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Why Don't You Use Wordpress?

by Angela Wills
59 replies
For those of you who don't use Wordpress for your website design I'm wondering why not?

Or if you have no answer for that why do you use the program or software you currently use to build your website?

I've tried so many ways to build websites over the years and I love Wordpress now but I realize a lot of people still use other systems and so I'd love to hear you're feedback on this question.
#websites #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author Khondoker
    When I started IM, I used to design (or tried to design) my sites through NVU and DreamWeaver. But after I came to know WordPress there was no lookback. I am sorry I cannot point out any advantage of others over WordPress. I am Happy and content with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
    No worries, I appreciate the feedback! I have used both NVU and Dreamweaver too
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  • Profile picture of the author donhx
    Originally Posted by Angela Wills View Post

    For those of you who don't use Wordpress for your website design I'm wondering why not?

    Or if you have no answer for that why do you use the program or software you currently use to build your website?

    I've tried so many ways to build websites over the years and I love Wordpress now but I realize a lot of people still use other systems and so I'd love to hear you're feedback on this question.

    WP used to be primarily a blogging platform. In very recent times, WP has become a more versatile Content Management System (CMS).

    However, if someone wants a full-featured bullet-proof CMS, I think Joomla is the answer. It is widley used and very flexible. It also has huge third party support so it has lots of plug-ins, components and modules not available for WP.

    IMO, Joomla leads the CMS pack (superior to Drupal and some others in that class I think), but don't underestimate the newer versions of WP... its development is coming along very nicely.

    I used to be a HTML person, then went to Dreamweaver. I haven't done an HTML site in years now...it's all Joomla and WP.
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    • Profile picture of the author Zen2health
      Originally Posted by donhx View Post

      WP used to be primarily a blogging platform. In very recent times, WP has become a more versatile Content Management System (CMS).

      However, if someone wants a full-featured bullet-proof CMS, I think Joomla is the answer. It is widley used and very flexible. It also has huge third party support so it has lots of plug-ins, components and modules not available for WP.

      IMO, Joomla leads the CMS pack (superior to Drupal and some others in that class I think), but don't underestimate the newer versions of WP... its development is coming along very nicely.
      I have a Joomla site. For most Warriors, Joomla is out of the question in my opinion. It's 100x more complicated than using WP with no real advantage. There are multiple security issues with Joomla too. Plugin support and updates don't even compare to WP.

      Joomla does a few things better than WP imo, but I wouldn't bother with it again unless you're an uber techie.

      Most techies than I know prefer Drupal to Joomla though I've never tried Drupal myself.
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    I don't use it for that because it is not a design tool...

    I never use WordPress to design my sites. I just use it as the engine (CMS) for most of the sites. I make the "design" in my head... then order the image files from talented graphic designers... and then code the theme: pure XHTML and CSS. Finally, I add the WP template tags to the file(s).

    However, for a simple squeeze page I would use just plain, simple HTML+CSS. A good editor (PSPad) and images, if needed... with a few quick lines it's done.

    For small sites I also used sNews - a very cool script that deserves to be used more widely.

    Finally, for article collection/adsense/amazon type of sites I have a small script that takes the content from .txt files and displays them in a template.

    I really believe in using the right tool for the right job.
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    • Profile picture of the author madaffiliatemoney
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      I don't use it for that because it is not a design tool...

      I never use WordPress to design my sites. I just use it as the engine (CMS) for most of the sites. I make the "design" in my head... then order the image files from talented graphic designers... and then code the theme: pure XHTML and CSS.
      You say you only use WP for only CMS on your sites, yet you are the "KING" of wordpress. Every link in your sig is about WP. I just found that funny.
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      • Profile picture of the author bradlean
        Is there any other free webhosting that you can upload your wordpress?

