If you run a site that is hosted on WP Engine or you use the popular ACF ( Advanced Custom Fields ) plugin then you will no doubt have heard about the feud that is taking place between Wordpress and WP Engine.
If you have a Wordpress website you may have heard or read some worrying articles about what the future may hold and whether it affects you.
For everyone else it’s likely passed you by and you are welcome to drop out at this point!
Ultimately this article - https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/29/wordpress-vs-wp-engine-drama-explained/ - summarises the dispute better than we could, which also leaves us to just focus on the important questions that you may have:
❓Is this the beginning of the end for Wordpress?
NO and in case that isn’t clear enough we’ll say it again…….ABSOLUTELY NOT!
❓Is this the beginning of the end for WP Engine?
We're confidently saying no again but I do understand why people are considering moving and their business has no doubt been impacted.
❓Where will it end?
This is purely opinion with no inside knowledge but we’re currently at the positioning stage with both parties publicly addressing their points of view, defending their positions. We suspect behind the scenes there are a lot of lawyers earning their money looking at ways to avoid a court case. If we had to predict what will happen then money will talk and we will see an announcement that an agreement has been reached, they have agreed to do lots of wonderful things to support each other and all will be good in the world.
We may, of course, be completely wrong and some of you will also be concerned about the short term and how it affects you so here’s our advice:
😱 Stop panicking - your site is safe - it will continue to be hosted, updated and remain secure with WP Engine.
✅ If you use the ACF Pro plugin there will be no impact to you
👀 If you use any of the free WP Engine plugins, follow their advice here - https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/blog/installing-and-upgrading-to-the-latest-version-of-acf/
So that’s the immediate worries out the way.
This is where we’d advise you to just put some mitigation in place to protect yourself. We’d advise this regardless of whether you’re with WP Engine or not.
Take regular external backups of your site. Having your own backup, stored in an external location is just sensible and provides extra security.
Speak to your web developer or find a reputable Wordpress web developer ( 👋🏼 ) and talk to them about any concerns you have and what they could do for you should you wake up tomorrow and find your hosting company has exploded. It won’t but combining your external backups with the knowledge you have a plan to migrate your site to new host, in a worse case scenario, means you know the likely recovery time for your website.
We, at Ampersand Studio, do offer hosting, security and maintenance solutions should you wish to discuss your concerns and your recovery plan.