WordPress

WordPress is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. It is released under the GPLv2 or later license and has grown into the most widely used CMS, powering a substantial portion of websites worldwide. The project began in 2003 as a fork of b2/cafelog by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little and has since evolved through contributions from a global community of developers and users.

The software can be run as a self-hosted application via WordPress.org, giving users full control over hosting, customization, and data. It can also be used as a hosted service at WordPress.com, which offers managed hosting with varying levels of customization and monetization options. Core functionality is extended through themes, which control design and layout, and plugins, which add features such as e-commerce, SEO, analytics, and security. The built-in block editor, Gutenberg, introduced in 2018, enables content creation with modular blocks for text, media, and widgets. Other features include a media library, user roles and permissions, publishing workflows, and multisite capabilities to manage multiple sites from a single installation.

WordPress benefits from a large ecosystem of themes and plugins developed by a global community, making it suitable for blogs, business sites, portfolios, and small to large-scale e-commerce when paired with plugins like WooCommerce. Ongoing security updates and version releases are provided by the WordPress project and its volunteer base, reinforcing best practices for maintenance and compatibility.