Why is WordPress so hard to use & complicated

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Hi, I am Praneeth.

In this blog, you will learn why is WordPress so difficult and too complicated, what are the things that make WordPress so complicated and difficult and,

How you can learn WordPress faster and better and avoid complications and frustrations using the CMS.

So without further ado let’s get started,

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What is WordPress?

Blog-Tool-Publishing-Platform-and-CMS-—-WordPress-org

WordPress is a free and open-source CMS written in PHP coding language and,

It is a content management system that helps you to create, store and manage content for your website.

For further reading about wordpress

Learn how to start a website on wordpress?

Learn pros and cons of using wordpress.

Why is wordpress so difficult and is too complicated?

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The main reason why WordPress is difficult and is too complicated is that,

WordPress is a fully powered open-sourced CMS not a simple website builder like Wix & blogger where you just write, edit and publish posts on your website.

There are 2 main reasons why wordpress is quite difficult and too complicated and sometimes even frustrating for beginners,

  1. WordPress is a CMS, not a website builder.
  2. WordPress is an OPEN SOURCE software so you need to manage your website entirely yourself.

You might be wondering what is the difference between CMS and website builder,

Well, the main difference is,

  1. A CMS like WordPress is a lot more powerful and flexible which most website builders aren’t in terms of the level of customization you can do using themes, plugins in WordPress, unlike website builders.
  2. Apart from building a website and a blog, you can create an online store, a forum, a news website, a government website, a portfolio website with CMS.
  3. Most CMS are free software but you need to invest money in Domain and hosting whereas website builders come with both free and paid options and you don’t need to invest money in buying hosting separately.

Another reason is, WordPress is a free OPEN SOURCE CMS which means no company or individual owns and runs the software as the wordpress is managed and run by a huge community of people worldwide.

This means although it is free to download and use, if you want to build a website on wordpress, firstly you need to install wordpress on your web server and,

You need to take care of your website entirely by yourself even though you will be getting support from a web hosting company if you purchase for wordpress..

With WordPress it is not just about writing and publishing posts which you would get in most website builders,

You also have to take care of the following things,

  • Website security.
  • Website speed.
  • Website customization.
  • Website SEO.
  • You need to manage themes, plugins, posts, menus, categories, database, users, and a lot of other things all by yourself.

This is one of the big reasons why WordPress is so difficult and too complicated for people,

Because there are lots of features, customization options, and flexibility in wordpress which is why it can be quite complicated, difficult, and frustrating for beginners to go along with the software.

Should you continue using WordPress then?

Because of this reason as it has some initial learning curve involved if you want to use the platform to build your website through wordpress,

Many people think to skip wordpress and switch to other platforms like Wix, Blogger, Tumblr, Weebly, Squarespace, etc.

Well, I have written a detailed guide on pros and cons of using wordpress for your website but still i want to give you a quick overview of why you should still use WordPress despite being so difficult, complicated and frustrating sometimes,

  1. WordPress is free software that powers over 40% of all the websites on the internet so it has the largest community of people using the software and lots of helpful third party resources.
  2. WordPress is a highly SEO and user-friendly cms.
  3. There are over 55000plus plugins in the wordpress plugins directory which you can install to customize your website.
  4. There are thousands of free themes that you can install for your website which are both mobile-friendly and fast.
  5. WordPress is a highly flexible and powerful cms, you can create any website you want or add any feature you imagine to your website from either using default WordPress plugins or installing plugins from external sources to your website..

Cons of using wordpress.

  1. You are completely responsible for your website’s safety and security.
  2. Lots of frequent updates of plugins, themes, latest versions of the software.
  3. It can be quite complicated, frustrating, and even difficult for users to use the platform initially.

If you are looking at the cons of wordpress, don’t worry they are not much big, 

There are thousands of websites including this website teaching people,

How to use WordPress the right way along with detailed documentation of how to use the software by the official company which created it and,

A large community of forum which has your back all the time.

Regarding the safety and security of your website, you don’t need to worry much about it, as wordpress teams always take care of the WordPress code and,

Gives constant updates of its platform along with there are so many things you can do to make your website secure for free,

So it is not a big issue.

Okay, just stop the discussion about wordpress!

The reason why I want you to avoid website builders like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace is because,

  1. They limit you in terms of customizations.
  2. They are highly expensive to upgrade compared to the features it offers for their premium plans.
  3. Even Though you get their premium plans and start using the platform, you still don’t own your website, it is the company which owns your website not you and if you don’t obey their terms and conditions, they can delete or remove your website.

I agree on the fact that,

Yes, all these website builders offer free plans, better support, less complicated and easy to use platforms but the 3 reasons mentioned above are the real truths,

You need to know about these popular website builders and there is no problem in choosing them besides WordPress unless and until you don’t want complete control of your website.

