[Hidden-tech] Squarespace/Weebly vs. WordPress
Michael Muller
tech at montaguewebworks.com
Wed Aug 11 18:31:03 UTC 2021
We've had several clients come to us over the years because they
couldn't deal with WordPress. One even said they were ready to "lay
themselves down on the tracks" if they had to continue using it. We now
have three sites with them. This is not to say our solution is the best,
or even tenth best, but we give the less tech savvy customers a simple
"click the red edit button, edit the text, click the red save changes
button" style of interface. Not many bells and whistles and only a
little click and dragginess. Our clients appear to like it and about 10%
of them log in to add new content, sometimes sending me an email asking
for a refresher.
Not all clients are equal, and many of the clients other HT-ers have
probably wouldn't like what we have, and so c'est la vie.
Similar to Chad, our business model is to build the site, quickly and
cheaply, and teach the client how to run it -- all while collecting the
hosting fees for ourselves (instead of Wix, etc). As in the shaver
industry, it's all about the blades.
Mik
Mik Muller, president
Montague WebWorks
239-R Main Street, Greenfield, MA
413-320-5336
http://MontagueWebWorks.com
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On 8/11/2021 9:43 AM, C G via Hidden-discuss wrote:
> As a new developer this year I struggled with Wordpress and even a
> little bit with Squarespace before I learned full stack and Python. I
> personally use WIX right now and find that it is going to be the best
> for " handing it off to the client". WIX also allows " old school CSS
> " which is kind of a great feature. My business model is to build the
> site and teach the client how to run it.
>
> Chad
>
> On Tue, Aug 10, 2021 at 11:42 PM GLP via Hidden-discuss
> <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
> <mailto:hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>> wrote:
>
> They all have a learning curve. I certainly don't
> consider SquareSpace all that simple for end-users. That said, I
> don't have any issues with someone using SquareSpace or Weebly if
> it does what they need. The ones I worry about are things like
> Godaddy's page builder or something much more limited in scope.
> That is the kind of thing that has disappeared before. By the time
> you add a maintenance contract to a WordPress site, the client is
> paying the same as they would (maybe more, if there are paid
> plugins or they're getting gouged by the maintainer) for a hosted
> platform. SquareSpace and Weebly are multi-million-dollar
> companies and unlikely to disappear. And it's their sole/core
> business (unlike Adobe Business Catalyst). I would feel much more
> comfortable setting someone up on SquareSpace or Weebly than
> Joomla in terms of future support and compatibility.
>
> Greg
>
>
>
>> On Aug 10, 2021, at 9:04 PM, Shel Horowitz via Hidden-discuss
>> <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
>> <mailto:hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi, folks.
>>
>> I have a client who is really set on using a web designer who
>> works on these proprietary platforms and doesn't do WordPress. I
>> expressed concern about these sites' lack of portability and got
>> back this response:
>>
>> None of the platforms I work on can be independently hosted;
>> they must be hosted on their proprietary platforms. WordPress
>> sites can be hosted independently, but I chose not to work on
>> WordPress because I find it hard to design on and hard for
>> those who want to maintain their sites themselves. Most of my
>> clients are ok with adding minor updates like new text on
>> these platforms, but usually come back to me for adding new
>> pages. With that said though, I chose Squarespace and Weebly
>> (and Square Online, which runs on Weebly) because I deemed
>> these were the easiest website builders for non-tech people
>> to use after testing a number of products.
>>
>>
>> To which I replied (relevant excerpt)...
>>
>> I know [Client] really wants to work with you, but I have
>> deep concerns about building on a platform that the client
>> can't control. If WordPress disappears, sites built in (but
>> not hosted by) WordPress are fine, though they became more
>> difficult to update.
>>
>>
>> I don't know if one can display the code from a Weebly or
>> Squarespace site, copy it, and bring it to another host. If
>> that is possible, if there's a way to strip out the parts of
>> the code that are platform-specific and leave a functioning
>> HTML page, I would be a lot more comfortable.
>> Having seen Facebook first encourage and then sabotage FBML,
>> and having seen properties like Plaxo and some of the early
>> free webhosts go defunct and leave their users utterly
>> stranded, I am not keen on building a site that can only be
>> hosted by one specific host.
>>
>> --
>> She is, of course, right about WordPress. When it first came out,
>> it was very easy to use, but now it often drives me nuts. I have
>> one WP site that's built in building blocks that I can't seem to
>> locate, and have had to go back to the designer (who is now
>> unavailable) for very simple changes. But I think nobody has to
>> use those features unless they want to, and it should be possible
>> to design a site in less-fancy WordPress. And the big thing for
>> me is how nervous I am about not having more than one hosting option.
>>
>> What would you do in my shoes?
>> Shel Horowitz - "The Transformpreneur"
>> ________________________________________________
>> Contact me to bake in profitability while addressing hunger,
>> poverty, war, and catastrophic climate change
>> * First business ever to be Green America Gold Certified
>> * Inducted into the National Environmental Hall of Fame
>> * Certified speaker: International Platform Association
>> http://goingbeyondsustainability.com
>> <http://goingbeyondsustainability.com/>
>> mailto:shel at greenandprofitable.com
>> <mailto:shel at greenandprofitable.com> 413-586-2388
>> Award-winning, best-selling author of 10 books.
>> Latest: Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World
>> (co-authored with Jay Conrad Levinson)
>>
>> Watch my TEDx Talk,
>> "Impossible is a Dare: Business for a Better World"
>> http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/11809
>> <http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/11809>
>> (move your mouse to "event videos")
>> _________________________________________________
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