In recent years, the Plugins Team has gone through several phases, and we have been able to meet the challenges you have set for us. In 2025, we were excited to manage twice as many plugins as in 2024 with approximately the same number of volunteers. This was possible thanks to improved processes and tools, as well as the higher quality of the plugins you submitted. Thank you very much for that.

It’s 2026, and… let’s be clear: you’re absolutely crushing it with plugins.

• You’ve quadrupled the number of weekly submissions compared to 2024, and the pace keeps accelerating.
• In just two days, you’re sending for review as many plugins as an entire week’s submissions back in 2024.
• Since October 2025, you’ve been hitting historic weekly submission records almost every week.

Graph showing the evolution of new plugins submitted for inclusion in the directory per week from 2022 to March 2026

In previous years, we typically received 100–150 new plugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. submissions per week. In 2025, that number started at over 200 per week and rose to more than 300 by the end of the year. In 2026, the pace is accelerating even further, exceeding 500 weekly submissions by March.

To keep up with this rapid growth, we need more hands on deck.

Help the team grow!

There are two ways to contribute to the team.

Volunteers devoting their time for reviewing plugins

Our team is looking for new members who are able to join the team for reviewing plugins.

Your tasks would look like this:

• Perform plugin reviews and reply to authors when they respond to reviews. Continue the process until you are sure that everything is right, and then approve it. Our tools will help you do this efficiently.
• Review the mailbox for questions and requests from plugin authors and directory users.
• Work with the team on process improvement — we’re always looking to do things better.

Our current team members will guide and train you on how to perform these tasks. The training period takes about two months.

There are three essential requirements for successfully joining the team and contributing: 

• Trust: Given the significant level of access and responsibility within the community.
• Knowledge: Technical knowledge (WordPress, plugins, security) and soft skills (communication, collaboration, conflict resolution) are both essential.
• Time: To contribute successfully to the team, it’s important that volunteers devote a significant amount of time consistently.

This three requirements and expectations are further explained in the form, you can check it out and submit your application now.

Organizations willing to sponsor volunteers

We know that it is not easy to reach the level of commitment that this team requires, which is why we know that sponsors are essential for the stability of this team.

We would like to thank all of the sponsors who support the volunteers on this team. Here are some of the achievements made in 2025 thanks to the support of the following sponsors:

• Awesome Motive – Their contribution supported the continued development of Plugin Check, security reviews, more than 4,200 new plugin reviews and the sending of over 15,000 replies by email to plugin authors and users.
• SiteGround – Their contribution supported the development of Internal Team Tools, more than 3,300 new plugin reviews and the sending of over 13,000 replies by email to plugin authors and users.
• Hostinger – Their contribution supported the development of Plugin Check, more than 2,900 new plugin reviews and the sending of over 6,900 replies by email to plugin authors and users.
• Group.one – Their contribution supported more than 800 new plugin reviews and the sending of over 1,900 replies by email to plugin authors and users.
• 10up – Their contribution supported more than 300 new plugin reviews and the sending of over 1,100 replies by email to plugin authors and users.
• GoDaddy – Their contribution supported more than 600 new plugin reviews and the sending of over 900 replies by email to plugin authors and users.
• WPVibes – Their contribution supported more than 200 new plugin reviews and the sending of over 600 replies by email to plugin authors and users.
• Automattic – Their contribution helps maintain the infrastructure that hosts the plugin directory and covers expenses related to the team’s tools.

The WordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ Plugins Team plays a vital role in maintaining the health, security, and reliability of the plugins directory, which serves millions of WordPress sites worldwide. By sponsoring volunteers on this team, you help ensure that contributors can dedicate time to reviewing plugins, maintaining quality standards, enforcing guidelines, and improving security across the ecosystem. This helps ensure that the plugins in the directory remain a trustworthy and reliable source of functionality that meets the essential standards expected within the WordPress environment.

You can sponsor the team by contributing the time of people from your organization or by supporting volunteers who are (or could be) on the team. If you don’t know anyone who you could sponsor, we will help you find them.

Timeline

Our timeline:

• 27 March 2026: Deadline to submit the application form.
• April 2026: Selection of the first group of new members and the start of their training.
• June 2026: Announcement of the new members who successfully completed the training. If needed we will match them with sponsors looking for volunteers.
• June 2026: If needed, the application form will reopen.
• 26 June 2026: Deadline to submit the application form (second round).
• July 2026: Selection of the second group of new members and the start of their training.
• September 2026: Announcement of the new members who successfully completed the training. If needed we will match them with sponsors looking for volunteers.

Questions or Feedback

Feel free to ask questions or share any feedback in the comments or email plugins at wordpress.org.

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Thanks to @davidperez , @nilambar and @lukecarbis for their feedback for creating this process.