By Jeffro on October 27, 2010
The largest search engine for work-from-home and freelance jobs DoNanza has released their quarterly State of the Work-From-Home and Freelancing Economy trends report. Based on their findings, WordPress is still the king when it comes to demand for use in projects as it had six times the amount of projects when compared with Joomla and Drupal. However, the report also shows that while Drupal has the least demand, project developers earn the most with an average project cost of $915.00. Joomla projects average $473.00 while WordPress averages $455.00.
One of the more fascinating statistics from this report is the site development as % of the total project. WordPress is the lowest at 18%, Joomla at 23% and Drupal with 31%. This means that Drupal users are looking for freelance support and development work from the get go as opposed to WordPress where users are attempting to build their sites themselves without outside development. This is a great stat for WordPress as it really shows how easy it is to work with the platform. It’s also a good sign of the rich third party community established around the platform where there is usually a theme or plugin that fits the needs of an individual.
On the flip side, there is the 3rd party development as % of total projects. Joomla leads the pack at 29%, Drupal at 20% and WordPress with 16%. According to DoNanza CEO Liran Kotzer,
“This proves that Joomla has a very active market allowing people to create and sell the third party extensions they have created for other Joomla platform users”
Being a former Joomla user myself, the Joomla community had a pretty good commercial market 3-4 years ago. In fact, it was so good that I felt as though if I wanted to do anything cool with Joomla, I had to pay for it. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to be that way anymore but their commercial market is maturing. WordPress on the other hand is still in it’s infancy when we look at the commercial plugin/theme landscape. Sure, commercial themes have been offered for a few years and perhaps even a few plugins but the biggest difference between WordPress and Joomla when it comes to commercial offerings is that, the WordPress userbase has been accustomed to FREE. Free themes, free plugins, free GPL, the mind share in the WordPress community is all about free. However, during the course of this year and into the future, there will be an explosion of commercial plugins, themes and services centered around WordPress as that mind share barrier begins to erode. It’s a good thing to because there are some kick ass commercial products available for WordPress, such as GravityForms.
The report goes on to show that PHP, Translation, and HTML are still the top three requested skill sets. WordPress increased it’s rank by 1 at the number 7 spot.
I know that a large amount of consultants read WPTavern.com. What do you think of these trend results by DoNanza? Do they match well with what you’re seeing or do you think they have missed the boat?
Posted in News | Tagged drupal, joomla, report, wordpress |
By Jeffro on October 4, 2010
Version 2.6 of the WordPress iPhone app was released a few days ago with the most notable addition to the app being support for video. However, while new features and some outstanding issues were fixed, 2.6 introduced new bugs or made current ones worse.
We’ve received many reports of improved speed and ease of use, so we’re happy to hear that many of you are happy with the update.
However, since WordPress is such an amazing and extensive platform, we weren’t able to fix everything, and in some cases we created new bugs that made things worse.
Chris Boyd outlined some of the issues being reported the most by users which include crashing during video uploads for WordPress.org users, crashing after video compression, and crashes at the start screen. The app is working just fine for me although I have yet to try adding any photos or videos to any of my posts. If you have an issue with version 2.6, report it in the comments or within the feedback section of the forum.
Posted in News | Tagged bugs, features, iphone, releases
By Jeffro on September 28, 2010
I’ve been writing about WordPress since 2007 and since then, I’ve seen a number of websites about WordPress come and go. Like many of you, I’m a fan of all these different websites and enjoy reading their points of view. Some of them even have breaking stories from time to time. However, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before the RSS feed goes dormant, never to be heard from again. As a writer and reader of a site devoted to WordPress, here are a few tips.
Consistency – Something I’ve lacked recently but I enjoy sites that are consistently publishing something during the week. If it’s only one or two things during the week, it’s easy to forget about that website despite subscribing to their RSS feed. Consistency also retains the audience and gives them an expectation that there is always something new to participate in.
In-Depth Knowledge – There are a ton of people in the WordPress community that know what is going on amongst the various facets of the project, write about it. Link things together, talk about stuff in the past and mix it up with stuff in the current/future. Bring comments, track tickets, discussions together. The WordPress.org project is a spaghetti of stuff going on, do your best to try to give visitors the big picture without all the cruft.
Try Not To Do It Alone – I’ve learned that there is just too much going on for one man to write about. To truly have a great, successful site about WordPress, you’re going to need at least 3-4 knowledgeable writers. A good example of this in action right now is WPCandy.com which is one of the few WordPress centric sites that was buried 6 feet under and has been resurrected with new life. In fact, the new site is better than the old one before it and it seems like the site hasn’t lost a beat.
Curation Is A Good Thing – Something I do here on WPTavern.com is curate news and information. I use my RSS Feedreader as a cockpit with a window to the internet. From here, I can get a good idea as to what the topics and trends are within the world of WordPress. The best part about my feed reader is my subscriptions to the WordPress keyword in Google because it brings in posts from places and people I have never heard of. Occasionally, I’ll find a real gem in that crowd. People are busy and if you can link to useful items with brief descriptions, you’ll be thanked for saving them time.
