ActivityPub for WordPress

Tag: ActivityPub

  • Roadmap 2026 — Charting the stars of the open social web

    ActivityPub and the Fediverse had a great year in 2025. With that foundation in place, our 2026 roadmap is all about what comes next: better discoverability, richer interactions, and a smoother experience across the open social web.

    Astronaut Wapuu, the yellow WordPress mascot in a dark blue space suit, floats in a starry space scene while holding a glowing cosmic map filled with planets, constellations, and orbital paths.

    As always, this roadmap is not set in stone. Priorities may shift based on community feedback, WordPress developments, and changes across the wider Fediverse. But it should give you a clear sense of where we’re heading this year.

    Increase Findability and Reach

    One of the main themes for 2026 is discoverability. We want WordPress sites to be easier to find, follow, and recommend across the Fediverse.

    FASP Support

    We plan to implement support for Fediverse Auxiliary Service Providers (FASPs).

    FASPs are independent services that enhance Fediverse servers with features such as cross-instance search, recommendations, and spam detection. By integrating with these services, WordPress content can appear in Fediverse discovery tools, making it easier for people to find and follow WordPress blogs.

    This work is already in progress, and you can follow the implementation here:

    https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/pull/2312

    Starter Packs

    Starter Packs are shareable collections of recommended accounts designed to help people discover communities more easily.

    They address the “empty feed problem” by giving new users curated lists of accounts to follow. This makes it easier to find interesting voices and become part of the network more quickly.

    Reader v2

    The next phase of the Reader will focus on deeper interaction and a more complete social experience.

    A screenshot showing the current beta version of the reader.

    Reactions

    We plan to show likes, boosts, and comments directly in the Reader view, so users can see how posts are being received across the network.

    Interactions

    Users will be able to interact with Fediverse content directly from the Reader — including:

    • Commenting on posts
    • Liking posts
    • Boosting posts

    This will make the Reader a fully interactive space, not just a passive timeline.

    Activity Stream

    We’ll introduce an Activity Stream to notify users about important requests and events, such as:

    • Follow requests
    • Starter Pack invitations
    • Other actions that require approval

    Users will be able to accept or decline these directly from the interface.

    Reply Context Import

    We also plan to improve how conversation threads are displayed.

    By parsing reply collections and context from incoming posts, the Reader will be able to fill in missing parts of a discussion, even when some replies were created before the post was indexed. This will make threads feel more complete and easier to follow.

    Direct Messages

    As part of the evolving Reader experience, we’re planning an initial version of Direct Messages.

    This will start as a proof of concept, helping us explore the technical challenges while already delivering a useful and frequently requested feature. Over time, we’ll iterate based on real-world usage and feedback.

    Client-to-Server API

    In addition to server-to-server federation, ActivityPub also defines a Client-to-Server (C2S) API:

    This API is primarily intended for mobile apps and other clients, allowing them to publish content directly to a server.

    For WordPress, this could:

    • Enable mobile or third-party clients
    • Allow WordPress to act as a proxy for other publishing tools
    • Open new workflows for federated content

    The first step will be enabling POST requests to the Outbox endpoint using application passwords.

    This is currently being worked on, and you can track the implementation here:

    https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/pull/2851

    Ongoing Improvements and Interoperability

    Alongside these larger initiatives, we’ll continue working on a wide range of improvements across the plugin.

    A key focus is better interoperability with the broader WordPress ecosystem. We want it to be easier for other plugins to integrate with the Fediverse, so that features like comments, reactions, events, and other content types can work seamlessly across federated networks.

    We’re also continuing to refine the experience for long-form content. WordPress is known for blogging and publishing, and we want to make sure that articles, threads, and conversations feel natural and readable across the Fediverse.

    In addition, we’ll experiment with smaller features and fun ideas, such as activity statistics and other lightweight insights, to help site owners better understand their reach and interactions.

    A dashboard widget that presents an initial Fediverse Stats overview, including monthly comparisons, engagement trends over time, and top supporters.

    These improvements may be smaller in scope than the major roadmap items, but together they play an important role in making WordPress a more capable and enjoyable citizen of the Fediverse.

    Staying Informed

    We’ll continue to share updates throughout the year.

    Each release will include posts about new features and improvements. For larger initiatives, like Reader v2 or Direct Messages, we’ll publish deeper updates as the work evolves.

    As always, your feedback helps shape the future of the plugin and the growing WordPress Fediverse community.

    If you have thoughts or ideas, we’d love to hear them in the comments. 🚀

  • 7.9.0 — Spring Cleaning 🪣🧹

    Every now and then, it’s time to tidy things up.

    An image of a Wapuu in a space-suite, cleaning the milky way.

    Version 7.9.0 is a spring-cleaning release: fewer rough edges, better defaults, and a lot of small improvements that make the plugin feel smoother and more predictable in daily use. No big rewrites — just many thoughtful fixes and refinements.

    And yes, there’s one change you’ll notice immediately.

    Emoji, But Make Them Emoji 🎺

    Custom emoji from the Fediverse now finally show up as… emoji.

    Instead of seeing placeholders like :sad_trombone:, federated posts now render the actual custom emoji they were meant to display. It’s a small detail, but one that makes conversations feel more human, and a lot less like reading raw markup.

    A screenshot of a comments section of a WordPress blog, showing comments with custom emojis.

    Sometimes polish really is about the little things.

    A Healthier, More Predictable Setup 🩺

    A quiet but important part of this release focuses on making things fail less often — and recover better when they do.

