Are There Any Plans for WordPress to Support Databases Other Than MySQL?

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Hi @Justin Jenkins:

It’s very hard for use to say if WordPress will or will not support it since they can make those decisions and we cannot. However we can look at some evidence.

SQL Server?

For SQL Server on one hand a trac ticket was debated and stalled a year ago; since then more recently it appears that Automattic and Microsoft are exploring business relationships:

Mongo DB?

For Mongo DB there was a support question proposing it but no official acknowledgement and no real traction:

Forecast?

So, SQL Server looks more likely than MongoDB, at least from Automattic in the near term but that’s only a guess and not one I’d actually bet on.

What about Plugins?

More importantly one would need to consider that a major benefit of WordPress is the huge repository of free plugins and many of those encode MySQL directly and thus would cease to work and blunt much of the benefit of WordPress.

Drupal Modules and their Support of Other Databases Besides MySQL

What’s more in the Drupal world you do have multiple database support but the reality is that vast majority of Drupal modules that interact with the database only support MySQL. Supporting multiple databases requires many times more effort and most Drupal module developer simply don’t have the resources or even the inclination to create free plugins with those levels of support and I would expect the same would be true with WordPress.

Real-world Use-Cases?

Which bring me to an honest question: What’s the real-world use-cases for this? As a technologist myself I always look at these types of these as really cool, but as an entrepreneur I also look at them pragmatically and ask for use-cases. Are there situations where MySQL is really not an option but SQL Server is? Are the installations where benefits of Mongo DB would exceed the downsides?

(And just as importantly, are there companies who really need this who are willing to spend money to support the development and maintenance? More specifically I’d be curious to know your motivations? Again, that’s an honest question; market research really, and not to challenge you in any way for asking.)

Next Steps?

If you want to hear it more from the horse’s mouth I’d suggest but asking on the wp-hackers mailing list and posting a proposal ticket for MongoDB on trac.

UPDATE

I just came across this page on Microsoft.com that claims they have a patch for using SQL Server with WordPress. I didn’t try it so I can’t vouch for it, though here’s Microsoft’s WordPress page:

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