MappingTheWeb //

There once lived a blogging software project called b2. Then along came a developer named Matt Mullenweg. He takes the project to the next level, renames it, and benefits from some good timing. The successor has experienced phenomenal growth and thrived among the blogging community. What is it? None other than WordPress.

In fact, the Internet’s best blog, Mapping The Web, uses WordPress as a back-end ;). But all jokes aside, the blogging software is extremely powerful and user-friendly.

When Movable Type moved to a licensing structure in 2004, this provided a huge opportunity for the free blogging platform to prosper - and it did indeed. This still remains one of its strongest features against other blogging platforms. Add to that other outstanding features such as trackbacks, plugin support, and search engine friendly link structure, and you have a top-level piece of software in a hot market. No wonder it caught on so fast.

The thing I like most about WordPress is its ease-of-use. In the past, I’ve come across daunting CMS systems and hard-to-implement back end platforms. WordPress is relatively easy to set-up and extremely intuitive to use. After using the platform for a mere few days, I understood the gist of the system with relatively no effort involved. I think that’s a true testament to the developers.

A hosted version of WordPress is available with the domain being http://USERNAME.wordpress.com. Robert Scoble of Scobleizer fame uses this free, hosted system. Although functionality is limited, it is a great stepping stone for novice bloggers - not to say Scoble is a novice though.

I highly suggest everyone check it out. And if you are thinking of starting a blog, this is definitely the system to use.

NOTE: Snippets of info for this article were pulled from this Wikipedia article. Please read it for added info about WordPress.