What are the things that make wordpress too complicated & difficult?

wordpress so difficult

Now that you know why exactly wordpress is too complicated and difficult sometimes to beginners, 

Here are a couple of things which are the reasons why wordpress is too complicated and difficult for beginners to understand.

Here is a quick overview of those things.

  1. Plugins.
  2. Themes.
  3. Settings.
  4. Security.
  5. Using the features and dashboard.

Let’s have a better understanding of these things in detail.

  1. Plugins. 

This is the heart of WordPress CMS.

To explain it in simple words,

Plugins are simple lines of code that add a new functionality to your wordpress website.

Imagine your wordpress website as a mobile phone and plugins are mobile applications in your phone.

Just like how you can add new application from play store or app store to your mobile phone to extend or use more features like playing games or social networking site,

The same thing works on WordPress as well.

The great thing about WordPress and its plugins is that,

If for instance you don’t find a plugin for whatever feature you want to add to your website, you can build a custom code and,

Plugin yourself or hire some developer to do it for you and get that feature you desired working on your website, this is why WordPress is so flexible and powerful.

If this is that simple, what is so difficult and complicated in it?

What’s complicated in it?

The thing with plugins is that, 

Just like using a mobile phone if you install too many applications, you will witness problems and issues with your device,

The same applies to plugins on wordpress.

First of all beginners on wordpress find it difficult in plugins mainly these

  • How to install and use plugins in the first place.
  • Because there are so many plugins and so many options to choose from, people are confused.
  • They don’t know how plugins work and what their negative impacts on their website.
  • They install too many plugins at a time or don’t understand the terms of plugins.
  • They don’t know what settings need to be configured after installing plugins.

To solve this complication, 

I Have written a couple of Guides about using plugins on WordPress the right way,

Read guides,

If you follow the guides mentioned above all your difficulties and complications regarding wordpress plugins are solved.

2. Themes.

This is the soul of WordPress CMS.

To explain it in simple words,

A theme is a collection of files that work together which gives design and graphical interface to a website.

If you want to take the analogy of mobile phone like the way we have understood about plugins,

Basically, a theme of your website is just like wallpaper to the mobile phone.

A theme of the website includes all the things like,

  • Styling.
  • Layout.
  • Colors.
  • Fonts.
  • Structure.

It is the place where people interact with your website on the internet, and it is also the place where you can check if plugins that you have installed are working properly or not.

What’s complicated in it?

Well, the problem that people have regarding themes is that,

Mostly beginners of wordpress they have a hard time in the following things,

  • They don’t know which theme they should install in so many choices?
  • They don’t know how to install and customize themes like changing colors and adding logos?
  • They don’t understand the terminology of themes customization settings and mostly they are overwhelmed with the level of settings there for theme customisation.
  • They don’t know how themes will impact their website performance.
  • They try to mess with code of themes to make changes without knowing that certain plugins can help them get jobs done.

To solve this issue,

The best practice regarding finding the best theme for your website is,

Always install and use themes which have lots of positive ratings, high downloads number and it is recently updated by the creator of the theme.

You can find the details of each theme when you install themes itself in WordPress themes.

wordpress so difficult

You can use page builders like elementor with its drag and drop feature and edit your theme the way you want.

And always use a lightweight theme like Astra and generate press because it has a huge impact on your website speed and security.

You can watch the video below to see and learn how you can customize your theme on WordPress from scratch.

Let’s see the other complication of using WordPress.

3. Settings.

It is the settings section of WordPress and you will need to configure a few important settings to make your website SEO easy and user friendly.

Just like the settings app in your mobile phone, the settings option is also important for your website.

What’s complicated in it?

People mainly beginners of wordpress don’t understand the terminology and meaning of settings and what changes it will make if they tweak with those settings on their website.

To make things easier and simpler for you,

Here are a couple of helpful resources.

Now let’s see the next complicated thing about WordPress.

4. Security.

Look,

WordPress security would not be a big issue if wordpress was owned by a particular company and not open source CMS and half of the problems, complications and difficulties with wordpress would have been solved.

But it isn’t which means.

WordPress is an open source CMS and according to a study it is the most vulnerable CMS for hacks.

There are lots of vulnerabilities in WordPress which can lead to a website hack mainly themes and plugins which are heart and soul of WordPress.

Despite wordpress security team always improving the system and bringing in new security updates all the time, 

Individual website owners who are using WordPress are also highly responsible for the safety and security of their website.

If you think everything is fine here then what’s the complication in it.

What’s complicated in it?

With beginners using the platform it is quite difficult for them to understand the security risks of WordPress.

They don’t understand the importance of security measures that they need to take to keep their website safe and secure.

They find it to be too technical and expert level when they hear security practices they should perform like,

Taking backups, updating WordPress versions, performing regular audits of the website for vulnerabilities,etc.

In such cases,

To solve the issue,

I have written a detailed guide on how to secure your website on wordpress click here to learn more.

Now let’s have a look at the last issue and complication with WordPress.

