WP20: From Blog to Blocks
The WordPress Community is celebrating 20 years today. Happy Birthday WordPress!
It’s actually incredible to think about where it is now – runs about 40% of ALL websites on the internet – and how it all started.
In the early 2000s, A 19 year old jazz major in Houston, TX wants to build a new platform from an abandoned one he’s been using. So he reaches out in the community forums and asks if anyone is interested in helping him. A 40 year old in the UK responds and offers to pitch in.
And that is the summary of how Mike Little and Matt Mullenweg forked b2/Cafe to start WordPress.
I cover some of that story in a post I just published over on my QuiteVisible blog. It’s worth hearing Mike’s story as he’s interviewed in a pub.
Another notable aspect of WordPress is its ecosystem and community that is the driving force behind the software. A global army of volunteers stewarding a free and open source project. How it continues to thrive, innovate, and push boundaries – rather than implode and fracture – is quite remarkable.
QuiteVisible Studio and WP
My relationship with WP goes back to around 2010/11. I had just started building websites for customers in TX and wanted a more efficient and streamlined process than what I was doing: Using the hosting company’s site builders to cobble together websites live on their back end.
It’s a dangerous mode of cowboy coding.
In fact, this was the way I built my first website in 2009 on Yahoo’s Site Builder. I had no idea about image compression, HTML, CSS, or coding for that matter. I did have a background in design, so I knew how I wanted it to look.
But frustration levels can get pretty high for a non-coder trying to put together a pixel perfect site using a semi functional drag-n-drop builder in the 2000s.
But I stuck with it and persevered through those tortuous late nights until one morning I had finally had enough. I had spent all night working on this website in GoDaddy when around 3am, the screen before me turned blank with a single sentence in the middle…
“The site is down for maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
There’s gotta be a better way.
That was it. No warning, no notice. There was no auto-save or JS refresh, and I had no idea when was the last time I hit ctrl-s during the night. Thankfully, I lost a minimal amount of work, but had to wait about 6 hours before knowing for certain.
That was the catalyst for me to start digging around the interwebs to see how the pros got it done. It was during this time that I discovered FTP, local dev sites, CMS’s, and open source. My choices at the time came down to Joomla, Drupal, and WordPress.
Joomla, Drupal, or WordPress
According to my research, Joomla was the popular platform. I learned how to setup a XAMPP stack and downloaded the software to play with it. It was okay, and worked well. But the interface seemed cluttered and convoluted to me. I wanted something cleaner.
So I took a look at Drupal. I loved Drupal. But alas, my coding chops were not ready to wrangle that CMS, so WordPress was my last hope.
Hello World
It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with WordPress after the easy install and straightforward menu.
After being greeted with the familiar WordPress success greeting ‘Hello World”, I proceeded to find a theme (Suffusion was my first, pictured here) and build out my new website. I’ve never looked back since.
For me, I do think the most compelling argument for adopting the platform was, not only the abundance of support material, but the welcoming and nurturing tone of the community.
There was no air of snobbery or elitism, but rather an eagerness to help. Over time, I would subconsciously try to ascertain what people’s ulterior motive was. Surely they wanted something from me.
Turns out, these were just grateful people (mostly) who had received so much from each other, and simply wanted to pay it forward.
It was only natural that I would try to do the same
Blogs to Blocks
The theme for #WP20 is from blogs to blocks. It really is amazing how far this little blog project has been stretched. It’s even more exciting to see where it is going.
I’m grateful for the opportunities that have been available to me, just from the GPL software, ecosystem, and support that exists. It’s been a blessing to be a part of WordPress, and I look forward to continue along for the ride.
Happy Birthday WordPress!
WordCamp swag circa 2012-2017