WordPress News Roundup October 2013: WordPress 3.7 “Basie” Starts Updating Itself as GoDaddy Buys Media Temple

October 2013 may be the most consequential month in WordPress maintenance history. WordPress 3.7 “Basie” shipped on October 24 with automatic background updates, and five days later 3.7.1 became the first release that many sites installed without anyone clicking a button. The release arrived barely three months after 3.6, proof that the shorter, plugin-first cycle announced in July could work.

The month also brought the first WordCamp Europe, a major hosting acquisition, a hosting-company IPO and the public launch of Ghost.

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Investments

• GoDaddy acquires Media Temple: On October 15 GoDaddy announced it had acquired Los Angeles host Media Temple for an undisclosed sum. Both companies said Media Temple would continue to operate independently, and GoDaddy framed the deal as a way to reach web professionals and developers.
• Endurance International Group goes public: EIG, owner of Bluehost, HostGator and other brands that host huge numbers of WordPress sites, began trading on NASDAQ in late October.
• Smaller moves: WPShout changed hands after four years, and the Your Members plugin closed and released its code under the GPL.

WordPress Core Updates

• Betas and release candidates: 3.7 Beta 2 (October 10) added about 50 fixes, including Internet Explorer 11 support in the visual editor. RC1 followed on October 18 and RC2 on October 22, with testers’ installs already updating themselves to each new build.
• WordPress 3.7 “Basie”: Released on October 24 and named for Count Basie, 3.7 applied maintenance and security updates automatically in the background on most sites, with dozens of new safeguards in the update process. It also brought a password meter that recognised common patterns and pop-culture references, automatic installation and updating of language files, advanced date queries and multisite improvements. Led by Andrew Nacin with Dion Hulse and Jon Cave, it had 211 contributors and closed more than 400 tickets.
• WordPress 3.7.1: On October 29 3.7.1 fixed 11 bugs, including broken captioned images in the visual editor and update checks on poorly configured servers. With nearly two million sites already on 3.7, it was the first release delivered through the new background updates.
• 3.8 takes shape: Feature plugins for 3.8 moved fast. MP6 added a new widgets screen and the Midnight colour scheme, and a new grid view for the media library and a dashboard makeover were in discussion. Mark Jaquith also published a post-mortem on 3.6 and the Post Formats UI.

Other WordPress News

• WordCamp Europe in Leiden: The first WordCamp Europe ran October 5–7 in Leiden, the Netherlands, drawing more than 700 attendees and establishing a pan-European flagship event.
• WordCamps everywhere: The project noted 56 WordCamps so far in 2013 across more than 20 countries, with 15 more scheduled before year’s end.
• WP Engine opts out of background updates: WP Engine said it would keep managing core updates itself rather than use 3.7’s automatic updates, prompting debate about how managed hosts should work with the new feature.
• ManageWP.org: ManageWP launched ManageWP.org, a community-curated news site for WordPress links.
• WordSesh: WordSesh streamed 24 hours of free WordPress talks online, a new format for global learning.
• Make.WordPress.org gets a homepage: The contributor hub got a new front page to help newcomers find teams.

Security Alerts and Plugin Vulnerabilities

There were no major vulnerability disclosures in October. The story was structural: from 3.7 onward, most sites would receive security releases automatically within hours of publication, shrinking the window attackers had to exploit known flaws. Core developers also released a Background Update Tester plugin so site owners could check whether their install was eligible.

Industry Trends and Insights

• Ghost goes live: Ghost opened to the public in mid-October after its Kickstarter, giving bloggers a minimalist Node.js alternative and keeping pressure on WordPress’s writing experience.
• Hosting consolidates: GoDaddy’s purchase of Media Temple and EIG’s IPO showed how much value large hosting companies saw in serving WordPress users.
• WordPress.com climbs: WordPress.com moved up to seventh place among the most visited sites in the US, by WP Tavern’s report.

Plugin of the Month: Background Update Tester

Released by core developers alongside 3.7, Background Update Tester checked whether a site could safely update itself and explained why not if it could not, for example because it was under version control. It was a small tool that helped automatic updates earn trust in their first weeks.

Host of the Month: Media Temple

Media Temple, known for its developer-friendly hosting, became part of GoDaddy this month while promising to keep its own identity. It would launch its own managed WordPress product within months.

Founder of the Month: Vladimir Prelovac

Vladimir Prelovac, founder of ManageWP, launched ManageWP.org this month as a community-voted feed of WordPress news. Alongside his multi-site management service, it made ManageWP one of the more community-minded companies in the ecosystem.

Looking Ahead to November 2013

Early November will decide which feature plugins merge into WordPress 3.8, with MP6 and a new default theme the favourites. A 3.8 beta should follow, keeping the planned December release in sight. WordCamps in London, Orlando, Raleigh, Denver and São Paulo are on the calendar.