WordPress News Roundup September 2010: Windows Live Spaces Moves to WordPress.com and the Trademark Goes to the Foundation

September 2010 reshaped WordPress’s place in the wider web. On September 27 Microsoft announced it would close Windows Live Spaces and offer its bloggers a move to WordPress.com, a deal that coverage estimated could bring millions of new users. Earlier in the month, on September 9, Automattic donated the WordPress trademark to the non-profit WordPress Foundation.

The month also saw StudioPress merge into the new Copyblogger Media, Six Apart, maker of Movable Type and TypePad, agree to join video ad network VideoEgg, and the core team set a short, cleanup-focused plan for WordPress 3.1.

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Investments

• StudioPress joins Copyblogger Media: On September 1 StudioPress announced it was merging into Copyblogger Media LLC, a new company led by Copyblogger founder Brian Clark. StudioPress stressed that it was a merger, not a sale.
• Six Apart and VideoEgg: On September 22 Six Apart announced it would combine with VideoEgg to form SAY Media. Terms were not disclosed, and Six Apart had already announced the closure of its Vox service. Matt Mullenweg commented on the deal on his blog.
• Trademark donation: Automattic’s transfer of the WordPress trademark to the WordPress Foundation was a donation rather than a sale, but it was the month’s most consequential change of ownership in the WordPress world.

WordPress Core Updates

WordPress 3.0.1 remained current. The month’s core news was about planning.

• Scope and schedule for 3.1: A September 3 post on the core development blog laid out 3.1 as “low on new features, heavy on UI and code cleanup.” Planned work included advanced taxonomy queries, internal linking in the editor, Ajax-powered admin list screens, an admin bar, a separate network admin, small custom post type fixes and a theme browser borrowed from WordPress.com. Media and roles overhauls were deferred.
• Target dates: The plan called for a feature freeze on October 15, beta on November 15 and release on December 15. The cycle would in fact run into 2011.
• Taxonomy queries: Developer chats later in the month worked through the scope and syntax of the new multi-taxonomy query feature.

Other WordPress News

• Trademark to the Foundation: WordPress.org announced on September 9 that the Foundation would now protect the WordPress name and logo. Matt Mullenweg explained that WordPress.com and WordPress.org were grandfathered in, while new domains would get no special rights.
• Windows Live Spaces: Microsoft announced at TechCrunch Disrupt that Spaces would close and that users could migrate their posts, comments and media to WordPress.com using an importer built by Automattic, with about six months to move. WordPress would also become the default blogging option for Windows Live. Matt Mullenweg wrote about the partnership.
• WordPress for iOS 2.6: Released on September 30, the iPhone and iPad app added video recording, uploading and playback.
• OpenCamp sessions: Recordings from OpenCamp Dallas covered WordPress images, undiscovered APIs, plugins and hidden features.
• Support forum all-stars: James Huff published a list of 2010’s top WordPress.org support forum volunteers.
• ThemeForest debate: A WPCandy post prompted discussion of ThemeForest’s reputation and quality control among WordPress developers.

Industry Trends and Insights

September made clear that the blogging platform wars were ending. Microsoft chose to hand its bloggers to WordPress.com rather than keep running its own service, and Six Apart, once WordPress’s main rival, became part of an advertising company. Hosted competitors remained, but WordPress was now the default choice for serious blogging.

• Consolidation in themes: The Copyblogger Media merger brought a leading theme business together with content and SEO products, an early example of WordPress companies combining into larger groups.
• Governance: Moving the trademark to a non-profit separated the brand from any one company, a structure that would be debated again years later.
• Design work under pressure: One web designer told WP Tavern that inexpensive commercial themes were eroding his custom design business.

Theme of the Month: Coraline

Automattic’s Coraline was a flexible, widget-friendly theme that WordPress.com chose in August to replace older designs such as Cutline. With millions of potential Windows Live Spaces users heading to WordPress.com in September, themes like Coraline were the first impression many of them would get.

Plugin of the Month: Akismet

Akismet, Automattic’s spam filter, shipped with every copy of WordPress and protected WordPress.com. A sudden influx of new blogs from Windows Live Spaces was exactly the kind of growth that made a shared, learning spam service so valuable.

Host of the Month: WordPress.com

WordPress.com became the official new home for Windows Live Spaces bloggers in September, with Automattic building the importer that moved posts, comments and media. With estimates of the affected user base running into the millions, it was a major vote of confidence in Automattic’s infrastructure.

Founder of the Month: Brian Clark

Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger, led the new Copyblogger Media formed in September by merging StudioPress with his content marketing businesses. The combination tied one of the most popular theme frameworks to a large audience of bloggers and marketers.

Looking Ahead to October 2010

October was set to bring WordPress 3.1’s planned feature freeze on October 15 and WordCamp Detroit, Michigan’s first WordCamp. Windows Live Spaces users were also expected to begin migrating to WordPress.com.