The Importance of Contributions to the WordPress Ecosystem

As an open source project, the WordPress software relies on contributions from individuals and businesses alike to remain a healthy and innovative ecosystem.

Types of Contributions

Individuals can contribute in a variety of ways, including writing code, organizing meetups, and working on WordPress’s accessibility. Companies can contribute by permitting their employees to allocate part-time or full-time hours to WordPress.

The Power of Community Contributions

For the latest WordPress release, Automattic provided over 3,500 core contributions, over half of all WordPress 6.6 contributions, at the hands of 105 individual contributors.

Visual Representation of Contributions

The following image illustrates the contributions from companies to WordPress core development.

Visual Representation of Core Contributions

The following image illustrates the contributions from individuals to WordPress core development.

The Responsibility of Companies

Given that WordPress powers over 40% of your favorite websites, it’s in the best interest of every company that benefits from WordPress to give back to the project and community.

The Five for the Future Initiative

This idea is codified in WordPress’s Five for the Future initiative. Any company that profits from the software—including every business offering hosting for WordPress—is encouraged to put 5% of its resources back into WordPress development.

Automattic’s Commitment

At Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, we take this responsibility very seriously.

Workforce Hours

Automattic employs just under 2,000 people. Over 100 of them work on the WordPress project full-time. In terms of workforce hours, this puts the company at almost exactly 5%.

Visual Representation of Automattic’s Contributions

The following image illustrates Automattic’s contributions to the WordPress project.

The Importance of Giving Back

Though this is not a requirement and it is not policed by the WordPress Foundation, every company that profits from WordPress should think about the long-term health and vibrancy of the WordPress ecosystem. At Automattic and WordPress.com, we’re proud to give back and to constantly be thinking about bettering WordPress as a whole when we’re working on features, squashing bugs, and generally doing our best to democratize publishing for the entire world.

Your Role in the Future of WordPress

As a customer—whether you’re a developer at an agency or an aspiring creator—you have a say in the future of WordPress. You have options when it comes to hosting. We recommend that the dollars you spend go towards a WordPress host that acts as a good steward of open source philosophy—like WordPress.com.