Sponsor Spotlight: WPMU DEV

 WPMU DEV is arguably the best WordPress, Multisite and BuddyPress resource and support site on the web. They offer plugins, themes, support and direction backed up by years of experience as developers and operators of their own WordPress, Multisite and BuddyPress sites. WPMU Dev have sponsored 5 annual memberships for  5 lucky attendees at WordCamp.

Tell us a bit about your business. How do you use WordPress?

We use WordPress for everything almost literally!

Both of our core businesses are built entirely on and using WordPress + plugins – http://premium.wpmudev.org and http://edublogs.org

We manage internal communication using a boosted P2 theme (thanks Automattic 🙂 plus our wiki plugin for iunternal documentation – you can get a free version of it here, we have the most read WP news site on the web – which naturally, runs on WordPress.

And that’s just the start 🙂

Why WordPress?

I (James) got intro Multisite before it was even MU – just a funny squiggle with a crazy management system – to provide blogs for teachers and students at Deaking University (previously having tried and failed with Manila from Dave Winer’s Userland)… and one thing led to another.

Why did you decide to get involved and sponsor WordCamp Cape Town 2011?

Because we love WordCamps, and being part of the community – I’m dead upset I can’t make it… maybe next time!

What are your thoughts on the WordPress community as a whole? And the South African WP community?

Alas, I don’t know much about the SA WP community, but if Adii is anything to go by it’s a go-getting, ambitious and exciting context.

The WP community as a whole is an interesting proposition, there are some pretty scary folk out there, and some pretty great ones too… much the same as any community the world over I think.

What are you most looking forward to at WordCamp Cape Town?

Followin the live stream as live-ish as I can.

Who in the WordPress community inspires you? Who do you follow?

Can I tell you who *doesn’t* inspire me 😉

Heh, maybe I shouldn’t, anyway like I said I think Adii is all sorts of impressive, with luck we’ll enjoy lots of healthy competition with him in years to come. Besides him, Cory at ithemes is another go-getter, so is Grant at Headway, and Lisa Sabin Wilson is her own woman – best of all though are the team at Incsub, we’ve got some bloody incredibly committed, talented and just plain great folk from our writers to developers, designers and support staff – I’m lucky to work with them all.

What is the most exciting improvement to WordPress that you have noticed in the last year?

I actually don’t think there *have* been that many exciting developments – I’m really happy with the stability of 3.2.1, think that the competition in terms of quality of premium providers has taken a step up – which is definitely a change for the better – and, um, maybe the rise and fall and rise of WP Candy, although I can’ty say I read them much anymore.

Where do you see WordPress 2 years from now?

More stable, hopefully better designed and – depending on Matt’s priorities – either integrating more firmly with the premium theme / plugin market (although Jetpack is already half way there) … or not.

I actually think that the next 2 years will be the most critical in WP’s short history though – it has the opportunity to become the MS of the web publishing world, or to lose momentum to another up and comer – after all the world of hosted vs hosting your own is dramatically shifting towards the former of late. Not that that will bother Automattic much :).

Whatever happens it’ll be fascinating to watch, and be part of too.