Should An Aspiring Web Developer Be Using Wordpress?

So here is a guy at Travis Media, eagerly learning web development with the goal of transitioning soon into this field. His site consists of blog posts documenting this journey as well as technical concepts learned along the way. Surely as he gets further into this pursuit he will seek to demonstrate to his readers or future clients the fact that he can create a website from scratch.

Well then, why in the world is he running his site with WordPress? Even worse, why is he using someone else's theme?

Three Reasons

Good questions! Let me attempt to explain why I am and why it should not be looked at negatively.

1. Scope. WordPress now powers 27% of all websites on the web. That is a big market! Surely at some point, and especially if you are freelance, you will be asked to work with WordPress. By having a WP site to maintain (and toy with), you will have a better understanding of it, and it ultimately will be another valuable skill to add to your arsenal.
2. Spontaneity. I needed a site/blog quickly with little effort. I had things to write and value to put out there, and with my somewhat rigorous coding schedule and pursuit into this field of web development, it is vital that my own personal projects must be kept simple. There are more than enough tasks/jobs for an aspiring web developer to be pursuing up front than building his or her own blog from scratch.
3. But…..customization. I thought about eventually, down the road, building my site from scratch and ditching WordPress, but I have come to a better conclusion. Having your site begin with WordPress and a user friendly theme is not the end-all. If one truly wants to become a well-rounded web developer, why not create your own WordPress theme? Why not demonstrate to those who may be considering your services that you know WordPress well enough that you use your own custom theme. That is what I am doing, though I still have a ways to go, and you can surely do the same (Not familiar with PHP but have a basic HTML and CSS understanding? Then this is a great resource for building a theme from scratch).

Conclusion

So if you see an aspiring web developer's site run by WordPress, don't immediately think of it negatively. It may be another side pursuit that he or she will be able to add to their knowledge base, which can be a good thing.

What are your thoughts? Tell us in the comments below.