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For many years, we’ve invited folks to tell us how they use WordPress by filling out an annual survey. In the past, interesting results from this survey have been shared in the annual State of the Word address. This year, for the first time, the results of the 2017 survey are being published on WordPress News, along with the results of the 2015 and 2016 survey.

So that information from the survey doesn’t reveal anything that respondents might consider private, we do not publish a full export of the raw data. We’d love to make this information as accessible as possible, though, so if you have a suggestion for an OS project or tool we can put the data into that allows people to play with it that still protects individual response privacy, please leave a comment on this post!

Major Groups

This survey features multiple groups, dividing respondents at the first question:

Which of the following best describes how you use WordPress? (Mandatory)

Those who selected “I’m a designer or developer, or I work for a company that designs/develops websites; I use WordPress to build websites and/or blogs for others. (This might include theme development, writing plugins, or other custom work.)” were served questions from what we’ll call the “WordPress Professionals” group.

This “WordPress Professionals” group is further divided into WordPress Company and WordPress Freelancer/Hobbyist groups, based on how the respondent answered the question, “Which of the following best describes your involvement with WordPress? (2015) / Do you work for a company, or on your own? (2016-17).”

Those who selected “I own, run, or contribute to a blog or website that is built with WordPress.” were served questions in what we’re calling the “WordPress Users” group.

The relevant survey group is noted in each table below. In the case of questions that were served to different groups in 2015 but then served to all respondents in 2016 and 2017, the group responses from 2015 have been consolidated into one set of data for easier comparison between years.

Survey results

Jump to answers from WordPress Professionals

Jump to answers from WordPress Users

Jump to answers from All Respondents

Which of the following best describes how you use WordPress? (Mandatory)

	2015		2016		2017
Number of responses (since this question was mandatory, the number of responses here is the total number for the survey)	45,995		15,585		16,029
I’m a designer or developer, or I work for a company that designs/develops websites; I use WordPress to build websites and/or blogs for others. (This might include theme development, writing plugins, other custom work.)	26,662	58%	8,838	57%	9,099	57%
I own, run, or contribute to a blog or website that is built with WordPress.	16,130	35%	5,293	34%	5,625	35%
Neither of the above.	3,204	7%	1,460	9%	1,306	8%

WordPress Professionals

Which of the following best describes your involvement with WordPress? (Mandatory, 2015) / Do you work for a company, or on your own? (Mandatory, 2016-17)

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Professional
Number of responses	26,699		8,838		9,101
My primary job is working for a company or organization that uses WordPress.	9,505	36%	3,529	40%	3,660	40%
My primary job is as a self-employed designer or developer that uses WordPress.	9,310	35%	3,188	36%	3,440	38%
I earn money from part-time or occasional freelance work involving WordPress.	5,954	22%	1,633	18%	1,590	17%
Work that I do involving WordPress is just a hobby, I don’t make money from it.	1,930	7%	491	6%	411	5%

How does your company or organization work with WordPress?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Company
Number of responses	9,342
Build/design and/or maintain websites or blogs for other people, companies, or organizations.	7,772	27%
Develop or customize themes.	5,404	19%
Build/design and/or maintain websites or blogs for my own use.	4,733	16%
Host websites for customers.	4,397	15%
Develop or distribute plugins.	3,181	11%
Provide educational resources to help others to use WordPress.	1,349	5%
Sponsor and/or attend WordCamps.	1,127	4%
Contribute bug reports and/or patches to WordPress core.	914	3%
Other Option	182	1%
Number of responses			3,457		3,598
We make websites for others.			2,695	24%	2,722	23%
We make websites for ourselves.			2,355	21%	2,470	21%
We develop or customize themes.			1,866	16%	1,910	16%
We host websites for others.			1,564	14%	1,595	14%
We develop or distribute plugins.			1,283	11%	1,342	11%
We provide educational resources to help others to use WordPress.			581	5%	631	5%
We sponsor and/or attend WordCamps.			561	5%	579	5%
We contribute bug reports and/or patches to WordPress core.			444	4%	468	4%
Other Option			98	1%	96	1%

