Update: I’ve finally gotten around to updating this Thesis Skin for Thesis 1.8! Unfortunately I can’t keep up with all the updates to Dynamic Content Gallery so please read the installation instructions provided by the plugin developer.

When I declared that Premium Themes Are Dead, I received a LOT of feedback arguing that there will always be a market for premium themes since they give you a head start on the design process.

My response was that skins for framework themes such as Thesis provide that same “leg up” on the design and layout, without sacrificing any of the flexibility.

And, while I firmly believe that, there is one slight problem… there just aren’t many skins available yet.

So in an effort to help my prediction about premium themes come true, I decided to create a free Thesis Skin that heavily mimics one of my favorite premium theme designs.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce…

The Network News Thesis Skin!

Feel free to click around the demo site to check things out.

As those of you familiar with premium WordPress themes world will no doubt notice, the skin is based heavily on the Gazette theme by WooThemes, but offers even more flexibility.

Note: Let’s go ahead and get one thing out of the way right off the bat. I did not rip WooThemes off. Their themes are released under the GPL license and this is exactly the kind of thing the GPL is designed for. Besides they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

If you’re already comfortable using Thesis as well as the custom.css & custom_functions.php files using the skin will be a breeze for you.

If you’re not quite to that level yet, I’ve documented the process below in as much detail as possible. Please don’t let the length of the instructions intimidate you, I just wanted to make it clear enough that even someone new to Thesis can use the skin.

Requirements:

So what do you need for this skin to work?

Well obviously, you need to have the Thesis theme (and yes, that’s an affiliate link *waves to FTC*).

Also, this skin is also built for Thesis version 1.8.

I left comments within the custom.css file for those of you using older versions of Thesis, but you really should upgrade to the newest version.

You’ll also need to install the Dynamic Content Gallery plugin which will create the featured content slider on the home page for us.

Installation (Updated for 1.8!):

In order to download the files for the skin you’ll need to enter your name and email in the form to the left.

Don’t worry, we won’t be spamming you or anything like that. We simply want to be able to alert you when we update the skin or release a new one you might be interested in using.

Anyway, once you’ve confirmed your information you’ll receive an email with a link to download a zip file.

Unzip the files into a folder that will be easy to find later.

Upload the custom.css, custom_function.php and layout.css files to the Custom folder, over-writing your current versions. While I didn’t make any edits to the layout.css file, it would be best to upload the version I’ve provided just to make sure we’re all starting from the same place.

Tip: Always save copies of your current files before uploading the new versions. They’ll act as a safety net of sorts in case anything should go wrong or you make a mistake.

Next navigate to the Manage Options page in the Thesis menu.

On the Thesis Options Manager page (as seen in the screen shot above), click the green Download All Options button to save your current settings as a backup. That way you can always go back to the design you have now if you decide not to use the skin for some reason.

After creating your backups, click the browse button on the All Options field of the Upload Options section. Select the network-news-thesis-options.dat file and click Upload.

Warning! Importing these options will overwrite any of your current options. However, it also saves me from having to explain every single option I’ve clicked as I did with previous skins.

Logo

To display your logo instead of the big red block that’s there by default, you only need to make one simple edit to your custom.css file. Replace http://thesisdev.wpblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/logo-placeholder.jpg with the file path to your logo and save!

The default logo size is 384 x 100. The skin can easily accommodate a wider logo, however that will limit your use of the banner widget in the header .

If your logo is taller than 100 pixels, you’ll need to edit the height setting in the custom.css file one line above where you entered the image URL. You may also need to adjust the margin-top: value (currently set at -82px) for the sidebar_header in your custom.css file in order to keep it centered vertically.

Banner

The Network News was designed to incorporate a 468 x 60 banner advertisement into the header. To make use of the banner, add a text widget to the sidebar named Banner. Drop your banner code into the widget, click save, and you’re all set.

If you don’t want to use a banner, not a problem! Just don’t insert a widget into the Banner sidebar and the sidebar won’t be displayed.

Featured Content Slider – Warning: Outdated!

Last but certainly not least, we need to get the featured content slider working. Michael Gray has an amazing tutorial on how to create the slider and it’s actually his code that I’ve incorporated into the skin.

