Does it hurt to understand how water pressure, braking, circuitry, or plugins work? Not at all, the more knowledge the better.
The problems come when someone that has partial knowledge over-reaches their abilities and tries to do something that should be done by a Professional.
Many professions are strictly controlled. I may be able to change a faucet washer, air filter, switch plate, or theme, but I hate to think of the repercussions if I got too deep into any of the first three
I personally think if the field of programming (and web dev in general) had some sort of standards be it License, Certificate, or whatever, it would help save a lot of people from running into problems that come from dealing with so-called professionals.
Good for you for being a pragmatist (as I too strive to be). I did try to make the point in my post (and maybe I didn’t do it so well) that my issue is with people who push it when they haven’t tried anything else. I would say you’re in the minority for having tried so many CMSs.
However, I will never describe myself as a {Insert CMS here} specialist; I’m a web designer/developer. I treat each project individually and will never consider a CMS until I know what the client wants.
I did also try to make the point that I don’t actually dislike WordPress, I just feel often there is a better choice. The post is overly negative as you pointed out but that really is to counter some overly positive (in my opinion) spin made about WP.
I appreciate your analogy but I think it would be fairer to say:
a plumber to fit a radiator
a mechanic to replace a clutch
an electrician to rewire my house
a programmer to use WordPress
Generally speaking though, it sounds like we agree.
With regards to non-programmers my post mainly related to plugins: there is no quality control on plugins, too many plugins can be risky. When I build a bespoke CMS I am absolutely allowing non-programmers to update a site; that’s the whole point. I think though the layman shouldn’t be writing or indiscriminately installing plugins.
I’ve used vBulletin quite a lot and can’t ever recall needing a plugin. I know you can get them but they don’t seem to saturate the culture like they do with WP.
Anyway, this is a decent, civil discussion and it’s good to hear views that contradict mine.
