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Episode
236
Interview
Web News

If You Can’t Code, Don’t Use WordPress

Recorded:
February 21, 2023
Released:
March 1, 2023
Episode Number:
236

The popularity of WordPress partly comes from its ability to transform into virtually any website creation tool you need. From a membership site managing tool, to an inventory control system with ecommerce, the WordPress plugin offerings seem to be able to make anything happen - with low, to no-code. This is, however, as long as everything keeps working the way it should. With critical errors like the WordPress white screen of death threatening websites at almost every turn, we discuss why knowing how to code (or at least manage hosting files) is a critical skill that many WordPress users don't realize they need...until it's too late.

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Show Notes

Topics

The Problems with WordPress

These problems refer to the self-hosted version of WordPress

  • Whenever WordPress crashes (WordPress White Screen of Death), the site goes down and the admin panel becomes inaccessible
    - This requires a technical (or someone with technical knowhow) to troubleshoot and correct the problem - there's no easy (roll back) or (restore from backup) built-in to WordPress
  • These crashes can happen really suddenly, even if you make a small PHP error, or if a plugin is incompatible after an update
  • WordPress updates can be difficult to navigate (updating WordPress itself & the plugins) without causing issues, or crashes
    - Even the very popular no-code site builder Elementor often recommends to update their plugin in a staging environment and to take all necessary precautions around that
  • You can very easily exit the "consumer" experience and require coding/web admin knowledge how to get it back (ie site crashes, updating a theme that breaks all the styles)

Potential Solutions

We believe these solutions should be built-in to WordPress by default

  • Backup & recovery
    - In the event of the WordPress White Screen of Death
    - Easy rolling back to a snapshot of time (something like the Webflow backup & recovery system)
    - Easy automatic backups (autosaves) and manual backups (backup before a major change)
  • Easy roll-back for plugin updates and WordPress updates
    - Right now you have to either use a plugin that can do roll-backs (which is no good if the entire site crashes due to a plugin update)
  • Some sort of safe mode, or recovery mode in the event of a major issue
    - A place where you can switch off plugins, rollback to a backup, or rollback to a previous version
    - This mode should work even if WordPress has crashed