Noupe.com has an overall comparison post between the MODx CMS and WordPress. The overview is not thoroughly comprehensive but it does provide an at a glance view of MODx. I’ve never used MODx before so I’ll have to take their word for it.
General Overview Of MODx Versus WordPress
WordPress And How It Changed Content Management
WordPress did not create the concept of content management. Such systems have been around since before the internet was a twinkle in Tim Berners-Lee’s eye. But true innovation rarely effects the greatest change. WordPress took an existing concept, made it highly useable, and introduced it to the masses (free of charge).
Case Study On How WordPress Won The Crown
Interesting case study using a number of cool data points that shows how WordPress has won the crown amongst Joomla and Drupal for being the most widely used CMS in the world. One things for sure, it certainly paid off for WordPress to be focused on making the democratization of content publishing as easy as possible first, then making WordPress incredibly extensible later. There is an entire laundry list of reasons of why WordPress is at the top of the mountain right now, the success of the platform can not be traced back to one thing. The comments in the article contain a couple of those reasons while the others are spread amongst the various comment and forum threads on the web.
The past 7-8 years is very interesting to look back upon to figure out how WordPress ended up in it’s current spot of being the best in breed within the content management space. But, what I find even more interesting is if whether or not the things that made WordPress successful in the past will continue to stick around so that the platform is equally or more successful in the future. Focus, ease of use, extensibility, etc. Be right back, I’m going to go ask my magic 8 ball. ∞
Drupal And WordPress Founders Share The Same Stage
Here is something you don’t get to see all the time. WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and Drupal founder Dries Buytaert shared the same stage at an event called Schipulcon. While catering to the web marketing crowd, the event also has a short but concise mission statement:
To grow community champions that make the world a better place through extraordinary thinking, smart technology and cross-industry creativity.
Schipulcon took place in Houston, Texas which is the hometown of Matt Mullenweg. While some expected the two founders to duke it out, according to some in the audience, it looked more like a bromance.
Dries Buytaert and Matt Mullenweg at SchipulCon 2011 by Ed Schipul
Video for this session if not currently available but the folks who ran the event have said that the video will be published soon. However, there were a couple of notable quotes that were shared over twitter. Here is just a sampling.
kamichat
Wordpress founder @photomatt says the next gen for Wordpess is more social and mobile. #schipulcon – via
Beccamus
Cool! Some of the best tech & creative opportunities developed in #Houston like wordpress by @photomatt #schipulcon – via
Janerri
Though biased, I’m enjoying the contrast & comparison of @Drupal @WordPress It’s friendly now, how long will that last? #schipulcon – via
AshleyRSmall
Our architecture is our greatest advantage over WordPress – @dries #schipulcon – via
thisisnotapril
“If WordPress wins; Drupal wins. Because it means open source wins.” -@Dries #schipulcon – via
qcait
Wordpress @photomatt’s Drupal developer profile is #5665, created 8 yrs ago. Profile lists “simplicity” as an interest. #schipulcon – via
I for one am seriously looking forward to watching the video of this session once it’s released.
Additional photos of Matt Mullenweg and Dries Buytaert can be found within this photoset.
Pods Plugin Successfully Kickstarted To Version 2.0
Scoot Kingsley Clark who is the lead developer of the Pods Development Framework has successfully acquired the funds necessary to complete development work for Pods 2.0 along with the community website. After launching his project on Kickstarter.com, he managed to get the $1,500.00 goal necessary within 24 hours. However, the project has been so successful at getting pledges, he is nearly 200% or $2,000.00 above the original goal with 7 days left in the pledging period. With regards to what Scott plans on doing with the extra cash, this is what he says under the FAQ section of the project page:
All additional money raised goes towards the Pods Foundation to help fund future development, travel for WordCamps and presentations, and hosting costs. So really, 2.0 is now funded – BUT you can still fund the foundation and everything it stands for.
You might be wondering what he means by Pods Foundation. When I had a chance to speak with Scott the other day, he told me that the purpose of the foundation as well as how it’s structured is very similar to the WordPress foundation. I’m pretty sure this is the first WordPress plugin to have it’s own Non Profit foundation attached to it unless you know of another one? Because of the foundation, you can be assured that the money donated will go towards improvement of the plugin and accompanying community website.
Congratulations goes out to Scott as well as his community of users. I have yet to see any other plugin or theme developers use Kickstarter in such a way. Do you think this was a unique opportunity for something like the Pods plugin or could other plugin authors leverage Kickstarter successfully to fund development of their projects?
Vote WordPress For The 2010 Open Source Awards
It’s that time of year again to nominate WordPress for the Packt Open Source Awards for 2010. Nominations were opened up on August 9th and will close on September 17th. The top five projects with the most nominations in each category will move on to the final stage of voting. Voting for the finals begins on September 27th, voting will close on November 5th, and the winners will be announced on November 15th.
In 2009, WordPress took the prize for Overall Winner while Drupal won the category for best open source PHP content management system. One of the categories setup for nominations is Most Promising Open Source Project. While you can nominate any project you wish, consider nominating BuddyPress as it’s made some great strides within the past year and is definitely an up and coming successful project.
