Is WordPress underrated?

I use WordPress to create MVPs for new ideas, it's super quick and you can get pretty advanced functionality with some plugins.
Not good enough for production IMO, though.

Here is something I tested using crocoblock plugins:
https://wheretosurf.app/

After 10 years of using it, mainly for themes, I love it.

I use other options though e.g. carrd for simple landing pages but WP is my go-to if I want to especially rank organically for keywords

Wordpress is definitely a good solution, and it's used by a ton of websites.
The only issue with wordpress is poorly coded plugins and themes that may introduce vulnerabilities - besides that, it's ease of installation and use makes it a very good CMS!

Not sure if this is accurate but a quick Google search says over 455 million websites run on WordPress. My personal blog https://timleland.com/ runs on WordPress and I've never had an issue. I know many developers who want to start a blog and spend hours on their custom blogging platform but never actually blog 😭.

Since WordPress is so popular, it often is the target of hackers. WordPress plugins are great but be careful what you install. They are often either sold or hacked which leads to millions of compromised sites. Also, make sure you lock down your server and turn on WordPress updates to keep your site safe.

WordPress imho is suitable for 'the regular web'. But not really the platform you want to use if you're trying to create your own web based application or eCommerce store, etc.

It has some vulnerabilities from requiring so many plugins which get outdated and attacked, and the infrastructure will probably hold you back mid-long term.

But for blogs and media sites, it works well. That's what it is made for.

it means that it is not given enough recognition or appreciation for its value or worth. It is often overlooked or underestimated by others, even though it may be a great product, service, or idea. In the case of WordPress, some people may not fully understand its capabilities and potential, leading them to underestimate its value as a website-building platform. However, despite being underrated by some, WordPress remains one of the most popular and widely used content management systems on the internet.

I'm weighing in on this long after it appeared, but just wanted to add that WordPress is great for all the reasons people have listed in other remarks, but there's also more possibility for building applications / SaaS services as WordPress has moved to using "blocks" to build everything. It's even possible to build low or no code apps.

I overlooked and ignored WP for (11ish) years. This pass 12 months (after starting freelance development again) I've create 7 sites & 2 plugins.

The learning curve wasnt too bad, coming from a php background.

I've developed shiney object syndrome for a plugin idea i have, for a problem I've come across. There are 2 plugins in the niche, 1 is over kill the other is basic. Hopefully room for 1 more 👍

Ive not build an webapp on it, but could see there maybe room in early stage development - proof of concept stuff.

The biggest strength of WordPress as a software is it's extendability.
The biggest weakness of WordPress is the overwhelming number of possibilities for the users without much guidelines.

There are some valid security concerns mentioned here already. In order to avoid most of those, always choose one of the more popular plugins - they are usually maintained and updated regularly.

Keeping all things up to date is the first and best thing you can do in order to avoid most of the vulnerabilities of the software.

I would also add that the WordPress community is one of it's main asset. You can always find written or video tutorial for any issue you encounter, or find an assistance of other community members.

Like any other piece of software, WordPress is ever evolving and changing, thus increasing it's performance overall and options it provides to users. That said, it doesn't mean it's always the best option for any and every use case. Depends what you need and/or want.

I would say yes. It is not as shiny as some SSR solution, but you get much more for free (as in beer and time).

Even if you develop a brand new web app you usually need a landing page, a blog, a help section. All things you can easily accomplish and fit to your needs with WordPress.

Then you only need to embed your web app into your WordPress installation.

One strategy would be with a different subdomain. Another would be with a plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/reactpress/)

I had used Wordpress as a blogging platform in the past but have not looked into it for a long time. Are you able to build your static/dynamic websites as fast as this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noBoPJf3VhA) tool using Wordpress? What is your opinion on the learning curve especially when you are seeing this tool for the first time?

I call this tool Piston which is a portal technology and which is foundation of most of the CMSes out there directly or indirectly.

My side projects are both focused on wordpress so I am in the 'its a great thing' camp.

For those that comment on speed it is most likely down to no caching, too many plugins and a non-optimised host.

And on security side, picking a host that doesn't help with network level attacks.

Yes there are more steps to take out of the box to secure a site which you don't need to worry about with static sites. As with everything you get what you pay for and are happy to do. Time vs money it boils down to.

Shameless self promo, my 7 month part time side project has reached v1. If any fellow wordpress site owners want to give it a try out to help test it then take a nose: https://site-assistant.ourwebservices.co.uk/

Can't beat that price tag 👏🏼

Wordpress has been a lifesaver for many. I started out as a decent CMS (Content Management System) and then went through its ups and downs, (predominantly in the early and mid-2010s). Today, it is a much more stable and seasoned platform.

What is super amazing about WP are the themes and plug-ins available. So many choices. So many independent designers and developers earn a living from WP, others making something to be used with WP or using WP to make a gig.

WordPress can be thought of as what today we call a 'no-code' app. So you do not need to be able to code to use WordPress (which is something you would need to with HTML/CSS/Java).

