why the heck isnt word press a cms

Why the @#!% isn’t WordPress a CMS?

John Eckman ISITE Design -‐ h4p://www.isitedesign.com/ CMS Myth -‐ h4p://www.cmsmyth.com/ Blog -‐ h4p://www.openparenthesis.org/ Github: h4p://github.com/jeckman Twi4er -‐ @jeckman

First, A Little Background

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@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbos

Say What?

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What’s a CMS? “A system that lets you apply management principles to web content.” (real story group) A content management system (CMS) is a system providing a collecFon of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaboraFve environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-‐based. The procedures are designed to do the following: •  Allow for a large number of people to contribute to and

share stored data •  Control access to data, based on user roles (defining

which informaFon users or user groups can view, edit, publish, etc.)

•  Aid in easy storage and retrieval of data •  Reduce repeFFve duplicate input •  Improve the ease of report wriFng •  Improve communicaFon between users (wikipedia on CMS)

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What would lead one to say WordPress is NOT a CMS?

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WordPress is like the leading candidate in a primary race: everyone’s a critic

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Why would people say WordPress is just a blog platform?

Because we keep telling them it is.

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What if WordPress.com and WordPress.org had different

names?


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Sometimes people use tools in unexpected ways: edge cases

Edge cases can reveal limits in a platform. Is CMS an edge case for

WordPress?

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What doesn’t WordPress do well?

•  MulFlingual •  Publish to Remote Servers

•  Extended, Fine-‐Grained User Permissions

•  Content TargeFng / Dynamic PersonalizaFon

•  In-‐Context EdiFng

•  Custom ApplicaFons with High User InteracFon

•  Complex Workflow •  Versioning across complex asset types

•  EdiFons / Content Bundles

•  Digital Asset Management at Scale


Do open source projects reflect the attitudes of their founders and

leaders?

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Dries vs. Matt

•  PhD in Computer Science and Engineering

•  Founded Drupal project 2000

•  Founded Acquia 2008, as CTO

•  Coding, Technology, Photography

•  Studied PoliFcal Science at University of Houston (leg to join CNET)

•  Started WordPress in 2003, founded Automaic and WordPress.com 2005

•  Jazz, Photography, Simplicity


Acquia vs Automattic

•  VC Funded (aggressive growth plan)

•  Corporate Headquarters in Burlington MA with some distributed employees

•  Focus: “Your enterprise guide to Drupal”

•  VC funded, though slower growth plan (?)

•  All virtual / Distributed •  Small office in SF (now closed?)

•  Focus: “we are passionate about making the web a be"er place”


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What does this suggest about Drupal and WordPress as platforms?

•  Engineering culture •  Steep learning curve, but very powerful once learned

•  Design / Content culture

•  Simple learning curve but arguably less powerful / flexible

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What, if anything, should we do about the state of WordPress as

a CMS?

@jeckman #WordPressCMS #wcbosc

Do we want more power, and therefore accept more

complexity?

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“What the detractors and critics of electric vehicles have been saying for years, is true. The electric vehicle is not for everybody; given the limited range it can only meet the needs of 90% of the population.“

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Should there be a fork of WordPress focused on CMS use cases?

A Distribution? Package? Application? Downstream?


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How can we preserve WordPress’ existing advantages?

•  Focus on usability and user experience design for the content author / site admin

•  Ease of installaFon and Fme to “live site” experience

•  Broad availability of themes and plugins •  Community (including WordCamps!) •  WordPress.com as a massive scale ongoing tesFng plaoorm for new concepts


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This is a great time for exactly what WordPress is best at

•  Shig in buying power from IT to business owner

•  Renewed interest in and focus on content strategy

•  Focused small iniFaFves rather than large enterprise roll outs

•  Focus on design, usability, and content impact


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Closing Thoughts

•  WordPress certainly can be used as a CMS: the quesFon is ulFmately whether this is an edge case or the core direcFon of the project.

•  In trying to grow WordPress as a CMS: – We won’t win by trash talking other plaoorms – Power is shiging from IT buyer to markeFng/business buyer

– Don’t fall for the technology selecFon myth – Don’t compete on feature checklists – The “S” in CMS should be strategy

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