There are considerable differences but maybe up until now, the distinction has been blurred a little. James is going to be putting together a document that explains what ClassicPress Research is all about.
In a nutshell, the research programme is all about providing a place for developers to experiment and to create and nurture their ideas. Some of these ideas may not go anywhere and get abandoned and others could become full blown projects but just not suitable for ClassicPress. Ultimately what we want to achieve is to encourage developers to create “something” that has the potential to add value to ClassicPress.
As this is a crucial part of the ClassicPress Ecosystem, it’s something that both James and I will be working on together. James will be managing the research programme on a day to day basis whereas I will be watching the programme looking for projects that I consider to be ready to become officially supported ClassicPress projects.
Classic Commerce and Classic SEO are still technically considered research projects but we have created a new home for projects that are officially supported by ClassicPress. Both of these projects will be moving there in due course.
Hope this clarifies things a little. As I say, James will be producing a more detailed and definitive document.