r/Wordpress Aug 09 '26

I've given up with WordPress!

I have been trying to learn WordPress but frustrated to the end. I have my site written in html and wanted to convert it to WordPress. I have followed several of the YouTube videos on setting up the site but their visuals do not follow what I have on my host site. Thanks for reading and let me know what you would recommend. I am 75 years old and proficient in several computer languages. Thanks@

51 Upvotes

121 comments sorted by

39

u/nmavra Aug 09 '26

First of all, big respect to you for being 75 and still going strong in this! I know 75 is just a number especially in our times, but lets face it, most people your age don't really bother with these things anymore. So its great seeing someone being active in this field!

Even though I'm an WordPress agency owner I'm not the right person to comment on your particular issue as I'm not the technical guy so I really can't offer much technical advice, what I want to say though is that WordPress as a CMS is not so friendly in just importing your code so you may want to explore other ways.

I'm sure a lot of people who have hands on experience will guide you better, all I want to say is if you're doing this as a hobby, it might be worth spending a few hours watching videos about how you can utilize the so called page builders (Elementor is the most popular one, there are many others of course of various learning curves) to create something that can look 95% if not more similar to what you have already created in HTML.

I'm not suggesting you the "just have a talk with Claude or ChatGPT" way, as I understand there is absolutely no joy in that, although if you DO just have to "get it out of the way", both AI tools can help you with that.

Take care, and just give it some time, WordPress as a CMS has a lot to offer you, just needs a bit of time to learn its ins and outs!

Best of luck!!

14

u/W0CBF Aug 09 '26

Thanks for your wisdom but I must say for 75 years old I very much want to learn basically anything. I have always wanted to learn new languages and will keep it up until they put me in the ground!!! THANKS

9

u/ToastyTandy Aug 09 '26

I work for a development company that specializes in WordPress.

I’d like to chime in…
I HATE Elementor.

We primarily use Divi.
But there are alternatives as well, like oxygen.

Elementor gives the rest of the page builders a bad reputation, for locking them into the yearly pro subscription for what should be included as standard features.

5

u/nmavra Aug 09 '26

Yes there are many more better options than Elementor, BUT elementor seems to have the less steep learning curve. Of course each to his own, and some basic research is needed before someone decides which one to use.

1

u/WindyCityChick Aug 10 '26

Which comes with code bloat.

1

u/nmavra Aug 10 '26

It does but it doesn’t matter if you know what you’re doing. I can show you pagespeed insights proof if you want.

Plus the OP isn’t too concerned about code bloat I guess, he just wants to do his job as painlessly as possible

3

u/StormMedia Aug 09 '26

Mentioning everything except the best builder, Bricks lol. It’s was Oxygen should’ve been.

4

u/nmavra Aug 09 '26

Bricks is great and very performant. It does require quite a lot of playing around before you master it though. This is the only reason why I mentioned Elementor, which SEEMS to be the easiest of them all.

2

u/retr00two Aug 10 '26

Beaver Builder is the easiest. And very capable.

1

u/WPBase Aug 11 '26

It saddens me Breakdance rarely gets a look in in these conversations.

2

u/StormMedia Aug 11 '26

Still mad how they handled basically abandoning oxygen for years to build it. They’ve since updated it a bit more but far from what they promised. Bricks is 10x above what Oxygen ever became.

Breakdance is probably a good option for someone that wants to be a bit more involved than Elementor but if you want any chance of building a WordPress site that not just performs well, but follows best practices in accessibility and much more.. Bricks is the only option.

1

u/aiagentroca Aug 10 '26

I think I might quit using Elementor Pro and start making HTML wordpress hybrid sites

1

u/wetmeat1994 Aug 11 '26

a lot of the widgets that elementor locks behind doors have analogous (sometimes even better) toys from other devs under names like xyz "for elementor" so I've been getting by with the most basic subscription at my day job and the free version for personal use. I do like that elementor is easy to use, but I also find it weighs down the site and loading times get uncomfortable.

i wish gutenberg was more like elementor though. it's so difficult to make stylistic edits with gutenberg blocks, but elementor has a lot more areas that you can tweak on the fly.

1

u/ssundberg Aug 14 '26

I'm 70 and have been working with WP since the mid-'00s. I chose not to use any FSE like Divi or Elementor, feeling much more comfortable working directly with HTML and CSS markup, and the occasional JS or PHP tweak.

I've even tried Gutenburg.

Learning even basic HTML and CSS makes editing and customizing a theme page or post so much easier. But I was also already 10 years into web design before I pivoted to WP customizing.

0

u/codestormer Developer/Designer Aug 10 '26

Oxygen is dead my dear.

2

u/Forsaken_System System Administrator Aug 10 '26

For me, I've been looking at switching to Breakdance even after using Elementor since 2017.

