WordPress
Developer(s) | WordPress Foundation |
---|---|
Initial release | May 27, 2003[1] |
Stable release | 4.4.0 / December 8, 2015 |
Written in | PHP |
Operating system | Cross-platform |
Type |
Blog software Content management software |
License(s) | GNU General Public License v2[2] |
Website | WordPress.org |
WordPress is a free open-source blogging tool and content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL. It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1 million" websites and as of August 2011 manages 22% of all new websites.[3] WordPress is currently the most popular CMS in use on the Internet.[4][5]
It was first released on May 27, 2003, by Matt Mullenweg[1] as a fork of b2/cafelog. As of the end of March 2012, version 3.3 had been downloaded over 12.2 million times.[6]
Product history
b2/cafelog, more commonly known as simply b2 or cafelog, was the precursor to WordPress.[7] b2/cafelog was estimated to have been employed on approximately 2,000 blogs as of May 2003. It was written in PHP for use with MySQL by Michel Valdrighi, who is now a contributing developer to WordPress. Although WordPress is the official successor, another project, b2evolution, is also in active development.
WordPress first appeared in 2003 as a joint effort between Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little to create a fork of b2.[8] The name WordPress was suggested by Christine Selleck Tremoulet, a friend of Mullenweg.[9]
In 2004 the licensing terms for the competing Movable Type package were changed by Six Apart, and many of its most influential users migrated to WordPress.[10][11] By October 2009, the Open Source CMS Market Share Report reached the conclusion that WordPress enjoyed the greatest brand strength of any open source content management system.[12]
Releases
Most WordPress releases are codenamed after well-known jazz musicians, starting after version 1.0.[13]
Version | Code name | Release date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
0.70 | none | 27 May 2003 | Used the same file structure as its predecessor, b2/cafelog, and continued the numbering from its last release, 0.6.[14] Only 0.71-gold is available for download in the official WordPress Release Archive page. |
1.2 | Mingus | 22 May 2004 | Added support of plugins; which same identification headers are used unchanged in WordPress releases as of 2011. |
1.5 | Strayhorn | 17 February 2005 | Added a range of vital features, such as ability to manage static pages and a template/theme system. It was also equipped with a new default template (code named Kubrick)[15] designed by Michael Heilemann. |
2.0 | Duke | 31 December 2005 | Added rich editing, better administration tools, image uploading, faster posting, improved import system, fully overhauled the back end, and various improvements to plugin developers.[16] |
2.1 | Ella | 22 January 2007 | Corrected security issues, redesigned interface, enhanced editing tools (including integrated spell check and auto save), and improved content management options.[17] |
2.2 | Getz | 16 May 2007 | Added widget support for templates, updated Atom feed support, and speed optimizations.[18] |
2.3 | Dexter | 24 September 2007 | Added native tagging support, new taxonomy system for categories, and easy notification of updates, fully supports Atom 1.0, with the publishing protocol, and some much needed security fixes.[19] |
2.4 | none | none | |
2.5 | Brecker | 29 March 2008 | Version 2.4 was skipped, so version 2.5 added two releases worth of new code. The administration interface was fully redesigned, and the WordPress website to match the new style.[20] |
2.6 | Tyner | 15 July 2008 | Added new features that made WordPress a more powerful CMS: it can now track changes to every post and page and allow easy posting from anywhere on the web.[21] |
2.7 | Coltrane | 11 December 2008 | Administration interface redesigned fully, added automatic upgrades and installing plugins, from within the administration interface.[22] |
2.8 | Baker | 10 June 2009 | Had improvements in speed, added automatic installing of themes from within administration interface, introduces the CodePress editor for syntax highlighting and a redesigned widget interface.[23] |
2.9 | Carmen | 19 December 2009 | Added global undo, built-in image editor, batch plugin updating, and many less visible tweaks.[24] |
3.0 | Thelonious | 17 June 2010 | Added a new theme application programming interfaces (API); the merge of WordPress and WordPress MU, creating the new multi-site functionality, a new default theme called "Twenty Ten", and many less visible tweaks.[25] |
3.1 | Reinhardt | 23 February 2011 | Added the Admin Bar, which is displayed on all blog pages when an admin is logged in, and Post Format, best explained as a Tumblr like micro-blogging feature. It provides easy access to many critical functions, such as comments and updates. Includes internal linking abilities, a newly streamlined writing interface, and many other changes.[26] |
3.2 | Gershwin | 04 July 2011 | Focused on making WordPress faster and lighter. Released only four months after version 3.1, reflecting the growing speed of development in the WordPress community. |