    Version 7.9.0 adds new Site Health checks to detect common issues that can silently break federation, including missing scheduled events and security plugins blocking REST API access. When possible, the plugin now attempts to repair these problems automatically.

    We also tightened up activity scheduling and outbox processing to reduce edge cases where federation could stall or behave inconsistently. These changes don’t add new buttons or screens, but they make ActivityPub for WordPress more resilient in real-world setups.

    Following, Reading, and the Social Graph 👥

    This release also includes a few improvements that move us one step closer to full Reader support — while keeping things deliberately cautious.

    With the new Fediverse Following block and Extra Fields improvements, it’s now much easier to build a proper profile page in WordPress, similar to what many other Fediverse platforms offer. You can surface who you follow and how you present yourself, using blocks instead of custom code.

    A screenshot of the Following-Block in the Editor.

    The Reader itself remains behind a feature flag and is still considered experimental. This release focuses on preparing the surrounding pieces — navigation, feedback, and presentation — rather than enabling it by default.

    If you’re curious about where this is heading, you can enable the feature and try it out today. As with earlier previews, feedback is very welcome and helps shape what full Reader support will eventually look like. (See the initial Reader announcement for upgrade notes and details.)

    Changelog 🪵

    Added

    • Add Fediverse Following block to display accounts the user follows.
    • Add global default quote policy setting that can be overridden per-post.
    • Add health check to verify scheduled events are registered and auto-repair if missing.
    • Add location support for posts using WordPress Geodata post meta fields.
    • Add Podlove Podcast Publisher integration for podcast episode federation.
    • Add site health check to detect when security plugins block REST API access.
    • Add Social Web item to the admin bar for quick access to the reader.
    • Add soft delete support with Tombstone objects when post visibility changes to local/private.
    • Custom emoji from the fediverse now show up instead of looking like :sad_trombone:.
    • Make actor table columns filterable.
    • Send Add/Remove activities when changing a post’s sticky status to improve interoperability with the featured collection.
    • Show warning instead of reply link when logged-in user cannot federate replies to fediverse comments.

    Changed

    • Defer outbox processing to async execution to improve publishing performance.
    • Move Jest mocks to tests/js directory for better project organization.
    • Remove redundant __nextHasNoMarginBottom props now that @wordpress/components 32.0.0 defaults to true.
    • Revert to synchronous outbox processing with improved timeout handling and WebFinger error caching.

    Fixed

    • Don’t filter the comment query when type__not_in has been set.
    • Filter comments on ActivityPub posts from REST API responses.
    • Fix duplicate media attachments when featured image is also in post content.
    • Fixed Federated Reply block embed appearing squished at 200×200 pixels for same-site embeds by passing explicit width to wp_oembed_get().
    • Fixed pagination metadata leaking when “Hide Social Graph” privacy setting is enabled.
    • Fix migration activities not being scheduled for federation due to hook registration timing.
    • Fix older comments with empty type not being federated.
    • Fix quote requests from Mastodon not being received.
    • Fix users not being accessible after re-enabling ActivityPub capability.
    • Hide admin REST API endpoints from discovery index.
    • Show informational notice when trying to follow an already-followed account.
    • Skip fetching public audience identifiers which are not actual recipients.

    Downloads

    Thank You 💛✨

    A huge thank you to everyone who tested early builds 🧪, filed bug reports 🐞, shared feedback 💬, reviewed pull requests 🔍, or helped improve docs 📚. Your input directly shaped many of the fixes and cleanups in this release.

    And thanks to everyone running ActivityPub for WordPress out in the wild 🌍 — that’s where spring cleaning really shows what needs sweeping 🧹.

    You make this project better, one emoji (and one fix) at a time 🥰

  • WordPress Federation: Recap of 2025

    WordPress Federation: Recap of 2025

    In June, we published our 2025 roadmap: Building the Future of WordPress Federation, outlining the areas we wanted to focus on for the rest of the year.

    As we step into 2026, it’s time to look back at how the roadmap held up and what we shipped in 2025.

    2025 at a Glance

    2025 turned out to be an ambitious and, at times, challenging timeline. Even so, we were able to make meaningful progress across most of the areas we set out to work on.

    Over the course of the year, we introduced the Following feature, significantly expanded moderation tooling, refined actor handling, and improved the reliability and performance of core federation workflows. Along the way, we also shipped a first experimental draft of the Reader, offering an early look at what reading the Fediverse inside WordPress could become.

    Not everything on the roadmap was completed, but we’re happy with how much we were able to achieve and with the foundations that are now in place for what comes next.

    Roadmap

    Below is a review of the roadmap topics we outlined for 2025, what we worked on, and what remains open.

    Followers / Following ✅

    Work in 2025 expanded ActivityPub beyond followers by introducing the Following feature, allowing WordPress sites and users to actively follow accounts on the Fediverse.

    WordPress admin Followings page showing a list of 3 accepted follows: notiz.blog, pfefferle (Matthias Pfefferle), and obenland (Konstantin Obenland). The page includes a Follow form for adding new followers via username or profile link, bulk actions dropdown, and an explanation of the ActivityPub follow request protocol.

    Alongside this, we improved the reliability and performance of both follower and following lists, including better synchronization across instances and faster resolution and display of large collections.

    This work also laid the foundation for later features, such as the experimental Reader.

    Related release posts:

    Actors ✅

    We continued refining how local and remote actors are represented and resolved. Internal refactors reduced special-case handling and improved consistency and performance across actor resolution, including follower, following, and block lists.

    This work primarily affected internal behavior rather than user-facing UI.

