Sorry, Frustrated and Angry

Edited:

I ceased because WP was not capable of something as simple as a tabbed indent at the beginning of a paragraph

WordPress doesn’t limit the use of CSS, I’m not sure what you mean here. Was it that generally you didn’t have the option in the dashboard to apply basic formatting?

I am going to make some assumptions here:
1) set up prototype = create the optional listings and flow charts necessary to effect desired results.
2) improved dashboard = administrative management window.
3) no plugins = eliminate all the features which would make the site functional for members (application to join, news feeds, gallery, forum, events manager, member managed sections, administrative front end for middle managers, administrative front end for superusers).

I could create such a flow chart back when such things were done in pencil on paper. It may take me awhile of editing and tweaking before I agree to present such to someone for transition. Representing the same thing with the limited tools available today would be more difficult, but not impossible.

The dashboard presents itself, once the options are determined. It should however customize itself to the environment of the user – skin to the desktop.

I consider that a minimalist website would need a single user, the ability to create templates, the ability to assign templates to pages, a media upload and management center, and then a plug-in management center. However, I consider the plug-ins essential to the function of the site. While a plug-in need not be turned on, something which is innate and integrated is immediately more site/code friendly than incorporated plug-ins with unknowable variables.

Frankly, I knew exactly what I wanted as an end result before I began searching to set up a website. I have attempted to adjust to the limitations of the materials I seem to run into, limitations that should not exist – certainly with today’s capacity.

WordPress does not allow something as simple as an indent in a paragraph on a single website that advertises that WP is the format in which you are working. As one of the things I wanted to put up was my notes on the legal ordinances of the city in which I live – losing all formatting in order to put out a jumbled mess of compressed work (two years worth of typing) was unacceptable. I abandoned that project because WP could not handle incorporation of something as simple as a prepared text in it’s format.

Now I am attempting to set up a gaming clan with website, and so far nothing is capable of supporting the social functions of a gaming club: ranks, division of duties, various member pages, divisions based on unit of assignment, character pages, etc. While I have spent hours creating the bylaws, ranks, rank insignia, and establishing a structure there is no way to implement it in a system designed for blogging about recipe variations and which handsaw to prefer.

WordPress does not allow something as simple as an indent in a paragraph on a single website that advertises that WP is the format in which you are working.

Try a plugin such as:
https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/ultimate-tinymce/

You can also embed documents if that works better than inserting text.

limitations that should not exist – certainly with today’s capacity.

Capacity of what?

I consider that a minimalist website would need a single user, the ability to create templates, the ability to assign templates to pages, a media upload and management center, and then a plug-in management center.

Yep that’s all possible in WP.

It’s not totally clear just what you are trying to set up, but a whole lot is possible with WP – something like 17% of websites are built on WP platform – but how much customization is required would depend on the specifics of your site.

…different hoops of random unorganized locations to display something that will only half work.
…with all the organizational skill of a blunderbuss shot pattern.

Those would be my kinds of complaints, if I had any, but I just do my best to do my “disenfranchised and disregarded” best with what is still available.

WPyogi

You can also embed documents if that works better than inserting text.

I suppose. None of these options are readily identifiable or usable. Even calling support and asking directly only resulted in being told to link a pdf stored elsewhere or forget all tables, charts, and formats.

Capacity of what?

The capacity of today’s technology. I have known those programmers who believe “the public should wait outside a door with a mail slot worshiping the possibility that those within will slide something out.” Before anyone denies this quote from a professional programmer I have personally known, perhaps they can point to the interface that is designed for the general public to be able to accomplish whatever they want to set up without having to spend weeks, months, or years learning the technobabble. Trust me, if it was available, I would be using it and no one would have heard from me.

leejosepho

Those would be my kinds of complaints, if I had any, but I just do my best to do my “disenfranchised and disregarded” best with what is still available.

And there is the answer – I would be wasting my time to attempt to move my website to WP. It is just as much written for the technosquad to play with as it is to ignore everyone who is not a member of that group.

Even calling support

Called who? These 100% volunteer forums are the only support for www.ads-software.com.

I’m sorry you’ve not found a good solution for your project, but if you change your mind and want to think again about moving to WP, certainly post back with specific questions, and someone may be able to help you.

Good luck in any case :).

I would be wasting my time to attempt to move my website to WP.

Not necessarily, but I do understand your perspective there and wish the best for you wherever.

WPyogi,

Called who? These 100% volunteer forums are the only support for www.ads-software.com.

This is not the only place using WP or promoting WP. There are sites out there, and I don’t remember the half dozen I delt with on the phone – after calling support for the host I was at, only to find out that nothing out there is useful unless you have a minor in computerese or can buy someone who does. To do what I want to do I should not have to purchase 5 different mods and hacks, learn SQL and CSS, or even know what those things are.

This is not the only place using WP or promoting WP.

True enough, but this here is the only place we can speak for, so can’t comment on what anyone else told you.

Sounds like what you want to do is fairly complex, so I expect there will be some learning curve. Also sounds like you are finding that to be true in any CMS, not just WordPress.

WordPress is what it is – lots of people work hard (most without pay) to make it better all the time.

I truly hope you can find a solution that works for you.

