Wix Ad Bashes WordPress

I think that it is kind of funny when one company puts itself above all the rest and feels the need to try to make themselves superior to another company.

Why not simply create an outstanding product and avoid the trash-talking?

Recently I saw a Wix commercial bashing WordPress. I am not sure if this was intentionally to bash WordPress or simply meant to be a joke, but in truth it doesn't entirely matter.

While I have not used Wix in the past, I believe I am never likely to ever in the future.

Why is this?

Because I am now and have been a long time web-platform developer. This means I use WordPress. I mean I use it all teh time, every single day, all day, and would likely never want to live without it.

While I have used many Content Management Systems (CMS) platforms in the past, WordPress has always been one of my go to favorites. Especially if I am not writing custom coded websites.

This is not just a "fanboy" attitude speaking but comes from years of practical experience.

I have been working online since 2003, and over the years I have made hundreds of websites for both myself and clients and depending on the needs of the site in question is when I decide which CMS is going to be used.

I am a Enterprise Application Engineer by training. This means I can create, build, code and troubleshoot all levels of programming languages. My jobs in the past have included Java development for a financial brokerage firm, managing a webhosting company, and developing mission and life critical software systems for emergency response services.

For me and those jobs having custom built software was often the rule not the exception. But when it comes to creating a website less can sometimes be more.

Doing custom software using C#, C++, Java, or any number of other programming languages is time consuming. It can literally take years to troubleshoot millions of lines of coding written by a predecessor.

So why for heaven sake wouldn't you want to use a platform that makes things easier on you?

In the past for websites I have used other CMS like Drupal or even Joomla. I even have had several of my own personal sites on those platforms.

But why would I choose a simplified option like WordPress?

Well, to be honest, because it is simplified. As a programmer I find that there is almost always some aspect of a site that will need to be changed at the basic coding level.

For WordPress this means knowing PHP, MySql, and HTML. These three skills have pushed me far in my endeavors with building websites.

While the other platforms do offer the same level of coding requirements, I often find that WordPress is just easier to actually use.

In the past I have often found less support for many items that I might want to implement on other platforms. Joomla sometimes has just too many moving parts so to speak.

Don't get me wrong. I love all those platforms, but there are also other factors involved with this decision.

Some of the websites I create are going to "non-technical" clients. This is sad to say but true. Not everyone out there has the same skill levels. If the site I am creating for someone is going to be managed by someone who is less technically skilled then I find explaining WordPress to them is easier then explaining Joomla or Drupal.

While Joomla does have a more robust level of functionality I think, and it does not default to the normal "bloggish" feel of WordPress, I have also found that there is very little that you can't make WordPress do if you plan it out right.

WordPress does also have the "Lions Share" of the market. The developers of WordPress would love to the the "Word Wide WordPress" and in truth it might just happen someday.

There are so many features available to the WordPress community that one can easily find multiple ways of doing whatever functionality they might need.

In the past those sites that I have used Joomla for have often become a greater hassle to work on. The complexity of the menu system and modules can increase quite dramatically if you are not paying attention.

As a web developer my job is to create websites that work based on the criteria (and pocketbook) of the client. If I can accomplish that goal in a few weeks on WordPress, while keeping costs down, build times quicker and maintain the same level of quality as another platform, then WordPress often wins because it will just be easier and simpler for me to implement, not to mention building hundreds of websites on the platform give me experience.

To see a site like Wix bashing WordPress, whether lightheartedly or not, kind of gets under my skin. If you are going to bash a program that millions of developers use every single day to run their businesses, how would you expect the community to feel about it?

While I am sure Wix offers a great service. They too are simply a type of CMS. If the sites Wix creates are not custom, one-off builds then I find that their system would likely have many of the same concepts going for it as WordPress.

Each system likely uses "code blocks", which is exactly what plugins are. All good programmers will understand the benefit of re-usable code. If I write a Java program that does inventory management for one job, why shouldn't I be able to reuse that code to create another inventory system in the future.

I guarantee large software developers are reusing code blocks. In fact you can'e really program without them.

Why wouldn't you use a "blogging system" after all Google, the big boy on the block for web SEO, loves the WordPress blogging community. Google is all about the user experience. They want sites that load fast, offer frequently updated content and have key SEO features like user-friendly urls.

Using plugins to extend WordPress functionality can have adverse affects on your site, but these can generally be mitigated simply by removing the plugin and swapping it for another one.

Some systems like Drupal, while they have a great community, the number of competing plugins is quite a bit lower. This means there is much higher and greater level of competition within the WordPress community is well.

As with any market there are always some people whom have less then stellar quality products, such as a bad plugin, but there are also other vendors out there who might have better options. This can't be said of all other CMS options out there.

Wix is a website building platform. You pretty much get whatever they allow you to have. This means that the admins and system decide what you can or cannot really do.

Much like this Blogger platform. There is only so many options available to me for editing, tweaking or adding features. Compared to what I can do on any other platform this is quite limited. This is done to prevent massive numbers of users running scripts and bots that could adversely affect their servers.

Hell, this is a free service and they have the right to limit my functionality. However if I was paying for this blog you bet I would want greater control over what I can do with it. This means I am willing to make those changes based on my own skills as a programmer and software engineer.

I have extensive practical experience with Unix systems,  databases, and software troubleshooting. Even I do my share of correcting errors, even on WordPress sites, but those are often template issue, occasional plugin conflicts, or something I screwed up by accident.

I like having control over what I do with a website. That's what I get paid for.

I find Wix's bashing of another long-time powerhouse application such as WordPress only doing a disservice to the millions of loyal fans that abound within the WordPress community. We are professional developers and hobbyists alike working with a platform that we love and enjoy using. Taking a shot at WordPress is taking a shot at all of us.