How would you describe the business of your typical client(s)? (2015) / How would you describe the business of your typical client/customer? (2016, 2017)

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Company
Number of responses	9,154		3,317		3,498
Small business	6,893	32%	2,398	31%	2,510	31%
Large business or Enterprise	3,635	17%	1,361	18%	1,447	18%
Non-profit	2,644	12%	934	12%	992	12%
Individual	2,600	12%	888	12%	1,022	12%
Education	2,344	11%	854	11%	966	12%
Website development (sub-contracting)	2,065	10%	637	8%	677	8%
Government	1,410	6%	524	7%	552	7%
Other Option	127	1%	66	1%	64	1%

How does your company or organization use WordPress when developing websites? (2015) / When making websites, how does your company or organization use WordPress? (2016, 2017)

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Company
Number of responses	9,078		3,369		3,552
Mostly as a content management system (CMS)	6,361	70%	2,482	74%	2,640	74%
About half the time as a blogging platform and half the time as a CMS	1,222	13%	370	11%	383	11%
Mostly as a blogging platform	721	8%	137	4%	129	4%
Mostly as an application framework	629	7%	303	9%	303	9%
Other Option	145	2%	78	2%	97	3%

How much is your average WordPress site customized from the original WordPress installation?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Company
Number of responses	9,054		3,302		3,473
A lot of work has been done, the front end is unrecognizable, but the Dashboard still looks like the usual WordPress interface.	5,651	62%	2,025	61%	2,105	61%
There’s a different theme and some plugins have been added.	2,230	25%	799	24%	905	26%
Not at all, it’s still pretty much the same as the original download.	756	8%	302	9%	298	9%
You’d never know this was a WordPress installation, everything (including the admin) has been customized.	417	5%	177	5%	165	5%

Roughly how many currently active WordPress sites has your company or organization built?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Company
Number of responses	8,801
200 +	1,074	12%
51 – 200	1,721	20%
21 – 50	1,718	20%
11 – 20	1,284	15%
6 – 10	1,109	13%
2 – 5	1,418	16%
1	390	4%
0	87	1%
Number of responses			3,358		3,540
Thousands.			291	9%	331	9%
Hundreds.			770	23%	894	25%
Fewer than a hundred.			1,144	34%	1,177	33%
Just a few, but they are really great.			926	28%	896	25%
Prefer not to answer.			228	7%	242	7%

How many person-hours (of your company’s work) does the typical site take to complete?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Company
Number of responses	9,091		3,353		3,522
More than 200	939	10%	309	9%	325	9%
100 – 200	1080	12%	329	10%	367	10%
60 – 100	1541	17%	527	16%	513	15%
40 – 60	1854	20%	583	17%	620	18%
20 – 40	2066	23%	691	21%	685	19%
Fewer than 20	1611	18%	479	14%	519	15%
Prefer not to answer (2016, 2017)			436	13%	493	14%

Roughly what percentage of your company or organization’s output is based around WordPress (as opposed to other platforms or software)?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Company
Number of responses	8,950		3,345		3,503
100 %	1,089	12%	438	13%	480	14%
90 %	1,043	12%	417	12%	459	13%
80 %	955	11%	367	11%	424	12%
70 %	831	9%	305	9%	344	10%
60 %	534	6%	246	7%	226	6%
50 %	973	11%	335	10%	338	10%
40 %	613	7%	245	7%	202	6%
30 %	877	10%	335	10%	310	9%
20 %	806	9%	242	7%	280	8%
10 %	1,039	12%	344	10%	348	10%
0 %	190	2%	72	2%	92	3%

