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Kryterion and Automattic partner to create a gold standard in WordPress developer credentials. March 18, 2026 Discover more Blogging Resources & Services Content Management Social Networks The web has a WordPress problem - not the platform itself, but the people who build on it. As of March 2026, in fact, WordPress powers 42.6% of all websites around the world - the undisputed backbone of the internet. WordPress is nine times as popular as its nearest competitor, Shopify, which holds a 5.1% share. Yet, for all the dominance, the industry has never had a rigorous and standardized way of verifying that a developer truly has the skills to operate at enterprise scale. The gap is finally closing. Phoenix-based firm Kryterion - which has over 25 years' experience in secure test development and delivery - and Automattic, the distributed technology company behind WordPress, WooCommerce, Tumblr, and Jetpack, among others, announced a strategic partnership to launch the Advanced Professional WordPress Developer certification program on March 18, 2026. While the exam went live in mid-February, following a beta test completed in January, it has already drawn attention from developers, agencies, and enterprise hiring teams worldwide. Why now? WordPress's reach extends far beyond the personal blogs it once powered: Salesforce pivoted 2,000 marketers to digital with WordPress VIP; Al Jazeera built its digital presence across more than 70 worldwide bureaus; Capgemini published over 20,000 pages in over 10 languages across 38 sites; Meta launched a secure e-commerce experience in under 30 days. These are not hobbyist deployments - they are mission-critical digital operations. And yet, until now, there was no single credential that could tell an enterprise CTO whether a developer was truly equipped to work at that level. The certification tests advanced competency across eight domains that map directly to real enterprise challenges: WordPress Core architecture, Custom Development, Security, Performance, Change Management, Debugging, Scalability and Architecture, and Disaster Recovery. Automattic's enterprise division, WordPress VIP - which has supported the largest WordPress deployments for more than 18 years - led the curriculum development. Some of the top WordPress agencies globally participated in testing the credential before launch. "We're excited to join Automattic to empower developers with respected credentials that reflect their real-world skills," said Angela Street, Chief Customer Success at Kryterion. "By combining Kryterion's full-service certification offerings with Automattic's deep connection to the web development community, we're unlocking new opportunities for developers to grow their careers and help businesses thrive online." The credentials economy is booming. The Kryterion and Automattic launch lands in the middle of a significant macro-shift in tech hiring. According to a 2025 report, 53% of employers removed degree requirements -representing a 30% increase from 2024. Cloud computing, cybersecurity, data analytics, and DevOps are fields where certifications and hands-on practice now carry more weight than a university transcript, and the same shift is beginning to reshape web development hiring. For developers in the WordPress ecosystem, a portable, third-party validated credential has never been more valuable. IT leaders report that certified staff add a value of $30,000 per year to the organization, with a noticeable increase in productivity from employees who earn certifications, according to Skillsoft. And, as per last year's C-Suite Perspectives report, organizations that invest in IT certifications report a 36% boost in productivity and a 35% reduction in time to troubleshoot issues. Kryterion brings its Webassessor platform to the delivery infrastructure: secure dual-camera online proctoring, psychometric support, and flexible multi-modal exam options. The company began supporting Automattic's item development process in September 2025 - a notably fast development track for a credential of this psychometric scope. For the WordPress ecosystem, this represents the kind of structural credentialing that cloud computing and cybersecurity sectors have had for years. It has been a long time coming. Disclosure: This article mentions clients of an Espacio portfolio company.

Internet Archive and Automattic launch new tool to combat link rot. Digital decay affects nearly 40 percent of links from the last decade. The Internet Archive and Automattic launched the Link Fixer WordPress plug-in to address link rot, where URLs become broken, by scanning links, archiving pages via the Wayback Machine, and redirecting users to preserved versions. The Internet Archive operates as a nonprofit organization focused on archiving the internet to preserve digital content for future generations. Its Wayback Machine indexes the web by capturing widespread snapshots of pages over time. This week, the organization announced a new tool aimed at assisting WordPress users in maintaining the digital health of their articles through automated link preservation. Automattic, the company responsible for developing WordPress, collaborated with the Wayback Machine on this initiative. The resulting Link Fixer plug-in targets the problem of link rot, defined as the process where online articles accumulate broken links - URLs that previously directed to active pages but now produce error messages or lead to dead ends. Stay ahead of the curve! A 2024 study by Pew Research revealed that nearly 40 percent of links existing in 2013 were no longer active. This digital decay affects a wide range of web content, including pages from news outlets, government websites, Wikipedia entries, and tweets. The plug-in functions by examining WordPress posts for outbound links. It then cross-references these links against the Wayback Machine's database of archived versions. In cases where no archived version exists, Link Fixer automatically captures new snapshots of the referenced articles to create backups. When an originally linked web page becomes inaccessible, the plug-in intervenes by redirecting readers to the corresponding archived version stored in the Wayback Machine. This mechanism ensures continuous access without interrupting the user's reading experience or causing a loss of service. Beyond external links, the tool also archives the user's own WordPress posts. This feature contributes to the long-term preservation of the site's original content, safeguarding it against potential future unavailability. Link Fixer operates continuously to monitor the status of a page's links. If a link that previously went offline becomes available again at its original location, the plug-in updates its behavior to redirect users back to that restored original page rather than the archived copy. This dynamic adjustment prioritizes the most current accessible version. A detailed write-up on GitHub describes the plug-in's controls as user-friendly and highly customizable. Users can adjust settings such as the frequency of link validity scans. The program sets this interval to every three days by default, allowing site administrators to tailor the process to their specific needs.

The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine has partnered with Automattic to launch Link Fixer, a WordPress plugin designed to combat "link rot"—the phenomenon of online links becoming inactive over time. A 2024 Pew Research study found nearly 40% of links from 2013 were no longer active. The plugin scans WordPress posts for outbound links and cross-references them with the Wayback Machine's archives. If no archived version exists, it automatically creates new snapshots. When a linked webpage goes offline, the tool redirects readers to archived versions. The plugin also archives users' own posts to ensure longevity. Link Fixer continuously monitors links and will redirect to original pages if they come back online. Users can customise scanning frequency, with a default setting of every three days.