Software tends to have “editions”, “levels”, and version numbers. How does WordPress fit in? Is there a WordPress Enterprise “Edition”?
The most confusing part is… there are actually two types of WordPress…
1. WordPress.com / Hosted Platform
This is the flavor of WordPress you can sign up for at wordpress.com. It is a powerful, free tool you can sign up for and be off blogging within minutes. Unless you upgrade, your site domain name will end in “.wordpress.com” This type of WordPress is not ideal for business or enterprise use. There are some good upgrades available but you don’t have server access and the ability to configure function and aesthetics is relatively limited.
2. WordPress.org / Self-hosted / Software
The other type of WordPress is WordPress the software, this is found at wordpress.org. A flavor of this software actually runs the WordPress.com example above. This is the Open Source software that can be run on a server you control.
This is the software we develop on top of and what we mean when we say “WordPress”. This Content Management System (CMS) can flexibly adapt and be a great fit for enterprise needs. It can be a blogging tool, a marketing site, a member portal, a dynamic application – or any combination. It is immensely powerful and well-suited for enterprise use.
Is There a WordPress Enterprise Edition?
No, when speaking of WordPress there is only one software edition. There is a multisite variant of WordPress but it is still all part of the same WordPress. The blogger sharing stories of their travels for their family to read and the Fortune 100 website running WordPress are on essentially the same platform. Granted, there are many ways the software can be extended to make it more suitable to the specific needs of large enterprise companies.
What About WordPress Version Numbers?
Much like operating systems where you have “Windows 7” or “Mac OS X”, WordPress has version numbers and is constantly improving. For example, WordPress is currently at version “4.7.1”. WordPress iterates rapidly with about 3-4 major releases a year. These updates generally break down into…
Major Update Releases
This would be 4.7 or 4.8 – this type of update usually has great new features and advancements.
Point Releases / Bugfix / Security Releases
These would be like 4.7.1 or 4.7.2 – they usually fix little bugs or in very rare cases patch a security vulnerability.
Fun fact, each WordPress release is named in honor of a jazz musician.
