Thanks to WordPress, even non-experts have been able to create acceptable-looking websites for over a decade. The open-source software is free and can be installed relatively easily and adapted to your own needs. So simple, in fact, that more than half of all websites worldwide that have been created using a CMS are now based on WordPress.

Pascal Birchler, co-organizer of the Swiss Wordcamp 2015, is no longer an amateur user - even though he originally discovered WordPress for blogging. At the tender age of twelve, he created his first weblog and began blogging more and more about WordPress topics. He is now a qualified computer scientist and recently started working for the web company Required, which has a team of six employees and offers services almost exclusively for WordPress.

The project orders from Required show: WordPress is more than just an easy-to-use CMS for amateurs who want to put content online. "You can very well create complex websites based on WordPress: even if Switzerland is a little behind in this respect," Birchler clarifies. In addition to corporate blogs for SBB or Hotelplan, Required has also used the software for projects where it "just holds the strings together in the background", says Birchler. For example, for the portal www.bvbmedia.ch, where you can test and book advertising space for buses and streetcars online.

The two-day Wordcamp at Technopark brings together users and software developers. While the first day promises new insights for designers and users of all levels with speakers such as Konstantin Obenland (Automattic) and Petya Raykovska (Human Made), the following day is reserved for developers. "Around a fifth of the participants also came on Sunday," estimates Birchler, who has already helped organize the two previous Wordcamps in Zurich. It is essential for both users and developers to keep up to date with the fast-moving software, whose plug-in landscape changes almost daily due to the active global community.

Pictures from Wordcamp Switzerland 2014 by Florian Ziegler 

Larger agencies also rely on WordPress

Open source is no longer the sole domain of small companies. Larger web agencies now also rely on open source software such as WordPress. One of them is Liip. The agency lets its teams decide which technologies they want to specialize in. The 7-strong team, of which Stefan Oderbolz is a member, opted for WordPress six months ago. Unlike Birchler, however, Oderbolz describes WordPress as a "lightweight CMS": installation and hosting are simple, but the customers tend to be SMEs.

WordPress reaches its limits, for example, with complex authorizations or the integration of several external systems that have to import large amounts of data. "It also happens that other systems can do something natively that would have to be developed for WordPress first. That's not always worth it." Accordingly, his team is only deployed for projects that are suitable for WordPress in terms of size, complexity and type of customer.

However, Wordcamp organizer Birchler points out that open source often loses out because agencies have no interest in recommending an open source solution - and not because it doesn't meet the requirements: "Most web agencies prefer to rely on large proprietary systems such as Adobe Experience Manager because they are then the only point of contact and can conclude long-term maintenance contracts." The open source study published by the University of Bern in spring 2015 proves Birchler right in that the authors of the study still see a lot of untapped potential in the open source sector (you can find our summary of the study in here).

The community concept is central

Small web companies particularly benefit from the large network and the community-oriented way of working - "because you don't have to develop everything on your own and can concentrate more on implementing a website," explains Birchler. At his employer Required, other web agencies are therefore not seen as competition. "We benefit from working together and complementing each other's strengths." The connection with the community is correspondingly high, and give and take is firmly anchored in the mindset: "I think it's a shame if you earn money with WordPress and don't give anything back to the community," says Birchler.

But Liip, as a larger web agency, also cultivates the community idea. Some employees officially have so-called "open source budgets", which allow them to invest part of their working time in community work. There are many reasons for this. "It's important for employees to give something back, and it's fun to exchange ideas with like-minded people," says Oderbolz, who will also be attending the Wordcamp. Last but not least, it is sometimes "just the community that can help you out of a jam".

Text: Simone Isliker

About WordPress

WordPress is committed to the General Public License. This means that all adaptations to the open source software must be distributed under the same license, i.e. also open source. WordPress was created in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, and the first stable version was released in early 2004.
The fact that the software can be used by anyone doesn't mean that you can't earn money with WordPress. There is, for example, the business model of Automattic, operator of the portal www.wordpress.com, which is owned by Matt Mullenweg. They not only provide software, but also space on the web server. The basic offer is usually free, but Automattic charges money for additional functions such as more storage space or faster support. Automattic is estimated to be worth one billion US dollars.
Countless companies also develop paid themes (website templates) or plug-ins (extended functions or services), which they offer for sale on various portals. Open source does not necessarily apply to themes and plug-ins, even if there are many developers who disclose their codes. One of the most successful plug-ins is the online store solution WooCommerce. Today, around one in three online stores runs with this plug-in. It is even free of charge - you earn money with separate extension packages. This year, the company WooThemes, which developed the plug-in, was acquired by Automattic for an estimated 30 million US dollars. (sis)

Thanks to WordPress, even non-experts have been able to create acceptable-looking websites for over a decade. The open-source software is free and can be installed relatively easily and adapted to your own needs. So simple, in fact, that more than half of all websites worldwide created with the help of a CMS are now based on WordPress.

Pascal Birchler is no longer an amateur user - even though he originally discovered WordPress for blogging. At the tender age of twelve, he created his first weblog and began blogging more and more about WordPress topics.

He is now a qualified computer scientist and recently started working for the web company Required, which offers services almost exclusively for WordPress. "You can very well create complex websites based on WordPress," he is convinced. Larger web agencies also rely on the open source software. Read more about this in the Print edition the advertising week.

Birchler is one of the organizers of the Wordcamp 2015. The two-day event at Technopark is aimed not only at software developers, but also at users, bloggers and designers who want to keep up to date with the fast-moving web CMS. The program includes speakers such as Konstantin Obenland (Automattic) and Petya Raykovska (Human Made).

Would you like to take part in the Wordcamp on September 18/19? Advertising Week makes it possible: We are sending two of our readers to Wordcamp free of charge. Send us an e-mail to [email protected] stating your name and company. As always, your data will not be passed on to third parties.