Think – Write – Connect

Though its development roots go back to 2001, per WordPress.Org , “WordPress started in 2003 with a single bit of code to enhance the typography of everyday writing and with fewer users than you can count on your fingers and toes.” What is significant about WordPress is that it was developed in the spirit of writing versus software development.

Though I’m not writing as one of those early contribors or authors who used WordPress back before it supported elements as simple as themes, I have been an avid user of WordPress over the past couple of years and I thought I’d take write about an enabler of writing.

Five Reasons Why WordPress Is Great

Low Barrier of Entry – Whether your goal is a simple blog or a complex content management system, WordPress is accessible to all. First of all, being licensed under the GPL, WordPress is free. However, free software doesn’t mean that it is accessible. One of the challenges with “open source software” is that it is really only accessible to developers. WordPress is accessible to writers! With powerhouse companies such as GoDaddy wrapping domains, hosting, and wizard based install routines around WordPress, anyone can be writing on the Internet in 1 hour for less than a round of beer.

Plug and Play – The WordPress architecture supports the addition of custom functionality through plugins. Plugins are individual software programs adding specialized features and functions to WordPress. Plugins are desiged by developers around the world. Whether you are interested in making your installation of WordPress more accessible to search engines or publishing your audio files to iTunes, there is a plugin for everyone. WordPress plugins are litterally plug and play (both to install and maintain). WordPress is great; plugins make it flat out powerful. Unlike getting a printer to work on Windows Vista, “plug and play” with WordPress plugins just works!

Search Engine Friendly - In general, content management systems (CMS) are a disaster with search engines. If you talk to SEO’ers, they constantly struggle with how search engines handle the expensive CMS’s their clients have implemented. WordPress is very friendly with search engines right out of the box. With the addition of a few plugins like All-In-One-SEO, Platinum SEO, and Google XML Sitemap Generators, your installation of WordPress will become Google’s best friend (swicthing to Permalinks in WordPress settings is also recommended).

Themes and More Themes – Since version 1.5, WordPress has supported themes. Themes are templates that are built for WordPress giving it a unique look and feel. Whether you are interested in the “hot off the press” Google Chrome Theme or the off the wall Desk Mess Theme. The best part about themes is that they are completely decoupled from your content allowing you to change themes without fear of loosing your information.

Bill Gates Can’t Get In Your Way – There is nothing more frustrating than an upgrade from one of the software powerhouses that causes you to have to upgrade or else everything breaks. WordPress is built on a three part architecture that keeps people honest. The first is the WordPress engine. It is an OpenSource project created by a diverse group of developers with a simple mission of creating great software. The second are Themes. WordPress Themes are developed by thousands of independent designers who do not have anything to do with the actual engine. Last, are Plugins. Like WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins are the result of independent developers. These three communities keep each other in check as the project can’t be successful if any one group makes radical changes that alienates the others work. In commercial software companies, it doesn’t work like this. Yes, WordPress has had its problems but they get fixed by the community. As far as Bill Gates goes, he still does own the majority of the browser market share. We’ll see if Google changes that in the next few years.

To conclude, WordPress is great for writers, software designers/developers, and the Internet overall.

[tags]wordpress, internet, seo, plugins[/tags]