My new article...Why Not WordPress?

Hi everyone,

I just wrote a new article and was wondering if anyone might care to read it and comment on what I said in it.

The main gist of it is that WordPress is overused and really unneccessary for many sites. Overly complicating things and bloating many web sites that don't need all of it's functionality. There's more to it than that of course :).

Here's the article if anyone cares to read it. I am especially interested in feedback regarding what I said with respect to wether it makes sense or not.

http://www.carlosgonzalezconsulting....-not-wordpress

Thanks.

Carlos

Hi Carlos. To some degree, I see your point regarding WordPress. I have been a web designer since the late 90's and so if I was still trying to earn a living in web design only (no blog installs), I might get a little upset about how much WordPress is used for web sites.

However, the one key reason why so many are using WordPress, is because they are blogging. WordPress, while it can certainly run entire web sites with its ability to also have pages, as well as posts, is still a blogging platform. It's the auto archiving features and RSS, in addition to it's ease of use, that make it so desirable for both blogging and web site creation.

While I personally would agree that everyone should learn some html, because there are times even with WordPress, you need to know some html; I do not agree that WordPress s*cks.

I chose to embrace the WordPress platform and teach folks how to use it properly; because not everyone wants to learn html. For those that don't, I offer to help them get their WordPress blogs online.

I started installing WordPress blogs for my web design clients, at their request. If you are doing web design, my advice is that you also embrace blogging platforms - because that's what clients want. To be honest, blogging is huge and with RSS built-in, the ability apply SEO, the search engines loves blogs.

Is WordPress overkill for some sites that do not plan to blog? Absolutely. I still create static sales pages and mini sites for myself, that don't use WordPress; but the majority of anything I put online is built around WordPress.

So I have to respectfully disagree with your article in its entirety, I do agree at least that WordPress is not necessary for every single site.

What Traci said. I see your point of view, but I also understand why Wordpress gets used over other options most of the time. That's why I help people set it up and get it going. It makes their life easier and that's all they really want in the end.

Well now, Carlos,

That's a whole lot of interesting reading. Thank you for that.

Not to make this a pile on, but I'm inclined to agree with Traci's points of view.

I know html (although, I'm somewhat lacking in speed and expertise) and have an html Web site. I purchased it as a template and messed around with the html code to get it the way I wanted it. It was great satisfaction for me to learn the code and to be able to work on my site myself.

I also have three WordPress blogs. Which I'm slowly learning how to use...beyond the log in and post a thought.

Having said this, I can understand why people/clients/customers want to use WordPress. For the most part, it's faster and easier to use. Most people don't think about...or aren't aware of...or don't care about...the back-end workings you identified. Like copyright/ownership, etc.

Usually, it's a situation of wanting to do the fastest and easiest and now! And if they want some of the other things done, well then they'll most likely spend the money and have someone do it for them.

Thanks so much for the input again you all. It never ceases to amaze me how much more quality input I get here than at much larger forums where people tend to be more ho-hum if they even let me post links to stuff I really just want sincere input on.

Your input allows me to see where there may be blind spots in what I write or where I may be overemphesazing something too much.

I think I may have to tone down the overall feel of my article that WordPress suc*s (nice way to spell the French Traci...I'll have to do that in the future).

I did not mean to say that WordPress suc*ks by the way. Not at all. For blogging it's unbeatable for the typical end user.

However even with blogging I think I will roll my own. RSS feeds are dead in my opinion. Few people actually read them anymore. I want readers of my blog to have the opportunity to subscribe to daily posts, per category, per comment, per week or any number of other options and to get notices of such by regular email.

I myself have RSS subscriptions to a great many blogs and never, ever read them anymore. I just don't have time to bother. But I do read every single email from some that I really want to follow like Lynn here. I emphasize...email as opposed to RSS feed.

I get rid of or unsubscribe from far more newsletters and blogs than I keep a subscription to.

I guess my point is that I want to give my readers options even WordPress does not have at present.

I want freedom to do things as I see fit. WordPress really does not make that easy for me since I have to work within their framework. I would never use WordPress to create my www.carlosgonzalezconsulting.com site. It would be overkill and would terribly bloat the site up. Not to mention use a lot more server resources.

What could be easier for a site owner (not a blog site) than to edit a text file containing the content of a page at will and make changes through a regular text editor. My PHP scripts take that text, add some HTML tags like paragraphs tags, otherwise process it, and spit out the page as a nice, pretty web site page.

And adding pages is likewise a breeze. I just have to change one PHP script to add a new page. Even then the only reason I have to make that change is because I like having a site that is secure such that only authorized pages are allowed to be viewed.

A whole lot easier than WordPress.

Now I have to acknowledge that from an end user perspective WordPress may make things seemingly easier...at first. But later on that easiness may be replaced by frustration or by having to pay a web developer like me to make changes.

