I committed a terrible sin. I didn't have time for my portfolio site, so I used...

WordPress 😫

Blaspheme!

Sad day. I built mine custom HTMLGuy.com.

At least it wasn't Wix.

Starter templates + Surge.sh

depends on your WP setup, it can be badboys

I legit have 0 issue with this or do not understand why it is so cool to hate on it. I started working on it as a side gig. I have been making some really good money for practically 0 effort.

Their REST API is also pretty legit.

@AleCx04 not cool to hate on it but how insecure it is. I get how convenient building and customising those plugins are but if it threatens security, it's a no go. Of course there are plugins for that but not always reliable.

@agentQ the same applies to a lot of things. I don't blame the platform. I blame the developer that does not give the plugins in question the required level of scrutiny required to know if they are to be installed or not.

This applies to damn near all major and popular stacks out there man. I for one, would not install free plugins like that unless: a) they come from a reliable source and b) even then i still check the code if available to make sure i ain't downloading the correct stuff.

That's not a sin.
Even if you built it using flash, still not sin.
Built in HTML using tables and marque, not sin.
Not having portfolio website when you are a Dev, also not a sin.

The sin is you built your portfolio website using all cool and beloved tools but when people visit it is not loading, that's a sin. It loads but showing out of date information, that's a sin.

@AleCx04 Thing is that if you don't update it properly, you'll probably be hacked within a few weeks.

Another issue is that people can easily use it until something goes wrong, then the hosting party suddenly has to fix it (I work at a hosting provider and am sick of that shit).

I hate it with a passion ;)

@devrocket it’s worse

@AleCx04 Its code quality is bad and it does weird things it shouldn’t be doing.

@xalys @linuxxx i would again refer back to the people in question building on top of wordpress, not the platform itself.

I also wouldn't say that(as of 2018) the code quality of wordpress internally is bad. Maybe it was years ago on the early days, I would believe that.

If we are condemning the framework out of what it was when it first came out...well...to each their own. I personally think that is silly.

As far as shit code is concerned I have seen waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay worse from people that funny enough would say that wordpress has a horrible core.

I also like money. Like....i really fucking like money. My clients want a web site with multiple pages and want me to add more content for money? Done. For whatever reason that escapes me they want a restful service on it? Flipping done and done.

Not a sin at al. Maybe somewhat sinister, but I bet you'll use the correct tools if you're aware of them (if not, ask away, though WordFence ftw).

I still use WP now and then, it's not as bad as it used to be, and most leaks nowadays are externally made plugins opening up stuff they're not even aware of.

@AleCx04 I’m not gonna have this discussion, but the experience of me and my colleagues (as a hosting company having to deal with WP-specific issues everyday, not caused by external plugins) is that Wordpress itself could and should be much better technically. You can’t say it’s a good thing that WP uses full URLs in its database for example.

@xalys that is subjective. Andrew Nacin has explained why before, and a lot of people have mentioned why. Whether you agree with the "whys", with the solution to it, or in the actual significance is neither here or there.

I am also not having this discussion. Nor am I trying to convince you to use wordpress. I am merely mentioning to op that it ain't bad for a website to be built with wordpress.

I ain't telling the kid to just up and use wordpress for everything.

I will agree though, it could be better.

Oh lord please forgive my brother sin for he using WordPress for his portofolio site

@AleCx04 the inconstency in naming is worse than PHP itself, the source in a fucking dragon and the documentation states three opposites about one subject on different pages.

How good is it to have a protfolio website? I don't have one and I rely on my CV but I'm thinking of making one

Herecy!

You will be punished by crucifixion!

CRUCIFY CRUCIFY CRUCIFY!

Doesn't WordPress takes more time than a static html with a template?

If you are using wordpress you will use a theme anyway, and there is no need for all that backend for a protfolio,right?

@gitpush I have no idea how effective a portfolio site is during the recruitment process. Most companies will inevitably ask for work/code samples, and publicly available OS projects suffice in that context.

A portfolio site is for sparking a conversation with prospective freelance clients.

@M1sf3t @mundo03 I've been down that path; I resist the urge to edit minute details and focus on presenting information.

My name's not a brand, and will never be, so a logo/mascot/flashy animation is the least of my worries. I just want to drop the information in without writing code which I'm tempted to test/deploy/refactor every 5 minutes.

@DLMousey @Codex404 I still stand by what I said.

I have seen way worse. Like way. Hell, I work with way worse codebases on the daily. The wordpress core, as procedural and global as it is has the decency of having comments.

Plus, its a CMS. Not the stack in which you build an enterprise :) for all means and purposes, as a CMS it does what it does well.

