X and Pro Are Now Compatible With WordPress.com

Pretty much since the beginning of WordPress there has been confusion around the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. There are many articles explaining the difference with the quickest being that WordPress.com is owned by the guy who was one of the founders of WordPress and he/his company (Automattic) leverage the WordPress.com domain to sell certain products and services.

In doing this, they have limited access to other parts of the larger WordPress ecosystem. Today however there is a new opportunity for WordPress.com users, and we'd like to explain a bit of what that means for X and Pro users.

Ultimately, this news only affects current and future WordPress.com business plan users. If you currently use X or Pro with another WordPress host it's business as usual for you.

A New Channel

As of August 7, 2017 WordPress.com business users can now install 3rd party themes and plugins, and we see this as a healthy move.

For years there has been a rift between certain WordPress ideologies that have perpetuated an unnecessary division in what is otherwise an incredible ecosystem. We are not going to wade into debating those sides today with the exception of stating we welcome the opportunity to serve any WordPress user.

If you are a WordPress.com business user, it would be our honor to have you in the Themeco family! You can learn more about our themes X and Pro in addition to the recently launched Apex—our growing community for creative professionals.

Compatibility Confirmed

We have tested both X and Pro with the business plan and everything is working great!

There is one small user experience quirk when using X. There is another “Cornerstone” on the WordPress.org repo and it is automatically pulling that screenshot through when Cornerstone is active with X (again only for WordPress.com business user hosting). Our Cornerstone page builder still works as expected, they are simply showing the screenshot of the other plugin.

If someone at WordPress.com is reading this we would appreciate your help in fixing this. We have tried to reach out to the appropriate channel but it seems to be a more systemic issue as it's pulling through the slug from the .org repo.

When testing Pro, there are no apparent issues. We were also excited to see Pro recently featured on Website Builder Insider.

Final Thoughts

Our team is committed to keeping our customers on the cutting edge of site building. To date, that platform has existed completely on WordPress, and we are thrilled to be able to welcome WordPress.com business plan users to Themeco. If you would like to learn more about us we encourage you to check out our blog or browse around the Apex Forums.

License terms are still the same (unique license for each domain), so pick up your first or next license of X or Pro today! If we can be of any further assistance feel free to contact us directly.