Anyone who has ever tried to create their own blog knows that there are nearly one hundred different blogging platforms, Content Management Systems (CMS’s), or blog hosts to choose from. This group is comprised of software ranging from commercially licensed programs to open source piles of flaming fecal matter. About a year ago when I set up my first website I chose the open source program WordPress to be the man behind the curtain. About a year ago WordPress should have just given up. The open source blogging platform hosted a million different vulnerabilities to viruses, hackers, and itself. It was so muddled and confusing to install and maintain that Microsoft was probably calling it “son.”

Yesterday I decided to start up my personal blog again, and with this choice I needed to choose the platform to run it on. Browsing through the options that my hosting service offered, I spied WordPress. Now, I am not one to hold grudges, especially with technology. I recognize that software in the CMS world is indefinitely hard to write and program. This is only doubly troubling those open source dev’s who are writing for no profit. Meaning they have smaller amounts of money to pour into the project. After using the latest version of WordPress in the last 24 hours I have found it to be something as simple and easy as Apple’s OS X.

Either WordPress developers are amongst the small group of people who still listen to the consumer, or they all have telepathic powers and can read all of our minds. Every feature that I had sat there wishing worked or existed in WordPress version 2.0.5 exists in version 2.3.1. To top that off WordPress is now offering blog stats powered by them for any blog hosted with the WordPress engine.

In the last year WordPress has managed to completely eliminate PHP problems as well as security issues, while offering features that you can commonly find only on commercial blogging software or CMS’s. WordPress really has outdone themselves. While experimenting with the back-end user interface for admins I noticed that most of the coding appears to be in XHTML. The back-end utilizes a graphically-pleasing method of fading windows in and out when working on editing a page or article. Different pages can now be used as the main page of a blog, which has never been allowed before, and allows more of a professional look to the blog. Templates and plugins have been standardized so that users cannot possible mess up their site by accidentally installing something wrong.

Working with WordPress really is more of an enjoyable experience than a stressful one. The way that the back-end flows and is easy on the eyes aesthetically appeals while also appealing in its effectiveness. WordPress really appears to be becoming more of a CMS than a blogging engine. As its feature set expands it is including things that most would say dropped into CMS territory. For example there is a file uploaded on the edit page form. If one uploads an image it will appear in a library and a simple click drops it into the article being edited. From there it can be turned into a hyperlink; you can also add a border or change the size of the image. Another feature set that is very similar to a CMS is the allowing of a community development. There are options to allow comments from only site members, and multiple authors and blogs can be set up with minor amounts of coding. The one feature that is commonly left out of CMS’s and blogging Engines is a built-in spellcheck. WordPress incorporates one heck of a spellchecker, as in some occasions it even outdoes OS X’s built in spellcheck.

All in all WordPress has come a very long way in the last year. Offering new features that used to have to be added as plug-ins, and powerful stats hosting. With its feature rich back-end and its aesthetically pleasing layout, WordPress offers a solid blogging engine—one that in some areas rivals the features and abilities of commercial CMS’s.

WordPress’s official website can be found at www.wordpress.org and its blog hosting services can be found at www.wordpress.com.