Dear VersionPress fans, it's been a while since the last update so here's a refresh for you.

VersionPress 4.0 progress

First, Jan is making a good progress on 3rd-party plugin support which is the main focus of VersionPress 4.0. From the engineering perspective, it's great to see the core becoming smaller and smaller, with more things becoming configuration rather than code. In VersionPress 4.0, WordPress itself will be described to VersionPress in the same way any other plugin would, which unlocks a new level of flexibility. In v4, we'll have the infrastructure ready and then, it will be up to us and the WordPress community to provide plugin definitions to get concrete support for e.g. WooCommerce, Pods Framework etc.

Another major feature that is already implemented is Composer workflows. With this, VersionPress will not only come closer to how advanced WordPress folks like to work (see e.g. communities around Roots.io / Bedrock) but also the VersionPress-managed repositories will become much smaller.

Another area mentioned in the 4.0 roadmap post is UI / UX. We take usability seriously and hired a UX expert, a new React developer and are generally exploring ways to make some advanced workflows approachable for casual users. Expect some great improvements landing in VersionPress 4.0 and beyond.

“VersionPress services”

Another thing we're working on is “VersionPress services” (not an official name). Those will be completely optional, cloud-based and it's what the company is going to generate revenue from (hopefully 🙂 ). Don't worry, this doesn't change how we approach the core project which will always be free, open source and containing all the features (no “Pro” version).

I'm pretty excited about the services – our experience from VersionPress combined with the endless effort to identify areas of WordPress that could be improved will bring something innovative and useful. The services will be aimed at WordPress professionals who want to manage WordPress sites better so if you want to get notified and be among the first ones to learn more, subscribe to this mailing list.

Have a great summer!