Author | Lightnews

Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jul 30

I'm blogging again. And it feels new and different this time around.

But mostly, it's just making me have more public conversations, which I love. Different people interact with my content in different ways and it all just broadens my perspective.

Blogging in 2025: Highly Recommended.

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jul 30

Ya, he was more subtle about the diversity of thought aspects.

The "favortism" argument didn't land with me so well either I have to say. Those who behave like that I try to avoid in general. And I try not to be someone like that.

Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jul 29

I think you're highlighting some gaps in the broader picture of what Imran was saying. But that doesn't mean he doesn't still have a point. Between you, me, Remkus, WP Builds, BobWP, Pootlepress… not tons of diversity of perspective or opinion.

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jul 28

Move over LLMs, make way for HRMs. The goal-posts in AI just keep getting moved further.

venturebeat.com/ai/new-ai-ar...

New AI architecture delivers 100x faster reasoning than LLMs with just 1,000 training examples

Hierarchical Reasoning Models (HRM) tackle complex reasoning tasks while being smaller, faster, and more data-efficient than large AI models.

venturebeat.com

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jul 24

I've been writing a lot more. I am seeing great engagement on LI with both my posts there and click throughs. It's been fascinating.

I'm trying to figure out Bluesky. Right now, I won't link-spam you all, but I'd love to hear what value you all find here compared to other platforms.

Reposted by Matt Cromwell

Joost de Valk @joost.blog · May 13

It's time to fix the image of WordPress and its security:

progressplanner.com/time-to-fix-...

Security and WordPress: It’s time to fix the image

People perceive WordPress as insecure. Joost explains why that view persists and what we can do to start changing it.

progressplanner.com

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · May 8

Github Pages allows you to point one url to a repo of your choice. A free static site sounds like the perfect usecase for a "link in bio" type site in my mind!

So I made one that is theme-able & configurable for everyone!

Check it out here:
www.mattcromwell.com/connect-a-li...

Reposted by Matt Cromwell

Simon Harper @srhdesign.co.uk · May 7

Issue 156 of Loop WP is out now! This week in WordPress - Why I chose Fluent Community over Circle and Podia to build my WordPress-based email marketing community, Campfire, Fluent Community is seriously impressive!

Issue #156 Loop

Why I chose Fluent Community over Circle and Podia to build my WordPress-based email marketing community, Campfire, Fluent Community is seriously impressive!

newsletter.loopwp.com

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Apr 15

Hey @pressconf.events people!

I'm excited to attend with Benjamin Ritner on behalf of StellarWP 🪐

I'd love to talk with anyone and everyone about Customer Experience for WP product businesses.

🌟BONUS: I'll have 5 copies of Sustainable Support by
Ben Meredith with me to give to anyone interested.

Testimonial from me about Sustainable Support: ...every insight in Sustainable Support is hard-earned and battle-tested. This books isn't theory--it's the real deal.

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Apr 4

Political conversations in the public sphere have never been more important or necessary than now. And yet, we're also so much worse at doing it than ever before.

Time to do some real adulting folks: learn how to talk about political issues without being a complete ass.

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Mar 12

Why your company sucks at Youtube, and what to do about it. By @jamiemarsland.bsky.social

Really well-said.
www.pootlepress.com/2025/03/why-...

Why Your Company Sucks at YouTube – Pootlepress

www.pootlepress.com

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Mar 6

Since launching Give back in 2015, online fundraising needs have gotten more and more complex, which means Give has gotten more complex too. But many folks just want something simple to plug and play and run and not fiddle with.

Give's got you covered there too.
givewp.com/online-donat...

The Problem with an Online Donation Button (And Better Solutions)

Still using a PayPal donation button? You could be losing donors and donations. Discover the best online donation button alternatives.

givewp.com

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Feb 25

You can click through to any video, channel, traffic source and go deeper into the insights. You learn a lot just being in the UI. You don't have to export everything and manipulate it in a spreadsheet in order to get insights.

