There will be very few internet users or website owners who have not come across, whether knowingly or inadvertently, the popular blogging software package known as WordPress. This is an open source code, which effectively means that there are no copyright issues with any aspect of the code, something which has spawned a massive market in WordPress add-on’s, designs and “widgets”.

While the code did not appear in its current form until 2003, it has quickly become one of the most popular packages on the internet, a popularity which seems to be growing. There have been a number of official updates since the first version was released, with the latest being version 2.2.1 which was released in June 2007.

As we have mentioned in other areas of this blog, it is vital that you keep up with the latest versions of any software you use, types of software which include WordPress. As you would expect from one of the more popular blog packages on the internet, there have been numerous security fixes released for WordPress along the way, enabling the user to “shut, open doors to the hackers”.

The official WordPress website have a number of full time developers working on the software, alongside Ryan Boren and Matt Mullenweg who have been involved in the project for some time.

The area of customised WordPress templates has become a very hot topic of late with many SEO experts highlighting the potential for many many backlinks if you “sponsor” a theme in exchange for your link being inserted on the template footer. As some of the more popular themes are downloads by thousands of users, this is an area which can have an amazing effect on your Page Rank.

How long before the likes of Google look to reduce the benefits of template links?