Is WordPress a CMS or can it only be used for a blog?

Question

Since a year or two I switched from "Flash websites" to "HTML5" websites for my clients. I decided to use a (maybe unknown) CMS named "Website Baker". It is very easy to make templates for my clients, as you only have two PHP commands (echo getMenu(); and echo getPage(id);). It has also a very simple lay-out so it was not difficult to teach my clients how to edit their content. BUT, there is a big downside to this CMS; there is no support at all and there are not so many "add-ons" available on their website, which obligates you to write them all by your own.

A friend of mine told me yesterday I'd better change to WordPress, because for this CMS you have a good support and there are a lot of ad-ons available. I really consider to change but I got a few questions;

1) Is making a template (apart from the styling) a big deal in WordPress, compared to WebsiteBaker?

2) Can I use WordPress as a CMS? I read that it was rather something for “Bloggers” who regularly post and are in big need for a comment box under each post. Most of the time I only need 5-6 pages and a contact form.

3) Is the back-end-enviroment easy to understand? In other words, can I explain a non-geek how to work with it?

I know every CMS has it's own advantages and disadvantages, I only want to whether or not it is a good idea to change from WebsiteBaker to WordPress.

A big thanks in advance!!

Answer 1

I have used WebsiteBaker for years and years on dozens of client sites. It was ahead of many comparable CMS's (inluding Wordpress) for many years. But its development is almost stagnant, and there are only a handful of usable addons. Nowadays it's only usable for very simple semi-static sites, or for more complex sites with a LOT of custom coding added. In my opinion it's very much outdated and not suitable for modern, professional sites. It's a shame, because its templating system is VERY clean, simple and easy, as you know. Also the backend is easy enough for most clients who only want to do simple content stuff.

I moved away from it about a year ago. I just couldn't use it anymore for building modern client sites. I tried many other systems, but in the end I chose to switch to Wordpress. A professional site builder just cannot afford not to be able to use it, as it's the standard for small to midsized sites of all different kinds. It certainly is not aimed at blogging anymore, although you can still use it that way of course.

Wordpress is great and not so great at the same time. It is potentially powerful because of thousands of themes (what WebsiteBaker calls templates) and addons. You can do almost anything you want using these addons. But the core is very basic, so you'll end up spending much time searching for and trying out suitable addons. And Wordpress is really not as easy and user friendly as you may read all over the web, especially compared to WebsiteBaker. So the learning curve is steeper. But the web is filled with info and support, so whatever your support need may be, you'll almost always find help somewhere.

Do NOT try to create your own Wordpress theme, it is much more difficult than WebsiteBaker. There are thousands of themes, many of them free. Beware: do not use free themes from shady origin, they are probably filled with backdoors. In the official Wordpress repo there are many decent free themes that are clean and safe to use. There are also many commercial theme providers with amazing themes for nearly nothing.

So, I certainly recommend switching to Wordpress, even when you will have to put time and effort in finding your way around the system. And don't forget to update as soon as updates become available. You can updated from within the admin with 1 click. And use 1 or 2 good security plugins in each install. Wordpress sites are far more likely to be hacked than WebsiteBaker sites.

Answer 2

If you switch from WebsiteBaker to a different CMS, it's worth taking your time to evaluate your options. I have used WebsiteBaker for many years and found the support excellent - usually answers and/or fixes within hours, often within minutes. A matter of luck maybe ... But that will be about the same with any community support.

Anyway, for some purposes, WebsiteBaker simply wasn't powerful enough, so me too, I had to find an alternative. I don't want to start a "mine's better than yours" war here, pretty pointless. Just don't spend a lot of time learning to work with a certain CMS just because someone told you so, or because it's currently most popular. To really understand a big CMS such as Wordpress, Joomla or Drupal can easily take months of intensive studies.

Find out what the strengths and weaknesses of the different CMS's are, find out what your needs are, and then make an educated guess of what's best for you.

Answer 3

I have been using wordpress for the last few years and it has evolved tremendously. You can literally use wordpress for anything. The advantages that i found :

• Immense SEO support.
• Unlimited number of plugins(free/paid) that can be easily integrated
• Unlimited number of templates to choose(both free and paid).
• Community is excellent.

I have used wordpress for :

• Blog
• E-Commerce Website
• CMS

Learning wordpress is also much simpler compared to other CMS/frameworks/e-commerce platforms.

Answer 4

I think you can definitely use WordPress for your needs. I'm also not familiar with WebsiteBaker. But I can tell you what WordPress gives you compare with other popular frameworks or CMS.

1. When you plan for a WordPress site, Its better to avoid creating a new template for WordPress until you have good idea about their template system.Thousands of Free Templates available for WordPress. In other words its much easier to create a template compare to Joomla,Drupal or any other frameworks in WordPress.
2. Sure you can use WordPress as CMS , Now WordPress is not only used for blogging many shopping cart,news,magazine etc are running on WordPress, Keep in mind post comment box and such things have option to enable and disable on backend.For contact forms many WordPress themes comes with that.
3. Admin side(back end) is very easy to understand and easy to use.

In my opinion its better to change from WebsiteBaker to WordPress, Bcoz of thousands of Free extensions, Active Support Forum, thousand of templates etc.

Hope its make sense..

Answer 5

1. I do not know about WebsiteBaker, but compared to other well known and popular CMS frameworks, developing templates have a much easier learning curve. It also depends on your expertise and previous experience.
2. There is a big notion among people that Wordpress is only for blogs. But, it can be customized for anything, thanks to thousands of available customized templates and plugins.
3. The back-end admin panel is pretty simple and definitely easier with much better learning curve than any other major CMS frameworks.

You should definitely look into it, even if you do not end up finally moving to Wordpress.