Abstract

WordPress is an incredibly powerful and popular Content Management System used to help people manage their own websites and blogs around the world. In order to continue to be the best CMS out there, they have expressed a need for product research of incredible depth.  In order to know if they are meeting market and user needs, the first step would be a comparative analysis to evaluate WordPress with its peers.  This comparative analysis would lead to a better understanding of missing features or functionalities which WordPress could and should provide its users. Finally,  prototypes of these missing functions will be coded which can then be integrated in to WordPress during the next development cycle. 

Project Plan 

Goal 1

Compare 3 of the top CMS applications. For the sake of planning, I will assume your competitors are frameworks such as Movable Type and Drupal, and not Blogger or Live Journal. For this I recommend a comparative market and suitability analysis. A comparative analysis is more than researching 3 competitors, but also analyzing and evaluating how WordPress holds up to each one. An analysis of the market will evaluate what need is being filled by which demographic; important factors when trying to “sell” WordPress to the world. An analysis of suitability takes a look at how well those needs are being filled by evaluating purpose, functionality, and expectations. In order to be definitive, mini-evaluations of each competitor and WordPress would be conducted. I expect the duration of this project to take 4 to 6 weeks, which includes a written report outlining each of your competitors (the mini-evaluations) and the complete comparative analysis report.

Goal 2

Evaluate 3 important CMS features that are missing in WordPress. This goal goes hand in hand with the comparative analysis. By understanding WordPress' competitors and how WordPress measures up to them, it will provide insight as to what users want and what WordPress may or may not already provide. It goes further than what WordPress may not have, but also analyzing and understanding if these missing features are something that matches the overall goals of the WordPress community. It is possible that missing features would not surface in the comparative analysis, and so an investigation in to the community would also be conducted. This involves researching current bugs and wishes, understanding WordPress users and their needs, and evaluating emerging Web 2.0 technologies. This is expected to last 3 to 4 weeks with a final written report of findings and recommendations.

Goal 3

Prototype one or more of those features in WordPress. This is a very exciting stage, because it is essentially creating a feature or function that probably does not exist in any other product (I say this because I know WordPress is already a very powerful tool). Because the nature of the missing features is unknown, this is perhaps the most risky and unpredictable exercise in the plan. Development of one or more of these “missing functions” could take a few days to a few weeks, and so I would like to allow 3 to 4 weeks of development for the end of the project to ensure success. This would result in prototypes of the proposed features which can be integrated in to WordPress during the next development cycle.