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Feb 25

I've experimented with tons of different Analytics platforms. By far the most helpful and engaging is:

Youtube Analytics

Why can't web analytics be as good as Youtube analytics!?

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Feb 14

Dear web developers with clients who push plugin updates to live sites with no abandon.

The "two buttons" meme. One button says "Run Plugin updates on my clients live website." The other says "Lash out at plugin authors for breaking client website". The sweating guy underneath has the caption: "Maybe they're both bad options!?"

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Feb 12

I'm excited to have Joel Butler from StellarWP join us on WP Product Talk today to talk about product logos.

HOT TAKE: If you're a WP product business owner – you're probably BAD at this, like I am. This one is for you!
wpproducttalk.com/podcast/how-...

How to Create a Logo for your Next WordPress Product with guest Joel Butler on WP Product Talk

Join our co-hosts and special guest Joel Butler discussing How to Create a Logo for your Next WordPress Product only on WP Product Talk .

wpproducttalk.com

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Feb 12

And his species is... Not-cat 😹

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jan 29

This was our Season 6 & 7 kick-off! It was a great convo with my co-hosts about how to choose the next product you should build. It's a question I hear folks discuss a lot in the WP product space.

Would love your thoughts on how the show helped you personally
wpproducttalk.com/podcast/how-...

How to Choose What Digital Product to Build with guest on WP Product Talk

Join our co-hosts and special guest discussing How to Choose What Digital Product to Build only on WP Product Talk .

wpproducttalk.com

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jan 25

That's a little chicken and the egg though, right? The reason people continued to buy after you raised prices was because of the value they saw in the growing feature-set.

Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jan 24

As an American, I always thought Brits saying "cheers" meant BYE! Now working with some Brits I realize that "cheers" is complicated. It rarely means Bye, it often means "thanks", and It can mean "well f off then!"

When American's say "cheers" is always, only, simply means "Let's drink!"

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jan 23

This is what a first-in-class, independent conference does. It brings first-in-class speakers.

Nice work @pressconf.events team! 🎉

And thank you Mary and Matias for speaking!

PressConf @pressconf.events · Jan 23

📣 We're thrilled to welcome Mary Hubbard and Matías Ventura
to the #PressConf stage this April!

pressconf.events/news/mary-hu...

📍 Tempe, AZ, USA
🎟️ links.pressconf.events/tix-bsky
📆 April 23 - 26, 2025

Mary Hubbard and Matías Ventura to Speak at PressConf - PressConf 2025

We bring together leaders driving the WordPress Economy to dream big and build deeper connections

pressconf.events

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jan 22

I'm excited for @joost.blog and Marieke and the future of
the Post Status community.

It's a vital community for all of WordPress and this is a breath of fresh air for them.

Also, memberships are more affordable now, only $50/yr! Very much worth it.
poststatus.com/ringing-the-...

Ringing the Bell for Our Own Acquisition

Big News We, Marieke and I, are acquiring Post Status from Cory and Lindsey Miller. And we're excited about this community and the history that has

poststatus.com

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jan 22

Most of the time I'm just asking ChatGPT for a formula, or even uploading the spreadsheet and asking it questions. But I've used this one a bit too and also like it:
workspace.google.com/u/0/marketpl...

GPT for Slides™ Docs™ Sheets™ - Google Workspace Marketplace

GPT Workspace is a free integration of ChatGPT™ and Gemini™ into Google Workspace™. Use AI for data extraction, outlines, categorization, translation, correction, summarization, etc.

workspace.google.com

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jan 22

I don't know how I ever did any Google Sheets without AI… it's almost like thinking of driving without GPS for me now.

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Matt Cromwell @mattcromwell.bsky.social · Jan 22

I opened this account ages ago and forgot about it. Circling back and wow my feed over here is SOO nice! Thinking about staying/hiding over here for a while…

If you're here, would love a comment about anything that makes you happy.

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