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This is the biggest problem I see with the Wordpress ecosystem. While WP is a fantastic way to build a site, the plugins you get can do all the things that the

This is the biggest problem I see with the Wordpress ecosystem. While WP is a fantastic way to build a site, the plugins you get can do all the things that the article describes exactly that (via the Disqus plugin). I build an affiliate marketing site a few months ago and when I started, I decided to build the thing from scratch rather than using Wordpress. Some people gave me a hard time about this because I was wasting time I could be spending writing for the site but whenever I see an article like this I remember why I put in all the extra work. I know exactly what my site is doing when, exactly what information is being send to the user and what info is being posted from the user.

dspillett 6y ago
I'm in two minds on what to use for my own portfolio site when I finally resurrect it. I've pretty much decided on a static site generator over a dynamic CMS but I quite fancy writing my own so it works just as I want it. Trouble is I keep rethinking that "just as I want it" is... I may just hand-craft version 1 to put an end to that particular source of procrastination. But yes, one of the significant main reasons for avoiding WP and its ilk is the allure of plugins and the work needed to verify what they are up to. If I'm going to have to make my own parts to avoid the things I don't want, I might as well create from scratch anyway.
- LeonB 6y ago
  Agree re plugins, and it’s not just the work to verify them once, they change over time. Their motives change or are revealed (once enough customers are locked in they switch to evil mode), or they are acquired by profit-hungry capitalists devoid of ethics, or simply abandoned and then compromised etc.
driverdan 6y ago
You can look at every plugin source to see what it does. Back when I used to do a decent amount of WP stuff I found a bunch that had security holes and hidden tracking. Most of the big plugins are trustworthy. Just make sure you read their privacy policy.

dspillett 6y ago

I'm in two minds on what to use for my own portfolio site when I finally resurrect it. I've pretty much decided on a static site generator over a dynamic CMS but I quite fancy writing my own so it works just as I want it. Trouble is I keep rethinking that "just as I want it" is... I may just hand-craft version 1 to put an end to that particular source of procrastination. But yes, one of the significant main reasons for avoiding WP and its ilk is the allure of plugins and the work needed to verify what they are up to. If I'm going to have to make my own parts to avoid the things I don't want, I might as well create from scratch anyway.

LeonB 6y ago
Agree re plugins, and it’s not just the work to verify them once, they change over time. Their motives change or are revealed (once enough customers are locked in they switch to evil mode), or they are acquired by profit-hungry capitalists devoid of ethics, or simply abandoned and then compromised etc.

driverdan 6y ago

You can look at every plugin source to see what it does. Back when I used to do a decent amount of WP stuff I found a bunch that had security holes and hidden tracking. Most of the big plugins are trustworthy. Just make sure you read their privacy policy.