Don't Be a Victim: 5 Myths About WordPress

Don’t Be a Victim: 5 Myths About WordPress

5 Myths About WordPress In our digital-happy world, news travels at breakneck speed. “Thought leaders” and “experts” are around every corner, with advice sprinkled with untruths, half-truths, exaggerations and over-promises.

We hear something and we believe it. Someone posts or tweets or puts it up on Facebook. Then a keynoter at a conference throws it in and, bam, it’s an accepted fact.

I’m sorry to say, my friends, but WordPress is no different. Here are 5 myths I hear over and over again.

1. Your choices are between WordPress.com and WordPress.org

This is major confusion for the beginner. We are led to believe that our blog will be on one these two sites. So we research and after visiting WordPress.org, we wonder: where do I put my blog?

It’s time to clear the air. It’s WordPress.com vs. a self-hosted WordPress site. This means you will either create a free blog on the platform WordPress.com or you will purchase hosting somewhere, for example, HostGator, and install the WordPress software there (the software that resides on WordPress.org.)

We have talked about this here before, and you can learn more about the pros and cons of each option here.

2. WordPress is only for blogs

Sure, that’s where it started. And yes, the way WordPress is designed, it’s the best blogging platform out there. But you can also create a stand-alone website with WordPress. Can you use the features like categories and tags without having a blog? Yes, of course.

The beauty of a blog is fresh content for both your readers and the search engines. But if you don’t have time to keep up a blog, well, WordPress can help you create that dynamic website.

3. The more plugins you have, the slower your site

This can be true, especially if you have dozens of plugins. But I’m a true believer in quality vs. quantity. It’s not so much the number of plugins, but the plugin itself.

On my own site, I have what most people would consider too many plugins. But I have tested, deleted, installed new ones and found the one’s that do the job without sacrificing speed.

There are a lot of great plugins, and a lot of crappy ones. And if you really want to know if any plugin is compromising your load speed, check out this plugin to measure it (yes, a plugin that actually test other plugins— and by GoDaddy, if you can believe it).

4. WordPress is a CMS, so you have total control

One of the shiny buttons that attract so many people to WordPress is the CMS (Content Management System). This means you can easily add or change content, including pages, posts and media.

But wait, can’t you also change the font, the headers, the colors? Maybe.

The problem here is that, depending on your theme, there may be limitations. And in that case, the only solution would be to understand CSS or PHP. And exactly what you need to do to manage this content, well, that’s another ball of wax. Which leads me into…

5. WordPress is so easy my 90-year-old grandmother can build and manage a blog

Not so fast. As with any software, there is a learning curve. Yes, it’s fairly easy to get a very simple blog up but still, you need certain skills.

It’s no different than a writer saying, “Publish a book! Anyone can do it!”. When it comes to learning WordPress, there are just so many variables.

What does your blog need to do?
What do you want it to look like?
Are you comfortable with technology?
Did it take you a few days to even understand how to create new folders on your desktop computer?

Basically, it’s different strokes for different folks.

So, there you have it.

What has been your experience with WordPress?

Were you a victim of any of these myths?

Buffer

Pingback: Don't Be a Victim: 5 Myths About WordPress – For Bloggers By Bloggers | SMB Marketing Monitor | Scoop.it
http://www.newdaynewlesson.com/ newdaynewlesson

I almost had a heart attack when I was a new blogger and moved from wordpress.com to wordpress self hosted. Luckily I had friends who helped saved my site when I crashed it because I had no idea what the heck I was doing.So yeah-I agree there is a learning curve.
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  newdaynewlesson I’m glad to see you still alive and breathing : )Yes, it’s that learning curve. Once you get through that WordPress is great!
http://blogsnewsreviews.com/ AstroGremlin

Bob, WordPress IS easy enough that anyone can start a blog. The challenges begin when you want to do more. There is a learning curve for almost everything you want to modify. Still, it’s worth it. I think.
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  AstroGremlin It is, but in the eyes of the beholder : )Even the basics can be a challenge for some. I have taught hundreds of users and hear those challenges all the time. The thing with WordPress, is the UI is not the most intuitive thing out there. You can’t imagine how many people struggle with what those of us who know WordPress think of as “easy”. And of course it’s worth it. For some they just need a little help to get them to that comfort level.
http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown

That P3 plugin is one of my favourites – and, like you say, who would have thought GoDaddy woud be behind it? Mind you, maybe it’s because they know their hosting for WordPress ain’t all that, so they have to help out in other ways…
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  DannyBrown I love it.. never thought of it that way : )
http://www.wmwebdesign.co.uk/ wmwebdes

