Build on strengths to deliver software people love. I ❤️ WordPress and work on quality, testing, and developer productivity at Automattic. Based in Arizona.🌵
Tucson, Arizona
Joined March 2007
- Tweets7.4K
- Following1.9K
- Followers4.3K
- Likes2.1K
Lance Willett retweeted
I’m the author of two books. But my career started with a blog nobody read.
In 2008, before Instagram and iPhones, I started a free blog on @WordPress.
I was not a “writer.” I just blogged as a way to express myself and hoped my stories could make a positive impact on someone.
Lance Willett retweeted
@nealstephenson has spent decades writing about technology, science, history, and the futures they might create.
Now, he’s taking us inside the history behind his latest novel, D: Heavy Water.
Lance Willett retweeted
WordPress 7.1.3 is now available with 7 security fixes and 4 bug fixes. Update your sites immediately from the Dashboard, or download the release from WordPress.org. wp.me/pZhYe-5ER
Lance Willett retweeted
What if you could generate a site with Lovable, Base44, v0, Claude, ChatGPT, etc, and import into WordPress as a real block theme?
Oh wait you can
github.com/Automattic/static…
Lance Willett retweeted
We had a soft launch of @SpacefastHQ yesterday before our board meeting, @batuhan (and now a team!) have been cooking what I think is the future of @WordPress and AI. You don't have to know or think WordPress, but this leverages wp.cloud to give you a Real Database, auth, uploads, email, @akismet / @automattic spam protection, and soon stats.
The architecture is amazing I'd actually love to talk to @Lovable et al see if we can host things for them for less than they spend now.
Datacenter space and components are getting pricey... So we might have to limit signups to prioritize our @WordPressVIP customers but get in while you can!
so yesterday @batuhan gave me access to @SpacefastHQ and i got to play with the product, even transferred a project from cloudflare. actually, claude code did it
super seamless and agent friendly experience
i like cloudflare but its still too much for non dev vibe coders like me. spacefast just feels friendlier, better ui, better control, agent friendly from the ground up
Lance Willett retweeted
We're considering doing a more minimalist, agent-friendly default theme in @WordPress drop your thoughts here: make.wordpress.org/core/2026…
Lance Willett retweeted
Stoked to finally hit publish on this one. About a year in the making since our last update on Purple.
📣 Call for testing: Purple, a WooCommerce block theme
developer.woocommerce.com/20…
Lance Willett retweeted
I joined @automattic over 15 years ago to work for @photomatt because I believed in his vision for an open web belonging to the people and not the corporations.
I still believe it’s the most important task in front of us, and I’m proud to continue doing so with him at the helm.
Lance Willett retweeted
Hi there! 👋
I’d love to connect with more people in tech who are into AI and software engineering.
I’m here to learn, share ideas, and have genuine conversations, not just grow a follower count.
If that sounds like you, say hi!
Lance Willett retweeted
@SpacefastHQ is improving quickly and absolutely worth getting familiar with.
spacefast.com/
It'll be the default for publishing agentic creations in the near future.
Lance Willett retweeted
You're waiting for my weekly list of merged work in WooCommerce aren't you? 120 PRs were merged last week, here's 10 that I've pulled out for this list...
Lance Willett retweeted
We’re taking on @WooCommerce's GH backlog. Over the next three months, we’re reviewing every open issue and PR there.
If you've filed an issue on WooCommerce Core: thank you, and you'll be hearing from us if it’s still open.
I wrote about it here: woocommerce.com/posts/woocom…
Lance Willett retweeted
We've migrated the WooCommerce REST API documentation from its standalone site to our main developer documentation.
✅ Separate URLs for endpoints
✅ Markdown responses
✅ Searchable with the rest of our Developer Docs
buff.ly/5R4ZFYd
Lance Willett retweeted
This was just merged into Gutenberg trunk, and it’s a much bigger deal than it looks 👇
WordPress is getting a native UI to create custom post types.
No code. No plugins.
Just:
Settings → Post Types → Add
That might sound small… it’s not.
Custom post types go from “developer feature” → “everyday user feature”
Which means:
• Better structured content from day one
• Easier onboarding
• Less plugin dependency
• A cleaner foundation for AI to understand your site
And this is just the start.
Post types → taxonomies → …you can probably guess what comes next
You can see where this is heading…
WordPress is becoming a powerful content modelling system 👀
Lance Willett retweeted
General AI coding agents can write excellent code, but there are some things they just can’t do:
👉 Spin up a local @WordPress environment
👉 Validate block markup against the real WordPress editor
👉 Screenshot the result to check their own work and iterate it
👉 Build with WordPress best practices baked in
But guess what? We built one that can. 💪 Studio Code is now free in beta!
Lance Willett retweeted
How do you go from self-taught web designer to Automattic’s Special Projects Team?
Michelle Langston, technical account manager, shares her journey—and what keeps her here.
Lance Willett retweeted
Want a private social network just for friends & family?
@josephscott and I built a simple way to do it on WordPress.com as part of Automattic’s AI build month:
wordpress.com/blog/2026/04/2…
Lance Willett retweeted
I redesigned my entire WordPress site in ~2 hours
• 1 prompt to pull it locally
• 1 redesign prompt (+ a few tweaks)
• 1 prompt to push it live
No setup. No config. Just vibes.
I used something called “Studio Code”…
Post → riad.blog/2026/04/13/meet-st…