It’s no secret that we think WordPress is pretty awesome. It’s incredibly powerful, completely customizable, and extremely easy to install, optimize, and use for any number of purposes. But if you’re new to creating websites and blogging then you may not know what WordPress is capable of or why it’s definitively won the title of the World’s most popular CMS and Blogging Platform.
So to that end I’ve put together a small showcase of 30 awesome websites running on WordPress. Each Website listed below includes a description from the WordPress.org Showcase describing how these sites have utilized the WordPress platform to meet their needs. I hope you find this post inspiring!
1. HeyPapaLegend Studios
HeyPapaLegend Studios’ websites uses WordPress as a CMS, along with sound, video, and a unique implementation of AJAX, to showcase the company’s work.
2. Overlapps
The site uses a custom WordPress theme and plugins to showcase, rate, and allow users to browse mobile apps.
3. Intellectual Ventures Lab
This popular site was featured during the TED 2010 conference. WordPress is being used to share amazing high speed photographic images of a project intended to help stop the spread of malaria.
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers
This WordPress-powered site is a hub of information about the band. It provides fans with a central place to follow up on news, tour dates, message boards, and the band’s social media presence.
5. XXL Magazine
XXL Magazine is a WordPress powered hip-hop publication. They provide an objective take on hip-hop news as well as lifestyle articles, videos, and more.
6. 1983
This blog features a ‘Daily Hit’ of beautiful design, illustration and photography and has upwards of 20,000 pageviews a month. The unique, image-heavy design uses WordPress to create a mosaic-like view of inspirations.
Free Architecture uses a custom, image-heavy theme to show examples of creative architecture. The site acts as a visual blog for architecture enthusiasts and allows third sector clients to apply for design services.
8. Knatt
The site uses a custom theme with page templates, jQuery-powered animations, styled comments, and a “lab section” to feature work.
9. La Web Shop
This Quebec-based agency uses a unique custom theme to display their portfolio.
10. Carsonified
This UK based creative collaborative trains, inspires, and connects web designers and developers with their passion and their WordPress powered website.
11. Today’s Document
Beyond the postmodern-ified Americana aesthetic, and integration with the artwork itself, Today’s Document (Illustrated) utilizes WordPress 2.9’s “Post Thumbnail” to keep each image as a semantically integrated piece alongside the Post’s “proper” content (the supportive text). Metadata (via Custom Fields, via Flutter) provide readers with the event’s historical date, plus a link to research further.
12. We Heart This
We Heart This is a major and well executed implementation of BuddyPress and WordPress. It also features a bbPress forum and a wide variety of original content.
13. Bloginity
The WordPress-powered Bloginity.com offers a flexible platform that allows the site’s team to publish and manage a large amount of content and present it in a visually appealing way. The site’s developers constantly tweak colors, positions, fonts, and other things to optimize bounce rates and LTV (life tame value) of users.
14. Modelinia
Modelinia uses WordPress to seamlessly power an impressive site featuring hundreds of photos, countless videos, and lots of static content.
15. The Official Star Wars Blog
Star Wars is one of the most popular movie series of all time and the series’ official blog is powered by WordPress.
16. HelloGiggles
HelloGiggles is a WordPress-powered online magazine catered towards the ladies of the world. It sports grid-based theme sprinkled with icons and illustrations that features both original and user-submitted content.
17. Synch Bands
Synch Bands’ custom WordPress theme uses custom post types to create a unique, interactive e-commerce experience.
18. 101 Holidays
101 Holidays uses WordPress as a content management system to show pictures, highlight quotes, categorize vacations by experience, price, and destination, and more.
19. Axl Smith
Axl’s well-design website has a unique feature that allows you to drag and drop different pages across the website and keep multiple pages open at once in one window.
20. Sparklette
The extremely popular blog has a design that is soothing and refreshing, with restaurant reviews and travelogues that are well-categorized based on cuisine and city.
21. PlayStation.Blog
This is WordPress powered blog for SCEE PlayStation fans.
22. I Love Typography
I Love Typography is a WordPress powered blog for typography enthusiasts.
23. Dusty Cartridge
Dusty Cartridges uses custom taxonomies, featured images, custom metaboxes, threaded comments, and several custom built plugins to create a full-featured magazine-style website.
24. Carolina Roller Girls
Carolina Roller Girls uses WordPress and a custom theme to create a site that can be easily maintained by the organization. It features a grungy design, jQuery-powered slider, blog, and events listing.
25. Riversend
Riversend is creative Dylan Baskind’s blog. It uses a typography heavy custom designed theme and custom post types to emphasize the theme of “sights, sounds, and ideas.”
26. Zync
Zync uses WordPress as both a CMS and blog with a clean, creative custom theme to create a full-fledged portfolio site for an agency.
27. Yess BMX
Yess BMX integrates a smooth jQuery-powered parallax slider and a bold, full-screen design.
28. Alissa Neil PR
Alissa Neil PR’s custom WordPress theme uses CSS3 and JavaScript to create an interactive timeline outlining the history of the firm.
29. AIGA Portland
AIGA Portland uses a custom, well-designed theme and WordPress as a CMS to organize and bring together design professionals across the Portland area. It features robust new content, better user experience, and a bold new platform from which to excite, inform, engage and delight.
30. Cutest Paw
Cutest Paw uses a custom theme with minimalist dynamic grid-based layout and infinite scroll to put emphasis on the focus of the site: the photos.
Final Thought
As I said at the beginning, I hope you found this post to be a good source of ideas and inspiration for whatever kind of website you’d like to create. Don’t forget to check out our over 700 WordPress themes and premium plugins to see how WordPress + WPHub can help you create the website you’ve always wanted.
