Hello, dear guests and friends, thank you for joining us today as we celebrate this special occasion.
Ah, how quickly time flies! It feels like it was yesterday when we were having a toast in honor of our 18-year-old WP.
Today, our beloved WordPress is turning 19 – the last of its teenage years, which means it’s time to party like there’s no tomorrow!
To honor the WordPress birthday, before the celebration begins, let’s take a moment to appreciate and review the last year.
Happy birthday, WordPress!
WordPress Statistics 2022
- WordPress 5.9 has been downloaded 100,000+ times – 92.5% of websites using WordPress are using this version.
- In 2022, WordPress is used by 43.3% of all websites on the internet.
- As of January 2022, WordPress is used by 65.2% of all websites that use a CMS.
- The number of websites created with WordPress as of January 2022 is 708 million!
As you can clearly see, WordPress is growing stronger with each passing year, and 2022 is no different. And we’ve not yet even halved the year.
Now, let’s see what happened in the world of WordPress during the last twelve months.
WordPress 19th Birthday Milestones
- WordPress 5.8 “Tatum” release – 20 July 2021
- WordPress 5.8.1 release – 9 September 2021
- WordPress 5.8.2 release – 10 November 2021
- WordPress 5.8.3 release – 6 January 2022
- WordPress 5.9 “Josephine” release – 25 January 2022
- WordPress 5.9.1 release – 22 February 2022
- WordPress 5.9.2 release – 11 March 2022
- WordPress 5.9.3 release – 5 April 2022
- WordPress 6.0 release – 24 May 2022
- WordPress 19th birthday – 27 May 2022
So many fantastic achievements in just a year’s time. Of course, more interesting things happened in the world of WordPress during the past 365 days. That’s why we’ve prepared this timeline to highlight the essentials.
WordPress Timeline 2021-2022
WordPress in June 2021
In June last year, WordPress rolled out two new Gutenberg updates – 10.8, and 10.9, and also held WordCamp Japan 2021, which took place from 20 June to 26 June.
WordCamp Europe was also held in June – 7th to 9th. It featured 42 speakers, 43 sponsors, and more than 3200 registrations.
WordPress in July 2021
WordPress version 5.8 “Tatum” was released on July 20, 2021. Some features of the version included a template editor, block-based widgets, WebP images support, theme.json, and a duotone feature to stylize images.
Additionally, Gutenberg version 11.0 was published, and WordCamp Santa Clarita 2021 was conducted online.
WordPress in August 2021
Gutenberg versions 11.2 and 11.3 came to life, and support for the Classic editor plugin was extended for an additional year. WordCamp Florianópolis 2021 took place on August 11-12, 2021, and the charity hackathon Karnataka 2021 was held August 7-15.
WordPress in September 2021
WordPress Translation Day ran through the entirety of September 2021 with contributors from around the world joining forces to translate WordPress to their own language.
Other important events in September last year include the release of WordPress version 5.8.1 which fixed three major issues and 60 bugs. Gutenberg versions 11.4 and 11.5 were also launched the same month.
WordCamp Galicia took place in the end of the month, September 30 – October 2.
WordPress in October 2021
October 2021 saw three major WordPress events. WordCamp US 2021 ran on October 1, WordCamp Nicaragua 2021 took place on October 8-9, and WordCamp Italia 2021 was held on October 22-23.
What’s more, Gutenberg versions 11.6, 11.7, and 11.8 versions were rolled out, and preparations for WordPress 5.9 started.
WordPress in November 2021
The first beta for WordPress 5.9 was released for testing, while WordPress 5.8.2 was unfolded, featuring one security and two bug fixes. In addition, the 11.9 and 12.0 versions of Gutenberg were rolled-out.
WordPress in December 2021
December saw WordPress roll-out beta 4 for WordPress 5.9, and two new Gutenberg versions were released, as well – 12.1 and 12.2.
The State of the Word event was held in both New York (physically) and online on 14 December. The co-founder of WordPress Matt Mullenwag shared thoughts and announcements about 2022.
WordPress in January 2022
WordPress 5.9 “Josephine” was officially released on 25 January 2022. This version brought a full site editing option, and block editor enhancements.
Gutenberg versions 12.3, 12.4, and 12.5 were also released.
WordPress in February 2022
February 2022 saw a few new Gutenberg versions unfold – 12.5, 12.6, 12.7. The release schedule for WordPress 6.0 was published, with the proposed release date – 24 May 2022.
WordPress 5.9.1 was released on 22 February 2022.
WordPress in March 2022
Gutenberg versions 12.8 and 12.9 rolled-out, and WordPress 5.9.2 came in existence, fixing one bug and three security issues.
WordCamp Asia was scheduled for February 2023, and the new WordPress pattern creator was officially launched.
WordPress in April 2022
April 2022 saw three WordPress community events take place – WordCamp Genève, WordCamp Athens, and WordCamp Vienna. Additionally, WordCamp Europe was scheduled for June 2-4 in Porto, Portugal.
Naturally, two new Gutenberg versions were released – 13.0, and 13.1
WordPress in May 2022
WordCamp Irun took place on 21, 22 May 2022. WordPress 6.0 was released on 24 May 2022, and WordPress turned 19 on 27 May 2022.
DevriX and WordPress
At DevriX, we specialize in custom WordPress development and maintenance. We also love the idea of open-source software that everyone can contribute to. In fact, our CEO Mario Peshev has been a WordPress Core contributor since WP 3.7, and a speaker on WordCamp Bulgaria 2020.
That’s why, in honor of the 19th anniversary of WordPress, we asked our colleagues:
The most popular responses were “freedom” (6 times), and “possibilities”, “opportunity”, and “website” (2 times). The most creative response, undoubtedly, was “waffles”.
Here are all the answers.
- Freedom
- Opportunity
- Friendly
- CMS
- Interesting
- Diversity
- Popular
- Agile
- Exciting
- Community-driven
- Possibilities
- Open-source
- Eco system
- Website
- Powerful
- Life
- Adventure
- Comfortable
- Universal
- Empowering
- Amazing
- Waffles
- Joyful
- Success
- Awesome
- Revolutionary
- Family
- Game changer
- Flexible
- Versatile
- Potential
- Scalable
At the end of our article, we would like to once again wish a very happy birthday to WordPress!
Here’s to many more!
We’re excited to see what the future holds, and we’re certain that the sky is the limit when it comes to WordPress development.
Team DevriX
This article is crafted by DevriX's seasoned marketing team, boasting over four decades of collective expertise in crafting sophisticated marketing funnels, devising comprehensive content frameworks and pillars, implementing engaging email campaigns, and creating impactful social media content designed for scalability.
Our marketing experts specialize in the complete spectrum of inbound marketing strategies. As an accredited HubSpot Agency Partner and a Semrush Partner, we engage in meticulous research, blending our extensive experience with the unique insights of our highly skilled team.
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