I recently went on a bit of binge with Python and specifically Django to the point I rewrote my site in a Django app (I left it running here for the moment). Several of my colleagues (I’m looking at you Brent) stated I needed to update my site and of course the first thing out of the gate: WordPress. Ugh. Php? Still? I’ve been using this stuff since early 2000! Numbers don’t, however, lie 35% total market share! according to KINSTA.
Django is great for a focused lightweight web app. Once you need an actual CMS, well that’s a different issue entirely. I looked at several CMS based on Django including Mezzanine, DjangoCMS, and Wagtail. All of these had their own set of drawbacks ranging from aged Django base packages to style setup considerations that take me off what a CMS backed site is focused on: Rapid generation of content and dissemination. If I had to use a Django backed CMS without a doubt I’d use Wagtail, it’s certainly the best maintained and manicured of the options out there. Sure, you could absolutely write your own fairly quickly, but then you start with the inevitable feature creep and nice to have UI features. Why? A good developer does not pick their favorite tool, they pick the best tool for the job.
In a future post maybe I will cover my journies to foreign CMSs for now though…
I’m goin’ back to WP.