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I am trying to create a website from scratch. Originally, I hoped to be able to use WordPress. However, I'm not sure that it offers me the flexibility that I want, so I am hoping to put some time in to learn a web framework.

I have done research, and I know that relevant threads exist. However, these threads tend to be over a year old or even older, and the CS world evolves rather quickly. Also, I didn't find threads which encompass my specific parameters.

Parameters: I would like my website to be a mini-online newspaper where multiple authors can post different blogs and comment on each other's stories. I would only be allowing a handful of people login credentials, and I expect the site to be low traffic.

Options: I have more of less settled on using either WEB.PY, DJANGO, or FLASK.

I'm currently vacillating and don't want to waste a lot of time learning a framework if I realize half-way through that I would have rather learned a different one.

Question: If my priority is speed of implementation, which web framework has a simple enough implementation and documentation for a first time user (I have no experience with web frameworks)? Again, I don't really care about the "scale-able" aspect.

Thank you so much, and any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Also, I am familiar with Python and Html, CSS, & Javascript

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This is a request for discussion and opinion, and is specifically mentioned in the FAQ as being a poor fit for the design here. This is not an advice or recommendation site; it's for specific, concise questions (which the FAQ also says). Voting to close as not constructive. –  Ken White Nov 1 '12 at 0:01
I prefer Flask but Django was originally developed specifically for newspaper sites like you describe. –  FogleBird Nov 1 '12 at 0:22
That's a bit harsh considering the amount of "discussion and opinion" threads that I have seen voted up: stackoverflow.com/questions/3005319/… –  matt hoover Nov 1 '12 at 17:19
Also stackoverflow.com/questions/3806721/… - that being said, the key is that those questions were created early in StackOverflow's history. I, for one, would consider this an acceptable question if you could clarify what is most important to you - (for example, the key is speed to deliverability of working product, ease of maintenance, ease of adding new features as the project grows) and the answer wasn't "it depends on you" (which is the answer to all of the examples I have given). –  Sean Vieira Nov 1 '12 at 17:39
I have edited my question to better reflect your concern. –  matt hoover Nov 2 '12 at 19:55
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1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote accepted

I would recommend WordPress, as far as flexibility goes, its easy to lock yourself into situations using certain plugins and themes, but if you have the chops and time to develop your own theme, and carefully select or customize your plugins, then theres few limits to what WordPress can do.

Also it's already setup to do exactly what you are asking for, blogs, comments, multiple authors, you can do all of that right out of the box with little to no customization.

I understand that you know python but not php, but you can setup everything you need in the WP Dashboard without touching the PHP. Then you only need to apply your HTML/CSS/JS chops to the theme.

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I was looking at some plug-ins, but ultimately, if I use the Wordpress UI and plug-ins for this purpose, then I won't learn a skill set off of which I can then build. Sorry, I should have mentioned that as a criterion. –  matt hoover Nov 2 '12 at 21:21
Knowing how to build WordPress themes is a very important skill set that helps pay my bills. I also feel the need to point out that you would not need any plugins to accomplish the task you have set out. –  DigitalDesignDj Nov 2 '12 at 21:28
Sorry, I don't mean to discount your skillset. Also, to be honest, I wasn't aware of professional web developers using the Wordpress CMS. WordPress to my knowledge doesn't have a built-in membership management system, so I think that at a minimum, I would have to purchase that plug-in. I'm not sure how I would accomplish this without plug-ins or learning PHP. –  matt hoover Nov 2 '12 at 21:40
it does have built in membership, there's a checkbox "Anyone Can Register", Check that, and wp-login will have the option to create a subscriber level account. –  DigitalDesignDj Nov 6 '12 at 21:51
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