Note: The code on Michael’s site is slightly out of date. We’ve gone ahead and made this change to the code so be sure not to over-write it.

Setting the plugin up can be a bit tricky so I’ll try to walk you through a few of the items that are specific to this Thesis skin.

Once you’ve installed and activated the Dynamic Content Gallery (DCG) plugin (version 3.1), you’ll need to go to the DCG settings page and skip down to step 3 to specify what content you want to feature.

DCG gives you 5 “slots” to feature in the slider and allows you to mix and match how you want those slots distributed. Rather than mixing and matching across several categories, I just created a Featured category, and inserted the category id (in my case 5) into each of the 5 category id spots.

Since I want to display the last 5 posts from that featured category, I simply numbered 1 through 5 in each of the post select boxes.

Steps 4 & 5 let DCG know where to find the images you want to use in the slider. I’ve input /wp-content/uploads/ in both fields since that’s where my images are stored.

Tip: WordPress defaults to managing your uploads into month and year based folders. Unless you want to be continually updating this setting in DCG, I recommend unchecking that box and forcing WordPress to store your images in one large folder.

Step 7 is where you’ll need to set the desired width, height, and colors for your slider. Since I want the slider to take up the full width of my content section, I set the width to 595. The height is up to you but I used 270. The rest of the settings are fairly self explanatory and I’ve included a screen shot of my settings for easy reference below.

click for larger image

Tip: Make sure my post images are cropped to the 595 x 270 dimensions so the images aren’t stretched or distorted in any way.

Once you’ve entered the desired settings, click the update options button to lock them in.

Before the slider will work you’ll need to a) make sure to save a few posts into your featured category and b) create two custom fields on each post you  want to display in the slider.

The fields are as follows:

• Key = dfcg-image with a Value = Image filename including extension eg. myImage.jpg
• Key = dfcg-desc with a Value = Description text eg. Here’s our latest news!

After you enter each of the custom fields once, WordPress will automatically remember them for future use. When you want to put a new post into the featured slider, just make sure you add those two fields.

Also, make sure you only include the file name of the image in the dfcg-image field. The plugin is already set to look for the images in your uploads folder so you only need the myImage.jpg portion of the file name.

Customize to Taste!

I’ve said countless times that the best thing about the Thesis theme is the incredible flexibility it offers.

I’ve tried to capitalize on that as much as possible with this skin offering all sorts of widgetized areas that should make it easy for you to mix and match the different content you want to feature on your site.

I really enjoyed the process and plan on creating a few more skins so if you have any questions or suggestions please leave them in the comment section below!

With this being a a free skin I won’t be able to offer support for every question or problem you might encounter. However, leaving the attribution link in the footer definitely won’t hurt your chances

BUY THESIS | DEMO

After posting my recap of the Thesis GPL drama, I got a lot of questions about how I incorporated the various tweets I cited.

If you didn’t see the post, I’ll include an example below just to bring you up to speed.

In the past when I wanted to cite a Twitter message, I’d have to copy the text (boring) or take a screen shot. If I wanted to cite an entire conversation on Twitter, it was nearly impossible. Trying to make each screen shot the same size & shape was incredibly time consuming and I almost never got it right anyway.

So, when Leland from ThemeLab tweeted about a new plugin to handle tweets, I was pretty eager to try it out.

And as you can see, I wasn’t disappointed.

The plugin, Twitter BlackBird Pie by themergency, uses a short code and automatically pulls in the desired tweet and displays it against the background used by the Twitter member you’re quoting.

Installation

Like most plugins these days, installation is only a matter of a few clicks.

Use

Using the plugin is just a little bit more involved. You have to insert a short code of [blackbirdpie id=”N”\ and in place of N insert the ID of the Tweet you’re wanting to quote.

This is where the plugin really stands out from Twitter’s official version of Blackbird Pie. To include just a single tweet, you’d need to copy and past all this code!

Problems

The plugin is still in it’s infancy so I can’t be too hard on it. However, there are a couple of issues I’d love to see fixed sometime soon. The most prominent issue is a glitch when trying to use the full URL of a tweet. Although the documentation claims it should work, I never could get the plugin to pull in a tweet using the full URL.

