WordPress is a content management system (CMS) used to create and manage websites. This CMS powers over 40% of the internet. This means that millions of websites and blogs around the world are built on this popular content management system. The exact number of WordPress users can fluctuate over time, but it’s a safe estimate that there are tens of millions of people actively using WordPress to create and manage their websites. Here is a summary of WordPress history.

Early Years (2003-2005)

WordPress was created by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little in 2003 as a fork of b2, a popular blogging platform at the time. It was released as open-source software under the GNU General Public License (GPL) in 2004, making it freely available to anyone. WordPress quickly gained popularity due to its ease of use and flexibility. Convenient use, no coding required, and user-friendly management have allowed WordPress to continually evolve.

Rise to Prominence (2006-2015)

The first stable version of WordPress, 1.0, was released in 2006, marking a significant milestone in its development. Large and active community of developers and users began to form around WordPress, contributing to its ongoing development and success. New features, plugins, and themes began to appear. WordPress grew from a simple CMS into an increasingly powerful tool.

WooCommerce was first released in 2011. This was a milestone. It is a free, open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress. WooCommerce allows users to add an online store to WordPress website, and nowadays it’s one of the most popular e-commerce platforms.

Further development and expansion (2015 – present)

In 2018, WordPress introduced the Gutenberg editor, a block-based editor that revolutionized the way content is created and managed.CMS has expanded its capabilities to allow for full site editing, enabling users to customize the entire look and feel of their websites without needing to code. 

Nowadays WordPress remains the most popular CMS, powering millions of websites and blogs.WordPress is a platform that is constantly evolving and adapting to the changing needs of its users. Thanks to its flexibility, openness, and large community, WordPress will remain one of the most popular content management systems in the world for a long time.