Should WordPress Change The Blog Nomenclature Within The Backend?
Been awhile since we’ve had something to vote on but I’ve finally found a topic where we you can weigh in on one side or the other. Recently, there was a discussion on the WordPress Hackers Mailing list that discussed the idea of changing the blogging nomenclature found within the administration panel of WordPress. The line of thought is that WordPress is constantly being used for more than just blogging but it will never be taken seriously as a powerful CMS until the blog nomenclature is removed in favor for something more generic. As for myself, I’m fine with both sides but I lean slightly more in favor of switching the words to something more generic because by having the word blog splattered everywhere in the backend, it gives the sense that WordPress is only meant for blogging and nothing else. That may have been the case when the project was lifting off the ground but these days, WordPress is powering some pretty hefty sites that blow blogging out of the water. It’s a simple change that I think would have a big impact on the software especially as it relates to perception. What do you think?
Should WordPress Change The Blog Nomenclature Within The Backend?
- Yes (89%, 92 Votes)
- No (11%, 11 Votes)
Total Voters: 103
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Nominate WordPress In The OpenSource CMS Awards
I learned about this through WP Engineer where the CMS Awards for 2009 are now open for nominations. The total prize purse is $24,000 with each winner of their respective category taking a share of that money. The categories are as follows:
- Best Overall Open Source CMS
- Most Promising Open Source CMS
- Best PHP Open Source CMS
- Best Other Open Source CMS
- Open Source MVPs
During the nomination stage, they are giving away three 8GB iPod Nanos to three individuals at the nominations stage, and three 8GB iPod Touch’s to three individuals at the voting stage, all selected at random. The entire contest of sorts is being put on by Packt Publishing which is home to quite a few WordPress centric books. The last time WordPress appeared in the winners circle was back in 2007 where WordPress took the crown for Best Open Source Social Networking Content Management System. Drupal however seems to be near the top in each year while taking the crown in 2008.
I’ve nominated WordPress in the categories I see fit. Visit the nomination page here.
WPWeekly Episode 63 – Interview With Randy Hoyt And Scott Clark
This episode of WordPress Weekly was centered around one topic, using WordPress as a CMS. Thanks to my special guests Randy Hoyt of Amesburyweb.com and Scott Clark co-author of the PODS plugin, we were able to dive deep into the topic of the PODS plugin and its capabilities while also discussing what it means to use WordPress as a CMS. This is a topic many listeners have wanted us to cover for a long time and so, here you go.
Ad Copy:
This episode of WordPress Weekly is sponsored by, WebDevStudios.com. WebDevStudios is a website development company specializing in WordPress support and development services. Contact them today for help with your WordPress powered website.
Stories Discussed:
WordPress Tavern Listener Poll:
Last weeks poll question was:
Should there be a page on the plugin repository for Commercial GPL plugins?
Out of a total of 37 voters, 27 of you said Yes, 6 of you said No and 4 of you voted that Commercial GPL Plugins Already Exist In The Repository.
This Weeks Poll Question Is:
Is WordPress A Community Run Project?
Plugin Picks Of The Week:
Jeff – PODS – Pods is a CMS framework that lets you create, manage, and display your own content types. Don’t bother hacking blog posts into becoming something they’re not. With Pods, create entirely new data structures with only the fields you need. Like Drupal CCK, you can set up relationships, allowing for a whole new level of interconnectedness.
David – Minimum Comment Length – Check the comment for a set minimum length and disapprove it if it’s too short. by Joost de Valk
Last Weeks WordPress Trivia Question:
Matt was recently interviewed for a blog post which I won’t name but one of the questions he was asked was: What can we expect from Matt in the near future besides WordPress advancements, of course? Your job is to provide the answer
WordPress Trivia Answer:
More Photos – http://www.bornrich.org/entry/cool-geek-of-the-week-matt-mullenweg/
This Weeks Trivia Question
What are the names of the 5 people who have core commit access to WordPress?
Announcements:
Next week I have schedule Sam Bauers, lead developer of bbPress to come on the show. If he is unable to make it, we’ll just catch up on all the happenings within the WordPress community.
WPWeekly Meta:
Next Episode: Friday July 17th, 2009 8P.M. EST
Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Itunes: Click here to subscribe
Length Of Episode: 1 Hour 12 Minutes
Download The Show: WordPressWeeklyEpisode63.mp3
Listen To Episode #63:
Great List Of CMS Centric Plugins
One question I’ve heard pop up more than once at local WordPress Meetups and at WordCamps is whether WordPress can be used as a CMS or not. My basic response to them is that WordPress IS a CMS but if it doesn’t have something you need out of the box, chances are good that a plugin exists to fill in the gap. Granted, if Joomla or Drupal provides most of what you need out of the box, then you should use the right tool for the job.
Thankfully, we have sites that go out and compile these lists of plugins for a specific audience. Noupe.com has a list of 40 exceptional plugins you can use to turn WordPress into one heck of a powerhouse CMS.