The other issue I’d like to see addressed is the fact that tweets have a built in shelf life. Twitter’s archives only go back so far and eventually the tweets I’m citing in this post will disappear. It should be pointed out this is really a limitation of Twitter’s Blackbird Pie functionality itself, not specific to themergency’s plugin. And, while I’m not quite sure what a possible fix for this issue could be, I suspect support for some sort of Twitter archiving system (TweetBackup perhaps?) would be a step in the right direction.

Verdict

Despite those two minor issues, I am in love with this plugin. It saves me an untold amount of time, allows users to click links within the tweets I’m quoting, and helps break up the content of my posts. By simply dropping in a quick short code, I can quickly quote a tweet and give my posts added info and a helping of eye candy. What’s not to like?

You’ll never guess, but the GPL has caused yet another controversy to erupt within the WordPress community. You’re surprised right? Yeah me neither.

So for those of you who haven’t been paying attention (read as: had something better to do) I’m going to try and summarize the events over the last few days as concisely as possible. I’m also going to strive to keep my opinion out of it as much as possible since there will be plenty of time for me to rant on that later.

So let’s get started…

History

It has long been Matt Mullenweg’s contention that all plugins and themes developed to work with WordPress should inherit the General Public License (GPL) which WordPress is licensed under. They are, in his estimation, derivative works, and as such should be released under the GPL or a GPL-compatible license.

Naturally, there are those who disagree. Chris Pearson, the creator of the Thesis theme, is one of those people. As a result, he licensed his theme under a different and non-GPL compatible license.

Note: The issue of debate is not for or against the GPL as a license. The issue is whether the GPL requires themes to inherit the same license, or not. While it’s much easier to classify the debate as pro or anti-GPL, that’s an oversimplification and skews the issue. Few if any people are arguing against the GPL as a whole.

The Spark

The initial spark for this latest explosion was Automattic CEO, Toni Schneider, kicking WordPress consultant Bill Erickson out of the CodePoet directory for supporting Thesis.

Bill then posted the expulsion on Flickr. Mullenweg left a comment on the image accused Pearson of having “verbally abused a female community member at a conference yesterday” (even though that female member, Jane Wells denies being abused), accused Pearson’s company, DIYthemes, of “break[ing] the law” and recommended that Pearson leave the WordPress community.

Mullenweg then took the fight to twitter saying:

Those tweets, along with the accusations left on Flickr were like a spark hitting a gasoline soaked pile of rags…

The Explosion

Matt quickly followed up his barbs with his first (of many) offers to buy a Thesis user any other premium theme as long as it was licensed under the GPL.

As frequent readers of this blog know, I’m never one to shy away from sharing my opinion. However, I didn’t expect my tweet to illicit Mullenweg to state a lawsuit against DIYthemes was allegedly being planned.

As anyone who knows Pearson will tell you, it was only a matter of time before he responded. That led to this exchange between he and Mullenweg.

The Confrontation

After several more shots were volleyed back and forth, both Chris and Matt agreed to be interviewed on Mixergy. Andrew Warner did a great job of moderating what was obviously a very passionate discussion.

Note: I’ll embed the video as soon as I can get it to work.

It’s interested to note that it seems this interview has been many people’s starting point when trying to figure out what this whole argument has been about. If viewed in isolation I don’t think Chris comes off all that well. He’s obviously worked up, while Matt is for the most part calm and collected. However, when viewed in light of the interactions that led up to the interview, it becomes clear both sides are heavily and emotionally invested in the debate.

A Proxy War

When two personalities as large as Pearson & Mullenweg clash so publicly, there’s never a shortage of people eager to chime in. Almost immediately the #thesiswp Twitter hash tag stream became over-run with people voicing their opinions on the issue.

Countless posts have been written on the topic in support of both sides of the issue, an incredible volume of tweets have gone back and forth, with Mullenweg and Pearson encouraging their supporters through liberal use of retweets.

In fact, Mullenweg has gone so retweet-crazy it prompted Lisa Barone to tweet the following:

Copied Code?

