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Matthias Pfefferle

Open Web Lead at Automattic

@pfefferle Karlsruhe, Germany joined Dec 2006

notiz.blog github.com/pfefferle Slack: @pfefferle
    Languages de_DE

    Bio

    A fullstack developer, blogger, podcaster, OpenWeb advocate, citizen of the IndieWeb, the ATmosphere and the fediverse, working on ActivityPub, ATmosphere and IndieWeb plugins for WordPress!

    Interests

    IndieWeb, Fediverse, ActivityPub, Open Web, Microformats, Webstandards, biking, Home Automation, IoT, ATProto, Bluesky

    WordPress Origin Story

    – In 2002 I installed my first blog using the WordPress predecessor b2.
    – 2004 I switched to WordPress.
    – I worked on my first theme in 2006 and my first plugin in 2007.
    – I uploaded a first theme (SemPress) to WordPress.org in 2011.
    – Two years later, SemPress was added to the WordPress.com theme directory by Automattic.
    – 2015 was my first “Core Contribution” (OEmbed).
    – I held my first WordCamp talk in 2016.
    – I held my first WordPress Meetup talk in 2019.
    – Started working on ActivityPub for WordPress in 2019
    – 2023 I joined Automattic to work full time on the OpenWeb/Fediverse
    – I started working on the ATmosphere plugin in 2026

    https://notiz.blog/2018/06/19/15-jahre-wordpress/
    https://notiz.blog/2023/06/02/20-jahre/

    Badges

    CODE
    7 badges
    Core Contributor '15 Hosting Contributor '20 Hosting Team '20 Meta Contributor '20 Plugin Developer Theme Developer WP-CLI Contributor '24
    CONTENT
    1 badge
    Photo Contributor '22
    COMMUNITY
    3 badges
    Meetup Organizer '24 WordCamp Organizer '24 WordCamp Speaker '16
    PRACTICE
    1 badge
    Support Contributor '26
    POLYGLOTS
    2 badges
    Translation Contributor '15 Translation Editor '15

    Current Job

    Open Web Lead
    Apr 2023 – Present
    Automattic · Full-time
    I work on open, portable, interoperable, small, social, synaptic, semantic, structured, distributed, (re-)decentralized, independent, microformatted and federated social web stuff.

    Job History

    Head of WordPress Development
    Mar 2020 – Mar 2023
    IONOS · Full-time
    Established a WordPress development team, conducted development and performance reviews, and actively supported the personal growth of team members. Led the technical development of various PHP and WordPress projects, served as the liaison between teams and departments, and contributed to the design of agile processes. Acted as a sponsored member of the WordPress Hosting Community and initiated and managed IONOS's involvement in WordPress.org's "Five for the Future" program.

    Recent impact

    Score weights high-impact work (commits, releases, approved translations, props) at 3x routine activity.

    Last 30 days
    42contributions
    high18
    medium24
    score78
    Last 90 days
    117contributions
    high39
    medium78
    score195
    Last 12 months
    434contributions
    high97
    medium337
    score628

    WordPress releases

    Contributed to 5 releases
    • 6.9
    • 6.8
    • 5.6
    • 5.5
    • 4.4

    Contributions

    Type
    September 2026
    Sep 01 Tue · 06:39
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to [ActivityPub] As easy to run as atmosphere, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    Not that I’m aware of, although it’s always possible that a plugin is interfering. You…
    August 2026
    Aug 31 Mon · 17:24
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to [ActivityPub] As easy to run as atmosphere, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    Normally, WebFinger should just work out of the box. If it’s failing, there can be…
    Aug 31 Mon · 15:11
    Plugins high
    Committed [3674536] to Plugins SVN:
    Update to version 4.7.2 from GitHub
    Aug 31 Mon · 14:54
    Plugins high
    Committed [3674499] to Plugins SVN:
    Update to version 5.9.1 from GitHub
    Aug 31 Mon · 08:25
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to [ATmosphere] frequent disconnects, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    Hey @kennethrg 👋 Disconnects like that should not be normal, so let me explain when…
    Aug 29 Sat · 12:05
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to [ActivityPub] As easy to run as atmosphere, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    I just moved to a new host that seems to have better support for web…
    Aug 28 Fri · 21:27
    Core high
    Mentioned in [63394] on WordPress SVN:
    Feeds: Add a filterable list of XML namespaces.
    Aug 28 Fri · 18:37
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to [ActivityPub] As easy to run as atmosphere, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    BTW, I tried implementing ATProto in a similar way to how I implemented ActivityPub, and…
    Aug 28 Fri · 17:01
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to [ActivityPub] As easy to run as atmosphere, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    I totally understand your frustration! Unfortunately, the additional features seem to complicate use cases. I’m…
    Aug 28 Fri · 15:07
    Plugins high
    Committed [3670586] to Plugins SVN:
    Update to version 3.2.0 from GitHub

    Developer

    18 plugins

    Contributor

    8 plugins

    Themes

    2 themes

    Photos

    2 contributions

    View all 2 photos in the Photo Directory

    Completed courses

    3 completed

    Browse courses on Learn WordPress

    Plugins

    49 favorites

    Themes

    5 favorites

    Translations

    3 locales
    de_DE Deutsch (German) Plugins Translation Editor Translation Contributor

    Translation editor for 17 projects.

    ActivityPub ActivityStream extension host-meta Hum ID4me IndieAuth IndieWeb IndieWeb Press This MF2 Feeds NodeInfo(2) Open Search Open Graph WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) SubToMe WebFinger Webmention Microformats 2

    Contributed translations to 8 projects.

    ActivityPub ID4me WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) Semantic-Linkbacks Auto Updater Webmention SemPress WordPress 7.1.x - Development

    View all on translate.wordpress.org

    de_DE / formal Deutsch (German) Translation Contributor

    Contributed translations to 2 projects.

    BuddyPress WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub)

    View all on translate.wordpress.org

    en_NZ English (New Zealand) (English) Translation Contributor

    Contributed translations to 1 project.

    Auto Updater

    View all on translate.wordpress.org