Jhimross Onlinares receives the Yoast Care fund for his contributing to the WordPress community.

Meet Jhimross Onlinares, a valued member of the WordPress community! John Carlo Pattaguan nominated him for the Yoast Care Fund for his commitment and valuable contributions. Let’s learn more about this WordPress enthusiast.

Nominator John Carlo Pattaguan: “I strongly support Jhimross’s acceptance, given his long-standing and consistent contributions to the WordPress ecosystem. Since becoming a contributor in 2015, he has actively participated across multiple teams, including Community, Training, Polyglots, Photos, Documentation, Openverse, and WordCamp organizing. His involvement goes beyond occasional contributions-he continuously helps users, reviews translations, contributes to training resources, develops plugins, and supports the growth of the WordPress community. What stands out most is his commitment to giving back. He contributes regularly to WordPress projects, helps organize community events, and has taken leadership roles in major initiatives such as Contributor Day for WordCamp.”

Let’s get to know Jhimross Onlinares

That’s quite an introduction, John Carlo Pattaguan! We would love to get to know Jhimross Onlinares even better. That’s why we asked him questions about his work and his passion for WordPress.

Hi, Jhimross Onlinares! What do you do in the WordPress space?

Professionally, I’m the Operations Lead at LevelUp, where we provide offshore solutions; one of the services we offer is Managed WordPress Technical Support for our clients. I also enjoy mentoring my colleagues, creating courses and learning materials, and helping others grow their confidence with WordPress from the basics to more advanced topics. In my free time, I maintain a few WordPress plugins, including Debugger and Troubleshooter, which I built from my own experience troubleshooting WordPress sites to help users of all skill levels. Also built and maintaining some plugins that we used in our local meetup and WordCamps.

Outside of work, I love giving back to WordPress in any way I can. I contribute to several Make WordPress teams, including Polyglots as a General Translation Editor (GTE) for the Tagalog locale, as well as the Training, Photos, Community, and other teams. I’m also one of the organizers of the monthly WordPress Manila Meetup, served as a Co-Lead for the WordCamp Asia 2025 Contributor Day Team, helped organize WordCamp Philippines 2026, led the Contributor Day, and am a member of the WordCamp Asia 2027 organizing team for the Contributor Day Team.

WordPress has given me so many opportunities, friendships, and unforgettable experiences. Giving back through code, education, translations, and community events is my way of saying thank you to the community that has shaped both my career and my life.

What advice would you give to someone just starting with WordPress?

My biggest advice is to find your passion. The WordPress community is one of the most welcoming communities you’ll ever be part of, and you’ll learn so much faster when you’re surrounded by people who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences. Attend local meetups, join WordCamps, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to contribute, even if it’s your first time.

Of course, keep building too. Create simple websites, experiment with themes and plugins, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Some of my biggest lessons came from fixing things I accidentally broke! WordPress isn’t just about building websites; it’s about building friendships, learning together, and helping each other grow. That’s what makes this community so special.

What’s your favorite WordPress memory or something you’re most proud of?

One of my favorite and proudest WordPress memories was co-leading the Contributor Day team at WordCamp Asia 2025 in my hometown of Manila. Standing on that stage was an emotional moment. I couldn’t help but look around and reflect on how WordPress had changed my life. What started as a simple curiosity to build websites eventually became a career, introduced me to lifelong friends, and opened doors to opportunities I never imagined.

Looking out at a room filled with more than 1000 contributors from around the world, I felt nothing but gratitude. It wasn’t about being on stage; it was about realizing I had the opportunity to give back to the same community that welcomed me, taught me, and believed in me. Seeing first-time contributors make their very first contribution reminded me why I continue to volunteer my time. That moment wasn’t just one of my proudest achievements; it was a reminder that WordPress is more than software. It’s a community that changes lives, and I’m grateful to be a small part of its story.

If you could shape the future of WordPress, what would it look like?

If I could shape the future of WordPress, I’d love to see it embrace AI in a way that genuinely helps people build, manage, and maintain websites more efficiently. AI shouldn’t replace creativity or the flexibility that makes WordPress so powerful; it should remove repetitive tasks and help users work smarter. Imagine having built-in AI that can troubleshoot common issues, explain errors in plain language, suggest performance and security improvements, generate documentation, or even help developers write cleaner code.

At the same time, I hope WordPress continues to stay true to its open-source values. As AI becomes part of our everyday workflows, WordPress has an opportunity to provide transparent, privacy-friendly, and extensible AI tools that users can choose and customize. I believe the future of WordPress is where open source and AI work hand in hand, empowering people to build better websites while keeping them in control.

Where may people find you? Online, WordCamps, other meetups?

I’m always happy to connect with fellow WordPress enthusiasts! You’ll usually find me at WordPress Manila Meetups, and WordCamps around the region, so don’t hesitate to say hello if you see me around.

You can also find me online through my WordPress.org profile, GitHub, and social media (using the handle @jhimross), where I share my WordPress projects, open-source contributions, and things I’m learning along the way. Whether you have a question about WordPress or just want to chat over coffee, I’d love to connect!

Thank you for this interview, Jhimross Onlinares. And for all of your contributions to the WordPress community! Do you know someone like Jhimross Onlinares who also deserves to be in the spotlight? Go to our Yoast Care page and nominate them right away.