What is WordPress.org?
“WordPress is open source software you can use to create a beautiful website, blog, or app.”1 which means that WordPress.org is a free, easily accessible and changeable software that anyone can access for what they need to make a website for.
WordPress.org states that many people collaborate and contribute for countless hours around the globe to the open source project, driving the success of WordPress.org which helps more people use the service and reach their goals. WordPress.org, by being open source, is free to access by anyone and doesn’t use any copyrights. “WordPress is licensed under the General Public License (GPLv2 or later) which provides four core freedoms. The 1st Freedom- To run the program for any purpose. The 2nd Freedom- To study how the program works and change it to make it do what you wish. The 3rd Freedom- To redistribute. The 4th Freedom- To distribute copies of your modified versions to others.”2
Are there any negatives of WordPress.org?
WordPress Vulnerability: As WordPress.org is open source software, if hackers can find a breach in the system they can easily hack millions of sites (all using the same software). However, if a hack does occur, all users will get notified immediately after. With an update, the security breach can be prevented from happening again.
Probable low speed of WordPress sites: Although WordPress.org’s site speed is, by default, appropriate, site templates and plugins can affect the site speed. Non-standard templates can have a big impact on site loading speed, and because there are lots of different types of plugins created by many different people, some plugins, together, can interfere with the performance of the site.
Lack of dedicated WordPress support: The lack of dedicated support from WordPress developers means that, either you fix the problem yourself, or hire a site support specialist. If you choose to fix the problem yourself, however, there are many forums and social networks of people solving and answering your questions to help you.
Requires technical knowledge to develop the site: If any WordPress.org user wants to personalise their site, they would good technical knowledge of PHP, SQL, HTML, CSS and Javascript. So, essentially, they would need to be a programmer or at least have very good knowledge of programming or pay a programmer to make changes to the code.3
What is Built By WordPress.com?
Built By WordPress.com’s moto is “Your site. Built by us. Built for you.”, meaning that Built By WordPress.com make the website for you. They make websites for three main purposes: online stores, educational purposes and professional services.4
Business 2 Community describes WordPress.com’s new extension as “A for-profit portal…” and that it “…provides webpage building to help them understand common mistakes to avoid in web design, and URL names registering, among several additional things. …WordPress.com brand is a component of a bigger network comprising WordPress-related enterprises.”5
Are there any negatives of Built By WordPress.com?
Possible misleading of users who don’t know WordPress.com isn’t the same as WordPress.org: By possibly leveraging their WordPress trademark, it could be suggested that Atomattic, the people behind WordPress.com, could be exploiting the reputation of the free software of the WordPress.org initiative.5
Could end WordPress.org support by pushing for the paid service: As WordPress.org is free and Built By WordPress.com can be a paid for service, there is a question of whether the support for WordPress.org will continue, where people create their own websites, if people move to the Built By WordPress.com service which makes it all for you.
Is this the end of WordPress.org?
Well, we don’t know yet. There can be seen to be much support for WordPress.org and a whole community using the service to create and uphold the organisation in return for free, open source web-creation software.
Plus, there might even be some positives to the new Built By WordPress.com web creation service. The Search Engine Journal commented that Built By WordPress.com possibly doesn’t represent a head-on competition with the WordPress.org development community, as the creation of WordPress.com was more about competing against other website creation services such as Wix, and encouraging people to be a part of, or know about, the WordPress community.6
Refrences
1WordPress.org. (Anon). Meet WordPress. Available: https://wordpress.org/. Last accessed 16th Sep, 2021.
2WordPress.org. (Anon). Democratize Publishing. Available: https://wordpress.org/about/. Last accessed 16th Sep, 2021.
3Soject. (Anon). The Disadvantages of Using WordPress. Available: https://soject.com/the-disadvantages-of-using-wordpress/#:~:text=The%20most%20important%20disadvantages%20of%20WordPress%20are%20the,5%20Requires%20technical%20knowledge%20to%20develop%20the%20site.. Last accessed 16th Sep, 2021.
4 Built By WordPress.com. (Anon). Your site. Built by us. Built for you.. Available: https://wordpress.com/built-by-wordpress-com/?ref=hp-jan-2020-v2-lp. Last accessed 16th Sep, 2021.
5 Business 2 Community. (2021). Advancements Towards Web Design And Web Development Through WordPress. Available: https://www.business2community.com/web-design/advancements-towards-web-design-and-web-development-through-wordpress-02412516. Last accessed 16th Sep, 2021.
6 Matt Southern. (2021). WordPress Powers 39.5% of All Websites. Available: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/wordpress-powers-39-5-of-all-websites/391647/. Last accessed 16th Sep, 2021.