The anti-Thesis horde was invigorated when developer Drew Blas ran a comparison of Thesis and WordPress’ code and found several snippets of WordPress’ code that were copied by Thesis.

Whether those snippets constitute plagiarism or simply fair use became the hot topic and the argument flared up with renewed vigor while the issue of GPL-inheritance seemed to take a back seat.

Pearson was quick to track down the code to former employee Rick Beckman who admitted to using copied code in this tweet:

While Pearson has vowed to remove the code before releasing Thesis 1.8 from beta, there are those suggesting that the codes’ inclusion poisons all of Thesis as inheriting the GPL until the entire theme is re-written. Beckman, for his part doesn’t exactly appear shaken up by his role in the dispute.

Editorial Note: I know I said I wouldn’t do many of these, but this seems like a scary situation for any software developers out there. Can one rogue employee effectively nullify your license by slipping in chunks of GPL code? Could a hacker break in and distribute a copy of your software including GPL code thus forcing an entire re-write or GPL adoption? Would Pearson have recourse to sue Beckman? It seems I’m full of questions but few answers.

The Fallout?

As is so often the case with online flame wars, very little has actually been accomplished. Matt Mullenweg has re-issued his threat to sue DIYthemes several different times, although as of yet, nothing has been filed. He’s also continued to be very vocal about his offer to give any Thesis prospect or user a GPL premium theme of their choice at no cost. I’ve not been able to confirm whether any of those themes have actually been purchased, or what the users are required to do in exchange for the theme.

Chris Pearson has vowed to remove the copied snippets of WordPress code from Thesis before releasing version 1.8. While the anti-Thesis mob seems to be having some success inspiring uncertainty amongst Thesis users, even if a lawsuit were filed, it would have little to no impact on Thesis users. The Thesis theme remains, in my opinion, the most flexible WordPress theme on the market and until a better option emerges, I plan on continuing to use it as my primary theme on all my WordPress projects.

One interesting development of note is that Headway has made the decision to dual split license their theme to adhere to the Software Freedom Law Center’s interpretation of the GPL requirements. While Headway’s creators had been vocal GPL-inheritance opponents in the past, the attacks Thesis is sustaining as well as the possibility of having Mullenweg purchase and then give away copies of your theme has to be a powerful incentive from a business perspective.

Note: Sorry for any confusion. The appropriate term is split licensed, not dual licensed as previously stated. Mark and Andreas explain the difference in the comments below.

What Next?

Personally I expect the issue to slowly burn out over the weekend. Even given the strong rhetoric from both sides I would be surprised to see a lawsuit actually happen. I would also be shocked to see Thesis adopt the GPL or even dual license it’s theme. But no matter what happens from here on out, I’ll try to keep things summarized here so be sure to check back often.

Other Relevant Reading:

• WordPress GPL Feud (Again)
• Thesis + GPL + WordPress = Pain
• WordPress, Thesis, GPL, and premium themes
• WordPress Thesis Conflict Highlights GPL Nuances
• Chris Pearson vs Matt Mullenweg (big thanks for the amazing Twitter Blackbird Pie WordPress plugin)
• Matt Mullenweg Fouls His Nest & Undermines His Credibility (a great read)
• The GPL is Marxist

image source: theparasiteguru

With apologies to Dr. Seuss and HUGE thanks to our resident cartoonist, Jim Cook aka my “Pops”, allow me to present Matt Mullenweg: King of GPL!

…until Matt M, the king of them all,
Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small.
“I’m ruler”, said Matt M, “of all WordPress you see.
But I don’t rule enough. That’s the trouble with me.
With Automattic for a throne, I rule WP swell.
But I cannot rule places beyond GPL.
This throne that I sit on is too, too low down.
It ought to be higher!” he said with a frown.
“If I could sit high, how much greater I’d be!
What a king! I’d be ruler of all that I see!”

Please feel free to use this image for non-commercial purposes as long as you include a link of attribution (such as the one below).

Matt Mullenweg: King of GPL – Image Source: WPblogger.com

<p><a href="http://wpblogger.com/matt-mullenweg-gpl-king.php">Matt Mullenweg: King of GPL</a> - Image Source: WPblogger.com</p>

Earlier this month I was solicited to review a new premium plugin called Ninja Affiliate which has been released by the folks over at MaxBlogPress.

