Has it really been 10 years? It seems just yesterday we were playing around on my blog, and the blogs of a few high school friends. Two of those friends are married, one isn’t anymore, two are still figuring things out, and one has passed away.
You were cute before you became beautiful. Wearing black and white, afraid of color, trying to be so unassuming. I know you got jealous when I wore those Blogger t-shirts. They were the cool kids at SxSW and I thought maybe you could grow up to be like them.
You wouldn’t have shirts of your own for a few more years. We didn’t know what we were doing when we made them and the logo printed ginormous. People called them the Superman shirt and made fun of them. But, oh, that logo — the curves fit you so well.
You showed the world you were growing up, and how much you cared about design and typography and other platonic ideals. You knew that open source didn’t have to be homely. I stretched myself too thin trying to get you there, and I did a stupid thing to pay for it. I hurt you, but instead of casting me away you held me closer, supported me, gave me another chance. I will never forget that. Akismet made me feel less guilty. I wouldn’t change anything, because the mistake made me understand how important it is to fly straight and take your time.
You’re so beautiful… I’m continually amazed and delighted by how you’ve grown. Your awkward years are behind you. Best of all, through it all, you’ve stuck with the principles that got you started in the first place. You’re always changing but that never changes. You’re unafraid to try new things that may seem wacky or unpopular at first.
I see you all over the world now, glowing from screens, bringing people together at meetups and WordCamps — you’re at your best when you do that. You’re my muse; you inspire me, and I’ve seen you inspire others. You become a part of their life and they become a part of yours. I hope we grow old together.
Cheers to ten years, and here’s to a hundred more.
Love,
Matt
Congrats on 10 years 🙂 It’s only just getting started…
Just Thanks, cheers from Brazil!
Thank you for giving us WP!
+1 To hundred more years
Glad to see it come this far, wondering how far it will be 10 years from now.
Congratulations! 🙂
I’ll never forget meeting you back in ’04 while visiting MJ in SF. You told me to give WordPress a shot. I’ve never looked back. Thanks, Matt!
All I can say is thank you, Matt. The lifestyle I get to enjoy now is completely contingent on my decision to leave my day job and pursue a freelance career with WordPress. 3 lives here in Chicago definitely changed by what you did. And I’m sure there’s 1000x these kind of stories.
They grow up so quick!
love this. only you could say it like so.
conglaturation for WP, like this ~ from Aceh, Indonesia 🙂
Thanks, Matt! For giving the world such a wonderful (easy to use) product.
It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years… Freaking amazing!
And for nostalgia sake, I dragged up pictures I took at a WordPress meetup in Boston in November 2004: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikkiana/sets/149248/
Congrats on 10 years. So much has changed over the last decade but one thing is for sure. WordPress is only getting better and stronger. I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years have in store. Also, what a beautiful piece. Cheers!
Well said, Matt.
Love it!
Thanks for everything WordPress! Thanks for giving so many a voice!
On a personal note, thanks for making it possible for me to move back to tech-dead Victoria and start my own little family!
Hey Matt.. Woo hoo. Well done on all counts. Can’t wait to see the next 10!
Congrats, Matt! And Thank you for this fantastic tool… my students say: it’s maaaagic!, and really it is… I Love WordPress!
Thanks Mr WordPress. Thanks Matt and MIke. And Thank you to all the developers, wirters and readers all over the world. You all together make my life a little better everyday. From my old boring life with a job I dislike to a journey that begins everyday, which challenges my capacity of creating new a better ways of communicating and help others
Congrats Matt and thank you for giving us WordPress.
And a very Happy 10th birthday WordPress – here’s to another hundred or so more 🙂
Congratulations WordPress!
Emil
congrats matt. what an achievement …
Cheers from India Matt!
You have just changed the way Blogging was viewed and is viewed today!
Thanks for giving us WordPress
Congrats!
Hope the next 10 years make you smaller, simpler and sleeker again;-)
Nice letter, but damn I feel old now! Either way, congrats to WordPress and the team for making it thus far and so big.
WordPress: Making humans and databases play nicely together since 2003.
An amazing love affair takes time and patience mixed in with the bolts…..
Congrats on 10th Anniversary … Well, here in Lahore-Pakistan we’ve celebrated this anniversary … http://www.meetup.com/WordPress/Lahore-PK/948432/
Well, are you guys going to create any photo upload stream where we will be sharing event pictures ???
