Tumblr is undergoing a major technical change after revealing it will soon be migrating its backend over to WordPress.
An announcement by parent company Automattic confirmed the popular blogging site will continue to operate as Tumblr, rather than be converted into WordPress, noting that only the back end will undergo the transition.
“We’re not talking about changing Tumblr," it stated. "We’re not turning Tumblr into WordPress. That would defeat the purpose. We acquired Tumblr to benefit from its differences and strengths, not to water it down.”
Tumblr set to migrate over to WordPress
Since Automattic acquired Tumblr in 2019 for $3 million, the platform has seen several upgrades and revenue growth, so logically, the next step is for Tumblr to move over to the WordPress platform to simplify the company’s portfolio.
The migration is anticipated to bring several benefits, including the ease of sharing work across WordPress and Tumblr. Tumblr will also benefit from the ongoing open-source developments from WordPress.org, of which WordPress.com owner Automattic is a major contributor.
However, the migration is expected to be a monumental task, with Tumblr currently hosting an estimated half a billion blogs. Automattic described the change as “one of the largest technical migrations in internet history.”
The timeline for the transition has not been disclosed, and Automattic has not shared a detailed roadmap. Rather, the announcement serves as an initial disclosure of future plans to move Tumblr’s back end over to WordPress.
Moreover, with Tumblr losing millions annually in the run-up to its Automattic acquisition, it’s hoped that the migration will serve as an important cost-efficiency measure that will address profit margins going forward.
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