From publishing and open source contribution to agencies, freelancers and online communities, WordPress helped shape the modern web far beyond websites alone.

On May 27, WordPress turns 23 – a whole eternity in internet years.

Platforms changed. Trends came and went. Entire technologies disappeared while others emerged. The way people build, publish and consume content online has transformed multiple times over.

And yet, WordPress is still here; evolving and powering (more than) a significant part of the internet.

Why?

Because it gave a voice and opportunity and a way for people to communicate and participate in a far more significant way online.

WordPress made publishing accessible.

Before WordPress, building and managing a website often required far more technical knowledge, resources, or access.

WordPress changed that.

Before, you needed a massive team behind any and every change you wanted to make online.

WordPress gave freelancers, small businesses, creators, nonprofits, agencies, publishers, developers, educators and everyday users a way to build something online without needing that team. And, for many people, WordPress was:

• the first website they launched,
• the first client they signed,
• the first online store they managed,
• the first blog they published,
• the first time the internet felt editable instead of untouchable.

That accessibility helped shape the modern web as we know it today.

WordPress lasted because people could continue the work

What helped WordPress last for 23 years is the fact that people kept using it, improving it, recommending it and building on top of it (just like we did).

To put it more detailed: people are building businesses around WordPress. Agencies standardize their work around it. Freelancers learn web design and development through it. Developers create plugins and themes for it. Communities form around it and people are teaching each other how to use it through blogs, forums, videos, meetups, WordCamps and now initiatives like WordPress Credits. And because so many people stayed involved with it for years, WordPress became more than just software or a tool you use for blogging. It became a world and people can rely on 23 years later.

You still see websites built 10 or 15 years ago being actively maintained today (we should know, as many of these sites still use WPBakery and are our proud users). You see projects changing hands between freelancers, agencies, internal teams and developers without needing to be rebuilt from scratch every single time.

That kind of longevity happens because enough people continue investing time, knowledge, work – and trust into the platform over a long period of time. And this helped shape careers, communities, events, plugins, themes, educational resources, agencies and open-source collaboration itself.

This matters and it’s what keeps WordPress going strong for many, many years to come.

What people working in WordPress notice after years in the industry

To celebrate WordPress’ birthday, we asked members of the WPBakery team a simple question:

“What did WordPress change for you?”

The answers were less about software and more about experience.

Some reflected on careers:

“Perhaps the biggest thing that WordPress has changed for me is my career path – I made my first client websites using WordPress.” Dmytro

“WordPress for me is primarily about opportunities – to meet new people, learn something new, acquire some new skills.” Nikita

“WordPress helped me in choosing my career path. It also helped me to try new things like being a speaker at WordCamp.” Rohan

“WordPress was one of the first real steps in my programming career for me. With WordPress, I began to learn not only to code, but also to  understand how websites help real people and their businesses.” Kristaps

“What started for me as a pet project when I launched my first WooCommerce store for fun 10 years ago, quickly turned into a full-time job for me”. Oleh

Others talked about the WordPress community:

“Since the first (to me) WordCamp lecture 10 years ago – WordCamp Belgrade to this day, a lot of beautiful and important things have come through the WordPress community that makes WordPress what it is today.” Ivana

Raj shared how WordPress shaped his love of working in support and what he realized:

“Eight years ago, I used to think that websites were just websites. Then WordPress came into my life. After thousands of support tickets, websites and “Oh! it was working till yesterday,” moments, I realized one thing, that every day millions of people love making things for themselves.”

Some, as Raitis Sevelis, reflected on how WordPress helped them get out of their shell:

Many, many years ago, I was very uncomfortable speaking with people, speaking publicly, I was distancing myself from the people I don’t know and WordPress community changed that.”

Or Gobinda, who stated:

“WordPress has had a huge impact on my life. It has become a source of regular income for me, and it allows me to turn my creative ideas into real projects very easily.”

Community edition

People from the community shared that WordPress changed the web, it helped them big and personal including professional, as well as it changed their entire circle – that now everyone around them either owns a WordPress company or works in one.

And many pointed to something people inside the ecosystem understand immediately:

“A good WordPress website should survive the original developer.”

That idea says a lot about why WordPress is still relevant 23 years later.

The best builds are rarely the ones tied to a single person forever but the ones other people can understand, maintain, improve and continue building on top of.

And anyone who worked with WordPress long enough knows that websites rarely stay with the same people forever as internal teams change, freelancers move on, clients switch agencies.

As we only shared a glimpse of our team’s stories, you can find them all on our Instagram page and get to know us a bit better that way.

A gift to all

Knowing that and, in the spirit of WordPress’ birthday and the industry being built around shared knowledge and collaboration, we put together a practical Website Handover Checklist for agencies, freelancers and teams working with WordPress websites every day. Just fill this form and grab the checklist for your existing and future projects – as our small contribution back to the community.

Because one of the reasons WordPress lasted for 23 years is that people kept helping each other continue the work. And honestly, that is something worth celebrating.

Happy Birthday, WordPress.