Program Expectations

These expectations only affect whether a company or organization’s pledge will appear on the Five for the Future pledge page.

Organizations participating in the Five for the Future pledge program should meet the requirements for promotion by WordPress.

General things we feel strongly about:

  • No discrimination on the basis of economic or social status, race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, marital status, age, caste, or disability. They shouldn’t engage in discriminatory practices, and you shouldn’t discriminate against anyone.
  • No incitement to violence, or promotion of hate, please.
  • No spammers.
  • No jerks. That sounds silly, but it’s kind of important. Anyone you choose to sponsor as a contributor should be able to behave appropriately and follow WordPress etiquette.

If engaged in WordPress-based activities or commerce, there are a few additional requirements:

  • Respect the WordPress trademark. Any person or business currently misusing or infringing on the WordPress trademark will need to fix any misuse before their pledge will appear on the Five for the Future pledge page.
  • Embrace the WordPress license. If distributing WordPress-derivative works (themes, plugins, WP distros), any person or business should give their users the same freedoms that WordPress itself provides. Note: this is one step above simple compliance, which requires PHP code to be GPL/compatible but allows proprietary licenses for JavaScript, CSS, and images. 100% GPL or compatible is required for promotion on ww.wp.xz.cn when WordPress-derivative works are involved.
  • Do not promote others who fail to respect the WordPress license or trademark. If a business or person does not distribute WordPress-derivative code promotes businesses or people who do, they should meet the above guidelines.

If you’d like to read more about WordPress and the GPL, here are some great resources:

WordPress and the GPL
Themes are GPL, too
Why WordPress Themes are Derivative of WordPress