Let’s rewind to 2010. Barack Obama was president, Instagram hadn’t yet convinced us to ruin our meals with Valencia filters, and I, a bright-eyed blogger armed with a domain name and a dream, installed WordPress. Fast-forward 15 years, and here we are: my blog is old enough to start asking for the car keys, and I’ve finally thrown WordPress into the retirement home. Let me tell you why—and why you might want to, too.
The WordPress Treadmill: Updates, Spam, and Dread
For over a decade, my relationship with WordPress was like owning a semi-truck to haul a single houseplant. Sure, it worked, but the overhead? Let’s just say I’ve spent more hours babysitting plugins than I have writing actual blog posts.
The Plugin Paradox
Every month, it was the same song and dance: update WordPress core. Update the theme. Update the 12 plugins that keep the site from imploding. Security patches? Critical vulnerabilities? Oh, you mean the weekly adrenaline rush of wondering if my blog would become a pawn in someone’s Bitcoin-mining scheme? Fun.
Btw, this actually happened once. Someone hacked my blog and put a Javascript script that mined Bitcoin. I found out when people started complaining my blog was spinning up their fans like a tropical storm.
And don’t get me started on comment spam. My inbox looked like a cryptographer’s fever dream: “Wow, great post! [LINK TO VIAGRA EMPORIUM]” or “I’m a huge fan of your work!” Even with Akismet working overtime, moderating comments felt like playing whack-a-mole with a greased mallet.
Why I’m Keeping My Distance from the WordPress Drama (While Still Using It Elsewhere)
Let’s address the elephant in the CMS room: Matt Mullenweg’s scorched-earth antics. If you’ve been anywhere near the WordPress ecosystem lately, you’ve likely witnessed the meltdown—a saga so chaotic it makes Game of Thrones look like a comedy. Here’s why stepping back from the dumpster fire is a survival tactic, even if you (like me) still rely on WordPress for other projects.
By reducing my reliance on WordPress, I’ve also reduced my exposure to the drama. I’m not saying I’m immune to the occasional WordPress-related headache, but I’m not actively seeking it out. I’m sure it will be fine in the long-run, but one less site to maintain is one less site to worry about if the next WordPress meltdown is as bad as the last one and we all move to a fork or something.
The Epiphany: Why Was I Using a Database for Text?
One day, while staring at yet another list of updates, I had a revelation: my blog is 95% text and code snippets. Why was I funneling everything through a bloated CMS and a MySQL database? Why did I need an admin panel to write posts when I’ve been using Markdown since the Obama administration?
WordPress felt like using a flamethrower to light a birthday candle. I didn’t need user roles, widgets, or a WYSIWYG editor that occasionally ate my code blocks. I needed simplicity. I needed control.
Enter Hugo, the static site generator that’s basically the Marie Kondo of blogging tools. There are plenty of these out there, but I’ve always found Hugo is one of the nicest without forcing you to install React.js and a dozen other dependencies.
Hugo: Where Your Blog is Just a Bunch of Files (And That’s a Good Thing)
Switching to Hugo was like trading a cluttered garage for a perfectly organized toolbox. Here’s why it clicked:
- No Database, No Drama All my posts? They’re just Markdown files in a folder. No more exporting SQL dumps and messing about with a MySQL instance. If I want to move servers, I copy a bunch of directories. Done.
- Write Like a Human, Deploy Like a Robot I write posts in VSCode or Cursor, push to Git, and boom, Hugo generates static HTML. No more logging into a wobbly admin panel to fix formatting wars between Gutenberg and Classic Editor.
- Zero Updates, Infinite Peace Hugo doesn’t need updates. There’s no attack surface for SQL injections because there’s no SQL. If a hacker wants to deface my blog, they’ll have to SSH into my server and manually edit index.html. At that point, I’ve got bigger problems, like explaining to my bank why someone in Belarus just bought a tractor with my credit card.
- My Theme is Just HTML and CSS (No jQuery Plugins Required) I built a minimalist theme that doesn’t rely on 17 nested divs or a JavaScript framework to render a header. It’s faster and works on every browser, including the one your grandma uses to print recipes.
The Comment Conundrum (And Why Silence is Golden)
Let’s address the elephant in the room: comments. Yes, they’re occasionally useful. No, I don’t miss policing them.
For years, I told myself comments were “community-building.” In reality, they were “community-managing”—a part-time job of sifting through bots, trolls, and well-meaning folks who missed the point entirely. Even with plugins, it was a time sink.
So, for now, comments are disabled. Harsh? Maybe. But if you’ve ever spent a Saturday morning deleting 400 variations of “Nice blog! [LINK TO FAKE RAY-BANS]”, you’ll understand.
“But what about the good comments?!” I hear you cry. Fear not! I’m eyeing Utterances, which tacks on GitHub-powered comments using issues. That way, conversations live where they belong: next to the code nerds who care.
Deploying Like It’s 1999 (But in a Good Way)
With Hugo, deploying my blog is as simple as:
git push origin main
Or, if I’m feeling retro:
scp -r public/* me@myserver:/var/www/blog
No more “Database Connection Error” panic. No more PHP version mismatches. Just clean, static files served at the speed of light.
The Truth About Blogs (And Why You Probably Don’t Need WordPress)
Let’s be real: most blogs don’t need a CMS. Unless you’re running an e-commerce empire or a newsroom, WordPress is overkill. It’s the digital equivalent of wearing a tuxedo to a Zoom call.
If your content is mostly text, code, or images (and you’re comfortable with Markdown), a static site generator like Hugo, Jekyll, or 11ty is your new best friend. You’ll save time, sleep better, and reclaim server resources for things that actually matter—like hosting your embarrassing 2008-era fan forum archive.
Fifteen Years Later, I’m Finally Enjoying My Blog Again
Migrating 15 years of content wasn’t trivial, but it was worth it. Now, my blog is faster, safer, and simpler. I spend time writing instead of maintaining. I don’t dread logging in. And when I git push, I know it’ll just work—no plugins required.
So, if you’re tired of WordPress’s quirks (or just want to feel like a hacker from a 90s movie), give static sites a try. Your future self—and your server—will thank you.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a 15-year-old blog to celebrate. And possibly a Viagra spammer to block on GitHub.