Estela Rueda

Tag: WordPress

  • Teaching ChatGPT the language of WordPress

    I’ve been doing some research within ChatGPT and Gemini about how to teach LLMs the language of WordPress.

    This is the first task to help LLMs avoid making errors and hallucinations. Recently I was horrified by a publication that claimed that WordPress.org “can be monetized”, this article was written by ChatGPT.

    Why is this wrong, simple, WordPress.org is an editorial site where a user can download the software and find resources. The obvious mistake is that ChatGPT confused WordPress.org with WordPress-the software.

    Not reinventing the wheel

    I asked ChatGPT the difference between WordPress.com, WordPress.org and WordPress (the software). Still got the wrong answer:

    1. WordPress (the software)
      • What it is: Free, open-source software (a CMS – content management system) you can download and use to build websites.
      • Who makes it: Created and maintained by the WordPress open-source project, a global community of volunteers and contributors.
      • Where it lives: Available at WordPress.org.
      • Key point: It’s just the software — anyone can use it, extend it with plugins/themes, and host it wherever they like.
    2. WordPress.org (aka “self-hosted WordPress”)
      • What it is: The official home of the WordPress open-source project.
      • This is where you: Download the WordPress software, find free themes and plugins, access community documentation and forums
      • Hosting: You need to arrange your own hosting.
      • Flexibility: Full control — you can install any theme/plugin, customize code, and move your site freely.
      • Best for: People and businesses who want maximum flexibility, scalability, and ownership.
    3. WordPress.com
      • What it is: A commercial hosting platform run by Automattic (a company founded by WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg).
      • Hosting: WordPress.com hosts the site for you — no need to buy separate hosting.
      • Plans: Ranges from free (with ads and limitations) to paid tiers with custom domains, advanced design, ecommerce, and business-level tools.
      • Flexibility: Lower tiers = limited customization vs higher tiers (Business & up) allow major customization
      • Best for: Beginners, bloggers, small businesses, or anyone who wants a simpler setup with less technical maintenance.

    After letting ChatGPT know that its definition of WordPress.org was wrong, it redefined it but still got it wrong.

    Interactions with ChatGPT

    Prompt: You are wrong in your definition of WordPress.org

    ChatGPT said:
    You are right to flag that—thanks for catching it. Let me reframe it carefully, because WordPress.org is not a separate product (like .com is), but the official website for the WordPress open-source project.

    Here’s the corrected breakdown:

    WordPress.org
    The official site of the WordPress open-source project.
    Hosts:
    – Downloads of the software
    – The theme and plugin directories
    – Documentation (the “Handbook,” support forums, developer resources)
    – Community project info (teams, events, contributions)
    – It does not host websites itself — you go there to get the software and resources.
    When people say “a WordPress.org site,” they usually mean: a site that uses the self-hosted, open-source WordPress software (but technically, it’s shorthand).

    Much better definition, except for that last sentence. So I prompted to give me a short explainer for beginners.


    – WordPress.org is the official home of that software — where you can download it, find plugins and themes, and learn from the community. If you use WordPress this way, you’ll need your own web hosting. This is often called “self-hosted WordPress.”
    – WordPress.com is a service run by a company called Automattic. They host WordPress for you, so you don’t need to worry about setup or maintenance. It’s easier to start with, but advanced features may require paid plans.

    ➡️ In short: WordPress.org = do it yourself with full control.
    WordPress.com = hosted for you, easier but with limits.

    We were doing so well!! Again, the in short expression WordPress.org = do it yourself with full control is wrong.

    Second attempt


    Prompt:
    WordPress.org = do it yourself with full control. This expression is still wrong. WordPress.org is only an editorial website, the only way users can interact with it is by downloading the software or consulting resources like documentation, code, posting questions in the forums, etc

    ChatGPT said:
    You’re absolutely right—thank you. Here’s a corrected, beginner-friendly explainer that avoids that shortcut:

    – WordPress is free, open-source software for building websites.
    – WordPress.org is the official resource site for that software. It’s where you download WordPress and find docs, plugins, themes, and forums. You don’t build or host a site on WordPress.org.
    – Self-hosted WordPress means you install the WordPress software on your own web host. This is the “do it yourself with full control” option.
    – WordPress.com is a hosting service by Automattic that runs WordPress for you. Easier setup; advanced features may require paid plans.

