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# Seeking a WordPress alternative
- URL: https://gerenm.mymagic.page/seeking-a-wordpress-alternative/
- Published: 2026-07-24T03:08:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-24T03:08:03.000Z
- Author: Geren Mortensen
- Tags: Words, #Migrated-1790799853699, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-09-30 16:24

I've been using WordPress as long as there's been WordPress, with only a single excursion elsewhere. Twenty-three years.

When WordPress started, it was intended for bloggers. You could post words and pictures and links, and build a nice looking website. If you were mildly savvy, you could embed content from other places, like YouTube. Life was good.

And then, some things happened.

Third-party plug-ins was one of those things. A community of open source developers *who understood the brief* concocted an ever growing array of add-ins that extended the functionality and allowed for better formatting of content -- and allowed for new types of content. Somewhere along that line, someone saw dollar signs.

Along with the plug-in explosion came increased theme functionality. Themes became more and more capable and more and more complex. They added their own plug-ins and design frameworks. Somewhere along that line, someone saw dollar signs.

Suddenly, if you're not *actively and aggressively* trying to monetize your "blog," you're doing it wrong. And, if you dare to leave a negative review about a plug-in (with examples of why your review is negative), you're ostracized or called out or punished. I remember when reviews were allowed to point out shortcomings of a product.

The short of this is, after using and pushing WordPress since its inception, I've had it. The platform has become bloated and fragile. The plug-in architecture hasn't kept pace, and the community has soured and become toxic. And, I've grown tired of spending a lot of time fighting incompatibilities, poor code, poor support, and bad, holier-than-thou attitudes. TL;DR (as the kids say), I'm done.

At this point, I'm not necessarily looking to kill off gerenm.net entirely (or at all). But I am looking to reshape it in a more stable, more manageable form, likely even moving away from my long-time relationship with the good folks at ICDSoft and moving to a hosted platform.

If anyone is still reading at this point, I'd like to know your experiences with hosted platforms. A look around here will give you some insight into the features that I use. You can leave your suggestions in the comments section below.