ClassicPress and the Fediverse – Not Quite Ready

Yesterday I experimented with migrating my blog from WordPress to ClassicPress to see whether ClassicPress plays nicely with the fediverse. It does but there is room for improvement.

If you want instructions on how to migrate from wordpress you can find the instructions here. Summarised, you download the switch to ClassicPress plugin, you run it, it checks that you're ready to migrate, you fix what needs to be fixed, and when ClassicPress sees that you're ready it will allow you to start the migration. The migration takes a second or two. It felt almost instant in my case. You know it has succeeded because you see the "ClassicPress" message at the bottom of the admin section.

Wanting to Quit WordPress

I want to dump WordPress for two main reasons. The first is that it has become bloated and slow. It offers an enormous amount of functionality, but at the cost of speed, and efficiency. The second reason is that it uses React and I am deeply opposed to anything developed by Facebook. Instead of connecting single people, it reminds single people of their isolation. It gets caught playing with emotions, and facilitating genocide, and never, ever apologises. By using React WordPress is closer to Facebook than I would like.

How Well ClassicPress plays with the Fediverse

If you want to write a blog post, and for it to show up on the fediverse via the Activity Plugin then it's ready and work well. As soon as you post from ClassicPress it shows up in the fediverse streams. If that's what you want to do then it works seamlessly.

Comments Unseen

With WordPress if someone comments to a post on the fediverse then it shows up in the wordpress comments section. With ClassicPress the comments are only visible on the fediverse. The quick fix to this, is to write a comment in wordpress that shows up on the fediverse. At this point communication is two way.

Why This Matters

If you're writing blog posts, and people comment on the fediverse, but you can't see the comments, then you won't know to thank, ignore or react. You will be posting into a vacuum with no dialogue taking place. By having two way commenting we have a way of having the blog as an integral part of the fediverse, and vice versa. Now that I know what's possible I don't want to go back.

The Side Track

Aside from experimenting with ClassicPress I also noticed that there are plugins that allow you to provide a summary of content headings at the top of the page, as well as a markdown parser or two to choose from. The final one was an estimated reading time. The last one isn't that intereting, but it's a curiousity worth knowing about.

And Finally

When I can get the exchange of comments to be from the Fediverse to my blog, and vice versa withput having to comment first I will be happy because then it will be seamless and I will be able to dump WordPress and focus on ClassicPress.