Thread

One thing came to my mind. EE gives us the flexibility to put almost what ever into what ever and embed those into what ever, just for starters in the never ending list of “OH, i can do this…”. Dunno anymore how WP works since i havent played with the latest version of it at all (well i installed it, did little this and that and deinstalled it after few days).

What i want to say is that (IMHO) when you get familiar with EE you notice that you can build rich CMS and why not, basic bloggin websites, and whatever, with the flexibility of EE. I hate add-ons and other 3rd party things that are limited to just “plug and play” and does’nt give you the freedom that you need.

I’m happy with EE, have to be cos everything what i run today is EE based. 😝

Out there is much much of CMS/community/blogging packs, and those all are good if the user of them like them. Opensource or commercials.

We build EE to use them ourselves, or to give them to clients. After all, when the work is done, enduser does’nt never know (if its not you who use it) how much you had to do before you got it to work as wished =)

I like EE, in fact i like everything but for me its better to focus only to one “main engine” and let others do what ever they like to do :cheese:

After all, they waited THREE YEARS for it!

Oo

It is a simple chain reaction…
developers like EE over WP - clients/users not so much. If EllisLab doesn’t make nice backed interface then developers will have harder time selling to clients…EllisLab will have harder time selling to developers.

Being how EE 2 is highly anticipated…I hope it delivers or people will learn to live with WP rent free! Happy user with less features is happier than user with all the ‘custom features’ and no easy way to use them….it is just the way it is, no matter the amount of our love for EE.

Reading all this just reminds me of a truth no one can realistically deny…..

One size does not fit all

Whilst in a perfect world EE would do everything that the market desires/wishes for/dreams of (whilst at the same time making coffee, mowing the lawn etc.etc.) the fact is it doesn’t and neither does Wordpress 3.5 (or even the current version 😉 ) nor does joomla or drupal or….. anything else for that matter.

In the final analysis the old saying “Horses for courses” fits well.
As a solution provider whether to ourselves or our clients we use (or should use) whatever is fit for the scope of the project in hand and that means on occasion turning work away because the range of tools with which we are competent and intend to progress with simply cannot meet the requirement.

It’s great to discuss the features and benefits of all mainstream packages (and even some obscure ones now and then) providing that discussion has purpose and is productive. That way we can all pick up on features we might not have been aware of and the EE team can pick up those same things for consideration against their overall game plan.

But tit for tat debates of one versus another are frankly not helpful imho.

I am VERY new to EE and already like it - a lot.
I am really looking forward to the new release but recognise that even it will not do everything (it cannot and never will).

Having run dev teams and departments using/tweaking/bending $2,000,000 plus CMS/CRM systems I can assure you that even then products fall short of user expectations no matter how hard or creative the development teams work and co-operate with the entire user experience at all points of entry.

Contrast that with EE and it’s flexibility against it’s price point and yes I know WP is ‘free’ which of course it really isn’t when you factor in time to tweek and support etc.

Any developer or company who is truly customer focussed will adhere to the “horses for courses” metaphor and in full recognition of what is and is not ‘doable’.

Just ‘my two-penneth’. 😊

One size does not fit all

Oh, but nobody said it did, least of all EllisLab. Personally I think we make a very good tool, but we are firm believers in the “use the right tool for the job” philosophy. We think that EE can be that tool, often, to many, but certainly not always and to everyone.

As a solution provider whether to ourselves or our clients we use (or should use) whatever is fit for the scope of the project in hand and that means on occasion turning work away because the range of tools with which we are competent and intend to progress with simply cannot meet the requirement.

Very well put. I don’t think you’ll find anybody here disagreeing with that, actually 😊

...One size does not fit all...

... But tit for tat debates of one versus another are frankly not helpful imho.
I am VERY new to EE and already like it - a lot.
I am really looking forward to the new release but recognise that even it will not do everything (it cannot and never will)...

... using/tweaking/bending $2,000,000 plus CMS/CRM systems I can assure you that even then products fall short of user expectations no matter how hard or creative the development teams work and co-operate with the entire user experience at all points of entry.

Contrast that with EE and it’s flexibility against it’s price point and yes I know WP is ‘free’ which of course it really isn’t when you factor in time to tweek and support etc ...

Just ‘my two-penneth’. 😊

01.) Welcome to the forums weightonman 😊
02.) Very well said. All valid. Interesting. True points and opinions I agree with also.

While I’ve never worked with a $2M CMS/CRM system, I have read/heard horror stories of compatibility, complexity, etc.
The price of EE core/personal/commercial is and should never be a factor for anyone serious about building a website.

Being free versus being expensive is a matter of relation.

No two tools work the same. Nor should they occupy the same space in your toolbox. EE does some remarkable things, as does WP. Each is great at something(s).

Thanks for saying the things you have, Coldfiress.

I’m not any kind of developer. I know nothing about what’s under the hood, and don’t have time to study to become and expert in that stuff. I have my own expertise that I need to keep up. I’m the client, a very ambitious blogger who wants a brilliant, stylish site that’s really easy to drive, because I need it to be that way, as a big part of developing a writing career. I want it to be different AND cool AND flexible AND easy to change AND easy for a technical bozo to use. AND low cost.

