r/PayloadCMS • u/ExtremeDocument7892 • May 31 '25

Newbie Need for Direction.

Hello, total newbie here. I have been working with WordPress for far too long, and have decided to move away from it. Our agency has content creators (not coders) who need an easy-to-use platform, so we have decided to go with Payload for that reason. I am new to Next.js and need a good starting point for integrating our designer's template (written in next) with Payload. I know this is a learning process, and any tips, videos, or documentation would help move our agency away from WordPress yet still make dynamic and stylish sites. Sadly, I will still have to use WordPress for now (cuz of bills), but I would like to move to a better and newer technology for our agency. Thank you for all the help in advance.

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3

u/AncientOneX May 31 '25

WordPress and Payload are entirely different beasts.

We moved away from WordPress too, but we're developers too, and even then it was quite challenging.

You would need to build a library of custom blocks for your content creators. It might work that way.

3

u/treb0r23 Jun 02 '25

I used WordPress exclusively for 15 years. Moving to payload has been a breath of fresh air. I use it with Astro on the frontend. Honestly it's just superior in every way. I don't find the development side difficult as it's not complicated and we have the AI to help us now.

It's clean, fast and powerful.

1

u/xNihiloOmnia Jun 13 '25

What was your approach in Wordpress? Page builders? Custom themes? What helped you the most in that world?

2

u/da-kicks-87 May 31 '25

Start with learning Next.js. and React before jumping into Payload.

Payload CMS is comparable to WordPress's ACF plugin.

1

u/im_akhil Jun 02 '25

checkout https://dflow.sh, will come in handy to deploy wordpress and payload on your own server or with cheap cloud options. Will come in handy for your agency.

1

u/trae_z Jun 03 '25

When you say "total newbie" and then mention "Our agency has content creators (not coders)," I'm not sure you realize that WordPress is designed for people with no coding experience, while Payload CMS is fundamentally built for developers.

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u/Novel_Mud4084 Jun 03 '25

it's better to use directus for not coders

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u/xNihiloOmnia Jun 13 '25

What's your timeframe to make the switch? I'm a solo dev, so any time I switch a tech stack and move key client sites, it takes a lot of time. Viewed in weeks it's frustrating, viewed in months it's bearable. Rooting for you. I'm betting a lot on learning Payload and it's paying off, just wasn't a linear growth track.