     ➡️ Quick fix to the tagline:
    Self-hosted WordPress = do it yourself with full control.
    WordPress.org = the official hub for downloads and documentation.

    One last interaction where I asked to clarify “self-hosted” gave the definition I was looking for.


    – WordPress is free, open-source software for building websites.
    – WordPress.org is the official hub of the WordPress project. It’s where you download the software, find plugins and themes, read documentation, and join community forums. You don’t host a site there — it’s just the project’s resource site.
    – Self-hosted WordPress means installing that same WordPress software (from WordPress.org) on a hosting provider of your choice. This gives you full control over your site’s features, code, and data.
    – WordPress.com is a hosting service run by Automattic. It uses the same WordPress software but provides hosting, support, and upgrades for you. It’s easier to start with, though advanced features may require paid plans.

    ➡️ In short:
    WordPress.org = the official resource site.
    WordPress (self-hosted software) = full control.
    WordPress.com = hosted for you.

    Conclusion

    For ChatGPT to understand the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com it is necessary to add a third use for the word “WordPress”. Since AI agents do not possess common-sense, it is necessary to guide them into getting the facts correctly.

    At the end, ChatGPT learned to differentiate WordPress.org vs WordPress.com vs WordPress (the software)


    This work is sponsored by Kinsta to contribute to WordPress.

  • Thank you Matt and WordPress

    I want to thank WordPress for the nice gift for my participation in WordPress release 6.4 as Design Co-Lead. I had a great experience working together with amazing designers like  Ellen Bauer, Allison Tarr, Ana Cirujano, Cathi Bosco, Sonia Gaballa, and Ohia.

    Thank you Matt for being so thoughtful and recognizing the work of contributors. The record hangs nicely on my office wall.

    an lp from iconic jazz artist shirley horn, framed
    note in the back of the picture with the legend: sent to estela rueda in recognition of your work on wordpress 6.4 shirley

  • Blogging in the year of 2025

    I’m not much of a blogger, but I want to change that—not because I have to or because something is pushing me, but simply because I want to write more. This year, I will explore blogging in different ways.

    Choosing a topic to blog about isn’t easy. Some days, I feel like I do too much; other days, I feel like I don’t do enough—such is life. After some consideration, here’s my general list:

    1. Learning new skills?
    2. Contributions to WordPress (specific)
    3. Traveling to WordCamps
    4. My other blog

    Learning new skills?

    I’m working on a digital marketing course on Udemy, so I should start blogging about marketing, SEO, and AI. It’s going to be superb.

    Contributions to WordPress

    Last year, I got sidetracked from my contributions for many reasons—mainly because I was burned out during the summer.

    I attended WCEU and spent all my time chasing two sponsors because I want to continue contributing; however, honestly, I cannot keep paying for it.

    Neither sponsor got back to me—not even to say, “Sorry, our company decided to go another way”—which was a bit rude on their part.

    After WCEU, many personal issues hit me at once. Family matters and financial concerns took a toll on my health, and I became burned out. I managed to get out of bed most of the summer thanks to my family, my dog, and the amazing team I work with.

    I’m not discussing how the Matt vs. WPEngine issue affected me because I’m doing my best to stay out of it. I stay informed—there are plenty of people offering suggestions and opinions on the matter—but my opinions are my own, and I keep them to myself.

    I will continue contributing to WordPress, again in the documentation team and will continue pushing for the translation of documentation which I think is very important for the future of WordPress.

    Traveling to WordCamps

    Hopefully, I can attend many. This year, I will only be an attendee—I’m not volunteering, organizing, or speaking at any events. I’m saving that for next year.

