Sharon Lederer

Leren hoe je een goede blogpost schrijft? Lees dan eerst deze blogpost > superblogger.nl/blog-schrijven/ Of schrijf je in voor de workshop 'Content Creatie voor SEO' op 13 maart in Nijmegen!

Dit is hoe je #WCNL begint, toch?

@_jdwhite_ @thekevingeary Yes! Exactly this.

@thekevingeary I would like WordPress to focus on being the best CMS tool for agencies and developers rather than trying to be something for everyone. WP cant compete wix etc for novices and DIY market but they still have a very loyal user base with professionals, so why not focus on that area?

Rapid-fire thoughts on Jamie's video about #Wix vs #WordPress (from a 19-year WP veteran and exclusive WP user)... - It brings up some very valid points and I'm glad he published it. Kudos to him. It gets an important conversation started. - The chart showing the [relatively low] number or percent of new projects being started with WP is what I've suspected for quite some time now. Harping on "43%" or "market share," as most WordPressers do, is just a self-unaware celebration of lagging indicators. The future isn't bright when people aren't using the platform to start new projects. All real indicators point to "43%" becoming a dramatically lower number in the near future. - The video title is definitely sensationalist and misses the real mark. There isn't some "master plan" by Wix to take down WordPress, at least not using any of the tactics outlined in that video. The reality is that Wix is just way better at marketing and advertising and building a cohesive product than WordPress is. And... - ...The same is true of most other similar platforms. @Wix , @squarespace, @webflow, @framer, etc. are all lightyears better at marketing, advertising, education, and cohesive product development than WordPress is. They're literally just playing the BASICS of the game way better, but a top WordPress creator thinks this is some "secret takedown plan." That's either because he's never seen basic marketing get executed consistently or his channel thrives on sensationalism, idk. Since you can't build a website in 10 minutes, I'd lean toward the latter explanation. - If you're keeping score without blinders on, WordPress is losing in every meaningful category except one... ❌ Advertising ❌ Marketing ❌ Education ❌ Product Design ❌ Product Development ❌ Product Onboarding ❌ Ecosystem Cohesiveness ❌ Product Vision ❌ Product-Market-Fit ❌ Talent Acquisition (Creators) ❌ Thought Leadership & Innovation ❌ Storytelling ✅ Open Source They win in ONE area and one area only. Granted, it's a huge area (and the only reason we're still alive). Here's a quick recap of where WordPress is in 2024 in case you're out of the loop: 😟 The product has two completely different admin UIs. 😟 The product has four completely different fundamental interfaces (classic blocks, block themes, site editor, and third party page builders), none of which play nice together. And just within the page builder ecosystem and block ecosystem, that quickly expands out to dozens of different interfaces, option sets, and methodologies, with varying degrees of output quality. 😟 There's no real communication of standards or best practices. WordPress is the wild west of web design, which has some upsides, but ultimately fails to attract new talent and completely turns off beginners. 😟 The product has a theme ecosystem with tens of thousands of variant takes on how a website should be built (not just designed), all randomly spread out over the four possible interfaces (because themes aren't just design, they're linked with opinionated architecture, which is a fundamental flaw of the theme ecosystem when considering the platform from a Wixesque user perspective). 😟 The primary interface, the block editor, has two completely different rendering modes (iframe vs no iframe) depending on whether a random non-v3 block is available or not available, with wildly problematic implications for anyone who wants to interact with the canvas' styling output. This is logistically outrageous. 😟 The product has an archaic CMS that's been all but abandoned in favor of committing resources to a flailing page building experience. Twenty years in and we just got the ability to duplicate a page and we still can't natively organize media (the ultra-basics are still missing). The CMS is literally the best part of WP, but they abandoned it a decade ago. 😟 Consider the concept of pages vs posts vs post types. Okay? Now stop considering it, because it makes no sense and is a waste of time. These are areas of the architecture that desperately need thought leadership. The fact that WP in 2024 is still a glorified blogging platform is not due to technological limitations or the need for backward compatibility. WP is architecturally emaciated because it's spent too many years starving for thought leadership. There isn't a single WordPress website built in 2024 that is thriving because of WPs architecture -- every single one of them either has poor content architecture or is a patchwork of workarounds designed to escape the 2005 blogging model of content management and content relationships. 😟 The product has no onboarding to speak of and onboarding is nearly impossible to design given the lack of a cohesive building experience. Again, the theme ecosystem is a major roadblock that none of the other platforms suffer from (and hardly anyone in WP seems to understand this from my previous discussions). 😟 Gutenberg makes development MORE technical, not less. And the block editor still feels and behaves like a half-baked experiment after 8 years of development. Compare it to ANY other modern page building interface and it feels like a cheap plastic toy. This has mentally and emotionally beaten down devs so much that they fangirl over the addition of insanely basic features like negative margin. 😟 The narrative around WP in the larger ecosystem of web design and business is shifting heavily in favor of alternatives. 😟 I could keep going, but it's all too much for a tweet. What is the conclusion of all this? Here's my direct and forewarning opinion: WordPress is a glorious, but severely wounded elephant, surrounded by hungry wolves who have shown a strong ability to HUNT and KILL. It's not fatally wounded, and it can retain market dominance and turn things around, but it needs better leadership, better vision, and a much stronger and more serious commitment to marketing and education. And it needs those things NOW. There's more to say, more "solutions" to offer, and more valuable insights that I'm happy to share, but it's all too much for a tweet. As everyone should know by now, I'm more than happy to discuss on a podcast, youtube channel, livestream, whatever. If we don't start having more serious conversations about this, we're gonna get feasted on. And just so we're clear: I'm a HUGE fan of WP. I love [the vast majority] of the community 😅. I love OWNING MY CONTENT. I love the FREEDOM TO PUBLISH. But I'm not in the business of getting feasted on, so I feel a real need to discuss these things publicly. Not to harp or attack or blame any one person, but so these very real issues can be IDENTIFIED and FIXED and so WP can survive and thrive. We don't have nearly as much time as some people seem to think we do.

