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Five signs it’s time to stop using WordPress

Having thousands of themes to work with seems great at first. But trying to find the right one can be hard. This can result in the owner constantly changing the website theme. This is one of the first signs that something is wrong.

WordPress still reigns as the world’s most popular CMS. It’s user-friendly, virtually free, and offers many extra features. That’s why website creators love working with it.

The software is used for anything: from news aggregators to the official website of the US president. Users are free to create what they want, be it a platform for help with homework, an online store, or a personal blog. If the website is simple enough, WordPress works like a charm.

But things can get complicated once the page becomes big enough. Problems begin to pile up as the number of plugins and features grows. Other issues may arise to nudge developers into abandoning WordPress altogether. Users may experience the following issues during their work with the CMS.

You can’t find a theme that works
Having thousands of themes to work with seems great at first. But trying to find the right one can be hard. This can result in the owner constantly changing the website theme. This is one of the first signs that something is wrong. You can get sucked into this cycle and never be satisfied with what you have. Selected themes may work for a while, but pretty soon, you will want to change them.

Perhaps, the design no longer works, or theme functionality is lacking. Whatever the case, this drives WordPress users on to the next thing. While this may seem fine at first, it creates issues along the way. The most obvious is that the practice is a waste of time. After installing the theme package, you have to spend time configuring it.

Calibrating settings and seeing how they work with previous adjustments also takes time. If there are some incompatibilities, users must fix them manually. Developers will also need some time to explore new features.

Another downside of frequently changing themes is destroying the user experience. People who already visited the website know how to navigate it. They also know what it looks like and can easily identify it. Abruptly installing a new theme throws everything out of the window. Users will get confused and frustrated, which is totally understandable.

You try to fix everything with plugins
Most WordPress themes don’t have many features built into them. That’s why developers try to add them by installing plugins. But having too many add-ons to the page may do more harm than good. A single poorly made plugin can make the website vulnerable to security breaches and slow down its performance.

Of course, saying that all WordPress add-ons are poorly coded is a bit exaggerated. The platform does have many decently made plugins. The problem is that there are over 50.000 add-ons available. Only experienced programmers can tell the good from the bad. Not to mention that you risk every time you add a new feature to the page.

Owners may want to install plugins for the following features:

  • eCommerce integration;
  • social media sharing;
  • spam protection;
  • live chat.

Many premium themes provide these features, eliminating the need for more plugins. But even they may not have all the required tools. That’s why you should consider leaving WordPress for another platform.

You can’t make a landing page
Every website needs a landing page with no sidebar and navigation menu. This is so that visitors don’t get distracted from the call to action. Most free WordPress themes lack the ability to detach all navigation from pages. There are many variants that allow removing the sidebar. They are used for things like static homepages and single-page websites.

But they don’t have the option of removing the navigation bar on specific pages. This is a key element of landing pages. A couple of free plugins can do the job, but their quality is questionable.

You can’t fix bugs
It is hugely disappointing when a theme or a plugin doesn’t work properly. What’s even worse, you find out there is no help coming your way. This is the sad reality behind most free WordPress content. The developers either respond once in a blue moon (if you are lucky) or don’t respond at all.

If something is free, there is no guarantee its maker has any interest in helping someone out. But when the software is full of bugs and nobody fixes them, there is a strong chance nobody works on the program.

In some cases, the latest plugin updates can make them malfunction. In others, a feature might not be working properly. That’s when people who run their websites on WordPress need help from tech support.

If lucky, they might be able to contact the devs or submit a support ticket. But if those options are not available, the only thing to do is roam WordPress forums in search of answers. Perhaps, someone else has found a solution to your problem. But you might as well get no answers at all.

You got hacked
WordPress users are aware that they must keep the CMS up-to-date for safety reasons. But few of them know that the same should be done to themes and plugins. Both of these components can be a source of security threats if they aren’t updated in a timely fashion.

The problem is that free content isn’t updated regularly. Additionally, most free themes are written with Base64 code, known as a primary target for spammers. They use it to hide malware, link injections, spam links, and malicious code.

Some of the tell-tale signs of being hacked include the change of home page. Owners may also receive notifications from the browser about the site being compromised. The most obvious case is when you can enter the dashboard with your password.

In conclusion
If you checked some or even all the boxes, it’s time to move to another CMS platform. There are plenty of website-building services, including Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, and Joomla!. Each of them has its own features and specialization. Spend some time with each of them to find the best solution for you.

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Editors - Travel Media Applications | Website | + Articles

TravelDailyNews Asia-Pacific editorial team has an experience of over 35 years in B2B travel journalism as well as in tourism & hospitality marketing and communications.

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