"Oh waaaaa naming inconsistencies"
(This is not directed at Codex404 even tho it seems it is, its just an attack on a typical argument)open the docs and be done with it. There is so much whining in the dev community its insane.

@AleCx04 as I said, the amount of times I had discussions with a colleague because the documentation was stating opposites is not countable on two hands.

Things like function A documentation saying B is deprecated so A should be used and documentation of B stating A is deprecated and B should be used...

The inconsistencies in the documentation caused me to read the source itself. Which doesnt make things a lot clearer.

@AleCx04 This is pretty accurate, but I do want to add as a con to this that WordPress doesn't allow development, staging and production seperation a whole lot.
I made my own theme using a local env then pushed it to my production server and EVERYTHING went bonkers.
Also, if you don't want to build plugins or themes yourself, it's annoying as well as your entire website relies on some plugin, which might break with the next patches.
Also, it's pretty fat and bulky.

for static portfolio sites, I recommend using something like GH pages or something...

@saintograph fair enough I'll give it a try

@Codex404 which has literally never happened to me and a lot of other people that use it... dunno what to tell you man. It has work amazingly well for me.

I am not a very opinionated person when it comes to my development stack, but this stems from me being a mercenary more than anything. If I know I can be done with something by using wordpress, that wp is easy to use and will have my back in the future etc then I will use it. Wasting time and money to build shit from scratch or limit client base from using other stacks is silly.

Sometimes it benefits tho! At work they use H.H Cascade. Ever head of it? Its cool, neither have I. But before I came in and learned their shitty template engine(Java Velocity btw) they were contracting people for $100 an hour to do while(has_posts()){} in it.

Content managemen systems are funny and okish. I just look at them as ways to make a quick buck.

I have several issues with Wordpress and those who support it.

1) Who uses Wordpress? Generally people who couldn't build a website without it, or people who are trying to save time to make a quick buck. Those who couldn't make a website without it wouldn't know how to find vulnerabilities in plugins/dependencies. Those trying to make a quick buck probably wouldn't care to check plugins/dependencies and would welcome extra money in the future to fix the site. Legit expert programmers using Wordpress with custom built plugins/templates are few and far between.

2) Wordpress core and official themes often don't contain what is needed to get a task done. This means relying on third parties or custom. Often times you would spend way more time searching for something close to what you need and customizing it than just building a custom site.

3) The popularity of wordpress makes it a target for hackers.

4) Where Wordpress really shines is static websites. Who updates a static website?

4 continued) Static website meaning built for plumbers, construction companies, mechanics, etc. People who barely recognize the value of a website and certainly won't justify spending money every 6 months for you to update their installation.

5) Wordpress generally ends up like frankenstein. Lots of plugins just to get what you want accomplished and probably not functioning exactly how you want.

REPENT!!!

jk

@Stebner55 yep I've seen it too often where they will have WooCommerce and then a plugin from "JohnA" that adds a custom mod to the major plugin. Then WordPress updates, WooCommerce updates but the "JohnA" plugin isn't kept up to date. Everything breaks from an update or is left exposed to an attack.

@Stebner55

1) blatant generalization. An awful lot more people and companies use it to present: content.
The average joe does not want to get a flipping zend/simfony/node/spring whatever magician to build them a contact me page that will sometimes show additional pages with info that will change from time to time..

2) to get what sort or task done? You cannot compain about having to resort to code written by others(i.e plugins) when you can code it yourself. Every plugin that you need is knowledge that you don't possess. Its not the same as adding a library to an application stack. This issue stems from people not knowing basic php code which I am sure YOU know enough to do whatever you want.

3) wordpress is as secure as we make it. Most arguments in favor or against are hyperbole.

4) read the first post. If I add an about us with a custom menu on the side listing projects and such and then delete that project, then I just remove it from the db or the page itself.

@Stebner55 the 5th point is my favorite.

Recent wordpress contains what is known as the REST API which at least for me, its replacing plugins or the need for plugins since any dedicated application could instead connect to a proper application platform. Whatever it might be, I don't discriminate in API creation.

This is what happens when you mentioned "WordPress" on devRant 🕺

@AleCx04

"Every plugin that you need is knowledge that you don't possess."

That's far from true. I use plugins to save time. I create plugins for others to save them time. I understand what they do and how they work, I just can't justify spending six months building something that is 1/1000th of a website.

@AleCx04

"wordpress is as secure as we make it. Most arguments in favor or against are hyperbole."

I've never met someone with a Wordpress site that wasn't hacked or spammed, have you?

@M1sf3t

You're MAKING my point. It was an entry-point for you. That's fine, but I wouldn't stick with it. Use that experience to build something custom because if you want to build a site THE RIGHT WAY using Wordpress, it takes just as long or longer. A static website (like for mechanics) does NOT take much. 99% of the time you don't even need server-side code beyond sending email for the "contact us" form. Unless you want scheduling and such.

