WordPress core is not particularly ‘sketchy’, it just gets tricky when you start adding plugins. There’s no vetting on the quality of plugins available on the WordPress.org repo, and even less in places like Envato. The vast majority of plugins and themes are pure shit because they are made by companies trying to take advantage of the people who don’t know any better and their goal is to make them as appealing as possible rather than making a quality product and letting that be the appeal.
WordPress is fine if you want a blog and don’t mind the more out-of-the-box experience they provide, with the exception of a few plugins that have proven their quality over time. Though, as a new user how do they know what plugins are good? You don’t. There’s tons of info out there for WordPress, but again the vast majority is catered towards people who just want a quick solution and can be taken advantage of to be sold a product.
I think you’ll be fine starting off with a basic WordPress blog while you try and test out other options to see how they stack up and how they work for you. Just be very careful about which plugins or themes you install. You can use Roots/Bedrock to help secure the site and make it work a bit closer to a modern platform since you manage it with Composer. Or you can use ClassicPress if you don’t want Gutenberg shoved down your throat.
Other options would be 11ty, Hugo, or a Nextjs based site.
WordPress core is not particularly ‘sketchy’, it just gets tricky when you start adding plugins. There’s no vetting on the quality of plugins available on the WordPress.org repo, and even less in places like Envato. The vast majority of plugins and themes are pure shit because they are made by companies trying to take advantage of the people who don’t know any better and their goal is to make them as appealing as possible rather than making a quality product and letting that be the appeal.
WordPress is fine if you want a blog and don’t mind the more out-of-the-box experience they provide, with the exception of a few plugins that have proven their quality over time. Though, as a new user how do they know what plugins are good? You don’t. There’s tons of info out there for WordPress, but again the vast majority is catered towards people who just want a quick solution and can be taken advantage of to be sold a product.
I think you’ll be fine starting off with a basic WordPress blog while you try and test out other options to see how they stack up and how they work for you. Just be very careful about which plugins or themes you install. You can use Roots/Bedrock to help secure the site and make it work a bit closer to a modern platform since you manage it with Composer. Or you can use ClassicPress if you don’t want Gutenberg shoved down your throat.
Other options would be 11ty, Hugo, or a Nextjs based site.