Why the @#!% isn't WordPress a CMS?

The traditional CMS world still looks down at WordPress as “just a blogging platform.” After the merge of multiuser with core, custom post types, BuddyPress, and all the fabulous plugins that build on core, why are some folks still not able to see WordPress as a content management system? I’ll explore some of the reasons both technical and cultural.

Transcript

1. 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  
2. First, A Little Background h"p://www.cmsmyth.com/2010/03/is-­‐wordpress-­‐a-­‐cms/   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
3. @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
4. Say What? h"p://www.cmsmyth.com/2012/05/revisiFng-­‐wordpress-­‐as-­‐a-­‐cms-­‐again/   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
5. @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
6. 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)   h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/5403098626/   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
7. What would lead one to say WordPress is NOT a CMS? h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/narisa/97218748/   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
8. WordPress is like the leading candidate in a primary race: everyone’s a critic h"p://knowyourmeme.com/memes/haters-­‐gonna-­‐hate/photos   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
9. Why would people say WordPress is just a blog platform? Because we keep telling them it is. h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/4595386436/   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
10. @jeckman       #WordPressCMS    #wcbos  
11. @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
12. @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
13. @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
14. @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
15. What if WordPress.com and WordPress.org had different names? h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/1935788259/in/photostr @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
16. @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
17. @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
18. Sometimes people use tools in unexpected ways: edge cases Edge cases can reveal limits in a platform. Is CMS an edge case for WordPress? h"p://bikeportland.org/2012/06/28/with-­‐six-­‐kids-­‐and-­‐no-­‐car-­‐ this-­‐mom-­‐does-­‐it-­‐all-­‐by-­‐bike-­‐73731   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
19. 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   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
20. Do open source projects reflect the attitudes of their founders and leaders? h"p://schipulcon.com/photos/514/in/9/   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
21. 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   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
22. 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”     h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/pgoye"e/1276986086/in/photostream/   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbos  
23. 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   h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewl04/3163980834/   h"p://www.commonplaces.com/inspiring-­‐conversaFon/team-­‐posts/drupal-­‐7-­‐vs-­‐ wordpress-­‐3-­‐ba"le-­‐new-­‐features-­‐0  
24. What, if anything, should we do about the state of WordPress as a CMS? @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbosc  
25. Do we want more power, and therefore accept more complexity? h"p://www.cmsmyth.com/2012/02/build-­‐one-­‐to-­‐throw-­‐away/     @jeckman       #WordPressCMS     #wcbos  
26. “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.“ h"p://www.filmaluaFon.com/who-­‐killed-­‐the-­‐electric-­‐car.html   @jeckman       #WordPressCMS     #wcbos  
27. Should there be a fork of WordPress focused on CMS use cases? A Distribution? Package? Application? Downstream? h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathancohen/5396179251/   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbosc  
28. 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   h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/r_a_z_e/498818720/   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbosc  
29. 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    
30. 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   h"p://blog.schipul.com/drupal-­‐and-­‐wordpress-­‐at-­‐schipulcon-­‐one-­‐stage-­‐one-­‐open-­‐source-­‐love/   @jeckman    #WordPressCMS  #wcbosc