Check out the screen capture below. I believe I had some pretty cool web pages. I opted not to use a packaged blogging solution and created everything from scratch using the Zend Framework. People even commented on how slick my site was, but there was one big problem …
The problem was that I spent too much time coding and not enough time writing. Since I created the previous platform from scratch, any updates to the code were up to me. Time to add a Tag Cloud? No widget exited for the old system, so I had to create it from scratch. Uh oh, I forgot about PingBacks. Time to go through the code again and add a new feature. In the time I’ve spent creating my previous blog/website I could have written 30,000 words or more (which is sobering when I think about it.)
Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t like the whole time was wasted. I always seem to learn something new from any project I undertake, and it was no different with the software I created. I learned the internal workings of RSS feeds, about microformats, pingbacks and trackbacks, and even picked up new tips on webpage design.
So, I’ve opted to use WordPress. I’m still going to have to add features to the system, but now the blogging system is both powerful and stable. And compared to creating an entire platform from the ground up, developing an occasional widget should be child’s play.
