Back to WordPress

You might have noticed this website is published using WordPress. Or maybe you didn’t. In the end, do you really care?

I’ve used WordPress in the past for at least two other blogs. But a static site generator the last time I wreaked havoc on the Internet.

So, why go back to WordPress now?

Well, I got tired of the effort required to cultivate and maintain free-range, handcrafted, artisanal HTML. I spent more time fooling around with the content management system than actually creating content.

It’s the same trap all nerds fall into with their toys. Of course, WordPress itself can be just as dangerous of a distraction.

But unlike my previous outings, I’m using a managed system called DreamPress this time which pre-installs all the basics with several goodies, and it automatically handles software updates and content backups. Pretty sweet.

All this reduces the odds of me constantly fooling with the gears and levers here.

Sure, I installed a few plugins to tweak things and add some functionality. But I didn’t write all my own plugins this time! Or my own theme. And I’m not letting the crazy person who did all that near this website.

Besides the excellent new editor—I’m one of those freaks who likes Gutenberg—built into WordPress, I’m excited by the ability to add ActivityPub support and make all my posts visible on Mastodon and other Fediverse systems.

WordPress might be 20 years old now but it certainly isn’t moribund. And it’s still free, Open Source and very interoperable.

Certainly worth consideration if you want to publish on the Web.


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Comments

11 responses to “Back to WordPress”

  1. Augin Bird Avatar

    @lisa Hey Lisa,sorry to bother: i've been looking for a way to publish my poetry/writings/musings online,is WordPress a good bet?

    1. lisa Avatar

      Yes it is! Keep in mind that installing a WordPress system is much, much easier if you pay someone else to do it for you, like I did. Or, you could go to https://wordpress.com/ and get a free account which you can later upgrade for more features.

  2. Patrick Lam Avatar

    @lisa Maintaining WordPress is the worst; paying someone to do it is probably the right thing to do. I maintain some WP sites for orgs I'm associated with and it's so annoying. Compared to doing site maintenance, I much prefer my personal Hugo site. But I am 95% successful at resisting the urge to write my own plugins. I do have one for photo carousels. Maybe it shows that I don't get pulled into hacking at things in that I haven't updated that code to auto-support webp vs jpeg.

  3. Andreas Reif Avatar

    @lisa this is the way! I’ve messed with so many CMSes and stacks but I found I was always fiddling around with the tech and not posting content. I’m happily on WordPress, and I love Gutenberg with all my heart. The only thing “custom” I made for my site was a theme, and that’s just because it was easy and I knew what I wanted. And I put it in the WordPress repo so now other people get to enjoy it. Win win!

  4. rood Avatar

    @lisa WordPress is a distraction is an understatement. The plugins community is like a Trojan horse for a LinkedIn-base level army. It's Pandora's Box over there!

  5. soaproot Avatar

    @lisa I did notice it was an ActivityPub implementation I wasn't familiar with but I didn't think to guess WordPress. Glad to have you accessible via ActivityPub!

  6. Geoff Kratz Avatar

    @lisa I absolutely second this. I use WordPress for a couple of my sites, one of which is on DreamPress. I've had nothing but good experiences going this route.

  7. Tattie Avatar

    @lisa oh, neat, the ActivityPub support means I can post a comment to your website right here from Mastodon!Hmmm. Must think of something to say.Strobbies. 🍓

  8. Diana K. Bergey Avatar

    @lisa FYI that link just returns a JSON blob right now

    1. lisa Avatar

      Sorry about that! There’s an interaction problem with the page cache and the ActivityPub plugin. It should be fixed now. Thanks for the heads up! 💖

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