WordPress users may install and switch between themes. Themes allow users to change the look and functionality of a WordPress website or installation without altering the information content or structure of the site. Themes may be installed using the WordPress "Appearance" administration tool or theme folders may be uploaded via FTP. The PHP, HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) code found in themes can be added to or edited for providing advanced features. Thousands of WordPress themes exist, some free, and some paid for templates. WordPress users may also create and develop their own custom themes if they have the knowledge and skill to do so.
Plugins
WordPress's plugin architecture allows users to extend its features. WordPress has over 30,000 plugins available, each of which offers custom functions and features enabling users to tailor their sites to their specific needs. These customizations range from search engine optimization, to client portals used to display private information to logged in users, to content displaying features, such as the addition of widgets and navigation bars.
Mobiles
Native applications exist for WebOS,Android, iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. These applications, designed by Automattic, allow a limited set of options, which include adding new blog posts and pages, commenting, moderating comments, replying to comments in addition to the ability to view the stats.
Other features
WordPress also features integrated link management; a search engine–friendly, clean permalink structure; the ability to assign multiple categories to articles; and support for tagging of posts and articles. Automatic filters are also included, providing standardized formatting and styling of text in articles (for example, converting regular quotes to smart quotes). WordPress also supports the Trackback and Pingback standards for displaying links to other sites that have themselves linked to a post or an article.
Multi-user and multi-blogging
Prior to version 3, WordPress supported one blog per installation, although multiple concurrent copies may be run from different directories if configured to use separate database tables. WordPress Multisites (previously referred to as WordPress Multi-User, WordPress MU, or WPMU) was a fork of WordPress created to allow multiple blogs to exist within one installation but is able to be administered by a centralized maintainer. WordPress MU makes it possible for those with websites to host their own blogging communities, as well as control and moderate all the blogs from a single dashboard. WordPress MS adds eight new data tables for each blog...
As of the release of WordPress 3, WordPress MU has merged with WordPress.
History
b2/cafelog, more commonly known as simply b2 or cafelog, was the precursor to WordPress. b2/cafelog was estimated to have been installed on approximately 2,000 blogs as of May 2003. It was written in PHP for use with MySQL by Michel Valdrighi, who is now a contributing developer to WordPress. Although WordPress is the official successor, another project, b2evolution, is also in active development.
WordPress first appeared in 2003 as a joint effort between Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little to create a fork of b2Christine Selleck Tremoulet, a friend of Mullenweg, suggested the name WordPress
In 2004 the licensing terms for the competing Movable Type package were changed by Six Apart and many of its most influential users migrated to WordPress.By October 2009 the 2009 Open Source content management system Market Share Report reached the conclusion that WordPress enjoyed the greatest brand strength of any open-source content-management systems.
Release history
Main releases of WordPress are codenamed after well-known jazz musicians, starting after version 1.0.
Legend: Old version Older version, still supported Current version Future release
Version Code name Release date Notes
0.7 none 27 May 2003 Used the same file structure as its predecessor, b2/cafelog, and continued the numbering from its last release, 0.6.[30] Only 0.71-gold is available for download in the official WordPress Release Archive page.
1.0 Davis 3 January 2004 Added search engine friendly permalinks, multiple categories, dead simple installation and upgrade, comment moderation, XFN support, Atom support.
1.2 Mingus 22 May 2004 Added support of Plugins; which same identification headers are used unchanged in WordPress releases as of 2011.
1.5 Strayhorn 17 February 2005 Added a range of vital features, such as ability to manage static pages and a template/Theme system. It was also equipped with a new default template (code named Kubrick). designed by Michael Heilemann.
2.0 Duke 31 December 2005 Added rich editing, better administration tools, image uploading, faster posting, improved import system, fully overhauled the back end, and various improvements to Plugin developers.
2.1 Ella 22 January 2007 Corrected security issues, redesigned interface, enhanced editing tools (including integrated spell check and auto save), and improved content management options.
2.2 Getz 16 May 2007 Added widget support for templates, updated Atom feed support, and speed optimizations.
2.3 Dexter 24 September 2007 Added native tagging support, new taxonomy system for categories, and easy notification of updates, fully supports Atom 1.0, with the publishing protocol, and some much needed security fixes.
2.5 Brecker 29 March 2008 Version 2.4 was skipped, so version 2.5 added two releases worth of new code. The administration interface was fully redesigned, and the WordPress website to match the new style.
2.6 Tyner 15 July 2008 Added new features that made WordPress a more powerful CMS: it can now track changes to every post and page and allow easy posting from anywhere on the web.
2.7 Coltrane 11 December 2008 Administration interface redesigned fully, added automatic upgrades and installing Plugins, from within the administration interface.
2.8 Baker 10 June 2009 Added improvements in speed, automatic installing of Themes from within administration interface, introduces the CodePress editor for syntax highlighting and a redesigned widget interface.
2.9 Carmen 19 December 2009 Added global undo, built-in image editor, batch Plugin updating, and many less visible tweaks.
3.0 Thelonious 17 June 2010 Added a new Theme application programming interfaces (API); the merge of WordPress and WordPress MU, creating the new multi-site functionality, a new default Theme called "Twenty Ten" and a refreshed, lighter admin UI.
3.1 Reinhardt 23 February 2011 Added the Admin Bar, which is displayed on all blog pages when an admin is logged in, and Post Format, best explained as a Tumblr like micro-blogging feature. It provides easy access to many critical functions, such as comments and updates. Includes internal linking abilities, a newly streamlined writing interface, and many other changes.
3.2 Gershwin 4 July 2011 Focused on making WordPress faster and lighter. Released only four months after version 3.1, reflecting the growing speed of development in the WordPress community.
