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Sound Off! How Has ManagedWP Weathered the Acquisition?

Back in September of 2016, GoDaddy acquired ManageWP. What was odd about the acquisition was the amount of backlash that was generated by ManageWP customers.

While most were happy for Vladimir Prelovac, founder of ManageWP, many customers worried about GoDaddy’s reputation, unsatisfactory service, and how such a great service would fit into GoDaddy without changing much in the process.

Nearly three years later, Prelovac is no longer with the company as he quietly left soon after the acquisition. I reached out on Twitter to ManageWP customers who stayed with the service through the transition and asked if they’re pleased with their service and if it has improved. Here are a few of the responses I received.

If you use ManageWP and have been a customer since the acquisition, let us know in the comments about how the service has evolved. Have you noticed any significant changes?

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CoBlocks 1.9.5 Merges Block Gallery Plugin into Collection, Adds New Form Block

CoBlocks, a collection of page builder blocks that was recently acquired by GoDaddy, has added four new blocks in version 1.9.5. This is the first major release since the plugin was acquired from Rich Tabor and his co-creators. Tabor now heads up a WordPress Experience team at GoDaddy where CoBlocks’ development continues.

This release merges the three gallery blocks (Masonry, Stacked, and Carousel) from the Block Gallery plugin into CoBlocks. There is a migration path for users to convert their existing Block Gallery blocks to CoBlocks’ gallery blocks. Block Gallery is still available on WordPress.org as a separate plugin with 5,000 active installs, which is actually more installs than CoBlocks (4,000). Tabor said his team is still discussing whether or not it will remove the plugin in the future.

“CoBlocks is already a suite of blocks that level-up the block editor, bringing in those gallery blocks into the core plugin removes a barrier for folks who already have CoBlocks installed,” Tabor said. “Instead of folks having to install, activate, and maintain two plugins – only one is needed. On top of that, it’s far easier to maintain them collectively under one roof, as many of the components are shared between the two plugins.”

In addition to merging the gallery blocks, CoBlocks 1.9.5 introduces a new Form block that allows users to customize a simple form directly within the editor. The block includes name, email, and message form fields but does not offer the ability to create new fields or change them to different types of fields. Users can set any of the fields as required using a toggle inside the block preview. For anything beyond these capabilities, a dedicated forms plugin would be required.

CoBlocks 1.9.5 also adds official support for Gutenberg 5.7 and includes more than a dozen tweaks and fixes.

Tabor said his team is identifying further solutions that can be leveraged to make page building in WordPress more simple. CoBlocks is rapidly becoming a another one-stop shop for the mostly commonly used page building blocks.

“We’re looking at how to make adding maps easier (a better Map block) and developing a system that enables restaurants to build out menus,” Tabor said.

Several other block collections already offer a map block and/or a similar suite of page building functionality, such as Ghost Kit, Atomic Blocks, Stackable, and Editor Blocks. Collections seem to be the best way to offer multiple small UI elements, especially if they are all designed to be complimentary in style. Plugin authors differentiate their collections from the others with additional block options, support, complimentary themes, and immediate compatibility with the Gutenberg plugin.

At the moment, there is little incentive for developers to maintain functionality as separate plugins, but WordPress’ planned single block directory may change the way blocks are packaged for optimal discovery. For now, it’s a race to see which block collection can offer the most useful suite with the most intuitive UI.

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GoDaddy Acquires ThemeBeans, CoBlocks, Block Gallery, and Block Unit Tests

GoDaddy has acquired CoBlocks, ThemeBeans, Block Gallery and Block Unit Tests, one of the leading Gutenberg product lines in the WordPress ecosystem. Founder Rich Tabor is joining GoDaddy as Senior Product Manager of WordPress Experience and will lead a team dedicated to understanding users’ needs and expanding the company’s Gutenberg-related products. Tabor’s fellow CoBlocks founders Jeffrey Carandang and Alex Denning will not be joining GoDaddy.

All the commercial themes in the ThemeBeans catalog are now available for free on GitHub. Current customers will continue to receive theme support and remote updates until April 8, 2020.

According to Aaron Campbell, GoDaddy’s head of WordPress Ecosystem & Community, CoBlocks will continue to be freely available on WordPress.org. It currently has more than 3,000 active installations and averages a 4.7-star rating.

“Nothing will change with the plugin except that it will be added to the GoDaddy account on .org,” Campbell said. “It’s possible it might be renamed or rebranded in the future, but that’s unknown either way at this point. And yes, it will still be on the WordPress.org directory for everyone not just GoDaddy customers (and we plan to add more to it as we develop new blocks).”

Campbell could not yet share a roadmap for the plugin as Tabor just started and will be heavily involved in determining the plugin’s future at GoDaddy. Tabor will also be leading a development team that is bringing on more React talent to assist with Gutenberg tasks.

“Hiring React devs that are capable with Gutenberg is a newer thing that we’re really not totally sure whether it’ll be difficult or not or even how it’ll look,” Campbell said. “Do you hire WordPress people? React people? Only those that do both? Do you hire both and pair them up to learn from each other? It’s a thing we’re learning in this new post-Gutenberg world.”

Tabor said he was surprised that his products had attracted GoDaddy’s interest but also found it to be validating of his own efforts and the potential of the block editor.

“Throughout my time building themes, and then blocks, I’ve learned the real value of getting eyes on a project: Not only do you get the community rallying behind your ideas, such as the Block Manager recently added in Gutenberg 5.3, but you receive a TON of feedback and inspiration,” Tabor said. “Building on that feedback, consistently delivering clever ideas, and executing on the marketing front with inspiring videos, has landed us in a very opportune position.”

GoDaddy has acquired a handful of WordPress companies and services during the past few years (ManageWP, Sucuri, WP Curve), but Tabor’s products are the first Gutenberg-related acquisition for the company.

“I think it means that the WordPress ecosystem is important, that it’s maturing, and probably most of all – that it’s moving and changing,” Tabor said. “And I think all of those are good.

“Gutenberg has changed a lot in WordPress. It’s not just a new editor or new interface, it’s a whole new system that brings with it a whole new group of challenges. Companies like GoDaddy recognizing this and supporting innovation is a healthy sign of growth and maturity.”

GoDaddy’s resources will enable CoBlocks, ThemeBeans, and Block Gallery to move faster and add features that were previously out of reach for Tabor’s small team.

“We’ll go from just two developers, to a team of incredibly bright engineers,” Tabor said. “And I won’t be spending time figuring out all the intricacies of monetizing a premium plugin in today’s ever-changing WordPress ecosystem. Instead, I can focus on leading the team’s efforts on bringing a better page building experience to WordPress.”

He will also have access to insights and data that will enable his team to make more informed decisions about the tools and blocks they build.

“This view into how entrepreneurs and business owners are using WordPress is something I could never have achieved at a meaningful scale, and I know it will help me move more confidently in the future landscape of Gutenberg,” Tabor said.