    Related release posts:

    Moderation ✅

    In 2025, ActivityPub-specific moderation was significantly expanded. Site-wide and personal blocking now cover domains, keywords, and individual actors, with consistent checks applied to incoming activities.

    User profile settings in WordPress displaying options to block ActivityPub domains and keywords, with fields to add or remove entries.

    We added blocklist subscriptions with scheduled syncing and bulk domain imports, including support for community-maintained lists such as the IFTAS DNI list. Moderation handling was also refined with improved reject behavior for quote interactions.

    Related release posts:

    Reader 🧪

    A screenshot of the reader implementation.

    An experimental Reader UI was introduced behind a feature flag. When enabled, it adds a “Social Web” area to the dashboard where posts and shares from followed accounts can be read inside WordPress.

    The feature is disabled by default and explicitly marked as experimental.

    Related release posts:

    Direct Messages ⏸️

    Direct Messages were not implemented in 2025. This remains an open roadmap topic for future consideration once related foundations mature further.

    Fully Delete Profiles ✅

    Deletion semantics were improved to better support explicit federated cleanup. Delete activities are now sent when WordPress users are removed, and deletion-related handling was aligned across activity processing.

    A CLI-based self-destruct command was introduced to allow site owners to explicitly remove their site’s federated presence.

    Related release posts:

    Client-to-Server API ⏸️

    Client-to-Server API support was not implemented in 2025. No user-facing features shipped under this topic.

    Beyond the Roadmap

    While the roadmap helped guide our focus in 2025, not everything that shipped was planned from the start. Some features emerged from day-to-day usage, feedback, and practical needs that became clearer over time.

    A few of those are worth highlighting.

    Quotes

    Support for quote interactions improved significantly over the year. We refined detection and handling of quoted replies and links, added proper handling for quote comments, and improved how quote permissions are revoked when quoted content is deleted. This made quoted interactions more reliable and consistent across instances.

    Related release posts:

    Onboarding

    We also improved onboarding for new users by adding clearer guidance and better defaults after plugin activation. This helped reduce friction for sites federating for the first time and made initial setup more approachable.

    Related release posts:

    Extra Fields UI

    While not originally planned as a roadmap item, work on Extra Fields resulted in a more flexible and user-friendly UI. New blocks and layout options made it easier to display federated profile data in different formats, allowing themes to choose how much structured information to surface.

    Related release posts:

    Wrapping up

    Looking back, 2025 was a year of steady progress. We focused on the foundations we set out to improve, shipped meaningful features along the way, and left room for unplanned work that addressed real needs as they came up.

    Now we’d love to hear from you: What was your favorite feature this year? What are you most excited about and what do you still miss or hope to see next?

    Your feedback has shaped this project throughout 2025, and it continues to guide where we go from here. We’re already working on our 2026 timeline, and your ideas, experiences, and questions are an important part of that process.

    Thanks for being part of the journey and see you on the Fediverse.

  • 7.8.0 – Happy Holidays

    7.8.0 – Happy Holidays

    As the year winds down, we’ve wrapped up a release that brings better moderation tools, a new way to display reactions, and a small surprise, just in time for the holidays.

    Stronger Tools for Moderation

    Moderation can be hard work, especially on the Fediverse, where conversations flow in from all directions. This release introduces new tools that help you stay in control with less manual effort.

    You can now subscribe to shared blocklists and let the plugin keep them up to date automatically. Subscribed lists are synced on a weekly cadence, so changes made upstream are reflected on your site without you having to lift a finger.

    A screenshot of the block list subscription feature.

    On top of that, we’ve added a bulk domain blocklist importer. You can upload a CSV or plain text file, including Mastodon-style exports, and quickly add large numbers of domains at once. To make it even easier to get started, the importer includes a one-click option for the popular community-maintained IFTAS DNI list (@about.iftas.org).

    A screenshot of the block list importer feature.

    Together, these features make moderation more scalable and less stressful, so you can spend more time engaging and less time firefighting.

    Reactions, Your Way

    Reactions are a big part of how conversations feel alive on the Fediverse, and now you have more control over how they appear on your site.

    The Fediverse Reactions block gained a new Summary display style. Instead of showing a facepile of avatars, this option presents reactions as clean, inline counters for comments, likes, boosts, and replies. It’s a great fit for minimal layouts, feeds, or sites where avatars are disabled.

    A screenshot of the compact reactions.

    You can switch between the classic facepile and the new summary style directly in the block settings. And if avatars are turned off in discussion settings, the block automatically falls back to the summary view.

    A Sneak Peek at the Reader (Experimental)

    One more thing, for the curious among you, there’s now an early preview of the ActivityPub Reader, hidden behind a feature flag in the Advanced settings tab. If you don’t see it yet, open Screen Options at the top right of the ActivityPub settings page, check “Advanced Settings,” and save. That reveals the Advanced tab where you can enable the Reader.

    A screenshot of the reader implementation.

    When enabled, this adds a new “Social Web” submenu to your Dashboard menu item. An place where you can read posts and shares from accounts you follow, turning your WordPress admin into a lightweight Fediverse reader.

    Because this is still very much a work in progress, the Reader is disabled by default and clearly marked as experimental. The UI, behavior, and feature set will change significantly in future releases as we explore what a great native Fediverse reading experience inside WordPress could look like.

    If you enjoy testing new ideas, we’d love to hear your feedback, whether it’s bug reports, rough edges you’ve noticed, or ideas about what this Reader should become. Early input helps shape where this goes next, so feel free to share your thoughts in whatever form works best for you.

