Today marks 11 years since the very first official public release of WordPress. Reading through that changelog will make you smile and realize how far the software has come since the early days when its main competitors were Textpattern and Movable Type.
Fast forward 11 years and WordPress now powers 22% of the web with a content management system market share of 60.0%. Many moons ago, when you were hacking Kubrick, did you ever imagine that you’d see WordPress featured in an Apple product advertisement? Could you have predicted that WordPress would power major news publications and government sites around the globe?
Over the past decade, this open source platform has enabled people to build creative, thriving businesses that support their families and improve the lives of others in small and big ways. With more than 31,000 free plugins and 665 million plugin downloads, WordPress’ extensibility makes it possible for the platform to power nearly any kind of website, from major corporations to universities to social networks. Best of all, WordPress has helped ordinary people tell their stories and find a voice in the world.
Here’s to the people who build WordPress, the ever-growing community that supports it, and the users who choose to publish with it every day. Happy birthday and congratulations on 11 years burning brighter.
Happy Birthday WordPress!