    My other blog

    I have another blog, and I want it to be entirely artistic. I plan to post one image daily with minimal accompanying text, which is another blogging style.

    Life is good now; I have plans, and I will continue working toward them.

  • Gracias Jose Luis

    No fue mucho el tiempo que pasamos juntos. Y es mas, la última vez que nos vimos en Torrelodones, no te acordaste de mi. Pero no importa eso, porque te fuiste y me dejaste los recuerdos.

    Nos conocimos en la WordCamp Europe en Berlín. Ufff, cuantas aventuras pasamos en esa WordCamp.

    Me encantó conocerte, cuando pregunté quién eras, alguien me comentó que eras el voluntario que siempre andaba con la comunidad española en todas las WordCamps.

    Aun tengo clara tu imagen el booth del swag, repartiendo bolsas y camisetas para todos. Para nosotros te convertiste en el punto de información. Si alguien se perdia, pasaban y te decian algo. Si hubo planes para más tarde, tú te encargaste de informarnos a todos. Si necesitabamos algo, solo bastaba pedirtelo y ya lo resolvias.

    Platicamos a ratos, me di cuenta entonces de que ya estabas enfermo. Y recuerdo que me dijiste, no paro, porque si paro me muero.

    Tu amor por la vida, tus ganas de servir, tu entusiasmo por la comunidad y tu gran sonrisa. Esos son los recuerdos que me dejaste.

    Gracias Jose Luis!

  • WordCamp Barcelona

    WordCamp Barcelona

    The most important reason why I attended WordCamp Barcelona is to continue with the WordPress.org documentation translation project.

    As expressed before, we are working with the Spanish community for our trial. The reasons are plenty, they do have a lot of documentation translated, they are near by me – thus cutting down traveling costs, and I speak the language.

    Contributor Day

    During Contributor Day we worked with members of the translation, documentation and marketing teams. The goal was to translate HelpHub sitemap into Spanish and there was a group of Catalan speakers who decided to translate it into Catalan also.

    During our short workshop, we spoke about the meaning of each term and discussed words that can carry SEO weight. It was amazing that at end of the day, we had both the Spanish and the Catalan version of the sitemap.

    NOTE: I will talk more about the evolution of the project in WordPress.org/documentation

    Talks

    Honestly, I only attended one talk about leadership, which was very interesting and the only one in English. Most of the talks were in Catalan and few talks in Spanish.

    I applaud the effort on highlighting the language of the community but there should be a better balance between Spanish and Catalan to secure more attendees and also more speakers. It also helps break language barriers. I won’t say anything about English because speaking and understanding English at a high level should never be a barrier to work with WordPress.

    The language was not a barrier to the topics, there were many to choose from.

    Small interview

    Podcast from WordCamp Barcelona 2023

    Thank you to Yoast

    For the last WordCamps, Torrelodones and Barcelona, Yoast has supported my traveling from the Yoast Diversity Fund. If you haven’t heard about it and want to do something awesome for the community, like give a talk on a WordCamp, make sure that funding is not the reason why you don’t apply.

    As with everything there are rules, read all about it

    Yoast diversity fund banner

  • Redesigning the end-user documentation in the WordPress project – case study

    For the past 2 years I have been busy reading and reviewing the end-user documentation in WordPress.org. The goal was to create a new design for the articles as they look outdated. The hidden problem was the problematic search, which is far more important than the way a page looks. This project is written into two parts.

    The discovery phase

    While reviewing the documentation, I found discrepancies in the navigation. Discovered that several articles were included in more than one category, the article listing changed when going back in the browser and there was no clear navigation.

    The revision included the 15 requirements that the documentation team had gathered during the migration of the documentation from the Codex (the previous documentation repository for the WordPress Project.)

    The most urgent issues to solve were the navigation to improve search and the user experience and, identifying the users.

    Methodology

    I didn’t follow any specific methodology. After researching documentation sites for several software companies, open-source and privately-owned, I understood the path to follow.

