Archived: ‘The Community Is In Chaos:’ WordPress.org Now Requires You Denounce Affiliation With WP Engine To Log In

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itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2024-10-09T17:58:23.000Z">10/9/2024</time><contexter-summary class="p-summary entry-summary" itemprop="abstract" slot="summary"><p>WordPress.org users are forced to confirm they are not "affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise" before registering a new account or logging in.</p></contexter-summary><contexter-keywordset itemprop="keywords" slot="keywords"><span rel="category tag" class="p-category" itemprop="keywords">wordpress</span>, <span rel="category tag" class="p-category" itemprop="keywords">News</span></contexter-keywordset><a is="contexter-link" href="https://www.404media.co/wordpress-checkbox-login-wp-engine/" class="read-link main-link" itemprop="sameAs" slot="read-link">Read</a><a href="https://context.center/timegate/https://www.404media.co/wordpress-checkbox-login-wp-engine/" is="contexter-link" target="_blank" class="read-link archive-link" itemprop="archivedAt" slot="archive-link">Archived</a></contexter-box>

‘The Community Is In Chaos:’ WordPress.org Now Requires You Denounce Affiliation With WP Engine To Log In

Samantha Cole

10/9/2024

WordPress.org users are forced to confirm they are not "affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise" before registering a new account or logging in.

wordpress, News

WordPress.org users are now required to agree that they are not affiliated with website hosting platform WP Engine before logging in. It’s the latest shot fired by WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg in his crusade against the website hosting platform.

The checkbox on the login page for WordPress.org asks users to confirm, “I am not affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise.” Users who don’t check that box can’t log in or register a new account. As of Tuesday, that checkbox didn’t exist.

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Are you a current or former Automattic employee or have anything to share about the WordPress versus WP Engine situation? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at sam.404. Otherwise, send me an email at sam@404media.co.

Since last month, Mullenweg has been publicly accusing WP Engine of misusing the WordPress brand and not contributing enough to the open-source community. WP Engine sent him a cease and desist, and he and his company, Automattic, sent one back. He’s banned WP Engine from using WordPress’ resources, and as of today, some contributors are reporting being kicked out of the community Slack they use for WordPress open-source projects.

A screenshot of the WordPress.org login page as it appears on Oct. 9 at 1:50 p.m. EST

Among WordPress community contributors, who keep the open-source project running, this checkbox added to the organization’s site is an inflection point in the story of a legal battle that they’ve been mostly isolated from until today.

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