Wordpress vs b2Evolution

Blog enthusiasts will find this topic to be quite interesting. As we all know blogs have been around for a while now, the blogging script varies from one to another but the exterior aspect is very similar across all the platforms, this is actually done on purpose since a blog is supposed to keep aspects and characteristics which makes it a blog, otherwise the aspect would overlap with static sites or those managed by different content management systems (CMS)

Today we will review the most popular blogging script (Wordpress) against b2Evolution which is also a great script to use if you are planning on developing several blogs. Lets start by listing key features and differences which differentiate Wordpress from b2Evolution.

Storefront and Back-end Aspects:

If you compare the exterior part of Wordpress against b2Evolution you will find that they are not very different from each other, the blog style which will be accessed by your visitors is basically the same across, both platforms have themes which let you choose how many columns your blog will have and the themes on each script are customizable. If you are a Wordpress user then you will find that b2Evolution is quite nice as the themes can be easily modified and yes! you also have the very useful widgets which let you add sections to your sidebars without the need to actually go under-the-hood sort to speak in order to modify the PHP code.

When it comes to the back-end of both scripts you will see several differences, mainly due to the design. Wordpress and b2Evolution both have straight forward login screens, however there are some major differences when it comes to blog back-end management. Wordpress allows you to create one blog at a time which can be managed with one screen, if you are planning to develop a blog network then you will have to install something like Wordpress MU which allows you to deploy the entire network without having to do much work. b2Evolution however has multi-blog characteristics built in, this means that you don’t have to look for special versions in order to administer and manage the entire network. The aspect varies from Wordpress to b2Evo, some users will find the b2Evolution to be more user friendly than even Wordpress, this is mainly due to the back-end design and menu organization so if you are a b2Evolution newbie you will definitively find the back-end to look very familiar.

Dashboards and Usability:

The b2Evolution’s Dashboard breaks things down quite nicely and you and you are able to select which blog to manage from the drop-down menu. If you are not very fond of drop down menus, b2Evolution provides a chart-like blog management screen which shows you the name of the blog, the owner of the blog and its full URL.

b2Evolution lets you manage users, plugins, blogs, and system security all from the main dashboard screen. On the other hand Wordpress only offers number posts and comments in its main screen, there are a few other options but compared to b2Evolution, Wordpress’s standard version falls short.

b2Evolution also lets you manage galleries of images quite easily, Wordpress on the other hand needs plugins to do the same, however the possibilities are there.

Webserver Optimization files:

If you run several blogs in one webserver then you want to optimize the way Apache handless your blogs, b2Evolution comes with an optimized .htaccess file which makes things easier, in Wordpress you need to create your own according to your needs which is recommended for advanced users.

Statistics:

If you are a stats-lover and can’t start your day without first taking a good look at your stats then you will love b2Evolution. When we compare Wordpress against b2Evo in this aspect you will notice that Wordpress doesn’t have a standard stats screen or menu, if you want to get this function you will have to install a special plugin which may not work exactly the way you want it to, most of these stats plugin require a SQL database which makes them quite inconvenient if you are interested in plug and play sort of things.

b2Evolution counts with a statistics tab which comes standard in the script and which might surprise you due to the fact that it is quite robust and offers more than you would expect from a “standard” stats system. The graphs are all flash driven so they are very attractive and interactive. Leaving the cuteness factor aside you will find traffic details across the entire network or specific blogs quite easily. In b2Evolution you will see details such as: Hits summary (across the network or individual blogs), browser hits, search-B hits, referred-B hits, direct-B hits, robot hits, XML hits, User agent details, referring domains and user sessions.

The stats characteristics of b2Evolution are quite impressive, compared to Wordpress’s plugins.

There are several other features and characteristics which differentiate one from the other which are not covered on this article. Another difference you will see is that the comment posting engine in b2Evolution is more robust than Wordpress’ when it comes to organization and design. If you are planning a blog network then you should definitively take a look at b2Evolution’s platform or Wordpress MU, both are great scripts but it all depends on which features attract you the most.

Post a Comment

0 Comments