[andybak]

Apples and oranges. If you needed a comprehensive client accessible CMS then how did you replicate that side of things in Node etc?

If you didn't need a CMS then I'm not sure why you were using Drupal/Wordpress in the first place. The only reason I can think to use them is if you want to hand off content editing to a non-developer.

[adevx]

I agree that I did not replicate the theme and plugin system of WordPress. But the beauty is that you probably don't have to. WordPress has to cater to all, which is probably the source of all the issues people face.

But neither is my website a simple brochure site. Members create their own content, upload photos, enter their location on a map, enter available dates, have the ability to chat with other members. When I tried to do al this with custom and available plugins, it never felt as a coherent experience. Then there is a lot of automation in the background, notifying members of unanswered messages, expiring profiles, notifying members of expiring memberships. Getting all this properly done with the CMS provided API's is more work then writing it from scratch yourself. With the benefit of not having to worry about CMS API deprecation.

[andybak]

You're making a completely different distinction to the one I was making.

I was saying "client-editable content" vs "not" and you seem to be saying "brochure site" vs "dynamic site".

Brochure sites sometimes need to be client editable. And sometimes complex, dynamic sites don't. It's an orthogonal point.