Hi BobWordPress is so easy my 90-year-old grandmother can build and manage a blog(would have used quotation marks on that Bob but Livefyre adds the @ symbol for quotes!)Everything is easy… when you can do it.I can remember watching videos on setting up a database via Cpanel, uploading WordPress via FTP and then adding the info to the wpconfig file… took me ages first time and it worked more by luck than judgement!I’ve not mentioned buying a domain name and transferring DNS settings… all very easy, when you know how.
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  wmwebdes Interestingly enough, we’re about to launch our first premium product based around WordPress tutorials and getting your blog locked and loaded within 30 days. Looking at an affiliate program too, so if you want to sign your grandma up…
  - http://www.wmwebdesign.co.uk/ wmwebdes
    
    DannyBrown Let me know when you have the affiliate info and I’ll knock out a post.All the people I have affiliate links for are with ShareASale – very easy to manage as an affiliate and… they pay on the nose.Who are you going with?
    - http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
      
      wmwebdes Either eJunkie or Shareasale.
    - http://www.wmwebdesign.co.uk/ wmwebdes
      
      DannyBrown ShareASale gets my vote.Keep me in the loop Sir.Spain Portugal tonight… will you be watching?
    - http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
      
      wmwebdes Will look to have on in the background – it’s still middle of the day for us over here in Canada!
  - http://www.AdamBritten.com/ AdamBritten
    
    DannyBrown Can I sign my grandma up? She finally knows what Twitter is, maybe it’s time to introduce her to wordpress too!
    - http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
      
      AdamBritten But if course!!
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  wmwebdes Yeah, I know what you mean… sometimes I even tend to explain something to someone and end with “it’s easy”. yeah, I’ve only done it a thousand times.. : )And those cpanels, if you aren’t familiar with them, they can drive you nuts.
  - http://www.wmwebdesign.co.uk/ wmwebdes
    
    bobWP I still use Cpanel to get access to database info, but I don’t use it to do the one click install.
http://ariherzog.com/ Ari Herzog

The other WordPress myth is it’s that or nothing — when there are plenty of success stories of content management solutions using Drupal, Expression Engine, etc.
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  Ari Herzog Yes, you need to find the one that works best for you and your needs… I agree Also, when looking at other CMS solutions, you need to weigh all the pros and cons.
Kat_McBride

Number 5 for me all the way. I was under the very silly impression that I would automatically have a free and beautiful blog design to just plug information into. Instant professional results, just add water! What do you mean my content and widgets have to be professional looking too?!
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  Kat_McBride You are not alone : )I just love laugh at some of these promises. In fact one site had a video of this guy walking into his grandmothers house and finding her at the computer on her WordPress blog. Hilarious….
http://www.content-writing-india.com/ Arpita

Hi Bob Dunn,Thanks for sharing this great post !Wordpress is sometimes considered to be unprofessional.But many large professional and governmental companies are using WordPress now.For example,Ford Motor Company,Wall Street Journal etc. Thanks againRegards
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  Arpita Yeah, I’m not sure who thinks it’s unprofessional, but it is a powerful piece of open software. And as I said, some huge sites on run on it. I would be interested to know what is meant by “unprofessional”. : )
CynthiaM1

Thanks for this. This is the first time I’ve really gotten the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org, and it makes perfect sense to me now.
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  Great to hear that I cleared it up for you. It can be very confusing.
http://www.ipnostudio.com/ Andrea T.H.W.

From time to time I check how fast my website is and really plugins seems to affect speed very little, much less than pictures. It is true though that the wrong plugin can mess everything. I hope one day in the future the guys at Automattic will prevent certain areas of WP to be messed up by either themes or plugins.Anyway for a free software it does more than we need, imho.
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  Andrea T.H.W. So true, and yes, I think they really try to weed out the bad one’s and will remove them from the .org repository when they become broken, or no longer working, but I can imagine how difficult that is with the number of plugins there are. I would like to see the plugin developer remove it if they decide not to keep it updated. And I’m sure in the future, this will become less and less of a problem. Yes, it’s pretty damn nice for a free software : )
Pingback: The Week in Review: Blogging Tips to Help You Grow Your Blog – For Bloggers By Bloggers
http://everydaygyaan.com/ CorinneRodrigues

bobWP as per usual – I learn so much with every post of yours. I moved to WP self-hosted and love the freedom of it. But I took with me all my past posts from four years and it tells me that the loading time is too slow. I’m going to check out the plugin from GoDaddy – my site’s host incidentally.
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  CorinneRodrigues Yeah, there could be several reasons for that. As much as I would like to say, it’s GoDaddy, probably not. Do check out your plugins though, and also make sure your media isn’t causing it as well. It can be a number of things… what is your URL?
  - http://everydaygyaan.com/ CorinneRodrigues
    
    bobWP Have deleted some huge plugins that were taking more place than doing good! Here’s my URL – http://everydaygyaan.com
http://www.austrianalpineholidaysblog.com/ Linda

Good morning Bob!I’ve read the comments and have to say..’ But Ladies and Gentlemen, I did indeed find it so very easy to get my WordPress site up and running. I merely said to a very nice man … I’ll have one of those, please – and it was done!’ lol
- http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP
  
  Linda That is certainly one way to make it easy : )