3.3 Sonny 12 December 2011 Focused on making WordPress friendlier for beginners and tablet computer users.
3.4 Green 13 June 2012 Focused on improvements to Theme customization, Twitter integration and several minor changes.
3.5 Elvin 11 December 2012 Support for the Retina Display, color picker, new Theme: Twenty Twelve, improved image workflow
3.6 Oscar 1 August 2013 New Theme: Twenty Thirteen ; Admin Enhancements - Post Formats UI Update, Menus UI improvements, Revisions Update, Autosave and Post Locking
3.7 Basie 24 October 2013 Automatically apply maintenance and security updates in the background; Stronger password recommendations; Support for automatically installing the right language files and keeping them up to date
3.8 Parker 12 December 2013 Improved admin interface; Responsive design for mobile devices; New typography using Open Sans; Admin color schemes; Redesigned Theme management interface; Simplified main dashboard; Twenty Fourteen magazine style default Theme; Second release using "Plugin-first development process"
3.9 Smith 16 April 2014 "New features like live widget previews and the new Theme installer are now more ready for prime time, so check 'em out.
UI refinements when editing images and when working with media in the editor. We've also brought back some of the advanced display settings for images."
4.0 Benny 4 September 2014 Improved media management, embeds, writing interface, and plugin discovery.
4.1 Dinah 18 December 2014 "We’ve made a lot of refinements over the last few weeks. RC means we think we’re done, but with millions of users anthousands of plugins and themes, it’s possible we’ve missed something. We hope to ship WordPress 4.1 on Tuesday, December 16, but we need your help to get there. If you haven’t tested 4.1 yet, now is the time! (Please though, not on your live site unless you’re adventurous."
Future
Matt Mullenweg has stated that the future of WordPress is in social, mobile, and as an application platform.
Vulnerabilitie
Many security issues have been uncovered in the software, particularly in 2007 and 2008. According to Secunia, WordPress in April 2009 had 7 unpatched security advisories (out of 32 total), with a maximum rating of "Less Critical." Secunia maintains an up-to-date list of WordPress vulnerabilities.
In January 2007, many high profile search engine optimization (SEO) blogs, as well as many low-profile commercial blogs featuring AdSense, were targeted and attacked with a WordPress exploit. A separate vulnerability on one of the project site's web servers allowed an attacker to introduce exploitable code in the form of a back door to some downloads of WordPress 2.1.1. The 2.1.2 release addressed this issue; an advisory released at the time advised all users to upgrade immediately.
In May 2007, a study revealed that 98% of WordPress blogs being run were exploitable because they were running outdated and unsupported versions of the software.[65] In part to mitigate this problem, WordPress made updating the software a much easier, "one click" automated process in version 2.7 (released in December 2008).[66] However, the filesystem security settings required to enable the update process can be an additional risk.[67]
In a June 2007 interview, Stefan Esser, the founder of the PHP Security Response Team, spoke critically of WordPress's security track record, citing problems with the application's architecture that made it unnecessarily difficult to write code that is secure from SQL injection vulnerabilities, as well as some other problems.[68]
In June 2013, it was found that some of the 50 most downloaded WordPress plugins were vulnerable to common Web attacks such as SQL injection and XSS. A separate inspection of the top-10 e-commerce plugins showed that 7 of them were vulnerable.[69]
In an effort to promote better security, and to streamline the update experience overall, automatic background updates were introduced in WordPress 3.7.
Individual installations of WordPress can be protected with security plugins. Users can also protect their WordPress installations by taking steps such as keeping all WordPress installation, themes, and plugins updated, using only trusted themes and plugins,editing the site's .htaccess file to prevent many types of SQL injection attacks and block unauthorized access to sensitive files.
Developers can also use tools to analyze potential vulnerabilities, including Wordpress Auditor or Wordpress Sploit Framework developed by 0pc0deFR. These types of tools research known vulnerabilities, such as a XSS or SQL injection. Some vulnerabilities can not be detected by the tools, so it is advisable to check the code from other developers.
Critiques
Independent analyst firm Real Story Group evaluates WordPress as a Web content management system CMS. In a 2014 analysis, the firm argued that growing enterprise demand for WordPress was part of a broader push for "embracing greater simplicity" in web publishing.
Development and support
Key developers
Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little were cofounders of the project. The core contributing developers include Ryan Boren, Mark Jaquith, Matt Mullenweg, Andrew Ozz, Peter Westwood and Andrew Nacin.
WordPress is also developed by its community, including WP testers, a group of volunteers who test each release. They have early access to nightly builds, beta versions and release candidates. Errors are documented in a special mailing list, or the project's Trac tool.
Though largely developed by the community surrounding it, WordPress is closely associated with Automattic, the company founded by Matt Mullenweg. On September 9, 2010, Automattic handed the WordPress trademark to the newly created WordPress Foundation, which is an umbrella organization supporting WordPress.org (including the software and archives for plugins and themes), bbPress and BuddyPress.
WordCamp developer and user conferences
A WordCamp in Sofia, Bulgaria (2011)
"WordCamp" is the name given to all WordPress-related gatherings, both informal unconferences and more formal conferences.[78] The first such event was WordCamp 2006 in August 2006 in San Francisco, which lasted one day and had over 500 attendees.[79][80] The first WordCamp outside San Francisco was held in Beijing in September 2007.[81] Since then, there have been over 350 WordCamps in over 150 cities in 48 different countries around the world.WordCamp San Francisco, an annual event, remains the official annual conference of WordPress developers and users.
Support
WordPress's primary support website is WordPress.org. This support website hosts both WordPress Codex, the online manual for WordPress and a living repository for WordPress information and documentation, and WordPress Forums, an active online community of WordPress users.
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