3.3 | Sonny | 12 December 2011 | Focused on making WordPress friendlier for beginners and tablet computer users. |
3.4 | Green | 13 June 2012 | Focused on improvements to theme customization, Twitter integration and several minor changes. |
3.5 | Elvin | 11 December 2012 | Support for the retina display, color picker, new theme: Twenty Twelve, improved image workflow [27] |
3.6 | Oscar | 01 August 2013 | New theme: Twenty Thirteen; Admin enhancements: post formats UI update, menus UI improvements, revisions update, autosave and post locking |
3.7 | Basie | 24 October 2013 | Automatically apply maintenance and security updates in the background; Stronger password recommendations; Support for automatically installing the right language files and keeping them up to date[28] |
3.8 | Parker | 12 December 2013 | Improved admin interface; Responsive design for mobile devices; New typography using Open Sans; Admin color schemes; Redesigned theme management interface; Simplified main dashboard; Twenty Fourteen magazine style default theme; Second release using "plugin-first development process"[29] |
3.9 | Smith | 16 April 2014 | Live widget previews; New theme installer; UI refinements when working with media; Advanced display settings for images[30] |
4.0 | Benny | 4 September 2014 | Improved media management, embeds, writing interface, and plugin discovery.[31] |
4.1 | Dinah | 18 December 2014 | Twenty Fifteen as the new default theme, distraction-free writing, easy language switch, Vine embeds and plugin recommendations.[32] |
4.2 | Powell | 23 April 2015 | New "Press This" features, improved characters support, emoji support, improved customizer, new embeds and updated plugin system.[33] |
4.3 | Billie | 18 August 2015 | Focus on mobile experience, better passwords and improved customizer.[34] |
4.4 | Clifford | 08 December 2015 | "New features in 4.4 make your site more connected and responsive." Includes new Twenty Sixteen theme, responsive images, and improved embeds.[35] |
Features
Primary functions of WordPress include[36]:
- W3C compliance
- no rebuilding/regeneration
- static pages
- internal links
- theme support
- cross-blog communication
- comment support and control
- spam protection
- built-in user registration system
- granular post security
- user-based security
- import support
- XML-RPC interface
- typographical XHTML conversion
- intelligent text formatting
- bookmarklet support
- Ping-O-Matic support
Hardware/software requirements
The installation requirements for WordPress 3.2 through 3.9 include:
- PHP version 5.2.4 or greater
- MySQL version 5.0 or greater
For WordPress 3.1:
- PHP version 4.3 or greater
- MySQL version 4.1.2 or greater
Additional requirement information can be found here.
Videos, screenshots, and other media
Screenshots of WordPress can be found on the website.
An online demo of WordPress is located at OpenSource CMS.
Entities using WordPress
Examples of entities using WordPress include:
Administrative Council of the United States, Adobe, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Ben and Jerry's, Cookies for Kids' Cancer, Crossover Health, CURE International, Forbes, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, ILiveWithADisability.com, Intellectual Ventures Lab, Library of Congress, LIVESTRONG, Nokia, OpenView Labs, Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, Philips, Portuguese Office of the High Commissioner for Health, ResearchWorks, Samsung, The Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, The University Of British Columbia, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Missouri College of Engineering,
A full directory of WordPress users can be found at the WordPress website.
Further reading
- "WordPress Documentation". WordPress.org. http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page.
- "Books about WordPress". WordPress.org. http://wordpress.org/about/books/.
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mullenweg, Matt (27 May 2003). "WordPress Now Available". WordPress.org. http://wordpress.org/news/2003/05/wordpress-now-available/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress: About: GPL". WordPress.org. http://wordpress.org/about/gpl/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ Rao, Leena (19 August 2011). "WordPress Now Powers 22 Percent Of New Active Websites In The U.S.". TechCrunch. http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/19/wordpress-now-powers-22-percent-of-new-active-websites-in-the-us/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "Usage of content management systems for websites". W3Techs. http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_management/all. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "CMS Usage Statistics". BuiltWith. http://trends.builtwith.com/cms. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress Download Counter". WordPress.org. http://wordpress.org/download/counter/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ Andrew Warner, Matt Mullenweg (10 September 2009). The Biography Of WordPress – With Matt Mullenweg (Podcast). Mixergy. Event occurs at 10:57. http://mixergy.com/the-biography-of-wordpress-with-matt-mullenweg/. Retrieved 29 March 2012. "b2 had actually, through a series of circumstances, essentially become abandoned."