    Changelog

    Added

    • Add blocklist subscriptions for automatic weekly synchronization of remote blocklists.
    • Add compact display style to Reactions block that hides avatars.
    • Add domain blocklist importer for bulk importing blocked domains.
    • Add image optimization for imported attachments (resize to 1200px max, convert to WebP).
    • Add local caching for remote actor avatars.
    • Add relay mode to forward public activities to all followers.
    • Add scheduled cleanup for remote posts, preserving posts with local user interactions.
    • Add site health check to warn when DISABLE_WP_CRON may impact ActivityPub functionality.
    • Add Social Web Reader for browsing ActivityPub content directly in WordPress admin.
    • Delete remote posts on plugin uninstall.
    • Mastodon importer now imports self-replies as comments, preserving thread structure.

    Changed

    • Cache expensive operations in Post transformer to improve performance.
    • Improve performance and reliability of @-mention detection.
    • Reduce federated content size by removing unnecessary HTML attributes.
    • Skip downloading video and audio attachments, embedding remote URLs directly to avoid storage limits.
    • Use stable term_id-based IDs for Term transformer to ensure federation consistency.
    • Wrap blocked domains and keywords tables in collapsible details element.

    Fixed

    • Respect WordPress “show avatars” setting for remote actor avatars.
    • Ensure NodeInfo accurately represents site administrators to the Fediverse.
    • Fediverse Followers block now works correctly when the “Hide Social Graph” privacy option is enabled.
    • Fix NodeInfo documents to comply with schema specification.
    • Follow Me block button-only style now respects width settings from the inner Button block.
    • Preserve whitespace inside preformatted elements when federating content.

    Downloads

    Holiday Thanks

    A special thank-you to everyone who joined us during the recent office hours — for the questions, the thoughtful feedback, and the great conversations about where ActivityPub for WordPress should go next. Talking directly with you helps shape these releases more than any roadmap ever could.

    See you in 2026 — and happy holidays!

  • 7.7.0 — Extra Quotable

    7.7.0 — Extra Quotable

    Right on the heels of WordPress 6.9 we released a new version of the ActivityPub plugin, making quote comments visible in the Reactions block and bringing you new ways of customizing your author pages.

    Quotes Join the Reactions Party

    When someone quotes your post on Mastodon or other Fediverse platforms, you’ll now see it right alongside your likes and reposts. Quotes get their own row in the Fediverse Reactions display, making it easy to see at a glance who’s building on your ideas and adding their own commentary.

    Fediverse Reactions section showing three rows: 25 reposts displayed as a row of user avatars, 27 likes with their own row of avatars, and 1 quote with a single avatar—demonstrating how quotes now appear as a separate reaction type alongside likes and reposts.

    Behind the scenes, we improved how we’re detecting quotes. Different platforms have their own ways of handling quote posts, and not all of them speak the same language. The plugin now understands these variations better, so whether someone quotes you from Mastodon, Misskey, or elsewhere, it just works.

    This means your engagement stats tell a fuller story. A quote isn’t just a repost—it’s someone adding their voice to yours, and now WordPress can recognize and display that distinction.

    Show Off Your Fediverse Identity

    If you’ve set up extra fields on your Fediverse profile—things like your website, pronouns, location, or links to other accounts—you can now display them directly on your WordPress site with the new Extra Fields block.

    • Fediverse Extra Fields block using the cards style, showing two profile fields displayed as separate bordered cards: 'Powered by' with value 'WordPress' and 'Blog' with a clickable URL, stacked vertically below the author profile header.
    • Fediverse Extra Fields block using the default list style, showing profile fields in a compact table layout with labels on the left and values on the right: 'Powered by: WordPress' and 'Blog:' with a clickable URL.
    • Fediverse Extra Fields block using the stacked style, showing profile fields with labels above their values: 'Powered by' above 'WordPress' and 'Blog' above a clickable URL, arranged vertically below the author profile header.

    Drop it onto any page, post, or your author archive template, pick a style that fits your theme, and your profile details appear right where your visitors can see them. Choose from a clean table layout, a stacked list, or styled cards. You can also control how many fields to show and customize colors to match your site.

    Changelog

    Added

    • Add documentation guide for using ActivityPub blocks in classic themes with Block Template Parts
    • Added a new Fediverse Extra Fields block to display ActivityPub extra fields, featuring compact, stacked, and card layouts with flexible user selection options.
    • Added support for quote comments, improving detection and handling of quoted replies and links in post interactions.
    • Add notifications for boosts, likes, and new followers in Mastodon apps via the Enable Mastodon Apps plugin
    • Adds support for turning tags, categories, and custom taxonomies into federated collections in the Reader view so you can browse and follow topics more seamlessly.
    • Prevent email notifications for comments on ActivityPub custom post types.
    • Send a Reject activity when a quote comment is deleted, revoking previous quote permissions and ensuring consistent inbox handling.
    • Store and retrieve webfinger acct for remote actors to improve identification and reduce lookups

    Changed

    • Improve gallery and image block markup for ap_posts with better alt text and optimized layouts.
    • Improve support for media attachments by handling Audio, Document, and Video object types in addition to Images.
    • Maintain consistent return values in Create handler.
    • Remove trailing hashtags from incoming posts to prevent duplication with taxonomy tags.
    • Store comments and reactions from followed actors on reader posts, and keep them separate from your site’s comments in wp-admin.
    • Update compatibility testing for PHP 8.5 and WordPress 6.9
    • Use tag name instead of slug for hashtag display.

