# WordPress: The Self-Hosted PHP Publishing Platform > WordPress is a PHP-based content management system that runs on a web server with MySQL or MariaDB. Its README describes it as a Semantic Personal Publishing Platform, and the installer at wp-admin/install.php has been called the famous five-minute install since the project's early days. **WordPress/WordPress** — WordPress, Git-ified. This repository is just a mirror of the WordPress subversion repository. Please do not send pull requests. Submit pull requests to https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop and patches to https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ instead. - Repository: https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress - Website: https://wordpress.org - Stars: 21,446 · Forks: 12,976 - Language: PHP - License: NOASSERTION - Published: 2026-09-21 · Updated: 2026-09-21 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/wordpress-wordpress ## A PHP Publishing Platform Built on MySQL WordPress is described in its README as a Semantic Personal Publishing Platform. It is written in PHP and relies on MySQL or MariaDB as its database. The platform serves content through a PHP runtime: each page request executes PHP code that queries the database and returns HTML. This is the foundational architecture; all features including themes, plugins, and the admin interface run on top of it. The primary audience is anyone who needs to publish web content through a browser-based interface without building a custom system. Site owners create posts and pages from the wp-admin dashboard. Developers extend the platform through the plugin API, which the README describes as making extension easy; the Plugin Developer Handbook is at developer.wordpress.org/plugins. The README explicitly advises against modifying core PHP files directly, pointing developers to the plugin and theme layers instead. The top-level repository layout reflects the platform's structure: wp-admin/ holds the administration interface, wp-includes/ holds the core PHP libraries, and wp-content/ is where themes, plugins, and uploaded media live. The license.txt file is included at the repository root. ## System Requirements and the PHP Version Gap The minimum supported PHP version is 7.4, and the minimum MySQL version is 5.5.5. The README recommends PHP 8.3 or later and MySQL 8.0 or later (or MariaDB 10.11 or later). The gap between the minimum and the recommendation is consequential: PHP 7.4 reached end-of-life in November 2022. Hosting environments that have not upgraded beyond 7.4 expose the PHP runtime itself to unpatched vulnerabilities, regardless of WordPress security updates. The README lists three additional recommendations beyond PHP and MySQL versions. The mod_rewrite Apache module is recommended for clean URL rewriting. HTTPS support is recommended. A link back to wordpress.org is suggested but is clearly optional social goodwill rather than a technical requirement. These recommendations are not enforced by the installer. You can complete installation without HTTPS or mod_rewrite. Skipping HTTPS is a concrete security risk for any site that has authenticated users, since login credentials would pass over HTTP. ## The Five-Minute Install via wp-admin/install.php The README describes the installation procedure as the famous five-minute install. The steps are: First, unzip the WordPress package into an empty directory on your web server and upload all the files. Then open wp-admin/install.php in a browser. The installer checks for wp-config.php; if the file does not exist, the installer prompts for your database name, username, password, database host, and optional table prefix, and attempts to write wp-config.php automatically. If the web server cannot write the config file, the README describes a manual fallback: copy wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php, fill in the database connection details with a text editor, save the file, and upload it before re-running the installer. After wp-config.php is in place, the installer creates the required database tables. If errors occur, the README advises checking the database credentials and retrying. On success, the admin password is displayed (if you did not set one) and the browser is redirected to wp-login.php. There is no command-line installer described in the README. The entire first-run process is browser-based through wp-admin/install.php. ## Updating WordPress: Automatic and Manual Paths The README documents two distinct update paths. The automatic updater is available at wp-admin/update-core.php. The README's description of this path is brief: open the page, follow the instructions. That is the complete procedure for a typical update. The manual update process requires more steps. Back up any files you have modified, such as index.php if it was changed. Delete the old WordPress files while keeping your backups. Upload the new files from the downloaded package. Then visit /wp-admin/upgrade.php, which runs any database schema changes required by the new version. The README does not describe a rollback procedure for either update path. Neither path includes an automatic rollback mechanism. For any production site, backing up both the file system and the database before updating is prudent, because a failed update can leave the database schema partially migrated with no built-in way to reverse it. ## Migrating from Other Systems The README notes that WordPress can import content from other systems and points to the import tools at wp-admin/import.php, which becomes available after installation completes. The detailed documentation for supported import sources lives at developer.wordpress.org/advanced-administration/wordpress/import/. Import support is handled through plugin-based importers rather than being built into the core installation. Which specific platforms are supported depends on which importer plugins are available and maintained at a given time. The README does not list supported platforms, deferring to the documentation link for current information. Migration is a post-install operation. You must complete the install and set up the admin account before the import tools are accessible. ## This Repository Is a Read-Only SVN Mirror The GitHub repository at WordPress/WordPress is not the development repository. The repository description states it is a Git mirror of the WordPress Subversion repository and explicitly asks users not to send pull requests here. Bug reports and patches go to core.trac.wordpress.org, and code contributions go to github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop. This distinction affects anyone trying to contribute or report an issue. A pull request sent to this repository will not be processed by the development team. The git history in this mirror reflects SVN commit imports rather than a native git workflow. The repository has no GitHub releases; versioning and release notes exist on the WordPress.org site and the WordPress Blog, not as GitHub tags. For developers who want to study the source or use it as a reference, the mirror is current: the last push was on 2026-09-27. But for contribution, the subversion repository and wordpress-develop are the correct entry points. ## When WordPress Carries Too Much Overhead WordPress requires a persistent PHP runtime and a relational database. Every page request triggers PHP execution and at least one database query, and plugin-heavy sites issue substantially more. If either the web server or the database server goes down, the site goes offline. For a site that publishes a few dozen articles that rarely change, this runtime dependency is a real operational burden. An alternative approach is a static site generator, which compiles content to flat HTML at build time. The output requires only a file server, with no PHP runtime and no database. WordPress trades that operational simplicity for a browser-based content editing environment and a very large plugin ecosystem. The admin interface requires no coding knowledge, which is a real advantage for teams with mixed technical backgrounds who need to publish content without developer involvement. The cost of that flexibility is visible in the system requirements: a PHP runtime at a supported version, a MySQL or MariaDB database, and ideally the mod_rewrite module. Sites hosted on shared hosting plans that have not updated to PHP 8.3 run on an unsupported PHP version, which is the gap the system requirements section points to directly. ## Conclusion WordPress is a sound choice for content-driven sites that need a browser-based editing interface and dynamic features managed through a plugin ecosystem. It is the wrong option when the hosting environment cannot run PHP 7.4 or MySQL 5.5.5, or when a static output with no server-side runtime is the goal. Before installing, confirm your host's PHP and MySQL versions, enable HTTPS as the README recommends, and use the plugin system rather than modifying files in wp-admin/ or wp-includes/ directly. ## FAQ ### What is WordPress used for? WordPress is described in its README as a Semantic Personal Publishing Platform. It is used for creating and managing websites through a browser-based admin interface at wp-admin, with a plugin API for extending functionality and a theme system for controlling appearance. ### How do I install WordPress? Download WordPress, unzip it to a web server running PHP 7.4 or later with a MySQL 5.5.5 or later database, and open wp-admin/install.php in a browser. The installer generates wp-config.php from your database credentials and creates the required tables. ### How do I use WordPress to create a website? Complete the install at wp-admin/install.php to create your admin account, then log in at wp-login.php and manage content from the wp-admin dashboard. The README advises using the plugin and theme systems for customization rather than modifying core files in wp-admin/ or wp-includes/. ## Sources - [Issues](https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress/issues) - [Project website](https://wordpress.org) - [README](https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress/blob/master/README.md) - [WordPress/WordPress on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/wordpress-wordpress