Stream News & Views

06 Sep 2023
Should I consider a WAF (Web application firewall) as part of my website security?
21 Aug 2023
10 essential benefits of a website re-skin
A website re-skin, also known as a website redesign or makeover, involves updating the visual elements and user interface of a website while keeping...
04 May 2023
Nonprofit Courses chooses PD able to track its Professional Development
Matt Hugg, President and Founder of Nonprofit Courses tells us how he tried unsuccessfully to find a suitable professional development system for his...
02 May 2023
Insurance Brokers Association of New Zealand (IBANZ) Website
When IBANZ made the shift to rebrand their organisation they also engaged us to refresh their existing membership website. Utilizing streamSWEET,...
01 May 2023
Our Tech 10 - May 2023
30 Mar 2023
Xmas better late than never
At Stream we try to keep a good work-life balance but things got the better of us at the end of last year and continued into 2023.
16 Mar 2023
Is the hype around AI and ChatGPT really something worth looking into? We decided to find out!
We asked chatGPT to produce an AI generated presentation about one of our favourite topics: Why is Professional Development key to your business...
05 Dec 2022
Trojan E-commerce Website Upgrade
5 years ago Stream Interactive launched the Trojan website, moving the business into full online, e-commerce capability. ERP integration was also...
08 Sep 2022
Professional Development Tracker Software
In our opinion, this is one of the best Professional Development trackers in the world today.
04 Jul 2022
Should I make the switch to Google Analytics 4?
Oh heck Google will no longer be supporting Universal Analytics from 1 July 2023, instead you will now need to migrate over to their latest and...
20 Jun 2022
What are image 'alt' tags and how do they affect SEO?
Image Alt Text and SEO
30 Mar 2022
Should I create a custom 404 page for my website?
What is a 404 page anyway? A 404 page shows when someone gets lost on your website by using the wrong URL. This can happen for a variety of...
22 Nov 2021
Could Google be manipulating your webpage title tags?
19 Nov 2021
Our Tech 10
18 Jun 2021
Can my newsletter look great on all devices & what about those pesky spam algorithms?
Email is still one of the most dependable direct marketing channels available. You've done all the hard work building up a reliable email database...
03 May 2021
Civil trades accreditation programme website
Civil Trades is the go-to destination for aspiring and qualified civil trades people who want to be recognised for their skills in the industry
22 Mar 2021
Subdomain or Subdirectory, which is better for SEO?
Sometimes it makes sense to manage two different websites from the same domain, but how does this affect SEO?
17 Dec 2020
Integrating Xero with your website will benefit your organisation
One of steamSWEET's biggest advantages over other systems is it's ability to integrate with XERO. We've compiled a very simple checklist to help you...
17 Dec 2020
AutoPacific Group Website
AutoPacific Group is an industry leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of high-quality, custom-engineered towing, trailering, cargo...
11 Dec 2020
COVID 19 has dramatically affected our business... but in a good way!
2020 has been an extraordinary year for Stream Interactive, with all the lockdowns and travel limitations, we've had to adapt to the new world order....

Is Wordpress the right choice for your organisation or business website?

27 Feb 2020

Wordpress is great...  Well it is but you can be in danger of taking your eye off the ball while you learn how to set it up and keep it running. What happens when the person in control of the system leaves... OMG mayhem!!

WordPress the undisputed King!

Wordpress is super popular powering over 60 million websites. Written in PHP and MySQL it’s robust and proven, having been around since 2003 when it was first released by founders Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little.

Back in those days, finding a web platform with a decent CMS (Content Management System) for a low set-up cost was near impossible. Stream at the time was using an early version of streamSWEET to do the same thing but we weren’t giving it away for free. We chose to charge a small license fee combined with a hosting fee and still do that to this day.

Is WordPress for you?

Today the picture is quite different from that of 2003.There are dozens of cheap or free systems available, the likes of Wix.com, Squarespace.com, Weebly.com… too many to list! They all do a professional job of creating stylish websites without you needing to learn any programming, these systems also have the advantage of not having to install anything onto a server.

Most web host companies these days will make this step easier for you by having a pre-installed site ready to go. You need to do your research to find a partner that will take care of all the version updates, security, back-ups, even plugin vetting, so that you can spend more time on your website content.

Pros

  • Free Open-Source
  • Highly configurable
  • Fast to deploy
  • Plugins for everything
    (roughly 55,000 and counting)
  • Built for Blogs
  • Supported in over 80 languages
  • Huge community support groups
  • Themes are free or cheap, and are always being updated to the most modern trends
    (Go to ThemeForest to see more than 11,000 examples)
  • Lots of people skilled in using WordPress are available for hire
    (like with most things, finding a good one is not always easy)

Cons

  • You need a server to install and host it on
  • Keeping the updates current can be a big hassle
    (on average major version releases happen every 152 days)
  • 40,000+ plugins is way too many
  • You pay for plugins, these can mount up and add to overall monthly costs
  • Helpdesk can be slow
    (be prepared to use online forums & blogs for support)
  • Bloated code can make it slow
  • Complicated CMS
  • Can be targeted by Malware


Wordpress

Do you really want to be a WordPress Pro?

Running a WordPress site is not for everyone. Be prepared to put in the time and effort to do it well, remember your website is crucial to your online success. If you'd rather concentrate on improving your business operations, increasing sales and profits, leave it to the professionals.

Need help moving from WordPress to a new platform?

We can help you through that journey. Check out this case study where we did just that.


 

WordPress FAQs

help

Does Stream develop or support WordPress websites?

No we don't, we build on our own system which is totally different to WordPress.


help

I’ve just spent my budget building a new WordPress site. If I get Stream to rebuild my site, can any of it be reused?

If you really like your current design, our design team can convert a lot of the existing ‘look’ over to our system. There may be some compromises but generally we can get most of it working as expected.
To see an example check out this site that we converted.


help

What about plugins, can these be used in your system?

No we don’t support WordPress 3rd Party Plugins. We do however have a lot of similar web apps that can do the same job. Like MAIL our email / newsletter product or SHOP for online purchasing. We have useful tools for Blogging, news, galleries etc but unlike WordPress we can actually build anything you want or configure streamSWEET to do almost anything.


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