        Just let me know thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
    Thanks for the replies. Interesting to hear what you guys are using.
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  • Profile picture of the author YoichiSpeaks
    Yea it mostly comes down to the visual side of the site. I get frustrated sometimes to find the theme I want. You can find flexible ones but sometimes its missing something that I wish was included in the theme. But other than that wordpress has saved me a lot of time.
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    • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
      Originally Posted by YoichiSpeaks View Post

      Yea it mostly comes down to the visual side of the site. I get frustrated sometimes to find the theme I want. You can find flexible ones but sometimes its missing something that I wish was included in the theme. But other than that wordpress has saved me a lot of time.
      I agree that can be a frustrating part!

      That's why I did learn some editing of the stylesheet and the php files even though I'm far, far, far from a coder.

      I've also spent many hours searching for the perfectly flexible theme and found one that's pretty darn close
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      • Profile picture of the author emozart
        Originally Posted by Angela Wills View Post

        I agree that can be a frustrating part!

        That's why I did learn some editing of the stylesheet and the php files even though I'm far, far, far from a coder.

        I've also spent many hours searching for the perfectly flexible theme and found one that's pretty darn close
        Whats your favorite theme? and why do YOU like it?
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        • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
          Originally Posted by emozart View Post

          Whats your favorite theme? and why do YOU like it?
          My favorite theme is iThemes Builder.

          I like it because without coding you can:
          - change the site width
          - change the sidebars
          - add widgets anywhere you like
          - change the font face, width, headings
          - set different layouts on different pages

          So I can do salepages, blog pages, three-column pages, different sidebars, etc, all on the same site.
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          • Profile picture of the author VanessaB
            I hate WP because every time I find a theme I really love, I install it only to find out that certain parts of it can only be customized in the code, which I can't do.

            -Dani
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  • Profile picture of the author smartalex4
    I used to build my sites with Dreamweaver, but its so much easier and faster....and with the addition of plugins....I don't see a reason to go back.
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  • Profile picture of the author fatboy
    Personally I use HTML to design my websites when I want total control. It really depends on the type of website that I am building.

    One thing I don't like with Wordpress is that you have to change a bit of .php to have the correct <h1> tags on every page. If you do not change this it will have the same <h1> tags on every page of the site. I am not saying I don't like wordpress because I do and I use it all the time, but it depends on the site and what I am wanting to do.

    Soon enough they will have plug-ins for all of our needs and the old HTML will go out the window for most people. I still use frontpage for somethings just so I don't lose my knowledge of it.

    Hope that helps to somewhat answer you question more. If you are having thoughts about using wordpress or HTML, you could always post a little more and maybe get a better answer.

    Either way, good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author jushuaburnham
    Perhaps the security vulnerabilities is one of the reason. Since it uses a MySQL database backend this leaves the potential for SQL injection attacks. It is also vulnerable to brute force rainbow password cracking.
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    Originally Posted by Angela Wills View Post

    For those of you who don't use Wordpress for your website design I'm wondering why not?
    Do you really think WP is a "website design" tool? Then web design must mean completely different things for you and for me
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    • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      Do you really think WP is a "website design" tool? Then web design must mean completely different things for you and for me
      Wasn't really looking to argue semantics.

      I use wordpress to build my websites. The point of the question was what do you use to build yours.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Then
    Simple reason: You can be very one-sided in your thinking for any solution.

    Being able to use Dreamweaver, XSitePro, WordPress, Joomla for all my various content publishing systems allows me to see the big picture instead of giving the big, ignorant statement like "Wordpress is the best!"
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  • Profile picture of the author cookingdiva
    Angela,

    I am glad you asked this. I use wordpress as a blog and I want to try to use it as CMS, static site. I am hearing that html sites tend to do better over the time.

    I love wordpress but I have a few minor issues:
    1. Constant plugins updates, theme and wordpress updates
    2. Once you update things, something may break somewhere and you fix it.
    3. Wordpress as a CMS is not as fast as html static site from what I have heard.

    I wish to use html site and know basic html coding but not enough to put templates and images in code yet.

