Will websites still exist in a few years? This is one of the many interesting topics covered by Jake Goldman (Founder of 10up) in this episode of WP Townhall (hosted by Kevin Geary and Mark Szymanski). I won’t give away Jake’s answer; the entire conversation is worth your time if you’re in the WordPress, web development, product or agency space.
While there’s a lot going on in WordPress (and the broader economy), the big shocking “unknown” in the system is AI. It feels certain now that AI is changing the future of web development. Whether it’ll 1.2x your engineering time or 100x it remains to be seen, and how much work will remain for web professionals is anyone’s guess.
Depending on who you ask, AI is either going to completely democratize full-stack software development or become just another tool that still requires a skilled artisan at the wheel. The question is whether the number of software engineers will downsize like farming after the industrial revolution- or increase like creators after the mobile internet. The answers to those questions depends on the person asking it – do they more make money if there are more jobs for developers (because they’re a developer or they sell content to developers) or less jobs for developers (because they’re a CEO looking to cut costs and stay competitive).
I won’t say that I’m not concerned and a little bit confused. My role has always been centered around developer education, but what it means to be a developer feels like it’s dramatically shifting. I’m still trying to figure out where I can provide the most value to WordPress professionals like yourself. What are the things you need to be educated about and what are the skills that matter?
There’s been a handful of good podcasts recently where agency owners grapple with the future of WordPress, professional web development, and AI. I recommend listening to Mario Peshev, founder of DevRix, talking to Matt Medeiros on The WP Minute about Marketing Agencies Adjusting in 2025.
Ultimately I’m still bullish on websites- in the same way that I’m still bullish on books, even if most college students can’t read them any more. I’ve been re-reading the science fiction novel Neuromancer, William Gibson’s vision of a cyberpunk future originally published in 1984. The main character is a computer hacker caught up in a high-stakes heist against the backdrop of sentient artificial intelligence. At the end of the day, even with all the machines, the world turns because of the desires and incentives of humans.
Websites are how humans can claim their own corner on the internet, and I don’t see that changing any time soon. Am I wrong? Let’s talk about it! Only two more weeks until you can be in the room with myself, Jake, Kevin, Mark and a bunch of other people who are thinking deeply about the future of our industry. I hope to see you at PressConf.
New Webmasters Episode
How well do you know the WooCommerce community? I spent some time recently with Katie Keith of Barn2 Plugins to talk all about her WooCommerce product business, the landscape of our open source community, and her pivot to Shopify. We tackle that one pesky question: should WordPress core be designed and built for beginners?
Understanding the WooCommerce Customers and Community ft. Katie Keith
Jonathan Jernigan and I chatted about his recent experience vibe-coding his way through a Laravel app. If you’re curious about Laravel from a WordPress dev’s perspective, this chat is for you.WordPress Developer Vibe Codes A Laravel App with Claude AI ft. Jonathan Jernigan
Links from around the web
- I’m seeing a lot of potential for WordPress Playground Blueprints to launch sites for demos, testing, starter kits, and more. Here’s how I used a Cloudflare worker to make easy dynamic Playground Blueprints (and Cursor is great at writing workers). Dynamic WordPress Playground Blueprints with Cloudflare Workers – YouTube
- Code Standard Selector is a Visual Studio extension that makes it easy to switch your PHP coding standard without having to edit any settings in your IDE. Code Standard Selector for Visual Studio Code | Tom McFarlin
- Nick Diego and I appeared on a stream with Vikas Singhal from InstaWP and AI-coded a few WordPress plugins live in real time. We also cover some best practices and tips/tricks. Building WordPress Plugins with AI
- Substack is the newer kid on the block, but WordPress popularized blogging. Many of these writers got their start in newsrooms running on WordPress. And yet another of these articles that doesn’t even mention WordPress. This is a huge (missed) opportunity, IMO. Former Substack creators say they’re earning more on new platforms that offer larger shares of subscription revenue
- My colleagues at WordPress.com launched a new AI-powered site builder. This is just the first release (and if you’re not embarrased by your first release, you shipped too late) but this new onboarding tool is a great start to solving (as James LePage said) “the blank page problem in WordPress”. I Tried the WordPress.com AI Builder…
- Are you still on Bluesky? I am and I think I like it, but I have to agree with this article from Wired on how much less fun people seem to be having on it. It’s a bit too earnest. Twitter/X has gone so far in the opposite direction, though, and my For You feed looks like it was curated by middle school boys. Bluesky Can’t Take a Joke.
That’s all this week folks. It’s been a rough month, to be honest, but I’m starting to feel optimistic. The wild chaos of our industry is also an opportunity, for those ready to take it. Hope to see you at PressConf!
Leave a Reply