Yes, more than one in four websites that you visit are likely powered by WordPress. On a slightly more technical level, WordPress is an open-source content management system licensed under GPLv2, which means that anyone can use or modify the WordPress software for free. Many years ago, WordPress was primarily a tool to create a blog, rather than more traditional websites. That hasn’t been true for a long time, though. Nowadays, thanks to changes to the core code, as well as WordPress’ massive ecosystem of plugins and themes, you can create any type of website with WordPress.
For example, not only does WordPress power a huge number of Blog or Personal Website Business Website eCommerce Job Board Business Directory Question & Answer Website NonProfits and Religious Websites Portfolio Websites Online Communities Coupon Website Auction Websites Multilingual Websites Knowledgebase / Wiki Websites Podcasting photo color correction services Websites Niche Affiliate Websites Photography Websites School or College Websites Private Blogs Family Blogs WordPress was created as a standalone project all the way back in 2003, originating as an offshoot of a previous project called b2/cafelog.
WordPress is open-source software, so nowadays it’s made by a huge community of contributors. But if we were to trace WordPress’ origins back to its roots, its original creation was a collaboration between Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little. Since then, Matt Mullenweg has largely become the face of WordPress. And he’s also the founder of Automattic, which is the company behind the for-profit WordPress.com service. The history of WordPress between its founding as a blog platform back in 2003 and today is a long one… But suffice it to say, WordPress has pushed forward and, thanks to its contributors and huge community.