffMatson), [jeffpaul](https://github.com/jeffpaul), [philipjohn](https://github.com/philipjohn), [zstepek](https://github.com/zstepek), [kkoppenhaver](https://github.com/kkoppenhaver), [mamaduka](https://github.com/Mamaduka), [kingkool68](https://github.com/kingkool68), [austinginder](https://github.com/austinginder), [adamsilverstein](https://github.com/adamsilverstein), [felixarntz](https://github.com/felixarntz), [Emilia-Capital](https://github.com/Emilia-Capital), [desrosj](https://github.com/desrosj), [bacoords](https://github.com/bacoords), [mklute101](https://github.com/mklute101), [Emily Rapport](https://github.com/eatpaintchic), [mattreport](https://github.com/mattreport), [annezazu](https://github.com/annezazu), [Tim Nash](https://github.com/timnashcouk), [Jens De Beule](https://github.com/jensdevbeule), [Jay Hoppie](https://github.com/jayhoppie), and two people who wish to remain anonymous for supporting me. I also received support from the [WordPress Community Collective](https://www.thewpcommunitycollective.com/) for my contributions at WordCamp US Contributor Day. Some content could not be imported from the original document. [View content ↗](https://github.com/sponsors/aaronjorbin/card), My 2024 in WordPress, jorbin, 01jh35cwpv6f2d44he2j2cb79a.