Talk:Matt Mullenweg

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"...on September 25, 2024, a day after its trademark policy was updated to ask against usage of WP "in a way that confuses people", listing WP Engine as an example..." Appreciate this is trying to be succent, but I'd imagine a lot of people will be making there way towards this article, and this reads poorly. Seshwansauce (talk) 02:16, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi editors, I'm Chenda and I work for Automattic. I've got a conflict of interest and know I shouldn't make any changes to this article without first discussing them with the community.

I'd like to propose several updates to the Early life and education section. For the first, I propose changing the first two sentences from:

• Mullenweg was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in the Willowbend neighborhood.^[1] His father, Chuck, was a computer programmer.

To:

• Mullenweg was born January 11, 1984, in Houston, Texas, to Chuck and Kathleen Mullenweg and grew up in the Willowbend neighborhood.^[2][3][4] His father is a computer programmer and his mother a stay-at-home parent.^[5]

 Done Ptrnext (talk) 08:00, 11 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Because:

• This adds in Mullenweg's birth date to the article body and adds a source for it
• This adds his mother and mother's profession, making the section more complete

Please let me know what you think. Chenda at Automattic (talk) 23:16, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Ptrnext: thanks! Chenda at Automattic (talk) 00:31, 13 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I thought his father had passed away? 2A01:4B00:8E0E:8100:AD30:22BA:5DF4:A2D7 (talk) 03:06, 14 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi editors, for my next request I propose adding the following after the sentence ending "stay-at-home parent" in the Early life section

• Mullenweg developed an interest in computers as a child and worked on the hardware with his father, eventually using what he learned to fix and build computers.^[1][2] He designed his first website at approximately 12 years old.^[1]

• Note: the missing link is this Houston Chronicle article that is already cited after the last update.

This adds some expansion on how Matt became interested in computers and web development, which I think is relevant to this article. Please let me know what you think! @Ptrnext: would you have any interest in reviewing this request? Chenda at Automattic (talk) 00:31, 13 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Partially done. This sounds like a parent talking about how great and smart their kid is, and I'm skeptical of taking it at face value, especially because the cited articles are (frankly) puff pieces. I added some material about Chuck giving his kids an early introduction to computing, which seems like the most neutral and objective way to include it.

If I can make a request of you, is there a better source for Matt and the family's Catholic faith? Apocheir (talk) 00:07, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Apocheir: thanks for taking a look! I appreciate the changes you made.

As far as the family's Catholicism goes, this Guardian article quotes Mullenweg saying "I was raised Catholic", would that suffice? Otherwise I haven't really seen anything in reliable sources that mentions it. Chenda at Automattic (talk) 00:09, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the source! Aaron Liu (talk) 02:58, 19 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Aaron Liu: Happy to help! Chenda at Automattic (talk) 00:12, 26 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi editors,

For my next request, I propose making an update to the final two sentences of the Early life and education section, changing:

• He attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts to play the saxophone,^[1] although he was frequently absent due to chronic migraines. After graduating from high school, he studied economics, philosophy and political science at the University of Houston, eventually dropping out after his sophomore year in 2004.^[2][3][4]

To

• He attended Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, studying jazz and playing the saxophone.^[5] Mullenweg suffered from migraines as a child caused by a severe sinus infection that forced him to miss extended periods of school and undergo multiple surgeries to correct.^[6] He attended the University of Houston for two years, studying philosophy and political science. He dropped out in 2004 to work for CNET, which promised him that he could allocate time to the development of WordPress.^[7][6]

This does a few things, including:

• Improving sources with more reliable third-party sources
• Makes the wikilink to Kinder HS more clear
• Adds a little context about the migraines
• Adds context related to dropping out of the University of Houston

