More WordPress Woes

In the past few weeks, many words have been typed about the controversy that is WordPress versus WP Engine. Up front, let me say I don't fully grasp the issues involved. But I can say it seems bad since many of the vibes I get from various articles and comments cast a grim shadow on the whole thing. It makes me glad to have left WordPress.com for the simpler and apparently more stable blog platform that is Pika.

In fact, I'm doubly glad.

My WordPress woes began in the spring of '22 when a sudden radical plan upheaval revealed awful tiered pricing and options or lack thereof. It unmoored me and I ended up leaving WordPress for Blogger and then Micro.blog. Not long after that, I returned "home" to the familiar comfort of WordPress as it seemed to be settled, having undone its plan missteps.

But a more fundamental issue nagged me. WordPress.com had grown from humble blogging roots into a complex content management system. And it was getting worse by a somewhat confusing and messy transition from classic themes and site setup to a block-based Full-Site Editor system. It might have turned out okay in the end, but the process was frustrating and didn't seem like change for the better. It was still too complicated.

Then I discovered Pika and lived happily ever after.

Well, I've been enjoying Pika for six months, happily paying for a Pro subscription and severing my funds from WordPress. And now that WordPress's leader, Matt Mullenweg, seems to be messing things up, I'm extra glad I already settled elsewhere with a simple blog host.

To be clear and fair, Pika isn't the only simpler platform to host your personal blog at. But coming from someone who likes to tinker with themes, change things, and fancies novel blog setups, it's noteworthy that I've settled at one place and am content to stay. It says a lot about Pika.

Will WordPress crumble like Twitter? How does the controversy affect Tumblr? Will many more personal blogs flee a sinking ship or hold on until stormy seas calm down? I don't know. But it all remains captivating in a way. Web 3.0, or at least the transition from 2.0, is more turbulent than many might have thought.