    Fixed

    • Always includes id, first, and last links in collection responses, ensuring followers and following lists display correctly in Mastodon.
    • Automatically approves reactions on ActivityPub posts in the Reader view for a smoother, more seamless interaction experience.
    • Deliver public activities to followers only.
    • Disable REST API endpoints for internal post types.
    • False mention email notifications for users in CC field without actual mention tags.
    • Fix “Filename too long” errors when downloading attachments from URLs with query parameters (e.g., Instagram CDN URLs).
    • Fix make_clickable corrupting existing anchor tags in ActivityPub content
    • Fix PHP 8.5 deprecation warnings for ReflectionProperty::setAccessible() and ReflectionMethod::setAccessible()
    • Improved handling of unusual activity data to avoid errors when activities contain unexpected formats.
    • Preserve original ActivityPub activity timestamps when creating posts and comments instead of using current time.
    • Prevented duplicate email notifications when ActivityPub instances re-send Follow activities for already-following actors.
    • Prevents unwanted comment types—like pingbacks, trackbacks, notes and custom system comments, from being federated, ensuring only real user comments are shared with the fediverse.
    • Removed a redundant instruction from the custom post content settings to simplify the UI.
    • Reply block now shows fallback link when oEmbed fails instead of empty div.
    • Simplified reply links by removing special handling for federated comments, making replies work the same for all comments where replying is allowed.
    • Undefined array key warning in Scheduler::async_batch when called without arguments.

    Downloads

    Thank You!

    As always, a huge thanks to everyone who contributed code, reported bugs, tested early builds, and shared ideas. Every bit of feedback helps make ActivityPub for WordPress better for the whole community.

    Version 7.7.0 is available now—update and let us know what you think!

  • Join Us for Office Hours: Dec 1-5

    We’re excited to announce that the ActivityPub for WordPress team will be hosting open office hours during the first week of December! Whether you’re just getting started with ActivityPub, running into setup issues, or want to chat about where the plugin is heading, we’d love to see you there.

    What Are Office Hours?

    Think of office hours as an open door to hang out with @pfefferle and @obenland. Drop in anytime during the scheduled sessions to get hands-on help with plugin installation and setup, troubleshoot any issues you’re experiencing, or share your ideas for new features and improvements. You can also discuss the roadmap and what’s coming next, ask questions about ActivityPub, the fediverse, or how it all works, and connect with the community to see what others are building.

    No agenda, no registration required—just show up when you can and let’s talk ActivityPub!

    Schedule: December 1-5, 2025

    We’re offering multiple sessions throughout the week to accommodate different time zones. Join whichever works best for you!

    Monday
    Dec 1    		Tuesday
    Dec 2    		Wednesday
    Dec 3    		Thursday
    Dec 4    		Friday
    Dec 5
    10:00 CET🗓️ Add to Calendar🗓️ Add to Calendar🗓️ Add to Calendar
    10 am ET📅 Add to Calendar📅 Add to Calendar📅 Add to Calendar📅 Add to Calendar📅 Add to Calendar

    Time zone note: CET = Central European Time | ET = Eastern Time (US)

    Wapuu, the yellow WordPress mascot, sits at a clean support desk wearing a headset and a blue ActivityPub-themed hoodie. Floating holographic icons hover above the desk, including comments, question marks, and the Fediverse logo, representing community support. A soft, starry space background shines through a large window behind Wapuu.

    How to Join

    Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/mdb-bkdw-ypz

    Just click the link above at any scheduled time and join us! No need to RSVP—these are open sessions where anyone can drop in.

    New to video calls? No worries! Just click the link, and you’ll be guided through joining. Most platforms work right in your browser.

    Who Should Come?

    Everyone! Seriously, we mean it:

    • WordPress site owners curious about connecting to the fediverse.
    • Developers working with the ActivityPub plugin.
    • Fediverse enthusiasts who want to understand how WordPress fits in.
    • Anyone with questions, bug reports, or ideas.
    • Lurkers welcome too—feel free to just listen and learn!

    Whether you’re running a personal blog, a community site, or just exploring what ActivityPub can do, we’d love to meet you.

    Can’t Make These Times?

    We know December 1-5 won’t work for everyone. If you can’t join us live, you can connect with us on GitHub or join the conversation in our community forum.

    We’re planning to do more office hours in the future based on how this week goes, so let us know what times work better for you!

    See You There! 👋

    We’re really looking forward to connecting with the community, answering your questions, and hearing about how you’re using ActivityPub on WordPress. Mark your calendars, grab a coffee (or tea!), and let’s chat!

    Have questions before office hours? Drop a comment below.

  • 7.6.0 — Command, Sync & Go

    This release puts speed and control right at your fingertips. Whether you’re jumping between settings, syncing followers, or handling quotes in real time, version 7.6.0 makes managing your Fediverse presence faster and more intuitive than ever.

    Wapuu, the yellow WordPress mascot, pilots a small spaceship shaped like the WordPress ‘W’ through a glowing Fediverse nebula. Light trails and floating ActivityPub icons surround the ship, symbolizing fast, effortless navigation through connected worlds.

    Navigate in a Flash

    Say hello to the quickest way to move around your ActivityPub settings.

    In preparation for WordPress 6.9, which brings the Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl + K) to the entire wp-admin, the plugin now adds its own commands, giving you instant, keyboard-driven access to your workflows anywhere in WordPress.

    Type “ActivityPub” and you’ll see context-aware commands that adapt to your site setup and user role. Whether you’re managing a blog actor or a user actor, you can open followers and following lists, check blocked actors, jump straight to your settings, or even search and edit extra fields — all without ever leaving the Command Palette.

