Wp Vs Pmachinepro?

[MacGirl]

I've been using pMachine pro for blogging, and I like it a lot. The only reason I'm considering changing (now that I'm starting new blogs) is that pMachine is no longer supported or updated. The same company has developed ExpressionEngine, but it's too pricey for a personal blog, and I can't see that Expression Core (free) is any better than pMachine, and it doesn't have support either.

 

After all that, here's my question: In pMachine, it was very easy to develop your own "themses" which were just html pages with tags. And you don't have to use the control panel to do it...I prefer to do it locally, then upload, so I can actually see what I'm doing. Can you do the same with WP?

 

BTW, I realize that the WP people are programmers, not designers, but I do wish they'd get someone to redesign their site!

[TCH-Tim]

Yes, you can easily make your own templates for WP. I do it all the time - edit and test on the home machine, then upload. I know there are a few of us around these parts, so if you have any questions just holler.

 

And an added bonus for WP is that you can install it in about 5 seconds through Fantastico.

[MacGirl]

Yes, you can easily make your own templates for WP. I do it all the time - edit and test on the home machine, then upload. I know there are a few of us around these parts, so if you have any questions just holler.

 

And an added bonus for WP is that you can install it in about 5 seconds through Fantastico.

 

Thanks for the very quick reply, Tim! I'm gonna love these boards! And your answer was what I needed to hear. I find the online WP docs confusing to say the least. Not the wording itself, but the navigation.

 

Okay, when you install w/Fantastico, does it have the latest version? I just downloaded the latest today...will I need to update the install? I guess what I'm asking is, how often is Fantastico updated? (Nice that TCH has it, BTW.)

[TCH-Tim]

Fantastico has the latest at the moment, but word is there's a new version coming out soon. They were a few weeks behind with this update, but the one before they were pretty quick. It just depends.

 

Installing WP manually isn't that tough either, so if you're comfortable with it you might as well do it that way.

[TCH-Bruce]

I've only installed WP manually and it's a snap. And it's pretty simple to upgrade. Just make sure if you make any changes to the core files you keep a copy of them before upgrading.

[dawilson]

I realise that this is an old thread but I'm in the same situation and would love some advice. I've been blogging with pMachine for about 4 years now and find it very easy to use. Unfortunately, some spammer decided to use my site to relay their messages and the account was suspended. Given that I will have to hack around in a bunch of unsupported PHP to try to close whichever holes they exploited (as yet, I have no idea), I'm considering using this as an opportunity to transition to WordPress 2.7. The question I have, though, is whether or not this will be worth the effort? Is WP inherently less likely to be a target of spammers and, hence, less likely to cause me to have to wade through lots of someone elses PHP? Given that it is a platform with ongoing support, I assume it is less likely to be attacked successfully but this is merely a guess.

 

Another question I have relates to migrating my pMachine content into WordPress. I've found some scripts that allegedly do this and some other advice on the web but would love to hear first hand from anyone who has done this. How straightforward was the migration and are there any TCH-specific gotchas I should be aware of?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Dave

[TCH-Bruce]

I get about 1 spam through a year on my WordPress installations with Spam Karma and Akismet is just as good.

 

And here is info on Migrating from pmachine to WordPress

[dawilson]

Thanks Bruce. It sounds like WordPress is a good idea. I had not seen the site you mentioned, but the following one is a lot less pessimistic so I'll start there. Allegedly it offers a script that will perform the necessary database conversions.

 

http://www.jaanuskase.com/en/2006/03/migra...m_pmachine.html

 

Now all I need to do is convince someone in support to unsuspend my domain long enough for me to (a) save a backup and ( hack pMachine to remove whatever hole the spammers used. This is rather tricky when the domain is suspended.

[TCH-Bruce]

Yes, I imagine it would be. Please open a ticket with the help desk (link above or in my sig). I'm sure they will work with you to get it sorted out.