I joined a team as a developer that has been using WordPress to host their web content. Before I joined the team, there was one web master with some HTML and CSS knowledge maintaining the website with the help of a number of plugins.
I'm fine with WordPress when it comes to hosting a blog site with a few plugins but I don't really enjoy doing custom developments, as I find WordPress too hacky.
The WordPress instance we have now is using nearly 30+ plugins and is becoming slow and hard to manage. Since I didn't want to straight away propose new changes after joining the team, I went ahead hacking WordPress to implement new features. Mostly extending functionalities of the existing plugins that are installed.
But now it has come to a point where I really don't enjoy developing on WordPress because I find it too hacky.
[Adding PHP code in functions.php, additional CSS in the custom.css file of the theme and the JS code with a snippet plugin is all too hacky and difficult to manage. Not only that, we are constantly bugged by missing content, where plugin settings sometimes go back to default settings or widget content gets over-ridden by old content.]
One of the question I have is that, is it wise to look for a different option other than WordPress at this point? My main concern is investing time into building something new and losing momentum in our business and the actual deliverables.
If I should indeed look for different option, We do need to have a CMS, as the rest of the team should be able to easily manage content while allowing me to develop. So what options do I have? Should I look for a more powerful CMS such as Drupal? As it comes with a framework such as symphony and makes development much more structured and enjoyable.
If you have any comments or have experienced such situations, please share your thoughts here.
Top comments (1)
Hi! Sometimes we think it's so much easier to do something from scratch, and maybe it is. I think that we should stop overusing plugins with Wordpress, as you said, the website becomes slower and the mantainances is more difficult.
I don't know if developing a new CMS is the best option for you, I think that you shoul develope a plugin, but like a massive plugin, where you can include all the features of the other 30+ plugins you have, this way you have more control of your code and what it does.