HI,
I’m a developer who recently switched to WordPress for client sites. The sites I sell are mostly classic showcase sites, and the only plugin I use is Advanced Custom Fields to create simple custom post types (eg: FAQs, services, staff members, projects, etc).
To develop these sites at the moment I use Bricks Builder and I like it very well (coming from a background where I wrote all the code) and it works well with ACF (using query loops).
However, since (in Bricks Builder) there are no templates or bases to start from, every time I have to create everything from scratch and it seems to me that it is an overkill workflow for the simple sites I make.
I was wondering what the best themes or builders are for needs like mine. I don’t need extreme levels of customization, it’s enough for me that CPTs can be used easily.
I had seen Astra these days and it seems to me that it’s right for me. I definitely wanted to avoid Elementor since I’ve only heard bad things about it and its bad performance doesn’t appeal to me at all.
Thank you in advance for the answers.
[ad_2]
By showcase site do you mean like a site that’s mainly a portfolio or gallery site or perhaps a showcase of cars, venues, photos, or other collectables? I’ve done this with nothing more than the Beaver Builder plugin (pro version) and nested categories for the plain old posts module. If the client also did extensive blogging I’d create a separate content type and taxonomy for the actual portfolio items and then used the Posts module for that.
I’m sure you could do the same with almost any other builder up to and including (if you’re very good at coding and CSS) the Gutenberg editor’s loop block or, more likely, one of the 3rd-party block plugins that has actual, functional loop blocks.
I wouldn’t leave Bricks! 🙂
I’ve tested all the builders thoroughly and it’s by far the best in the WordPress space.
If anything, I recommend you hone in on your craft with Bricks.
You can check out [this video]) where I cover what it’s like to work with ACSS and Frames so that your Bricks experience is even better.
I am switching to Bricks from GeneratePress right now. And my approach is to build one or more blueprint sites, with essential plugins, custom fonts, color palettes and customization already done. Then I will launch new sites just by cloning the blueprint site on the server. It will save time. I also use Advanced Themer for Bricks, I think it greatly improves the workflow.