Why Use b2evolution When WordPress Has Taken Over The CMS Market?

Mar 23, 2012

If there’s a new blog in town, chances are you can make three guesses as to which CMS it’s on and you’ll guess correctly on your first try. WordPress has taken over the blogging industry in such a way that everyone from first time bloggers to million dollar companies are using WordPress for content management.

In fact, WordPress.com hosts around 72,223,889 sites and as of August 2011, it’s estimated to host over 22% of all new websites! Other content management systems like b2evolution are simply pushed aside.

WordPress and b2ev have a lot of similar qualities; both offer numerous amounts of themes and plugins, are free for users, and are generally user friendly (although it can be argued that WordPress has an interface easier to manipulate and use).

After spending time on both systems we thought it would be beneficial to list the differences and the pros/cons of both platforms, and ask our readers: Which CMS do you prefer?

1. Content Uploading – Both platforms offer HTML versions for created posts or pages which can be edited, as well as a visual or “WYSIWYG” screen. However, when you try to simply copy and paste content into a b2ev content field there are numerous errors that appear asking you to change the formatting before continuing which can be confusing for new users who might not understand how to edit HTML.

2. The Backend – As we have experience with CSS, HTML and PHP, we didn’t find b2ev any more challenging or complex than WordPress. However, WordPress is created for a much wider demographic of users, including those who know very little about working on the backend of a site with respect to customizing elements. WordPress has the drag and drop functionality for “widgets” which helps users customize a site layout with ease. B2evolution has a greater learning curve in that department.

3. Automation – The installation of a b2evolution blog can be described one phrase: time consuming. It by default publishes blogs and categories which have to be deleted one at a time, manually. There is no “delete all” function to circumvent the default installation options for sample posts and pages.

4. Themes / Skins – b2evolution has an abundant selection of themes. Many are visually impressive and unique, such as “Ruins” and “Dream City”, but uploading them and making the changes take effect can be almost impossible for someone that is not familiar with uploading files through an FTP.

WordPress offers pretty basic designs for their themes and many custom themes can be accessed simply by entering search terms while logged-in. The WordPress theme library has one of the worst search functions we’ve ever seen, but if you know the author, theme name, amount of columns, color scheme, etc. you’ll have a good chance at being able to find the theme you want.

5. Multiple Blogs – This was actually an annoyance for us when setting up a b2evolution install (see #3) but in theory it’s a useful function. b2evolution has the capability to set up multiple blogs on different topics and aggregate a selection of the posts on those blogs. For example: if you have blogs A, B, C and D with C being your main blog it can aggregate the posts of A and B onto blog C or restrict content such as photos to remain on certain blogs.

6. Plugins – Both WordPress and b2evolution offer multiple plugins that support all the functionality you can dream of. Both content management systems offer flexibility in this area where integration is as simple as uploading the files through the interface.

7. SEO Functionality – b2evolution takes the prize as they have a robust selection of SEO presets to choose from. The preset selections include the styles and preferences of well-known figures in the SEO industry such as Aaron Wall, Andy Beal, Michael Gray, (Graywolf) Rand Fishkin, and Stephan Spencer.

The flexibility of b2evolution (by default) and their attention to on-page SEO elements, URL structuring, etc. is light years ahead of WordPress. The cartoon avatars and custom SEO settings are a really nice touch.

There really isn’t a definitive answer as to which CMS is “better” as it’s really determined by the needs of the user or business in terms of functionality, ease of use, and intended purpose. Many users feel that WordPress is more user-friendly, but b2evolution should be considered if having more control of on-page SEO features (by default) is desired.