One common question that people always seem to ask Orchard CMS developers is why they do not enjoy working with WordPress on their website. From the perspective of a developer, I would like to point out that although WordPress is an option, it is not something I would ideally want to work with. Continuing to tinker with and extending the engine I was planning on using was exactly what I wanted but to learn PHP code for the same? No! Orchard CMS is an equally robust and stable development platform.

In order to have some fun, let us now put both the content management systems in a head-on battle.

Orchard CMS

At one end, we have the continually evolving, community driven, free and open-source solution for the development of ASP .NET applications that are capable of leveraging the available components.

WordPress

On the other side of the ring we have WordPress. An open-source blogging and content management tool, it includes a plug-in architecture and template system. These aspects serve to permit extension of the core installation.

So it is time to begin our Battle Royale..

 Standing

If popularity was the only benchmark of success, WordPress would emerge as clear winners. As per the recent statistics, out of the ten million or so websites around the Internet, as many as 20% make use of the WordPress CMS platform. This is the system used more than any other by the bloggers.

Early exchanges

Orchard CMS gets full support from Microsoft so there is every possibility that the platform is always going to be taken seriously. That means that the developer community will have a strong support base to fall back upon.

As opposed to its compatriot, WordPress is capable of generating substantially better speeds. Thus when they are put in a side-by-side comparison, bloggers always lent their preference to this CMS.

Of the two, Orchard CMS is capable of producing a layout that is far more flexible to work with. With options such as plug ability and custom modules, it allows creation of custom types, placements and a number of other similar operations. The high range of themes gives WordPress a higher marks. Although it makes use of the Razor View Engine, Orchard CMS does not have such a wide range of themes on offer.

Thought: Now that both the competitors have dealt their respective first blows, it seems a judgement can be delivered based only on personal taste.

The ravaging blows

Semantic Modelling

With an administrative interface in tow, Orchard CMS allows the creation of custom content types. They can also be utilized in the creation of custom content. This is one major area where WordPress tends to fall short. Orchard CMS is capable of architecture that would be seemingly hard to achieve using the WordPress CMS framework.

Orchard CMS emerges the winner in this first round!

Community

Although Orchard CMS has the smaller community it is surprisingly accessible. CodePlex is popular for responding to bugs within a matter of twenty-four hours. As far as WordPress is concerned, that is unlikely to happen. On the other hand, there is probably not a single module of WordPress that has not addressed any issue, a video that details its usage, or a blog that breaks it down into a simpler form.

WordPress is the undoubted winner in this regard!

Designer Control

WordPress is all about customization. Yet, when its themes or modules have to be used, a certain degree of hacking needs to be implemented. Orchard CMS was engineered specifically for the creation of alternatives to templates. It features metadata files that allow high level formatting at a serious level.

Orchard CMS once again emerges a winner in this regard!

Although WordPress has the greater audience, its the fact that Orchard CMS is a new product and more technologically advanced along with a solid design keeps it a step ahead of the chasing pack. For the novice developers, flexibility on offer from Orchard makes it the perfect place to start out. From an administrative point of view, it is very much similar to Joomla and can be put to productive use over a short period of time. WordPress, on the other hand, is nothing more than a blog engine!

Final verdict: In this battle of supremacy between WordPress and Orchard CMS, the latter succeeds in taking the belt thanks to its ease of usage and the potential on offer as far as future development is concerned.