How Black Nova Designs can help you through the WP Engine vs. WordPress dispute
The recent dispute between Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress, and WP Engine has caused considerable disruption for thousands WordPress users, particularly those hosting their sites on WP Engine. With WP Engine now banned from accessing WordPress.org resources, thousands of websites have been impacted, leaving businesses and individuals without crucial updates to their themes and plugins. At Black Nova Designs (BND), we’re here to help those affected by this situation, offering reliable WordPress recovery, maintenance, and hosting services without restrictions.
How the WordPress and WP Engine dispute started
The issue first arose in mid-September, when Matt Mullenweg raised concerns about WP Engine’s business practices, criticising the company for disabling revision tracking – a feature central to safeguarding user data. He also noted that WP Engine, despite making billions of dollars, has not contributed to the WordPress Foundation, and that their branding may cause confusion by appearing too closely aligned with WordPress itself. As dedicated WordPress website designers, we started keeping a close eye on the news as it developed.
At the end of September 2024, Mullenweg moved to block WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org resources, which means websites hosted on WP Engine can no longer easily update plugins or themes. These are key features that help keep thousands of WordPress sites from around the world functioning and secure. Around 40% of all websites in existence are built on the WordPress platform, and while many are in no way dependent on WP Engine, many are.
How this impacts WP Engine users
The ban has caused serious issues for thousands of websites owned by businesses and individuals around the world. Some site owners are now unable to update their WP Engine themes and plugins, exposing them to potential security risks. That means businesses relying on WP Engine to keep their sites running smoothly have been left vulnerable, unable to implement the necessary updates that keep their websites safe from cyberattacks.
How Black Nova Designs can help
At Black Nova Designs, we specialise in WordPress design, recovery, hosting and maintenance, and our services remain unaffected by the WordPress and WP Engine dispute. However every website is unique and some of our clients may use WP Engine plugins, and we know there are plenty of people out there with sites more seriously impacted by the dispute. Here’s how we can support you:
Open source hosting with no restrictions: We provide open-source hosting for WordPress sites and own our own servers. This means we’re not reliant on external providers, and our clients can continue using WordPress themes and plugins without fear of service disruption. We offer Shared Hosting, VPS and dedicated hosting so please get in touch for any hosting requirements you may have.
Plugin and theme support: If your WordPress site is hosted by WP Engine and your plugins are no longer functioning properly, we can help find alternative solutions to get your site back up and running.
Free and straightforward hosting transfer: If your site is currently hosted on WP Engine and you want to move to a new hosting provider, we offer free hosting transfers to our servers. This includes seamless migration with minimal downtime, so your business can continue to operate without disruption.
Expert WordPress recovery services: If your website has already been impacted by the dispute, our team of WordPress experts can help recover your site, implement necessary updates and make sure it’s secure moving forward.
We’ve been supporting WordPress users for years and we pride ourselves on offering our customers a jargon-free service when we’re explaining the ins and outs of web design and hosting! We’ll work with you to ensure your WordPress site is optimised for your specific needs and that your business can continue to operate without interruption. We’re based in the UK, so our team is on hand to provide guidance, whether you’re dealing with WP Engine plugin issues or need regular maintenance to keep your website running smoothly.
If you’ve been affected by the ongoing WP Engine and WordPress dispute, don’t worry—you’re not alone. Black Nova Designs is here to help you recover, secure, and future-proof your WordPress website. Get in touch with us today to discuss your situation, and we’ll offer a solution tailored to your needs.
Contact us at and we’ll move your site from WP Engine to our servers for free, ensuring your WordPress site remains stable and secure.