    I really wish there was a good html editor that worked like wordpress and was free or cheap enough. I heard good thing about Xsitepro but is almost $200, so it will have to wait till I make some money.
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    • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
      Originally Posted by newnoob View Post

      I really wish there was a good html editor that worked like wordpress and was free or cheap enough. I heard good thing about Xsitepro but is almost $200, so it will have to wait till I make some money.
      I used XSite Pro many years ago and really did like it. It's a good program.
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  • Profile picture of the author adelainewatson
    WordPress.com is another free service that is widely used. Very easy to get set up and with a large variety of themes to choose from. Unlike Blogger you are restricted to the available choices. Despite having quite a few themes there is almost no customization available to you. Also, like Blogger you don't control the blog and it can be removed at the discretion of WordPress.com. Not a good thing to base any business on.
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    • Profile picture of the author Amber Jalink
      Wordpress drives me insane with it's updates. I've got it on dozens of my sites... but by the time they're all upgraded and I'm back around to adding content, the darn things need upgrading for some security issue.

      So in truth, while it's "on" many of my sites, most of those sites are honestly like placeholders - I haven't had time to get most of those ones properly running.

      I also hate (as someone else mentioned) the fact of fixing the h1 AND h2 tags depending on the theme, I hate the fact that there's not a ton of control (okay, I'm NOT a php programmer LOL, so yeah there is if you are!)

      When I came online, I had to learn straight html for simple sites... then I got Frontpage, moved along with their versions until near the last of their editions, and have used that for years.

      I work about half code half visual, and I really like to be able to fix / change code myself rather than letting a program do it for me.

      Downloaded (FINALLY) Expressionweb to test it a few weeks ago, I have 17 days left on it, and for the life of me I don't think I'll be buying it. It's driving me crazy.

      It has crashed *every* time I use it. Today? Twice already, same document (and there's nothing fancy on it, just a plain html sales letter). Not to mention some other quirks I do and don't like in it.

      I actually saw this thread because I was looking for other options LOL. And no, I don't want to transform my sales pages into wordpress either.

      I'm going to try kompozer because it's free, but I'm also still considering XSitePro - I just wish it had a free trial (even 5 days) just to see if I liked it, because I liked Expressionweb the first few days, but the more I'm using it the less I like it... and with XSitePro, if there's no trial, I'll be faced with "possibly" the same issue (but out the expense).

      Programs that don't allow control - OR that change your code after you've set it (wordpress does this too grrrr) - because it "thinks" you made a mistake yet it has NO knowledge of your actual point of it... is SO frustrating.

      Anyway - I know there's lots of WP people out there too who swear by it, but I suppose those of us who got started online mostly BEFORE wordpress days, we got used to coding LOL

      Amber
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  • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
    I don't use WP because the very fact that it is open source software means that there are tons and tons of hackers looking at the code and doing everything they can to hack it.

    Just having WP on a site is an open invitation to a hacker to bust into your server, given the fact that WP is known for massive amounts of security holes. Open source software is always more likely to get hacked because there are thousands of hackers who know about it and actually look for sites running those particular scripts because they are known as very easy to hack into.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Angela Wills View Post

    For those of you who don't use Wordpress for your website design I'm wondering why not?
    (i) I find it too difficult to use

    (ii) I need customer support of a type which isn't readily available for self-hosted Wordpress

    (iii) Before I started, I read both "Blogging For Dummies" and "Wordpress For Dummies" from cover to cover and decided as a result to use TypePad instead

    (iv) I keep seeing threads here asking for Wordpress advice over things which I know, in TypePad, to be trivially easy for even an incompetent technophobe like me to do, and when the smoke and heat of the (often very different and sometimes disputed!) answers blow over and Istvan posts something factual, accurate and helpful, I often find myself thinking "I'm so glad I don't use Wordpress, if a little thing like this is so difficult to do and confuses so many experienced people".

    Since you asked ...
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    • Profile picture of the author Cnotey
      Currently all 5 of my sites are on a wordpress platform. The only problem that I have with wordpress, is that I find it very hard to customize the look of my website.

      I focus quite a bit on the design of my website, and sometimes Wordpress just doesn't get what I am trying to do. But I am happy to sacrifice a little bit of appearance for what Wordpress makes up for with SEO qualities.
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      • Profile picture of the author ebusinesstutor
        Wordpress is one of my favorite ways to build content for clients, but I don't use it for everything.