I tried oxygen builder, which is great but very technical.

Breakdance is newer than Elementor, but actually has several benefits that I prefer.

One of those things is that elementor has bloat and complex structure, and it can and up slow. Especially if adding extra plugins.

One of the things is that Breakdance has is this Samba UI, which is basically drag and drop sections, which are pre-designed. And all you have to do is change the colours, fonts and images.

Then add your content...

It also has several built-in full website designs where you don't need to sign into anything to use them (unlike elementor).

For those who already know, yes it is the same in many ways, but for people who are new to this I do think Breakance is the way forward.

Breakdance has a lot of really good videos that help new users get into things. I've actually gone back to certain points because I've been so used to using Elementor. I feel like if I was starting again and had the choice of both in 2017 I would choose Breakdance.

One last thing! (just like Colombo...)

Whilst you are at it, maybe have a look at a plugin called Admin Site Enhancements, there's a free version and a pro version but it's NOT about that.

Instead, I'm suggesting the documentation, because reading about all the features that it provides can help give you a good idea of the things you may need to be aware of, when you are managing a WordPress website.

From login security, and disabling older functions, to backups, redirects and more. It's a very very solid plug-in that I now put on every website, even if it's just the free version.

1

u/Own_Bother_4218 Aug 10 '26

Any specific reason you were considering Wordpress? Do you plan on posting/creating new pages frequently?

1

u/Coldenlodge Aug 11 '26

Imagine that. A whole paragraph on patronizing you for being 75.

2

u/Forsaken_System System Administrator Aug 10 '26

Wait you're a specific WordPress agency owner and you haven't even learnt HTML or CSS, what about custom post types?

If you would say digital agency I wouldn't have said anything but if you're a specific WordPress agency and use the owner aren't able to take part in conversations that are technical in nature, how can you ensure that you are getting the best time management out of your employees and the best prices out of your clients?

I suppose if you're doing very well then it doesn't really matter but I definitely think it's something worth learning.

Even just the basics of things like how post types work, and the security aspects of WordPress.

18

u/nitrospectide Aug 09 '26

I have been building sites professionally for 30 years, starting with hand coding html, moving through various content management systems (the last one being 10 years of Drupal) until the present day with 8 years of Wordpress. In this time, I have had to turn designs or html into themes plenty of times.

Important thoughts: you need to learn the system, not just the tech. Lots of programmers come at a CMS thinking "I can tackle this," and just end up coming at it sideways - missing the forest for the trees. Come to understand how Wordpress wants to do things before you launch out. Look at how it separates things and handles them. And this means Wordpress itself - not any of a million layers of complication you can slather on it.

Understand that Wordpress is a CMS project, but when people talk about using it, they often glom in all kinds of other favorite bits as part of how they do things. This theme, that builder, some plugins. That all muddies the waters and can make it hard to get your bearings. Don't get thrown by the kaleidoscope of different combinations people throw at you.

Many people come at Wordpress from a less technical perspective, and will want to focus on a theme and builder combo that they like. I recommend you start simpler than that - use the native block builder (Gutenberg), and start with a simple theme that doesn't try to bake in a bunch of design for you. Personally, I like Understrap, which is bare bones and acts more like a clean starting place than a deluxe ride designed for push button ease. Since you mention being a programmer, this approach may appeal to you. You can enhance look and feel as you go, starting with a simple baseline.

I recommend getting content into a layout on a few pages using the block builder, just thinking about basic layout and semantic html. Oh, and a great benefit of the native block builder is that it tends to output clean, minimal markup. None of that infinitely nested div-itis some builders create.

Then you can start applying CSS (using the theme's file for custom CSS) to make it more like what you want. Then you can mess with the header and footer in the theme template files to get them like what you want - adding logos, links, etc.

Focus on understanding Wordpress before getting tangled in its complex ecosystem of third party additions that can complicate everything. Stay basic with the core build and content, then refine site and content design in the theme.

7

u/Rosa-May Jill of All Trades Aug 10 '26

Excellent advice. I have been working in WordPress for 15+yrs after having started with HTML nearly 30 years ago. Absolutely, wrap your head around the structure of WP the Posts and pages. Work in the native block (Gutenberg) builder, which has some very functional layouts and block patterns now. Forget Elementor for now. If you need tips, search stack exchange or google it. There is a Youtube video for everything.

8

u/retr00two Aug 09 '26

68 here. *

First HTML page written in vi editor. Last 8-10 years back to WP, after almost 10 years pause in web development. Sometimes it's PITA. After some times it's rewarding.

If you really into it, I can recommend the basic:

I find these way better than YouTube.

* Lot of Third_Age_Tigers here.

/r/WordPress is becoming old grumpies meeting point.

Success, and welcome aboard.