    A screenshot of the Command Palette in action.

    Every command includes the ActivityPub icon for easy recognition. Just press Cmd + K or Ctrl + K, start typing, and go — it’s the smoothest way yet to pilot your Fediverse setup.

    Stay in Sync Across the Fediverse

    Your follower lists now stay accurate wherever you connect.
    With support for Follower Synchronization (FEP-8fcf), the plugin automatically keeps your followers collection in step with other servers — even when things drift out of sync.

    If differences appear, background tasks quietly reconcile them, keeping your lists clean and consistent. The result is a smoother, more reliable experience across the entire Fediverse — no manual fixes required.

    Speed When It Counts

    Quoted posts and follow confirmations now move at the speed of conversation.

    A new immediate Accept dispatch system sends responses as soon as they’re created, instead of waiting for the next scheduled queue.

    That means faster follow confirmations and quicker quote acknowledgments, making interactions feel more natural across the Fediverse. Behind the scenes, those Accept messages go straight to the right inboxes — including mentioned and replied-to users — while a scheduled backup ensures full compatibility with slower servers.

    It’s a smart balance between speed and reliability, helping your posts and follows appear almost instantly.

    Privacy, Your Way

    Want to keep your social graph private? You can now hide your followers and following lists from public view while keeping all relationships intact. Your followers still follow — they’re just hidden when you prefer a little more privacy.

    Full Changelog

    Added

    • Add bidirectional transforms between reply and embed blocks for improved user experience.
    • Add Command Palette integration for quick navigation to ActivityPub admin pages
    • Added a new ap_object post type and taxonomies for storing and managing incoming ActivityPub objects, with updated handlers
    • Added a privacy option to hide followers and following lists from profiles while keeping follow relationships intact.
    • Added a scheduled task and setting to automatically purge old inbox items, helping maintain site performance and storage control.
    • Added fallback to trigger create handling when updates fail for missing posts or comments, ensuring objects are properly created.
    • Added immediate dispatch for Accept activities to speed up quoted posts while keeping scheduled processing for compatibility with other instances.
    • Added new configuration options to better manage traffic spikes when federating posts, allowing finer control over retry limits, delays, and batch pauses.
    • Added support for FEP-8fcf follower synchronization, improving data consistency across servers with new sync headers, digest checks, and reconciliation tasks.
    • Add LiteSpeed Cache integration to prevent ActivityPub JSON responses from being cached incorrectly. Includes automatic .htaccess rules and Site Health check to ensure proper configuration.
    • Add quote visibility setting for Classic Editor users.
    • Add unified attachment processor for handling ActivityPub media imports from both remote URLs and local files, with automatic media block generation and Classic Editor support.
    • Integrate Federated Reply block with WP.com Reader’s post share functionality, allowing users to reply to ActivityPub posts directly from the Reader.

    Changed

    • Added support for FEP-3b86 Activity Intents, extending WebFinger and REST interactions with new Create and Follow intent links.
    • Added support for the latest NodeInfo (FEP-0151), with improved federation details, staff info, and software metadata for better ActivityPub compliance.
    • Extended inbox support for undoing Like, Create, and Announce activities, with refactored undo logic and improved activity persistence.
    • Improved Classic Editor integration by adding better media handling and full test coverage for attachments, permissions, and metadata.
    • Improved delivery of public and follower activities by expanding local recipient handling to include all ActivityPub-capable users and follower collections.
    • Improved inbox performance by batching and deduplicating activities, reducing redundant processing and improving handling during high activity periods.
    • Improved REST API responses with smarter context handling.
    • Improved REST collection pagination by using explicit total item counts for more accurate results.
    • Moved default visibility handling from the server to the editor UI, ensuring consistent and flexible ActivityPub visibility settings across both block and classic editors.
    • Prevented self-announcing by ignoring announces from the blog actor, while still processing announces from user and external actors.
    • Refactored activity handling to support multiple recipients per activity, allowing posts and interactions to be linked to several local users at once.
    • Refactored avatar handling into a new system that stores and manages avatars per remote actor, improving reliability and preparing for future caching support.
    • Refactored the inbox system to use a shared inbox, storing activities once with multiple recipients for improved efficiency and reduced duplication.
    • Reorganize integration loader and move Stream integration into dedicated folder structure.
    • Reply posts: do not display post title before @mentions in posts that are replies to somebody else
    • Simplified configuration by always enabling the shared inbox and removing its separate setting, UI field, and related logic.
    • Simplified inbox storage settings, allowing certain activities (like deletes) to be skipped to reduce unnecessary database use.
    • Simplify follow() API return types to int|WP_Error for better predictability.
    • Updated inbox handling to support multiple users receiving the same activity and improve overall data consistency.
    • Updated mailer hooks to send notifications only when activities are successfully handled, preventing emails for failed events.
    • Update plugin short description to be more user-friendly.