In which of the following ways do you work with WordPress?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Freelancer/Hobbyist
Number of responses	17,009		5,221		5,425
Build/design and/or maintain websites or blogs for other people, companies, or organizations	15,342	34%	4,795	34%	5,064	34%
Develop or customize themes	10,549	24%	2,997	21%	3,021	20%
Host websites for customers	8,142	18%	2,466	17%	2,728	18%
Develop or distribute plugins	4,125	9%	1,395	10%	1,416	9%
Provide educational resources to help others to use WordPress	3,276	7%	1,187	8%	1,308	9%
Sponsor and/or attend WordCamps	1,559	4%	648	5%	724	5%
Contribute bug reports and/or patches to WordPress core	1,107	2%	381	3%	393	3%
Other Option	389	1%	243	2%	299	2%

How would you describe the business of your typical client(s)?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Freelancer/Hobbyist
Number of responses	16,863		5,151		5,353
Small business	14,185	35%	4,342	35%	4,622	36%
Individual	8,513	21%	2,581	21%	2,583	20%
Non-profit	6,585	16%	2,004	16%	2,113	16%
Website development (sub-contracting)	4,301	11%	1,258	10%	1,216	9%
Education	3,458	8%	1,049	8%	1,139	9%
Large business or Enterprise	2,391	6%	805	6%	857	7%
Government	1,150	3%	300	2%	329	3%
Other Option	173	0%	101	1%	99	1%

How do you use WordPress in your development?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Freelancer/Hobbyist
Number of responses	16,768		5,145		5,372
Mostly as a content management system (CMS)	11,754	70%	3,641	71%	3,959	74%
About half the time as a blogging platform and half the time as a CMS	2,825	17%	812	16%	721	13%
Mostly as an application framework	1,012	6%	343	7%	344	6%
Mostly as a blogging platform	992	6%	246	5%	226	4%
Other Option	185	1%	105	2%	122	2%

How much is your average WordPress site customized from the original WordPress installation?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Freelancer/Hobbyist
Number of responses	16,699		5,131		5,317
A lot of work has been done, the front end is unrecognizable, but the Dashboard still looks like the usual WordPress interface.	9,457	57%	2,837	55%	2,998	56%
There’s a different theme and some plugins have been added.	5,526	33%	1,694	33%	1,781	34%
Not at all, it’s still pretty much the same as the original download.	977	6%	341	7%	310	6%
You’d never know this was a WordPress installation, everything (including the admin) has been customized.	739	4%	261	5%	228	4%

How many currently active WordPress sites have you built? (2015) / Roughly how many currently active WordPress sites have you built? (2016, 2017)

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Freelancer/Hobbyist
Number of responses	16,690
200 +	514	3%
51 – 200	1,728	10%
21 – 50	3,000	18%
11 – 20	3,146	19%
6 – 10	3,405	20%
2 – 5	3,838	23%
1	698	4%
0	361	2%
Number of responses			5,165		5367
Thousands.			110	2%	104	2%
Hundreds.			603	12%	713	13%
Fewer than a hundred.			2,264	44%	2,457	46%
Just a few, but they are really great.			1,871	36%	1,813	34%
Prefer not to answer.			319	6%	280	5%

Roughly what percentage of your working time is spent working with WordPress?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Freelancer/Hobbyist
Number of responses	16,658		5,039		5,241
100 %	949	6%	459	9%	461	9%
90 %	1,300	8%	527	10%	540	10%
80 %	1,784	11%	637	13%	711	14%
70 %	1,850	11%	608	12%	627	12%
60 %	1,313	8%	438	9%	465	9%
50 %	2,095	13%	612	12%	639	12%
40 %	1,438	9%	391	8%	384	7%
30 %	2,076	12%	530	11%	511	10%
20 %	1,743	10%	445	9%	429	8%
10 %	1,819	11%	342	7%	419	8%
0 %	291	2%	52	1%	55	1%

How many hours of your work does the typical site take to complete? (2015) / How many hours of work does your typical WordPress project take to launch? (2016, 2017)

