Why do you use ClassicPress instead of WordPress?

General Discussion
#21

There are so many reasons, I don’t even know where to start.
Let’s start with the fact that you would like to have full control over your web project, here it is simply annoying that WordPress is being taken hostage by some elite developers. Gutenberg is definitely not a bad thing, but it should have stayed optional. Gutenberg causes WordPress to bloat, the constant changes and adjustments cause an enormous amount of maintenance, which is a reason not to use WordPress and Gutenberg, especially in productive systems (we don’t even want to talk about the security problems that it entails here).
React is also a point that severely limits the developer-friendliness of WordPress.
Sure, not everything is super and perfect with ClassicPress either, but I can count on it to be stable and fast, very fast in fact. Since there are no major changes that turn the entire structure upside down, the maintenance effort is also significantly lower, after all, time is money and the customer saves a lot.
One of the downsides is that more and more plugins for WordPress are becoming obsolete and no longer compatible, since it is hardly worth developing for two systems, especially since Gutenberg and React are making development for WordPress more and more complex.
I simply see the greatest danger for the future of ClassicPress in the fact that there are no plugins and themes available for the run-of-the-mill user without skills that cover every need with a click of the mouse, but users also have to make do with HTML, CSS, PhP and JS skills, which is not bad per se, even desirable, but fails due to the laziness of the masses.
For me, however, ClassicPress is my first choice for almost all web projects because it gives me the freedom and stability that a sustainable, long-term web project requires.

And I’ve been using ClassicPress for a number of years now, so I’ve accumulated a small collection of plugins/themes that only run on ClassicPress and which I also maintain for ClassicPress.
At this point I would like to invite you again to take a look and I am happy about every one of the vlt. maintain one or the other tool in this collection together with me in the spirit of ClassicPress.

7 Likes
#22

Simple for me: Less is More! The smaller the footprint; the faster a site will load. Not getting into details about if this is a true statement 'cause laws of physics say, cleaner, less cluttered code loads faster than more code (WP).

Just running Hello World would be the way to compare CP to WP. No plugins to bother the page load test and nothing to contest this discussion point as right or wrong in philosophy or opinions.

Also… “I think the market is lack of lightweight solutions and here may be a big opportunity for ClassicPress.” as someone stated in another discussion thread.

Just give me a base footprint to Manage my Content with and let this developer do the heavy lifting of how much code will occupy the System.

3 Likes
#23

I’ve been moving back and forth between ClassicPress, Wordpress and Directus (headless CMS) everyday for the past week, I’m starting to understand why I like ClassicPress more.

  1. Keeping things simple - - I’m not a pro coder, I just know enough HTML, CSS, PHP to get by. I try to avoid JS because I’m terrible at it :slight_smile: Old wordpress and its HTML/CSS/PHP/SQL backbone is simple, practical and feels really familiar. The Gutenberg editor looks like I stepped into a Wix dashboard or something, it’s unsettling.
  2. Performance
  3. No bloat - - I hate having code on an install that isn’t getting used, or will never be used. None of my sites will use any of the embed features of Gutenberg, I don’t want it sitting around and making my admin experience slower and more cluttered.
  4. Thankfully, older versions of many plugins still work. A fellow forum member sent me older versions of GeneratePress and Elementor, they’re both compatible. Older versions of Support Board plugin work, older versions of Mailpoet work. And Pods 2.7.31 works, which is my go-to for CPTs. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that every v.4.9 compatible plugin I tested (from the wp plugin website) worked.
8 Likes
#24

All of my sites now run using ClassicPress.

  • It’s easy to use.

  • It loads faster.

  • It’s flexible.

  • The CP community is very helpful.

10 Likes
#25

For me, although I’ve not moved my site to it yet in live, is that it is much less bloated. I’ve developed a plugin (probably not the best in the world but it works) which allows me to put lots of stuff into posts and Gutenberg and blocks just kills it off and I don’t have the skills to re-write it so it works.

I used to like WP because it was customisable by people who weren’t professional developers and it just worked.

5 Likes