What happens if WordPress changes their mind about how things are done (can they even do that now that they have millions of users...how do you make a major change without upsetting the whole apple cart?). There will be a lot of user frustration trying to figure out how to work with those changes or a lot of paying web professionals to help one out :). Not bad for me but really a needless expense for end users that have small sites that are not bloggy if you ask me.

What if a new security hole is found in WordPress (and there are plenty that come along all the time just like with most popular and complex software on the backend) and a user does not want to be bothered upgrading? What then? Has anyone considered the time and hassle of having to undo damage caused to a site by hackers getting in when the end user did not take the time to properly upgrade?

It just makes no sense at all to bring WordPress to bear on a small site that really does not need all of the functionality of WordPress and all the hassle than can be encountered in trying to work with it and it's plugins.

Unless one is a blog...in which case WordPress is the premier software to use for that. Well...at least until I roll out my own simpler but just as effective blogging software for use by my customers :D. One that I will use myself first and then make available to others.

Even at blogging WordPress is way bloated. Why? Because it caters to the masses and not to the specific needs of any particular blogs that might not need all that WordPress has to offer.

There are really only a couple of reasons why I might consider WordPress for my own blog. The ease of changing Themes and the efficiency of using plug-ins that someone else has written that has a capability I want but which I do not have the time or inclination to write myself.

But with respect to Themes how often do I change Themes once I find a good one. Not often enough to make the Theme changeability of WordPress any real consideration for me other than making me feel all good about the fact that I change Themes on the fly I guess LOL.

Plugins? Well there we have a more definite plus to WordPress but even there the plugins WordPress has don't give me capabilties I want even on my blog. So why bother...for me I mean?

I want a super subscription option for my readers where they can subscribe to even certain blog pages on my site in addition to all that I mentioned above. WordPress does not give me that. Why? Because...well...because it's not a capability that appeals to the masses :).

Again don't get me wrong. I think WordPress is great in some respects. Some really smart software. But I personally would rather use my own brains and offer my clients my own software code that will make it much easier for them to maintain their own site pages than WordPress would do for them.

I am talking about clients that don't want to hassle with HTML and CSS, PHP, and even WordPress itself. I can show them an easier way to achieve what they want, the ability to edit their own site pages, without even using WordPress.

An ease of use that makes it super easy for me to maintain my own site and add or delete my own pages and I know what I am doing. But despite knowing what I am doing I personally don't have to hardly touch any HTML, CSS, or PHP these days when I want to add, change, or delete site pages.

I can get into the code if I want but I don't have to. I want to give my clients the same option that I use on my own site. Ease of use with the capacity to get into the guts of the site by learning how to work with HTML, CSS, and PHP without having to learn to decipher WordPress's source code which is a bit of a pain to work with in that it too is written for the masses in an attempt to allow end users the chance to edit PHP without...well...having to know much PHP. Which...well...makes editing WordPress source code a not so simple thing after all :).

Just my two cents.

I will definitely work on my article some to give it a less WordPress suc*s impression. Something I am not saying.

Thanks again for the input you all.

Carlos

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PS. My site generating method has complexity too but that complexity is hidden inside PHP object classes that a user never has to fiddle with.

Here's how I generate a web page at present...

require "autoload.php";
$a = new webSite();
$a->useContent("home.txt");
$a->useStyle("style.css");
$a->showPage();

That's it. 5 lines of code! Can't get simpler than that. Of course the number of lines of code are greater than that in that my actual site code takes security measures and otherwise makes decisions about which page it will generate where but still...that's the gist of how my site pages are generated. The complicated part happens inside the PHP class called webSite.

I mean compared to having to install and otherwise fiddle with WordPress the above way of generating site pages is well...a breeze in comparison.

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Originally Posted by KarenMcG

Usually, it's a situation of wanting to do the fastest and easiest and now! And if they want some of the other things done, well then they'll most likely spend the money and have someone do it for them.

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I agree Karen. I think I got WordPress beat in the sense that I can show a prospective client my five lines of code as something to keep in mind while they try and install and set up WordPress themselves (for those inclined to do it themselves). I mean what will take less time and get them a site page now! My five lines of code or WordPress? :).

But of course if a site owner that has a basic web site absolutely insists on installing and using WordPress (which is very difficult to extricate oneself out of once you start using it and keep using it) I will certainly help them with that...for a price...though I will also just as certainly explain to them the reasons why it might be better for them NOT to use WordPress. They don't get locked in with my code and way of doing things. They get freedom to do what they want in the future while I help them understand how to work with my code (which is not really difficult to do at all...I mean now difficult can it be to teach someone how to create new pages using 5 lines of code LOL?).