Yes! Check out http://wp10.wordpress.net/
Congrats and thanks for all your hard work. Looking forward to a fantastic 10th Anniversary party tonight with our awesome local WordPress community and to WordCamp SF 2013.
Awesome! Congrats on 10 years Matt. I doubt I’d be where I am today without WordPress.
Lovely post Matt. I like millions of others am extremely grateful today for your vision and leadership in building WordPress into what it is today. I look forward to posting a comment again here in another 10 years thanking you again 🙂
Ed
thank you so much, you changed the world. not less. It is still very easy to share ideas with the whole world and it is still easy to read, what people with the same interest think. even if they are 10.000 km away. go on!
Caution – the teenage years are the most challenging!
Congrats Matt – and Happy Birthday, WordPress!
Thank you very much for wordpress, and dear wordpress: congratulations!
One of those things that make my world better just by being there, and that is truly great!
Congratulations Matt! I’m looking forward to the next 10 years and beyond. Such exciting things in the blogging world is happening all the time and so many wonderful blogs launching every day because of WordPress.
WordPress is only platform i used in my all projects, Happy birthday wordpress and congrats to you Matt
Happy birthday WordPress, the world is glad you’re here. You’ve changed the Internet forever. Thank you for that 🙂
Disruptive, revolutionary or world changing are over used terms in the tech space but in this case more than appropriate. Thank you for creating WP.
Dude, that 4th paragraph speaks so hugely about how far you have come and one of the reasons why WordPress is as successful as it is today. That saga left a really sour taste in my mouth for a long time, but maybe it was a fork in the karma-road where you actually chose wisely and have now reaped the rewards.
Celebrate with pride what you and the community have created, people all around the world now make a living off some of the code that you wrote when you were a teenager (if there’s any of that code still left), along with Michel V and Mike L.
I’ve been a happy coat-tail rider since the .76 days, looking forward to seeing this little 10-year-old mature further.
Thanks for powering us. Without WordPress, Pursuitist wouldn’t exist. Congrats, and here’s to the next 10 years!
Congratulations, Matt! What an incredible journey it’s been for you over those 10 years, huh? And for the rest of us since discovering WordPress for ourselves too!
Keep it up 🙂
Matt, Thanks so much for the good parenting. It has given many of us a voice and a vocation.
WordPress is freaking amazing. I’ve been on it for four years. I have one regret: that it took me so long to convert.
Thanks a MILLION! Thanks to WordPress a single mom can make a living, have fun, and start a business : ) What’s funny is that 10 years ago I graduated from high school, wish I would have found WordPress then, I would be a pro by now! Well the last 3 years have been good and I couldn’t be happier.
WordPress inspires me, makes me grow, and has given me the freedom to work for myself but not by myself. I love the community, and how generous people are in giving help. Thank you soooooo much! +1 on 100 more years : )
My favorite WordPress comment over the last ten years. Thanks for sharing and I hope other single Moms get it… way to b!
Such a beautiful words, Matt. Thanks for starting and initiating WordPress. Many lives changed and inspired by that. Mine included 😀
Matt: congratulations on a job well done. So many of us wouldn’t have such beautifully awesome blogs without you and your tireless hard work. Thank you so much for such a great product.
Congrats!
Happy birthday WordPress and congratulations, Matt! Thank you for all you’ve done to change so many lives.
Congratulations, Matt.
Thank you, Matt for this awesome platform. WordPress is, so-far, the coolest Open Source!
Thanks for the platform that allowed me to be independent and have my blog on my own server instead of depending on corporations and for making it open source so that if anything happens to automattic, WordPress won’t die.
Congratulation and thanks for bringing WordPress, Matt!
PS: You look gorgeous back then 😛
Congratulations All !! Happy Birth Day WordPress 🙂 🙂
I’m one of those million people extending their thanks to WordPress 🙂 Thanks for 10 years and thanks for being with me and my humble home for almost 9 years?
Thank you Matt, WordPress is a part of my life!
Muchísimas gracias por este fantástico CMS del que disfruto cada día como el primero.
WordPress is (still) so wonderful. I walked a path 6-7 plus years ago, where I was to choose a CMS for the company where I work. WordPress immediate attracted me, because it was simple and easy to install, setup and use. And it still is. It has proved that simplicity and aestetics wins when it competes against too many features and functionality and in the end more user unfriendly complexity.
