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#1 2011-04-09 18:06:08

hcgtv
Plugin Author
From: Key Largo, Florida
Registered: 2005-11-29
Posts: 2,722
Website

Is Tumblr the new WordPress?

Came across this article at wpCandy, while watching WordPress Realtime on Google.

Reading articles is one way to gauge the competition, but it’s the comments that are full of treasures.

Like this one from Paul OFlaherty:

I think one of the biggest issues with WordPress is that, even for those of us who are reasonably comfortable going in and editing theme files, tinkering with CSS or hacking together some PHP, it is still too difficult and too much of a time investment to turn out anything that is “personal”.

The plugins directory is littered with plugins that haven’t been updated since 2005 – there are 20 versions of every plugin, half of which don’t work, most are unsupported and the rest are badly categorized and difficulty to find. Quality free themes (part of the key to getting new bloggers hooked) are hard to find and the WordPress theme directory suffers from many of the same problems as the plugins.

People want simple and the want the freedom to do “more” if they want to. WordPress does “more” very well – it just doesn’t do “simple”.

Textpattern does simple, and very well I may add, that is all.

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#2 2011-04-09 19:53:02

michaelkpate
Moderator
From: Avon Park, FL
Registered: 2004-02-24
Posts: 1,379
Website GitHub Mastodon

Re: Is Tumblr the new WordPress?

hcgtv quoted:

The plugins directory is littered with plugins that haven’t been updated since 2005 – there are 20 versions of every plugin, half of which don’t work, most are unsupported and the rest are badly categorized and difficulty to find. Quality free themes (part of the key to getting new bloggers hooked) are hard to find and the WordPress theme directory suffers from many of the same problems as the plugins.

I made a similar point not too long. Having too much dated content is really a problem for users when they are looking for an answer for a current problem.

From WPCandy:

WordPress, for all it’s amazing innovation these past few years striving to become the top dawg in the CMS space, may have alienated the users that were happy with a simplified blogging experience.

If you go look at the Tapestry theme the article mentions, I was actually struck last week by the fact that it could all be done easily in Textpattern.

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#3 2011-04-09 23:41:36

hcgtv
Plugin Author
From: Key Largo, Florida
Registered: 2005-11-29
Posts: 2,722
Website

Re: Is Tumblr the new WordPress?

michaelkpate wrote:

I made a similar point not too long. Having too much dated content is really a problem for users when they are looking for an answer for a current problem.

Yes, I agree. I think less is more when it comes to attracting new users. When you have templates at the resources site and textgarden, and howtos and examples at the resources site, the wiki and txp tips, it just seems like too much information scattered in too many places. Then we have the issue of templates not working with the current release, or plugins not working anymore, etc.

The only way I see the situation alleviated is for someone to take charge of areas of interest. Have a Template czar, a Plugin czar and a How-to czar, let them bring each area up to snuff, wherever they desire to host it. Cause if Txp-tips does a good job of housing tips, then lets move them from resources to there. Templates can go to whoever wants to take on the task of bringing them to current release and baby sitting them from then on. Plugins could remain at the resources site, with someone who knows plugins inside out and let them be in charge.

From WPCandy:

WordPress, for all it’s amazing innovation these past few years striving to become the top dawg in the CMS space, may have alienated the users that were happy with a simplified blogging experience.

This is where I think Textpattern can gain users, pitch the simplicity of it. Yes, Textpattern is a CMS also, but it does it with very little fanfare, and much easier for new users to grasp than Drupal or Joomla!.

If you go look at the Tapestry theme the article mentions, I was actually struck last week by the fact that it could all be done easily in Textpattern.

Why don’t you tackle that and put it up on your new site?

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#4 2011-04-13 19:10:42

michaelkpate
Moderator
From: Avon Park, FL
Registered: 2004-02-24
Posts: 1,379
Website GitHub Mastodon

Re: Is Tumblr the new WordPress?

Maybe we should retitle this Is Tumblr the new Textpattern? and move it to a different forum area.

@yatil tweeted

Torn between tumblr and textpattern at the moment. I like to own my data and host it myself, but tumblr is sooooo convenient… :/

Oh, and I found this through Textpattern Realtime.

