Why I don't use WordPress

As of 2022, there are over 1.8 billion websites on the internet. Of those websites, approximately 42% of them are powered by WordPress. It is one of the most popular content management systems in use today due to its flexibility, extensibility, and ease of use.

So why don’t I like it?

Well …

1. Security Concerns: WordPress is a wildly popular target for many hackers and malware (and so is Microsoft Windows … but that’s for a future article). Websites built with WordPress do require frequent security updates and maintenance to stay secure. A quick Google for the search term wordpress hacked results in “About 16,400,000 results”. That alone is enough reason for me!

2. Limited Customization: While WordPress provides a wide range of templates, the level of customization is limited, and making major changes to a website can require significant technical expertise. Some templates can be pretty complex with conflicting styles. There’s also a lack of standardization. It seems every WordPress Developer has their own method of how to do things, and that can create conflict with other plugins causing plenty more issues. It’s not uncommon for a Professional WordPress Developer to charge over $5,000 for a well-built website.

3. Slow Performance: WordPress sites can become slow and bloated due to excessive use of plugins and heavy customizations, which can negatively affect user experience and search engine optimization (SEO). Lots of things can contribute to a slow loading WordPress site: running an outdated version or obsolete plugins, unoptimized code, and just poor hosting providers. It is very typical for a hosting provider to literally cram thousands of websites on one server with limited resources.

4. Regular Maintenance: WordPress websites require regular updates, backups, and maintenance to keep running smoothly and avoid compatibility issues. The more plugins a WordPress website uses, the greater the risk of lost data, unexpected behavior from conflicting plugins, and security risks. Again, wordpress hacked.

The Solution?

Static websites.

A WordPress website requires a server side scripting language called PHP, a relational database called MySQL (or MariaDB), and a web host that provides recent versions of that software.

1. A static website can be hosted anywhere on the internet. It does not require a server side language or a database. All the content resides in basic flat files, just like the files on your computer.
2. Speed! Static websites do not require the server to process any additional code or connect to a database to generate a dynamic page. Removing all that excess software results in greater speeds for your users to download, browse, and view my websites.
3. Security: Static websites are less vulnerable to security exploits or hacking, as there is literally nothing to hack!
4. Affordability: It doesn’t really cost much to have a web host that provides PHP & MySQL/MariaDB - and it costs even less to host static websites! There are absolutely NO specialized requirements.
5. Simplicity: Static websites are far easier to maintain, update, and deploy. No special tools or software is needed. Just my simple text editor (VS Code or Neovim) and an internet connection.
6. Flexibility: While WordPress relies on PHP & MySQL, it also uses these 3 additional simple languages: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You know what else uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript? Just about 100% of the internet. They are the most basic simple languages that all websites rely on.

Let me elaborate about speed and webhosting. A traditional webhost typically has a few data centers scattered throughout the country. They don’t always invest in the best hardware or infrastructure like Google or Amazon.

I’ve been experimenting with CloudFlare, Netlify, and Vercel. These are some of the most recognized CDN providers available. What is a CDN?

This is just one of the reasons why this website loaded quite fast for you (didn’t it?). I also take extra steps to optimize all images and code 😉

So when I talk about static websites being simple, flexible, and customizable - it’s with just those 3 basic lanaguages that I know & love. No server side code. No databases. No one waiting to hack my websites.

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