An Ode to Hello Dolly with Matt Mullenweg [Video]

WordPress has been around for over 20 years. Part of its continuing popularity stems from how extensible it is. A skilled developer can make the content management system (CMS) do just about anything.

Its plugin architecture powers shopping carts, forms, and photo galleries. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. Niche functionality abounds, so it’s no wonder it leads the pack in market share.

But let’s take a step back. The ability to use plugins came about in WordPress 1.2. It was a new concept in those days. The project needed to educate developers on how things work. To encourage them to build and experiment. But how?

Well, hello, Dolly! Or, if you prefer more formality, Hello Dolly.

It’s one of two default plugins that come with each installation of WordPress. Maybe you delete it. Perhaps you leave it deactivated in your plugins folder. But do you know about its roots as a teaching tool?

In case you didn’t know: …