In the early 2000s, blogging was blowing up the online world, and two bloggers were building something that would end up being a powerhouse in the online world. This powerhouse would grow well beyond supporting bloggers to supporting pretty much anything with an online presence. That something they were working on? WordPress.
Today, WordPress is the web builder behind 42% of all websites, including websites for well-known brands like the New York Times, Forbes, and Samsung. But this success didn’t happen overnight. The process of building, refining, and developing a platform that anyone can successfully use took time, and here you’ll find the story that got WordPress to where it is today.
WordPress Origins
It all started in 2001 with b2/Cafelog, a blogging platform developed by Michel Valdrighi. He wanted to create something that would make it easy for bloggers to get their posts in front of people. But, a year later, Valdrighi had let the project go and was no longer updating the program.
At this point, several bloggers, including Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, were already enjoying the platform, and they didn’t want to see it abandoned. Mullenweg and Little each expressed interest in continuing to update the program, and that’s exactly what they did.
The pair started working together to fork the program or, in other words, to further develop the open-source code of b2/Cafelog software on their own. They had a vision of what the platform could be — an efficient, user-friendly blogging platform that was easy for bloggers to navigate and create with and delivered an aesthetic website for the reader — and set to work to bring it into existence.
WordPress Debut
In May 2003, roughly a year after the pair began updating the software, they debuted WordPress to the world. By January 2004, they updated WordPress to version 1.0, or as it was also known, Davis (after the musician Miles Davis).
In this short time, the platform was already gaining traction for its ease of use as a content management system (CMS) and, quite notably, for the ability it gave any person, regardless of their coding knowledge, the ability to create a website.
WordPress Growth
Mullenweg and Little regularly released updated versions of WordPress (and, yes, each one was named after a famous jazz musician) that offered users new features and capabilities.
Early updates to the program in 2004 opened the doors to add plugins to WordPress sites, substantially increasing what WordPress could offer. This would eventually lead to the ability to host online stores, accept payments, book appointments, and even connect to social media feeds and profiles.
2005 saw the launch of WordPress version 1.5, dubbed Strayhorn. This update stands out because it offered WordPress users tools like website layouts and themes. These abilities made it easier to create an aesthetically pleasing website without learning or even worrying about code. Plus, now WordPress could support webpages and not just blog posts, meaning WordPress users could develop a much richer user experience for their audience and more elaborate websites.
Updates that improved the user experience continued, and by 2007, WordPress users had access to functionalities like a theme directory and publishing features like tags, categories, spellcheck, and the ability to preview content before publishing it.
2010 became the year that WordPress itself considered the program to have become a proper CMS by merging with WPMU, a multi-user sister project of WordPress. After this, features around content management continued to evolve, with the 2018 Guttenberg editor launch being one of the most significant updates that allowed for easy content and page editing.
As each version of WordPress progressed, so did the community around it. Its updates and new versions were the product of collaborations with others passionate about the platform. WordPress also maintained an open-source platform that allowed others to work on WordPress itself and develop different public-use plugins and features for it. And for those less tech-savvy users, it maintained a vast catalog of resource materials to help users make the most of WordPress however they wanted.
WordPress Today
WordPress nowadays is a powerhouse that has become one of the most popular and versatile website-building platforms. It offers users over 59,000 plugins and nearly 9,000 different themes, meaning users can create a unique website that meets all the functions they could dream of.
Additionally, with headless WordPress development services that are in trend now, you can get unparalleled freedom in design and functionality.
It supports government websites, non-profits, e-commerce brands, small businesses, artists, musicians, online gaming, and online casinos that make playing the mobile games you like easy — and, true to its roots, it still supports blogging.
What Does the Future Hold?
As a platform that has a 20-year history of evolution and improvement, it’s safe to say that WordPress will continue breaking new ground. WordPress focuses on delivering updates that improve the platform’s CMS capabilities, with version updates still done through open-source collaboration. It still emphasizes its community by offering educational materials and learning events.
Significant updates are expected from the platform, with some predicting a focus on voice search optimization (as Google voice searches are growing) and developing a dark mode for WordPress users.
Generally, the website development industry is seeing growth around artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, accessibility, and enhanced user experience and interface features. Expecting growth on these fronts from WordPress seems natural. Whether the platform will create built-in features that support these things or if the emphasis will fall more on plugins, it’s hard to say.
While no one can say with certainty what the future holds, it’s safe to assume that WordPress will continue to grow and respond to the wants and needs of its users.
As WordPress continues to dominate globally, it’s crucial to integrate security features like WP Captcha to protect your site from unauthorized access and maintain its robust reputation.