WordPress.com: Our Labor of Love — 2012 in Review

January 2, 2013

Krista Stevens

For us, WordPress.com is our labor of love — we’re continually releasing new themes, upgrades, and features to help you create the best website and/or blog you can. In addition to great tools, we publish articles, prompts, and writing and photo challenges to inspire you to start posting and keep posting. While we’re never, ever done making WordPress.com better, we wanted to look back at some of the goodies we brought you in 2012.

We’ve got the look: 65+ new themes in 2012

We released themes at a rate of more than one a week in 2012. These beautiful themes look great no matter which device your visitors use to see your content. What’s more, if you’re a musician, restaurateur, bride-or-groom-to-be, or a civil servant looking for a simple way to share information with your audience, we’ve got you covered.

Tae Phoenix is a Seattle-based singer-songwriter who recently released her first album, Rise. Her site takes full advantage of everything WordPress.com and the Soundcheck theme have to offer, with embedded audio and video, a tour calendar, her Twitter feed, links to her new album, and press mentions.

Tae Phoenix is a Seattle-based singer-songwriter who recently released her first album, Rise. Her site takes full advantage of everything WordPress.com and the Soundcheck theme have to offer, with embedded audio and video, a tour calendar, her Twitter feed, links to her new album, and press mentions.

Custom Design puts you in charge

Have design chops or an eye for contrast, color, and composition? With the Custom Design upgrade, you can tinker with your site’s CSS, compose a unique color palette for your site, and choose from among some awesome Typekit fonts to create the specific look you desire for your online home on the web.

New and improved for 2012

No matter whether you’re just starting to blog or are a seasoned web designer, here’s a sampling of how we made WordPress.com better for you in 2012:

We made a lot of progress in 2012 and we’re already working on bringing you more awesome in 2013. Happy New Year from WordPress.com!

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49 Comments

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  1. Gail Jan 2nd at 5:56 pm

    Thanks Krista! I’m a new blogger and loving it.

    Like

  2. Vishy Jan 2nd at 5:58 pm

    Wonderful. It has become lighter too. I just have one suggestion –

    In the stats section, where in you have some wonderful changes implemented this year, I would like to have a (next/prev) button or arrow hyperlink which can take you to Yesterday’s stats and tomorrow’s stats. Considering today is a mid-day. For now users have to “return to stats” every time.

    Thanks. Proud to be on WP.

    Like

  3. jkrjrpathfinders Jan 2nd at 6:06 pm

    The more support I see you add, the only thought I have is “Why did I not look for you sooner????”

    jkrjr

    Like

  4. erinorange Jan 2nd at 6:22 pm

    Thanks for providing such a great free service!

    Like

  5. Andrea Carlisle Jan 2nd at 6:31 pm

    You are wizards! Labor of love or not, all that you do takes time, thought, and effort. Thank you for all your hard work. Happy New Year!

    Like

  6. andydbrown Jan 2nd at 6:56 pm

    Keep up the great work, WordPress! It’s been an impressive year! Happy New Year to you all!

    Like

  7. Joe Owens Jan 2nd at 7:51 pm

    We bloggers appreciate your attention to making the experience so positive for us.

    Like

  8. Jason Peterson Jan 2nd at 7:55 pm

    Brilliant work!!! Thanks for all of the friendly and competent support and enhanced features; WordPress and VideoPress ROCK!!! All the best for 2013 🙂

    Like

  9. somethingsage Jan 2nd at 8:26 pm

    THANK YOU!!!! I love WordPress and appreciate the great features and new themes. You all do a great job!!!

    Like

  10. Lyn Leahz Jan 2nd at 9:47 pm

    Thanks! My favorite two are Academica and Blaskan. They both have great readability and functionality…. I have found that readability is way more important when it comes to blogs than all the glitzy, distracting things. After all, that’s what people do is read! 😉 The only thing I do not care for in many of the free blog formats is the gray font..it is less easy to read..so I have to change it to black all the time. Great stuff though! Thanks!

    Like

  11. diannegray Jan 2nd at 9:48 pm

    What a great service you have. I love it! Keep up the great work and Happy New Year to the whole team 😀

    Like

  12. CraftyStaci Jan 2nd at 10:30 pm

    I’m very happy blogging here at WordPress, and appreciate all of your hard work! Here’s to another great year!

    Like

  13. earthriderjudyberman Jan 2nd at 10:51 pm

    I want to commend WordPress for all the excellent work its done on behalf of its bloggers. Thank you.

    Like

  14. bellscave Jan 2nd at 11:02 pm

    Thank you! You make writing a blog possible for so many of us who would have no idea how to do it otherwise! And it is so much more with all these possibilities.

    Like

  15. C. R. Jan 2nd at 11:06 pm

    Thank you. I have enjoyed the additions. I love the new themes available as well. I actually wrote something today about the addition of the “unique visitors” and “country” stats. A lot of people didn’t seem to understand how to utilize the stats vs. just see them.

    Like

  16. sylange Jan 2nd at 11:10 pm

    How/where can I go to learn about all things WordPress? How everything works… back end, plug ins, updates, etc., etc., etc.??

    Thank you!

    Like

  17. SimplySage Jan 2nd at 11:15 pm

    Great 2012!! I have thoroughly enjoyed WordPress. It’s like you read our mind. The moment I tell myself “I wish the would …” I wake up one day and its done. And then there are those features that we don’t even know we want until you give them to us. You make blogging fun … And beautiful!
    Happy New Year!

    Like

  18. C.B. Wentworth Jan 2nd at 11:35 pm

    Thank you for all you do to make WordPress such a great place to have a blog. 🙂

    Like

  19. ooplalund Jan 2nd at 11:43 pm

    Pretty, just now trying to keep up with the differences in layout 😡

    Like

  20. Jolyse Barnett Jan 2nd at 11:51 pm

    Blogging has opened a whole new world for me, and I thank WordPress for being so user friendly and accessible. Happy New Year!!

