StuffedGoat's avatar

Rebuilding Project Flyer with Wordpress

Hello!

I really would like to hear your opinion if it is possible to rebuild Project Flyer with Wordpress in coherency with appropriate plugins. This would include all the basic stuff like create a flyer, upload images, set up a basic user authorization/authentication.

The thing is that I have to admit to myself that I'm not a good programmer. In the past I’ve watched lots of videos and was always astonished how easily Jeffrey and other talents manage to go through the code. Also I'm not the youngest anymore and have go ways which lead me faster to my goal. Anyhow, I don’t want to steer the discussion into a “You can do it just hang in” topic.

Right now I have a small business related idea which came close to Project Flyer (Thanks to Jeffrey!) and I want to give it a try as a solopreneur.

Let’s imagine I could gain within a short amount of time a monthly visitor rate of xxx.xxx users. In which dimensions would you say “I would prefer a handcrafted solution via a framework (Laravel) over the way of a Wordpress solution.” or vice versa?

My main concern is security issues. I think if I pick Wordpress over Laravel I have a solid foundation which could not that easily be hacked or destroyed. (I’m just superficial aware of security concerns on/at web technologies.) For me it would be a disaster if I had already gained 500 users per month and one person sees a breach and would destroy the whole database and therefor the whole project.

Laravel:

  • highest level of customization comes with Laravel
  • better performance (my guess)

Wordpress:

  • many freelancers available which offer their help
  • I could start today and would have something done at the end of the day
  • a long-term issue would be the lose of adaptability

Regarding Design:

However I decide I would have to buy a complete design which had to be made from scratch. Here my guess is that the creator would have more freedom when I choose Laravel over Wordpress. But I’m not sure.

(Because of more or less not budget I cannot afford a skilled programmer who could build this from scratch with Laravel.)

Thank you all for you replies!

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11 replies
RachidLaasri's avatar

You can't go wrong with both options, it just depends on what you are trying to build.

You can go with WordPress and have something working in couple hours, but it is gonna be hard to add more features later. With Laravel you can create what you want easily since most of the things come out ready out of the box and you can still implements new features easily.

Also, i believe designing new themes in WordPress will cost more because the way it is linked to the PHP code.

On the last note, I personally haven't seen the full series but you can find a Laravel developer who can create that for a reasonable price.

Good luck :)

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xsmalbil@icloud.com's avatar

Well I currently do not like WordPress anymore, although I like the Calypso javascript stuff they are doing. When somebody offers me small WordPress tasks, I ask money for it and do the work though.

Just to give you an answer to your question(partially):

First off. You should not compare Laravel with WordPress. Laravel is a php framework which you can use to build your own WordPress.. WordPress is a blogging platform.

WordPress is in the league of:

  • Joomla
  • Modx
  • Craft CMS
  • other stuff

Wordpress has a big list of security issues and daily sites with WordPress get hacked. That's mostly because of unsecure plugins. You should always update your WordPress installation and make sure you run backups al lot.

WordPress offers 2 types of objects; Hierarchical and non-hierarchical. They call them Posttypes. One can be nested and the other one can't. Out of these posttypes you can create your own. So when your site is mainly CRUD..then it might be better to use a CMS instead if building your own.

WordPress offers authentication and usermanagement out of the box. Also offers email settings, a mediamanager, loads of other stuff straight after the installation. Then you only need to add content, then loop all the stuff out in your theme. So most of the work is done in the frontend. And yes, you can start straight ahead. WordPress can be used to build the most freakish sites you can imagine. I once used the blogging platform to build a planning tool for a company that had to manage their people, the places they had to work and loads of reminder stuff and such. I've also witnessed a site that was bootstrapped Half Yii / Half WordPress / Half Bearpig. A monster of a freak.

You should check out this: http://getgrav.org/ It's unrelated but it looks neat. It's a flatfile CMS. Or checkout Craft CMS. Because that is a better solution(in my opinion) than WordPress.