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Freelancer/Hobbyist
Number of responses	16,670		5,164		5,378
More than 200	503	3%	222	4%	245	5%
100 – 200	973	6%	386	7%	393	7%
60 – 100	2,277	14%	788	15%	815	15%
40 – 60	3,896	23%	1,153	22%	1,216	23%
20 – 40	6,068	36%	1,487	29%	1,582	29%
Fewer than 20	2,953	18%	712	14%	751	14%
Prefer not to answer			418	8%	376	7%

Which of the following have you done with WordPress?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Professional (Company/Freelancer/Hobbyist)
Number of responses	20,687
I’ve written a theme from scratch.	11,894	25%
I’ve written a plugin.	9,719	21%
I’ve answered a question in the WordPress forum.	8,805	19%
I’ve attended a WordPress meetup.	4,062	9%
I’ve submitted a WordPress bug report.	4,062	9%
I’ve attended a WordCamp.	3,571	8%
I’ve contributed to WordPress documentation.	1,778	4%
Other Option	1,739	4%
I’ve contributed a WordPress core patch.	1,055	2%

What’s the best thing about WordPress?*

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Professional
Number of responses	22,718		7,891		8,267
Easy/simple/user-friendly	9,450	42%	3,454	44%	3,852	47%
Customizable/extensible/modular/plugins/themes	8,601	38%	3,116	39%	3,555	43%
Community/support/documentation/help	3,806	17%	1,211	15%	1,340	16%
Free/open/open source	2,291	10%	802	10%	908	11%
Popular/ubiquitous	249	1%	86	1%	187	2%

 What’s the most frustrating thing about WordPress?*

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Professional
Number of responses	21,144		7,294		7,691
Plugins & themes (abandoned/conflicts/coding standards)	6,122	29%	2,194	30%	2,187	28%
Security/vulnerabilities/hacks	2,321	11%	712	10%	829	11%
Updates	1,544	7%	422	6%	508	7%
Nothing/I don’t know/can’t think of anything	1,276	6%	344	5%	476	6%
Speed/performance/slow/heavy	1,196	6%	644	9%	516	7%

WordPress is as good as, or better than, its main competitors.

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress Professional
Number of responses (this question was not asked in the 2015 survey)			8,672		9,059
Agree			7551	87%	7836	87%
Prefer not to answer			754	9%	795	9%
Disagree			370	4%	428	5%

WordPress Users

Which of the following describes how you use WordPress?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress User
Number of responses	15,169		5,043		5,521
My personal blog (or blogs) uses WordPress.	9,395	36%	3,117	36%	3,424	36%
My company or organization’s website is built with WordPress software.	7,480	29%	2,519	29%	2,841	30%
I have a hobby or side project that has a website built with WordPress.	6,112	23%	1,973	23%	2,200	23%
I write (or otherwise work) for an online publication that uses WordPress.	2,329	9%	806	9%	821	9%
Other Option	872	3%	234	3%	288	3%

Who installed your WordPress website?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress User
Number of responses	15,055		5,020		5,523
I did.	11,216	66%	3,659	73%	4,129	75%
My hosting provider	2,236	13%	667	13%	767	14%
An external company	909	5%	182	4%	178	3%
An internal web person/team or a colleague	874	5%	178	4%	191	3%
A friend or family member	787	5%	192	4%	172	3%
I don’t know	502	3%	145	3%	87	2%
Other Option	345	2%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

How much has the site been customized from the original WordPress installation?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress User
Number of responses	14,789		4,997		5,494
There’s a different theme and some plugins have been added.	7,465	50%	2,337	47%	2,660	48%
A lot of work has been done, the site itself is unrecognizable from the original theme, but the Dashboard still looks like the usual WordPress interface.	4,715	32%	1,707	34%	1,872	34%
Not at all, it’s still pretty much the same as it was when I started out.	1,841	12%	635	13%	673	12%
You’d never know this was a WordPress installation, everything has been customized.	768	5%	321	6%	290	5%

