I don't think fast build is that important. Also for developer's convenience, I would also look for SSG incremental build, which is a relatively new feature even in Gatsby. I wouldn't want to see slow build times. Still, SSG (with some SSR features) is definitely the future.
Actually, for what I have heard,
WordPress can be a headless CMS.
WordPress can be cached to static HTML files, not to pull from MySQL every time.
Thanks for the notes! These are my own personal, very biased thoughts on it.
For my own situation, my clients do not update the site or post new content frequently. I'd rather just turn the content to markdown and leverage continuous integration on Github to update the sites then manage a CMS for each client.
You're totally right SEO is hard, but for the type of client I have, just adding the metadata to the site and posts in the HTML template and markdown will be simpler, and be enough SEO for them. They're focused on ranking locally, which is easy in my area since no one does SEO well. Off-site optimization is typically where the impact is made for these clients.
I'm new to SSG, so when I read "fast build" I'm not 100% sure what you're referring to the compile-time to generate the static files or the development time to launch the site?
The build I care about is how long it will take me to build the site and launch it for a client. The fewer hours it takes me on a project, the more money I make (I work with fixed rates).
If you mean the time it takes to package the site, I'll stick my neck out and say it's pretty irrelevant to most freelance web developers who work with these types of small clients and brochure style websites. I may be just ignorant of the importance mind you -- happy to be educated on it! :)
In my heart of hearts, I want to kill Wordpress and bury it where none of my clients can find it again. But in this situation, using it as it was meant to be used - a blog CMS - you're right, we can use it and run it headless. I won't, since for me it's left a sour taste in my mouth, but it would be a fine solution for anyone who likes it.
CI hooks and flat file CMS (i.e. no database) is definitely a way, as long as you don't need "relational" database.
Markdown? Actually it is even possible to use an editor that outputs HTML and CSS (like QuillJS). Otherwise, I myself don't use a real Markdown. I use Markdown extended with template engines like LiquidJS -- taking dev.to editor as any inspiration.
One of the best Markdown based editor I know is actually Discourse. It's Markdown mixed with custom codes, somewhat like BB lang.
Some of the reason you might need a backend or database, includes search engine. You can use JS-search, but where would you hold the index for searching?
Agree about default WordPress is bad for SEO. Even their default permalink is ugly one, not readable as title post slug. That's why we have to configure it manually or with plugins help to make it easier.
I'm active on WordPress for long. Though I'm with static site generator for now, but I will not forget WordPress as a hero. Even I'm still active as a moderator at WordPress Indonesia. Enjoy with worldwide community on WordCamp. And more.
Sounds awesome! I think WordPress has been a gateway for developers. You can start making sites with no coding knowledge, then you get more and more familiar and learn more and more coding. Eventually, some of us move on to work with other frameworks and languages, but we would never have gotten there without starting in WordPress. After years of WordPress, I'm just ready to move on to something else. :)
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Being a blog writer myself, I'd say a CMS is eventually needed, whether headful or headless. Also, SEO is hard. WordPress can fix it with certain plugins (like Yoast and WP Compress) (sry, not that good as it should be. WP is by default bad for SEO.)
I don't think fast build is that important. Also for developer's convenience, I would also look for SSG incremental build, which is a relatively new feature even in Gatsby. I wouldn't want to see slow build times. Still, SSG (with some SSR features) is definitely the future.
Actually, for what I have heard,
Thanks for the notes! These are my own personal, very biased thoughts on it.
For my own situation, my clients do not update the site or post new content frequently. I'd rather just turn the content to markdown and leverage continuous integration on Github to update the sites then manage a CMS for each client.
You're totally right SEO is hard, but for the type of client I have, just adding the metadata to the site and posts in the HTML template and markdown will be simpler, and be enough SEO for them. They're focused on ranking locally, which is easy in my area since no one does SEO well. Off-site optimization is typically where the impact is made for these clients.
I'm new to SSG, so when I read "fast build" I'm not 100% sure what you're referring to the compile-time to generate the static files or the development time to launch the site?
The build I care about is how long it will take me to build the site and launch it for a client. The fewer hours it takes me on a project, the more money I make (I work with fixed rates).
If you mean the time it takes to package the site, I'll stick my neck out and say it's pretty irrelevant to most freelance web developers who work with these types of small clients and brochure style websites. I may be just ignorant of the importance mind you -- happy to be educated on it! :)
In my heart of hearts, I want to kill Wordpress and bury it where none of my clients can find it again. But in this situation, using it as it was meant to be used - a blog CMS - you're right, we can use it and run it headless. I won't, since for me it's left a sour taste in my mouth, but it would be a fine solution for anyone who likes it.
CI hooks and flat file CMS (i.e. no database) is definitely a way, as long as you don't need "relational" database.
Markdown? Actually it is even possible to use an editor that outputs HTML and CSS (like QuillJS). Otherwise, I myself don't use a real Markdown. I use Markdown extended with template engines like LiquidJS -- taking dev.to editor as any inspiration.
One of the best Markdown based editor I know is actually Discourse. It's Markdown mixed with custom codes, somewhat like BB lang.
Some of the reason you might need a backend or database, includes search engine. You can use JS-search, but where would you hold the index for searching?
Agree about default WordPress is bad for SEO. Even their default permalink is ugly one, not readable as title post slug. That's why we have to configure it manually or with plugins help to make it easier.
I'm active on WordPress for long. Though I'm with static site generator for now, but I will not forget WordPress as a hero. Even I'm still active as a moderator at WordPress Indonesia. Enjoy with worldwide community on WordCamp. And more.
Sounds awesome! I think WordPress has been a gateway for developers. You can start making sites with no coding knowledge, then you get more and more familiar and learn more and more coding. Eventually, some of us move on to work with other frameworks and languages, but we would never have gotten there without starting in WordPress. After years of WordPress, I'm just ready to move on to something else. :)