...ok I can talk on for a while..but just wanted to give a push in some direction.

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ayekoto's avatar

Pls can you specify a tutorial where one can use php / laravel to build my own custom WordPress theme?

xsmalbil@icloud.com's avatar

oh just a note. Web applications cost money. And developers are trained to pick technology that meets your specs. If you are planning to make money with the app, you should think about saving up money to pay for updates monthly. Software is fluid. See it as an investment. Save a percentage of the money you make to re-invest in the application. Saving money on your main money-maker is not a smart thing. And if it is a good application, then the money will come back to you anyways. Be certain and spend money to make money.

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ayekoto's avatar

Yes thanks for the link, good n covers almost all on WordPress.

StuffedGoat's avatar

@RachidLaasri Do you think it would also be more costly if a designer has to create something for a CMS like Bolt, October or Grav?

@xsmall Thank you for you insights! My question to you is would you personally take the flat-file CMS for a project where users can upload pictures, create profiles etc. (think of a page where you can sell your house)?

RachidLaasri's avatar

@StuffedGoat I think it would be cheaper than creating a WP theme, because of the way WP manages their themes, it's more complicated and not just some HTML/CSS things.

robgeorgeuk's avatar

@StuffedGoat Great topic and great responses.

If you haven't read The Lean Startup by Eric Ries then I suggest you get a copy and start reading it today. It's not a technical book but talks a lot about validating ideas and the best approach to starting a new project.

Once you have validated your idea and drawn up a plan for your MVP (wireframe sketches and a requirements list) then sit down with a few different developers that work with different frameworks and CMSs and see what their opinion is on the project. Be upfront and honest about your budget to avoid wasting both party's time.

Be prepared to start small and trade up if things go well. Perhaps something from a template site or something like the below with a few tweaks would work for the first phase. http://themeforest.net/item/real-places-responsive-wordpress-real-estate-theme/full_screen_preview/12579089

A note on security. WordPress itself is reasonably secure if autoupdate is enabled which it is by default. 3rd party plugins and templates can easily introduce security issues and should be kept up to date by regularly checking for updates. Try to only use plugins/templates that are regularly updated, not only will this help security but will include bug fixes as well. WPEngine offer specialist WordPress hosting that guarantees to fix your site if you get hacked. They offer much more besides this and are not cheap but, if your project has a lot of users then you will need a good host on your site.

Good luck and I'm sure everyone here would love you see what you launch.

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xsmalbil@icloud.com's avatar

@StuffedGoat Hi there. In the past I'd go for something like WordPress, but lately I build the backend from scratch. I do this because I just like thinking things out and building the parts. Most of the parts will be used on other projects as well, at least..when you know how to keep things modular. For my employer I have been using CraftCMS lately. I think that is a very good pick when you have a design and html/css skills. It's a backend that empowers frontenders to go quite far. For some things you might need some backend help, because it could be that you need to harness the plugin system. Still ,there are plugins available that can do most of the things you come across.

Watch out when buying templates like the one above. I have years of experience fixing broken Wordpress sites, that have been hacked or delivered to me after one of my clients broke aways from their current developer. Most templates are very hacky and have bad support. Some have very obscure work around and are bloated. So even though they are cheap and look good.. be very very aware. Check their changelogs, look at the code(so purchase it before you decide to use it) and see the responses of other buyers. Better is getting a base template, like the ones WordPress (Automattic) supply after a fresh install, and develop your own child-template. There are even better and feature-full or feature-fat base-themes out there, so have a look around.

At Themeforest there are a lot of HTML/CSS only templates. I would advice to buy these and make them into a WordPress / Craft or whatever theme(if you are able). It will take you some work getting to know a framework or cms, but after a few projects you will see that is more rewarding. You will be able to control the quality, control the refactoring and restructuring of code and you even more important: you can feel confident in giving support to your customer.

Good luck on your endeavours :)

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