What’s the best thing about WordPress?*

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress User
Number of responses	14,328		4,613		5,076
Easy/simple/user-friendly	7,391	52%	2,276	49%	2,511	49%
Customizable/extensible/modular/plugins/themes	4,219	29%	1,569	34%	1,632	32%
Free/open/open source	1,586	11%	493	11%	538	11%
Community/support/documentation/help	1,085	8%	388	8%	458	9%
Popular/ubiquitous	223	2%	74	2%	48	1%

What’s the most frustrating thing about WordPress?*

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress User
Number of responses	13,681		4,287		4,758
Plugins & themes (abandoned/conflicts/coding standards)	2,531	19%	1,183	28%	1,300	27%
Customization/design/look/template	1,273	9%	381	9%	408	9%
Code/coding/PHP	931	7%	306	7%	277	6%
Updates	926	7%	209	5%	296	6%
Security/vulnerabilites/hacks	785	6%	255	6%	292	6%

WordPress is as good as, or better than, its main competitors.

	2015		2016		2017
Group: WordPress User
Number of responses			5,026		5,498
Agree			4,038	80%	4,462	81%
Prefer not to answer			737	15%	782	14%
Disagree			254	5%	255	5%

All Respondents

Can you (truthfully!) say “I make my living from WordPress”?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: All Respondents
Number of responses (combination of all three groups from 2015; this question was not broken out by group in 2016-2017)	42,236		14,906		15,616
Not really, but I do get some or all of my income as a result of working with WordPress.	16,607	39%	5,408	36%	5,702	37%
Yes.	9,635	23%	4,791	32%	5,033	32%
No.	15,995	38%	4,713	32%	4,882	31%

Which devices do you access WordPress on?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: All Respondents
Number of responses (combination of all three groups from 2015; this question was not broken out by group in 2016-2017)	42,433
Web	40,503	95%
Android phone	15,396	36%
iPhone	12,353	29%
iPad	11,748	28%
Android tablet	9,223	22%
Desktop app, like MarsEdit	6,018	14%
Other Option	1837	4%
Number of responses (this question was not broken out by group in 2016-2017)			14,840		15,597
Web browser on a desktop or laptop			14,160	54%	15,052	55%
Web browser on a mobile device (tablet or phone)			7,952	30%	8,248	30%
An app on a mobile device (table or phone)			3,309	13%	3,311	12%
A desktop app like MarsEdit			517	2%	498	2%
Other Option			282	1%	240	1%

WordPress now updates minor & security releases automatically for you. Check all that apply: (question not asked in 2016, 2017)

	2015		2016		2017
Group: All Respondents
Number of responses (combination of all three groups)	39,726
I love auto-updates.	17,367	44%
I’d like to see auto-updates for plugins.	12,796	32%
Initially, I was nervous about auto updates.	11,868	30%
Auto updates still make me nervous.	10,809	27%
Auto updates don’t make me nervous now.	10,708	27%
I’d like to see auto-updates for themes.	10,449	26%
I’d like to see auto updates for major versions of WordPress.	10,225	26%
This is the first I’ve heard of auto-updates.	8,660	22%
I hate auto-updates.	3,293	8%

What is your gender?*

	2015		2016		2017
Group: All respondents (This question was not asked in the 2015 survey.)
Number of responses			13,953		14,680
Male			10,978	78.68%	11,570	78.81%
Female			2,340	16.77%	2,511	21.70%
Prefer not to answer			601	4.31%	562	3.83%
Transgender			11	0.08%	8	0.05%
Nonbinary			8	0.06%	17	0.12%
Genderqueer			4	0.03%	3	0.02%
Androgynous			6	0.04%	5	0.03%
Fluid			3	0.02%	4	0.03%
Demimale			2	0.01%	0	0