Seriously, though, I did take your suggestion to heart and I hope to reveal my idea of how Textpattern works for tumblogs very soon..

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#5 2011-04-13 22:46:43

hcgtv
Plugin Author
From: Key Largo, Florida
Registered: 2005-11-29
Posts: 2,722
Website

Re: Is Tumblr the new WordPress?

michaelkpate wrote:

Oh, and I found this through Textpattern Realtime.

Yeah, I saw that Tweet today, about being torn between Tumblr and Textpattern. I do think that owing your own data is going to make many people rethink their web presences, while these services like Tumblr and WordPress are convenient, you’re at the mercy of them.

On that note, while following WordPress’s realtime today, I found out that they got hacked, and who knows what the hackers came away with.

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#6 2011-04-13 23:12:46

michaelkpate
Moderator
From: Avon Park, FL
Registered: 2004-02-24
Posts: 1,379
Website GitHub Mastodon

Re: Is Tumblr the new WordPress?

hcgtv wrote:

I found out that they got hacked

So far my lightly-used blog over there seems to be okay.

hcgtv wrote:

I do think that owing your own data is going to make many people rethink their web presences, while these services like Tumblr and WordPress are convenient, you’re at the mercy of them.

It really depends on how much you value the stuff you put online. I was going through my personal site and removing all the links to all the dead profiles. I think I removed more than are left now. But I don’t really miss any of them.

These days, I am bouncing back and forth between linking there and my About.me page. For me, personally, my web presence is best defined as a Google Search for the keyword that I decided to make mine.

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#7 2011-04-14 00:31:55

hcgtv
Plugin Author
From: Key Largo, Florida
Registered: 2005-11-29
Posts: 2,722
Website

Re: Is Tumblr the new WordPress?

michaelkpate wrote:

For me, personally, my web presence is best defined as a Google Search for the keyword that I decided to make mine.

That’s the way I feel also, if you can’t find Bert Garcia on the web, then your search engine is broken. I freaked out the other day when I searched for Bert and I was in the first 10 results returned by Google. I was like wow, I’m finally competing with the Muppet.

So it does pay very handsomely to promote your own brand, and I’ve done it without using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or any other place people use to promote their blog. No, I’ve done it with content and a very fast website, thanks to Textpattern.

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#8 2011-04-14 01:18:02

michaelkpate
Moderator
From: Avon Park, FL
Registered: 2004-02-24
Posts: 1,379
Website GitHub Mastodon

Re: Is Tumblr the new WordPress?

hcgtv wrote:

I freaked out the other day when I searched for Bert and I was in the first 10 results returned by Google. I was like wow, I’m finally competing with the Muppet.

Congratulations. I always have to compete with this guy even though most people don’t really remember him.

Last edited by michaelkpate (2011-04-14 01:18:19)

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#9 2011-04-14 01:22:55

Bloke
Developer
From: Leeds, UK
Registered: 2006-01-29
Posts: 11,449
Website GitHub

Re: Is Tumblr the new WordPress?

michaelkpate wrote:

I always have to compete with this guy

I know the feeling. I have to work hard to stay ahead of the Australian Actress Stef Dawson. She’s infinitely prettier than me, but luckily Google’s search algorithms don’t take beauty into account… yet :-)

As a charitable act (and perhaps for the challenge) I even gave her my old Twitter account in my (her) name, and took out a new one for myself.


The smd plugin menagerie — for when you need one more gribble of power from Textpattern. Bleeding-edge code available on GitHub.

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#10 2011-04-14 21:56:47

mistersugar
Member
From: North Carolina
Registered: 2004-04-13
Posts: 141
Website

Re: Is Tumblr the new WordPress?

michaelkpate wrote:

I hope to reveal my idea of how Textpattern works for tumblogs very soon..

Please do so — this is what I’m thinking about in my thread about connecting my Txp content to Twitter.

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#11 2011-06-16 12:17:25

hcgtv
Plugin Author
From: Key Largo, Florida
Registered: 2005-11-29
Posts: 2,722
Website

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