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WordPress (WP, or WordPress.org) is a web content management system. It was originally created as a tool to publish blogs but has evolved to support publishing other web content, including more traditional websites, mailing lists and Internet forum, media galleries, membership sites, learning management systems, and online stores. Available as free and open-source software, WordPress is among the most popular content management systems – it was used by 43.1% of the top 10 million websites as of December 2023.[5]
WordPress is written in the PHP language[6] and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system, referred to within WordPress as "Themes".
To function, WordPress has to be installed on a web server, either as part of an Internet hosting service or on a computer running the WordPress software package.[7]
WordPress was released on May 27, 2003, by its founders, American developer Matt Mullenweg[1] and English developer Mike Little.[8][9] WordPress Foundation owns WordPress, WordPress projects, and other related trademarks.[10]
Overview
"WordPress is a factory that makes webpages"[11] is a core analogy designed to clarify the functions of WordPress: it stores content and enables a user to create and publish webpages, requiring nothing beyond a domain and a hosting service.
WordPress has a web template system using a template processor. Its architecture is a front controller, routing all requests for non-static URIs to a single PHP file that parses the URI and identifies the target page. This allows support for more human-readable permalinks.[12]
Themes
WordPress users may install and switch among many different themes. Themes allow users to change the look and functionality of a WordPress website without altering the core code or site content. Custom code can be added to the website by using a child theme or through a code editor. Every WordPress website requires at least one theme to be present. Themes may be directly installed using the WordPress "Appearance" administration tool in the dashboard, or theme folders may be copied directly into the themes directory.[13] WordPress themes are generally classified into two categories: free and premium. Many free themes are listed in the WordPress theme directory (also known as the repository), and premium themes are available for purchase from marketplaces and individual WordPress developers. WordPress users may also create and develop their own custom themes and upload them in the WordPress directory or repository.[14]
Plugins
WordPress' plugin architecture allows users to extend or depreciate the features and functionality of a website or blog.[15][16] As of December 2021, WordPress.org has 59,756 plugins available,[17] each of which offers custom functions and features enabling users to tailor their sites to their specific needs. However, this does not include the available premium plugins (approximately 1,500+), which may not be listed in the WordPress.org repository. These customizations range from search engine optimization (SEO) to client portals used to display private information to logged-in users, to content management systems, to content displaying features, such as the addition of widgets and navigation bars. Not all available plugins are always abreast with the upgrades, and as a result, they may not function properly or may not function at all. If the plugin developer has not tested the plugin with the last two major versions of WordPress, a warning message will be displayed on the plugin directory, informing users that the plugin may not work properly with the latest WordPress version.[18] Most plugins are available through WordPress themselves, either via downloading them and installing the files manually via FTP or through the WordPress dashboard. However, many third parties offer plugins through their websites, many of which are paid packages.
Web developers who wish to develop plugins need to learn WordPress' hook system, which consists of over 2,000 hooks (as of Version 5.7 in 2021)[19] divided into two categories: action hooks and filter hooks.[20]
Plugins also represent a development strategy that can transform WordPress into all sorts of software systems and applications, limited only by the imagination and creativity of programmers. These are implemented using custom plugins to create non-website systems, such as headless WordPress applications and Software as a Service (SaaS) products.
Plugins could also be used by hackers targeting sites that use WordPress, as hackers could exploit bugs in WordPress plugins instead of bugs in WordPress itself.[21]
Mobile applications
Phone apps for WordPress exist for WebOS,[22]Android,[23] iOS,[24][25] Windows Phone, and BlackBerry.[26] These applications, designed by Automattic, have options such as adding new blog posts and pages, commenting, moderating comments, replying to comments in addition to the ability to view the stats.[24][25]
Accessibility
The WordPress Accessibility Coding Standards state that "All new or updated code released in WordPress must conform with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 at level AA."[27]
Other features
WordPress also features integrated link management, a search engine–friendly, clean permalink structure; the ability to assign multiple categories to posts; and support for tagging of posts. Automatic filters are also included, providing standardized formatting and styling of text in posts (for example, converting regular quotes to smart quotes). WordPress also supports the Trackback and Pingback standards for displaying links to other sites that have themselves linked to a post or an article. WordPress posts can be edited in HTML, using the visual editor, or using one of several plugins that allow for a variety of customized editing features.
Multi-user and multi-blogging
Before version 3, WordPress supported one blog per installation, although multiple concurrent copies may be run from different directories if configured to use separate database tables. WordPress Multisites (previously referred to as WordPress Multi-User, WordPress MU, or WPMU) was a fork of WordPress created to allow multiple blogs to exist within one installation but can be administered by a centralized maintainer. WordPress MU makes it possible for those with websites to host their own blogging communities, as well as control and moderate all the blogs from a single dashboard. WordPress MU adds eight new data tables for each blog.
As of the release of WordPress 3, WordPress MU has merged with WordPress.[28]
History
b2/cafelog, more commonly known as b2 or catalog, was the precursor to WordPress.[29] b2/cafelog was estimated to have been installed on approximately 2,000 blogs as of May 2003.[30] It was written in PHP for use with MySQL by Michel Valdrighi, who was a contributing developer to WordPress until 2005. Although WordPress is the official successor, another project, b2evolution, is also in active development.
As the development of b2/cafelog slowed down, Matt Mullenweg began pondering the idea of forking b2/cafelog and new features that he would want in a new CMS, in a blog post written on January 24, 2003.[31] A professional developer, Mike Little became the first to comment on the blog post expressing interest to contribute.[31][32] The two worked together to create the first version of WordPress, version 0.70,[33] which was released on May 27, 2003.[34] Christine Selleck Tremoulet, a friend of Mullenweg, suggested the name WordPress.[35][36]
In 2004, the licensing terms for the competing Movable Type package were changed by Six Apart, resulting in many of its most influential users migrating to WordPress.[37][38] By October 2009, the Open Source CMS MarketShare Report concluded that WordPress enjoyed the greatest brand strength of any open-source content management system.
As of May 2021, WordPress is used by 64.8% of all the websites whose content management system is known, and 41.4% of the top 10 million websites.[4]
Awards and recognition
- Winner of InfoWorld's "Best of open source software awards: Collaboration", awarded in 2008.[39]
- Winner of Open Source CMS Awards's "Overall Best Open Source CMS", awarded in 2009.[40]
- Winner of digital synergy's "Hall of Fame CMS category in the 2010 Open Source", awarded in 2010.[41]
- Winner of InfoWorld's "Bossie award for Best Open Source Software", awarded in 2011.[42]
Release history
Main releases of WordPress are codenamed after well-known jazz musicians, starting from version 1.0.[43][44]
Although only the current release is officially supported, security updates are backported "as a courtesy" to all versions as far back as 4.0.[45]
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