Nine Years Of HeroPress, A Retrospective

This week is the anniversary of when I woke up one morning to an email from the owner of the company I worked for (Dave Rosen, XWP) saying he was taking me off the XWP team because he wanted me to do something special for WordPress. I asked him what, and he said “That’s your journey to discover.”

And what a journey it’s been!

I never would have imagined that this kid who grew up in a house without electricity would be part of a project that enabled him to travel through 9 countries, building friendships all over the world and in dozens of cultures. Friendships that have opened my eyes to new ideas, communication models, foods, and so much more. All while elevating the invaluable stories of others and bringing inspiration to those who need it no matter where they are.

HeroPress for me is always a place of empathy and dignity. I return to it often as spending time on it is always rewarding, filled with stories of us- the people of WordPress.

Aditya Kane

Look with me at what we’ve done so far and what the next phase might have in store.

The Essay Phase: A Look at the Numbers

For many years, HeroPress was a site of community-contributed essays, and HeroPress.com continues to be that today. Since Rarst’s first essay we’ve published just over 260 essays in 28 languages. Broken down, that’s 125 essays by men, 128 by women, and 3 by non-binary folk, with contributors representing 66 different countries.

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HeroPress has bestowed upon us the most wondrous knowledge of WordPress people from everywhere and anywhere. It’s an absolute treat to read all the stories, perhaps most especially from those less known than others.

Barbara Saul

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Our Family Of Contributors

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The Network Phase: the Experiment Grows

Reading someone’s essay motivates me to venture beyond my comfort zone.

Tremi Dkhar

2020 saw the transition from I to we. The nudge was there to act on some ideas we’d had over the years. Cate was transitioning into the work force, Liam and Tara were ready to step away from Hallway Chats, and we had to pick a direction. Do we keep things separate and find a connecting point, or do we pull them all into HeroPress itself?

All things feeling fairly equal, we picked Option A: big, but scalable.

We created a network of individual entities that could be nurtured, shelved, sold, or closed down at any point. This resulted in a collection of sites — HeroPress.com, WPPodcasts.com, PressItWP.com, WPPhotos.Info, HallwayChats.com, and WP-Wallpaper.com — being held together through the HeroPress Network hub.

However, after 3 years of giving this a try, we’re not sure if this is really the future for HeroPress. The Network is fine, but limiting. It’s time to reevaluate where we want to channel our energy as we look ahead to the next phase of HeroPress.

HeroPress has…

Enabled me to see the stories that create WordPress. It’s let me discover the people who genuinely power this project, not just the code and pixels. Because open source is people source.

Tammie Lister

Whenever I’m down, I find visiting HeroPress and being connected to the many and real ways that WordPress’ stone in the pond of the world leaves ripples, I’m inspired and excited.

Matt Mullenweg

A Refining Phase: Prune and Nurture

Nine years is a long time for a project like this to flourish, and flourish it has. As with any living thing it needs to be tended to and some times that means cutting a little back to make room for new growth.

A plan is underway to trim some things out and merge the rest into HeroPress.com. We’re looking at some rebranding and a new purpose statement. The goal has always been to elevate others, but have we really stated that as clearly as we could?

• What does the community need now?
• What role can we play in that with the resources we have available?
• Is it time to rebrand? Step out from behind the mask? Or does that mask remind each and every one of us that we are the heroes of our own stories?

What ever the future holds, HeroPress will be here, at least for now. And we hope you’ll be alongside us as we head for 10 years of inspiring one another.

The stories from HeroPress have motivated me and encouraged me to come out of my shell and chase my dreams. Several years back when I was really struggling with my career, reading inspiring stories from people all over the world finding success through WordPress rekindled my hopes and dreams – literally leading me to where I am today. I am eternally thankful for HeroPress!

Hari Shanker

How You Can Help:

• write an essay
• invest in the project
• use our affiliate links
• share what we’re doing on your favorite social network

Many thanks to Tremi, Hari, Matt, Barbara, and Tammie for their words about HeroPress.

The banner at the top is a CC0 licensed photo by Javier Casares from the WordPress Photo Directory.