2003 – Birth of WordPress
WordPress was created by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little and released on May 27, 2003. The project was forked from b2/cafelog, a blogging software whose development had been discontinued. WordPress 0.70 was the first release, featuring a refreshed admin interface, new templates, and XHTML 1.1 compliance.
2004 – Plugin architecture introduced (v1.2)
WordPress 1.2 “Mingus” introduced the plugin system that would become central to WordPress’s extensibility. This allowed developers to extend WordPress functionality without modifying core code.
2005 – Pages and theme system (v1.5)
WordPress 1.5 “Strayhorn” added static pages and a new theme system, transforming WordPress from a blogging tool into a full content management system.
2006 – WordPress trademark registered
Automattic, founded by Matt Mullenweg, registered the WordPress trademark. The WordPress Foundation was later established to protect the open-source project.
2010 – Multisite and custom content types (v3.0)
WordPress 3.0 “Thelonious” merged WordPress MU into core, adding multisite functionality. It also introduced custom post types, custom taxonomies, and the Twenty Ten theme.
2011 – Post formats and admin bar
WordPress 3.1 “Reinhardt” added post formats, the admin bar at the top of pages, and improved the writing experience.
2012 – Theme customizer and media manager
WordPress 3.4 “Green” introduced the theme customizer for live preview and a media manager for easier file handling.
2013 – Automatic updates (v3.7)
WordPress 3.7 “Basie” introduced automatic background updates for minor releases and security updates, improving security for millions of sites.
2018 – Gutenberg block editor (v5.0)
WordPress 5.0 “Bebo” launched the Gutenberg block editor, replacing the classic TinyMCE editor with a modern block-based editing experience.
2021 – Full Site Editing groundwork (v5.7-5.8)
WordPress 5.7 “Esperanza” and 5.8 “Arturo” laid the groundwork for Full Site Editing with block themes and the site editor.
2023 – Full Site Editing out of beta (v6.2)
WordPress 6.2 “Dolphy” brought Full Site Editing out of beta, allowing complete site customization using blocks.
2025 – Current version
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Founders | Matt Mullenweg & Mike Little |
| Founded | May 27, 2003 |
| Origin | Forked from b2/cafelog |
| License | GPLv2 or later |
| Current Version | 6.9.4 (March 2026) |
| Latest Stable | 7.0 RC1 (in development) |
| Repository | https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress |
| Official Site | https://wordpress.org |