Why the heck isnt word press a cms
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Why the @#!% isn’t WordPress a CMS?
John Eckman ISITE Design -‐ h4p://www.isitedesign.com/ CMS Myth -‐ h4p://www.cmsmyth.com/ Blog -‐ h4p://www.openparenthesis.org/ Github: h4p://github.com/jeckman Twi4er -‐ @jeckman
First, A Little Background
h"p://www.cmsmyth.com/2010/03/is-‐wordpress-‐a-‐cms/
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
Say What?
h"p://www.cmsmyth.com/2012/05/revisiFng-‐wordpress-‐as-‐a-‐cms-‐again/
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
What’s a CMS? “A system that lets you apply management principles to web content.” (real story group) A content management system (CMS) is a system providing a collecFon of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaboraFve environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-‐based. The procedures are designed to do the following: • Allow for a large number of people to contribute to and
share stored data • Control access to data, based on user roles (defining
which informaFon users or user groups can view, edit, publish, etc.)
• Aid in easy storage and retrieval of data • Reduce repeFFve duplicate input • Improve the ease of report wriFng • Improve communicaFon between users (wikipedia on CMS)
h"p://w
ww.flickr.com
/photos/quinnanya/5403098626/
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
What would lead one to say WordPress is NOT a CMS?
h"p://www.flickr.com
/pho
tos/narisa/97218748/
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
WordPress is like the leading candidate in a primary race: everyone’s a critic
h"p://know
yourmem
e.com/m
emes/haters-‐gonna-‐hate/photos
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
Why would people say WordPress is just a blog platform?
Because we keep telling them it is.
h"p://w
ww.flickr.com
/photos/thomashaw
k/4595386436/
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
What if WordPress.com and WordPress.org had different
names?
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/pho
tos/qu
innanya/1935788259/in
/pho
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/
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
Sometimes people use tools in unexpected ways: edge cases
Edge cases can reveal limits in a platform. Is CMS an edge case for
WordPress?
h"p://bikeportland.org/2012/06/28/w
ith-‐six-‐kids-‐and-‐no-‐car-‐this-‐m
om-‐does-‐it-‐all-‐by-‐bike-‐73731
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
What doesn’t WordPress do well?
• MulFlingual • Publish to Remote Servers
• Extended, Fine-‐Grained User Permissions
• Content TargeFng / Dynamic PersonalizaFon
• In-‐Context EdiFng
• Custom ApplicaFons with High User InteracFon
• Complex Workflow • Versioning across complex asset types
• EdiFons / Content Bundles
• Digital Asset Management at Scale
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
Do open source projects reflect the attitudes of their founders and
leaders?
h"p://schipulcon.com
/photos/514/in/9/
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
Dries vs. Matt
• PhD in Computer Science and Engineering
• Founded Drupal project 2000
• Founded Acquia 2008, as CTO
• Coding, Technology, Photography
• Studied PoliFcal Science at University of Houston (leg to join CNET)
• Started WordPress in 2003, founded Automaic and WordPress.com 2005
• Jazz, Photography, Simplicity
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
Acquia vs Automattic
• VC Funded (aggressive growth plan)
• Corporate Headquarters in Burlington MA with some distributed employees
• Focus: “Your enterprise guide to Drupal”
• VC funded, though slower growth plan (?)
• All virtual / Distributed • Small office in SF (now closed?)
• Focus: “we are passionate about making the web a be"er place”
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/pho
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e/1276986086/in
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@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
What does this suggest about Drupal and WordPress as platforms?
• Engineering culture • Steep learning curve, but very powerful once learned
• Design / Content culture
• Simple learning curve but arguably less powerful / flexible
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ww.flickr.com
/photos/andrewl04/3163980834/
h"p://www.commonplaces.com/inspiring-‐conversaFon/team-‐posts/drupal-‐7-‐vs-‐wordpress-‐3-‐ba"le-‐new-‐features-‐0
What, if anything, should we do about the state of WordPress as
a CMS?
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbosc
Do we want more power, and therefore accept more
complexity?
h"p://www.cmsm
yth.com/2012/02/build-‐one
-‐to-‐throw-‐away/
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
“What the detractors and critics of electric vehicles have been saying for years, is true. The electric vehicle is not for everybody; given the limited range it can only meet the needs of 90% of the population.“
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ww.film
aluaFon.com/w
ho-‐killed-‐the-‐electric-‐car.html
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos
Should there be a fork of WordPress focused on CMS use cases?
A Distribution? Package? Application? Downstream?
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/pho
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n/5396179251/
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbosc
How can we preserve WordPress’ existing advantages?
• Focus on usability and user experience design for the content author / site admin
• Ease of installaFon and Fme to “live site” experience
• Broad availability of themes and plugins • Community (including WordCamps!) • WordPress.com as a massive scale ongoing tesFng plaoorm for new concepts
h"p://www.flickr.com
/pho
tos/r_a_z_e/498818720/
@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbosc
This is a great time for exactly what WordPress is best at
• Shig in buying power from IT to business owner
• Renewed interest in and focus on content strategy
• Focused small iniFaFves rather than large enterprise roll outs
• Focus on design, usability, and content impact
h"p://www.flickr.com
/pho
tos/kevharb/3692177916/
Closing Thoughts
• WordPress certainly can be used as a CMS: the quesFon is ulFmately whether this is an edge case or the core direcFon of the project.
• In trying to grow WordPress as a CMS: – We won’t win by trash talking other plaoorms – Power is shiging from IT buyer to markeFng/business buyer
– Don’t fall for the technology selecFon myth – Don’t compete on feature checklists – The “S” in CMS should be strategy
h"p://blog.schipul.com
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@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbosc