Wordpress Bans WP Engine, 1.5 million WordPress websites are at risk…

The recent news surrounding WP Engine has left over 1.5 million websites vulnerable, raising some serious concerns about relying on Content Management Systems that have a heavy reliance on third party plugins.

For web developers or site owners affected by this, you’re likely wondering what you should do next. This blog explores the issues leading up to the ban, the consequences, and why we’re not and never will be impacted by things like this.

What is WP Engine?

WP Engine is a popular hosting provider, specifically designed for WordPress. It offers features such as optimised environments, automated backups, and other tools to make WordPress easier to use. It had become a trusted solution which many relied upon to ensure that WordPress was operational. This is a common challenge of Wordpress. You become reliant on third party plugins to ensure your website is performing effectively.

WP Engine’s focus on providing a controlled, managed WordPress experience also means that users are more reliant on their infrastructure and decisions. This reliance has become a major vulnerability, as recent events have shown.

Why has WP Engine been banned?

The WordPress foundation recently banned WP Engine from accessing WordPress.org resources, sparking a lot of controversy. The issue centres around the use of the Wordpress trademark, with WordPress demanding that WP Engine obtain a trademark licence, something WP Engine has refused to do.

The WordPress foundation argues that WP Engine wants to control the WordPress experience, without contributing back to the community, effectively profiting off of the open-source platform without the necessary collaboration. This situation does highlight a broader vulnerability within the WordPress ecosystem—platform changes or legal issues can suddenly disrupt your projects, and users have little control over these changes.

What is at risk?

As a result of the ban, WP Engine can no longer access the resources they need to operate, putting 1.5 million websites at risk.

This includes WordPress core updates, plugin and theme directories, pattern and block directories, translation services, photo directory, and the job board. Additionally, WP Engine is restricted from official WordPress meetups and conferences, bug tracker, support forums, WordPress.org Slack integration, Ping-o-matic (which notifies search engines about content updates), and the WordPress showcase. These limitations severely impact WP Engine’s ability to provide full WordPress functionality and support to their customers.

This uncertainty has caused significant disruptions for developers and website owners, leaving them scrambling for alternative solutions to maintain their websites’ performance and security.

Why do we not have the same problems?

We approach website development differently by custom coding all of our websites from scratch. This means our developers build each website using clean, efficient HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, ensuring no reliance on third-party platforms that could suddenly change their policies.

Alongside this, using page-builders like WordPress, with their associated plugins and apps, cause “code bloat”. Code bloat happens when unnecessary or redundant code is included in a website, often due to the use of these plugins or themes, which usually come with a lot of pre-packaged features that aren't needed. This extra code can slow down a website, lead to vulnerabilities, and make maintenance more challenging.

Our custom-coded websites are specifically designed to avoid code bloat. By taking this approach to our websites, our developers ensure every line of code serves a specific purpose. This results in faster load times, better performance, and a more secure foundation for your website.

Final Thoughts

The recent WP Engine ban is a reminder of the risks associated with relying heavily on third-party platforms for core functionality. As a developer or site owner, it’s important to have control over the tools and technologies that you use, so you’re not left scrambling when things change unexpectedly.

When it comes to building a smaller, simpler website, custom-coded from scratch is the optimal way to go. You will see a greater improvement in performance, along with a website which is unique to you and your business.