GitHub is a platform for hosting and managing code using a system called Git, which tracks every change made to a project over time. It’s widely used by developers to collaborate, review changes, and keep a full history of a project’s evolution.
Many WordPress plugins and themes are developed openly on GitHub, even if they’re distributed to end users through the official WordPress plugin directory.
Why Developers Use It
GitHub lets multiple people work on the same codebase without overwriting each other’s changes. It also keeps a detailed history, so if something breaks, developers can trace exactly which change caused the problem and roll it back if needed.
Do You Need to Know GitHub as a Site Owner?
Not really, unless you’re building custom plugins or themes yourself. But it can still be useful to know about — many plugin developers use their GitHub page to report bugs, request features, or check whether an issue you’ve run into has already been reported by someone else.