Textpattern Support Forum

A fair (but brief) comparison of both systems. Can’t argue with the pros/cons having used both systems myself.

WordPress 3.3 sure does look pretty and that’s something I want to address within Textpattern during 2012.

Precisely, Michael. The aesthetics are old, but that’s not the same as usability, and Dave Winer’s point is spot on. Too many weekend webmasters always thinking how something looks (essentially aesthetics) trumps actual usability. Few “designers” really think in the users shoes, which is what matters.

But, what’s interesting (or sad) to me here is not the benchmark done, but the misuse of Textpattern’s brand name, which is another recent and public example of people getting it wrong. This shouldn’t be happening after 9 years of existence, and while there will always be lazy minds and writers, a good brand can go a long way to give the right impression, and I think Textpattern’s brand fails to do that. Particularly the logotype and excessive use of all-caps of the brand name in the website. These do not help clarify that Textpattern’s name is not camel-case, and in a market where every other CMSs name is camel-case, Textpattern needs to make extra effort to distinguish itself. Every time an article like this is circulated, it makes the problem worse, entrenching in the minds of readers—many first-time exposed to Textpattern—that it’s the way the brand name is spelled.

From that article’s comments…

Thanks for the heads up on Text Pattern – I had not heard about it until now.

Destry wrote:

But, what’s interesting (or sad) to me here is not the benchmark done, but the misuse of Textpattern’s brand name

When someone writes an article like this, comparing two CMS’s, you’d expect the author to have more than a minimal knowledge of those CMS’s. If I see a misspelled brand name in such an article, my first thought is not ‘what did we do wrong that people still can’t spell our name right’, but ‘how well did this person actually look at his Txp install and the main site’. The word ‘Textpattern’ is all over the place, dammit; if the author can’t use his eyes, why would I trust his judgement?

@Michael: you’re forgiven, you totally made up for it with your Wordpress ;)

uli wrote:

(Prefs > Basic > Site URL: “demo.opensourcecms.com”)

Wow, good catch, missed that! What a mockery.

I bet one-click installs for admin themes, front of site themes, and plugins would bring a horde our way of the sort that use Wordpress. I’m glad they stay away. This is a civilized place. We think before we start pushing buttons.

Last edited by whaleen (2011-12-18 08:42:11)