WordPress is no doubt very popular, easy to use and flexible as a CMS (Content Management System), but it’s still obvious there’s legacy left from its blog engine days.
These are in my opinion the things that need to be changed to make WordPress a great CMS off the bat:
Provide an installation wizard that:
- Asks whether a blog or a site is to be configured. This is my main gripe.
- Asks what basic features you need in terms of SEO etc.
- Asks what basic structure the site should have. Provide typical content templates (as opposed to themes, that have nothing to do with structure) for a company information site, e-shop (where it’s possible to select what plugin to use), topic-based forum, blog etc.
- Asks for a theme selection based on the above criteria.
- Asks for a possible site configuration file that the installer has set up beforehand, containing the page structure wanted etc.
- Install suitable plugins based on the above. I know this can be tricky (not the least politically) in terms of what plugins to favor.
Characteristics of a site vs a blog:
- A multi-page site structure.
- A static home page.
- A separate news/blog page.
- Possibly no comments or sidebar per page, except on the news page.
Also:
- Provide features similar to “My Page Order”. Editing page order via the Order setting is way too cumbersome.
- Provide basic SEO settings.
- Make a POST rather than GET for Bulk Action, so that many pages can be edited at once. Overall: Change all GETs to POSTs.
Not that it takes a long time to install and configure a WordPress installation including relevant plugins, theme etc, but e.g. having to reset commenting and sidebar on pages just because the default setting is “out of whack” is one of those things you simply don’t want to do too often.