The plugin is $97 and allows you to automatically turn certain words into trackable affiliate links. For example, every time I typed the phrase “Thesis theme” (*Watch out Martha! That there’s one of those tricky affiliate links!*) I could have the plugin turn that into an affiliate link for me. Not only that, but it would be a cloaked link (sent through a redirect) and I would be able to track the number of clicks on that link.

Pretty cool right?

In fact, this method alone helped Jean-Baptiste over at Cats Who Blog increase his affiliate earnings by 30%!

Why Not Buy It?

So why am I telling you not to waste your money on this plugin? Because you can get the same functionality for free.

When you combine the two free plugins SEO Smart Links and GoCodes, you can automatically create the same type of cloaked affiliate links that Ninja Affiliate offers. In fact, that’s the very combination I used to create the affiliate link to Thesis earlier in this post.

Just like Ninja Affiliate, SEO Smart Links allows you to determine how many automatic links will be created per page. And just like Ninja Affiliate, GoCodes will let you track how many times that link is clicked.

Now, Ninja Affiliate does allow you to customize the look of your affiliate links with a little drop down menu, but personally, I’ve seen any reason to do this. Plus, it could fairly easily be achieved via some CSS.

And last but not least, Ninja Affiliate offers support. If that’s worth the $97 to you, by all means, pull the trigger. But I can tell you I’ve never once had a problem with either of the free plugins I mentioned in this post and they’re both incredibly easy to set up.

So do yourself a favor, download and install SEO Smart Links and GoCodes before plopping down 97 of your hard earned dollars. If you still think you need Ninja Affiliate after that, I’m sure they’ll still be happy to sell it to you.

Image source: 3dom

Search Engine Optimization is one of those illusive things that can really have a huge impact on your sites ability to attain new viewers. A previous post by Ben, The Truth About WordPress SEO, laid out a lot of the pros and cons of WordPress SEO, but the takeaway was this:

Keep writing, keep creating good quality content, but don’t turn a blind eye to SEO and assume it will all happen naturally either.

For those of us that like to focus on writing and not as much on the ins and outs of SEO here is your godsend: Scribe SEO. This little plugin/service sits in WordPress quietly waiting to look over your shoulder and make sure you did a good job combining your content and your necessary SEO. Think of it as a spellchecker for search engine ranking. Let’s jump right in and take a look at the guts of this plugin.

Setup

If you have ever installed a plugin on your WordPress site before, then you’ll be able to install and use Scribe. Once you have an account, watch the installation video and you’ll be up and running in about 5 minutes. One note: you do need a premium WordPress theme like Thesis or Headway, or an SEO plugin like All in One SEO Pack, FV All In One or Platinum SEO Pack.

Use

Now it’s off to the races. To start reaping the rewards, login to your WP Admin page and add a new post. On the right side where your Publish and Categories box are, you should see a box for Scribe Content Optimizer. All you have to do is enter the relevant post information (title, keywords, description) into your theme or SEO plugin of choice, then click “Analyze” and your post gets graded. After it finishes analyzing, you get a nice report. Here is what the report looks like at this point in the review:

And… Holy!!! I didn’t think I was doing that good, but apparently Scribe thinks I’m knocking on the proverbial door of search engine optimization perfection.

This overview gives you quick reference in to what areas you are covering well and what needs some work. Getting more detail is pretty darn easy by clicking on the links across the top.

The Keyword Analysis and SERP tabs are particularly useful as I can quickly see what keywords I need to add into my content and what the search engine results page will look like. This let’s me know that I am not just going to rank well, but that my link is interesting enough to click on.

With Alternate Keyword suggestions and Best Practices right in the results window, going back and updating your content to improve your score is a snap.

After each analysis, the status bar on the right hand side of your post updates with your Content Score and the Primary Keywords. Very handy indeed! It just sits there, unassumingly waiting to be clicked on and do its magic. It really is that simple.

Other Uses?

Now, this is a WordPress specific blog, but, Scribe can actually be used with Joomla, Drupal and you can even log in to your account and upload content directly for review.

