To WordPress or Not to WordPress?

  • museumspeak

    (@museumspeak)


    5 years, 3 months ago

    Hello,

    I’ve built 5-8 WordPress sites over the years. Most of them using free themes but a couple I paid for. My results have been varied and here are my concerns:

    Some wp sites would randomly go offline far too often. My host said it wasnt their fault and I never had a problem with a site I built with Dreamweaver. is it common to have stability issues when using free themes? I would see a WP generated error message but the problem would fix itself after a few minutes.

    A few years ago, I had horrible SPAM issues in blog replies. I used the free spam widgets at the time. is this still an issue or have the SPAM widgets become more effective?

    I am about to start a new position and they have a WP site that needs to be updated. I need to have blog posts with videos, calendar and on-line store. I may move the existing content to a new theme

    Are themes you pay for more stable? How do I know the theme will be updated and supported for 5+ years?

    I have no problem building the wp sites and using basic html and css and I prefer not to hire a developer to build the whole site. Would it be common for me to build the site and have a developer QC my work and make recommendations?

    Thank you

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Moderator Steven Stern (sterndata)

    (@sterndata)

    Volunteer Forum Moderator

    5 years, 3 months ago

    >> is it common to have stability issues when using free themes? <<

    No.

    >> Are themes you pay for more stable? <<

    No.

    >> have the SPAM widgets become more effective? <<

    Yes, but so are spammers. I like Akismet or AntiSpamBee for managing comment spam.

    >> How do I know the theme will be updated and supported for 5+ years? <<

    You don’t. The developer could walk away tomorrow or keep a theme up to date for years to come. If you want long term stability, look for themes from the larger developers, like the WP team and Automattic.

    >> Would it be common for me to build the site and have a developer QC my work and make recommendations? <<

    That’s a good idea. It’s always good to have a second set of eyes on things.

    >> My host said it wasnt their fault <<

    Uh huh. 🙂 There are many well-regarded hosts with deep expertise in WordPress. Don’t cheap out on hosting. Look for features like staging sites, current verions of PHP, good support, etc.

    manishah

    (@manishah)

    5 years, 3 months ago

    I agree with Steven and just wanted to add a couple of points:

    Spam issue:
    You could also add Google reCAPTCHA to your comments’ form to solve the spam issue. It’s the most effective way to deal with this issue based on my experience.

    Host:
    If your site (no matter what technology or CMS you’re using) randomly goes “offline”, I would say it’s most probably the host’s problem. As Steven has suggested, try to find a hosting with good support and expertise in WordPress. I recommend WP Engine or SiteGround. They are both highly reliable.

    Overall, if you want your website/theme to last for years without a lot of security, update, etc. issues, I believe it’s best to hire a WordPress/PHP web developer and get them to do it for you.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

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