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WordPress - a User-Friendly Blogging and Content Management System (CMS)
Updated July 13, 2015

WordPress - a User-Friendly Blogging and Content Management System (CMS)

Sharon Hurley Hall | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Self-hosted WordPress

Overall Satisfaction with WordPress

I use WordPress to run all my websites and also recommend it to other users. It makes it easy to update the site and look after search engine optimization issues. It is immensely configurable by choosing and editing themes to change the design and by installing plugins to look after different types of functionality.
  • One of the best features of WordPress is that it is easy to add, edit and update site content. Anyone who can use wordprocessing software can use WordPress. It's also simple to illustrate your content with images.
  • I particularly enjoy the ability to update site functionality via plugins. Although using too many plugins can slow a WordPress based site down, there are some crucial plugins that improve the basic installation.
  • It's also great that you can change the design easily at a range of price points, using free, freemium or premium themes.
  • While one of the strengths of WordPress is the ability to change your site without coding, the ability to manually edit core files can be a weakness, as users can break the site without knowing what they are doing. However, there is plenty of online help so you can avoid this.
  • Not all WordPress themes and plugins work as intended or play nicely together. This may not be because of WordPress itself, but can cause issues. It pays to do some research before installing something new.
  • An issue which is less common now is pasting content from Word and having strange characters appear when the post is published. Recent updates seem to have solved that problem, but if you are running an older version of the software, it's worth upgrading. Upgrading is also good for security.
  • One positive aspect of WordPress is that posts appear quickly in search engine results. It's SEO friendly and can be made even more so with the addition of plugins like WordPress SEO by Yoast. That makes it easy for people to find your site. In my own case, that equates to more leads from potential clients.
It's been a while, but I have also used Typepad and Blogger. I ended up with WordPress because it was easier to customize and tweak it so it met my needs. It is user-friendly and search engine friendly, which is a winning combination in my book. Blogger has become easier to use and has the advantage of being a Google tool, but being able to install WordPress with a single click from many web hosts gives it the edge.
WordPress is well suited to sites with multiple authors, as each contributor can have a separate login. It also lends itself well to creating news type sites, as content can be uploaded for review by an editor before going live. Frankly, it works for a wide range of sites and situations. However, those who want fine grained control may prefer to create or commission their own custom theme or plugin.

WordPress Feature Ratings

8.1
WYSIWYG editor
8
Code quality / cleanliness
8
Admin section
8
Page templates
9
Library of website themes
10
Mobile optimization / responsive design
9
Publishing workflow
7
Form generator
6
9.5
Content taxonomy
10
SEO support
10
Bulk management
Not Rated
Availability / breadth of extensions
9
Community / comment management
9
Not Rated
API
Not Rated
Internationalization / multi-language
Not Rated
8.0
Role-based user permissions
8
CMS programming language or framework ()
Not Rated

Using WordPress

It's a sophisticated but easy to use piece of software. Many of the content addition pieces are familiar from other pieces of software so there isn't a huge learning curve. And for new areas, there is a lot of info on WordPress.org as well as other WordPress help sites.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Adding and formatting content pages is easy, with no need to learn to code. WordPress automatically creates the necessary HTML, while the user can format content using bold, italic, etc.
  • A recent update let users upload and edit images to ensure the sizing is right. This is a welcome addition to the functionality in WordPress.
  • WordPress makes it easy to add internal links with a drop down menu in the edit window.
  • Since I've been using it for a while, most things are easy. However, I know that some people can struggle with image upload when they first start using it.
Yes - I've only used the mobile interface for managing comments and it works well. I'd be unlikely to use it to type posts on a phone, though I would consider it on a tablet.