The WP Alternative Project

ChatGPT on the subject of Exploring Standards and Specifications for Content Management Interoperability. This should serve to seed the discussion or design of a solid standard to build from moving foward.

There are specifications and frameworks in the content management space that are similar to the Open Container Initiative (OCI) specifications for containers. Here are a few notable examples:

1. Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS):

   • CMIS is an OASIS standard that defines a set of services for interacting with content management systems. It provides a common interface for accessing and managing content across different systems, allowing applications to interact with multiple content repositories in a consistent way.

2. Web Content Management (WCM) Standards:

   • Various standards exist for web content management, such as the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which ensure that web content is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. While not a direct analog to OCI, they set standards for content quality and accessibility.

3. API Standards:

   • Many modern content management systems (CMS) expose their functionalities through APIs, often following REST or GraphQL conventions. For instance, the JSON:API specification provides a standardized format for building APIs in a consistent way, which can be beneficial for integrating various CMS solutions.

4. Schema.org:

   • While not a specification for content management systems per se, Schema.org provides a vocabulary for structured data on the web, which can help in organizing and managing content across platforms in a machine-readable format.

5. Content Management System Interoperability:

   • Various industry groups and consortiums work towards creating interoperability standards for CMS. For instance, Kaltura and Adobe have been involved in creating specifications for video content management that promote interoperability across platforms.

6. The Content Management API (CMA):

   • Some platforms, like Contentful, have their own CMA that allows for managing and delivering content programmatically, promoting a standardized way to interact with content regardless of the underlying infrastructure.

While these specifications may not be as universally recognized as OCI for containers, they serve similar purposes by promoting interoperability, standardization, and better management of content across different systems.

I have this forum setup for high traffic volumes, but will be moving to a much bigger server in likely the next few days as I anticipate attacks once this forum is found in the mainstream. That's just due to the nature of people picking sides and losing their minds. I wouldn't expect anything less from the internet, so it's best to play it safe and plan accordingly.

On a side note, I'll be working to clear my calendar to begin working on my own content management system, as well as putting together a dedicate search engine and database to let people quickly find a suitable CMS for their or their client's needs. My goal is to help put together the tools to let people be ready to answer questions for their clients about what solutions exist to transition away from WordPress. At this time, most websites don't need to be migrated, but this situation is causing a lot of people to reconsider their line of work or simply whether or not WordPress will continue to be the product used moving forward.

A dedicated service to catalog and make searchable a comprehensive list of known CMS solutions would be smart. With the community's help, we can get this data collected.

Anyway, I won't be on here chronically, but will be checking in probably a couple times a day for the next few days unless it gets busy here. At this time, we've had more than 200 unique visitors to this forum but only 4 signups, me included.

The preliminary work is being done but I do hope to see this place become a good resource for my fellow devs suck in the WordPress world or just looking to learn more or collab on alternative solutions -- one of which may ultimately become a hard fork of WordPress itself.

No reason a new architecture couldn't be adopted while leaving the general user experience the same for the end-users.

Dependency Injection is certainly a good alternative to the existing hooks system or even the PSR strategy.

"I've request my code to be removed from WordPress .org plugin repository. Instead they closed the plugin and kept the code "

Source:

https://x.com/arunaswp/status/1845332194476048699

Over the last couple of weeks, WordPress has been embroiled in several controversies, primarily revolving around its co-founder Matt Mullenweg and the company's actions towards WP Engine, a major WordPress hosting provider. Here's a summary based on the information available up to October 13, 2024:

1. Trademark and Licensing Dispute: WordPress.org, under the leadership of Matt Mullenweg, accused WP Engine of misusing the WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks, leading to confusion in the marketplace. This resulted in WordPress.org blocking websites hosted by WP Engine from accessing its servers, including crucial security updates and plugins. This action was purportedly taken due to WP Engine's refusal to obtain a trademark license or to change how they presented themselves in relation to WordPress.

2. WP Engine's Reaction: In response, WP Engine not only defended its use of the WordPress name as being within the bounds of open-source etiquette but also highlighted Mullenweg's aggressive tactics. They mentioned receiving demands for a significant percentage of their revenue for trademark licensing, which they viewed as extortion. WP Engine also pointed out Mullenweg's attempts to sway public opinion against them, including through speeches at WordCamp US 2024, which criticized WP Engine's contributions to the WordPress community and their ties to private equity.

