Why is WordPress still the most frustrating software to use?

Ive found that using WP to try and make a website is like using dancing to describe architecture, or using pointers? graphs and pictures to convey philosophical concepts. It is that clear and logical, or better still telling someone thats born color blind to keep practicing on the colors they cant differentiate, theyll eventually “get it” it just takes time. The illogic of WPs dashboard to get a web page from it are two processes so foreign to each other it would drive a Vulcan mad.
For me “a little time” would be less than 4 months to finally get to the point that you can get the app to do something….anything at all that you can say…ohh….it works!!!!! So far after four months of WordPress for dummies and countless WP utoob tutorials I can boot up WP in instant WP and click here and there and waste from 2 -9 hours a day every day for 4 months which I have done since the beginning of June. It is “easy” to use wordpress to waste time getting nowhere. It amazingly easy. I salute all those that have managed to disconnect and shut down the part of their brain that controls the logic functions in order to use WP. Someday I hope to be able to dance in a way that if I do a fox trot….the foundation for a skyscraper will magically appear, like if I click something on the dashboard of WP the foundation of a website will magically present itself, and I can go “wow, now I can finally start building something”.

using WP to try and make a website

that is a common misconception;
WordPress does not make making websites easy or easier.

the reality is:
– learn to make websites first;
– then use WordPress to make websites that can be more easily managed by the user.

Ive been on wordpress now for four months

what web programming methods did you use before that? how many months did you sepnd to learn html, css, and php?

Im a noobie to web design. Everybody says WP is easy. I found it is easy to spend hours days weeks and now 4 months to constantly get stuck on the dashboard clicking here and there to get nothing usefull. Learning WP is a steep and deep process. Theres gotta be something easier. Sadly Ive got to get my head around it, as the concept is great but to learn how to impliment that is a nightmare.

WP is easy

it is, just like riding a motorbike is (relatively) easy when you have mastered your ordinary bike.
it is the same kind of performance boost.

I can imagine that jumping into WordPress as the primary exposure to web programming is indeed a harsh experience.

Exactly so. You need a lot of pre knowledge before you can say WP is easy. WP is a harsh time sucking nightmare for a beginner. Its taken me 4 months to realize how easy it is to spend 4 months on WP to get nowhere quick.

@ian, I think you are confusing “using WordPress” with “programming a theme or plugin”. Creating a theme or a plugin is programming. There is no way around that.

WordPress is not a site creation tool like Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver is a kind of code editor geared toward web sites. Its purpose is the creation of a site from top to bottom. Some people think it is a good tool for such things.

WordPress is not that. WordPress is a web application that manages dynamic content. You don’t build a site with WordPress. You build a site that uses WordPress. You build a WordPress site with some other tool and run that site ‘on’ WordPress. When you build the site (the theme mostly) you provide slots where WordPress can shove in dynamic content from the database. That is a pretty big difference.

It isn’t a perfect analogy, but think about this. You don’t build a video game on the xBox. You build a game that runs on the xBox. The people creating the game are writing code on computers and installing that code on the xBox. Once the game is working users can create characters and move around and do whatever the game creators allowed when they wrote the code.

WordPress is like that. Once the site is created the users can write posts and manipulate other things to the degree that the programmer has allowed or anticipated. WordPress is the xBox. The game is the theme. If you have a theme and want to play the game it is easy. If you want to create the game or hack the game, it gets harder (but the WordPress Codex is very very useful) and you have to learn PHP, SQL, HTML, CSS, Javascript, and the WordPress programming framework– hooks, functions, etc.– just as a programmer has to learn whatever frameworks are required for a project (GTK, for example, or the Unreal Engine).

I hope that helps. If you are used to creating HTML sites, WordPress, or any other dynamic framework, is going to be a huge leap. If you are interested in a comparison, look into creating themes for Drupal or Joomla.

Nope no confusion at all. Im trying to use a template to make a website. Thats it. I have instant wordpress and a template that I want to put in a different header picture and some content. 4 months so far and i can move my mouse around the dashboard and preview but theres always some snag.

@alexmcginness, my comment was addressed to the person who started this thread not to you. If you are having trouble doing those couple of things, start a topic. It shouldn’t be that hard unless something is badly wrong with your theme.

Sorry bout that.

Im just using the supplied themes.

Please post your own topic.

? The topic of this thread is ” Why is WordPress still the most frustrating software to use? ” As a noob on WP I saw the topic title and posted my thoughts on the subject matter. After spending yet another 15 hours over the last two days on WP I finally after 4 months less 2 days got to the point where I went WOW …finally, I can now “:START” to do something usefull with this app. Now the wordpress 24 hour trainer book and the wordpress for dummies book can start me on the road to using WP. Now the dashboard, that to someone thats been using DP apsp since the mid 80s like Calimus on the Atari and Publisher on the PC, is useable even though its still like dancing a foxtrot to build a 747. No new topic is required to post “Why is WordPress still the most frustrating software to use? ” This is “the” thread and, my last post on this on because now after 4 months of trying to get my head around the deep black hole that is the learning curve to get up and running, to even start using WP Im finally on my way. Is WP frustrating? You bet your life it is.

WordPress is software. As with all software there are things you have to learn. Anybody can download LibreOffice (Office Suite similar to MS Office) or GiMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) and open or create files, but to do anything interesting you have to learn stuff. It boggles my mind that so many people think they can install WordPress and use it effectively without learning anything. In what other arena is that true?

Not so. I just didnt think Id have to invest 4 months to get to the point of starting to begin with it. The title of the thread is “Why is WordPress still the most frustrating software to use? From the perspective of someone just starting on WP, I posted from my own experience how frustrating and time consuming WP is to even start to use it. Its been a four month black hole for me. I remember back in 1985 when I bought my first Atari and a music program called Notator. It took me a solid week of starting at 8 in the morning until 2am for 7 straight days to get that app up and running and using it to edit midi and make backing tracks, on top of learning the computer itself. Four months on this wonderfully “easy” app called WP has gotten me to the same point. I can now start using WP.

I’m sorry. I just can’t imagine 4 months trying to learn to use WordPress. I can see maybe a week, and I work with people who know next to nothing about the web, or technology, or anything related. When we built a site for a client, we plan on about 2-3 hours to orient them. Sometimes we are asked for another 2 or so and that seems sufficient. I am not trying to insult anyone but I can’t figure this out. You had to have been, despite what you’ve said, trying to do something in the ‘advanced’ range.

Can you, or anyone else who might be reading this, provide a list of particular issues that you found confusing?