Why I still use WordPress

There are a few reasons WordPress has remained useful to me for well over a decade.

It is open source

WordPress is open-source software.

That means the software itself isn't controlled as a closed product that you can only use through one company's service. The code is available, there is a huge community around it, and there is a lot of freedom in how you use it.

For me, that openness is one of the most important things about WordPress.

You can host it almost anywhere

A WordPress website isn't tied to one hosting company.

There are hosting providers all over the world that support WordPress, ranging from inexpensive shared hosting through to highly specialised managed WordPress services.

If your needs change, you can move the website to another host rather than having to rebuild it on another platform.

That gives both me and my clients a lot of choice over where the website lives and how it is managed.

The plugin ecosystem

One of WordPress's great strengths is the enormous ecosystem of plugins built around it.

Plugins add functionality to WordPress without everything needing to be built from scratch. If there is something you want a WordPress website to do, there is a reasonable chance somebody has already built a plugin that can help.

That doesn't mean every plugin is the right answer, but the range of possibilities is extraordinary.

You can build WordPress in different ways

There isn't one prescribed way to build a WordPress website.

You can work with the native WordPress tools, use a page builder, build a custom theme, add specialist plugins or put together a combination that suits the project.

That flexibility means WordPress can adapt to a very wide range of websites.

It also means I can choose a way of working that makes sense for the particular client rather than forcing every website through exactly the same system.

Ecommerce

WordPress can also become a very capable ecommerce platform with WooCommerce.

That is particularly useful when the website needs to do more than sell products. You can combine a substantial content or service website with a robust online store rather than having to treat the whole website primarily as a shop.

WooCommerce also benefits from the wider WordPress ecosystem, with a large range of extensions and integrations available when the store needs to do more.

The ecosystem is enormous

WordPress has been around for a long time, and there is an enormous industry built around it.

There are hosting companies, developers, designers, themes, plugins, documentation, communities and businesses dedicated entirely to WordPress.

That gives the platform a depth that is difficult to replicate.

I don't think WordPress is going anywhere in a hurry.

It is open-source software that powers much of the web, with a very large community and commercial ecosystem built around it.

That also makes WordPress unusually resilient. Its future isn't entirely dependent on one company continuing to sell one product. The software can be hosted independently, extended, maintained and adapted by people throughout the ecosystem.

We're also working out what our own way of building with WordPress looks like in an increasingly agentic world.

We don't have that completely figured out yet.

What makes WordPress interesting in that context is its modular nature. There are a lot of possible ways for us to combine WordPress, the tools around it and AI agents into a way of working that suits how we build websites.

That is something we're still developing.

This is where WordPress gets interesting, because many of its biggest strengths have another side to them.

It is open source

The openness of WordPress gives you a huge amount of freedom, but it also means there isn't one company responsible for every part of your website.

WordPress itself, your hosting, your theme and your plugins may all be maintained by different people or companies.

That makes choosing good tools and keeping track of what the website depends on important.

You can host it almost anywhere

Being able to choose your hosting is useful, but not all hosting is equal.

The quality of WordPress hosting can vary significantly, and somebody needs to take responsibility for things such as updates, backups, security and performance.

Managed hosting can take care of much of that work, but it is still something that needs to be considered when putting a WordPress website together.

The plugin ecosystem

Having thousands of plugins available is incredibly useful.

It can also be messy.

Plugins vary considerably in quality, and every plugin you add becomes another part of the website that needs to remain compatible, secure and maintained.

It is very easy to keep adding plugins because each one solves an immediate problem. Over time, that can leave a website carrying considerably more than it actually needs.

You can build WordPress in different ways

The flexibility to build WordPress in different ways also means there is no longer one obvious "WordPress way" of doing things.

A website built with the Classic Editor can behave very differently from one built with Gutenberg. A block theme can work differently again. Add the many different page builders and theme systems available, and the number of possible combinations becomes enormous.

That can make WordPress confusing, particularly when you're trying to find instructions online and the answer depends entirely on which version of the WordPress ecosystem you're working in.

The ecosystem is enormous

A huge ecosystem gives you lots of choice.

It also means you have to make lots of choices.

Themes, plugins, hosting companies and page builders come and go. Some are maintained brilliantly for years. Others aren't.

Building a good WordPress website therefore isn't just about finding tools that can do the job today. It is also about putting together a sensible combination of tools that you are comfortable relying on.

WordPress isn't the only open-source website platform.

There are other very capable options, and some are particularly strong for certain kinds of websites. Like WordPress, they come with their own ecosystems, ways of working and learning curves.

Which one makes sense depends a lot on what you're building and how you want to work.

If you're investigating other open-source options and aren't sure which direction to take, get in touch. We may be able to help you work through what would suit your website.

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