However, it is important to note, a LOT (emphasis supplied) of no-code apps are out there and there is a lot of competition for WordPress. The alternatives are plenty, so do check them out.

It's been around for a long time. The food that goes on my table is paid with WordPress Jobs, freelance. You wouldn't believe how big the market out there is. Everyone needs a website. Every company, small and big. Social media sites come and go, websites are here to stay. I'm working on new designs, old WordPress redesigns, and even do consulting for clients on how to work better with their WordPress site.

Yes, there are newer platforms like Webflow, there is custom coding, and many other landing page builders and such.

Still, WordPress is one of the most flexible platforms out there, and rightfully so. You can build Blogs, Corporate Sites, Restaurant sites, menus, Ecommerce. Almost endless.

The only thing i would not build on it is a complete Webapp or SaaS. For that, you should look for another platform, in my opinion.

We want to start a blog on wordpress. Can you tell me if we have the main domain https://getscreen.me/, and the blog will be on a subdomain on WP, will it be as well indexed as the main site? And a second question. Can I start a blog on the WP platform without registering a subdomain and paying?

I've build my first saas sendtoreader.com on top of WP. Got about 50000 users, up to 1000 daily visits. Can't say WP is something bad or slow, if you know PHP well and don't hesitate to access DB data from your scripts directly, without touching WP functionality when that's not necessary. You get basic auth out of the box, roles can easily be coded or even added with a plugin, pages management stuff (of course, after all that's a CMS)... and that's it. MVP, if that's not just a landing page, should still be coded virtually from the ground up.

Now I prefer tools and frameworks that let me better organize my production flow in terms of tech part of a saas: React, Tailwind, Vite for my frontend, Node, Express, Knex and Postgres on backend. Thinking about a selfhosting headless CMS for content (blog, etc) manaegment

I built an entire web-app ecosystem on the top of WordPress! I'm an ex WP developer who migrated to Laravel development.

I do not agree with "WP is just good for content and blogs".

Yes, WordPress was meant to be a content management system. But the maintainers of WordPress added "POST TYPES" feature to WordPress, and it gave the developer the power to develop anything on the top of WordPress as "Plugins".

I made use of Plugins + WordPress multisite feature to build an entire app-ecosystem on the top of WordPress. It was an experiment that ran for ~2 years; and I was impressed with what WordPress allowed me to build.

The biggest benefit is that you don't have to code content management system differently.

Another one - you'll find a plugin either free or paid that already does what you want to do. WP has a huge, huge, huge ecosystem!

Why did I not continue with WP and switched to Laravel?

Well, developers love flexibility! After my WP project failed to attract the required mass of users; I decided to switch over to Laravel. Laravel offered complete flexibility and some additional features like customizable notifications, jobs, queues, authentication etc. and I couldn't be happier.

It'd be not be right to talk about limitations and potential unless knowing about what you want to build with WP. I can assure you that there's a 99.99% chance that you can build your idea with WP.

Ultimately, it's a decision you'll have to make, based on what you are more comfortable with. I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

From the comments there is a clear division between those who love it and those who hate it.

My question now is another one, if I wanted to build a platform, a social where people interact, but I don't know programming, I don't have money to be able to pay developers, and I wanted to launch it in the shortest time possible, wouldn't WordPress, be the best choice ?

I saw that there are BuddyPress Themes that would be just right for me, to launch my project wouldn't that be a good tool ?

It's pretty appropriately rated, imho.
Seems most of the internet runs on wordpress. People love it. People hate it.

Many writers know how to add to it, so you can hire writers really easily.

Ghost is coming up as a slimmed down wordpress if you like less plugins.

The plugins market is huge. devs love it. users love it. add more plugins when you need more.

Many indiehackers here are full time wordpress devs.

And many indiehackers are running away from wordpress to their own homegrown stack (gatsby, etc) or going to Ghost. Or even going all the way to substack if they don't want to handle anything but text.

Wordpress seems like it's here to stay, and you can hire professionals as you scale or just need to do more.

I think WordPress is overrated. You're better off building with Gatsby (static site) or Nextjs (web app) and hosting for free on Vercel or Netlify.

Yes

i don't think so, pretty sure it's still one of the most popular cms out there and tons of companies have built products and plugins on top of it, i still keep getting wordpress job opportunity emails after all these years it's been a decade already :)

WordPress is like a Swiss army knife. You can use it to do quite a lot of things but if you want to cut yourself through the jungle you'll probably need a machete. When it comes to blogging or setting up a personal site, I think it's still the easiest and fastest way to go. Creating an MVP with the help of it is also possible but not in every cases. So it's definitely worth learning it because I'm sure there'll be many cases when it will be useful. But don't try to use it for everything because you'll be disappointed.

Tried to build a landing page with WordPress, and failed to deliver quality with a couple of themes.
It was extremely slow and plugins not helping it. Hard to optimize to optimal speed.
Overall, a bad experience for landing pages.

Nope. I made my new site with Wordpress http://techtrendsinfo.com/