- Jun 1, 2018
- 518
- 2,948
So, it was announced earlier this week that WP Engine have bought out StudioPress.
We all know who WP Engine are - they’re the self-proclaimed WordPress digital experience platform, which is just a fancy way of saying they are a hosting and security company. You might have also come across StudioPress. They used to be owned by Rainmaker Digital LLC and they’ve been creating WordPress themes and tools for over a decade, with the Genesis Framework as their show-stopper. Now that they’ve been absorbed by WP Engine, all of their products are going to be incorporated into the services that WP Engine customers receive, from this fall.
Just in case you were wondering, the Genesis Framework is a pretty popular theme framework and it offers design, layouts, SEO, performance, interoperability/modularity and support, as well as a safer way to switch between themes and incorporate new technologies. StudioPress also have 60 of their own themes, which are SEO optimized and mobile responsive, and they’ll be given to WP Engine customers too.
Wait, why have WP Engine bought StudioPress?
WP Engine sees this move as a demonstration of their commitment to the WordPress open source community. They are planning to build on the support that’s available to Genesis developers, with the goal of enabling the Framework to grow and improve. There are tens of thousands of developers working with Genesis around the world, so offering them comprehensive support is no mean feat. According to WP Engine, purchasing StudioPress ties in with the mentality behind Gutenberg, which was the update that attempted to make the WordPress editor more accessible to non-coders and more aligned with open web initiatives.
There seems to be three main ideas behind this acquisition:
Well, money. This will be quite the payday for Brian Gardner, the founder. But aside from that, he said: “The vision I have for StudioPress requires more. WP Engine brings the ‘more’ that we need and will provide the investment and leadership necessary to evolve and grow the StudioPress suite of products”. It’s a little on the vague side, but essentially he’s on about the security of being part of a much larger organization, as well as the resources and opportunities that come with it.
Gardner’s only stipulations for being bought out seemed to be that any buyer would have to have more resources than StudioPress, understand what they are all about and appreciate the potential they have. Pretty straightforward, really. He wasn’t exactly shooting for the moon, so when WP Engine came knocking, they won him over.
What does this mean for me?
There’s been some criticism over the buy-out. To some WP Engine customers, this diversification doesn’t make up for the fact that they think WP Engine could do with updating and overhauling their servers and offering more flexibility in their existing services. Some of them are even arguing that StudioPress themes are hard to customize, and a partnership with Elegant Themes and their Divi builder could have been more effective. So it’s not all happy faces in the WP Engine customer camp, despite WP Engine’s trifecta of corporate BS that tries to explain the decision.
The Chairwoman and CEO of WP Engine, Heather Brunner said “We firmly believe this combination of our engine, the world’s leading digital experience platform, with the Genesis framework will power the next generation of world-class websites for our customers.” It’s a typically marketing-y, corporate-speak quote, but it will be interesting to see how the collaboration matures over time.
We all know who WP Engine are - they’re the self-proclaimed WordPress digital experience platform, which is just a fancy way of saying they are a hosting and security company. You might have also come across StudioPress. They used to be owned by Rainmaker Digital LLC and they’ve been creating WordPress themes and tools for over a decade, with the Genesis Framework as their show-stopper. Now that they’ve been absorbed by WP Engine, all of their products are going to be incorporated into the services that WP Engine customers receive, from this fall.
Just in case you were wondering, the Genesis Framework is a pretty popular theme framework and it offers design, layouts, SEO, performance, interoperability/modularity and support, as well as a safer way to switch between themes and incorporate new technologies. StudioPress also have 60 of their own themes, which are SEO optimized and mobile responsive, and they’ll be given to WP Engine customers too.
Wait, why have WP Engine bought StudioPress?
WP Engine sees this move as a demonstration of their commitment to the WordPress open source community. They are planning to build on the support that’s available to Genesis developers, with the goal of enabling the Framework to grow and improve. There are tens of thousands of developers working with Genesis around the world, so offering them comprehensive support is no mean feat. According to WP Engine, purchasing StudioPress ties in with the mentality behind Gutenberg, which was the update that attempted to make the WordPress editor more accessible to non-coders and more aligned with open web initiatives.
There seems to be three main ideas behind this acquisition:
- WP Engine are saying that their plan is to integrate the Genesis Framework so that it works better on their platform than any other.
- They also see this collaboration as the best way to offer themes (which is not something they’ve done before).
- They’re calling it an ‘ecosystem expansion’ which is just a pretentious way of saying there will be much more stuff they can offer support for.
Well, money. This will be quite the payday for Brian Gardner, the founder. But aside from that, he said: “The vision I have for StudioPress requires more. WP Engine brings the ‘more’ that we need and will provide the investment and leadership necessary to evolve and grow the StudioPress suite of products”. It’s a little on the vague side, but essentially he’s on about the security of being part of a much larger organization, as well as the resources and opportunities that come with it.
Gardner’s only stipulations for being bought out seemed to be that any buyer would have to have more resources than StudioPress, understand what they are all about and appreciate the potential they have. Pretty straightforward, really. He wasn’t exactly shooting for the moon, so when WP Engine came knocking, they won him over.
What does this mean for me?
There’s been some criticism over the buy-out. To some WP Engine customers, this diversification doesn’t make up for the fact that they think WP Engine could do with updating and overhauling their servers and offering more flexibility in their existing services. Some of them are even arguing that StudioPress themes are hard to customize, and a partnership with Elegant Themes and their Divi builder could have been more effective. So it’s not all happy faces in the WP Engine customer camp, despite WP Engine’s trifecta of corporate BS that tries to explain the decision.
The Chairwoman and CEO of WP Engine, Heather Brunner said “We firmly believe this combination of our engine, the world’s leading digital experience platform, with the Genesis framework will power the next generation of world-class websites for our customers.” It’s a typically marketing-y, corporate-speak quote, but it will be interesting to see how the collaboration matures over time.
