Ok, this is something that has been on my mind lately and just the other day it came up during a discussion with a buddy of mine which made me give it some more thought. So here’s my take on the whole WordPress is / is not a CMS.
The debate should be broken down into two parts. The first is the technical definition of the software. Technically speaking I believe the WordPress software should be expressed as a content management system. Because it is software that scaffolds the framework for aggregating the content for a website. That’s the most broad way of defining it.
On the other hand you have the implementation choices made by the developers/designers which is questionable. WordPress was designed and still is designed as a blogging platform which is a type of CMS.
It’s analogous to woodworking. Suppose you want to saw a 24′x30′ board into 4 equally wide planks. Any type of tool is at your disposal so are you going to choose a jig-saw over a table-saw to do it? It may take a different skill-set to use the table-saw but for the task at hand it clearly is the right tool for the job. The jig-saw has its advantages too. Like if I need to then take a small piece of wood and cut off small chunks, curve the ends, or do some other type of detailed modification to the wood.
So, what I’m saying here is pick the right tool for the job. Part of that equation is to know your customer and the requirements. What I’m not saying is that WordPress is an inferior tool, its all about specialization and architectural intent. When individuals are trying to “extend” the WordPress software in a way that does not follow the intended implementation of the platform then in my opinion its an architectural bastardization which will leave you with weak software (which is another topic all together).
What are others thoughts on this?
update (08-01-2008): Devlounge just published a thorough article called “Things to consider when using WordPress as a CMS” by Thord Daniel Hendengren.
