Do you want to create a blog or website? Well, you can do so by hiring a web designer or create your blog yourself using WordPress CMS. However, before you start building your site, let me ask you a question first. Do you know about WordPress? In case, you don’t then, and please let me educate you that out of all the websites on the internet 33% of them are created using the WordPress content management system.
Year of Release- 2003
On May 27 of 2003, one of the developers announced the release of the first version of WordPress. Right after its first release, WordPress was well accepted by the Internet community. Moreover, WordPress 1.0 was inspired by b2 Cafelog with some additional improvements. In the WordPress 1.0, new templates, XHTML 1.1 compliant templates and new admin interface.
Introduction to Plugin Architecture (2004)
In this year, WordPress introduced version 1.2. Well, this update came with the plugin architecture. Till date, the release of this feature is considered as the first huge success. Now, several WordPress users and developer were able to extend the functionality by writing their plugins. So, as a result, several plugins were created and shared with the entire world.
At the time, WordPress was released for the world; something opposite was happening to the blogging industry.
Initially, WordPress was introduced to resemble its competitors as an innovative project that offers a secure, stable, mature and flexible platform. Right after the release of this version, the demand for WordPress increased rapidly.
Theme System and Interface changes (2005)
This year with the release of version 1.5, some tools were introduced for WordPress. WordPress introduced Comment, pages moderation tools. In addition to this, an entirely new theme system was introduced and by default WordPress provided Kubrick theme.
At the end of the year, the developers released WordPress 2.0 to the community with a new admin dashboard. Moreover, this update came as a complete renovation of the administration screens.
To provide a better user interface, developers two new languages with this update- JavaScript and DHTML. After this, you won’t need to load a page to perform some simple tasks. Now, all users were able to add tags and categories without reloading the current screen.
Trademark Registration (2006)
In this year, trademark registration for WordPress and WordPress logo was filed by the co-founder of Automattic, Matt Mullenweg.
Addition of Web Design (2008)
To help in designing a new interface for WordPress admin, a web design company called Happy Cog joined the WordPress project. This was the first significant update in the two years gap.
For this reason, WordPress released several updates with the introduction of new features such as one-click updates; shortcodes, and installation of the built-in plugin.
Transfer of Ownership (2010)
In this year, the founders of WordPress decided to transfer the ownership of the WordPress trademark and logo to the WordPress Foundation. In the history of WordPress, this is considered as a significant moment. By doing so, they ensured that WordPress would continue to grow without depending on a set of developers or any company.
Right after this in 2010, version 3.0 of WordPress was introduced. This was one of the significant steps towards making WordPress as the best CMS ever. With the introduction of WordPress 3.0, several new features were added such as better custom taxonomies, header, custom post types custom backgrounds, contextual help, menus on the admin screens. Later, to create multisite networks WordPress merged their MU project into WordPress core.
Entry to E-Commerce (2011)
This year was dedicated to creating some cool plugins for building some compelling E-commerce sites. With this update, users were able to create their shops and develop some of the most influential websites.
Upgraded theme services (2012)
In 2012, WordPress introduced a theme preview, theme customizer, and new media manager. Later, these features provided significant help to new users in creating galleries for images. Moreover, users were able to see the preview before changing the entire theme.
Automatic Updates (2013)
Similar to the automatic feature of the Google Chrome browser, WordPress 3.7 introduced the automatic updates. WordPress will automatically update the software of your site that the company released to fix minor bugs. Several users didn’t like the feature of Automatic updates. So, they decided to disable this feature.
In 2013, WordPress became one of the most popular CMS all over the world.
As the year was closing, WordPress introduced MP6 with the release of WordPress version 3.8. This update added a new admin interface that was fast, responsive. The release of WordPress 3.8 was aimed towards the better user experience on any devices with big size of the screen.
Drag and Drop (2014)
WordPress version 3.9 was released to improve the visual post editor. Now, users were able to drag and drop inside the editor. In addition to this, users can now edit their uploaded images inside the editor. Moreover, version 3.9 introduced audio playlists, live widget previews, and many more enhancements.
2014 was the year when non-English downloads of WordPress exceeded the number of English downloads.
Evolution of Ecommerce (2015)
This year new WordPress 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4 were released. After the release of these updates, several new features were introduced such as emoji support, theme customizer, improved localization, and retaining down infrastructure.
Later, in 2016, WordPress introduced one of the most popular plugins that is known as Woo Commerce. It is a widely used e-commerce plugin that anyone can use to open their online shops.
Addition of HTTPS Protocol (2016)
With WordPress versions 4.5, 4.6, and 4.7, some new features were introduced and some existing bugs were fixed. The new features added with this update were for the seamless updates of themes and plugins, recovery of your content using the browser storage and custom CSS feature for customizing the themes. At the end of 2016, WordPress announced the support for HTTPs Protocol.
Foundation for Block Editor (2017)
In 2017, WordPress released version 4.8 and 4.9. In terms of feature, this update added new widgets for adding images, rich text, HTML audio, and videos. After this update, WordPress decided to remove the classic editor and replace it with the new block editor.
The unveiling of Block Editor (2018)
Last year, WordPress finally released version 5.00 with the most awaited Block editor. This new editor was released to introduce bloggers with a brand new experience of editing. Moreover, the codename for this block editor was given as Gutenberg.
Future of WordPress
To address the requirements of millions of web bloggers all around the world, WordPress is continuously adding new features to evolve among other CMS. To conclude, I would say that the future of WordPress will depend on the needs of its users. To continue creating fantastic web sites, WordPress will continue to empower people all over the world. So, rest is assured. Moreover, if you are trying to develop your website using WordPress CMS than follow these tips for WordPress to create a remarkable, fast, responsive and secure blog or website.