Support

On the support side, I am happy to say that I have only had to use support once, and that was for an issue with my web host, but the response was fast and there was even a little Scribe Compatibility Checker that helped us diagnose the issue.

Overall Impression

This obviously isn’t your typical “review” of a plugin. I’ve been using it for a couple of months now, and honestly, I can’t live without it. I’m biased.

I don’t have the time to learn all of the ins and outs of content optimization for search engines. I know what I want to write, and Scribe watches my back to make certain I am going to achieve optimization bliss. I would highly recommend this to anyone that isn’t an SEO expert. Go try it for yourself.

For those wondering, after completion of this article, my Content Score is still at 100% and the Primary Keywords are scribe, seo and plugin. Just what I wanted.

Jason Wietholter is a problem solver, content creator and entrepreneur. Helping people build business through relationships is his focus. You can find him at JasonWietholter.com or on Twitter, @jasonwietholter.

Note: Several links in this review are affiliate links. Buying through our links doesn’t cost you anything extra and allows us to get paid for the quality information and recommendations we provide.

image source: nenyaki

Everyone has a few icons on their site now. Whether it’s for social media, contact info, or other ways to connect with visitors, it’s become a standard. Now the question becomes, “Where do I put them?”

The sidebar seems like a logical place, but it’s already crowded as it is. So how about on the side of the screen, out of everyone’s way? There are some plugins that do this, but most of the ones I’ve seen include either some Javascript, IFrames, or a similar waste of code. We can do it clean with just HTML and CSS.

But enough from me, let’s get onto the code!

(Editor’s note: This tutorial is specifically for the Thesis theme, however it can easily be applied to other themes. Enjoy!)

Step 1: Decide What You’re Going To Display

For this example, we’re going to set 4 separate 48px by 48px icons for Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and email. But you could also have it display a single icon or ‘call to action’ if that’s what you want. So since we’re using icons, I’ve uploaded the 4 icons I want to use (all the same size) into the images folder in the custom directory.

Step 2: Setting The Functions

As usual, I like to set all my functions in a list at the beginning of my custom_functions.php file. This only requires one function, so let’s set it now.

add_action('thesis_hook_after_html','social_sides'); // Adds social icons that follow the side

Step 3: Create The Links

This will include the HTML we’re going to build at the very bottom of the page. Don’t worry, the CSS will put it where we want it. Here is where we are actually putting in the links and icons. Note the images aren’t linked here. They’ll be in the CSS later. Obviously, change the links for your own accounts.

function social_sides() { ?>
 
<div>
		<a class="twitter" title="Follow on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/YOURTWITTERNAME">Twitter</a>
		<a class="facebook" title="Join Us on Facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=XXXXX">Facebook</a>
		<a href="" class="rss" title="Subscribe to the RSS feed">RSS Feed</a>
		<a class="contact" title="Contact via Email" href="mailto:johndoe@email.com">Contact</a></div>
</div>
 
<?php }

Here I’ve set the Twitter, Facebook, RSS feed (using the built-in Thesis feed hook) and email. Nothing crazy. You can add / remove as many as you want. The important thing is the CSS in the next step.

Step 4: Position via CSS

There are a view pieces to the CSS setup that need to be taken into consideration.

1. The width in each section (48px) matches the size of the icons. Doesn’t matter what size you use, they just need to match
2. The position:fixed will keep them in the same location (in this example on the very left of the screen) as the visitor scrolls down
3. The top and left percentages will dictate where they are aligned. Start with those, and play around in Firebug until you find what you like

/* Sidebar Floating icons */
.custom #side_slide {
  background:transparent;
  left:0.25%;
  position:fixed;
  top:40%;
  width:48px;
}
 
.custom #side_slide a {
  display:block;
  height:48px;
  text-indent:-9999px;
  padding:5px 0;
}
 
.custom #side_slide .twitter {background:url('images/sd_twitter.png') no-repeat 0 0;}
.custom #side_slide .facebook { background:url('images/sd_facebook.png') no-repeat 0 0;}
.custom #side_slide .rss { background:url('images/sd_feed.png') no-repeat 0 0;}
.custom #side_slide .contact { background:url('images/sd_contact.png') no-repeat 0 0;}
 
.custom #side_slide .twitter:hover,
.custom #side_slide .facebook:hover,
.custom #side_slide .rss:hover,
.custom #side_slide .youtube:hover,
.custom #side_slide .contact:hover {
  background-position:0 0;
}

Here’s an example of it “in action”

That’s it! You’ll now have your contact and profile icons floating happily on the side of the screen, always available to the visitor without taking up room in the sidebar.

