WordPress.org
Get WordPress

Profiles

Matthias Pfefferle

Open Web Lead at Automattic

@pfefferle Karlsruhe, Germany joined Dec 2006

notiz.blog github.com/pfefferle Slack: @pfefferle
    Languages de_DE

    Bio

    A fullstack developer, blogger, podcaster, OpenWeb advocate, citizen of the IndieWeb, the ATmosphere and the fediverse, working on ActivityPub, ATmosphere and IndieWeb plugins for WordPress!

    Interests

    IndieWeb, Fediverse, ActivityPub, Open Web, Microformats, Webstandards, biking, Home Automation, IoT, ATProto, Bluesky

    WordPress Origin Story

    – In 2002 I installed my first blog using the WordPress predecessor b2.
    – 2004 I switched to WordPress.
    – I worked on my first theme in 2006 and my first plugin in 2007.
    – I uploaded a first theme (SemPress) to WordPress.org in 2011.
    – Two years later, SemPress was added to the WordPress.com theme directory by Automattic.
    – 2015 was my first “Core Contribution” (OEmbed).
    – I held my first WordCamp talk in 2016.
    – I held my first WordPress Meetup talk in 2019.
    – Started working on ActivityPub for WordPress in 2019
    – 2023 I joined Automattic to work full time on the OpenWeb/Fediverse
    – I started working on the ATmosphere plugin in 2026

    https://notiz.blog/2018/06/19/15-jahre-wordpress/
    https://notiz.blog/2023/06/02/20-jahre/

    Badges

    CODE
    7 badges
    Core Contributor '15 Hosting Contributor '20 Hosting Team '20 Meta Contributor '20 Plugin Developer Theme Developer WP-CLI Contributor '24
    CONTENT
    1 badge
    Photo Contributor '22
    COMMUNITY
    3 badges
    Meetup Organizer '24 WordCamp Organizer '24 WordCamp Speaker '16
    PRACTICE
    1 badge
    Support Contributor '26
    POLYGLOTS
    2 badges
    Translation Contributor '15 Translation Editor '15

    Current Job

    Open Web Lead
    Apr 2023 – Present
    Automattic · Full-time
    I work on open, portable, interoperable, small, social, synaptic, semantic, structured, distributed, (re-)decentralized, independent, microformatted and federated social web stuff.

    Job History

    Head of WordPress Development
    Mar 2020 – Mar 2023
    IONOS · Full-time
    Established a WordPress development team, conducted development and performance reviews, and actively supported the personal growth of team members. Led the technical development of various PHP and WordPress projects, served as the liaison between teams and departments, and contributed to the design of agile processes. Acted as a sponsored member of the WordPress Hosting Community and initiated and managed IONOS's involvement in WordPress.org's "Five for the Future" program.

    Recent impact

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

    Last 30 days
    50contributions
    high38
    medium12
    score126
    Last 90 days
    119contributions
    high66
    medium53
    score251
    Last 12 months
    472contributions
    high137
    medium335
    score746

    WordPress releases

    Contributed to 5 releases
    • 6.9
    • 6.8
    • 5.6
    • 5.5
    • 4.4

    Contributions

    Type
    October 2026
    Oct 06 Tue · 15:51
    Plugins high
    Committed [3731170] to Plugins SVN:
    Update to version 5.10.1 from GitHub
    Oct 06 Tue · 12:55
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to Conflicts between ActivityPub and “Disable WP REST API”, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    I built a snippet with some instructions: https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/tree/trunk/snippets/disable-wp-rest-api
    Oct 06 Tue · 11:41
    Plugins high
    Committed [3730694] to Plugins SVN:
    Updating readme/assets from GitHub
    Oct 06 Tue · 09:53
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to Conflicts between ActivityPub and “Disable WP REST API”, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    @thommienw I had a look at this plugin and found that it’s possible to allowlist…
    Oct 06 Tue · 08:31
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to Conflicts between ActivityPub and “Disable WP REST API”, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    Hey @thommienw 👋 I have not tested the several plugins that allows users to disable…
    Oct 05 Mon · 21:29
    Plugins high
    Committed [3729672] to Plugins SVN:
    Update to version 5.10.0 from GitHub
    Oct 05 Mon · 13:21
    Plugins high
    Committed [3728983] to Plugins SVN:
    Update to version 2.1.1 from GitHub
    Oct 05 Mon · 13:20
    Plugins high
    Committed [3728981] to Plugins SVN:
    Updating readme/assets from GitHub
    Oct 02 Fri · 06:24
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to atmosphere:Blueskylogincannotberenewed, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    Hi @earl_d 👋 The notice means that Bluesky refused the site's login setup when ATmosphere…
    September 2026
    Sep 30 Wed · 10:22
    Forums med
    Posted a reply to Webfinger error “Error getting JRD: 404 Not Found”, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
    Hey @thommienw 👋 I just checked your WebFinger setup and everything works as expected: https://webfinger.net/lookup/?resource=ffsev%40freifunk-stuttgart.de…

    Developer

    19 plugins

    Contributor

    8 plugins

    Themes

    2 themes

    Photos

    2 contributions

    View all 2 photos in the Photo Directory

    Completed courses

    3 completed

    Browse courses on Learn WordPress

    Plugins

    48 favorites

    Themes

    5 favorites

    Translations

    3 locales
    de_DE Deutsch (German) Plugins Translation Editor Translation Contributor

    Translation editor for 16 projects.

    ActivityPub ActivityStream extension host-meta Hum ID4me IndieAuth IndieWeb IndieWeb Press This MF2 Feeds NodeInfo(2) Open Search Document Open Graph WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) WebFinger Webmention Microformats 2

    Contributed translations to 8 projects.

    ActivityPub ID4me WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) Semantic-Linkbacks Auto Updater Webmention SemPress WordPress 7.1.x - Development

    View all on translate.wordpress.org

    de_DE / formal Deutsch (German) Translation Contributor

    Contributed translations to 2 projects.

    BuddyPress WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub)

    View all on translate.wordpress.org

    en_NZ English (New Zealand) (English) Translation Contributor

    Contributed translations to 1 project.

    Auto Updater

    View all on translate.wordpress.org