Why I Hate Love WordPress

As a programmer, I generally don’t like off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all software. It’s a lot like one-size-fits-all clothing. Yes, it will fit all sizes, but, by nature, it doesn’t fit any size well.

Any custom built website – or software of any kind – will always be a better choice because it can be customized and optimized for that one application.

In other words, if I write software that is a be-all, do-all for everyone, then for each one there will be functionality and extra code that they don’t need. For this reason, I only suggested WordPress to my clients for Blogs.

WordPress was created to be a Blog software. It does blogging VERY well. In my opinion, it is THE best blog software for the web. But, I didn’t like it as a choice for an entire website, unless, of course, the entire website was just a blog.

The more I heard about Web Designers using WordPress for websites, the more frustrated and angry I got. WordPress is for BLOGS! NOT websites. They must be amateurs and just don’t know how to write code, so they ‘cheat’ and use off-the-shelf, free software. People need to come to REAL professionals to get their website built. Yes, it will cost more, but you get what you pay for and I’m worth it.

That was my argument. It’s a good argument. It’s a valid argument. But, truth told, most people can’t afford to pay what a well-written website is worth.

I spent a while fussing and pouting about how WordPress was killing my business. After all, it’s free and who’s going to pay my prices when they can find something for free. The more I fussed and complained, the more I heard about WordPress and the more questions I got about WordPress from clients and potential clients. I started hearing about it more and more from my programmer friends and colleagues as well.

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right? I decided to give it a try. I was right. It is a one-size-fits-all hog. It is slow and inefficient at a lot of things because it must be all to everyone. BUT. But, it is good enough for most everyone. It is fast enough for most everyone. It works really well for most everyone.

I didn’t realize just how much WordPress can do. I didn’t realize just how versatile it is and how easy it makes building a website… IF you know what you are doing. I’ve been using it mostly exclusive now for a couple of months, and I think I’ve fallen in love. I can build websites so much faster. And when I need new functionality… There’s a plugin for that.

I was afraid that it would be boring for me since I wouldn’t get to do much of my own programming anymore, but I was wrong. In reality, WordPress just handles all the boring stuff and allows me to use my skills on the stuff I enjoy doing. I get to write the code for the plugins and the extras instead of the same kinds of things day in and day out.

WordPress has not only allowed me to cut my prices, get my clients what they need much faster, and allow me to take on many more clients, but it has also helped me to start dreaming again. I now have time to build the sites I’ve always dreamed about in half the time it would take me to build it from scratch.

Yes, WordPress still has it’s issues, but the community, the support, and the tools make up for those issues. When an issue is found there are tons of folks ready, willing and able to build new tools to compensate for those issues.

Thank you WordPress. I can dream again. I can help my clients dream even bigger. I <3 WordPress.