When I started Retraceur, my goal was never to build a competitor to WordPress®, nor to prove anything. I simply wanted to keep publishing on the Web while staying true to my values, my commitment to integrity, and my need for independence.
Retraceur was born from a decision: to take back control of my personal publishing hub, without relying on a platform or governance model that no longer aligned with my values or my vision.
First step in the 2026 roadmap: the next major release of the open-source software
Version 3.0.0, which I plan to release by the end of this month (February 2026), follows the same path: moving forward without rushing, consolidating what already exists, and avoiding promises I’m not sure I can keep.
What Retraceur 3.0.0 will deliver
This release continues work that is already underway: selecting, among WordPress®’s recent changes, those that remain compatible with an individual-centered approach.
This is not about rejecting WordPress® entirely (except for the project’s governance and its co-founder), but about making a conscious and deliberate selection among the improvements contributed by its community. Some changes serve personal publishing. Others align with platform logic, large-scale collaboration, or growth objectives that do not match Retraceur’s intent.
Retraceur therefore continues to evolve, but according to its own criteria, keeping focus on what matters most: personal presence on the Web.
About the modern editor
I have made a deliberate and confident choice to keep using the modern editor from the Gutenberg project. This decision reflects a personal continuity: I have always favored change, modernity, and continuous improvement over attachment to tools out of habit or nostalgia.
The modern editor currently provides a solid, actively maintained, and future-oriented technical foundation. Retraceur adopts its evolutions when they align with its vision: an approach centered on the individual and personal presence, rather than on collaborative or industrial content production.
For that reason, some features have been excluded — such as the collaborative block notes introduced in WordPress® 6.9. These tools serve collective editorial workflows that do not match Retraceur’s purpose.
At the same time, Retraceur no longer supports the classic editor. Keeping it would isolate the project, increase technical debt, and add unnecessary maintenance overhead.
The goal remains the same: rely on a modern foundation, evolve alongside it, and retain only what truly serves personal presence on the Web.
The main new feature: an Open Graph API
The only evolution truly specific to Retraceur in version 3.0 is the introduction of an Open Graph API.
Behind this technical acronym lies a simple intention: to better control how a website and its author are represented when shared across the Web.
This API makes it possible to:
- better describe a site as the expression of an individual;
- improve consistency between content, pages, and identity;
- lay the first foundation for a Web where individuals matter more than platforms.
It has been designed as a foundation, usable by themes and extensions, and as a stepping stone for future developments. This is not a revolution. It is a carefully placed building block.
What Retraceur 3.0 does not do yet
No extension and theme updates — for now
An independent update system (notably Git-based) is part of my plans. However, Retraceur does not yet have a sufficiently large ecosystem to justify this work. Building this infrastructure today would be premature. It would add complexity without delivering meaningful short-term value.
This objective is postponed to Retraceur 4.0.0, when the project — hopefully — has attracted more contributors and real-world usage.
No identity-centered core — yet
One of Retraceur’s deeper goals is to place individual identity at the center of the software, rather than content alone. This is both ambitious and structurally impactful: it affects the data model, themes, extensions, and the core philosophy itself.
I want to dedicate a full major release to this work: Retraceur 5.0.0, with a realistic target set for the end of 2026. Once again, I prefer taking the time to do things properly.
Planned trajectory
Without hype or over-promising, here is Retraceur’s current annual roadmap:
- Version 3.0.0 (late February 2026): consolidate and stabilize improvements to the Post Formats API, lay the foundation for an Open Graph API.
- Version 4.0.0 (mid-July 2026): improve discovery and updates for extensions and themes, support the emergence of a distributed ecosystem.
- Version 5.0.0 (late December 2026): center the core on identity and profile, fully embracing Retraceur as a tool for personal presence.
This trajectory may evolve. It depends on my available time, resources, and — possibly — on people who choose to join the effort.
An intentional posture
Retraceur moves at a pace that matches my real-world capacity. I prefer to:
- move slowly but steadily;
- release imperfect but sincere versions;
- announce less, deliver more, and remain authentic.
This project remains a hobby, but also a moral commitment: to keep creating, sharing, and publishing without giving up integrity, restraint, or openness.
If you use Retraceur, follow its evolution, or share some of these concerns, your feedback is welcome.
Oh — and it’s never too late to do things right: wishing everyone a very happy new year 🎈
Crédits photo à la une: ardito ryan Harrisna sur Unsplash.
Note: The WordPress® trademark is the intellectual property of the WordPress Foundation. The use of the WordPress® name in this article is for identification purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the WordPress Foundation.
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