    The path guided to find the four pillars to create the sitemap. When thinking of how to structure end-user documentation it is difficult to think about new, intermediate or advanced users because one cannot really identify who is whom or what level is each user. Instead, it is best to follow a “step-by-step” build; what do I need to know before building a site, what are the requirements, any technical hiccups (maintenance), etc.

    1. What is WordPress? What is its story? Is WordPress the best CMS for the user’s project?
    2. What does the user need to create and maintain a WordPress blog or site? First steps, requirements, maintenance, troubleshooting
    3. WordPress dashboard – daunting for new users, get to know your new software, how to add content, how to manage media.
    4. Customization – themes, blocks, FSE, plugins, colors, etc.

    Identifying the end-users

    Creating personas for a software that is used by millions of people is absolutely useless. As soon as one persona is created, you leave out 99% of the users. Instead, I identified users by roles.

    The non-developer users that search WordPress end-user documentation falls into any of these roles:

    • Bloggers – new or not, anyone who writes a blog and wants to customize it without the help of a developer.
    • New users looking for a CMS to build a website.
    • Content creators that are looking for content to create tutorials or references for their own products.
    • WordPress consultants that provide service to clients.
    • Support teams from companies that look for content to support their own products/services or, that provides tech support for their clients.
    • Translation teams/contributors that are translating documentation into their own languages.

    The result: a new site map for WordPress.org Helphub

    There were 170 articles written when we started the reclassification. The new WordPress features including the Block Editor, Full Site Editing and new blocks, increased the number of articles to about 250 and there are plans to write more. The reclassification needs to take into account the growing needs of WordPress.

    The site map now includes 4 main categories with subcategories under each to allow growth. Below is an image of the recommended sitemap. The developers column is under review.

    Image and link to the recommended new site map for end-user documentation in the WordPress project.
    The recommended new site map for HelpHub in WordPress.org

  • Recipient of the Yoast Care fund

    Recipient of the Yoast Care fund

    This was a an amazing surprise. It may be hard to believe but I am not used to receive recognitions for any. of my volunteer work cause that’s not the reason I do it. I had a volunteered a lot throughout my life, “always give back”, one of my grandmas used to say and it is a principle I live by.

    My contributions to the WordPress project are important to me, thus this token of recognition is humbling and very appreciated.

    Thank you to Yoast for supporting contributors to the WordPress project.

  • The all-female WordPress release squad

    The all-female WordPress release squad

    I made few design contributions to WordPress as part of the all-female WordPress 5.6 release team. Most of them are so tiny they went unnoticed but that’s for another post.

    Why did I join a release team?

    Is it easy to be a part of a release team? Is there a lot of work involved?

    There are as many answers as there are questions. About a year ago, Josepha Hayden tweeted about wanting an all-female (women and persons identified as females) release team. It took a little bit of time to get there.

    I had the opportunity in the 5.5 release to be an observer and to design the About page for the 5.5 release. The learning curve for me was intense being this my first big contribution to an open-source project.

    What was in it for me?

    I immediately accepted when asked to join the release squad. Accepting this challenge meant self-recognition to my professional growth and I was losing my inhibitions for involving myself more in the project.

    The experience was astounding. Not saying that everything was 100% perfect and all lovey-dovey, but I prefer to focus on the positive. The most important aspect about my participation was the learning experience.

    As a designer, it wasn’t really a lot I could help with. With few design issues to resolve after releasing 5.6 Beta 1, there wasn’t much for me to do. Instead of staying behind, I made myself available during each release to support others, whether it was looking for links to write the posts, reviewing posts, or simply cheering the core team, I was there.

    Yes, I learnt a lot about how WordPress is built. I also learnt about camaraderie and the dark-side of time zones – Slack chat at 1 a.m. anyone? While we waited for the systems to roll, we enjoyed some mom jokes and asked questions about the process.

    In the end, I was proud to see my name on the list. Most rewarding, I’ve come a long way and I have a new tribe.

    Noteworthy contributors for WordPress 5.6 release