@TacoVerdo @realloc flickr.com/photos/wceu/53…

Did anyone spot me yet? #WCEU (Ok, I already know @realloc did)

Had an amazing first day at #WCEU. Time to go to bed soon. Thanks for the new pyjamas @elemntor 😉

@CJosje @florievhh @WCEurope Superleuk Camille!

Excited to share that @florievhh and I will be hosting a workshop at @WCEurope this year! 🥳 Can't wait and hope to see many of you there in June ❤️🇮🇹 #WCEU europe.wordcamp.org/2024/workshops/

@TacoVerdo @merchandise @WordCampNmgn Idee is in ontwikkeling 🤩 Hopelijk vindt het WordPress Community Team het wat 🤞

@merchandise Potdomme. Dan is de laatste @WordCampNmgn echt al veel te lang geleden! @SharonLederer, doe er wat aan! ;-)

Vijf jaar geleden was het 2019. Dus niet vorige week ofzo. Let that sink in for a moment.

@WordCampNL Is er ook al een attendees pagina? Altijd leuk om te weten wie komt  🥳

Zo hé… wat zijn wij blij met de overweldigende hoeveelheid sprekersaanmeldingen: 110 stuks! Fan. Tas. Tisch. Hier gaan we een mooi programma voor jullie van maken. Tickets koop je alvast hier: netherlands.wordcamp.org/2022/tickets/

@JeroenRotty Nooo 😢 Beterschap!

@TacoVerdo I brought 2 pairs of shoes, both new 😬

What do you think? #WCEU’ing on new shoes is…

Titels bedenken voor de call for speakers voor #WCNL Deze is het niet geworden » "WordPress is soms net een krentenbol, maar zo maak je er weer een zacht bolletje van." 🥖

@WordCampNL 🥳🥳🥳

Save the date! WordCamp Nederland 2022 - 15 & 16 September!

@JeroenRotty Daarvoor ga ik deze maand naar De WordPress meetup in Utrecht! WordCamp als deelnemer bezoeker, vind ik toch wel iets minder leuk 😅 Weet jij nog niet zeker of je gaat?

Vorige week toch maar besloten om te gaan! 🥳 #WCEU2022

Deelnemers gezocht voor online studie! Voor het afronden van mijn master ben ik ook zoek naar mensen die gezonder willen eten en 14 dagen hun doelen willen bijhouden (vergoeding deelname: € 5,-) > radboudletteren.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bP…

@fellyph @SergeyBiryukov Hi! Just saw your message. We were at a BBQ party. Hope you has a great night!

@SharonLederer hey are you around? I came to a place to have dinner with @SergeyBiryukov do you want to join us?

This year's closing keynote consists out of a whopping FOUR WordPress experts on stage for XXL website reviews! Do you want to have your own website reviewed? Sign up today! Follow the link & fasten your seatbelts: 2019.nijmegen.wordcamp.org/geef-je-websit…

Hey you guys! Are you enjoying @WCEU as much as we are? If you want to keep the party going, make sure to visit our website, because OUR TICKET SALE HAS STARTED! 😍 #WCNMGN #WCEU 2019.nijmegen.wordcamp.org/tickets/

...Countdown has started - We're getting close! #15daystoticketsale #Dontmissout