I am launching a Wordpress eCommerce platform in the form of a marketplace to sell courses, appointments and events... what are the security and scalability challenges do I need to look at? Using Wordpress, Buddypress, custom events and courses plugins.. any advice on where I can hire talent?
Hi
I have personally used Wordpress for numerous projects - both simple and complicated, and in all cases the websites have worked fine and have been easy to manage.
A good place to hire someone to build the website for you at reasonable prices is on Fiverr. Just be sure that you have a very clear specification document (description of the project) and that you clearly define expectations with the programmer.
If it’s a project that costs more than $3,000, and if you’re using someone in the same country as you are located, then I would consider drafting a services agreement.
I can help you with any and all of the above if needed.
Good luck
I won't recommend building on Wordpress for anything big. Security and scalability challenges will be huge. In addition to that, performance is going to drag with Wordpress.
Money is going to change hands on the marketplace and Wordpress is not known for its security. One hack and you will be on your knees.
Scaling might seem easy if you find the right plugins but if you didn't, things will come to a standstill. A lot of customization will mean paying a huge amount for a 'patched-up' solution.
Go for a modern technology. A lot of PHP frameworks will work and the best one right now is Laravel.
If this is a hobby project, go ahead and use Wordpress.
If it is something that you feel strongly about and want to build right, then, go with a better technology.
Drop me an message if you want to connect with a company that can build it right. I don't want to drop links and look spammy. Cheers!
I host 1000s of WordPress site projects.
WordPress security is rock solid, if you...
1) Only use repository themes + plugins. If you use random paid themes + plugins, you'll likely get hacked.
2) You must install an auto update plugin, which installs all core + theme + plugin updates, as they occur.
Note: Hackable themes/plugins + people reusing weak passwords across many sites is the primary ways hackers get into sites... through WordPress...
3) That said, for my 5% of all site hacks occur through WordPress 95% of site hacks occur because the hosting company is 100% incompetent.
If you're truly concerned about security, the most effective part of your security is the one person you pay (normally a king's ransom) to keep all your OS code updated, which also means you'll be running on dedicated servers... rather than normal shared hosting.
The quality of the person you hire to setup + maintain your security, will determine your security.
Scalability: This also depends on the person you hire for this. Normally one person will take care of both.
When I deliver a WordPress site to a client, normal site speeds run at 1,000,000+ requests/minute throughput... which means...
Anyone who tells you WordPress is slow... simply doesn't have the experience to tune WordPress to run fast.
WordPress is secure + scales, directly related to the intelligence of your Server Savant... you have doing all your server work on a regular basis.
WordPress is the world's most popular content management system powering 34% of all websites on the internet. On top of that: WordPress has a 60.8% market share in the CMS market. WordPress powers 14.7% of the world's top websites so security and scalability is never an issue if managed properly.
I have worked for Fortune top 500 companies and helped more than 100's of clients in creating startups using wordpress and most of them are still running successfully. You can schedule a call for more detail or refer https://www.fiverr.com/mvpexpert/create-an-online-marketplace.
For a small/medium-sized project WordPress might be acceptable. However, if you plan to scale up and expect a lot of traffic it will be quite difficult to keep up.
Security of WP has improved in recent years, however, it still relies in PHP one of the languages that historically has suffered of prevalent security issues.
Scalability will be difficult at some point, you will need professional infrastructure to get a lot of transactions and other operations smooth. I would recommend research dedicated eCommerce platforms, remember Wordpress was originally conceived as a blogging platform.
