WP-Mix

Working as a developer at WordPress.org means that I get to log in and help people, update my plugins, and make sure my profile information is current. For quite awhile, however, I was confused about the various URLs that are involved with logging in and managing profiles, preferences, and so forth.. The whole WordPress.org domain is evolving into sort of a confusing hodge-podge of mish-mashed pages and content, so this post aims to help sort things out for anyone else who is registered at WordPress.org..

Your WordPress Developer Profile

If you’re a registered developer at WordPress.org, you have a “Developer Profile”, which is available at the following URLs:

https://profiles.wordpress.org/username/
https://profiles.wordpress.org/username/profile/edit/
https://profiles.wordpress.org/username/profile/notifications/

..where username corresponds to your registered username. For example, my username is “specialk”, so my profile page is located at:

https://profiles.wordpress.org/specialk/

As you can see, the profiles subdomain is used for this page. So to log in to your WordPress.org Developer Profile, you can visit this page:

https://login.wordpress.org/wp-login.php

There also should be a login form right there on your Developer Profile page, but the WP folks may change that at some point. Notice, FWIW, the subdomain used for this page, login. This is the second domain we’ve encountered so far..

Your WordPress Support Profile

Now the confusion begins to set in.. there is another set of pages located on yet another subdomain that corresponds to your “Support Profile”. Anyone who registers at WordPress.org gets their own set of Support Profile pages, located at the following URLs:

https://wordpress.org/support/profile/username
https://wordpress.org/support/profile/username/edit
https://wordpress.org/support/profile/username/favorites

For example, my own Support Profile pages are accessible via:

https://wordpress.org/support/profile/specialk

Notice that these pages are hosted on the main wordpress.org domain, so no subdomains used for these profile pages.

Your WordPress User Profile

If you’re not confused yet, you will be.. now we get to your “User Profile”, which you also get when you register for an account at WordPress.org. Your User Profile pages also are hosted on the main wordpress.org domain (instead of a subdomain), and are located at the following URLs:

https://wordpress.org/support/users/username/
https://wordpress.org/support/users/username/edit/
https://wordpress.org/support/users/username/topics/
https://wordpress.org/support/users/username/replies/
https://wordpress.org/support/users/username/favorites/
https://wordpress.org/support/users/username/subscriptions/

For example, my User Profile pages are accessible via:

https://wordpress.org/support/users/specialk/

So you have to squint to notice the difference between your Support Profile pages and your User Profile pages: the former references /profile/ in the URL, and the latter references /users/. Take a look and check it out. Maybe they are part of the same account or whatever, but they contain different account/user information.

Your WordPress Codex Profile

Last and possibly least, there is yet another set of pages that users may discover as they attempt to navigate the labyrinthian maze that is WordPress.org:

https://codex.wordpress.org/username
https://codex.wordpress.org/username:Userlogin
https://codex.wordpress.org/username:Preferences

For example, replacing username with my username, “specialk”, I can access this fourth set of pages via the following URL:

https://codex.wordpress.org/specialk

I’m not entirely sure of the purpose for this fourth set of user pages, but it seems to have something to do with adding information to the WP Codex. I am guessing this based on the subdomain used for the URLs: codex.

But wait, there’s more..

As if all of that weren’t enough, the WP team not too long ago decided to replace some but not all of the information contained in the once-great WP Codex with the “Code Reference” (or whatever they’re calling it now). So for example, you can find information about a lot of WP stuff at the original Codex URLs:

https://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/get_posts
https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/get_avatar
https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/the_posts_pagination

..and many other functions are described there at codex.wordpress.org, it had been that way for years, very straightforward with all code information in a single, uniform location. Ah but lately a lot of the code information has been moving to another location, developer.wordpress.org, for example:

https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_avatar/
https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_sidebar/
https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/the_post_navigation/

And there is no discernable rhyme nor reason as to why, when, or where the information is moving.. it’s just moving around all over the place. Some functions and code infos are located at the WP Codex, and some of the information has moved to the Code Reference, and yet other information is available in both locations, often with different details and specifics.

A little frustrating

So yeah.. it’s utterly confusing these days trying to keep track of the seemingly arbitrary changes happening over at WordPress.org. And to top it off, they keep changing the URLs for resources like the WP Codex, Plugin and Theme Pages, Support Tickets, and everything else. And of course let’s not forget about the confusing design changes that suck up even more time, requiring users to re-learn the layout and location of all the things.

What are they thinking over there? I don’t know, but as a simple user who is just trying to get work done, all of the changes and moving stuff around is just completely uninspiring and a huge waste of everyone’s time. It is very frustrating, to put it mildly. Pro tip: if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

Domain or not domain

So at this point, and just to summarize a bit, users registered at WordPress.org may find themselves on any of the following domains and/or subdomains:

• login.wordpress.org – login page
• codex.wordpress.org – codex pages
• profiles.wordpress.org – profile pages
• developer.wordpress.org – developer pages
• wordpress.org/support/users/ – user pages
• wordpress.org/support/profile/ – profile pages

..and there could be more, either now or at some point in the future.

Take-home message

I’m not sure if there is one, other than to let you know that there are multiple places at WordPress.org where your user information is available. I tried searching for some official documentation on all of these different user profiles and pages, but no luck as of yet. Hopefully someone with better understanding will help guide us to enlightenment. If that sounds like you, feel free to contact me. Thanks! :)