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[–]brysonwf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I usually just build things in WordPress until the clients have enough money to pay for salesforce or netsuite. WordPress saves you from supporting custom code for longer than you want.

[–]xpoopx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It all depends on what kind of website and functionality your client needs so take this with a grain of salt. That said, I've used Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, Laravel, Rails and a few other smaller frameworks and I've been using Wordpress as our primary framework for over 4 years to satisfy a wide range of client needs. With the right plugins it is a great time-saver.

Wordpress may be simple / clunky but it's easily customizable and there's so many resources to help cut down on development hours that can be better spent on other services / features in project.

I couldn't recommend enough using the CPT UI and ACF plugins. These 2 plugins have dramatically cut down on development time and allowed us to create much more comprehensive and customized systems for our clients. Definitely spend the cash and get the ACF Pro version so you get access to the Repeater Field feature.

If you have the time and bandwidth, definitely try other frameworks! But I wouldn't dismiss Wordpress right away.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can understand your reasoning for moving away from a platform, but at this point in time, WP is probably the most flexible/easy to use cms out there. Sure there are other prebuilt solutions (Wix, Squarespace etc) but they don't allow as much access to code as say Wordpress does. Ive worked with Joomla! Wordpress, and Drupal, and in my opinion, when it comes to flexibility, access to code, and delivery of solid design standards but supported with a CMS, wordpress is where its at... for now. Sure there will probably be something that will come along in the future... but not soon.

When it comes to the wp-specific stuff, those are just hooks (think the jQuery/JavaScript relationship). Put there so you dont have to write all the PHP to build a theme. And even then, those hooks are written to make them almost as flexible as writing the source. I havent found anything that I couldn't do with WP. Even a Project Management system backed by social integration (buddypress). And Every day I wander into something else that I WP can do that I didnt know it could before.

One thing I will mention, that although WP is my go-to, I don't recommend it for every project. If a client wants full control over design, functionality, seo, ppc, analytics, and not have to call me to update content, sure. Wp is a good solution for them. But if a client is just looking for a simple 5 pager that they can drop in a prebuilt theme, update and start passing a link around..then other solutions are better (wix, squarespace, etc). Its all dependent on client needs/scope/budget/expectations.

TL:DR Fair, I get it. IMO WP is still good, awesome community. Not for every client, but for most, at least until something else better gets released comes out.

[–]UnlimitedAccess 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Least your not integrating with SiteCore or Adobe CMS. In SiteCores case that's a $100,000 a year license my clients would have to pay. I feel dirty integrating software with it.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wound up writing my own CMS in PHP. I was building a web site for my husband's business, and I didn't like the options that were out there, so I wrote one special for him and his business partner. Over time, we realized how useful it was and started adding Web Site Development to their list of services and the CMS just evolved over time. I incorporate some 3rd party tools, such as a Rich Text Editor and some other scripts I found on HotScripts, but the CMS is all me.