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Why Wordpress?

johnmaeda.com

31–40 of 90 posts

Re: Why Wordpress?

#31
post #10

I used to have a WordPress-based blog. It was indeed a nightmare to keep up to date, unless a bit after version 2, where they included the option of automatic updates, and the whole thing was a bit more manageable. Not because it was too much of a problem before (download the compressed file, uncompress, move to the correct folder), but because sometimes an update came out and I didn't notice. Had malware installed o…

Another not-WordPress alternative is a software called NibbleBlog [0] which is nice because it's also written in PHP and will likely be easy for existing wordpress admins to deploy. No change in tooling. This also doesn't require a DB, it can run from flatfiles. [0] - http://www.nibbleblog.com/

>This also doesn't require a DB, it can run from flatfiles.

How difficult would it be to get WP to run off of sqlite? I'm not familiar with the code base to know.

Re: Why Wordpress?

#32
can we talk about the action/filter hell, the mess that is wp_query and the hackish way to get structured data integrated in wp (see acf for example)? digital agencies loves wp, and you will always get to use it in a non blog way with messy plugins and themes, and this is a pain.

Re: Why Wordpress?

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another not-WordPress alternative is a software called NibbleBlog [0] which is nice because it's also written in PHP and will likely be easy for existing wordpress admins to deploy. No change in tooling. This also doesn't require a DB, it can run from flatfiles. [0] - http://www.nibbleblog.com/

>This also doesn't require a DB, it can run from flatfiles. How difficult would it be to get WP to run off of sqlite? I'm not familiar with the code base to know.

No idea but from the one time I've looked into the code base I'd say that if it takes any modification of the source: very dificult unless one of the code maintainers is interested. Honestly, go take a look it was very scary. That's why I switched away from WordPress. A friend and I got attacked by some bots that did some emailing through our sites. After that I switched off and he did some intense web-admin work to make sure "it was never going to happen again" (tm).

NibbleBlog was drag and drop. My friend went to hell and back to fix these exploits. WordPress has more features but also more ins-and-outs to learn. The choice is up to you if it's worth it.

Also from what I remember NibbleBlog stores JSON files and doesn't use SQLite in flat-file mode. Very handy.

Re: Why Wordpress?

#34
post #3

I'm looking at the "dead" comment by PravlageTiem. I understand that PravlageTiem was being sarcastic, and some people feel that sarcasm undermines the tone that is supposed to prevail on Hacker News. But still, PravlageTiem raises an important point: WordPress has historically been a security nightmare. Possibly there was a tone of anger in the way PravlageTiem expressed themselves, but the security flaws in WordPre…

I'd love to move client's mostly static sites to Pelican or Hugo. But that means that every time they want to tweak something that isn't content, I get a phone call. So I stick with locked-down* versions of Wordpress, configured to automatically update, and hope for the best. So far, I haven't had any trouble, but if a site did get hacked, I have backups on hand to deploy a new server in seconds. *Besides best securi…

This is exactly the reason why I'm building Pragma (it's a static site builder with client focused UX) http://www.laktek.com/2016/11/29/introducing-pragma/

Re: Why Wordpress?

#35
One of the great things about WordPress is the plugin ecosystem. This is also a something of an achilles heel, especially when it comes to security. WordPress seems to attract a lot of lowest-common-denominator coders who create plugins. So while the WordPress core is now pretty solid when it comes to security, the various plugins are almost never coded to the same standard.

I have to wonder if WordPress added a small cost and verification system at front, similar to the app store, if third-party code would be of higher quality.

Re: Why Wordpress?

#36
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to move client's mostly static sites to Pelican or Hugo. But that means that every time they want to tweak something that isn't content, I get a phone call. So I stick with locked-down* versions of Wordpress, configured to automatically update, and hope for the best. So far, I haven't had any trouble, but if a site did get hacked, I have backups on hand to deploy a new server in seconds. *Besides best securi…

This is exactly the reason why I'm building Pragma (it's a static site builder with client focused UX) http://www.laktek.com/2016/11/29/introducing-pragma/

Awesome. Signed up for the beta.

Re: Why Wordpress?

#37

One of the great things about WordPress is the plugin ecosystem. This is also a something of an achilles heel, especially when it comes to security. WordPress seems to attract a lot of lowest-common-denominator coders who create plugins. So while the WordPress core is now pretty solid when it comes to security, the various plugins are almost never coded to the same standard. I have to wonder if WordPress added a smal…

An alternative would be for plugin authors to achieve a Core Infrastructure Initiative Best Practices Badge, which is free and shows a commitment to secure coding.

https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org

Disclosure: I'm the co-author of the badge at the Linux Foundation.

Re: Why Wordpress?

#38
post #3

I'm looking at the "dead" comment by PravlageTiem. I understand that PravlageTiem was being sarcastic, and some people feel that sarcasm undermines the tone that is supposed to prevail on Hacker News. But still, PravlageTiem raises an important point: WordPress has historically been a security nightmare. Possibly there was a tone of anger in the way PravlageTiem expressed themselves, but the security flaws in WordPre…

> WordPress has historically been a security nightmare. This. And all this started around the same time - in 2006 -- when Stefan Esse, the PHP security expert "resigned". In a blog post in 2006 (that can no longer be found) Esse was quoted as saying he quit > "because among other things they were resistant to his finding bugs in PHP, and had refused to patch some of the bugs he found." Source(s) http://www.darkreadin…

$25/mo. The $100/mo package includes up to 10 sites.

https://wpengine.com/plans/

Re: Why Wordpress?

#39

One of the great things about WordPress is the plugin ecosystem. This is also a something of an achilles heel, especially when it comes to security. WordPress seems to attract a lot of lowest-common-denominator coders who create plugins. So while the WordPress core is now pretty solid when it comes to security, the various plugins are almost never coded to the same standard. I have to wonder if WordPress added a smal…

There is a lot more process around plugin submissions and how they get listed than there used to be. See https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-org/detail...

Re: Why Wordpress?

#40

I never got into WP, but had multiple good experiences with Drupal. The problem for me is that WP gives you a good foundation, but if you don't know how to develop on that foundation, write your own plugins, or control your own security, you end up doing what 99.5% of the people do that use WP: 1 - use a C panel "one click" install of the CMS from your web host 2 - start looking for plugins to give you the functional…

Anyone who invested in Drupal 6 got screwed because they only support one backwards version and Drupal 8 is a non-trivial migration and even Drupal 7 requires conversion of code.
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