Web Hosting

Voting for Plugin Madness, Torque’s annual bracket-style competition, is officially kicking off this week. 

Out of all the plugins that were nominated, 64 of the top contenders were selected for the four initial categories: Marketing, Optimization, Performance, and eCommerce.

Now that the bracket has been finalized, the contenders have taken their starting positions, and it’s up to you to use your votes to push your favorites to the top of the pack. 

Cast your votes here, and read on for a look at some of the favorites from this year’s Plugin Madness lineup!

Much like another famous bracket-style competition that takes place in March, Plugin Madness begins with an impressive field of 64 plugins.   

To be considered for nomination, plugins must be:

• Listed in the WordPress Plugin Repository 
• Updated within the last 12 months 
• Compatible with WordPress 6.2+

Each week, winners will advance to the next round until a single plugin is left standing. This year, the voting schedule is as follows:

• Week 1 (64): March 4
• Week 2 (32) March 11
• Week 3 (16): March 18
• Week 4 (8): March 25
• Week 5 (4): April 1
• Week 6 (2): April 8
• Week 7 (Winner announced): April 15 

Check out some of this year’s Plugin Madness fan favorites to see why we believe this may be the fiercest competition to date!

This two-time Plugin Madness champion is back to take the crown. Starting in the Optimization category, does ACF have what it takes to go all the way?

With more than 300,000 active installations and over 1,000 5-star reviews on wordpress.org, Formidable Forms is no doubt a formidable opponent. Will this advanced WordPress form builder make a deep run in this year’s competition?  

A newcomer to Plugin Madness, Code Block Pro provides fast, native code highlighting for your favorite programming language. Can this up-and-coming plugin set the stage for an epic Cinderella story? 

On the other side of the spectrum, WooCommerce returns for another shot at the title, making deep runs in every year’s event and even making it to the championship round in 2016. Will this be the year that the world’s most widely used eCommerce plugin takes home the trophy? 

Join in the Madness!

The only way to propel your favorites to the top is to join in the madness and cast your vote! Make sure to head back to Torque every Monday to keep pushing your favorite plugins all the way to the championship.

DE{CODE}, WP Engine’s premier developer conference, is back and better than ever! The fifth annual virtual event will take place on March 19 (North America: 10 a.m. CDT, APAC: 10 a.m. AEST) and March 21 (EMEA: 10 a.m. GMT).

Four unique talk tracks and more than 40 expert speakers will provide insight into the modern WordPress landscape, ways to elevate your WordPress projects, the trajectory of the open-source future, and how to harness the power of WordPress to help you shape whatever comes next.

Read on for an overview of this year’s keynote addresses and breakout sessions, and make sure to register to attend!

Keynote Addresses

Three keynote speakers will open the day, covering everything from the AI-fueled future to WordPress business success. 

AI and the Future of WordPress Development

The age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has more than arrived—it’s kicked down the door and implanted itself firmly into the workflows of tech professionals the world over. It’s important for developers to be able to separate fact from fiction, discerning the difference between AI hype and its actual practical applications.

This session, featuring WP Engine Founder & Chief Innovation Officer Jason Cohen, WP Engine Product Manager Luke Patterson, Equalize Digital Founder & CEO Amber Hinds, Code and Theory Chief Technology Officer David DiCamillo, and CRX General Manager Lucky Gobindram, will explore how AI can impact key areas of site performance such as accessibility, productivity, design, and more.

AI Technology and Trends

Get up to speed on AI and some of its most powerful applications in a session that’s sure to be a major draw. This keynote will bring in AI expert Zack Kass, former Head of Go-to-Market for OpenAI, to discuss some of the latest innovations that are shaping the digital landscape.

Zack Kass is an AI Futurist who has spent more than 14 years in the field of AI, working with companies including Figure Eight, Lilt, and OpenAI. His mission is to ensure businesses and governments are active participants in the AI-powered future by demystifying AI, making it accessible and understandable for everyone, and helping leaders navigate the rapidly evolving environment. He is considered one of the foremost thinkers in Applied AI, and his thought leadership and techno-optimist views have been featured in countless publications, such as Fortune, Newsweek, Entrepreneur, AdAge, and Business Insider.

The Business of WordPress

WordPress is the world’s favorite open-source platform for good reason—open source isn’t just great for developers; it’s great for business! In this powerhouse panel, experts will share personal stories about how they’ve built thriving businesses by leveraging the power of open-source WordPress.

Speakers include Brainstorm Force CEO & Co-Founder Sujay Pawar, Elementor Head of WordPress Relations Miriam Schwab, and Newsletter Glue Co-Founder Lesley Sim, also known as Lesley Pizza, all of whom will discuss the ways they turned smart, entrepreneurial WordPress solution ideas into successful businesses and their advice for activating on yours.

