It was first released on May 27, 2003, by Matt Mullenweg as a fork of b2/cafelog. As of August 2010, version 3.0 had been downloaded over 12.5 million times.

WordPress has a templating system, which includes widgets that can be rearranged without editing PHP or HTML code, as well as themes that can be installed and switched between. The PHP and HTML code in themes can also be edited for more advanced customizations. WordPress also features integrated link management; a search engine-friendly, clean permalink structure; the ability to assign nested, multiple categories to articles; and support for tagging of posts and articles. Automatic filters that provide for proper formatting and styling of text in articles (for example, converting regular quotes to smart quotes) are also included. WordPress also supports the Trackback and Pingback standards for displaying links to other sites that have themselves linked to a post or article. Finally, WordPress has a rich plugin architecture which allows users and developers to extend its functionality beyond the features that come as part of the base install.

Native applications exist for Android, iPhone/iPod Touch, and BlackBerry which provide access to some of the features in the WordPress Admin panel and work with WordPress.com and many WordPress.org blogs.

WordPress can be deployed using various methods on a hosting environment. Users have the option to download the current version of WordPress from WordPress.org. From there, they can upload the source code and its dependencies to their hosting environment.

WordPress can also be installed via package management system or deploying a ready-to-use TurnKey WordPress appliance, which does not require any manual setup or configuration.

WordPress can also be installed via the Microsoft Web Platform Installer which installs WordPress on Windows and IIS. The Web PI will automatically detect any missing dependencies such as PHP or MySQL then install and configure them before installing WordPress.

Advanced users have the option to have WordPress downloaded to their server and consistently updated using SVN. This will allow users to remain updated easily.

Free hosting services such as WordPress.com offer users an easy way to deploy a WordPress blog on-line without having to install WordPress on your own web server. Many shared web hosting services also offer automated WordPress installation through their control panel.

b2/cafelog, more commonly known as simply b2 or cafelog, was the precursor to WordPress. b2/cafelog was estimated to have been employed on approximately 2,000 blogs as of May 2003. It was written in PHP for use with MySQL by Michel Valdrighi, who is now a contributing developer to WordPress. Although WordPress is the official successor, another project, b2evolution, is also in active development.

WordPress first appeared in 2003 as a joint effort between Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little to create a fork of b2. The name WordPress was suggested by Christine Selleck, a friend of Mullenweg.