I’ve pleased with my EE site - I hired a good developer/designer, etc., etc.. It’s pretty easy to post in and so on, though as far as I can tell, near impossible for me to change on my own without paying him to do more work. But I recently moved another blog of mine from Blogger (yes, and it worked beautifully for what I needed then) to a self-hosted Wordpress set-up, and installed Thesis. Now I’m gradually trying to customise it, and I can see how with plugins I’ll be able to have podcasts and so on on my site. I’ve managed to do that myself.

What’s great from my point of view is how easy WP is to use. Everything’s very intuitive, so I don’t feel I have to study a hundred forums, fiddle with frightening code or, importantly, PAY someone every time I want to put a new button on my site. I know my site looks similar to lots of others, but I can sort of envisage how I’ll be able to differentiate it gradually either on my own, achieving exactly what I want, or else piecemeal by paying people for specific alterations. That makes me very happy. Also, just posting is lovely: it’s easier than in EE.

Yes, my EE site is more individual, as built by my developer/designer - though I have to say it’s not exactly as I’d like, either (my experience has been that it’s quite difficult to explain to someone what you want or why, and what they come up is never quite right) or all that radically different from anyone else’s blog. Strangely, one of the things that seemed really hard work to achieve working with my developer in building my EE site (getting the posts to look right in a serif font) has been simplicity itself with WP. And now I have experience of WP, my EE site feels very inflexible to me, and the EE control panel is very user-unfriendly.

I feel a bit between the two. In EE, I have the custom site I want, but feel I have very little control or ownership of it, I don’t feel I really understand how to use it, and I feel unable even to tweak it without expensive help. In WP I have much more of a boilerplate site, but feel a lot of ownership and control of it and am able to change little things all the time, easily and for free. That’s really valuable.

I know you guys all know what you’re talking about, and I’m sure EE is very flexible for you, but it doesn’t feel that way for me. I’d like to change quite a few aspects of the site now, but feel it’d be likely to cost me more than my month’s rent. I’m beginning to wonder whether I’d be better off, long-term, moving the site to WP, paying someone to make it as individual as it can be (probably with some loss of individuality, but I’m not sure), but knowing I’ll be much more independent from then on. I have a budget and am prepared to pay for someone to help me develop my websites, but it’s limited.

Just the blogger/client’s thoughts, for what they’re worth. Is the truth that EE is for you developers and for your corporate clients who have lots of money to may you to change things all the time? And a non-tecchy blogger, even an ambitious one like me, should stick to WP? Or am I being really ignorant about how much I can achieve easily on my own in EE? By all means put me right on that if there are easy ways I can actually intervene in the design.

Or am I being really ignorant about how much I can achieve easily on my own in EE? By all means put me right on that if there are easy ways I can actually intervene in the design.

To be honest, I wouldn’t have put it that way, but, yes I think you could easily do more to your site, especially compared to WP. Do you know HTML to some degree? Take a look at EE’s templates and they should be very familiar. Want to add a button? Change a font? Add a new footer? It’s only an edit away.

To be honest, I wouldn’t have put it that way, but, yes I think you could easily do more to your site, especially compared to WP. Do you know HTML to some degree? Take a look at EE’s templates and they should be very familiar. Want to add a button? Change a font? Add a new footer? It’s only an edit away.

I know enough HMTL to out things in italics.That’s about it.

Carl Gardner = my case and point how things are seen from the user’s side.
Thanks for posting Carl!

One size does not fit all…

Sure but when you go out to buy a car…there are expectations about this product and what it should do for you. Coming back home with tires, seats, wheel and someone’s note saying “hey the good news is you can customize it how you like it” - yay what a deal.

using/tweaking/bending $2,000,000 plus CMS/CRM systems I can assure you that even then products fall short of user expectations

Pointing some other produces failure does not justify lack of desire to improve your product. Sounds like somEonE who is just happy to be placed 3rd or 4th and don’t care to ever be 1st as long as they are ‘up there’.

@Carl
On the other hand, WP comes as package with all the possible tweaks at hands of user - could be a good thing or a rabbit whole that is deep and scary.
With EE you really have to specify to your developer what exactly you would like to have control over…eg. “add links/navigation to your pages”, “switch between 2-3 column layouts” etc…otherwise you get the control over standard settings seen in the backend - which depending on the template design may not even reflect much visual change.

Which one should you use? Well, either way to get a custom or unique looking site you would have to hire some developer since your skills are not there. If you don’t mind your site looking like every 3rd blog out there then WP is a great/free and quick choice.

It is not a secret, for blogging focused sites nothing beats WP.
For a custom looking/functioning site with work flow and process logic of your choice then EE.

Is there a way to integrate WP and EE working together with one user ID?

No, everything’s totally different, db structure, authentication, you name it.

Is there a way to integrate WP and EE working together with one user ID?

The same user ID, yes. Working together is more problematic. Separate logins. Perhaps have a WP section of a site that does what WP does best, and another section of a site with EE doing what EE does best.

That would seem to be a herculean task of messy proportions.

Wordpress is the best blog software out there. But it’s not a full featured CMS. If you want a straight blog WP might be a better choice. If you want to go beyond the blog, there is no doubt EE is much better.

Wordpress is the best blog software out there. But it’s not a full featured CMS. If you want a straight blog WP might be a better choice. If you want to go beyond the blog, there is no doubt EE is much better.

Ditto.

To make EE do what WP does easily will usually take a lot of work. To make WP do what EE does easily will, strangely enough, take a lot of work.