To do what I want to do I should not have to purchase 5 different mods and hacks, learn SQL and CSS, or even know what those things are.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but..

Why not?

What you’ve described is a very specialised system, that you want to wkr exactly the way that you want it to. Fristly, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, and it’s good to see someone that knows what they want for a change.

The big issue that I have with how you’re saying it is that it sounds like you want everything to work first time and work in with you so you have to do nothing. Unfortunately the world doesn’t work that way. WordPress is good because it gives you the chance to do things like this – as long as you (or someone that you’re paying) can make the changes that you want. WordPress, along with every other CMS ever made, is not the one-true-solution to yours and every other problem. If you want it to work the way you want it to, you have to roll up your sleeves and do something about it yourself. We’ve all had to, and that’s part of learning how to run, modify and maintain our own systems. If you want something to work exctly your way, buid it yourself becasue then it will do everything exactly how you want it to. When it comes down to it, that’s the only way that it’s ever going to happen.

I know that’s probably going to strike a nerve with you, but please be assured that I do not mean it in any sort of derogatory way. I just think that you need to be realistic about your expectations and what effort that you’re going to have to put in to get things how you want them to be. It’s definately a huge learning curve, but that’s the price to pay for experience.

catacaustic,

Why not?

Exactly for this reason. What I want to do is utterly rational and logical and that it cannot be done is more an indication of a lack of thought and organization in development. If CMS are designed strictly around the most popularly accessed websites, then the greatest number of hits would indicate that it is strictly for the social application of web porn. Since, it is supposed to be designed for social web development, theoretically outside of the porn industry, there ought to be basic supports in a comprehensible, organized, and intuitively communicated manner. This is not the case.

Frankly, the reason I do not want to get a minor or major in computer science merely to be a hobbyist running a website with a social venue in the video gaming genre is because I have already been through school and paid enough of my life for it. Unless you wish to discuss the nuances of ‘How to Kill a Dragon’ and other aspects of Indo-European Poetics and their underlying relationships to the modern epics, such as the Lord of the Rings or the writings of Michael Moorcock, then it is possible to agree there are nuances in specialized education which neither of us should have to know in order for the options for selection in constructing a website to be in an organized, comprehensive, functional, and intuitive structure appropriate to the the logical progressions and needs of a holistic community.

But what you want is not the same as every other site out there. What I think you’re missing is that every site is different in what it does and how it displays information. There’s no possible way to account for every use-case that you can think of. From what you’re saying, your use-case falls outside of what would be considered a “standard” website, and that’s fine. It doesn’t mean that every tool is going to work for you though. You’ve already said that you’ve ditched WordPress because you couldn’t make it do a small bit of formatting, and the CMS that you’re using now doesn’t suit your needs, so that tells me that you’re trying to do something that’s outside of the box. I’m sure that what you want is logical and rational, but that doesn’t mean that it fits in with any existing system.

If you need something that’s suited to your situation and there’s nothing that currently exists that can handle it, you have a few choices:

1. Take the time and write something yourself that will work exctly the way that you want it to (which is out of the question from what you’ve said before).
2. Hire someone to build a system that will suit your own workflow and expectations (something that every client that we’ve got here has hired us for because nothing works out of the box for everything).
3. Keep searching around for various other CMS systems that might suit your needs because there are a lot of them out there! And don’t just limit yourself ot PHP. I’ve seen a lot of good ones written in a lot of various languages before. They all do things a little differently, so you will need to do the research for yourself ot see what suits.
4. Wait until someone else releases something that does suit you, which could happen in a week, a year, a decade, or never<./li>

I do understand that you shouldn’t need to know everything in order to publish a website the way that you want it, but that’s what professionals are for. It’s the same for you. You have alot more knowledge that I ever will on your subjects, and if I tried ot do what you are doing I’d fall in a screaming heap in a lot worse condition then you trying to do the web side of things.

At this stage I don’t think I can give any more advice then that. I do understand your frustration, but I do think that you need to step back for at least a little while to see if there’s something else in teh bigger picture that might help rather then getting bogged down right at the start with the tiny details. Tiny details can pretty much always be overcome, but it takes knowledge of which ever system you’re using to be able to do it. If you have any specific questions on how to do something, I’m sure that we can help, but with what is essentially a rant about “doesn’t work the way I think it should” it’s impossible to offer any concrete ideas for improving your experience.

@whithers: I’m sorry that you have experienced some frustration with WordPress thus far but, as others have said, your expectations of WordPress “out of the box” do seem rather unrealistic. All content management systems – including WordPress – are merely platforms that you use to build your site upon – tailoring them to suit your own, specialised, needs as required. They should be thought of as a blank canvas – not a complete, pre-boxed, solution to your very specific needs.

Perhaps WordPress simply is not suited to your requirements? We certainly would never suggest that it is The Answer in every situation but is has empowered many millions of people to create their own sites. In the vast majority of cases, these are people who are not technically orientated and who probably would never have built a site from scratch without WordPress.

If you do decide to use WordPress to build your site and you have a specific question, we would be more than happy to help you. This topic, however, does not seem to going anywhere. Nor is it directly pertinent to WordPress any more. For that reason I am now closing it. I do, however, wish you the best of luck with your site – whatever CMS platform you decide to chose. ??