A Brief History of WordPress News and Podcasts

There has been a lot of discussion around the future of WordPress news and podcasts. The Professional WordPress book series spans 5 years (crazy!), so I thought it would be fun to take a look back at what WordPress news sites and podcasts were featured in each edition and which ones still exist today.

Professional WordPress 1st Edition

(Released April 5th, 2010)

WordPress News Sites

  • WordPress Tavern – ACTIVE (http://wptavern.com) – The grand old man of the WordPress news industry, the WordPress Tavern is going stronger than ever.
  • WPVibe.com – DEAD (http://wpvibe.com) – The WordPress Vibe had a short lifespan and stopped publishing content in the Spring of 2011.
  • Weblog Tools Collection – DEAD (http://WeblogToolsCollection.com) – An older site dedicated to WordPress and blogging in general. The site was purchased by Matt Mullenweg in 2013 and is kept online as an archive only.
  • WPEngineer.com – DEAD (http://WPEngineer.com) – Not as active as it once was, the WPEngineer.com site contains some good coding tips and tricks around WordPress.

    • WordPress Podcasts

    • WordPress Weekly – ACTIVE (http://wptavern.com/wordpress-weekly) – The official WordPress podcast of the WordPress Tavern.
    • WordCast Podcast – DEAD – A WordPress podcast that was hosted by Dave Moyer and Kym Huynh. The archive has since been removed and is no longer available online.
    • The WordPress Podcast – DEAD (http://www2.webmasterradio.fm/wordpress-community-podcast/) – A podcast hosted through WebmasterRadio.fm featuring Joost de Valk and Frederick Townes. The last episode aired in February 2011.
    • Plugins: The WordPress Plugins Podcast – DEAD (http://www.pluginspodcast.com) – The original WordPress podcast dedicated to plugins. The podcast ended in May of 2010.

    Professional WordPress 2nd Edition

    (Released January 4th, 2013)

    WordPress News Sites

    • WPCandy – DEAD (http://wpcandy.com) – One of the largest and most successful WordPress news sites, WPCandy stopped publishing new content in 2013.
    • WP Realm – DEAD (http://wprealm.com) – A WordPress news site with a prominent WordPress community member staff of writers. Publishing ended in 2013.
    • WP Force – DEAD (http://wpforce.com) – The WP Force is a WordPress news site that was actively publishing fresh content through early 2014.
  • WPEngineer.com – DEAD (http://WPEngineer.com) – Not as active as it once was, the WPEngineer.com site contains some good coding tips and tricks around WordPress.

    • WordPress Podcasts

    • WP Late Night – DEAD – A WordPress focused podcast hosted by Ryan Imel, Dre Armeda, and me! WP Late Night was the precursor to the DradCast.
    • WPCandy.com Shows – DEAD (http://wpcandy.com/shows/) – WP Candy produced a number of different WordPress focused podcasts. All WP Candy podcasts ended in 2013.

    Professional WordPress 3rd Edition

    (Released January 12th, 2015)

    WordPress News Sites

    • WordPress Tavern – ACTIVE (http://wptavern.com) – Only one of two WordPress news site to make two editions of Professional WordPress, WP Tavern saw a rebirth when the website was purchased by Matt Mullenweg in 2013.
    • Post Status – ACTIVE (https://poststatus.com) – Post Status is a WordPress news site ran by Brian Krogsgard. The site has traditional focused on long-form news articles, but has recently expanded with more news options.
    • ManageWP.org – ACTIVE (https://managewp.org) – A social news aggregator, ManageWP.org features WordPress related news that is up voted by the community.
    • Torque Mag – ACTIVE (http://torquemag.io) – Debuting in 2013, Torque Mag is a WP Engine publication that focuses on WordPress news.

    WordPress Podcasts

    • DradCast – ACTIVE (http://dradcast.com) – The #1 late night WordPress podcast, hosted by Dre Armeda and myself. The show is recorded live every Wednesday evening at 8pm EST.
    • WordPress Weekly – ACTIVE (http://wptavern.com/wordpress-weekly) – The only WordPress podcast to make two editions of Professional WordPress, the WordPress Weekly podcast is back with regular weekly episodes.
    • WP Water Cooler – ACTIVE (http://www.wpwatercooler.com) – A round-table style podcast feature prominent WordPress community members discussing hot topics of the week.
    • Matt Report – ACTIVE (http://mattreport.com) – A WordPress podcast focused on topics including business, startups, and entrepreneurs.
    • Apply Filters – ACTIVE (http://applyfilters.fm) – The only active WordPress development focused podcast, hosted by Pippin Williamson and Brad Touesnard.

    It’s pretty amazing to see how many WordPress news sites and podcasts have come and gone over the years. WP Tavern and WPEngineer.com are the only news websites that made two editions of Professional WordPress. WordPress Weekly is the only podcast to make two editions. WordPress news and podcasts are a vital part of our community and have been since well before Professional WordPress was released.

    Here’s hoping to many more repeats, and new entries, in future editions of Professional WordPress!