Carlos - you can get RSS feeds delivered to your inbox. http://www.feedmyinbox.com/ ;)

For you, generating a new page with a few lines of php code is a breeze; that is not true for the average person. Most folks do not want to fool with coding at all. They just want a web site online. Many choose WordPress because it's easier for them to use in the capacity in which they want to use it. Clearly it's not a good fit for everyone, and you've named your reasons why it's not a good fit for you.

I certainly don't want to debate the values of WordPress with you; if you don't like it - don't use it. Simple as that. However, I will say that WordPress is an awesome platform and one I use myself, and recommended to my web design clients for years.

WordPress is well supported and doubtful it will be going anywhere. However, if it should, the world will not stop revolving and something new will come along - as it always does on the world wide web.

Hi Traci,

Didn't mean to argue with you about WordPress. Sorry if I came across that way in my last post. I just feel strongly that for many site owners there is an easier way to create and maintain a web site than even WordPress offers.

That WordPress ends up causing anyone wanting to make more than superficial changes to their site (who is not inclined to get into the source code) to...well...hire a web developer to make those changes for them :). In many cases it actually neccesitates the very thing it is designed to help a web site owner avoid...hire a web developer to help them make changes at their site.

Good for me and you as web developers but not so good for the end user I think.

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on this one.

Thanks for your input Traci. Much appreciated.

Carlos

Forgive me, I didn't go and read the article, but I did want to address something you said in a post here:

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I want readers of my blog to have the opportunity to subscribe to daily posts, per category, per comment, per week or any number of other options and to get notices of such by regular email.

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If you have a desire for this functionality, it's likely that others do as well. Why not use your coding skills to add that functionality to a platform that already has millions of users? That's what plugins are for!

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I just have to change one PHP script to add a new page.

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I doubt the majority of Wordpress users are capable of changing a PHP script, nor do they want to. But they are capable of clicking a link that says "Add Page." So I'm not really seeing your system as having an advantage for any but a very few users. Not that there's anything wrong with that! :)

The beauty of a platform like Wordpress is that there are so many thousands (millions?) of people developing themes and plugins and documentation that in most cases it just doesn't make sense to use anything else.

Hi Cindy,

Thanks for your input. Not to argue with you but rather to address some of what you said in a friendly exchange of ideas....

Yes...hitting an Ad Page button is an easy thing to do but not when you consider all that one has to do in installing and maintaining WordPress to get to that button :D

While editing a PHP file might seem daunting, in truth...editing a text file of PHP source code and changing one line in it to point to a web page titled "new_page" as opposed to "existing_page" is really less difficult than going through the steps to open up WordPress, navigate to the correct place within it's framework, create a new page, and then publish it.

It is not the steps themselves that are difficult. It is the incorrect impression that taking steps through WordPress is actually less complicated than taking the step of opening a text file and changing one line of code through a simple text editor.

I can see how for web site owners that know absolutely nothing about HTML, CSS, or PHP doing it the WordPress way might seem to be easier. But for anyone who knows what source code is, what a text editor is, basic HTML, and some other fundamentals...opening up that file and making a change is much, much easier. Not just easier on the web site owner but much easier on server resources and bandwidth too :).

Heaven help that web site owner who knows little when it comes time to make substantive changes at their WordPress site though. I mean if they still want to stay out of source code.

If a web site owner is going to have to get into the source code anyway...it might as well be to learn...well...some basic HTML, CSS, and PHP rather than trying to understand and navigate through tons of WordPress source code (which is written in a really quirky way by the way).

Again I am not saying WordPress is evil. Not at all. It serves it's purpose but using WordPress on a simple site of the kind that many internet marketers have (i.e. simple landing pages and such) is overkill in my opinion.

Regarding the possibility of creating a plugin to do what I want that WordPress currently does not have the capability to do (and no...having RSS feeds emailed to me is not what I had in mind Traci :)) I could do that I guess.

But why bother if I can create it on my own and offer it to my clients in such a way that they can avoid using WordPress altogether? If I can simplify the use of the capability I want for my own web site and am willing to offer that to my clients why bother with WordPress?

My goal as a web developer is to make myself obsolete to my clients for the most part until and if they need me to do something that requires my expertise. It is to simplify things for them. To make it as easy as possible for them to add or change their web site pages. There is no way that WordPress is easier than what I use and make available to my clients. No way.

If a client is absolutely unwilling to open a text file and make a change inside it...then by all means I would encourage them to open up WordPress and make a change to a file from within it's more complicated framework. But if a client does not want to be tied to WordPress and wants to do things as simple as possible I think what I am discussing as an alternative is better for them.

Again this is just my two cents worth based on how much easier I have found it on my own site to get away from the WordPress is better idea and get back to the basics of creating a web site that is super simple, even more than WordPress, to create and maintain.

Carlos