Should I use Web designer or Wordpress for my site?

[Barbara B]

Hi islamonore and welcome (sort of) to TalkGraphics,

The above iare your second posts on our XD-leaning social network.

Although it is obvious, I am sorry to say that you've contributed nothing, while you appear to be selling yourself and your services/product.

If we do not see something of value that you can share with our community, I'll ask you to leave, or let out Mods do it for you.

If I'm not clear, please post a reply.

Even if I am, clear, please post a reply.


If you do not within 3 working days, guess what?

Best,

Barbara B., Administrator

[Beazy]

In my day job I used a far more enterprise CMS (Kentico) but my side gig is WP all the way. Actually my client had fired their previous dev shop because nothing was getting done - they were using dang Weebly, which was effectively impossible to customize and every single component was nickel-and-dimed.
But the client wanted the ability to update templates and pages without code. Their current site was already WP and their previous dev sold them on Weebly for…reasons.
So I got in there and cleaned it up. Not saying it’s perfect, but Elementor met many of their needs. Sure I’ve needed to do some more advanced config, but I’ve actually enjoyed it.
That said, I’m exceedingly mediocre at PHP so that’s a factor I’m sure. Too many years in a .NET platform.
There’s a reason WP has such a large market share. Certainly it has its vulnerabilities, but if you want a site fast? It’s effective. And the marketplace for free and paid customization just can’t be beat.
WordPress vs custom CMS solutions each have their own advantages and considerations. One advantage that I think WordPress may still have over custom CMS, for small businesses, is all the SEO features and plugins it offers out of the box. With custom CMS more of the SEO heavy lifting falls on the developer.

[Acorn]

In my day job I used a far more enterprise CMS (Kentico) but my side gig is WP all the way. Actually my client had fired their previous dev shop because nothing was getting done - they were using dang Weebly, which was effectively impossible to customize and every single component was nickel-and-dimed.
But the client wanted the ability to update templates and pages without code. Their current site was already WP and their previous dev sold them on Weebly for…reasons.
So I got in there and cleaned it up. Not saying it’s perfect, but Elementor met many of their needs. Sure I’ve needed to do some more advanced config, but I’ve actually enjoyed it.
That said, I’m exceedingly mediocre at PHP so that’s a factor I’m sure. Too many years in a .NET platform.
There’s a reason WP has such a large market share. Certainly it has its vulnerabilities, but if you want a site fast? It’s effective. And the marketplace for free and paid customization just can’t be beat.
WordPress vs custom CMS solutions each have their own advantages and considerations. One advantage that I think WordPress may still have over custom CMS, for small businesses, is all the SEO features and plugins it offers out of the box. With custom CMS more of the SEO heavy lifting falls on the developer.

Beazy, the OP was not asking for a rundown of the merits of WP or any other CMS, it was what would be the best fit for his dataset. As you have declared no Xara software either, what is your contribution doing for him?

If I could lock down all the unwanted features that come with WP, I probably would use WP as a development platform in preference to hand-building with WD. I am sure the OP has not been sitting around for 18 months.

Acorn

[bwood]

Since the original post and discussion is a bit dated, one has to realize that Xara has moved forward with the block solution for those touting Wordpress. Flexible blocks now offer a much more elegant solution than Wordpress.
This discussion could continue for a long time with advantages and disadvantages.

The deal breaker for me is the cost of many add ons. You add it up with everything that today’s mobile crowd wants and it becomes very, very pricey.
My clients may want something that Xara can’t supply and I simply tell them. I’ve received no push back. With Wordpress you have to tell your client that that will be an extra $10 a month and it does not compute.