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Static sites are great until you need to have a contact form or want to add basic comments. Yes, you can deploy javascript that uses external services to add su

by rwbt 2y ago

Static sites are great until you need to have a contact form or want to add basic comments. Yes, you can deploy javascript that uses external services to add such functionality to static sites- but with a basic WordPress site, you get everything right out of the box.

oleganza 2y ago
I came here to write this exact comment. The article is wrong in assuming that WP is wasteful. It gives huge optionality to the users: engineers probably can afford going with a static page and then changing the entire architecture of their webpage once they need some interactivity, but non-engineers want to go with a scalable solution: where they start with a contact info and slowly end up with a personal shop or whatnot without reinventing the setup at each phase transition. Speaking of optionality and opportunity costs: many engineers are trained to see the unseen opportunity costs in technology ("YAGNI" and "tech debt" are often used terms), but often fail to see the economic opportunity costs: those that would waste time and cognitive effort of human beings, not the machines. Example: many engineers like to fantasize about micropayments architectures "because efficiency", but people cannot calculate those. They are better off with a nice round monthly subscription just to minimize number of microdecisions they have to go through daily.
oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
A contact form is a terrible alternative to an email address. Many sites have dropped comments altogether. Yes, these things might be nice-to-haves, but they shouldn't be the factor that determines whether you have a static site or a scripted one.
- rwbt 2y ago
  I have to politely disagree. If you ever run a website for business/portfolio etc. the number of people more likely to contact you using a contact form is far greater than just telling them to email you. Contact forms also scale well if you need to categorize and channel the queries to different people or need more specific info.
  - oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
    Fair enough. I would argue that we're probably talking about different use cases. If you're at the stage of categorising and channelling queries to different people, your site is probably already "heavyweight" enough to justify a backend anyway.
  - slmjkdbtl 2y ago
    Yes, and almost all clients will ask you to put a contact form on the site.
    - 0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
      Nothing stops you from embedding a contact form on a page. Netlify event has a built in workflow where they will record the action so you do not have to setup any infrastructure.
- FalconSensei 2y ago
  > Many sites have dropped comments altogether And many still have. I think most wordpress.com and blogger blogs have comments on

by rwbt 2y ago

oleganza 2y ago

I came here to write this exact comment. The article is wrong in assuming that WP is wasteful. It gives huge optionality to the users: engineers probably can afford going with a static page and then changing the entire architecture of their webpage once they need some interactivity, but non-engineers want to go with a scalable solution: where they start with a contact info and slowly end up with a personal shop or whatnot without reinventing the setup at each phase transition. Speaking of optionality and opportunity costs: many engineers are trained to see the unseen opportunity costs in technology ("YAGNI" and "tech debt" are often used terms), but often fail to see the economic opportunity costs: those that would waste time and cognitive effort of human beings, not the machines. Example: many engineers like to fantasize about micropayments architectures "because efficiency", but people cannot calculate those. They are better off with a nice round monthly subscription just to minimize number of microdecisions they have to go through daily.

oneeyedpigeon 2y ago

A contact form is a terrible alternative to an email address. Many sites have dropped comments altogether. Yes, these things might be nice-to-haves, but they shouldn't be the factor that determines whether you have a static site or a scripted one.

rwbt 2y ago
I have to politely disagree. If you ever run a website for business/portfolio etc. the number of people more likely to contact you using a contact form is far greater than just telling them to email you. Contact forms also scale well if you need to categorize and channel the queries to different people or need more specific info.
- oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
  Fair enough. I would argue that we're probably talking about different use cases. If you're at the stage of categorising and channelling queries to different people, your site is probably already "heavyweight" enough to justify a backend anyway.
- slmjkdbtl 2y ago
  Yes, and almost all clients will ask you to put a contact form on the site.
  - 0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
    Nothing stops you from embedding a contact form on a page. Netlify event has a built in workflow where they will record the action so you do not have to setup any infrastructure.
FalconSensei 2y ago
> Many sites have dropped comments altogether And many still have. I think most wordpress.com and blogger blogs have comments on