Editor’s Note: This tutorial was a guest post by Andrew Norcross. He might just be the most tattooed person I know, and that’s saying a lot. Oh yeah, he’s also a kickin web developer, WordPress designer, & Thesis guru. If you need any web work done, you’d be lucky to hire him.

image source: Corie Howell

In my recent call for Matt Mullenweg’s resignation I stated Matt’s involvement with both Automattic and the WordPress Foundation constituted a clear conflict of interest.

Not surprisingly, a few of you disagreed.

One comment that seemed to nicely sum up the opposing opinion stated “I would leave the hypotheticals on the shelf for now and speak to the facts.”

That seemed like a fair request so for those of you still skeptical of Automattic employees’ conflicts of interest in regards to the WordPress.org project, may I present to you, Jane Wells.

Jane Wells

As you probably know, Jane is an Automattic employee (her official title on the company website is Master of Suggestion) and works extensively on the UI of WordPress.org.

What may surprise you, is that Jane apparently doesn’t actually work on Automattic projects, at least according to Jeffro’s coverage of her speech at WordCamp Raleigh.

Now, I have to admit I wasn’t at this event and it’s possible Jeffro’s tweets misrepresented what Jane actually said. However, I didn’t see Jane or anyone else take issue with his reporting so I think it’s safe to say they’re at least close to accurate.

If that’s the case, it seems Jane only works on WordPress.org projects, and is actually proud of this fact, using it to illustrate how much of a “wall” there is between WordPress.org and Automattic.

Unfortunately for Jane, that same fact provides a perfect example of the conflict of interest I was talking about when calling for Matt’s resignation.

Employee’s are Accountable to their Company

Jane is an Automattic employee, meaning she was hired to help Automattic make money. While I’m certain that’s not in her official job description, that’s what employees of for-profit companies are hired for.

But apparently, Jane doesn’t actually do ANYTHING for Automattic. She “works purely on the .org side of things” and there’s “more of a wall” between .org and Automattic than people realize.

Now, Automattic may well be a generous company, but they didn’t hire Jane as a charitable act.

If they wanted Jane to work on WordPress.org and didn’t expect any return on her salary, they could simply donate her salary to the WordPress Foundation and write it off as a charitable deduction on their taxes, rather than having to pay social security and all the wonderful fees employers are saddled with.

So it’s safe to say Automattic expects to benefit financially from having Jane work on the WordPress.org side of things. And don’t get me wrong, they absolutely should!

Unfortunately, that makes Jane accountable to Automattic for her work on WordPress.org, NOT the WordPress community.

Financial Incentive = Conflict of Interest

If the judge presiding over a lawsuit happened to own stock in the company being sued, he or she would be expected to recuse themselves because of an inherent conflict of interest. The judge has a financial incentive to influence the trial in favor of the company.

If the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee were discovered to be on Boeing’s payroll, it would be a national scandal. While a Senator’s loyalty is supposed to be to the country and their constituents, the Chairman would simultaneously have financial incentive to award contracts to Boeing, even if it weren’t in the best interests of the nation.

In much the same way, Jane has a clear financial and professional incentive to influence the decisions made about WordPress.org to benefit Automattic. While her intentions may not be sinister, the conflict of interest is just as clear as it is for the judge and Senator.

If Jane only works on WordPress.org projects, she should be a WordPress Foundation employee, not an Automattic employee. Along the same lines, if Matt wants to run the WordPress Foundation that’s perfectly fine. But he shouldn’t do it while still heavily invested in the financial success of Automattic.

image source: robertfrancis & scootie

Seven years ago today, WordPress was turned loose on the world.

The platform has come quite a way in that time, boasting an impressive 9.4 million downloads of WordPress 2.9.