Longevity – If you’re going to start a site about WordPress, at least stick to it for a year. This has been the biggest culprit of good sites I’ve seen disappear. They all seem to do a good job for the first three months, then things gradually die off and within 6 months of starting the site, it becomes another graveyard on the web. There is plenty of room for sites about WordPress with everything that goes on during a weekly basis. Give yourself the time needed to gain exposure and become a reliable stop for information within the community.
Follow those five tips and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a destination stop for the WordPress train. Do you have any tips or suggestions that you could lend?
Posted in News | Tagged community, suggestions, tips, wordpress |
By Jeffro on September 28, 2010
I’m a day late and a dollar short on this story but it’s great to see Microsoft migrate their users to a robust platform that is actively developed rather than shutting down their doors without providing their users any recourse. Upon reading a lot of feedback on the deal, it’s become clear that there is still a large amount of people who don’t understand the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress the open source project. When folks just say WordPress, that enhances the confusion even further. How many times has this nightmare played itself?
Another thing I’ve seen mentioned a number of times is that there are now only two services where blogging can be done for free, WordPress.com and Blogger. This is not the case. You still have TypePad, Tumblr, and a few other services, despite the argument that they are mostly meant for short-hand publishing. There is a part of me however that would not like to see Blogger be absorbed into WordPress.com because things get pretty boring when you’re not chasing the #1 spot. As confirmed by Matt, the largest group of importers into WordPress.com are from Blogger. Since that’s the case, there is no reason to go after Blogger because Blogger is coming to them, slowly by surely. WordPress.com is in a great position as a hosted publishing service.
To all those who think WordPress can’t scale or be used for large websites, I suppose we’re about to find out as Automattic doubles their user-base. I’m looking forward to a post by Matt or Barry within the next few months that explains what had to be done to make the transition as smooth as possible. Congratulations to all those involved with the deal.
Posted in News | Tagged automattic, microsoft, wordpress |
By Jeffro on September 1, 2010
Not too long ago, Aaron Brazell published an interview with Copybloggers, Brian Clark where he explains the reasons for why he left DIY Themes. In that interview, there was no mention of StudioPress or Brian Gardner in relation to the future for Brian Clark. Fast forward to today and if you take a look at the footer on StudioPress.com, you’ll see the following:
© Copyright 2010 Copyblogger Media LLC · StudioPress™ is a trademark of Copyblogger Media LLC
Interesting to say the least. While I don’t know any of the details involving the deal that has gone down, the trademark of StudioPress is now owned by Copyblogger Media LLC which leads me to believe that either some of the assets, the entire company, or a majority of the company has been sold to Brian Clark. Just like you, I’ll have to sit back and wait for the official word on the details involving the deal but it would not surprise me at all if Brian Gardner has sold the company to start a new venture. Brian just seems like the type of guy that has his hands in all sorts of cookie jars and is always experimenting with ideas.
Let the speculation fly.
*Update* – StudioPress has published an official post announcing details of the merger..
Also noteworthy is that the company was NOT sold, but rather merged with other companies to form a new company.
Posted in News | Tagged brian clark, copyblogger, studiopress |
By Jeffro on August 31, 2010
I think it’s time that not only do I inform new readers but remind long time visitors that this site is my home and you’re just a guest. The WPTavern.com about page does a decent job of explaining how this site came to be and what its purpose is. WPTavern is still a project but let me explain a few things. For starters, I am not a journalist. I’ve never taken a journalist class and my role is not to be the journalist of WordPress. WPTavern is an enthusiast community about WordPress. It’s comprised of fans of the software, one of them being me. So whatever standards of journalistic quality you’d like to hold me to, get rid of them, they mean nothing.
What I do here is routinely take a look at the WordPress horizon and write about what I see. Things that are interesting to me or that I have a comment/opinion on end up as forum or blog posts. I am not officially endorsed by WordPress.org or Automattic although I do receive monetary support through display advertising by Automattic. Am I a fan boy of WordPress? My answer to that is no and my track record which is available through the WPTavern.com post archive will illustrate this. I am a person that can be swayed from one side to the other. One day, I think something is a great idea and after further discussion, I might think it’s the worst idea ever. That’s just who I am. A fan boy in my opinion is someone who tows the line and only thinks unilaterally in favor of the platform or key figure. That’s not me.
I have to admit, I think I had more fun with this hobby of writing about WordPress and what people were doing with it when I didn’t know anyone personally. For the past 2 years, I’ve worked pretty hard not to burn any bridges and directly go after anyone. In the past two weeks, I’ve been pretty grumpy and those bridges have ignited into flames. It’s hard to stay neutral and not burn those bridges when you look out at the horizon and see a bunch of asshats in the community you love to be a part of. But I can’t publicly call them asshats or describe what their doing to be asshattery because of this notion of taking the high road. While great in practice, it’s good to take a detour every once in a while. These past two weeks have been a detour for me and it feels pretty good to sling some mud where I feel it necessary. The WordPress community is made up of millions of people and only a fraction of those people are assholes, thank god for that. However, I think for now, my mudslinging is over with, at least in the public space.