3. Community Backlash and Legal Actions: The situation has led to a community divide, with long-time contributors and users expressing dismay over what they see as an attack on the open-source ethos. WP Engine has initiated legal actions against Mullenweg, highlighting his communications where he seemed to prepare for a public relations battle against them. This has led to discussions about the sustainability and ethics of open-source monetization, with some viewing this conflict as threatening to the open-source model.

4. Matt Mullenweg's Public Statements: Mullenweg has publicly criticized WP Engine, comparing it to a "cancer" within the WordPress community, primarily due to their business practices and what he perceives as insufficient contributions back to the open-source project. This stance has been controversial, leading to debates over the ethics of how open-source projects should be managed and monetized.

5. Implications for the WordPress Community: This drama has raised concerns about the future governance of WordPress, the impact on its open-source community, and how disputes like these could affect the platform's stability and user trust. There's a growing discussion on whether WordPress, under its current leadership, can maintain its promise of being a platform for the century.

The situation highlights deeper issues within the tech community regarding the commercialization of open-source software, trademark rights, and community governance. The ongoing legal and public relations battle is not just about WP Engine versus WordPress but touches on fundamental questions about open-source ethics, intellectual property, and community expectations from tech leaders.

A video on the subject of better plugin development design was just posted a day ago. From Chis Pearson over on YouTube.

I have a similar model I've worked on with my own CMS and this is a reminder I should polish and document my system because it really is similar to this proposal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3VmNhRKzTE

Yes. This is a really good one. I've investigated this before, but was right in the middle of learning Vue and deep into a project, so I forgot all about it!

Back when I first looked at WordPress, in the world of PHP, there were almost no real options. Now we have many, but sadly the ecosystem of plugins and themes seems to only really exist with only a few dominant players. Hate is a strong word, I probably should not be using it here.

If we can re-imagine how the content management and should work, I believe that people can mix and match the core backend and frontend management interface. If one vendor goes nuts, people should be able to nearly effortlessly swap them out.

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Okay, let's kick this one off with my idea for all CMS systems to adopt!

The biggest reason that content management systems are often compromised isn't just because of badly written plugins and themes. It's simply because the idea that you can log into your website to manage the website, it fundamentally a flawed design. It makes the website much more attractive as a target.

Many people don't seem to realize WordPress can operate headless and there's even a phone app that works to interact with your sites using the API. Other content management systems could adopt this idea. Imagine a world where you pick your CMS backend and use whatever front-end you want. We need a standard API for this.

So, that's what I want to propose.

I'm not sure the stats, but it should go without saying that WordPress is extremely popular, but that may not always mean it's well liked.

This forum is dedicated to discussions around creating an alternative or fork.

What spearheaded my move to start a dedicated forum and potentially project, is news that WordPress is now apparently hijacking plugins with their own versions without the permission of the plugin authors or WordPress users. This act is especially concerning given that WordPress is supposed to be the core software used, with the plugins acting to extend the functionality of the core. It is not the position or fiduciary responsibility of WordPress to take over plugins like this. In fact, I see a potential violation of the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act due to the fact that this may constitute unauthorized access to the file systems and resources of all WordPress installations utilizing plugins (and potentially themes) that are affected.

Over the next day or two, I'll try and work out a nice set of groups to organize our discussions into. There are some key areas I want to immediately address in case people are not yet well versed on the complications of doing a fork, as well as some ideas I have to propose to the community. It is my goal to find people smarter than me to add critical intel that can help us in our think tank.

Full disclosure:

In 2008-2009, I hated WordPress so much and considered it bloatware, that I built my own content management system now called Bigfoot CMS. This system is not polished and limited to many dozens of websites but it never was made mainstream.

-Nick

Welcome to the brand new WPAlt.org discussion forum.

The aim of this forum is to centralize serious discussions about a potential fork or better yet, alternative to WordPress. We will likely need moderators, so feel free to let me know if you'd be interested in helping moderate this forum. I'm the only person here at the time of this post update.

The current working name for this project is simply WPAlt and the official domain is WPalt.org. If at some point a new project name is decided, we'll find and pick a new domain.

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