I’m going to be a bit formal—I thought it was time to mature up a bit. Getting closer to 30, and my back already aches.
WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg just led WordPress in a surprising move—a hostile takeover of Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), a popular plugin previously owned by WP Engine.
Why It Matters
WordPress powers over 43% of the internet, making this standoff between Mullenweg and WP Engine executives consequential for millions of websites. In a move that has shocked the tech world, Mullenweg has also banned WP Engine from the WordPress ecosystem, sparking a fierce dispute.
What Happened?
The ACF team expressed surprise with a post on X:
We have been made aware that the Advanced Custom Fields plugin on the WordPress directory has been taken over by WordPress dot org.
— Advanced Custom Fields (@wp_acf)
Soon after, Mullenweg published a post, “Secure Custom Fields”, announcing a new WordPress fork of ACF, designed to remove “commercial upsells” and “address security concerns.” The WordPress account on X summarized:
Invoking point 18 of the plugin directory guidelines, we are introducing Secure Custom Fields (SCF), a free fork and drop-in replacement of the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin. You can safely uninstall ACF and activate SCF from the #WordPress plugin directory.
— @WordPress
What Is “Forking”?
Forking means creating a copy of a codebase to independently modify it, but this was no ordinary fork. WordPress took over ACF’s original slug, installs, and reviews, leaving the ACF team with only a copy of the codebase. However,
They call it a fork while taking over:
1) ACF’s slug on WP.org
2) the 2+ million installs
3) customer reviews
Why the Conflict?
- Sep 21: Mullenweg called WP Engine a “cancer” to WordPress, demanding they obtain a trademark license.
- Sep 23: WP Engine responded with a cease and desist to Automattic, accusing them of extortion.
- Sep 24: Mullenweg confirmed on Reddit that WP Engine was asked to pay 8% of its revenue, a significant fee considering their yearly revenue of over $400 million.
The clash escalated further this month when 8.4% of Mullenweg’s employees accepted buy-out offers over disagreements with his direction.
Reactions from the Community
LevelsFYI encouraged users to consider migrating to Ghost amidst the controversy:
Pains me to tweet this because I’m such a WordPress and Matt Mullenweg fan…But right now it’s entering dangerous territory.
— LevelsFYI
David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH), creator of Ruby on Rails and Basecamp, added:
“Matt, don’t turn into a mad king…The most recent escalation is the expropriation of the ACF plugin.”
— DHH
In his blog post, DHH noted his support for open-source leadership but criticized how Automattic managed the conflict with WP Engine, suggesting it was an unhinged move against the community.