Use WordPress or Build From Scratch

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I’m going to be building a website where people will be able to register, upload some digital content and make sales.

There will be features like users managing their own profiles, rating and commenting on other users’ content, managing their digital inventory and integration with Paypal.

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I’ve good experience with PHP, but I’m wondering if I could cut development time by using WordPress as a basis for the website instead of building from scratch or using a framework like CakePHP. What are peoples experiences with customizing WP (version 3 in particular) vs. coding from scratch in similar projects?

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4 comments

  1. This sounds like a perfect use for Buddypress(http://buddypress.org/), a WordPress plug-in. It adds user profiles and essentially allows them a Facebook-esque profile. Once the plug-in is installed you can get into the files and change things as you wish, so it’s quite customisable, at least from my experience.

  2. It really depends on the features you are building. I’ve had a lot of experience making WP do things other than blogging and if you don’t know your way around it would be a hassle. I’ve also built a number of custom CMSs so I know about that route as well. If you’re happy to allow users to use the WP admin panel for profile management etc. there shouldn’t be too many problems.

    The advantage you have with WP is the community – chances are whatever you’re trying to do has been tried/done before so there should be an answer. Add to that the security features and vast library of plugins, and WP is a great choice.

    It just depends on how complex your features are, and how comfortable you are with WP.

  3. On the other hand, that has not been my experience. I’ve needed to add a user registration/security module but that wasn’t stupid or frustrating, and other features have been valuable. But there is the usual learning curve. It’s nice that it’s ubiquitous and competition has worn off most of the warts.

  4. We’ve built a couple of real estate sites using wordpress, but also sites where you can share your memories and stories. WordPress is a real easy platform to use as a ground, sice all the basic functionality is already there, and also as @Tom Walters said, the community is really helpful.