How useful is wordpress?

[jim]

Hi

I'm currently working as a webdesigner, and I'm in a position where I
have a number of freelance projects. I can't see a reason why
wordpress can't be used to develop small - medium sized websites, but
I have spoken to a few PHP developers who say basically it's blog
software and I'd be better off learning a php framework.

I'm interested if anyone else is using wordpress in this way and if
web agencies generally consider this approach a bit low tech? For the
size of client (and budget) I'd be dealing with initially it doesn't
seem sensible to write my own php code for things I can easily get
plug-ins etc for.

Does anyone have any examples of web agencies who use wordpress like
this or is WP still generally a blogging tool for enthusiasts rather
than professionals?

thanks in advance

[Tony Scott]

Hi Jim

Some good examples of using WordPress as a CMS are on Simon Dickson's
site

http://puffbox.com/

The flexibility of WP, along with the wide range of plugins available,
means it can be used as a general purpose CMS.

Cheers

Tony


----
Tony Scott
http://tonyscott.org.uk
http://twitter.com/tonys
http://uk.wordcamp.org
http://extropy.co.uk

[Mike Little]

2009/3/13 jim <glod...@googlemail.com>:

>
> Hi
>
> I'm currently working as a webdesigner, and I'm in a position where I
> have a number of freelance projects. I can't see a reason why
> wordpress can't be used to develop small - medium sized websites, but
> I have spoken to a few PHP developers who say basically it's blog
> software and I'd be better off learning a php framework.
>
> I'm interested if anyone else is using wordpress in this way and if
> web agencies generally consider this approach a bit low tech? For the
> size of client (and budget) I'd be dealing with initially it doesn't
> seem sensible to write my own php code for things I can easily get
> plug-ins etc for.
>

Jim,
I am betting my house on WordPress as a framework suitable for small
to medium sized websites. Which is to say I just gave up a very
lucrative senior position (I was a well paid techncial architect) to
go solo as a web developer specialising in WordPress.

So far it is working out very well. OK I might seem to have a bit of
an advantage ;-)

WordPress is a lightweight CMS - it has long been beyond 'just' a blog.

Take the time to learn the template system, the way the plugins work,
filters and actions, and you will have capable tool with which to ply
your trade.

> Does anyone have any examples of web agencies who use wordpress like
> this or is WP still generally a blogging tool for enthusiasts rather
> than professionals?
>

There are a large number of professionals betting their careers partly
or wholly on WordPress
http://automattic.com/services/wordpress-consultants/ Plenty more in
the UK than listed there.

As for WordPress being more than just a blog, take a look at some of
these: http://wordpress.org/showcase/

And if you need endorsement or credibility: http://www.number10.gov.uk

Mike
--
Mike Little
http://zed1.com/

[Neil Hickson]

Hello

I am probably the wrong person to ask about this but would like to say
my piece.

I was told that I should learn PHP a while ago by a friend who builds
PHP sites from scratch. I haven't the time to learn all this, further
than at a basic level, but was fortunate to have stumbled upon
WordPress. It does everything that I need and we are setting up new
clients sites with it. It is nice to know some PHP so you can tweek
where necessary but so much can be achieved with the basic setup, a
theme and some CSS knowledge. I have spent about 18 months gaining a
basic knowledge of these things. My main task is to help my clients
produce the digital content for their site as an ongoing project.

I feel that WordPress is doing for web design what the digital camera
did for photography; opening the world out to others. I speak as a
photographer who had a full colour darkroom and developed all my own
transparency film at one time. Now everyone is a photographer. With
WordPress lots of people can do things that only web developers and
programmers could do a few years ago and that is why I like it so
much.

The friend that I mentioned to you at the beginning; he has started to
use WordPress for some of his clients sites now.

Regards

Neil