Growing up, I was a curious kid. I always had questions about the future and about its vast possibilities. Well, this habit of mine has inspired me to write a blog on the future of WordPress.
While researching for this blog, I came across some fascinating predictions, that excite me. WordPress has been a significant part of my life as a writer and part of many individuals. I take great pride in my research and to be precise, at present more than 455+ websites use WordPress. Now, that is a huge number.
There’s this one tweet, that single-handily shows WordPress’s importance:
JavaScript and WordPress got me p. far 💀🥰 pic.twitter.com/oPHkIexD1S
— Tabs (@ladyofcode) August 18, 2022
There are more such examples, but we’ll stop here.
In this blog, you’ll learn…
If we are talking about the future of WordPress, we can not leave WooCommerce behind. WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce plugin for WordPress. It has more than 5+ million active installs, which shows that it is a match made in heaven.
Before we start with the predictions for the coming years. It is important to see how far we’ve come.
Evolution Of WordPress & WooCommerce
WordPress started its journey in 2003 because the popular blogging software b2/cafelog discontinued its services.
Two passionate and curious individuals who were already working at b2/cafelog, Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little decided to build a platform on top of the existing platform. This is how WordPress was released on the 27th of May, 2003. And, the rest is history.
We have a roadmap for all the readers to look at. This will give you more clarity to move forward with what’s in store for the future of WordPress,
WooCommerce had an entirely different evolution journey, keeping in mind that it is an eCommerce plugin on WordPress. It started its journey when the founders Mark Forrester, Magnus Jepson, and Adii Pienaar officially launched WooThemes.
Later on, with time they formulated a clearer vision, which made them hire Mike Jolley and Jay Koster. And, so WooCommerce was born with the amalgamation of all their efforts and hard work.
Guess what!! We have a roadmap for all the readers to look at for this as well.
Now, that we are well aware of our history, we can move toward the future of WordPress: Some predictions and some new updates. The following section is very interesting and fascinating.
The Future Of WordPress: Will It Change The Game?
We have already discussed the significance of WordPress, and the numbers can not lie. When it comes to having a content management system, nothing can beat WordPress. From eCommerce websites to celebrity bloggers anyone and everyone prefers WordPress at the moment.
WordPress started its journey by being a basic blogging website. Today, it is capable of powering any website, you can think of. To celebrate this journey and spirit of growth, we are here with top predictions and feature updates on WordPress. Hoping it will shape the future of WordPress.
1. WordPress As Mobile Application Backend
The pandemic has forced us to stick to our mobile devices at all times. It in a way attacked the older generation as well as the younger generation. A survey showed that 58% of adults in the U.S. currently have smartphones. eCommerce websites are trying to make the most out of this by introducing new strategies.
Keeping this trend in mind. Plugins like AppPresser are emerging freshly in the market. It lets users make mobile applications on WordPress. Now, how cool is that?
You’ll be surprised to know that you can use the WordPress website for the mobile application backend. How? Well, it is very simple, we need to make an API request as per WordPress structure and database structure.
A new development in WordPress is the WP-API, which permits you to output your site content into a standardized JSON API. Since mobile apps normally use an API to get remote data, using the WP-API is a great way to get your WordPress data into a mobile app.
Imagine, Controlling Your eCommerce Store on Your Phone!
2. Make Way Because Gutenberg Is Here!
Is WordPress 5.9 with Gutenberg the future of publishing? Well, we will address this and so much more in this section. All of us are well aware of the fact that Gutenberg is the future of content management. But this new update has reassured this statement in the best possible way. And, who doesn’t like reassurance?
The big news about this update is that Gutenberg has finally introduced full site editing capabilities. Yes, it is exactly what you’re thinking about. This means Gutenberg is now ready to upscale the future of WordPress by being ready to be used in the live publishing environment.
Individuals are a bit skeptical about using this new update and are waiting for it to settle in. But Gutenberg is not entirely new, it has been running since 2017, and has been undergoing developments ever since.
Let’s address the new features now, WordPress has announced that version 5.9 improves the publishing flow:
“WordPress 5.9 features new typography tools, flexible layout controls, and finer control of details like spacing, borders, and more—to help you get not just the look, but the polish that says you care about details.”
3. User Interface Will Be The Top Priority
The following is the image of WordPress’s dashboard in 2003:
It was much more complex than it is today. I have seen a lot of non-tech-savvy individuals using WordPress very conveniently. The user interface of WordPress is in a constant developing stage.
When we talk about the future of WordPress, many experts and even the co-founder have stressed this particular point.
Here’s the roadmap showing the evolution of the user interface!
If we are talking about making WordPress user-friendly, we must also discuss the content that you’re publishing on these websites.
You Can Now Publish Content, That Is More Influential and Powerful Than Any Other Engaging Approach.
4. Better Multilingual Support
Another prestigious benefit that you get if you choose WordPress is its translation readiness. With the final Gutenberg update, the users will be able to make their website accessible in foreign languages, without installing any extra translation plugin or specialized theme to do so.
The update will widen the customer base of WordPress because people from different corners of the world will be able to access the Content Management System (CMS) in their native language.
This will be an excellent learning curve for plugins, themes, and SaaS developers. Nevertheless, this update might take some time because of the other running projects. But we now know for a fact that the future of WordPress is shining bright like a star!
5. Not Just A Blogging Platform
Do you know that it is possible to define the exact number of websites currently up and working in the world? But we have an estimation, of about 1.3 to 1.6 billion websites. Out of this about 688-817 million of them are built on WordPress.
Now, WordPress can not just be a blogging website. I mean, obviously, we can not have 817 million bloggers. WordPress has created its community very slowly taking its own sweet time. With the addition of the previously discussed new features like the Gutenberg editor, WordPress has become better prepared to promote with alternatives like Wix, Shopify, and Squarespace.
WordPress takes great pride in its community and leaves no chance to appreciate its contributions. Here’s one such example:
People of #WordPress this month features Dee Teal from Australia on what the community means to her. https://t.co/U5wIeUm7fy
— WordPress (@WordPress) May 31, 2022
Furthermore, WordPress will be seen as more than just a “blogging platform” by more developers. As a result, more developers will rely on WordPress to power a variety of web and mobile applications. You will find countless WordPress communities on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Other than this there are numerous volunteer developers working to keep WordPress and the future of WordPress to be absolutely bug-free.
6. Shift to JavaScript
Traditionally PHP was a significant part of WordPress, but there has been a slight shift towards JavaScript, which aligns with the shift towards Gutenberg.
In a recent interview with the founder Mr. Mullenweg, he explained that:
“More and more parts of the WordPress interface — things that you’d have to go to a different admin screen to do — you’re going to be able to do inline in Gutenberg. The beauty of that is we can create really fast performant and responsive interfaces using JavaScript because we don’t have to reload the page or load everything, and it uses the REST API.”
However, we can assure you that PHP is not going away, at least for the backend.
“Most of the new development is focused on the interface, not the back end. I think the backend will be in PHP for the foreseeable future and a lot of the application itself will be in JS,” – he said.
7. Metaverse WordPress Theme
We live in a highly competitive world. Where something new pops up with each passing second. There’s a high probable chance, that some new technology is already up and running, and we are not aware of it.
Keeping this trend in mind, let’s talk about the latest trend, that is here to stay and entirely changes the future of WordPress.
Are You Curious About Metaverse WordPress Development To The Next Frontier?
Let’s understand Metaverse first. We will break it down into three simple definitions,
- It is an embodied virtual experience
- It is a web3 framework for economic interoperability
- A creative platform for experience
Some versions can also be a hybrid of these. Times are changing, and one thing that WordPress does better than anyone else is to adapt to these changing times gracefully.
WordPress has a nice and wide collection of Metaverse themes for users to choose from. Some of them are,
- Revirta | Personal Virtual Assistant & Secretary WordPress Theme
- Hoverex | Cryptocurrency, NFT & ICO WordPress Theme + Spanish
- Ludos Paradise | Video Gaming Blog & Clan Esports WordPress Theme
- Kicker | Multipurpose Blog Magazine WordPress Theme + Gutenberg
- Hobo | Digital Nomad Travel Lifestyle Blog WordPress Theme
- Exit Game | Real-Life Secret Escape Room WordPress Theme
Of course, only time will tell whether Metaverse will capture the market but one thing is sure even if it does, WordPress is up for it!
We have already mentioned before — the integration of WordPress with WooCommerce is the perfect match to co-exist. Well, taking this point into deep consideration. We have listed some of the interesting partnerships of WooCommerce with other third-party applications, which are changing the game!
WooCommerce and Its New Partnerships
WooCommerce is a growing eCommerce plugin on WordPress. We have already mentioned all the numbers and stats, and will not bore you with it again. Let’s directly cut to the chase. Shall we?
1. WooCommerce & Pinterest
This new extension has allowed more than 3 million WooCommerce users to convert their product catalogs into shoppable pins on Pinterest. This year was quite pivotal for WooCommerce, as it introduced quite interesting partnerships.
WooCommerce’s Vice President of Business Development said in a released statement:
“By partnering together, we provide the best integrated Pinterest shopping experience possible for WooCommerce merchants to be on the cutting edge of social commerce,”. “WooCommerce is highly invested in our merchants’ success. Merchants need the right options to reach the right audiences—this integration with Pinterest helps them do that.”
This collaboration gives merchants the opportunity to advertise their products more efficiently and to reach a vast variety of customers.
Here have a really interesting blog lined up, that will accurately cover this topic. Keep an eye out for it!
2. WooCommerce & Tik Tok
We have a perfect resource for all the readers who are interested to read more about this exciting collaboration.
Know More About– The Exciting Collaboration of 2022!
Something To Keep In Mind!
While researching for this blog, I realized there are so many new features and updates, that I was not aware of. There is so much more to learn about WordPress. I would definitely like to brush up, on some of my skills. I advise all the readers to do the same if, you want to delve deeper for better insights.
Maybe learn basic HTML and CSS, if you haven’t already. I mean it is always better to have a great understanding of things.
Nevertheless, these were just my two cents. And, I feel we have established a very clear point here that the future of WordPress looks exciting and interesting!
About the Author: Muskaan Sabarwal