@AleCx04

I like using plugins that are very small in scope. Tooltips, relative time converters, etc. Things that have been used and improved by thousands of people and often contain unit tests and can be trusted.

Compare that to when you finally find a wordpress theme that appears to do what you're looking for but it has 2 reviews and 100,000 lines of code.

@Stebner55 funny how I mention hyperbole and you go straight ahead into it.

To answer your question, many, i have meet many wordpress website owners without a hacked website.

This is a silly absolute: wordpress === hacked.

And I am not saying that using plugins automatically makes one a n00b. I am stating that relying on them, when one is a dev is silly. Its a plugin, its functionality that is achievable by writing code.

@M1sf3t

1) I wasn't suggesting YOU had stayed with wordpress. I meant the universal "you" lol.

2) Sorry I didn't fully read all comments before mine and probably missed a bunch of stuff you said. AleCx04 triggered me with his unwavering support of wordpress lol.

@AleCx04

I said hacked or spammed. My point is that because it's marketshare is large, it's targeted by exploits of all types. The most popular is junking up the comments section with links to porn and viagra.

@AleCx04

"And I am not saying that using plugins automatically makes one a n00b. I am stating that relying on them, when one is a dev is silly. Its a plugin, its functionality that is achievable by writing code."

First you say wordpress is amazing (pre-written code), then you say devs shouldn't use pre-written code. WTF.

@Stebner55 oh my, that is a prime example of nit picking an argument to switch it over to something different. I am not condemning peopoe for using plugins, I am condemning devs who whine about not being able to get the functionality they want.

Is it a small thing that you can prob do yourself but there is a 5 star 6mil something downloaded plugin? Use the plugin, nothing wrong with that.

A plugin does not do what you want, and you want to condemn the platform while at the same time calling yourself a dev? Well that is ---------> silly. Just code it yourself... don't blame the plugins WTF blame yourself.

Now, note that this is not meant as an attack towards you btw.

@Stebner55 regarding hacking or spamming and your last point. I stand by what I said. There are wordpress websites that do not have neither or.

A CMS !== a blog with a comment section my dude.

I like the imagery of the porn/viagra/bob/vagene(ok i added the last ones) links

@Stebner55 and man I like you. Yoy stick to your guns without bein an asshole about it.

It would be cool to actually discuss this in person. Makes it easier man. We probably agree on a lot of shit but the interwebz makes it seem like we are fixing to strangle one another.

Web buddies?

@AleCx04

All good. I don't hold anything against people. Especially unimportant disagreements.

I just feel like Wordpress is cool for the people who built it (makes them money and looks good on their resume), and the people who make money building plugins and themes (giving users the ability to create things they couldn't without a GUI). Beyond that, I don't believe developers should be using it as a crutch and pretending they can build sites. It doesn't scale for enterprise level software, and it's proven time and time again to be too vulnerable for static sites. If a non-dev business owner wants to pay for themes and plugins, build their own site, and risk it, cool. But we owe it to our clients to build something that is affordable, efficient, and secure. Every line of code is a vulnerability and wordpress has plenty. Every unnecessary/unused feature is a vulnerability. Start from scratch and KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID.

@M1sf3t as in why wouldn't I just do that contrary to start from scratch?

If that is the case. The reason why I don't do that and resort to wordpress is the following: i make a hard distinction between a wep app and a website. Wordpress I use for websites. My customers normally want to add more stuff to their sites and deman updates and such. They are happy and content with me doing it even though I have offered training for it before. I know my way around it fairly good.I have been programming with php extensively for years, at the enterprise level. So I know how to extend a cms without causing the horrors for which wordpress has been known for. It is also not the only cms i have worked with. Any functionality that my customers need is added as an api, not a plugin, this is their request, not mine. And usually the results far surpass their expectations.

@M1sf3t oh, and furthermore, I have my boilerplate and custom snippets already in place. Don't really need anyone else's.

Its just a CMS after all.

@AleCx04

The new API stuff sounds interesting.

@Stebner55 dude I swear that its like a turning point in redemption for them.

@M1sf3t oh I didn't take it as you questioning my methods or anything my dude. I was just explaining as to why.

For professional development, a more streamlined approach which can scale(hence the cms)is preferred. I never know if a customer is going to ask for an additional website. There is minimal code involved for the most partm. Its as simple as grabbing the text they send me/images and just posting it through the admin. Nothing wrong with static websites. There are some cool tools like next or hugo or Jekyll for that if needed :)

@Stebner55 nice site. I like the avatar.