WordPress.org
Get WordPress

Profiles

Laura Byrne

Account Manager at WebDev Studios

@newyorkerlaura Putnam County NY joined Nov 2015

newyorkerlaura.com github.com/NewYorkerLaura Slack: @newyorkerlaura
    Teams Community Documentation

    Bio

    Laura started off her career with educational non-profits, where marketing was part of everyone’s job description. After dabbling in in Microsoft FrontPage for a few years, Laura found WordPress in 2006 when she and a friend decided to build a website with a blog and forum for fans to discuss a then little-known book called Twilight. What started out as an obscure website, rapidly grew into the most popular Twilight website on the internet with millions of visitors each day from around the globe.

    Thrust into a vortex of viral website management meets Hollywood, Laura’s marketing arsenal exponentially grew, as she hit the ground running with new skill sets in SEO, social media strategy, podcasting, event management, and more.

    These days, Laura works for WebDev Studios as an account manager. She’s created/written content for over 100 WordPress sites mostly in the non-profit and entertainment worlds.

    Laura currently resides in Putnam County NY.

    Interests

    Travel, performing arts, British TV, fantasy/sci-fi, and mystery literature

    WordPress Origin Story

    Laura started her first WordPress site back in March 2006 when she and a friend decided to start a website about a then little-known book called Twilight where fans could discuss the novel on a blog and forums. What started as a small site with maybe 30 visitors a week, rapidly grew into the most popular Twilight website on the Internet with millions of visitors each day from around the globe.

    Since then, she’s created/written content for over 100 WordPress sites in the areas of tech, education and entertainment.

    Badges

    CODE
    2 badges
    Core Contributor '23 Plugin Developer
    CONTENT
    2 badges
    Marketing Contributor '17 Photo Contributor '22
    COMMUNITY
    2 badges
    WordCamp Organizer '19 WordCamp Speaker '19

    Current Job

    Account Manager
    Present
    WebDev Studios

    Recent impact

    Score weights high-impact work (commits, releases, approved translations, props) at 3x routine activity.

    Last 30 days
    0contributions
    high0
    medium0
    score0
    Last 90 days
    0contributions
    high0
    medium0
    score0
    Last 12 months
    2contributions
    high1
    medium1
    score4

    Team focus

    Across 2 teams, with no team-attributable contributions in the last 365 days

    WordPress releases

    Contributed to 5 releases
    • 6.9
    • 6.7
    • 6.6
    • 6.4
    • 5.6

    Time commitment

    2 hours per week of sponsored contribution time

    Contributions

    Type
    July 2025
    Jul 31 Thu · 23:07
    Core high
    Mentioned in [60529] on WordPress SVN:
    Site Health: Add a test and the related notice for the Search Engine Visibility setting.
    June 2025
    Jun 18 Wed · 20:06
    Meta med
    Wrote a comment on the post Five for the Future WCEU25 Chat, on the site WordPress.org Project:
    “Contributors performing “soft” or non-technical work often remain invisible in metrics and appreciation systems, leading…
    April 2025
    Apr 18 Fri · 15:13
    Meta med
    Wrote a comment on the post Call for 6.8.x Release Managers, on the site Make WordPress Core:
    If we are looking for a shorter commitment I would probably be able to assist…
    February 2025
    Feb 03 Mon · 17:51
    Core med
    Created issue #69013 in the WordPress/gutenberg repository:
    Lightbox Effect should be capable of being applied to the entire Gallery…
    June 2024
    Jun 01 Sat · 18:54
    Core med
    Created issue #62203 in the WordPress/gutenberg repository:
    Slide Share Block
    May 2023
    May 09 Tue · 21:22
    Meta high
    Confirmed as a speaker for WordCamp Phoenix, Arizona, USA 2023
    April 2023
    Apr 12 Wed · 19:32
    Meta med
    Wrote a comment on the post Preparing for the Next Women & Nonbinary Release Squad, on the site Make WordPress Core:
    I would love to be a part of this. Documentation is probably my most natural…
    September 2022
    Sep 26 Mon · 15:43
    Meta high
    Joined the organizing team for WordCamp US 2022
    August 2022
    Aug 02 Tue · 15:16
    Meta high
    Joined the organizing team for WordCamp Montclair, NJ, USA 2022
    July 2022
    Jul 29 Fri · 15:05
    Meta med
    Wrote a comment on the post Updates on the Five for the Future program, and proposed improvements, on the site WordPress.org Project:
    Kudos to adding mentoring a WordCamp that is hard work and WordCamps would be no…