Automattic Hires Theme Developer Ian Stewart, Forms “Theme Team”
By Dave Moyer, posted Mar 5 2010 at 9:44 am | View Comments
Yesterday, highly respected WordPress theme developer Ian Stewart announced on his personal blog that he has been hired by Automattic as a Theme Wrangler.
Ian informed readers that his once premium-only themes are now available for free (possibly due to employment agreements with the company):
He then dropped the information that will be most intriguing to members of the WordPress and blogging community: his blog, ThemeShaper, is also joining Automattic, as a front-end to what he calls a “theme team” being formed at the company.
ThemeShaper will become a public-facing blog for the Theme Team now assembling at Automattic. A place where we can help provide the best possible experience for everyone involved in WordPress theming; from the noobiest of beginners to the most powerful of WordPress wizards.
Because the founder of the WordPress project, Matt Mullenweg, is also the founder of Automattic, the company has always had a fair amount of influence on the WordPress community. However, up until this point, its’ role in the development and extensibility area of WordPress has always been extremely limited. How much will the new ThemeShaper shape the world of WordPress themes?
Ian’s description of the new blog and team in his post is fairly ambiguous. The Theme Team could be a support team, a community dedicated to helping theme developers innovate. Perhaps they will work on innovations in WordPress themes, developing components and coding features for other theme developers to use, or perhaps they’ll even be working on themes of their own.
What are your hopes for Automattic’s new foray into themes? Is it worthwhile, a waste of time, or could you care less? Post a comment below or join the discussion in the WordCast Forums.