    Fixed

    • Reply block now properly validates ActivityPub URLs before setting inReplyTo field
    • Added a safeguard to ensure the plugin works correctly even when no post types are selected.
    • Added a safety check to prevent errors when resolving comment author hostnames without a valid IP address.
    • Fixed activity processing to handle QuoteRequest and other edge cases more reliably.
    • Fixed an issue with post content templates to ensure the correct fallback is always applied.
    • Fixed fatal error when transformer Factory receives WP_Error objects.
    • Fixed HTML entity encoding in extra field names when displayed on ActivityPub platforms
    • Fixed typo in example, improve quoting description.
    • Fix Following table error message to display user input instead of empty string when webfinger lookup fails.
    • Fix infinite recursion when storing remote actors with mentions in their bios
    • Fix local inbox delivery to use internal REST API instead of HTTP, enabling local follows and proper boost counting.
    • Fix logic errors in Move handler: remove redundant assignment and fix variable name collision.
    • Fix public key retrieval for GoToSocial profiles with path-based key URLs.
    • Improved actor resolution by prioritizing blog actor detection before remote actor checks and refining home page URL handling.
    • Improved handling of empty fields for better compatibility with Pixelfed and more consistent fallback behavior across actor names, URLs, and related data.
    • Improved hashtag encoding for consistent formatting.
    • Improved Jetpack integration by initializing it during the WordPress startup process.
    • Refactored Mastodon import handling to use consistent array-based data, improving reliability and compatibility across all import scenarios.

    Downloads

    Thanks, Crew!

    Big thanks to everyone who contributed code, feedback, and testing to make this release possible. You keep ActivityPub evolving with every version.

    Version 7.6.0 is now live — update today and enjoy lightning-fast navigation, smarter synchronization, and smoother federation! ❤️

  • 7.5.0 — Follow the Feed, Quote the Lead

    We’re back with a fresh release, and this one makes following and sharing smoother than ever—plus gives you more control over how your posts can be quoted.

    A New Way to Follow (For Now)

    Starting today, users on WordPress.com sites and self-hosted sites connected through Jetpack can see the posts of accounts they follow directly in their WordPress.com Reader timeline. The Following UI has been around for a little while, yet hidden, and with this release it will be enabled by default for these sites.

    When you follow an account, ActivityPub checks for a discoverable RSS feed. If one exists, it’s automatically added to your Reader timeline so new posts appear alongside everything else you already follow. Unfollowing works the same way—the feed disappears when you remove the account. And if you’d like to view the feed for an account you’ve followed, just hover over it in the list table and click View Feed.

    WordPress.com Reader page displaying recent posts from subscriptions. Shows a post by Eugen Rochko from 2 hours ago featuring an image of Federation Street with a blue cartoon elephant. The left sidebar contains navigation options including Recent, Discover, Likes, Conversations, Lists, Tags, Automattic, A8C Conversations, and Manage Subscriptions.
    WordPress admin Followings page showing a list of 3 accepted follows: notiz.blog, pfefferle (Matthias Pfefferle), and obenland (Konstantin Obenland). The page includes a Follow form for adding new followers via username or profile link, bulk actions dropdown, and an explanation of the ActivityPub follow request protocol.

    Think of this as a bridge: a simple way to read the posts of accounts you follow today, while we continue building a full, first-class ActivityPub reading experience for tomorrow.

    There are a couple of details to keep in mind. Removing a subscription directly in the Reader won’t update your site’s Following list, and interactions are limited to what RSS allows, which means sharing and reposting rather than the full range of ActivityPub features.

    Running a self-hosted site without Jetpack? You can still enable the Following UI manually—it just won’t connect with the Reader.

    Quote Post Controls

    We’ve also added support for Mastodon’s quote post feature—and given you an easy way to control how others can quote your content.

    A screenshot of a blog post quoted on Mastodon.

    When writing in the Block Editor, you’ll now see a sidebar setting that lets you decide whether everyone can quote your post, only your followers can, or if quoting is reserved for you alone. Once published, Mastodon and other compatible platforms will honor your choice automatically. No extra setup needed—just write, choose, and publish with confidence.

    Full Changelog

    Added

    • Added a setting to control who can quote your posts.
    • Added support for QuoteRequest activities (FEP-044f), enabling proper handling, validation, and policy-based acceptance or rejection of quote requests.
    • Add upgrade routine to enable ActivityPub feeds in WordPress.com Reader
    • Add Yoast SEO integration for author archives site health check.
    • Improved interaction policies with clearer defaults and better Mastodon compatibility.
    • New site health check warns if active Captcha plugins may block ActivityPub comments.
    • Sync following meta to enable RSS feed subscriptions for ActivityPub actors in WordPress.com Reader
    • You can now follow people and see their updates right in the WordPress.com Reader when using Jetpack or WordPress.com.

    Changed

    • Added support for fetching actors by account identifiers and improved reliability of actor retrieval.
    • Clarify error messages in account modal to specify full profile URL format.
    • Improved checks to better identify public Activities.
    • Improved compatibility by making the ‘implements’ field always use multiple entries.
    • Improved recipient handling for clarity and improved visibility handling of activities.
    • Remote reply blocks now sync account info across all blocks on the same page
    • Standardized notification handling with new hooks for better extensibility and consistency.
    • Updated sync allowlist to add support for Jetpack notifications of likes and reposts.

    Fixed

    • Fixed an issue where post metadata in the block editor was missing or failed to update.
    • Fix Flag activity object list processing to preserve URL arrays
    • Fix PHP warning in bulk edit scenario when post_author is missing from $_REQUEST
    • Posts now only fall back to the blog user when blog mode is enabled and no valid author exists, ensuring content negotiation only runs if an Actor is available.

    Downloads

    Thank you!

    Thanks to everyone who contributed code, tested, offered feedback, or lent support along the way. Update to 7.5.0 today and follow, share, and quote to your heart’s content!

  • 7.4.0 – More Control, Less Waiting

    Fediverse life just got a little easier! This release is all about giving you more confidence in how you manage your users — and making your follower, following, and block lists feel lightning fast. Let’s dive in.

