- New site. Started with a fresh WordPress install.
- Got WP site set up.
- Installed Indieweb plugins and a few others. Avoided using WordPress owned plugins like Jetpack and Akismet. Found alternatives.
- Wrote some posts.
- Rediscovered ClassicPress. Decided this was the best time to try ClassicPress before I have too much content and before I add too many more plugins.
- CP is compatible with most WP plugins that will run on ver. 4.9.9 or older. Checked all plugins.
- Just to be safe, prior to conversion, I disabled almost all plugins including all Indieweb plugins.
- Installed the ClassicPress migration plugin.
- Followed instructions on that page for migration plugin.
- Plugin detected no conflicts.
- Migrated.
- Yea! Nothing broke. No errors. Utterly painless.
- Started reactivating plugins disabled in step #7 above.
- Everything works. The reactivation of the Indieweb WP plugins caused no errors that I can detect. But, the site being so new, they remain untested.
Why Convert to ClassicPress?
If you don’t trust the direction WordPress is headed (ie. block editor and more commerce oriented). Combined with all you need is a full featured blog.
What have we learned?
My web host does not support ClassicPress auto installs. However I can 1 click install WordPress and very easily convert it to ClassicPress right away via that migration plugin.
Hi Brad,
This is very interesting. Good news about IndieWeb plug-ins. Two concerns, has ClassicPress the legs for a long run and will plug-ins, like the IndieWeb ones keep working on ClassicPress if they evolve with WordPress?
Hi John,
It’s a bit of a gamble. They have lasted this long which is a good sign but the community is small. I think it’s going to be a combination of ClassicPress making enough of the right decisions combined with how many WordPress users get alienated by WP and start looking to migrate.
As far as themes and plugins go it’s kind of a matter of attrition. On the WP side I see more plugins that say they work with both blocks and classic editors, but over time more future plugins will be block only. This could push people towards ClassicPress. OTOH it also works against ClassicPress. ClassicPress has contacted many essential plugin makers and has gotten them to commit to keeping their plugins compatible with CP. I relayed some messages from CP to the Indieweb plugins team so I think those plugins will remain CP compatible. There are also some plugins that are specific to CP. There is enough plugins to do most everything in CP for now. I guess the fail safe is, should CP fail, you can always move you writing back to WordPress or to Drupal – at least it’s not in some obscure format.