Where are you located?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: All respondents (This question was not asked in the 2015 survey.)
Number of responses			14,562		15,343
United States			3,770	25.89%	4,067	26.51%
India			1,456	10.00%	1,424	9.28%
United Kingdom			810	5.56%	900	5.87%
Germany			555	3.81%	729	4.75%
Canada			511	3.51%	599	3.90%
Australia			389	2.67%	460	3.00%
Italy			298	2.05%	356	2.32%
Netherlands			343	2.36%	350	2.28%
France			232	1.59%	283	1.84%
Bangladesh			257	1.76%	263	1.71%
Spain			271	1.86%	252	1.64%
Brazil			239	1.64%	251	1.64%
Pakistan			254	1.74%	240	1.56%
Indonesia			230	1.58%	226	1.47%
Iran, Islamic Republic of			190	1.30%	173	1.13%
Sweden			144	0.99%	173	1.13%
Nigeria			196	1.35%	172	1.12%
South Africa			193	1.33%	172	1.12%
Russian Federation			181	1.24%	151	0.98%
Poland			129	0.89%	137	0.89%
Romania			144	0.99%	132	0.86%
Switzerland			122	0.84%	130	0.85%
Philippines			92	0.63%	125	0.81%
China			136	0.93%	123	0.80%
Austria			89	0.61%	122	0.80%
Ukraine			105	0.72%	118	0.77%
Denmark			107	0.73%	114	0.74%
Greece			120	0.82%	114	0.74%
Portugal			94	0.65%	109	0.71%
Vietnam			101	0.69%	108	0.70%
Mexico			94	0.65%	105	0.68%
Nepal			76	0.52%	97	0.63%
Ireland			72	0.49%	94	0.61%
Israel			78	0.54%	94	0.61%
New Zealand			77	0.53%	91	0.59%
Finland			63	0.43%	90	0.59%
Turkey			91	0.62%	86	0.56%
Malaysia			91	0.62%	81	0.53%
Belgium			84	0.58%	79	0.51%
Norway			66	0.45%	79	0.51%
Argentina			65	0.45%	76	0.50%
Bulgaria			74	0.51%	72	0.47%
Japan			61	0.42%	68	0.44%
Thailand			69	0.47%	67	0.44%
Czech Republic			76	0.52%	66	0.43%
Serbia			89	0.61%	63	0.41%
Kenya			58	0.40%	62	0.40%
Colombia			39	0.27%	59	0.38%
Egypt			40	0.27%	52	0.34%

What is your age?

	2015		2016		2017
Group: All Respondents
Number of responses (This question was not asked in 2015.)			14,944		15,636
60 and over			1,139	8%	1,641	11%
50-59			1,537	10%	1,996	13%
40-49			2,205	15%	2,643	17%
30-39			3,914	26%	3,972	25%
20-29			5,013	34%	4,444	28%
Under 20			1142	8%	941	6%

Thank you to everyone who made time to fill out the survey — we’re so happy you use WordPress, and we’re very grateful that you’re willing to share your experiences with us! Thanks also to everyone who spread the word about this survey, and to those of you who read all the way to the bottom of this post.

*Text Field Questions: Each survey included some questions that could be answered only by filling out a text field. In the case of the questions “What is the best thing about WordPress?” and “What is the most frustrating thing about WordPress?” we listed the five most common responses, aggregated when applicable. In the case of the question “What is your gender?” in the 2016 and 2017 surveys, we aggregated responses as best we could. Responses meant to obscure respondents’ gender entirely are aggregated in “prefer not to answer.”

Have you given the WordPress mobile apps a try lately? We’ve been working hard to make sure our iOS and Android apps are simple to use and have the features you need to blog right from your phone or tablet. Here are a few recent additions and updates that make blogging on the go easier:

Add Categories and Tags

Before publishing a blog post, you can add categories and tags right in the app’s post editor. To add categories and tags to a post in the iOS editor, tap the … at the top right, then Options. On Android, tap the gear icon at the top right.

(Need a refresher? Categories allow you to group related posts together on your site, and tags help people find you in the WordPress.com Reader. Keep in mind that the Reader will filter out posts using more than 15 categories and tags total, so stick to 15 or fewer.)