        When I have a client that needs something even simpler, I use Weebly.

        When I have a client who needs a membership site or the ability to add 100s of products, I use systems like Joomla.

        But for most static page web sites, Wordpress is my favorite.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by seo99 View Post

      I use dreamweaver to make my sites and also drupal.
      That would have been a good answer in a thread entitled "What do you use to make your sites?" but, if you'll excuse the observation, it's perhaps a somewhat less than fully enlightening response to the question "Why don't you use Wordpress?".
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  • Profile picture of the author KenL
    Xsitepro for the html challenged like myself. Angela, why did you stop using xsitepro?
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    • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
      XSitePro is good if you dont want to make any customizations yourself and if you don't mind bloated code.

      That program puts everything it can in CSS and the code it outputs is not only a nightmare to make minor changes to when editing the code, it also puts out the most bloated base of code I have ever seen.

      Originally Posted by KenL View Post

      Xsitepro for the html challenged like myself. Angela, why did you stop using xsitepro?
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      • Profile picture of the author cherylwright
        Originally Posted by Johnny Slater View Post

        XSitePro is good if you dont want to make any customizations yourself and if you don't mind bloated code.

        That program puts everything it can in CSS and the code it outputs is not only a nightmare to make minor changes to when editing the code, it also puts out the most bloated base of code I have ever seen.
        I use XSite Pro for many of my sites, but it has limitations. For instance, it doesn't accept popup codes in the footers, despite it having the option to do so.

        No one, including support on their forums, seems to know how to fix this issue, and it's frustrating.

        There are also some frustrating problems when it comes to adding links, and a few other minor issues.

        It was expensive, but it is also a good program. If they made some of the design elements similar to FrontPage (which is no longer available) I would have been happier.

        Once you understand the basics of XSP, it's fairly easy to use.




        Cheryl
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    • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
      Originally Posted by KenL View Post

      Xsitepro for the html challenged like myself. Angela, why did you stop using xsitepro?
      I did build my first websites completely with HTML before wordpress existed so I didn't like the complete lack of control over customizing it. Also that I was tied to the program so that if one day I decided to sell my site it might be more difficult.
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  • Profile picture of the author JackPowers
    I like Wordpress but its roots as a blog is too prevalent, the categories and dynamic front page.

    Drupal 7 is supposedly the best CMS system out there now.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      For small sites I also used sNews - a very cool script that deserves to be used more widely.
      Got a url? I did do a G search, and got shopping news. Just posting a link would help get it known more widely I pay attention to everything you say. Besides that, all my sites are small sites

      Originally Posted by dimeco View Post

      Downloaded (FINALLY) Expressionweb to test it a few weeks ago, I have 17 days left on it, and for the life of me I don't think I'll be buying it. It's driving me crazy.
      I prefer to do hand coding on Notepad++, but I do happen to have Expression Web for working on a customer's site. I had read about it in forums for a long time (I probably read forums way too much) and was really impressed with the comments anyway. At webhostingtalk.com, a couple of people mentioned they had switched over from Dreamweaver to EW.

      I have used FrontPage a bit (also, only for a customer's site that was coded with it, and she supplied me with a copy). It had things I didn't like, but some impressive capabilities too. But I was truly impressed with EW.

      It has an emphasis on valid code. Talk about a turn around for MS. It is a bit fashionable to bash them lately, but they do some impressive things too. EW is one of them. A few times when I've had a problem with code and the validators were clear that there were about 15 errors, but didn't know just where they were, EW was able to sort that completely out.

      Any code that is invalid will have a highlight and on hover a comment about why that might be a problem. More details at wysiwyg editors

      best wishes
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  • Profile picture of the author GFox
    Having used Dreamweaver for many years to build my sites, I have migrated my full attention to Wp and Joomla over the past few years, and between the two, WP is my new favorite. There are some areas where Joomla excels, but for sheer ease of use I am building more sites in WP now, and I haven't used Dreamweaver in quite a long while.
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    • Profile picture of the author FredJones
      Let me ask a short question here and see if the question helps you find the answer.

      Are you talking about building sites or mini-sites here?
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      • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
        Originally Posted by FredJones View Post

        Let me ask a short question here and see if the question helps you find the answer.

        Are you talking about building sites or mini-sites here?
        Building sites or mini-sites, whatever you build. However you get a page or a full site on the internet. Basically the question was if you don't use Wordpress, why not. I was curious to know what people don't like about it and I didn't even realize this thread had taken off with so many answers...
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        • Profile picture of the author FredJones
          Oh I had answered already in my question - Wordpress is severely limited when it comes to scalability and manageability plus dynamic webpage generation etc and so on. It is usually mini-sites that do not need such things and any bigger site would require all of it, so ...

          By the way, I do have a few mini-sites here and there but personally I am a bigger fan of building bigger authority sites. It may appear to be willingly taking more pain initially but trust me, if someone is talking business and not purely side-income they had better get into building long-term business assets.

          Originally Posted by Angela Wills View Post

          Building sites or mini-sites, whatever you build. However you get a page or a full site on the internet. Basically the question was if you don't use Wordpress, why not. I was curious to know what people don't like about it and I didn't even realize this thread had taken off with so many answers...
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          • Profile picture of the author Nick Jolin
            I used to use blogengine.net, it is very similar to Wordpress, but is windows based (for the server). Once I found Wordpress, I was sold immediately because they have so many people that are creating plugins and add ons. I also like tinkering with the code to get something custom.

            Plus it is great for installing quickly and having a site up right away.
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  • Profile picture of the author fromtheashesofthephoenix
    When I didn't use wordpress it was because I did not know it existed. I would imagine though its probably for security reasons for some.
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  • Profile picture of the author navyseal
    Well ask me, I used wordpress right at the comfort of my own home.

    I can even wear my pajamas.

    Lol!
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  • Profile picture of the author navyseal
    Regarding about the snews,

    Can I still used the wordpress plugin on it?



    Originally Posted by Jeff Hope View Post

    Hi Lloyd,

    Snews is here:

    sNews - Lightweight Content Management System

    Jeff

    p.s. - Before you jump into it, there's also this:
    sNews CMS Multiple XSS Vulnerabilities
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  • Profile picture of the author TZ
    Used to use Dreamweaver and Fireworks for design and build, and now all sites are all WP using Firefox for image design, and Dreamweaver for customizing code.

    I really find now that load speed on our domains is very important, so the Macromedia tools are critical to our work.
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  • Profile picture of the author phpnetpro
    I can design and program entire websites/scripts from scratch and even I like to use Wordpress for most of the sites I make!

    It's the themes, plugins and general ease of use. I can make 30+ page sites that are unique in a matter of days, which would take weeks if I did it by hand. I certainly still use my programming skills to help me with things that other people can't do, but it doesn't mean that I don't like to use things that are convenient either.
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  • Profile picture of the author CyberSorcerer
    Well along with being an internet marketer, I also do freelance webdesign and development which does include the top CMS platforms such as: Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, osCommerce, etc.

    I have sites designed in them basically so I can become familiar with there API's, theme designs system, etc.

    Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author peetred
    I don't like using Wordpress for sales pages. I find it easier to use HTML.
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  • Profile picture of the author cherylwright
    Angela, I've been an avid user of WP now for a year or so - once I figured out how to use it properly, I was a fan forever.

    At least I thought I was.

    I've recently tried putting up a WP blog for something that requires a LOT of images, but all I get is bunched up images and text that is under/over images.

    I'm pulling my hair out trying to find an alternative, but if there's a plugin I can use to fix the issue, great. There just doesn't seem to be one for the application I need it for.

    So... what that means is I use WP where I can, but sometimes it's just not the right tool. <sigh>




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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Munch
    Wordpress is easy to use, has endless ways to be customized, and is well supported.

    The big downside is that it can be a pain to maintain, especially as you customize it more.

    It frequently needs updating or risks dangerous security problems. Being such a popular platform out there it is a big target for hackers.

    Also with each update comes the risk of old features on your site getting broken and needing a fix.

    This can make it a very bloated and over-complicated solution if you just need a small simple website. Using a well supported premium theme can help overcome this somewhat, an example premium theme is Thesis.

    I use Wordpress as I run big sites that need a lot of customization, and I need a reliable platform that is getting updated regularly with the latest technology for free. But I can certainly see plenty of reasons when Wordpress is not the best idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    I use my own custom built CMS.

    For reasons below...

    (i) Im an ASP programmer, and have no PHP knowledge. I was quite frustrated (being a developer myself) at not being able to edit code and pages when desired.

    (ii) I often experienced outages with many of my sites due to hacking. This became tiresome, and as a result, I found myself constantly checking my sites with high anxieties, worrying about them being "taken down" at any time

    (iii) Forward thinking. I knew given the above limitations that If I planned on rolling out hundreds of sites over the next few years, I needed something that was more robust, less likely to be exploited and something that i could edit if desired.

    My custom CMS plugs in just as easily and it provides excellent flexibility and proven results
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  • Profile picture of the author flavius333
    because.. "I'm lovin' it.."

    usability, customization, adaptability.. and countless other reasons..
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    • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
      Originally Posted by flavius333 View Post

      because.. "I'm lovin' it.."

      usability, customization, adaptability.. and countless other reasons..
      You dont use it because you love it? :rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
    Well, one thing I can tell you is not better than Wordpress is an SBI site. Site Build It. I spent my first two years online trying to make money from one of those sites and they suck. Wordpress is awesome.
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  • Profile picture of the author HiAbby
    Wow, I'm really happy I found this thread! I just started fiddling with wordpress recently (always a dreamweaver kind of gal in the past) and now I'm glad I did!

    Sometimes it makes me want to pull my hair out though (sort of a love/hate relationship :p ). Can anyone point me in the right direction for some good tutorials?

    <3 Abby Elaina xoxo
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  • Profile picture of the author A P Geofrey
    Well in terms of blogging Wordpree is one of the best if not the best. But as things get more complex I think one needs to look towards other directions like Joomla, Drumpal and others that's all.


    But I still think Wordpress Rock!!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author stealthpromo
    For many purposes, wordpress is overkill and a drain on server resources.

    Also, its a lot harder to get a cool/unique looking site made on wordpress than it is html+php.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ken Durham
    I have created CMS's, banner management systems, accounting systems, etc., in many different languages, for clients and myself.

    I finally tried WP a year or so ago, after learning and using Joomla and Drupal. Perhaps I have an edge because I am a programmer, but WP seems very easy to work with, design for, and to create custom code for.

    As mentioned, it is an open source software, so it is exposed to the world of "crackers". But think about it, since it's vulnerabilities are tested on a daily basis, the system becomes more secure on a daily basis. Most self created CMS systems have not been tested to the depth that open source has been, making them far more vulnerable to being hacked than WP is.

    My main concern about WP is it's plugins. Everybody just installs them, giving no concern to their vulnerabilities. Do you know how easy it would be to write a plugin and have it send me your entire database of users? Or even change your payment methods to use my accounts and have the money from purchases posted to my PayPal? And you would never even know. This is where caution is needed. I review the source code for unfamiliar plugins and search for such things. But most do not know how nor even think about such a thing happening.

    Yes, WP is a great system, just watch what you install because many of the plugins do utilize some sort of tracking or notification that is sent to the developer. Grabbing your login info, credit card numbers, or opening a backdoor with a malicious plugin is not too difficult, even though many hosted on the WP site are screened. But by breaking up the malicious code and spreading it out over the entire plugin, one could easily hide it.

    Have a great day.

    Ken
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  • Profile picture of the author dustinthetoucan
    Hand code it old school with xhtml and css (or use a software to speed parts of it up). Throw in some javascript, php, and mysql... The reason being is that I write the code so I know it's nice and clean. Time consuming, but clean.

    Also, I use gimp... total cost to me, nothing... just like wordpress. But I also feel accomplished with it.
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    Thanks in advance... :)..... -Dustin

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