With WordPress 3.0 looming which will include multi-site support, it’s clear the “blogging” platform has become much much more. Built on the back of countless hours of volunteer work, WordPress is now a full CMS solution that can power even the most complicated sites.

While I’ve been a vocal critic of Matt Mullenweg and Automattic’s leadership of the WordPress project, the fact remains that without their efforts, the platform wouldn’t be what it is today. Whatever your thoughts are on the politics surrounding WordPress, it would be foolish to deny the incredible progress that has been made under their guidance in just seven years.

And, since I’ve personally benefited tremendously from all the tireless work that has gone into the project, I’d like to mark the date by congratulating and thanking everyone that has contributed in any form to the WordPress platform.

WordPress truly has revolutionized the way content is published online and I’m excited to see what the next seven years bring.

Neither WordPress nor Automattic would be where they are today without the tireless efforts of Matt Mullenweg. I have personally benefited from his work and for that I’m truly thankful.

That said, it’s time for Matt to resign from either the WordPress Foundation or Automattic.

The reason is fairly simple, there’s a glaring conflict of interest.

Automattic

Automattic is the for profit company Matt co-founded which provides several WordPress related services such as premium WordPress hosting, Akismet and VaultPress, a security and backup service for WordPress blogs.

The company has raised over $30 million from investors and, as co-founder, Matt is ultimately responsible to make sure Automattic earns a profit for those investors.

Simply put, Automattic, like every other business, has to make money and it’s Matts job to make that happen.

WordPress Foundation

The WordPress Foundation, on the other hand, is a non-profit organization intended to “further the mission of the WordPress” and “be responsible for protecting the WordPress … related trademarks.”

As Matt has admitted on several occasions it is not intended to fix the “Matt runs everything” issue.

However, the fact that even Matt acknowledges there is such an issue should invoke memories of the “Danger, Will Robinson!” robot.

While it might seem like a minor thing, controlling the trademark of several WordPress related terms makes the foundation a very powerful entity.

Imagine if a company offering WordPress related services were prevented from using the phrase WordPress!

The Conflict

Automattic has enjoyed a long run as a monopoly in several service areas, but challengers are springing up all over as the number of WordPress users continues to grow.

Companies like Page.ly, for example, are now competing with WordPress.com in the premium WordPress hosting market.

The BackupBuddy plugin by PluginBuddy offers many of the same features Automattic’s newest service, VaultPress offers.

Matt owes it to Automattic’s investors to ensure new competitors like Page.ly don’t cut into their profit margins. On the other hand, Page.ly is perfectly GPL compliant and a valuable resource to the community the WordPress Foundation is supposed to serve.

Should Matt protect his investors and prevent Page.ly from using the WordPress trademark or should the WordPress Foundation help promote the valuable service Page.ly provides to the community?

I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t want to have to make that decision.

Jane Wells, an Automattic employee caused an uproar earlier this week by declaring all “non-GPL-compliant people” ineligible to sponsor, organize, or speak at WordCamp events.

Since WordCamp is one of the trademarks owned by the WordPress Foundation, they can pretty much set any rule they want about who can and can’t participate.

Keeping only Automattic’s goals in mind, it would be foolish to allow a competitor to gain publicity by organizing, speaking at, or sponsoring a WordCamp event.

By contrast, it would an enormous disservice to the community if Matt used the WordPress Foundation’s trademarks to prevent Automattic competitors from participating.

Unfortunately for Matt, there are countless more perfectly plausible situations where Automattic and the WordPress Foundation’s interests would conflict.

Solution: Remove the Conflict

In government there are rules and regulations to prevent conflicts of interest like this from arising. When people write the rules for the industries and companies they’re financially invested in, we tend to wind up paying $30,000 for a toilet seat.

I should note that Matt seems to have tip-toed across this ethical tight-rope successfully – so far. But, as the old saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely and no one is perfect.

Eventually Matt will find himself faced with a decision that will hurt either the community or his company’s bottom line. I have no idea which side he’ll come down on but I do know one thing…

He shouldn’t be put in that position in the first place.

It’s time for Matt to do the right thing and remove himself from this obvious and dangerous conflict of interest.