Edit Post Slugs and Excerpts

A post slug is the part of a post’s URL after the .com (or the .blog, .org, .net, or whichever kind of address you use). WordPress generates one for you automatically based on your post’s title — but if your post has a very long title, it will also have a very long URL. Now, you can edit your slugs in the apps to shorten them.

You can also add and edit excerpts — little summaries of your posts — in the app. Some themes display post excerpts on your home page; if yours does, you’ll want to add one to each post. They also display in the WordPress.com Reader, giving you more control over what appears there.

To find the slug and excerpt in the apps, go back into your post’s settings: head to a post and tap on … → Options (iOS) or on the gear icon (Android), Scroll to the bottom of the screen to find the slug and excerpt options.

Add a Featured Image

Lots of themes use Featured Images to draw readers’ eyes to your posts and pages. And when readers share your posts, the Featured Image is often used by Twitter, Facebook, and other networks. It’s the first part of a post most people see, and plays a big role in whether people decide to read.

To add a featured image to a post, open a post and go back to — you guessed it! — …→ Options (iOS) or the gear icon (Android). You can change an existing featured image there, too.

Easier Reading and Accessibility

The apps have seen several changes to make them easier to use, including better button and image descriptions for screen readers and improved zooming to increase text size. If you’ve had trouble with small text in one of the apps before or found something to be inaccessible, give it another try and be sure to let our support team know if you see areas where we can improve further.

In-App Support

If you have any questions, you can reach our support team right in the apps by going to Me → Help & Support → Contact Us. We’d love to hear your feedback!

Don’t have the WordPress mobile app yet? Download it here.

Today we’re excited to announce two new premium themes: Small Business and Photo Blog.

Small Business

Small Business is a new premium theme for your entrepreneurial endeavors. At an introductory price of just $5 (or free with the Premium or Business plans), it’s a worthwhile investment for your business.

We know that running a business is no small task, which is why Small Business includes comprehensive video instructions for its key features so you can get your business’ website online faster.

Small Business was designed with a simple, single-column layout for a consistent reading experience no matter the device or screen size, and uses system fonts to reduce page-load time. We’ve also included a few tailored features just for small businesses, like:

Contact Information: Your customers are busy people – that’s why easy access to essential information like your phone number and address is so important. Small Business displays a banner with your contact information on every page and turns all the information into links, so your customers can call, email, or find you on a map with a click.

Promo Area: Do you have a new product coming out? A seasonal sale? A special event? Whatever it is, you’ll want to put this information right on the front page to make sure your customers see and act on it. Small Business includes a Promo Area area that makes it as easy as flipping a switch!

Style Packs: If Small Business’ bold design doesn’t feel right for you, choose one of the three included Style Packs — Modern Flair, Country Charm, or Classic Elegance — for a different look and feel with the click of a button.

Learn more about how to use all of Small Business’ features with these step-by-step instructions and videos or by checking out the demo — or just try it out on your own site!

Photo Blog

Photo Blog is our new premium theme for visual storytellers. It’s available for $36, or comes free with the Premium or Business plans.

Photo Blog comes with many features that help your photographs shine:

Layout: Along with its default square layout, Photo Blog comes with two additional layout options. The Grid layout adds space between your images, while Masonry creates an interlocking grid, which respects your image orientation and pieces them cleanly together.

Featured Images Filter: Photo Blog comes with a variety of image filters you can apply to your Featured Images. Choose from faded Reyes, black-and-white Willow, saturated Lo-fi, or one of the other 23 options.

Style Packs: If you’re searching for a different look for Photo Blog, check out its Style Packs — Modern, Elegant, Retro Photo, or Vintage Paper — to change up your site’s appearance.

You can learn more about Photo Blog by checking out these step-by-step instructions and videos, or visiting the theme’s demo site!

As part of our commitment to privacy and transparency, we’re updating our Privacy Policy. We want to give you more information about how we collect and use personal information — in a more organized and readable format.

