Thread

Hello everyone,

I could use some help in convincing my designers to use EE over Wordpress.

Here is a basic rundown with what I’m trying to achieve with my site.

I’m in the process of developing an article website. Everyday the site will feature the latest article entry on the homepage.  I would need advance categories because of the variety of articles.  I would like to setup categories like on http://www.jasonsantamaria.com/articles/ . Each article will have Disqus commenting (Does EE support this?).  I would like a more integrated facebook solution than the current “like” buttons.  I would like to implement a voting system that is tied to facebook’s “like” that is similar to http://www.stylefactory.com (Can EE support this?).

Overall my designers are not completely against using EE, it’s just that they have used WordPress for so long that it seems to be the right solution.  One side to their argument is that there are many third party plug-ins that can achieve the results that I want from above.

Thanks for the help.

Hi ringtone - you’ll get an official answer from the EE team soon but I thought I’d chirp in with a few comments.

Jason Santa Maria’s site actually runs on Expressionengine, so anything he’s done is obviously possible!

“Disqus” - I’ve never used it but their “Universal Code” - http://docs.disqus.com/developers/universal/ - is straightforward to add, EE can very easily generate things like identifiers and URLs used as part of that code.

Facebook - for things like “Like” buttons you can use the standard Facebook code snippets in EE templates, also there are several addons to help out with other bits, see http://devot-ee.com/search/results/search&keywords=facebook&channel=addons/. For the “voting” system it’s really a case of using Facebooks API and integrate it into EE templates as required, I’ve never used that feature but it’s not something that would worry me if it were adding it to my own site.

Yes WP has lots of plugins, but EE can do lots of stuff “out of the box” that other systems need plugins for. Although there are fewer addons for EE they do tend to be good quality, work as expected, and come with developer support - quality over quantity.

Hi ringtone,

bluedreamer’s spot on here (thanks bluedreamer!)

Other systems often need plugins to achieve what EE can do out-of-the-box. Speaking from experience (yes, I do use Wordpress too), relying on many Wordpress plugins is very easy at first. But each plugin adds another layer of dependency. You’re dependent on that plugin being free of security defects, being compatible with the latest releases, and just plain being actively supported by an author that may or may not care tomorrow. Multiply this for each plugin used and you’ve ended up with a site that is not only more difficult to maintain, but that has core functionally that depends on factors completely out of your control.

As bluedreamer points out, EE gives you 100% control over your markup (this alone should be making your designers clamor for EE) so simply including the stock code for Disqus in your templates will do the trick. Same usually goes for Facebook. No plugins, less dependencies and more flexibility.

Hi Bluedreamer and Brandon,

Thanks for the information. 

I’m convinced that EE is the right solution for me.  I just hope that my designers/developers can see the great benefits as well. I really like how EE incorporates channels, which was mentioned in wpcandy.com’s EE vs WP pdf article.  Considering that my site might grow in terms of a variety of content, I like how EE does not limit my potential expansion. 

Do you know of any guides that I could direct my developers too that can explain how to transition from WP to EE. 

Lastly.  Brandon I purchased EE back in 2008 (around that time), how can I upgrade my license so I can use the new version of EE?  Thanks

Hi ringtone,

There’s definitely lots of info out there on moving from Wordpress but I don’t have anything “official”. It is going to take a bit of time to change mindsets, so definitely prepare them for that! Our Community page also has a number of resources for getting started.

To upgrade, just visit our store and go from there.

Don’t hesitate with any other questions!