12 April, 2025 – 3 min read

Timeless WordPress: Why its core design still shines

Written by Shaun Jenkins

In a digital landscape defined by what often feels like relentless, bewildering, technological churn, it strikes me just how impressive many foundational elements of WordPress are given their continued relevance and utility.

This isn’t to downplay the remarkable advancements within the WordPress ecosystem (and web technology more generally). I continue to be impressed by the block editor’s evolution, steadily becoming a de-facto standard for content creation across the web, and by the richer user interactions that modern JavaScript technologies afford. Yet, alongside this appreciation for the new, I find technology that was built thoughtfully once, and requires little fundamental change (if any), to be the true measure of something that’s good. There’s an inherent appeal to systems that endure not through constant reinvention, but because their original design addressed a core need so effectively that a better way has yet to present itself.

Three particular parts of WordPress consistently come to my mind in this context: Taxonomies, Custom Post Types, and the Comments system. It’s notable how little their core architecture and design has changed since being introduced in WordPress. And if I were to speculate on their future, my sense is that their fundamental nature will likely remain largely unchanged.

In a world that often equates change with progress, such apparent stasis could easily be misconstrued as a precursor to irrelevance or extinction. However, the truth is precisely the opposite. These elements haven’t changed because they haven’t needed to. They perform their designated roles in structuring, organising and facilitating interaction with content with an exceptional, enduring efficacy. They are, perhaps, quiet testaments to solving the right problems well.

One might draw a comparison to a musical instrument, such as the piano. Technology has certainly spawned variations – versatile MIDI keyboards, sophisticated digital pianos offering myriad sounds and features. Yet, the essential eighty-eight key interface, the core mechanics that produce those familiar tones, have remained remarkably constant for centuries. These technological iterations offer new possibilities and conveniences, but they don’t invalidate the fundamental brilliance of the original design. The acoustic piano endures because its form and function achieve a near-perfect synthesis for its purpose.

In a similar vein, WordPress Taxonomies, Post Types and Comments address fundamental requirements of content management – classification, differentiation and discourse – with an architectural elegance and robustness that has, so far, largely obviated the need for reimagining. They work. And they work exceptionally well. It leads one to consider that perhaps some technological solutions, by addressing core human or systemic needs with such directness and inherent soundness, achieve a kind of timeless utility, quietly weathering the shifting tides of change by virtue of their foundational strength.

– Shaun

I've been building tech for over 11 years. Made ONFORM and Campaign Pro as owner of Going Bold. Lead the team behind the FAW ecosystem. Work at Hopp Studio - helping to grow a digital agency.