“Your privacy is critically important to us.” These are the first words of our Privacy Policy, and words we live by when designing and building our products.

Here are some of the updates you’ll see:

• We split the Privacy Policy up into sections titled: Information We Collect, How We Use Information, Sharing Information, Choices, and Security. Our aim is to make the Policy easier to follow and understand. We really want you to read the whole thing!
• We added specific information about how our Privacy Policy applies to Jetpack sites and the WordPress mobile app.
• We included real-world, concrete examples to illustrate our policies and give you a clearer picture of how we collect and use personal information. For example, to explain our disclosures about access to mobile device data, we say: “[i]f you give us permission to access the photographs on your mobile device’s camera roll, our Services may access the photos stored on your device when you upload a really amazing photograph of the sunrise to your website.”
• We provided more information, in the Choices section, about how you can limit and control the data that you provide to us when you use our services.

New Privacy Policy Effective January 3, 2018

Our new Privacy Policy will take effect on January 3, 2018. We’re releasing it now to give you time to take a look at it. If you continue to use our services on or after January 3, 2018, that will indicate your consent to the new Privacy Policy.

….And Stay Tuned for What’s Next

Our commitment to your privacy means more than just updating our Privacy Policy. We’re continually thinking about new ways to be more transparent about how we use data, and are building new tools and features to give you more control over the data you entrust to us.

Some of these efforts are in anticipation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — a new EU privacy regulation that will affect Automattic and many of our customers. You can read more about our GDPR-readiness plans here.

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Although we updated a lot of the wording in our Privacy Policy, our core values remain unchanged: We strive to be fully transparent. We help protect our users from overreaching government demands for information. We keep the data we have a reason to keep. And we are thoughtful about how we collect, use, and share personal information.

The WordPress project recently released WordPress 4.9, “Tipton” — a new major release named in honor of musician and band leader Billy Tipton. Read on to find out more about this and other interesting news from around the WordPress world in November.

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WordPress 4.9 “Tipton”

On November 16, WordPress 4.9 was released with new features for publishers and developers alike. Release highlights include design locking, scheduling, and previews in the Customizer, an even more secure and usable code editing experience, a new gallery widget, and text widget improvements.

The follow up security and maintenance, v4.9.1, has now been released to tighten up the security of WordPress as a whole.

To get involved in building WordPress Core, jump into the #core channel in the Making WordPress Slack group, and follow the Core team blog.

Apply to Speak At WordCamp Europe 2018

The next edition of WordCamp Europe takes place in June, 2018. While the organizing team is still in the early stages of planning, they are accepting speaker applications.

WordCamp Europe is the largest WordCamp in the world and, along with WordCamp US, one of the flagship events of the WordCamp program — speaking at this event is a great way to give back to the global WordPress community by sharing your knowledge and expertise with thousands of WordPress enthusiasts.

Diversity Outreach Speaker Training Initiative

To help WordPress community organizers offer diverse speaker lineups, a new community initiative has kicked off to use existing speaker training workshops to demystify speaking requirements and help participants gain confidence in their ability to share their WordPress knowledge in a WordCamp session.

The working group behind this initiative will be meeting regularly to discuss and plan how they can help local communities to train speakers for WordCamps and other events.

To get involved in this initiative, you can join the meetings at 5pm UTC every other Wednesday in the #community-team channel of the Making WordPress Slack group.

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Further Reading:

• WordCamp US 2017 is happening on December 1-3 in Nashville, with the annual State of the Word talk happening on Saturday afternoon — the live stream of the entire event is available to view for free.
• Tide, a new service from XWP designed to help users make informed plugin choices, is due to launch at WordCamp US.
• Gutenberg development is continuing rapidly, with a packed new release and a focus on usability testing.
• After some discussion among the community, a new type of micro-regional WordCamp is going to be introduced into the global WordCamp program.

If you have a story we should consider including in the next “Month in WordPress” post, please submit it here.