So you may have heard from someone that I’m the voice of WordPress, a voice of reason, or some other title. The truth is, I didn’t ask for any of those titles and I don’t try to live up to any of them. My interviews, the way I write and the things I do regarding WordPress all stem from my own curiosity.
Over time, my goal and direction for WPTavern has changed. The past two months have been a financial break down. I’ve been working to turn WPTavern into a full-time job, a great source of income for me. It’s not working. There are numerous times in which I’ve looked at the amount of time and work I’ve put into this site, the podcast, etc and wondered if I should continue, at least at trying to make a full-time gig out of it. The choice is becoming increasingly clear in that the answer is no. So I’m currently thinking about revamping my mindset and using WPTavern as my second part-time job that brings in extra money versus having it be my primary source of income. Basically, turn the site and podcast back into a hobby that occasionally pays money. At least this way, the stress of trying to please others first rather than myself will decrease and I don’t need to worry so much about page views or artificial limitations that people have placed on me. I have thought about selling the site or disbanding it but I’m still a distant way from pulling the trigger. After all, the forum is doing very well, the site is still a good resource for many people, and I still enjoy writing about the software.
So while the drinks are still on the house, any liquid that does not make it from the cup to the mouth will be considered alcohol abuse and you’ll be charged a hefty fine.
Posted in News | Tagged Blogging, hobby, wordpress, wptavern |
By Jeffro on August 31, 2010
Today, I’ve disbanded the WPTavern VIP Program that I launched at the end of May. Everyone that was a part of the program was sent a pro-rated refund. I’ve been keeping tabs on this particular section of the forum and it was under utilized. I’ll take some of the blame for that. While I did keep up with the coupon portion, I didn’t put effort into the other areas of the program. To really get that section going, I would had to put forth extra effort and work which would take away from the site in general. I’m one man when in reality I need 5. I also didn’t think the program provided any value anymore and thus, was a waste of money. I know some of you simply went through the checkout process as a means of supporting me and the site which I sincerely thank you for but you paid money to be part of a value oriented program which wasn’t delivering on a consistent basis.
So instead of letting the subscriptions expire and simply disabling the subscription process, I wanted to get this out of the way as quick as possible. For those of you that subscribed and your money situation is bleak, think of this as a mini stimulus package!
Posted in News | Tagged business, refunds, vip |
By Jeffro on August 25, 2010
Peter Westwood who is a core comitter for the WordPress.org project and has been involved with the community for the majority of the projects existence has announced on his personal blog that he now become the newest member of the Automattic team as a “Happiness Gardener”. I’ve lost count but for the conspiracy theorists out there, this now makes one more Automattic employee with committ access.
This level of enjoyment has led me to consider at a number of points in time whether or not I should switch job and work full-time on WordPress.org as a freelance consultant or as an Automattician. In the end it felt like the right thing for me to do was to apply to be an Automattician. This will hopefully ensure that I have a dependable long-term income stream and the ability to spend my spare time on the things I love: Music, Photography, Food, and of course WordPress.
Congrats on the move Peter. Look forward to getting the chance to meet you at a future WordCamp.
Posted in News | Tagged automattic, peter, westwood |
By Jeffro on August 25, 2010
Phil Simon who is an accomplished book author with two books already under his belt, Why New Systems Fail and The Next Wave of Technologies is currently in the process of receiving enough funds from the public to write and publish his new book, The New Small: How a New Breed Of Small Businesses is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies. While Phil was originally going to write a book chronicling the life of WordPress from the past to the present, that idea has switched into discussing how companies are creating some cool jobs thanks to emerging technologies. Phil will be profiling twelve different companies from different industries. When I asked Phil what this book has to do with WordPress or Automattic for that matter, this is what he told me:
There’s a whole section on FOSS such as Drupal, WP, Joombla, and other free products. The book is about how small businesses can act big and save oodles of cash.
So far, Phil has managed to raise $3,085.00 out of the $4,000 needed. There are special perks being offered to those who back the book with a certain amount of money such as your name in the acknowledgments section or an acknowledgment plus a copy of the book. Good luck Phil and I hope you reach your amount by November 2nd. I also hope to have Phil on the WordPress Weekly podcast to talk about his book once it’s been published.
Posted in News | Tagged book, opensource, phil simon
By Jeffro on August 24, 2010
Thanks to an extension for Thunderbird called Display Contact Photo, you can now view Gravatars within emails in Thunderbird. The Gravatar blog has a good explanation on how to setup and install the extension. I’ve installed the extension as Thunderbird is my email client of choice. So don’t be surprised to see a beer mug accompanying replies from me although I’m not sure yet if both parties need to be running the extension to see the images.
Posted in News | Tagged email, gravatar, thunderbird |
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The largest search engine for work-from-home and freelance jobs DoNanza has released their quarterly State of the Work-From-Home and Freelancing Economy trends report. Based on their findings, WordPress is still the king when it comes to demand for use in projects as it had six times the amount of projects when compared with Joomla and Drupal. However, the report also shows that while Drupal has the least demand, project developers earn the most with an average project cost of $915.00. Joomla projects average $473.00 while WordPress averages $455.00.
