Stop the treadmill! I think I want to get off!
April 14, 2008 by Bob
I’m having one of those days today. You know the kind of day I am talking about - one of those days when you work hard for the entire day, and at the end of the day, you feel like you didn’t do anything. I don’t like those days.
I blame Wordpress.
“Why Wordpress,” you say?
Well, I blame Wordpress because it has become like a treadmill that never stops. First of all, you have a never ending parade of updates to the software. As soon as you update to a new version and get all the kinks worked out, it seems like there is a new, critical security update that you have to do immediately! If you don’t update on time, it’s like running around in public naked - you just don’t do that!
Here’s what happened today. I had a couple of improvements that I wanted to make on one of my sites. When I went to that site, I noticed that the Plugin panel on Wordpress was telling me that two plugins were out of date. Oops! I better update those right away. So, I went and downloaded the new releases on these plugins, and installed them. What the…. I just checked my blog and the whole top half of my screen went black! Hmm… turns out that one of the plugins didn’t work! So, I reverted back to the old version, it worked fine. That second upgrade that I did didn’t work either. So, I eliminated that one. I have dozens of blogs, so all of this piddling around took me half the day (or more).
The thing is, I am feeling like with Wordpress, it is getting to the point that there are so many Admin tasks that need to be completed, that I rarely have time to produce the quality content that I want to share with my readers! If I had one blog, maybe two it would not be a big deal, but I have more than that. It is making me wonder what I should do. Abandon some of my sites? Find a new software to run on?
I have been playing with the idea of moving to Drupal. Today I took the step of installing Drupal on one of my inactive domains, and playing with it. It only took a few minutes when I realized that if I changed platforms, that meant that I had to re-learn the whole system again! I had to create a lot of new templates. Hmm… I have sites with thousands of posts on them, which means that I had to import all those posts into a new platform. Importing thousands of posts usually doesn’t go as smoothly as it should.
Hmm… I don’t think I want to change platforms. I also don’t think that Wordpress is the right platform any longer. Updating plugins and platform software doesn’t bring in any money. However, if you don’t do the updates, your site will end up getting owned by somebody else who hacks in. Either way, you haven’t written content that keeps your readers coming back.
For me, the call comes down to what direction to go in order to make the most money. Problem is… right now I can’t figure out which direction will achieve that goal.
What do you think?
Hi Bob,
I guess at the end of the day if we do not want to be locked in to Wordpress and its ilk then one option would be to going back to designing and using your own HTML templates. That way you would have complete control again.
Scott
Hi Scott - Yes, that is true. But, in today’s world, trying to hard code everything in HTML wouldn’t be too practical. For something where you are adding new content everyday, you need a piece of software where you have a panel that you can just type in your articles and have them published. I know… I want to have my cake and eat it too!
How are your plans for moving coming along? Any timetable yet for your move?
I wonder how Joomla would work for your needs. While I did not design my BestOnlineHighSchools.com (which is in Joomla), I do run the back-end by myself.
One thing to consider is hiring a professional to evaluate it all and give recommendations. A few bucks to solve a lot of headaches. Might be worth it.
Hi Tom - I have tried Joomla in the past, and didn’t care for it too much. However, that’s been a couple of years ago, and new versions have come along, so maybe I would like it better now. I’ll consider giving it a try-out.
I generally do hire professionals to build sites, and at times I even have designers who work for me full time in my office, taking care of my various projects. Right now, I don’t have anybody doing that, because my last guy quit, and I haven’t found the right person yet.
Thanks for the advice!
Finding good web designers is tough I have discovered. I now have a good person (in Europe, actually) who does that sort of thing for me.
My guess is that your Filipino designers charge less.
Hi Tom - I have no doubt on that one!
We are here now Bob. As you know I have read your blog for a long time now and it has paid of, the move has been stress free. I got my 13a before coming, got my ID card within three hours,very smooth no problems.
Perhaps this is not the area to post this but thanks for all the information you have given me over the last eighteen months or so.
Scott
Hi Scott - Well, let’s get together soon, since you are already here! I’m glad to hear that.
You are very welcome for whatever help you have been able to get from my various blogs, I am happy to know that the information has been helpful for you!
I hope to see you soon!
Hi Bob,
Be very glad to meet with you …
Thanks,
Scott
[...] couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about Wordpress, and the fact that there were just way too many updates, plug-ins that needed updates, etc. [...]