Puffbox

WordPress: reclaiming the web

I love WP as much as the next guy. Unless this is the next guy. pics: bakershours.com

I'm suddenly receiving a lot of email (and other online communication) from people in the public sector, and indeed outside, who want to talk WordPress. And I'm not alone: Dave Coveney, from Liverpool-based consultancy InterconnectIT tweeted yesterday:

The professionalisation of #wordpress appears to have finally arrived. We no longer sell websites that happen to be WP, but because of WP.

So what's happened to raise WordPress to the status of 'credible alternative'? It almost feels like a stupid question - 'why are people turning away from big-money consultancies charging six-figure sums, in favour of rapidly developed, more flexible, more usable solutions that deliver in weeks for a relative pittance?' But bear with me.

If I looked narrowly at the public sector, I could suggest a few milestones which might have led us here: Number10's precedent-setting adoption of WordPress, Steph Gray's work at DIUS (and the use of the Commentariat theme on the Power Of Information document in particular), the general acceptance of blogging post-Peston as serious communication, my own relentless evangelism maybe. Perhaps the combination of all the above. Or perhaps it's as simple as the modest price tag, and the time of year - it doesn't feel like end-of-financial-year spending sprees, but I could be wrong.

None of which explains the surge in private sector interest though. Maybe it's increasing cost-consciousness, or the smoothness of the version 2.7 interface, or the mere fact that 'this stuff is cool'.

But you know what? It doesn't matter. The message is getting through, and the cause is being furthered. It really feels like we're getting somewhere, taking the web back from the Big Ugly Consultancies. It's a good feeling.

• Lloyd at 9:40 am on 11 February 2009

  You're doing great, great work, man. Landscape-changing stuff. Keep it up!

• Andrew at 4:10 pm on 12 February 2009

  I used to think the race was between Joomla, Wordpress and Drupal.

  Now I think it's down to Wordpress and Drupal.

  I've been encouraging small charities and other non-profits to use Wordpress but it's great to see interest in the larger organisations (private and public sector).

• Jason Hando at 5:52 am on 14 February 2009

  Disclaimer: I am a member of the Sydney Joomla User Group and avid supporter of that platform.

  Is Wordpress just used for blogging, or mainly used for blogging? Or has it's popularity spread to CMS features, such as a community website or a small-medium business website?

  It would be good to find Wordpress examples in different spheres...... I stumbled across this thread with some links that might form good examples:

  http://wordpress.org/support/topic/184099

  and this one:

  http://wordpress.org/support/topic/131326

  Any other examples?

  Cheers,

  Jason

• Harry Harrold at 4:26 pm on 14 February 2009

  I worry when any customer starts a conversation with "I want $technology.". Whatever the value of $technology.

  (Almost as much as I worry when the conversation starts "I want to your design."

  It's when they start with "We've got this objective...." or "Our public have got this problem we'd like to do something about..." that I start to feel a warm glow inside.

  (Disclaimer: Was a Joomla advocate for 3 years, work with techies who love Plone, now usually find Wordpress or Drupal is the right tool for the jobs that come to us.)

• Mike Little at 1:15 am on 19 February 2009

  @Jason Hando Try this http://wordpress.org/showcase/ There are lots of non-blog WordPress sites listed.
  There is even a specific tag for CMS