WordPress, the most popular blogging and publishing platform on the net, turned 10 years old today. Happy 10th Anniversary WordPress! This marks an amazing occasion and milestone for the content management system first released 10 years ago by Matt Mullenweg.
In internet terms 10 years is essentially “forever” but it feels like the content management system is still pretty new. You might have noticed the majority of my websites and blogs run on WordPress. (I use MyBB for forums since WordPress is really not ideal for forum software.) I feel like I have been using WordPress forever but realized it has only been a couple of years since I started using the easiest and best content management system around. Some people have been using WordPress a lot longer and their expertise goes far beyond where my knowledge probably could ever go. I learn more about the depths and capabilities of this powerful publishing platform everyday though.
To celebrate the WordPress 10th Anniversary there are special meetups for WordPress users, enthusiasts, bloggers, etc. happening in 639 communities all over the world. If you want to participate in one of these special WordPress 10th Anniversary events click here to find a MeetUp in your area.
If you don't plan to celebrate the WordPress 10th Anniversary by meeting-up and partying with people, that's fine. Here are some awesome and cool facts about WordPress you might find interesting though and you can have a party at your computer;
- Installation files for WordPress, from WordPress.org, were downloaded 44 million times in 2012, which is a few downloads every second of every minute during the day. Something to note is this does not include automatic script downloads using Softaculous, Fantastico or other scripts. Matt Mullenweg was even impressed with this number during his “State of the Word” speech at WordCamp 2012 in San Francisco.
- WordPress.com runs over 66 million websites including some of the largest sites on the web. This includes CNN, NBC Sports, TED, TechCrunch, Forbes and many other major news and publishers that all run on WordPress VIP.
- It is estimated that 17% of the websites in the world run on WordPress or use a customized WordPress framework.
- 52% of the top 100 Technorati blogs run on WordPress and no other content management system comes close to matching that number.
- The 2012 WordPress survey had 27,000 respondents from 158 different countries around the world. 2/3 of those were from outside the Unites States.
- Roughly 20,000 people are making money from WordPress or their entire living. This includes designers, plugin developers, managers, third party software, etc.
- WordPress was launched on Memorial Day! (Happy Memorial Day everyone!)
- WordPress will save the world!
Ok, that last one might be stretch but I think it is true fact. People can share ideas a lot easier and make the world a better place with WordPress in my opinion.
Do you have any cool WordPress facts you want to add to this list? Please leave a comment below and let me know. I'd be happy to hear if I have missed something because I know I probably have.
Remember to keep blogging, writing, and making open source platforms such as WordPress continue their dominance on the web. Congrats to AutoMattic (the company behind WordPress) , the developers, enthusiasts, coders, and the entire WordPress community that has made it all possible.
I probably wouldn't be online and blogging today if it wasn't for WordPress. Do you feel the same way? I'd love to hear from readers about how WordPress has changed your life as it certainly changed mine.
Catch me on Twitter @AdamYamada … if you can!