Second Impression of WordPress
I got some good comments on my WordPress impressions, and Jason Stare pointed out that I was missing a key feature of wordpress. It does have some basic file-upload capabilities. But with the addition of an image viewer plugin it really shapes up quickly.Thanks Jason, the plugin works well.
First impressions of wordPress
Since I got back, I've been experimenting with wordPress, which is a fairly mature blogging tool.My first impressions of it are generally favorable. It has an excellent document management system. for instance you can list post by date or even by keyword.
Since I like templating systems I dove into that portion first, and I would say that WordPress' template remind me a lot of MovableType's, but with even more PHP jargon. I'm still working on a template... going has been a bit slow
A disappointing feature of the template is that even though you can manage them through the browser interface you have to first do a CHMOD on each of the template files, and then you have to know the document names of all the files used to manage the look, to even do a simple edit. To modify a template you have to type in the document name of the file you want to edit in a "search box" them click the edit button. So right away I don't think I can expect any of my users to manage any portion of their own templates, especially any of my busy teacher clients.
As a straight writing tool it has a ton of compelling features.
The ability to post news-items to multiple categories is a big win. The ability to have sub categories is another.
It includes a fairly comprehensive way to manage navigation. Example: it gives a user the ability to subcategorize.
I huge win for the educational market is the ability to manage comments in a comprehensive way, with a filter or by allowing a site manager to queue all comments for approval. Plus it has the ability to password protect individual pages.
It doesn't have a WYSIWYG, which i actually like since they generally are more trouble than they are worth, and almost always cause problem especially on Windows when you copy content from one program to your website. Why does Windows want to remember the font, color, and size, when you copy and paste? (does anyone know how to stop that from happening?)
So far I like it, but I really miss the ability to upload images though the browser.