The evils of using a CMS

Feb 7, 03:27 AM - and

Are apparently that you do not know what is going on with your site, you do get to handcode anything and you’re a lazy bum who doesn’t care about building a site so much as they like the glamour of having one.

Okay, so maybe the last one is partially true, people who don’t know that much about web standards should probably just stick to a CMS with a pre-made theme stuck on it. However, that doesn’t mean people who choose to use a CMS are lazy and plain old fashioned stupid.

I handcoded this layout, every single bit of it was typed from scratch by my own two little hands. Would you look at me differently if I were merely using PHP Includes? Probably, which I can’t believe because by using PHP Includes you’re still inserting content onto your page (using methods that the visitor cannot see), how is that any different from generating a list of archives, categories or even a list of random links?

You could, conceivably, “make” your own CMS. By that I mean create the categories yourself, use an outside commenting tool such as Haloscan (evil, evil thing) and manually add all your entries to an archives page. But in the end what does that mean? That you busted your hump doing something that I, and most people browsing your site, won’t see/appreciate?

Perhaps I’m just lazy (actually I am, but lets pretend that I’m not), perhaps I just can’t see the reason why “handcoded” sites are sometimes held in higher regard than sites that use a CMS because I have blinders on. Whatever the reason I don’t understand the elitism behind not using a CMS/blogging system/script of any kind.

To make matters worse all the little dweebs suffering from Weborexia (how cool is that term?) like to strut around ranting about how everyone’s site looks like a default Wordpress theme (But… I use Textpattern?).

There are good blogs that don’t use comments, and I do think that the ability to post a comment shouldn’t reflect on whether or not you continue to visit. However, with me it usually does because I like to subscribe to feeds and post responses to things, I’m just an interactive kind of gal.

Tags: cms, stupidity

I prefer blogs with commenting enabled because sometimes I just feel like adding my 0.2c.

Regarding better sites that use hand-coded CMS – well it’s a more knowledgeable webmaster certainly, but not necessarily a better site. I only know tow webmasters who use hand coded CMS (Jem and Kimmie) and I admire them for having had the patience to learn to do that.

Still, that doesn’t mean that you’re crap if your site is not 100% coded by you. That’s a just plain elitist view – which is neither useful, nor generally pertinent.

#1 Vera Feb 7, 06:32 Permalink

Well, the purpose of CMSs is to make our lives easier, isn’t it? Manually updating a blog is just too time-consuming and tedious to be a reasonable option for many bloggers. And anyways, using a CMS and doing things manually are just two different approaches to maintaining a blog. As long as the end product, what visitors end up seeing, is presentable, it really doesn’t matter how you go about doing things.

#2 Dorie Feb 7, 13:19 Permalink

I use premade WP themes simply because I am too lazy to sit and figure out a theme I can stand staring for a while. I keep on meaning to get off my but and do make my own, but usually I’m happy with the premade ones.

#3 Katje Feb 7, 18:56 Permalink

Haven’t dropped by in a while, you’ve changed the design again, I like it :) Way to pull off a text layout!

Anyway, getting on topic. I think comments are what make modern blogs blogs. Although having said that, my most favourite blog ever doesn’t have comments and I’m actually glad that it doesn’t. Sometimes I feel intimidated by blogs that get 54 comments in 24 hours. Is that weird? I don’t think I’m the only one.

Those who insist on hand coding their own sites and snigger at people who use free CMS really piss me off. They obviously don’t know what’s out there, all high and mighty in their thrones of stupidity. But then again, my favorite blog is hand coded. I’m such a hypocrite, well not really, she’s not mean to those who use a free CMS so she’s not one of those people who piss me off.

#4 Kat Feb 8, 07:14 Permalink

Dorie, I agree. I just really don’t like it when people (and they have) turn their nose up at ANYONE using a CMS because it isn’t done by hand. Are your clothes of lesser quality because they’re sewn by hand? I think not! And in fact, in most cases the machine sewn clothes are probably better quality (unless you’re a fantastic seamstress or tailor).

Katje, to each their own, eh? I prefer to make my own because that gives me a sense of “accomplishment”, but I have been tempted to use some premades as of late, haven’t yet but I probably will in the future :)

Kat, thanks! I prefered the red one myself, but I couldn’t recreate that after I very stupidly overwrote the style sheet twice, so I just tinkered with this. I hate making “real” graphics in my image editing program so I don’t even bother really doing anything with images anymore (as in I prefer CSS to anything else).

Some blogs are okay without comments, I know of one or two that work well without them. But I can’t somehow feel as though some, not all, bloggers do it to restrict the opinions that flow onto their site (and give them less of a chance of running into an opposing opinion, particularly when they’re really stupid).

You aren’t, although to be fair, 95% of the comments that the really popular blogs get are complete and utter crap (lulz nice site, visit mine plz, or just restating what the blogger already said [and not in a new way]).

I don’t mind those who choose to create category lists, archives and whatnot manually. So long as they don’t come after me and dismiss me as being mentally challenged for using a premade CMS. The amount of time you put into your site means nothing to the average visitor. Like Dorie said, as long as the end product is presentable, nothing else matters :)

#5 Becky Feb 8, 14:06 Permalink

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