And here many years later I’m the humble coordinator of WordPress in Denmark. I have arranged a few WordCamps and have met a lot of fine people. And last night I celebrated WordPress with some of those people.
Thank you Matt and thank you WordPress
Thank you very much Matt!
We love WordPress
Dear Matt, thank you for this wonderful piece of software!
Dear WordPress, Happy Birthday and all the best for the things to come!
Congratulations, Matt!
Started to use WordPress since 2005 and still love it so much!
WordPress is the first CMS for me and the only one. You don`t need anything else when you have a such beautiful CMS. Thank you for that, Thank you, community, for more…
Congrats Matt and cheers to the next 10 and 100 years more… More power to all of you at WordPress! 🙂
Happy Birthday WordPress and wish you all the best for the next decade Matt! WordPress has in some way or the other touched everyone who uses it and that’s why this day is special to each of us!
WordPress is wonderful. This is more easy then other.
Congratulations and thanks Matt 🙂
A beautiful description:))
WordPress changed my working life – definitely a great love !!
Congraz Matt and the whole wordpress team and users. WordPress has been an important part of my IT life. Keep it going 🙂
Simplicity at its best. WP is Bliss. Bring on the next 10.
You’re an inspiration Matt, thanks for sharing your work/life with us
Thank you and congratulations Matt, you have done an exceptional job and I guess much more is still to come and yes we we grow old together!
Thanks, Matt for your platform!
WordPress really is one of the most amazing gifts of our time. Thank you!
Congrats! To next 10 years of awesome.
Long live Open source, long live WordPress; keeping alive the ideals of free internet and belonging to a community! Here’s to a hundred years more! Thank you!
Thanks Matt and team for making this possible. Long live to WP!
Congrats, WordPress and Matt! You showed me your new site design last night on your phone Matt – it looks great.
Great post, great job with WordPress! Mazal tov!
Happy 10th birthday to WordPress! It certainly changed my life for the better! Congrats Matt!
Congratulations, Matt! You’ve changed so many lives for the better, mine included. Last year, I raved about the Wonders of WordPress at WordCamp, and I’m doing it again in June. You’ve given us all a gorgeous gift. Thank you.
Hey Matt and All WordPressers, congrats and cheers to another 10 times 10 🙂 Next month my WordPress blog is turning 5! Time indeed flies! Best from me! Rayna
Congrats Matt, WordPress has and will continue to change the world, for that, Thank You.
Thanks Matt. Congratulations WordPress. You have both been so inspiring. Cheers!
Cheers to a hundred more!
WordPress has changed the blogging world forever. And by that, the internet too. Thank-you for something wonderful.
Congrats Matt, such an amazing thing that is WordPress, love working with it every day! Thank you.
Thanks for the good work. Keep it up!
I do my best to help others to get in touch with WordPress through my work. And I try to keep up with your innovations and evolve with it as a web developer.
Regards from Sweden
Thank you Matt, Thank you WordPress Team… All of you changes my life 🙂
Thanks Matt and WordPress is my bread and butter. Congrats for the 10 years. Here’s a toast to another 10, 100, and maybe 1000 years!
Thank you Matt! Happy Birthday and Congratulations!
We all thank you, too, Matt. WordPress has surely changed the lives of so many people around the world. In a positive sense. 😀
Thank you so much for this great application Matt 🙂
Happy 10th Birthday WordPress, and thanks for bringing a dream of mine to fruition.
WP is the most fav CMS in Pakistan.. Thanks Matt
Thanks Matt for your lovely words. Cheers to 10 years 🙂
When I chose WordPress, I never looked back!
Will never forget that first time we met in South Africa, good times. Thank you for all the inspiration, hard work, and helping to give people a voice and enable stories to be shared all over the world. Chris
Congratulations and thank you, Matt!
Congratulations, Matt! It was an honor to have worked with you (WordCamp Manila). Thanks for bringing WordPress to the world.
Life starts at 10! Hehe. Congrats WordPress! Been a WP user for 6 years now.
Very romantic letter. Thank’s for creating WP for us. 😀
I hope I get the chance to see you one day and wear one of those wordpress shirts. Congratulations, Matt!
Hey dear WP boy, 10 years and so smart, I just keep imagining when you have 16, driving a fast eletrical car… Happy Birthday. From a uncle that you dont know but loves you.
