1y ago

Wordpress: Everything about it

Got suckered into helping a non-profit with their web presence, and of course, it was a Wordpress site (at least it wasn't a Facebook page).

Everything about WP is mildly infuriating at best, just regular infuriating at worst. Everything. If you know, you know. It's like they tried so hard to make it "easy" to use that it went full circle into a fuster-cluck of unintuitive and clunky everything.

With every facet of the experience being an upsell, is there a tier where it's just not horrible to use?

Specific examples:

WYSIWYG editor doesn't match the preview
Chasing the scroll point in the outline when moving elements
Can't edit block properties after they're added
Everything is a damn upsell
- Want to remove the Wordpress footer? Upgrade to a paid plan (does not specify tier)
- Okay, I've updated to a paid plan that meets our needs. Please remove the footer please.
- "Oh, you have to have a plan two tiers up to do that"
General clunkyness
Only supports Apple map embeds which cannot find any of the addresses I need to enter
- Cannot embed a Google map properly (doesn't support percentage widths for the iframe element so I can't make it responsive)
Changing the column widths on a layout grid block never releases the slider, so you have to mash keys until something else selects that locks it roughly where you want it.

45 comments

https://wordpress.com/support/com-vs-org/
Seems like you're referring to Wordpress.com, which is their hosted, an all-in-one solution.
If you self-host WordPress, like the wordpress.org version, you will have a much better time - but you need to be able to maintain and look after everything yourself. I've never had any upset, but some plugins WILL be freemium and will bug you to get the paid version or subscription.
- Yeah, they already had everything partially setup on Wordpress.com so I was more or less required to take over that. If I was brought into it from the get-go, rather than cleaning up that mess, I'd have spun up a VPS and built a proper static site for them (they're not using it as a blog or any of the interactive features).
  
  You could still do that. If it's not a huge site, that effort might be less than digging out of where you are now?
I feel you. This is one of the main reasons I quit doing freelance web design, hate WP with a passion and everyone was using it.
- Yep. It's for a good cause (the NP does good work) but I am so regretting my decision to help. If they didn't already have the site partially setup and the domain registered with WP, I'd have just offered to throw it on one of my own servers and written something with Tailwind (it's a static site, so they're not using any of the blog or interactive stuff).
  
  It's kind of the perfect storm - supposedly simple enough for the average person to use (they can't), and restrictive enough for the dev that it's like being forced to type with oven mitts on. At least in my experience.
I think the takeaway is wordpress.com is NOT at all the same as wordpress.
- Some of the complaints are for the platform itself, more are for the .com product, and the rest for the org setting up shop there without much thought.
I don't know where to start. I get that you're mad, but you're also just... You clearly dont know what you're doing. And that's okay. But that's like sucking at a videogame and blaming the controller.
WordPress is excellent. It's only downside is that they present large attack surface areas, but that's only because they e made it so easy to hobble together all kinds of plugins to get your site to do anything.
From the sounds of your post, you dont like the theme you're using. Maybe try a different theme. Or maybe you should switch to the classic editor? Idk.
You only have to pay for things you opt not to do yourself. That's it. WordPress is free and open source.
To be blunt: it's a skill issue.
What you moaning about? It works like a charm.
- OP can't edit their blocks after adding them. Sounds like a massive skill issue.
- It is literally the worst CMS I've ever used in my life, and that includes Sharepoint.
  
  I love SharePoint :)
  Keep it simple and it's a wonderful platform. Too many people overcomplicate things and cause themselves their own headaches.
I fucking hate wordpress. I get assigned a simple task to implement something on some page and find out that the code I need to edit isn't in a Git repo, but instead it's in a basic textbox buried somewhere in a page template. The code is stored in a database instead of version control because the people who built the site don't know any better.
- A good theme does not store any code in the db imho
  
  Right. But if the theme is selected by someone who doesn't work with code, and who builds the rest of the website with drag'n'drop widgets and unmaintained plugins, you're in for a bad time.
- Among other reasons, yes, absolutely. lol
What do you recommend?
- For static sites, just HTML, JS, CSS. I typically use Tailwind and setup a template and host with Nginix on a VPS. For this endeavor, that's all they need.
  For blogging, I use Ghost.
- Grav
Wordpress.com sites are trash.
Wordpress as a CMS otherwise is fine.
Yes, you need to use Oxygen Builder, Divi, or Elementor to WYSIWYG effectively.
Yes you need to have daily backups and a security tool like Wordfence or WPMUDev's Defender.
But it works, its easy to build and migrate, it integrates with everything you want it to, and the content creation and management is super simple for an end user to manage. You can also get support for it from everywhere and anywhere at this point.
Reality: Everything sucks and you have to adapt and adjust to bullshit on any and every CMS you work with.
Improvise, adapt and overcome, OP. WordPress, like any other tool, is only as bad as the person using it. Look at it as an opportunity to learn a new skill.
- He didn’t say he couldn’t use it, he said it was mildly to normally infuriating. Your comment comes across as patronizing and also misses the point.
  I mean honestly why should anyone ask for improvements to anything, when you could just “get good” instead?
  
  Now you're getting it - stop complaining and just be better.
- Or, use that time to learn an actual skill...
  
  Like how to make witty comments on Lemmy.

45 comments