Codeigniter popularity : why ?

I have CI around 5 years. CI is my main Framework every job I done in CI.

Some site I can finish in 3 Hours (I have my own CMS base on CI) with slide image and write css and plug to system with backend and frontend.

So CI strength is very easy to learn, use, adapt to any requirement.

It feel you can hack every part of your system.

Some framework of your list can use less time to initial project but it very hard to modify (or it will broke some part when you start to modify it).

I thought about this topic around 2-3 day when CI is dead to use another framework but last answer is CI.

Because my point (and my customer point) don't care about framework that I use but focus only goal of project base on resource and time that I used.

That why CI popular.