WordPress now powers 18.9% of the web, says founder

Blogging and content management system platform WordPress now powers almost one-fifth of the Web, its founder said over the weekend.

Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg made the claim at WordPress' WordCamp San Francisco conference, tech site The Next Web reported.

"WordPress now runs 18.9% of the web—up 2.2% from last year," WordCamp tweeted at 2:22 a.m. Sunday (Manila time).

He also said that in 2012, there were more than 46 million downloads of WordPress, and 336 themes were added. Some 9,334 plugins were requested and 6,758 were approved.

In the mobile world, he noted 15 updates, including those for Apple's iOS, Google's Android, and Microsoft's Windows Phone.

A survey also showed that WordPress is primarily being used on the Web, while 31 percent use an iOS app, 30 percent an Android app, and 18 percent using WordPress on an Android tablet. Another 12 percent uses the desktop app .

"When asked what those surveyed use WordPress for, 69 percent specified they used it as a Content Management System (CMS), while 20 percent chose to implement it as a hybrid blog/CMS, 6 percent as a blog, and 7 percent for an app platform," The Next Web said.

It added Mullenweg noted the app platform response as something new as it didn’t even make the response list from last year.

Evolution

Mullenweg also said he is seeing the evolution of the blogging platform from simply posting thoughts to being a CMS and ultimately an app platform.

"He thinks that WordPress can be the foundation for many offerings, almost like Lego building blocks whereby it hosts a CMS, blog, and e-commerce offering," The Next Web said.

Mullenweg also announced the creation of a developer resource website, though it is not quite ready and will redirect to the WordPress.org site for now.

WordPress 3.7 is slated to be available in the beginning of October, and will be a platform-focused release with a focus on stability and security.

WordPress 3.8 may be released in December, and will focus on "smaller teams, quicker iterations, less bottlenecks, and temporary hooks," The Next Web said. — VC, GMA News