5. Getting used to the dashboard and using the features.

WordPress dashboard contains a lot of things like,

  • Posts.
  • Pages.
  • Menus.
  • Appearance section.
  • Themes.

So on and so forth.

Anyone who is a beginner to the platform will definitely feel the dashboard to be overwhelming.

WordPress dashboard is the place where you manage your website content and features and navigate to different parts of your website from the backend.

But the problem with it is,

As a beginner to the platform, 

You will have to learn, understand and remember the terms and functionalities of the dashboard.

To solve this issue,

Here is a complete glossary of WordPress dashboard and features click here.

How long does it take to learn WordPress?

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Honestly speaking it should not take you more than a week to learn, remember and get used to the software.

I have learned to use the CMS within 3 days of time.

If you get and understand the basics of WordPress right like, 

  • Installing a plugin.
  • Changing and customizing the theme.
  • Writing, editing, and publishing posts.
  • Making your WordPress website secure.
  • Managing menus, categories, etc.

You are absolutely fine with WordPress.

For most people WordPress is all about writing posts, adding or updating plugins and themes and few other basic things.

If you are one among those, it should not take you much time to learn and get used to with WordPress.

But if you want to be an expert or master in using WordPress, you only become one as you gain more experience and knowledge using the CMS and learning skills over a period of time but not by reading a few blogs, in 1 day or a week of time etc.

Learning WordPress is not rocket science.

Look,

I have Explained in detail why wordpress is too complicated, frustrating and difficult for beginners, 

But,

To be honest it is not that difficult at all.

As a beginner, you might get intimidated by features, terms, and settings.

It is just because you are new to the platform which gives you an impression of difficulty.

If you start any work initially it would seem to be difficult or sometimes even impossible for you to get with it but as time passes and you learn and gain experience using the platform, it won’t appear so difficult at all.

WordPress is designed and developed for non-technical users so that they can design any website or add any features they want without any difficulty.

Simplicity is one of the core values of WordPress.

Before WordPress and other CMS like Drupal and Joomla,it was very difficult to create and customize websites, it was next to impossible for nontechies who don’t have much knowledge in coding.

WordPress has let people create and customise websites easily without ever touching a single line of code.

This is the major reason why WordPress is so popular.

Now let’s learn what else you can do to learn wordpress better and faster and reduce complications and frustrations while using the CMS.

How to get better at using WordPress?

If you want to avoid complications in WordPress and make WordPress easy for you to manage,

There are only two options for you, either you learn how to use WordPress or you hire someone to help you.

Here are a few things you can do to make wordpress easy and less complicated for you.

  1. Get wordpress managed hosting.

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Because wordpress is the largest cms in the world,

Many popular web hosting companies like bluehost and siteground offer wordpress managed to host service in special along with other web hosting plans.

If you want to make your wordpress website journey easy.

You can choose this option and service because,

Using wordpress managed hosting you will enjoy the following benefits below.

  • WordPress is already pre-installed and configured in the best settings on your account so you don’t have to deal with technical stuff yourself.
  • Automatic WordPress security updates are enabled.
  • Regular WordPress backups to secure your data.
  • You can get 24/7 WordPress experts support and guidance.
  • Website performance is not compromised in any way.

You can choose WordPress managed to host instead of shared or VPS or cloud hosting plans for your WordPress website to make wordpress easy in the beginning. 

2. Spend time learning WordPress.

Another way you can make wordpress easy for you is by learning WordPress.

You can do the following things below,

  • Read WordPress documentation on how to use the software better.
  • You can follow and read popular WordPress-related blogs and YouTube channels.
  • You can stay active and engage in WordPress-related forums and communities and groups.

These ways you can learn more about using WordPress better every day.

3. Invest money in the right places.

The last and the best thing you can do to learn WordPress to make the WordPress journey easy and simple for you is to invest a little more money in the right tools and services.

You can do the following things,

  • Get a WordPress course.
  • Invest money in right tools like plugins and themes to make things more easy, automated, simple.
  • Hire a freelancer to design your website or make changes in your WordPress database.
  • Get a virtual assistant to manage your WordPress website regularly even in your absence.
  • Be regularly updated with the latest changes and updates in WordPress.

These are all the best you can make WordPress easy for you in your Blogging and online marketing journey.

Look you don’t need to be a WordPress expert or highly experienced in using WordPress to use the platform effectively, 

If you just learn the basics and get used to the dashboard, it is all fine and you can create a lot of things without ever touching a single line of code through WordPress.

Now let’s get the blog post to an end.

Ending remarks.

There you go. These are the reasons why wordpress is too complicated and difficult for beginners and what are the things that are complicated in WordPress for beginners.

Do comment on what you think about WordPress in the comment section below.

Share the blog posts with your family and friends, if you have found it helpful and solved the query regarding WordPress,

Sharing is caring.

Read my other WordPress blogs,

I will catch you next time.

Keep learning and keep growing.