Item: WordPress
Rating: 10
Author: Kenneth Gourlay

Overall Satisfaction with WordPress

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I am a web marketing consultant specializing in websites that run on WordPress. I and my clients use WordPress to manage content, build attractive websites, and develop online communities. I have a couple clients that host their websites or use other services offered by Automattic, but most are independently hosted and use only the open-source WordPress offerings.

Pros and Cons

Pros

content management
excellent community of plugin and addon developers
easy to create custom designs to suit a particular organization

Cons

Automattic,in my opinion, the company that drives most of the WordPress core development, and its founder, have had a concerning track record of inappropriate and reactionary policies toward its competitors and the community as a whole.
“WordPress” can be challenging to learn, especially for new users, because it is not a single product. Rather, it is an ecosystem and a platform with developers and plugins from many different sources, of varying quality. It is imporatnt to have an expert help curate the software being used so that it runs smoothly and so that new users have a frame of reference for what they need to learn.
As with any open source project, development does not always follow a predictable schedule. New features may or may not be ready when expected.

Return on Investment

low or nonexistent licensing fees
in-house developemnt means we own what we create
not always an outside expert we can easily identify and call if something breaks

Usability

While it is very powerful and flexible, some users find this to be overwhelming or counterintuitive at times.

Alternatives Considered

WordPress is one of the only major options that is truly open source and freely usable.

Key Insights

Do you think WordPress delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with WordPress's feature set?

Yes

Did WordPress live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of WordPress go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy WordPress again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

I would unequivocally recommend WordPress for anyone building a website. It is an incredibly powerful and flexible platform that can do virtually anything a website might need, by way of its array of plugins and add-on services available from various developers.

However, if someone is looking for a set-it-and-forget-it plug and play solution, or does not want to be bothered with technical details, WordPress is not a good choice unless you have an expert to help with these details.

WordPress Feature Ratings

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