WordPress 2.0 is not very Web 2.0-friendly.
The good news is that the transition from Movable Type to WordPress was a relatively smooth one <http://codex.wordpress.org/Importing_from_Movable_Type_to_WordPress>. Plus there is no longer that extra space in the product name to worry about:
* Importing from Movable Type to WordPress « WordPress Codex <http://codex.wordpress.org/Importing_from_Movable_Type_to_WordPress>:
“So you want to see what it is about WordPress that makes it Movable Type’s equal?”
The bad news is that WordPress takes a rather paternalistic view about embedded content (e.g. Amazon iframe-based product links, YouTube videos, Google maps) because SOME embedded content MAY be malicious. It’s a baby and bath water thing:
* YouTube Support « WordPress.com <http://wordpress.com/blog/2006/01/26/youtube-support/>:
“Now for various reasons, mostly related to your security, we don’t allow people to post arbitrary code in their blogs. Unfortunately this has the side-effect of blocking some cool stuff like YouTube. However as a test we’re enabling a special way for you to embed things like YouTube without having to mess around with any code.”
In the above, read “special” as “proprietary.” So WordPress 2.0 is not very Web 2.0-friendly. For example, all of my Amazon book review links are not only not displayed but the code itself was REMOVED in the import process. Lovely. So my “run away” video link doesn’t appear embedded. I’m still mulling my options.
They’ve also replaced all my preferred straight quotes with curly quotes and not provided a built-in way to export content.
The built-in editor stinks. No matter how I try, I can’t get blank lines between my paragraphs on my About page. I wish that WordPress would just leave my HTML alone.
There are a lot of WordPress plugins <http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins> that can provide the missing functionality, but the plugins are not organized like the pieces of software that they are. I want a CNET-like model where I can search and browse for plugins by name, keyword, date, popularity, rating, etc. Plan on spending a lot of time plowing through the various semi-organized plugin sites to find what you’re looking for.
So yes, WordPress is Movable Type’s equal. Lots of key functionality missing, poorly organized plugins and themes, things not working that should work. I still like WordPress, but I wanted to love it.
