Steps to greater popularity and better promotion

[mikeuk]

A difference perspective as someone who would love to be able to sell PW based websites to clients in the UK, where PW is an advantage not a reason to need their trust .

1) the PW website looks dated and does not highlight what makes PW better (or different) to the myriad of other similar placed CMSs. Drupal got this right in my opinion. They went for a well publicised redesign some years ago. It looked good and worked well (though i don't think the switch to twig templates in D8 is a good idea).

2) growth surely only matters in comparison to others in a similar space and the top 3. Those will less growth will disappear regardless.

I think the success of PW will be a clear message showing why it's a better choice than WP, and why it's a more suitable choice than others. Right now there are far too many CMSs in a similar space (business / news / blog websites). What a developer wants does not count for that much as WP has proven.

A search for a suitable CMS with any number of criteria for popular website types shows the issue. Each link almost a different list, the only consistent ones being the 3 (Joomla, Drupal, WP). And then there's the static site generators (which are now getting online content management options).

So I would love to see PW have an amazing first impression and be presented in a way as  something users might choose (which was the magic WP found) rather than only developers. For example, I think Concrete5 see the marketing importance of this and clearly make an effort to attract non-tech people as well. Another example is Grav. Straight away the message is 'no database' and 'faster websites'. Very clear.

Here's an article that is about the best I've seen to encourage people towards PW: https://www.cmscritic.com/processwire-vs-wordpress. A lot more of that kind of thing is needed though.

PW needs that kind of strong message clearly visible that gives it its space, which not only attracts developers but can be clearly seen by users or the developer's potential client.

If it was my project (I know, if I care so much why don't I start one?), then I'd make the following priorities:

• Update website with a focus on users and potential clients (developers won't care so much)
• Encourage blog posting that gives fair comparisons, reviews and tutorials for PW
• Highlight a clear USP to PW that can be the main message on the website and the one for all of us too share
• Use that USP to define the roadmaps for future development (confidence is what space a project will be matters also)

That's my 2 cents.

[Noel Boss]

I think you are right and @microcipcip who created ProcessVue Profile said it well:

Quote

I think that ProcessWire is extremely powerful and flexible and with time will become the tool of choice for frontend developers, the new GraphQL module will also help on this direction. Droves of frontend developers are looking for a CMS like this, they just don't know it exists! The usual keywords they use when looking for a SPAs CMS is "Decoupled CMS" or "Headless CMS", and I believe that that's exactly what ProcessWire is for!

I also was initially pulled of by the (relatively) dated design of front and backend (there are worse offenders, typo3, I look at you) but I'm SOOOOO glad I've found PW. Only get started with my first project and it just was AWESOME. wow after wow moment. Lets get the word out there.

[Noel Boss]

OH BTW, in terms of marketing and Design, i think Craft does an excellent job. We nearly went for this becaus it just "felt" so nice... the website and the backend looks amazing. PW to me seems to be the best option around there at the moment, it has a great community, awesome API, Simplicity also for admins, this could attract so many people when presented well...

[AndZyk]

I recently made a project with Kirby, because we needed a file based CMS and while working with it, I really enjoyed their cheatsheet and search function. I think the new redesign of the website could benefit a lot of such a build in cheatsheet and seach function. Besides that the first visual impression was also state of the art. Just to be clear, I don't want to talk about those CMSs, just want to give some examples.