- ↑ "History - WordPress Codex". WordPress.org. http://codex.wordpress.org/History. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ Tremoulet, Christine Selleck (24 January 2008). "The Importance of Being Matt…". Christine Selleck Tremoulet. http://www.bigpinkcookie.com/2008/01/24/the-importance-of-being-matt/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ Manjoo, Farhad (9 August 2004). "Blogging grows up". Salon. http://www.salon.com/2004/08/09/six_apart/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ Pilgrim, Mark (14 May 2004). "Freedom 0". Mark Pilgrim. Archived from the original on 10 April 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060410125402/http://diveintomark.org/archives/2004/05/14/freedom-0. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ Water & Stone (17 December 2009). "Open Source CMS Market Share Report 2009". CMS Wire. p. 57. http://www.cmswire.com/downloads/cms-market-share/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "Roadmap". WordPress.org. http://wordpress.org/about/roadmap/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "b2". http://cafelog.com/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "Kubrick at Binary Bonsai". Binarybonsai.com. http://binarybonsai.com/kubrick. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress: Blog: WordPress 2". Wordpress.org. http://wordpress.org/development/2005/12/wp2/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress 2.1 - codex". Codex.wordpress.org. 22 January 2007. http://codex.wordpress.org/Version_2.1. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress: Blog: WordPress 2.2". Wordpress.org. http://wordpress.org/development/2007/05/wordpress-22/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress: Blog: WordPress 2.3". Wordpress.org. http://wordpress.org/development/2007/09/wordpress-23/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress: Blog: WordPress 2.5". Wordpress.org. http://wordpress.org/development/2008/03/wordpress-25-brecker/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress: Blog: WordPress 2.6". Wordpress.org. http://wordpress.org/development/2008/07/wordpress-26-tyner/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress: Blog: WordPress 2.7 “Coltrane”". Wordpress.org. http://wordpress.org/development/2008/12/coltrane/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress › Blog » 2.8 Release Jazzes Themes and Widgets". WordPress.org. http://wordpress.org/development/2009/06/wordpress-28/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress: Blog: WordPress 2.9, oh so fine". Wordpress.org. http://wordpress.org/development/2009/12/wordpress-2-9/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress: Blog: WordPress 3.0 “Thelonious”". Wordpress.org. http://wordpress.org/development/2010/06/thelonious/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "WordPress: Codex: WordPress 3.1 “Reinhardt”". Wordpress.org. http://codex.wordpress.org/Version_3.1. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "Wordpress: 3.5 Proposed Scope". Wordpress.org. https://make.wordpress.org/core/2012/07/18/3-5-proposed-scope/. Retrieved 04 September 2013.
- ↑ "WordPress 3.7 Basie Release Notice". WordPress.org. http://wordpress.org/news/2013/10/basie/. Retrieved 07 January 2014.
- ↑ "WordPress 3.8 Parker Release Notice". WordPress.org. http://wordpress.org/news/2013/12/parker/. Retrieved 07 January 2014.
- ↑ "WordPress Blog: WordPress 3.9". WordPress.org. 16 April 2014. https://wordpress.org/news/2014/04/smith/. Retrieved 02 September 2014.
- ↑ "WordPress Blog: WordPress 4.0". WordPress.org. 4 September 2014. https://wordpress.org/news/2014/09/benny/. Retrieved 02 September 2015.
- ↑ "WordPress Blog: WordPress 4.1". WordPress.org. 18 December 2014. https://wordpress.org/news/2014/12/dinah/. Retrieved 02 September 2015.
- ↑ "WordPress 4.2 “Powell”". WordPress.org. 23 April 2015. https://wordpress.org/news/2015/04/powell/. Retrieved 02 September 2015.
- ↑ "Version 4.3 Project Schedule". WordPress.org. 18 August 2015. https://make.wordpress.org/core/version-4-3-project-schedule/. Retrieved 02 September 2015.
- ↑ "WordPress 4.4 “Clifford”". WordPress.org. 8 December 2015. https://wordpress.org/news/2015/12/clifford/. Retrieved 06 January 2016.
- ↑ "WordPress - Features". WordPress.org. http://wordpress.org/about/features/. Retrieved 29 March 2012.