If you have a WordPress website and wish you could make complete use of STEEM, this is a Call To Action to show STEEM developers that WordPress users are ready to incorporate STEEM in their websites.

Why STEEM developers need to consider WordPress

WordPress has become very prevalent on the Web. Since the STEEM blockchain is also aiming to prevail on the same Web, I believe it wise to hang on the coattails of an already popular technology, and the good thing is that it is open source, unlike Facebook and other competing publishing platforms.

WordPress being open source means that STEEM developers can easily build and distribute plugins for WordPress in a bid to give the many WordPress users a gentle on-ramp to publish and interact on the STEEM blockchain. Once STEEM becomes popular with the WordPress hordes, WordPress itself could even be forked into a SteemPress that is leaner, faster, more secure and that interacts better with the STEEM blockchain while keeping the 5-minute installation and familiar User Experience (UX).

Purist STEEM developers would prefer to build something new and better than WordPress (such as Hive account@jesta building reprint.io) but the problems with that include:

lack of name recognition with the masses that already use WordPress
need to learn to use a whole new platform
lack of tutorials to ease people into using the new platform
lack of plugins to extend the functionality of the new platform

SteemConnect

SteemConnect is a simple identity layer built on top of the Steem blockchain that allows you to connect to authorized apps in a secure and convenient way.

https://steemconnect.com/

Facebook Connect and Facebook WordPress Plugin

I believe SteemConnect can lead the charge to connect the WordPress ecosystem to the STEEM blockchain in the same way Facebook Connect made inroads for Facebook to dominate user authentication across the Web and even for mobile applications.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/facebook-across-the-web/41735647130/

Facebook went as far as to develop their own WordPress plugin, which has over 100,000 active installs even though it has not been updated in over 2 years.

The plugin does not facilitate user registration or login, but that functionality is offered by other WordPress plugins. The Facebook WordPress plugin does facilitate the following Facebook actions which are comparable to actions on the STEEM blockchain:

Like which is similar to upvote
Send which is somewhat similar to resteem/reblog
Follow
Comment which is similar to reply

https://wordpress.org/plugins/facebook/

Existing STEEM WordPress Plugins

Plugins like Steemit Feed by Hive account@wordpress-tips have limited functionality and do not allow interaction with the STEEM blockchain from the WordPress website. For example, you cannot upvote a post from the WordPress website.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/steemit-feed/

I am proposing something more comprehensive like the Facebook WordPress Plugin but for the STEEM blockchain. For example, with this Facebook plugin you can like a post from the WordPress website without going to Facebook.com.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/facebook/

SteemConnect already facilitates this kind of decentralised interaction with the STEEM blockchain, but the SteemConnect code is not nicely packaged into an easy to install WordPress plugin.

https://github.com/busyorg/steemconnect

WordPress Statistics

The following is a link to a post with statistics that aim to show the prevalence of WordPress on the Web which will then hopefully support the need for SteemConnect as a WordPress plugin.

https://steemit.com/wordpress/@mkdouglas/proposal-why-steem-blockchain-needs-steemconnect-as-a-wordpress-plugin

Call To Action

If you have a WordPress website and wish you could make complete use of STEEM, this is a Call To Action to show STEEM developers that WordPress users are ready to incorporate STEEM in their websites.

Reply to this post with the link to your WordPress website and mention any STEEM developer you know who could help to implement this proposal: