Evaluating WordPress CMS in 2024:
Is It Still a Relevant CMS Amidst Evolving Digital Needs?
I think that wordpress.com as a hosting service probably does pretty well, I have no idea as far as how well they do.
I don’t see a lot of people who use wordpress.com for hosting, but WordPress, as the open-source content management system that we know, is going through some changes.
WordPress is a CMS using WordPress.
WordPress CMS
But as far as the features that change every so often, they’re never really the features that I think would make it more worthwhile and easier for me to use.
A lot of the energy seems to be going into the block editor, which makes it easier to build your website because you’re moving blocks of content around.
On-Page Site Building
It’s like on-page site building with WordPress CMS, but I think there are a few problems with that, one is that there are better tools for that, the benefit of doing it all on WordPress natively, is that you’re not going to get locked into some sort of proprietary website builder like Divi, which is a popular one.
A lot of the web designers that I know use Divi with WordPress CMS because it’s easy to learn, but also it gives you a lot of options, and it’s very responsive, it’s just like a well-designed theme and Page Builder.
Gutenberg
But a lot of energy goes into Gutenberg which is the built-in editor in WordPress CMS, which I’ve never been very impressed with.
I don’t like it, I still use the WordPress CMS classic editor which as you know if you use WordPress, the classic editor was the old interface for writing blog posts.
Here’s the thing about WordPress, is that it started out as being, as I remember, the best blogging content management system, so you would get hosting, and in a few minutes, you would install the WordPress files, set up your SQL database, and you were rocking and rolling.
Newsletters
And you had plugins and so you’re already set up to get comments from people and things like that, and most people would hook that up with a let’s say, an email newsletter thing like MailChimp, or Constant Contact, or mail poet.
I think the one that works within WordPress CMS, as like a WordPress only sort of thing, so go back a few years, if somebody said all right, I want to start a website, it would depend on their goals.
But if it’s somebody who is a blogger, or let’s say someone who’s like a journalist, or a public intellectual, and they want to have an audience, I would say get hosting.
Then install WordPress CMS, set up an email newsletter so that people go to you, they click sign up, and then you reach them through email because then one day when you publish your book, you can reach out to your fans and tell them to go give your book an Amazon review or something.
You want to build that email list, but now there’s substack, and substack has that all integrated, and you don’t need hosting, it’s free to start and that’s where a lot of people are going now.
It’s geared around that newsletter and of course, it’s proprietary, it’s not open source, but we know that doesn’t matter to a lot of people.
Also, you can just export that email list to plain text if you ever need to, so you’re not necessarily locked into substack.
That’s where I think the difference between choosing something open source versus proprietary is, again, you don’t want to get locked in, you don’t want to have them lock up your subscribers or your followers or whatever it is.
But also the other side of that, if you’re not really interested in having email followers, you just want to have a big voice and kind of mouthpiece, and you want to just have sort of a way of speaking to a lot of people at once.
A lot of people just go on X or Twitter as it was formerly known, so where does WordPress fit into any of this, it doesn’t, so let’s see what they’ve got going on.
WordPress 6.5
All right, so in the new version of WordPress CMS, we’re excited to see typography management with the 6.5 release WordPress will introduce built-in typography management tools again so typography and these sorts of things are design tools.
So if you were a small business, let’s say, and you needed a website for your business, most likely you’re just going to hire a designer to build these things, and you’re not going to be doing it yourself.
You don’t need to manage your typography, this is a bit extraneous, so unless you already enjoy building websites, it’s something you enjoy doing as a Pastime, you’re probably going to have someone else build your website.
Real-time collaboration, this is interesting, so in phase three of their Gutenberg project, they want to equip WordPress CMS with real-time collaboration capabilities.
Site contributors will finally be able to simultaneously work on the same document, whether planning a new site architecture, developing a post, or managing menus.
I could see that for developing a post because that’s what I did for many years at my old job was writing WordPress posts all day, so working together on something can be helpful.
But again, it’s not hugely important, this is the thing that I was most interested in, this is actually improving the WordPress CMS writing system, the actual content side of the content management.
Taking a step back from design, which is important if you’re a designer to somebody who’s going to be the everyday user of WordPress.
So let’s say somebody has built a site for you, and you’re going to be writing posts, the actual thing that you as a WordPress CMS user are going to be using every day would be the post editor because you’re going to be writing the content.
So it’s an important aspect of WordPress that should get some attention, but it looks like they are having these publishing workflows.
Once implemented, users will have the tools to construct advanced publishing logic around their content production and distribution pipelines.
Post Management
So for example, site managers could require that all posts include imagery, customize excerpts or categories, and review or sign-offs before going live.
So that’s actually really good, that is something that would be very helpful cuz there are actually plugins that do that.
That’s a valuable function to have because you want somebody, particularly in an organization where you’re writing a lot of content, you want to have certain rules.
Also, certain workflows around what you need to have in each post, and you want someone to look at it on its way out.
Before you would have had to get a plugin to do that, but building something like that just a good everyday sort of thing is a good Improvement to have.
The other conflict here that’s interesting with WordPress is that you have the WordPress content management system itself, and you have the plug-in architecture.
Hackable?
WordPress is very hackable, it has a lot of sorts of hooks and things built into it for people to design plugins for, to extend the basic functionality.
The problem is, sometimes there can be conflicts because there are now big plugins like Divi, like Yoast, the SEO plugin where you have these whole companies that are built around this plugin.
It’s the best plugin for achieving that goal, but a lot of those features could be introduced into the core of WordPress if it’s something that every WordPress user could benefit from.
WordPress CMS Enhancements
I’ve always wondered how you do that so if WordPress decides in our new version you know, we’re going to build in more SEO functionality, where you can edit your meta titles and descriptions and turn sites on and off from search engine crawling, and all those sorts of things, so then where does that leave Yoast?
Yoast would be competing then with the actual development of WordPress, which could be a kind of conflict, so that’s another interesting thing to consider with these open-source projects.
Moving on down the list here, search and command prompt, this is also pretty interesting, this will allow users to quickly pull up file settings and content or execute custom actions through a simple text-based interface within the WordPress CMS.
That would be good because the WordPress search features are notoriously not great, so being able to search through your content more easily would definitely be welcome.
A few of those features I think are actually pretty good, particularly the publishing workflows because that’s actually improving the content writing aspect of WordPress which I think is a key thing, at least to me.
Designing
More so than the site design feature because it’s getting into a grey area where the kind of things that they’re updating would be more for designers than the everyday users, and a lot of these features are already better done in other theme architectures like Genesis.
It’s getting into a sort of grey area but improving the content management features is OK. I like that, and I’m going to be excited to see how this rolls out.
I believe this is part of their 2024 roadmap, so we’ll wait and see, maybe WordPress CMS is not dying just yet, it’s not a dead open-source project just yet.
But we’ll see, with so many other options out there you know, WordPress is going to have to compete.
Find out more about us here; @ChristopherMaiorana
Advantages of WordPress
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) in the world, and its widespread adoption is due to several key advantages:
- User-Friendly Interface
WordPress is known for its intuitive, user-friendly interface. Even users with limited technical knowledge can create, edit, and manage content easily.
The platform’s simplicity allows businesses to maintain their websites without needing extensive coding skills.
- Customizability
With thousands of themes and plugins available, WordPress offers unparalleled customizability. Themes allow users to design visually appealing websites, while plugins add functionality, such as SEO tools, contact forms, and e-commerce capabilities.
This flexibility makes WordPress suitable for a wide range of websites, from blogs to online shops.
- SEO-Friendly
WordPress is built with SEO best practices in mind. It allows for easy optimization of content, meta tags, and URLs.
Plugins like Yoast SEO further enhance the platform’s SEO capabilities, helping websites achieve better search engine rankings.
