Christian Montoya over at the Montoya Herald says he understands why many web developers use WordPress as a CMS system instead of the many other systems that are not blogging platforms, but CMS systems themselves.
All of these CMS’s have rather complicated administration interfaces, tend to be difficult to theme, and usually don’t put as much emphasis on syndicated publishing as blogging software. It’s really interesting when you think about it; after all, on a typical website you might publish a couple handfuls of static pages, whereas you might have a fresh news posting every week. Doesn’t it make sense for a platform to emphasize news/blog content over static pages? Moreover, if you are going to hand something over to a client, it’s natural to opt for something that non-technical people can use (and do every day). When I tell people “updating this site is just like updating your Livejournal/Xanga,” that’s one of the great things about WordPress. It’s the combination of the simple admin interface and the focus on blogging (even when the end result is not a blog) that makes WordPress ideal for most simple sites that I would build for a client.
He does point out that WordPress has its limitations, which makes sense since it’s goal is to be a good blogging platform. But he sums up with a good point:
…content management systems shouldn’t just be about offering more features and functionality for the developer, but being user-friendly for the client too.
I have started to use WordPress as a CMS system because it is relatively easy to theme and customize, and web site owners can easily update their content.
