The World of Wordpress is exploding.

New plugins, themes, services – not to mention WordPress itself – keep changing. WordPress now is the CMS of choice for about 1/3 of all web sites.

More businesses now rely on WP than ever before.

Keeping up with all things WP is hard and is something I do every day. It’s not just what I need for client work, but it is essential for writing my WordPress Big 3 newsletter each week.

How do I keep up with what’s going on?

I talk to lots of people in the WordPress communities of New York City and Northern New Jersey but that’s not enough.

Here’s what I read and listen to all the time. There are many ways to get and stay connected: Web, email, RSS Feeds – take your pick.

What I Read

These are my go-to resources that I keep an eye on almost every day. Each of them pushes out an email on a scheduled basis or when there is news.

WP Tavern

If you only want to read one resource, you can’t go wrong by following WP Tavern.

I’ve called it “The WP Water Cooler” for years. On a busy day I’ll get 3 – 4 emails announcing a new post. Topics covered are extremely broad – from what’s going on with Gutenberg to a WP business being bought and sold, to a rare statement about a plugin security issue. WP Tavern is my main go-to.

While this service is operated by Automattic (the company that manages the development of WordPress), I don’t recall ever noticing an editorial bias that was out of line.

If you’re going to keep up with WordPress, WP Tavern is a must.

Torque

From plugin reviews to lots of tutorials to thoughts on the direction of WordPress – this is my favorite online magazine. It’s not just because I, like many contributors, write for Torque, it’s because of its high quality content written for all kinds of WP users.

Their motto says it all: “All The Word That’s Fit To Press.”

It’s owned by WPEngine, the Rolls Royce of WordPress web hosting and, like just about everything I read, it is commercial free.

WPBeginner

It’s not just for beginners any more but it still serves them first and foremost.

WP Beginner doesn’t cover WP news per se but it has countless How To articles that have gotten me over a hurdle countless times.

Do a Google search for figuring out how to do something in WordPress, and chances are WP Beginner will be at or near the top of the list.

Gutenberg Times

Of course I love this one. I went to the home page and saw my picture at the top of the page as of this writing.

This indispensable service is run by Birgit Pauli-Haack who curates all types of information on the Gutenberg Project, WordPress’s new page editor. She also moderates a Q and A online panel.

Every Saturday morning she sends an email solely dedicated to spreading the news about Gutenberg.

Gutenberg Times is sponsored by Pauli Systems,LC a one-stop web developer and design shop in Southwest Florida.

BobWP

Bob Dunn, well-known WP blogger, is known as the NPR of WordPress.

His speciality is WooCommerce, the leading plugin solution to create any kind of online store with WP.

His blog is loaded with great information – tutorials, interviews, reviews – everyone’s WP friend does it all. He is as plugged into WordPress as anyone.

Bob is a podcaster of great renown. His bass voice is legendary and it’s not done with any special effects.

What I Listen To

I’ve had to cut down on how many WP podcasts I listen to on a regular basis.

WordPress Weekly

WordPress Weekly is a live, weekly podcast that talks about all things WordPress every Wednesday afternoon at 3 PM EST. There are two regular hosts who know WP as much as anyone.

A lot of smart people have appeared on the show, now approaching its 400th edition.

You can join the show live, but I always take the recording.

And That’s Not All

The WordPress community has many Slack channels, if that’s your preference. Live chats are going on at all times on all subjects from Accessibility to Zbot.

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