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Frontend devs, what are your thoughts on WordPress? Have you used it in your corporate jobs?

OpenSource on December 16, 2023

GitHub Repo: https://github.com/webcrumbs-community/webcrumbs As we advance in WebCrumbs, we keep asking ourselves if we're solving a real problem...
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best_codes profile image
Best Codes

Yes, I have used WordPress. I honestly prefer hand coding my sites over it, but for sites with many pages and quickly designing landing pages or blogs it is probably best.

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource

Thanks, @best_codes. Would you like to be able to add third-party "plugins" to your hand-coded websites? In other words, to see an ecossystem of themes and plugins but for JavaScript? (Assume this is 3 years from now and we have a massive community building JavaScript plugins and themes that can be installed with clicks, not code). Is it something you'd at least try?

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best_codes profile image
Best Codes

I would try it! Would these plugins be things like say chart.js, markdown renderer, etc. like third party JS libraries are now but easier to use? I'm not completely understanding what it is. I visited your site and read some, then submitted my email but never received any email yet, so… @opensourcee

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource

Plugins are "lego pieces" that can be added with one or few clicks and solve a real-world problem. For instance, a plugin can enable a drag-and-drop site builder, another can improve SEO, another can turn your website into a store, another can handle authentication... I'll share with you the last newsletter we sent shortly!

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best_codes profile image
Best Codes

Oh, that would be awesome! Of course, for simple pages, I would just hand code them, and I would recommend that there maybe be a minified (compressed code) and readable options because I like to be able to understand my code :D. But for more complicated pages, I would definitely use it (if it was free)!

Now, just to be clear: are these WordPress plugins? Because I completely know what those are and have used quite a few. How I normally build websites, though, is hand coding them and using a basic server with Node.js APIs (not the best layout, but gives me lots of control.).
If I remember correctly, WordPress plugins use PHP to interact with your database and some popular ones are Yoast SEO, Elementor, WooCommerce, etc.

@opensourcee

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource

Thanks! So, it’s like Wordpress, in the sense that there is an ecosystem of themes and plugins, but it’s all new and based on node.js! No PHP. Plugins can be written in the JavaScript framework of choice. It’s a modular architecture, allowing for global collaboration. Free and open source. That’s the vision!

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best_codes profile image
Best Codes

@opensourcee That's awesome! My email is best-codes@proton.me so you can send your stuff there and sign me up or whatever you like. Thanks!

based on node.js!

How exactly? Because I love Node! That sounds so cool!

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best_codes profile image
Best Codes • Edited

Ahh! WebCrumbs Community followed me on GitHub!! (Thanks! :D) @opensourcee

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource

Yep! Based on node.js. It's microfrontends on steroids!

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best_codes profile image
Best Codes

It sounds awesome @opensourcee, my email is best-codes@proton.me. I have signed up but got no emails yet (not even confirmation??). Can you send me the most recent email to get me started? Thanks!

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource • Edited

Sorry man! I’m a little offline today, but I promise to send you tomorrow! Yep, there’s no confirmation yet. Good point, actually. You should have received an invitation to GitHub and discord by email.

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best_codes profile image
Best Codes

Thanks! I got my first email now. I'll keep up to date with it, and good luck! I followed you, so I'll know when there are changes. Is there any other account I should follow as well?

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taliastorymaker profile image
Talia

WordPress is alright. I haven't used it as the main part of a full-time dev job (though I used it extensively in my first "semi-dev" job), but I've used it and worked with it a few times over the years. I've never delved too deep into making custom plugins or complex themes or stuff like that. I think it's fine for what it is, and I use it for a personal (non-development) blog I have.

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ben profile image
Ben Halpern

I have a lot of respect for Wordpress but I think its usefulness is degrading over time.

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource

I do as well, and agree.

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utdsgroup profile image
Vito

I was once a fan of Wordpress and made a lot of sites on it, but a sad experience taught me that if you want to do a job well, do it yourself. Four of my sites were destroyed by this system without the possibility of recovery... Since then I write all the code by hand and do not trust no CMS .. Essentially, this is a whole combine that loads the server to the point of impossibility, renders the entire site on the server side and ultimately produces ordinary HTML ... The question arises: why the hell is it needed?

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource • Edited

Good point. I do the same most times. I prefer much more having control over my code. Eventually I need to allow other no-coders to modify the website, in particular marketing teams. Have you had this issue?

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utdsgroup profile image
Vito

Unfortunately, I also have this problem, especially if the intervention of a SEO specialist is required, but I solved this problem with the help of Github. All my sites are uploaded to the repository and that’s where I edit them, and I can also give a SEO specialist access to any repository, and as soon as the SEO specialist finishes working, the site from Github is simply synchronized with the hosting and that’s it

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hernanir profile image
HernaniR

I have used wordpress in some projects. It's a CMS and it's totally valid for the context that CMSs are valid: landings pages, news, blogs... Where the main objective is content management by people who are not programmers. Then it's not that you don't have control over the code. As a programmer, you can touch it wherever you want, be it in the wordpress core, in the third party templates and plugins. You customize it as needed and those who will use the site only have to worry about the content.

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource • Edited

Thank you. Do you use it as a headless CMS?

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webverts profile image
webVerts

Yes, I pretty much love it. For a marketer perspective, it's easy to manage and publish.
I wasn't happy at first, when they decided to go with Gutenberg as the default editor(again this was in '18 or '19), but now it's getting better and better. And by now I am completely adjusted to the workflow.

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource

Thank you for your comment, @webverts! For marketers it is very important.

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zeynabjafari2002 profile image
Zeynab

I have not used it

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource

Great, Zeynab, thanks! Is there a specific reason (like not liking it) or it just didn't show up in your work discussions? How do you handle changes in the website requested by non-coders? Thanks SO much!

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zeynabjafari2002 profile image
Zeynab

I dont wanna try different technologies which are not related to my way(I am learning JS and React)

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource

Very clear. Thank you

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f1lt3r profile image
F1LT3R

Indifferent.

We use it as a headless CMS.

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opensourcee profile image
OpenSource

Thank you

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