Before you delve into the depths of web development with the WordPress framework, it’s good to have a general idea of what WordPress is, and most importantly why does it even exist.
So what is WordPress?
WordPress is what you call web software. It was first started in 2003 and it’s currently the most used web site platform in the world. Currently there are more than 75 million sites using WordPress globally. You can see realtime WP activity around the world here wordpress.com/activity.
You can actually summarise WordPress as a powerful content management system (CMS), not just a blogging platform. What made WordPress really appealing is the fact that there are no requirements to purchase specialised software. All you need to author your website is an internet browser (and connection obviously). Another great thing about WordPress is that it’s completely free, and it’s also open-source. The last one means that the source code of the whole platform is available for anyone to download, review, study, amend, extend and use however they deem fit. This means that over the years a vast community of developers has gathered, who support and extend the WP project via contributions to main features, bug fixes and additional plug-ins.