1. Home
  2. Content Management Systems (CMS)
  3. WordPress Reviews
  4. User Review of WordPress
The best incumbents web devs have ever had
September 23, 2014

The best incumbents web devs have ever had

Michael D. Bower | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

1.2 up to 4.0

Modules Used

  • WP Total Cache, Contact Form 7, too many to count

Overall Satisfaction with WordPress

WordPress is used as either the blog engine or else the main CMS for most of our clients' websites as well as for many years, our own. As the #1 popular CMS of all time, it provides many advantages. In many ways it is an ideal example of the way open source software should be, comprising a simple and in many ways solid software platform, an extremely active global community, and a vibrant community of theme and extension developers.
  • WordPress is simple enough that non-developers can start a simple website and grow it until it is moderately large...for a fraction of the cost of a custom developed site.
  • WordPress provides web developers a gentle, friendly introduction to start creating content-oriented websites.
  • One of WordPress' most-loved features is its easy-to-understand administrative area. When a WordPress site has been well-implemented, even a non-technical user will be able to manage their website.
  • Due to its simple architecture, WordPress is comparatively easy to hack. While the risk of hacking can be mitigated by careful security measures, websites with sensitive data may be best put elsewhere.
  • It's easy to take a simple WordPress website and add new features by installing Plugins. However, this can easily get out of hand when users begin installing hundreds of plugins, some of which may conflict or even cause security gaps.
  • Because the WordPress platform is free and hosting is not expensive, WordPress usage can positively impact maintenance cost of running a small ecommerce website or a medium-sized blog.
  • Many software companies release free WordPress modules, making it easy to assemble a site with basic functionality quickly.
  • SquareSpace,Wix,Weebly
WordPress is superior to most of the "quick website creation" tools, including Wix and Weebly. In my opinion, SquareSpace will be better for first time websites and Shopify for first time ecommerce websites, due to their excellent out of the box templates. However, both of these platforms are closed-source SaaS applications, which means there is a limit to how much you can customize them.
As time goes on, websites will become less focused on paged content and more immersive. At the same time, the need for security will only go up. While WordPress has served the web community well for over 11 years, it's probably time to look for other better platforms.
WordPress is well-suited for websites where written or graphical content is central. It's especially good at presenting content that is released over time (it's a blogging platform after all). It's not as good for websites where security is crucial or other types of data are central.