{"id":535314,"date":"2014-05-02T17:56:51","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T22:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2014.nashville.wordcamp.org\/?p=535314"},"modified":"2014-05-02T22:10:24","modified_gmt":"2014-05-03T03:10:24","slug":"top-wordpress-myths-debunked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/top-wordpress-myths-debunked\/","title":{"rendered":"Top WordPress Myths Debunked"},"content":{"rendered":"

by the MetaCake Team<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Today many people use WordPress like your grandmother drives a Ferrari.<\/p>\n

First\u00a0gear works great, no doubt. But unbeknownst to grandma, there are 7 more gears in the crank.<\/p>\n

\"200x200-square\"This is largely because of the various myths (stigmas) about WordPress many have come to accept. Yet, as a creative agency that strives to get the most out of all 8 gears of the platform, we think it\u2019s about time to begin debunking.<\/p>\n

Myth #1: WordPress is for blogging only<\/strong>
\nThis myth came from the fact that back when it first came out, WordPress was much more focused on self-publishing and didn\u2019t have even a fraction of the features it has now. People used it mostly for blogging because it was simple to install, you could download various themes, and it was easy to use. However, blogging is just updating a site with fresh content, which if you think about it is what we do now to all modern websites.<\/p>\n

WordPress is a robust web-based content management system (CMS), developed by over 20,000 geeks over 10 years, that can handle, manage, and secure virtually any web project you throw at it. It has available to it every feature that any other web CMS has and a quarter of all websites built today are built on WordPress.<\/p>\n

Here at Metacake alone, we\u2019ve built more than 300 websites and many web applications on WordPress. We\u2019ve even used WordPress to power some mobile apps. Why? Because it\u2019s a versatile CMS. It\u2019s more than a blogging engine. It makes content management easy.<\/p>\n

Here are a few of our recent creations that run on WordPress:<\/p>\n

\u2022 You\u2019ll Get Through This Prayer Wall<\/a>
\n\u2022 NDS Devices<\/a>
\n\u2022 Metacake<\/a><\/p>\n

Myth #2: WordPress isn\u2019t for primetime<\/strong>
\nSomething happened recently that made me chuckle at first, but then made me worry…<\/p>\n

Someone showed me a site that had (and I quote) \u201cWordpress busting at its seams.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was obvious that this person didn\u2019t quite understand his website.<\/p>\n

If his simple website, which was chock-full-o-plugins, had pushed the extent of the ability of WordPress, then someone might want to tell NY Times, Yahoo, Wired, Sony, CNN, & Mashable, because they are just a few of the sites with millions of visitors that use WordPress.<\/p>\n

The truth is that WordPress, as a CMS, doesn\u2019t have built-in limitations. Any limitations lie with the business objectives and the skill level of the implementers. Such as the following:<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Experience and visual design
\n\u00b7 Code (especially if you hired a \u201cWP theme hacker\u201d)
\n\u00b7 Database architecture
\n\u00b7 Server infrastructure
\n\u00b7 Etc.<\/p>\n

Basically the same limitations that plague any digital product. The way around these limitations is hiring a skilled team. Don\u2019t mistake WordPress limitations with a lack of solutions to your WordPress problem.<\/p>\n

Myth #3: There are \u201cWordPress-only\u201d developers<\/strong>
\nOne of WordPress\u2019 greatest strong points may also be one of its most dangerous pitfalls for those looking to hire someone to build a\u00a0WordPress site. That is, its ability to be easily extended and customized through the extensive network of themes and plugins. WordPress runs on code just like any other piece of software. It\u2019s PHP, MySQL, and a bit of JavaScript. That means that if you\u2019re going to hire a developer to build your WordPress site, they need to understand all those languages. They also need to understand how to develop within the WordPress framework.<\/p>\n

Beware of the \u201cWordPress Theme Hacker\u201d for hire.<\/p>\n

What is a \u201cWordPress Theme Hacker\u201d? They may call themselves a WordPress designer or developer but in truth they have very little real development experience, if any at all. They may think they do because they know how to install a theme and add a few plug-ins, but this person is likely not qualified to do anything more.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had many clients conclude that WordPress just isn\u2019t right for their needs after unknowingly hiring \u201cWordPress Theme Hackers.\u201d However, WordPress is only as functional as the code it obeys. And that code is entirely dependent on the developer you hire to write it.<\/p>\n

So next time you need to build a website, save yourself some time. Skip the \u201cWhat platform should I build it on?\u201d question and invest your time and energy in the real factor that determines that site\u2019s success: \u201cWho am I going to hire to build it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be the one driving a Ferrari down the interstate in first gear. Put the right driver in the seat and experience its full potential.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> This is one in a series of posts by our local sponsors.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by the MetaCake Team Today many people use WordPress like your grandmother drives a Ferrari. First\u00a0gear works great, no doubt. But unbeknownst to grandma, there are 7 more gears in the crank. This is largely because of the various myths (stigmas) about WordPress many have come to accept. Yet, as a creative agency that strives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11776381,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[294992],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-535314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-sponsor-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11776381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535314"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":535321,"href":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535314\/revisions\/535321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nashville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}