- Community Support
As an open-source platform, WordPress has a large and active community of developers and users. This community contributes to a wealth of resources, including tutorials, forums, and plugins, ensuring users can find support and solutions for any issues they encounter.
- Scalability
WordPress can scale with your business. Whether you’re running a small personal blog or a large corporate website, WordPress can handle the growth.
Its robust architecture supports high traffic volumes and complex site structures.
So, WordPress’s user-friendliness, customizability, SEO capabilities, strong community support, and scalability make it an ideal choice for businesses and individuals looking to create a versatile and powerful online presence.
Further Reading: The Benefits of WordPress for Website Design
WordPress has emerged as one of the most popular platforms for website design, powering over 40% of all websites on the internet.
Its extensive features, user-friendly interface, and robust community support make it an ideal choice for both novice and experienced web designers.
Here are some of the key benefits of using WordPress for website design:
- Ease of Use and User-Friendly Interface
One of the most significant advantages of WordPress is its intuitive and user-friendly interface. Even those with limited technical skills can quickly learn how to use the platform.
The WordPress dashboard is straightforward, making it easy to add pages, blog posts, images, and other content.
This ease of use reduces the time and effort required to manage and update a website, allowing users to focus more on content and strategy.
- Customizability and Flexibility
WordPress offers unparalleled customizability and flexibility, allowing designers to create websites tailored to specific needs and preferences.
With thousands of themes and plugins available, users can choose and customize designs that match their brand identity.
Themes provide a variety of layouts and design options, while plugins add functionality such as contact forms, galleries, e-commerce features, and SEO tools.
This flexibility ensures that WordPress can be used for a wide range of websites, from simple blogs to complex e-commerce sites.
- SEO-Friendly Features
WordPress is built with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. Its clean and structured code helps search engines crawl and index websites more effectively.
Additionally, WordPress offers numerous plugins, such as Yoast SEO and All in One SEO Pack, which help users optimize their content, meta tags, and URLs.
These tools provide insights and recommendations to improve a website’s search engine ranking, making it easier for potential customers to find the site.
- Responsive Design
In today’s mobile-centric world, having a responsive website is crucial. WordPress themes are designed to be responsive, meaning they automatically adjust to fit different screen sizes and devices.
This ensures that websites look great and function well on desktops, tablets, and smartphones. A responsive design improves user experience and can also positively impact search engine rankings.
- Strong Community Support
As an open-source platform, WordPress has a vast and active community of developers, designers, and users.
This community contributes to a wealth of resources, including tutorials, forums, and documentation.
Whether you need help with a technical issue or want advice on best practices, the WordPress community is a valuable resource.
Additionally, regular updates and security patches are released by the community, ensuring that the platform remains secure and up-to-date.
- Scalability
WordPress is highly scalable, making it suitable for websites of all sizes. Whether you’re running a small personal blog or a large corporate website, WordPress can handle your needs.
The platform’s architecture supports high-traffic volumes and complex site structures.
As your website grows, you can easily add new features and functionalities through plugins and custom development.
- Cost-Effective Solution
WordPress is a cost-effective solution for website design. The platform itself is free to use, and there are many free themes and plugins available.
Even premium themes and plugins are often reasonably priced, making it possible to create a professional-looking website without a significant financial investment.
Additionally, the ease of use reduces the need for expensive web development services.
- Content Management System (CMS) Capabilities
WordPress started as a blogging platform, and its content management capabilities remain one of its strongest features. Users can easily create, edit, and organize content, including blog posts, pages, images, and videos.
The CMS capabilities of WordPress make it easy to keep the website updated with fresh content, which is crucial for engaging visitors and improving SEO.
The fact is, that WordPress offers numerous benefits for website design, making it a preferred choice for individuals and businesses alike.
Its ease of use, customizability, SEO-friendly features, responsive design, strong community support, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and robust CMS capabilities make it a versatile and powerful platform.
Whether you’re a beginner looking to create your first website or an experienced developer working on a complex project, WordPress provides the tools and flexibility needed to bring your vision to life.
What is Headless WordPress CMS?
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