Will Ghost Pick Up Where WordPress Left Off?

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June 18, 2013

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In an already-fast circulating article John O’Nolan shares via FastCompany his candid thoughts on how Ghost is going to “pick up the mantle” that WordPress has put down:

There is no longer such a strong notion that WordPress is “just a blogging platform,” because it’s actually no longer a blogging platform at all. Matt Mullenweg himself now says that the future of WordPress is as a “web operating system.”

The state of online publishing is clear. All around us we see new platforms popping up, growing, and trying to fill the very large shoes which WordPress has left behind. These are all proprietary products with closed licenses that exist–like LiveJournal and TextPattern did–to make their companies wealthy.

For many of the same reasons as Matt created WordPress in 2003, I launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new product called Ghost that proudly wears the mantle which WordPress cast aside: It’s just a blogging platform.

Is Ghost going to be the new blogging defacto winner – or is it a matter of time before Ghost starts entertaining more CMS-like features as the product scales, grows, and becomes more popular?

Honestly, who’s to tell.

A constant and somewhat superficial point that always comes up is this reverting back to a state of more “simplicity” – Matt debunks this in a comment regarding O’Nolan’s post:

I think simplicity is relative, and the first few years of WordPress were actually pretty complex.

Milan also nails it that people don’t necessary want simplicity or their site to be cookie cutter. If you look at the comments on the Ghost article it is a mix of people who want simpler blogging and some who want crazy built-in post types.

I have some ideas for the post editor, though, that I think people will really dig. You can satisfy both camps, it just takes iterations and probably a few missteps along the way.

He’s right, in a few ways – WordPress from many perspectives hasn’t become much more simple or much more complex. There have a been a lot of tradeoffs over the years and in most ways it is subjective.

If anything I believe that WP must continue to innovate or die trying. Market leadership is just that – market leadership which can be quickly stripped as quickly as it is gained.

Stay competitive, stay hungry. Perhaps, even, stay foolish (minute 14, specifically):

Get it done.

There are 7 comments

June 19, 2013 #

Carl Hancock

A major issue with this Fast Company article was the headline itself.

It makes the assumption that its gong to pick up where WordPress left off as If WordPress no longer exists, is no longer being developed or is somehow no longer suitable for blogging. That is typically what is meant when someone says they are picking up where something left off.

In this case nothing could be further from the truth, WordPress isn’t going anywhere. So that makes it quite difficult to pick up where WordPress left off because WordPress hasn’t left off. It’s still a very active and growing platform.

I backed Ghost and can’t wait to see what it looks like and I’m more than willing to give John advice and input on making it better and I hope it succeeds.

But WordPress isn’t going anywhere. Both as a blogging platform or as a CMS.
- June 20, 2013 #
  
  Jaki Levy
  
  Agreed. The article is based on a false argument. That WordPress has somehow “lost its roots” or doesn’t serve “the small guy” anymore. Couldn’t be any further from the truth.
  
  I teach personalized WordPress classes and every single student I have appreciates the simplicity in the software. Like any new piece of robust software, it might take time to get up and running. But an hour or two (for a total beginner) over the course of a lifetime? Come on…
  
  There is a reason that it’s the most widely used CMS – it does a great job for new and advanced users alike. Could the project improve? Yes. It’s always getting improved. By people like us. And by projects like Ghost. I wish him luck and hope the project succeeds. Perhaps he should stick to writing code as opposed to writing articles with poor arguments.
- June 20, 2013 #
  
  Michael
  
  I was thinking the same thing, especially when I hit this quote “…trying to fill the very large shoes which WordPress has left behind.” WP is still wearing those large shoes, as far as I know. I also wonder how much thought ONolan has given his market research. He may be surprised to learn a lot of people use Blogger, Tumblr, LiveJounal, Weebly, Blogster, and a million other platforms to blog… as well as the very-much-thriving WP.
  
  It sounds like he believes his interface is his point of differentiation and is going to revolutionize blogging, but it appears to be the same thing as every one else, just wrapped a little differently and without the immense extensibility and support.
June 21, 2013 #

Steven Gliebe

I’m interested in what Ghost proposes specifically for blogging but to say WordPress is “no longer a blogging platform at all” is a pretty strong statement. It can do more than blogging, but it doesn’t have to. A default installation of WordPress gives the user a blog and not much else.
June 21, 2013 #

Andy

While you can use WordPress for nothing more than a blog, it’s certainly grown beyond being just a blogging platform. (Heck, I find myself making that argument in defense against other CMS’s all the time!)

The Fast Co headline is clickbait, sure, but there’s definitely a growing niche for people who are looking for a no-frills writing experience. There’s the aforementioned Ghost, but Medium comes to mind as well, as does the more recently launched Postagon.
June 23, 2013 #

MaAnna

I teach WordPress and online marketing classes. Classes range from 9-12 hours of just live instruction time. Then there is watching videos that go more in-depth on each topic. We spend about 3 hours on using the mechanics of WordPress to meet the goal the client has set for their site. The rest of the time is devoted to SEO, content, and conversion.

So, the majority of the class is not on learning WordPress. But, I still think that is too complex for folks who just want to blog.

I’m excited about Ghost and for there to be another option for publishing online.
June 24, 2013 #

Mathew Porter

I saw Ghost on Kickstarter and like the ideology of making a blogging platform, something WP has gradually developed away from over the years and it looks like a great platform.

How do you stay on top of your WordPress game?