    Wapuu, the yellow WordPress mascot, floats in space wearing a gray astronaut suit. In front of Wapuu is a spaceship control panel with the WordPress logo and the Fediverse logo, each with checkboxes. Below them is a large glowing orange ‘CONFIRM’ button. Wapuu points toward the panel, symbolizing making a choice.

    Clean Breaks, Done Right

    Until now, removing someone’s ActivityPub capability in WordPress only affected their local account. Their presence in the Fediverse lingered on. With this release, you’re in charge of what happens next.

    When you remove ActivityPub capabilities from users on your site, you’ll now see a confirmation step:

    A screenshot of the confirmation step that shows after removing the ActivityPub capability from users.

    With this change, you can decide whether you’re simply adjusting roles inside WordPress, or making a complete exit across the network.

    We’ve also expanded delete handling to cover more scenarios:

    • Comment removal: Permanently deleted federated comments now send a Delete activity across the Fediverse.
    • Virtual deletes & restores: You can now remove objects from the Fediverse without deleting them locally — and bring them back if needed.
    • WP-CLI command for Actors: A new command makes it easier to manage and clean up Actors directly from the command line.

    Together, these tools make sure your Fediverse presence stays consistent with the choices you make in WordPress.

    Lists That Load in a Snap

    Managing your Fediverse connections shouldn’t feel slow — and now it doesn’t. The follower, following, and block lists are noticeably faster and more reliable in this release.

    Behind the scenes, we cleaned up and centralized how account information is resolved. Instead of each list handling things in its own way, they now all share a single, streamlined method with built-in caching. That means less duplication, less waiting, and a smoother experience every time you browse your lists — even on larger sites.

    Full Changelog

    Added

    • Add activitypub_json REST field for ap_actor posts to access raw JSON data.
    • Add Delete activity support for permanently deleted federated comments.
    • Added a new WP-CLI command to manage Actors.
    • Added confirmation step for bulk removal of ActivityPub capability, asking whether to also delete users from the Fediverse.
    • Adds support for virtual deletes and restores, allowing objects to be removed from the fediverse without being deleted locally.
    • Add Yoast SEO integration for media pages site health check.
    • Optimized WebFinger lookups by centralizing and caching account resolution for faster, more consistent handling across lists.

    Changed

    • Clarified the ‘attachment’ post type description to explain it refers to media library uploads and recommend disabling federation in most cases.
    • Hide site-wide checkbox in block confirmations when accessed from ActivityPub settings page.
    • Improved ActivityPub compatibility by aligning with Mastodon’s Application Actor.
    • It’s now possible to reply to multiple posts using multiple reply blocks.
    • Refactored Reply block to use WordPress core embed functionality for better compatibility and performance.
    • Use wp_interactivity_config() for static values instead of wp_interactivity_state() to improve performance and code clarity.

    Deprecated

    • ActivityPub now defaults to automated object type selection, with the old manual option moved to Advanced settings for compatibility.

    Fixed

    • Fix content visibility override issue preventing authors from changing visibility on older posts.
    • Fix PHP warning when saving ActivityPub settings.
    • Fix query args preservation in collection pagination links.
    • Fix release script to catch more ‘unreleased’ deprecation patterns that were previously missed during version updates.
    • Fix reply block rendering inconsistency where blocks were always converted to @-mentions in ActivityPub content. Now only first reply blocks become @-mentions, others remain as regular links.
    • Stop sending follow notifications to the Application user, since system-level accounts cannot be followed.

    Downloads

    Thanks

    High-fives to everyone who helped chart the course, whether you coded, tested, spotted bugs, or just cheered from the sidelines. You keep this ship flying! 🚀

    Version 7.4.0 has just landed—jump in and tell us how it feels out there in the Fediverse.

  • Help Shape the Future of Moderation in the Fediverse

    Running a community in the Fediverse means balancing openness with safety. Every year, @iftas takes the pulse of administrators, moderators, and community managers with their Annual Needs Assessment. This survey helps identify what’s working, where support is needed, and which tools can make a difference for those keeping decentralized spaces safe.

    The 2025 survey is now open

    Take part in the IFTAS Needs Assessment (5–10 minutes).

    Take the survey now

    (If you haven’t seen them before, you can also take a look at last year’s report)

    Last year’s responses represented moderators of over 4.3 million accounts across ActivityPub platforms. With WordPress now the largest group of federating instances, it’s especially important for our community of hosts, site admins, and moderators to be heard.

    Moderation in WordPress: From Site-Wide to Personal Controls

    We recently introduced a major update to the ActivityPub plugin for WordPress: personalized and site-wide moderation tools.

    • Site administrators can now set domain, keyword, and actor-level blocks that protect the entire site.
    • Individual users can fine-tune their own experience with personal blocks, managed directly from their profiles.
    • Content is checked against both global and personal rules—so moderation works at every level.

    These improvements directly address needs raised in previous IFTAS surveys, making moderation more discoverable, flexible, and effective for WordPress communities in the Fediverse.

    Your Input Matters

    IFTAS uses the Needs Assessment to guide tools, policies, and advocacy that reflect the real-world challenges of moderators—especially those in under-resourced communities. The more representative the responses, the stronger the outcomes for everyone.

    If you’re running a federating WordPress site, please consider:

    1. Filling out the survey yourself.
    2. Sharing it with other admins, moderators, and community organizers.
    3. Reminding folks that it’s anonymous, quick, and impactful.
    Take the 2025 Fediverse Needs Assessment

    Together, we can keep building a safer, healthier Fediverse—one that reflects the needs of its communities.