Breakout Sessions

This year’s DE{CODE} programming will be split into four talk tracks focused on different aspects of site development and performance. 

Sessions will cover ways to improve site speed and security, tools you can use to improve development workflows, strategies for increasing eCommerce conversion rates, how to future-proof your sites with a headless tech stack, and so much more.

Perform

The Perform track will explore ways to achieve better speed, security, and SEO outcomes on your WordPress projects. Presentations will cover topics relevant to agency professionals and freelance developers alike, including sessions like “How to Fix a Site You Didn’t Build” and “Proactive Prevention is the Best Medicine: Uplevel Security Without Sacrificing Your Speed.”

Maximize

Maximize sessions will dive into the tools and technologies developers can use to build faster, more efficient sites. Speakers will cover in-depth explanations of efficient development using WordPress version 6.5, Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), Local, and the WP Engine platform. 

Monetize

In the Monetize track, attendees will hear from eCommerce experts as they answer important questions, including “Why is my Woo store so slow?” and “How can I eliminate purchasing pain to optimize payments?”

Innovate

For developers on the cutting edge of WordPress, the Innovate track will touch on the topics that are shaping the open-source future. Experts will share how WP Engine elevates WordPress search with AI magic, how to simplify headless development by choosing the right tools, and how agencies are already finding success with headless WordPress.

Register Now for DE{CODE} 2024

DE{CODE} offers a jam-packed day full of sessions you won’t want to miss, so register now and snag your seat at the largest WordPress developer conference of the year! 

And head back to WP Engine after the conference concludes to watch any sessions you may have missed on demand in our Resource Center.

WP Engine Ireland has once again earned recognition as one of the country’s Best Workplaces by Great Place to Work, the global authority on workplace culture. 

This is WP Engine Ireland’s seventh individual certification in just eight years, adding to a growing list of accolades for company culture and employee wellbeing.

“Since our Limerick office opened in 2016, we have done our best to prioritize the wellness and work-life balance of our team members,” said Haidee McMahon, WP Engine Sr. Director of Product and Limerick Site Leader. 

“This recognition shows that our hard work is paying off, and we are truly honored to be Great Place to Work-certified for the fourth consecutive year.”

Read on to learn more about Great Place to Work, the selection process for certified companies, and the Great Place to Work recognition WP Engine has received over the years.

How WP Engine Ireland Earned Recognition

WP Engine Ireland was officially certified after an independent analysis conducted by Great Place to Work Ireland. To identify the workplaces that meet the criteria of a Great Workplace, the institute uses data collected from employees who fill out the Trust Index Survey™. 

Great Place to Work certification places WP Engine Ireland among an elite group of companies that are hyper-focused on creating work environments where employees can thrive both personally and professionally. This year, WP Engine was ranked sixth out of 44 certified companies in the medium-sized business category.

What is Great Place to Work?

Great Place to Work published its first Best Workplaces list in 1984. In the 40 years since, the company has surveyed thousands of employers to identify the very best—those that prioritize their staff to create a culture in which both the business and its employees can thrive. 

According to the Great Place to Work Trust Model, the company identifies Great Workplaces as those where employees report that they:

1. Trust the people they work for.
2. Take genuine pride in their work.
3. Enjoy collaborating with their colleagues
4. Experience a consistent workplace atmosphere, irrespective of their role, identity, or position within the organization.

How are Great Workplaces Selected?

Companies that hope to earn certification survey employees and submit the anonymous data they collect to Great Place to Work. Then, Great Place to Work is able to contextualize those survey results by benchmarking the data against similar companies to identify top performers.

Once a company is certified as a Great Workplace, it can go on to receive additional certifications based on its survey results. These additional recognitions are awarded to the Best Workplaces for employees within a certain demographic, location, or industry.

WP Engine’s Great Workplace Journey

In 2017, WP Engine earned its first certification from Great Place to Work. 

In the years since, the company has earned more than 30 individual certifications, from the generalized Great Workplace recognition to placement on international lists in the UK, Ireland, and Poland, to specialized certifications as a Best Workplace in Tech, for Women, and for Wellness. 

Last year, WP Engine earned six certifications from Great Place to Work, being recognized as one of the Best Workplaces in Texas, Best Workplaces for Millennials in Poland, and Best Workplaces in Tech in Ireland, among others.

Join Our Certifiably Great Team!

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the employees who made this recognition possible—thank you for your dedication to building a certifiably Great Workplace!

If you want to join a truly great team, check out our career page to find a role that aligns with your talents!