Please let me know what you think! @Apocheir and Ptrnext:, since you both have reviewed my requests in the past, any interest in this one? Chenda at Automattic (talk) 19:45, 4 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done for now: Sinus infection doesn't seem relevant or encyclopedic. Resubmit without please! Likeanechointheforest (talk) 17:42, 17 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Likeanechointheforest: just to clarify, would you like the entire sentence "Mullenweg suffered from migraines as a child caused by a severe sinus infection that forced him to miss extended periods of school and undergo multiple surgeries to correct." to be removed, or just "Mullenweg suffered from migraines as a child caused by a severe sinus infection that forced him to miss extended periods of school and undergo multiple surgeries to correct"? Thanks for reviewing! Chenda at Automattic (talk) 22:03, 18 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The latter! Likeanechointheforest (talk) 22:27, 21 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I also don't think playing the saxophone is worth including. Lots of people played an instrument in high school. Apocheir (talk) 23:47, 18 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Apocheir: I don't have strong feelings about whether to include playing the saxophone. I could see its potential relevance given that the sentence also mentions studying jazz, but I will defer to the volunteer community on whether to include it. I see there is some discussion with Aaron Liu ongoing about it. To respond to Likeanechointheforest's request for updated text (again, noting that I don't have strong feelings about including the saxophone detail), here is the updated proposal:

I propose changing

• He attended the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts to play the saxophone,^[1] although he was frequently absent due to chronic migraines. After graduating from high school, he studied economics, philosophy and political science at the University of Houston, eventually dropping out after his sophomore year in 2004.^[2][3][4]

To

• He attended Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, studying jazz and playing the saxophone.^[5] Mullenweg suffered from migraines as a child that forced him to miss extended periods of school.^[6] He attended the University of Houston for two years, studying philosophy and political science. He dropped out in 2004 to work for CNET, which promised him that he could allocate time to the development of WordPress.^[7][6]

This improves sourcing and gives more context for Mullenweg leaving the University of Houston. Please let me know what you think! Chenda at Automattic (talk) 18:10, 24 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure why the site's glitching when I respond to the request formally, but yes, I've done it! Likeanechointheforest (talk) 20:20, 24 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Why not include it? "WordPress founder played the saxophone" is a good enough hook for DYK. Aaron Liu (talk) 18:24, 24 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It's complete trivia. Almost every college-bound American high school student of Matt's generation played an instrument. We were all told it looked good on our college applications. The pages for Mark Zuckerberg or JD Vance (born the same year) don't say what they played in high school. Apocheir (talk) 00:52, 25 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It's not a collection, it's not a trivia magnet, no reason otherwise to exclude "trivia". You could say it's similarly trivial to even mention that he went to art school or that his father worked at Brown & Root. Aaron Liu (talk) 01:51, 25 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi editors, my next request is in two parts.

The first part of the request is to change the heading WordPress to Career, which I think is more accurate considering the section is mainly about Mullenweg's career, and making WordPress be the first subheading of Career.

The second part of the request is to change the first paragraph from:

• Mullenweg started contributing updates to b2—a popular open-source blogging software—in 2002. However, Michel Valdrighi—the sole maintainer—soon ceased activity, and Mullenweg discussed prospects of creating a fork with other contributors;^[1] thus, in January 2003, Mullenweg created WordPress with Mike Little under the GPL v2-or-later open-source license^[2] at the age of 19, and Valdrighi endorsed the project a few months later.^[3][4]

To:

• Mullenweg began blogging in 2002 on the open source platform b2.^[1] B2 developer Michael Valdrighi abandoned the project and Mullenweg took it over in 2003.^[2] He and Mike Little created a b2 fork that year they called WordPress and published it under the GNU General Public License.^[2][3][4]

• • Note I included the full versions of the first two references for visibility on the Talk page, but these are already cited in the article.

This keeps the content as similar to the original as possible while replacing primary sources like the Guy Raz podcast with stronger third party sourcing and removing the content that can't be sourced to strong third-party sourcing in accordance with the biographies of living persons rules.

Please let me know what you think! @Likeanechointheforest, Apocheir, and Aaron Liu: pinging you all since you have been involved in past discussions on my requests. Chenda at Automattic (talk) 18:09, 31 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

 Done Likeanechointheforest (talk) 19:29, 31 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Likeanechointheforest: thanks! Chenda at Automattic (talk) 17:30, 1 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]