    Like

  21. PiedType Jan 3rd at 12:05 am

    Thank you, WP, for all you do.

    Like

  22. blackbook44 Jan 3rd at 1:16 am

    Thank you… It’s great to be part of the WordPress family.

    Like

  23. Reidar Visser Jan 3rd at 4:00 am

    The WordPress Reader is like a high-quality Twitter. Have you considered adding more interactivity, such as giving blog owners the option of publishing followers or even encouraging them to do so? If privacy is a concern, there could be a public/non-public box for each blog one follows, with non-public as default if need be,

    Like

  24. Hannah (BitterSweet) Jan 3rd at 4:07 am

    Thank you for all that you do, and ask so little for in return. My blog has completely changed, if not saved my life, and of course it would have never turned out this way without WordPress to begin with. You’ve touched so many lives, and this is still just the start. Wishing you the happiest 2013 possible!

    Like

  25. Mrs. H Jan 3rd at 5:47 am

    Enjoying my blogging adventure…thanks for making it possible!

    Like

  26. jpetermaloney Jan 3rd at 10:24 am

    My #1 New Years Resolution is to develop my writing skills. I signed up thinking how steep the learning curve would be even tho’ I have a few computer skills. A great delight to find how easy and intuitive the WP program is. I am going to enjoy this journey. Well done.

    Like

  27. Lonna Lisa Williams Jan 3rd at 11:26 am

    Thanks for all the hard work! I think you helped my Blog look lovely 🙂

    Like

  28. oegukeen Jan 3rd at 1:29 pm

    I started blogging on 1st of January 2012 so I’ve spend the whole 2012 with WordPress. It’s a great platform, thank you for everything

    Like

  29. lindvedpress Jan 3rd at 4:44 pm

    Thanks for a good WordPress year 2012 – It is a pleasure to work with the tools that are present and I am sure that WordPress can meet the year 2013 with great serenity and dynamism.
    Kurt Lykke Lindved

    Like

  30. Titik Asa Jan 3rd at 5:23 pm

    Thanks for free service that wordpress provide…
    Bravo for tiled galleries. Love this improvement so much…
    Best regards,

    Like

  31. sparkyfizz Jan 3rd at 9:16 pm

    Thank you WordPress for providing such a fantastic free service! This year I’ve especially loved the new ’tiling’ for photos. Happy New Year.

    Like

  32. elbablogs Jan 3rd at 10:17 pm

    Thanks for all your love and hard work…Have a Happy New 2013 and keep on the good work.

    Like

  33. Becky Jan 3rd at 11:46 pm

    Thank you for all your hard work. I appreciate all of the tips and updates that are given to help me navigate through areas that I’m not real comfortable with. Hopefully, it will become easier the more I use it! I’m looking forward to a great year with WordPress! 🙂

    Like

  34. Frits Jan 4th at 10:01 am

    We can help a lot of volunteer-organisations with your CMS. Thank you very much.

    Like

  35. Charo Jan 4th at 4:08 pm

    I’m a first-time WordPress user, Krista. I”m amazed just how powerful all the tools are, even on a free template. Looking forward to what WordPress has in store for 2013!

    Like

  36. rebarakaz Jan 4th at 8:19 pm

    Thank you for the highlight.
    WordPress is getting better and better and it’s very attractive for the beginners like I am 🙂

    Like

  37. happy holly project Jan 4th at 9:35 pm

    I’d really like to know where in the countries the hits are coming from … so maybe an option to show city/country or even IP address … Just having US as a country doesn’t tell me much.

    Like

  38. intuitivejuliemarie Jan 4th at 11:06 pm

    I am someone who knows just enough to mess things up. Royally. I may not be able to figure out how to do all the things I would like to do on the blog, but at least I can share the writing, and that’s the most important thing to me. Thank all of you for making that impossible dream of mine possible. May 2013 bring even more inspiration to your already inspired minds.

    Like

  39. ferylatif Jan 5th at 1:12 am

    I’m really lucky to know & use word press since 2011 it has changed my life completely as web designer .. great wishes for more success in 2013

    Like

  40. disgruntledprincess Jan 5th at 2:19 am

    Thanks for the love. I’m a huge fan of your blogging annual reports.

    Like

  41. Mrs. Roberson Jan 6th at 12:10 am

    I really appreciate all the work you all do! I’ve used other blog sites before, but when I switched to WordPress, I fell in love with the ease of use, lovely designs, and immediate sense of community. I’m never using anything else. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful space!

    Like

  42. amybanda01 Jan 7th at 7:20 am

    Thanks for all your hardwork and ingenuity in providing us with such great incentives free of charge. May 2013 be a brighter year in every aspect and initiative gearing towards growth for the wordpress family.

    Like

  43. GMSP Jan 8th at 11:57 am

    2012 seems to have added most of the things I was looking for – well done. It seems a little smoother and slicker and more complete. Speeding up the interface and looking at Google+ integration are on my wish list for 2013. But really guys you seem to have most of the bases covered now.

    Like

  44. eastgermangirl Jan 8th at 7:37 pm

    Thank you so much for 2012 and part of 2011. I blogged and used many forums of WordPress for my new book. All this is free, what an opportunity to start advertising, and communicating with people of interest.

    Like

  45. devilintheflesh Jan 9th at 2:02 am

    Who the heck is Tae Phoenix? She seems to be giving me the eye.

    Like

  46. munstermann Jan 9th at 2:55 pm

    Thank you! It’s awesome to have this kind of support.

    Like

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