WordPress

Comentarios: Overall, it’s easy for even a novice to use. It is one of the most widely used platforms so it also leaves WP sites more vulnerable to hacking attempts - I highly recommend anyone who isn’t a developer to have a maintenance plan with someone who can secure and monitor a WP site regularly to avoid data loss or other malicious intrusions. The more you use it, the easier it becomes to work with. It’s generally my go-to when creating custom websites for people who need a CMS but as stated above, I’ll be monitoring things closely to see how the new features affect the current development standards and methods.

Puntos a favor: I love the interface and simplicity of working on the back end. It’s intuitive for the most part and without having to look things up, a user can generally figure out the basics. Developing for custom WP sites has been great as there is a huge WP dev community and a lot of help and support to be found around the web (or courses). It is free to use especially if self hosted and there are a million ways to customize a sote to be more unique from the standard templates (mostly geared towards developers).

Puntos en contra: The most recent changes including the customizer & Gutenberg (releasing soon) are becoming a huge roadblock for many developers. There are ways around them which include disabling them via code or plugin but the way things are going, it will be harder to ensure these features won’t interfere with custom WP developers. The customizer is versatile but I find it sometimes interferes with the way a custom coded site works and can cause issues with intended styling and functionality. Gutenberg is still new so it remains to be seen just how much interference there will be once it’s part of the core framework, especially on sites developed before this release.

Comentarios: WordPress is a great option for someone who is comfortable getting into code a little bit, and managing a server set up. It allows a great balance of modern features and design with flexibility. It is very customizable through plugins. While there are services that offer a 'managed WordPress' that takes a lot of the hosting headaches out of the picture, I'd still recommend a more modern builder like Squarespace or even Wix to someone who knows little to nothing about web code (HTML and CSS). In short - a great piece of software with a huge support community for power users, but not the best for those who just want to put up a nice site and forget about maintenence.

Puntos a favor: WordPress is so ubiquitous that it has become endlessly extensible through a HUGE ecosystem of plugins and themes. Chances are if you see something on a website and want it on your site, there is a plugin for that. Building themes from scratch is not only possible, but relatively simply for intermediate coders. Blogging features of WordPress are second to none. It takes a simple back-end that started with a bloggin focus and ports it to the entire website, making WordPress a great option for those who want to manage their own site, rather than pay a web developer to do it. And that price? You can run a free site (limited) on Wordpress.com or download and install the open-source software at no cost. Who doesn't like free?

Puntos en contra: I used to run every site I built on WordPress. It is a great way to get a site up and running in no time, packed with features and functionality. I don't anymore, because of the headaches involved in hosting my own sites. WordPress is so popular that it became a magnet for hackers. I had sites go down and sites get infected. The WordPress team cares about this and security updates are relatively simple, but I had problems and when I did they were my responsibility to fix. The backend of WordPress can be a little confusing or unfamiliar because you don't edit your site "inline" or right on the page as you view it. You edit in a back-end, then hit save, then preview on the live site where your styles and theme elements are visible. This is clunky at a time when SquareSpace and the like have largely solved this.