The Genesis of WordPress and Microsoft

09/29/10 • 60 min

At the very beginning of this episode there's a short interview with Toni Schneider, the CEO of Automattic, and Dharmesh Mehta, Director of Product Search. Only an hour before we recorded this interview they were on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt to announce that all the Microsoft Live / MSN Spaces users would be moved over to WordPress.com.
We talked about what this meant for future work between Microsoft and Automattic / WordPress, and whether any of this would impact WordPress.org users.
This interview is followed by another (much longer) interview with Brian Gardner and Nathan Rice of StudioPress and Genesis. In this interview we discuss how Genesis came to be over the last year, what it's benefits are over a normal theme and what the process of going from a set of themes to a framework was like.
We discussed the SEO settings of Genesis, which has some of the more advanced SEO settings ever seen in themes, but also whether these kinds of settings should be in themes at all. I referenced a recent post of mine and we talked about a plugin Nathan developed, the SEO Data Transporter that allows you to transport your SEO meta data from a plugin to a theme, or from one theme to another etc.
Another interesting point was the discussion of how to set up a community around a theme framework like this, and Brian showed us, for instance, dev.studiopress.com. We also talked about the Genesis Simple Sidebars plugin, a very cool way of allowing people to change sidebars for posts.
Then there were two plugin picks:
Nathan picked Simple URLs, a very cool new method of doing redirects using a custom post.
Joost picked Press This reloaded, a "re done" version of the Press This bookmarklet that allows setting of SEO titles etc. from within the Press This screen too.
It's really an information packed show, so go ahead and listen right now!
PS sorry for my sore voice and coughing, I've got a quite heavy cold pestering me.
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Previous Episode

Listen to Liz Strauss: “Treat Your Blog Like a Business!”

Liz Strauss gave a masterclass tonight; at least, that's how it felt to both Frederick and myself. We talked about communicating with your audience, and Liz shared some experiences about open comment nights. We discussed positioning yourself and your blog, and how important personal branding can be.
She told us about feedback loops, and how to use them to listen to your users / clients / audience. She tought us to build our network before we need it, and why and how you should be treating your blog like a business, even if it's just a hobby. Aren't you curious yet? Start listening then. You'll be a wiser man or woman for it at the end of this.
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/press-this-wordpress-community-podcast/donations
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Next Episode

Chief Executive Insight with Toni Schneider

Toni Schneider is the CEO of Automattic, the core team behind the WordPress project. Since leaving Switzerland for Silicon Valley, he has been working with and successfully exiting startups. Before leaving Yahoo! to join Automattic, Tony was a WordPress user and part of the community. On today's show we touch on:
The huge Windows Live Spaces migration to WordPress.com
Who is Toni and why he chose to work with Automattic
Progress Automattic is making in terms of growth
Steps WordPress is taking as a CMS
The mantra and thought process behind Automattic's products
Where Automattic is going next and the ways to engage with the community
Plugin Picks of the Week:
Shrimp Test – Easy A/B testing to maximize site performance.
Ultimate Taxonomy Manager – A solid tool for simplifying custom taxonomy management for non-developers.
Yet Another Related Posts – Increase page views / time on site, by suggesting relevant posts to readers.
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/press-this-wordpress-community-podcast/donations
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy