WPBeginner Spotlight 08: WordPress.com Interface Overhaul, Major Acquisitions, and Yearly Recaps

The WordPress ecosystem is off to a strong start in 2025. WordPress.com is updating its interface, bringing it closer to the core WordPress experience.

Automattic is also making waves with its decision to reduce sponsored contributions, while OptinMonster has added new browser targeting and event tracking features.

As we reflect on 2024, several WordPress companies share their achievements and plans for 2025. WPForms, All in One SEO, and Uncanny Automator are all setting ambitious goals for the year ahead.

We also have new plugins to check out, including tools for faster image loading and writing books with the WordPress block editor.

Let’s explore what’s new and exciting in the world of WordPress this month!

This change is part of a larger effort to align the WordPress.com interface with the standard wp-admin interface. This will phase out the custom “Calypso” interface previously used for logged-in users.

“By transitioning all WordPress.com users to the standard wp-admin WordPress interface, we aim to: offer familiarity, improve support, and allow our team to innovate into the future. Supporting two different interfaces has become increasingly challenging, and this update will streamline the experience for our users.”

The transition to the standard wp-admin interface is designed to offer a more consistent and intuitive experience across WordPress products. In turn, this will make it easier for users to follow tutorials and take advantage of existing WordPress resources.

This update is just the beginning of a gradual process that will continue over the next few months as WordPress.com works toward a more unified user experience.

The new browser targeting update allows site owners to show personalized offers based on the browser visitors are using—whether it’s Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or others. This can create a more tailored experience by making campaigns even more relevant to visitors.

Rather than just focusing on one event, like a button click, users can now monitor multiple interactions such as scrolling, form submissions, or engagement with specific content.

This level of tracking gives a deeper view of how visitors are interacting with a site and can help businesses optimize their campaigns for more conversions.

As part of this reset, Automattic will be redirecting their resources to focus on for-profit projects within the company, including WordPress.com, Pressable, WPVIP, Jetpack, and WooCommerce.

Additionally, Automattic will now match their volunteering pledge with those made by other key players in the WordPress ecosystem. The focus will likely be on security and critical updates.

This update makes it easier than ever for nonprofits to get their donation drives up and running without a complicated setup process.

In addition to the onboarding tool, this release also introduces several enhancements designed to improve the user experience:

By simplifying the setup process and providing powerful new tools, Charitable continues to offer solutions that help nonprofits maximize their impact and easily run campaigns.

The latest release brings powerful improvements to WooCommerce transactional emails. It also introduces tools for upsell offer recovery, allowing businesses to personalize and optimize customer communications.

Key Features in the Latest Update:

With these updates, FunnelKit Automations provides businesses with more control over their email communication and sales processes.

Many WordPress companies and thought leaders reflected on their achievements in 2024. These recaps provide a glimpse into the growth of the WordPress ecosystem and future goals:

Duplicator offers cloud WordPress backups with military-grade encryption. It automatically backs up your entire WordPress site to secure cloud storage.

That wraps up this edition of WPBeginner Spotlight. We appreciate your continued support and enthusiasm for this series.

We’ll be back next month with more WordPress news, updates, and community highlights. Until then, thank you for being a valuable part of our community.

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