Would You Guess These Sites Use WordPress?

[vangogh]

I know some people think all WordPress blogs look the same and also think all WordPress can be used for is blogging. Neither is true.

Just came across this post, 15 Impressive and Beautiful Uses of WordPress, which shows some interesting examples of WordPress sites.

You may or may not like all the designs. That's not why I'm posting the link. I don't care for some of the designs either. The point is to show you that WordPress can do more than what you might think. It's not limited to the same look or limited to be used solely as a blog.

Had I directed you to this site, CreativeDepart, without telling you it was built on WordPress, would you ever have guessed that it was?

WordPress has come a long way. Do you know of any examples of WordPress sites that don't look like the ordinary or aren't used in the typical way?

[rezzy]

The only example I know of is this site ministry theme.

This is a theme I am managing now, but I dont mean this to be an ad. Just another example of whats possible.

[vangogh]

Actually it's a good example since it doesn't quite follow the typical list of blog posts on the home page. Shows that WordPress has evolved beyond blogging software and can serve as a full CMS to power your site.

I've been using it lately to power sites that don't have blogs.

What did you think of the sites listed in the post I linked to? The CreativeDepart site looks nothing like a blog.

[rezzy]

I am quite curious how the Creative Depart is managed with Wordpress. Some of the sites on the list, have a sorta Wordpress look to them. I am actually amazed how some sites can break the mold on people consider to be a Wordpress theme.

[elsoft]

Its amazing what is possible with Wordpress.Its a kind of revelation for me to notice so much that can be done with wordpress.Thanks guys for sharing such an interesting stuff.

[vangogh]

WordPress can do quite a lot. More than most people realize. It's not just for blogging anymore though that's still primarily how it's used.

[rezzy]

I was talking with one person, she was looking between Joomla and Wordpress. Joomla because its touted at a CMS and Wordpress becuase its user friendly. But didnt want Wordpress because its more a blogging system then CMS.

Her fear was, Joomla is to complicated and has a steep learning curve, so she has less interest in using it. For a first time user, Joomla is hugely over complicated, I have looked at it recently, but the options run everywhere.

[vangogh]

I don't care for Joomla. A client of mine was thinking about it, but when I looked it I noticed every plugin for the system had fees associated with it. Some research also made me think it wasn't architected well. It has a lot of features, but it wouldn't take much to break the whole system.

I'd sooner go Drupal than Joomla, though Drupal also has a learning curve that might not be for the beginner. The more I work with WordPress and the more I see what it can do the more I recommend it as a full CMS. I think the issue with WordPress is it may not scale as much as other CMSs, but your site would need to be pretty big before you'd feel those scaling issues.

I can't remember the site now, but I think a rather large site recently switched over to use WordPress. If I can find it I'll let you know, but I'm drawing a blank right now.

[rezzy]

Steve, I agree thats the only concern , Ive had with people running large websites. I am curious how it runs on large websites.

I showed someone Wordpress and they thought iwas to complicated! So, I know other CMS is way over the top. Have you looked at other CMSes? There have been alot of different ones that mange content updating a little differently.

[vangogh]

I missed your comment earlier about CreativeDepart. You can get WordPress to look however you want. Think of it more as fitting WordPress functionality into your design as opposed to trying to fit your design into WordPress.

For example much of the content in WordPress is produced by The Loop. You can place The Loop anywhere. If you wanted to have a giant image in the center of your site and all your content in the footer you could place The Loop in your footer. You can also control how The Loop works so it only shows posts from one category or only shows one specific post permanently.

Most of the CMSs I've worked with have been shopping carts and I didn't care for them. osCommerce, ZenCart. They work, but they're old and built in a way I think makes them more complicated than they need to be. I've played with Drupal a bit for a client, but we're only slowly moving with that site so I don't get to play a lot.

I guess I'd have to include vBulletin in the CMS mix. Works ok, but also could be easier. I'm looking forward to bbPress maturing more.