Category: Uncategorized

I spent last weekend at WordCamp Gdynia (Sept 26–28, 2025). The event was hosted at PPNT and this year had both Polish and English tracks. That was a smart move – it brought in more international speakers and made the agenda more diverse, without losing the community feel.

I didn’t attend every session (hallway talks are always too good to skip), but the ones I joined were solid and gave me a lot to think about.

AI is changing the WordPress world

The clear theme: AI is no longer just “something happening elsewhere.” It’s shaping how we design, build, and distribute WordPress sites.

A few takeaways from sessions and panels:

• Watch your online reputation. Chatbots don’t just pull from the “big” platforms. They can pick up content from all kinds of review sites and forums – even small, niche ones. One bad review in the wrong place might get repeated by an AI assistant. Reputation monitoring across the web matters more than ever.
• Websites as APIs. People are asking models for answers instead of visiting pages directly. That means sites should be structured more like data sources – clear taxonomies, schema markup, and even MCP connectors where it makes sense. Don’t rely on models to “guess” from long blocks of text.
• WordPress is in a good place. Compared with some other CMSs, WordPress looks well prepared for AI integration and experimentation.

Speed and accessibility – built in from the start

Two practical reminders:

• Performance. TTFB is a simple but powerful indicator when your site is getting too heavy. Use tools like Query Monitor to see what’s slowing you down. And sometimes the best fix is the simplest one: just replace a problematic plugin instead of trying to debug it for hours.
• Accessibility. Using core blocks by default already gives you a solid baseline for accessible markup. Build with them instead of reinventing the wheel.

CRA – security and compliance are getting real

The EU Cyber Resilience Act is not just about hardware or big vendors. It will also affect plugin and theme authors, as well as (probably) agencies managing many sites. The message is clear:

• have a process to report and fix vulnerabilities (VDP),
• know your dependencies,
• be able to prove you tested the software,
• and keep the option to roll back to safe defaults.

This is coming, so it’s better to prepare now.

Panels are still gold

I’ll repeat what I’ve said about other WordCamps: panels are gold. They break up the rhythm of talks, bring in voices that don’t usually apply for solo slots, and give space for debate. I hope organizers keep including them.

And a word about Gdynia

Finally – Gdynia itself. It’s one of my favorite Polish cities. Great energy, walkable, and always worth the visit. If the next WordCamp here keeps this format and energy, I’ll be back 😊

I keep hearing stories from agencies and dev shops about treating employees like numbers on a balance sheet. It makes me wonder: how do founders so easily transition from nurturing and protecting their teams—often to the point of creating overly cozy environments where mediocrity thrived and unacceptable behaviors were overlooked—during prosperous times to running things with a cold, iron fist when challenges arise? Or hiring someone else to play the “bad cop” under the guise of financial optimization.

Adjusting strategy or shifting course is sometimes necessary. But what’s inexcusable is the refusal to learn from past mistakes, the constant distortion of reality, and the shameless twisting of marketing narratives.

During the good times, companies acted as if their teams were made up of top-tier players—even though anyone who could string a few buzzwords together in an interview was hired. Now, as the market shifts, they claim to pivot toward consulting or emphasize “deep expertise,” even as staff churns with every new project, leaving no institutional knowledge behind. The irony is especially glaring when these same companies boast about their “vibrant remote culture” while refusing to invest even minimal resources in real-world team gatherings—not even an annual holiday party to let colleagues finally meet face-to-face.

The same old shortcuts aimed at quick wins continue to surface: instead of setting realistic goals and working steadily toward them, it’s a frantic scramble for any opportunity to make a quick buck.

I’ve never heard a smart business leader advocate short-term profit optimization as a viable long-term strategy. All it seems to lead to is endless scheming and constant reorganization.

If there’s a lesson here, it’s this: sustainable growth comes from building on solid foundations, not from chasing every shiny, short-lived opportunity that comes along.