Thanks and happy birthday WordPress, you’re help a lot of people since you born. And now you’re like divas in the net.. I love you WordPress,
A big thanks to you and the whole team who started it, and are still running it so well.. Happy birthday to you all..
If we meet, please let me buy you a beer.
With WP, I am a part of something free and beautiful. I make friends who don’t know me, but help me all the time; trust folks whom I’ve never met; focus on customers’ happiness a lot more than on browsers, and have a feeling of accomplishment because I belong to most transparent and generous community ever. Thank you, Matt, and thank you all who work on development of open culture and participatory journalism.
Thank you so much for this heart-warming message. I celebrated WordPress 10th Anniversary in Toronto and was pleased to see the good turn-our there. ♥♥♥
Almost unbelievable that I’ve spent 9 out 10 working with WP!
Congratulations!!! Wish you (WordPress) a never-ending life.
Spending 3 years with WordPress was awesome and many memories are attached.
I admire you, Matt.
Keep Growing WordPress. 🙂
Look how desperately everybody tries to get a backlink lmao. Anyways, you are right. Though even if it lacks MVC, i still love wordpress to death.
Happy 10th birthday to your WP baby, Matt Mullenweg! Best wishes to you in your future endeavors!
The Amazing Ma.tt. Thank you for all those 10 years, wich was 8 years of my live too 🙂 Keep up the good work, and you will be fine in the next 100 years i think.
Congratulations from Barcelona; here we also love wordpress!
Obrigado, Matt!
Os Blogueiros do Brasil agradecem ao Sucesso do WordPress \o/
I wonder what WordPress will be like when we celebrate #wp20?
Happy 10 years! Hope to see you again in Wordcamp Philippines 😀
I dont know what I could have done with WordPress.
Congratulations on 10 amazing years and for giving the world such a wonderful opportunity to have their very own piece of the web!
Congrats Matt – it’s a great achievement, and a pleasure seeing WordPress move from strength to strength.
Thanks Matt for creating the wonder that is WordPress . Everyday I am discovering new things on communication through it . Cheers for the coming years.
Maybe just “thank you” is not enough, but it comes from heart. Շնարհակալություն և Շնորհավոր տարեդարձ:
Awesome 10 years. Millions of people make their livelihood directly or indirectly with wordpress.
We thank the community for extending wordpress beyond limitations.
“Once it is a blogging platform, then adopted itself as CMS tool, Now it is grown & not just a CMS” The growth and transformation is amazing.
As Matt already quoted “WordPress is not just for profit”, there is a bonding of love which keeps the community grow and united.
Similar to Matt’s birthday posts, we are awaiting to see wp20,wp30,wp40,wp50 and goes on 🙂
We love wordpress, automattic and the man behind this Matt!!!
Cheers!!!
10 years…
I can not imagine the amount of pictures of cats that have been shared with WP xD
Matt,
Love this.
When I met you at Summit basecamp, I didn’t even know the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
These days I’m presenting at WordPress meetups so, needless to say, a lot has changed. =)
Congratulations on your phenomenal success and thank you for all of your contributions.
– Mindie
P.S. I am even dragging Sean (Stephenson) to WordPress meetups now so someday he will become WordPress rockstar, too. 😉
Thank you Matt. I am new in this sphere and have dedicated a post to WP. Thank you for enhancing my life http://soulofagypsy.me/2013/05/20/thank-you-wordpress/
So proud to be on board of a high performance and creative platform.
Nadine
I was just marveling at my joined date on wordpress.org. August 28th, 2004. Man, has it been that long?
Super congrats for the Automattic crews who developed this WordPress. We love you, WordPress!
Congratulations on 10 years! Where would we be without WordPress? A lot crazier and stressed than we already are! Thanks. ~Sharon and Denise BeBetsy
Yay, congrats WordPress! May you have a wonderful birthday, and many more.
Wow…I’ve missed 2003 when it first came out. Where was I? Oh yeah…going back to school to get another degree in Nursing. But instead got in the Respiratory Therapy program…got my more schooling. I even got a license in ARF to start a new business but I dropped them all and now I’m back online again. Happy 10th Birthday WordPress!!! I love how you make things so EASY for us…designers, writers, and entrepreneurs.
Amazing. Thank you.
I wonder what WordPress will be like in 100 years time…? Thanks from London, UK