Why WordPress?

Microsoft just announced that it is abandoning its website / blogging platform and moving 30 million users to WordPress. This effectively doubles WordPress’s user base to 60 MILLION USERS!! With that kind of endorsement and success, I now pronounce all other website options for churches DEAD ON ARRIVAL. With the juggernaut, that is Microsoft, throwing in the towel and giving the nod to WordPress, the battle for your website content is now over. Read on for 5 reasons WordPress is better (and cheaper) than what you are now using.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a web designer that has exclusively used WordPress for over 3 years. My entire business is founded on the ease of use and power of the WordPress content management system. 99% of my 100+ websites all use WordPress and that includes ALL of my church and non-profit clients. I speak from experience.

1. It is #1

In 2009, WordPress won the Open Source CMS Award. As stated in the linked article, it marks a shift in the public perception of WordPress, from blog software to full-featured CMS.

2. It is Free

You can download it and load it up on your own server FOR FREE.  Many hire a Pro to set it up and maintain it on a curated server. You could also sign up on WordPress.com for a limited, free account with ads.  But price isn’t the only advantage – there is a HUGE Open Source Community offering thousands of free plugins and themes.  You can do ANYTHING with WordPress and the price is still $0.  (EDITOR: For perspective, my basic monthly hosting/support fee is  $25/mo. for those that don’t want to maintain the server themselves.) This is complimented by the fact that all the other software required to run the server is also (free) open source software: Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, affectionately called “L.A.M.P.” by the geeks out there.

3. Ease of Use (this is a BIG one)

The question of WHICH website CMS platform is the EASIEST to use is has been debated heavily in the past, but the latest version of WordPress 3.01 has squashed the competition.  This is, admittedly, a preference – a judgement call.  The fact that I see clients and developers moving to WordPress is not conclusive.  However, there are fundamental differences that make it easier that Drupal and Joomla, the other 2 competing products…

  • Simplicity in the UI - WordPress hides what you don’t need in the User Interface.  5 user roles zero in on ONLY what you need to know.  It also lets you customize every page of the interface to get even more clutter out of the way.
  • Simplicity in the Language -WordPress subscribes to all web standards and strives to use well understood terms…  shying away from confusing terms like “nodes” or “mambots“. You don’t have to understand much of anything to use WordPress.
  • Simplicity in the User Experience - You can install WordPress in 5 minutes.  You can change your theme in seconds.  You can upgrade your theme and plugins in seconds.  And, the site administrator can edit the (CSS) style sheet right on the site without needing any other software – just a browser.

4. Google Compatibility

WordPress prides itself in serving up websites that work in all browsers.  Of course, browser compatibility is heavily dependent on the theme in use, but they provide a best-in-class theme in the base install to get you started!

WordPress has also worked closely with Google to ensure that the core programming code, that runs the software, is optimized to work well with Google Search.  It is essential that Google, and other search engines, can read the code to make sense of the content that populates your website. Third party plugins can further improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

The flip side of the Google equation is keeping you and your site SPAM-FREE!  The company that gave us WordPress also provides individual users with a spam protection plugin called Akismet.  Your bases are covered.

5. Support

WordPress is stable and secure – thanks to an installed user base in the millions, and thousands of contributing developers all over the world.  The software is not buggy, quirky, or insecure (like some other church website solutions).  It does not use flash (flash is dead, proprietary, doesn’t work on iphones). Best of all, its entire codebase is Open Source and freely available for the public to scrutinize.  The end result is a tremendous amount of documentation on ALL aspects of WordPress.  If you can Google a question – you will find an answer.  Here are two great places to start: WordPress.com -the commercial endeavor and WordPress.org – the Open Source community supporting WordPress.