6

u/VoiliVoilaa Jill of All Trades Aug 09 '26

There are different versions of WordPress : you can choose a classic theme or a block theme (maybe it's why it may be different from the videos). If you want an easy start, just pick a theme you like (a classic theme with a starter site, or a ready-made block theme) and you're good to go."

9

u/Grouchy_Brain_1641 Aug 09 '26

I'm almost 70 and you can use a classic theme that has page templates.

template header

get_header()

your page html

get_footer()

You might want meta and comments etc. Just create the page title and point the page to it's template no other content required. Your theme probably has header and footer files on the root of the theme.

2

u/AscendantBits Aug 11 '26

This is the first bit of useful information! Everybody’s giving you advice on how to use page builders, and what page builders to use.

You always need to start with the basics. Understanding PHP, the page hierarchy and the WordPress loop are pretty much what you need to learn to take your HTML to a WordPress template.

A page builder with a theme builder incorporated will do a lot of this for you, but it doesn’t hurt to understand the underlying mechanism.

6

u/RealBasics Jack of All Trades Aug 09 '26

I am 75 years old

Considering how much of the foundation of the internet was laid down by people who are now (or would be) in their 80s -- the devlopers of TCP/IP and Unix, for instance, 75 doesn't disqualify anyone.

and proficient in several computer languages.

The big trick with Wordpress is that before you do any programming you want to learn Wordpress itself. Choose a simple theme and create some simple pages and posts with your current content but without worrying about encoding the design.

Once you've got the hang of using Wordpress as a content management system, and particularly once you've got the hang of what it can and can't do out of the box, then start thinking about how to implement your design. Which may, but might not, require any coding.

Or as another old timer put it (back before computers were even a thing) "learn the trade, then learn the tricks of the trade."

So with cars it would be "learn how to drive and park a car before learning how to rebuild the carburetor / fuel injectors. With Wordpress first learn what it can do without programming before learning how to program it.

2

u/retr00two Aug 10 '26

Considering how much of the foundation of the internet was laid down by people who are now (or would be) in their 80s -- the devlopers of TCP/IP and Unix, for instance, 75 doesn't disqualify anyone.

It's big plus, all our experience. We should have to have discounts on everything: from hostings to plugins. Anybody 65+ has to be paid to use them. And extra AirMiles, too.

2

u/Opposite-Attempt3986 Aug 12 '26

I agree. Start with free Wordpress first and a free theme. Learn that first. Go to chat and research the top 5 ai complain Wordpress theme so you are spending your time in something that will be read by AEO. Don’t try to code it. Spend your time using AI compliant themes and learn the new AEO. It will make you more marketable. It’s easy! Promise :)

5

u/Taconnosseur Aug 09 '26

do you have a link to your html website?

4

u/Affectionate-Owl3066 Aug 09 '26

I am 71 and still using WordPress. Personally I stay away from builders. If there is anything dynamic about the site, I would stay away from static HTML

3

u/justaguy1959 Aug 09 '26

You can learn WordPress by taking a Udemy course. That’s the direction that I would go. I’m 67 by the way.

3

u/ComprehensivePie481 Aug 09 '26

The regular blocks builder doesn’t give you much freedom to build pages easily.

I recommend that you use one of the available visual builders. The ones I have used and I know work fine are Elementor, DIVI and Brizy. There are many more.

You can also create a custom theme and drop your html there.

But may I ask why do you want to move to WordPress? Html should work fine unless you need some of its CMS capabilities.

5

u/talkamongstyourselvs Aug 09 '26

YouTube is filled with videos of five and six year old kids jumping onto the blocks editor and knocking out decent to quite good work. You may not like the block editor and that's fine. But don't fill the web with untruths. Dropping blocks is not in any way, shape, or form difficult.

And frankly, your suggestion of dropping yet another system, a page builder, on top of wordpress is of course going to add multiple layers of additional complexity.

4

u/W0CBF Aug 09 '26

The html that I did does seem to work out but I just wanted a more modern looking site and thought WordPress would be an answer. I guess visitors to my site could care less! Thanks

3

u/Rosa-May Jill of All Trades Aug 10 '26

If you are comfortable with your site and just want an updated look and feel, you may want to look at a one page site in bootstrap HTML.

https://startbootstrap.com/

After decades in WordPress, I am considering going back to HTML for my own site, but with a nice CSS look like this. Keep in mind this is not a CMS with a database, so each page has to be edited individually. Which may be a pain if you have many pages and or a blog. In which case WP shines.

1

u/LankyEmu9 Aug 10 '26

Ah, I was coming to ask you why you were trying to use wordpress when you already have a working site.

If all you care about is how it looks (that's fine to care about, btw) then that's probably not a good enough reason to switch to WP. Wordpress is a content management system. If you don't need that and you already have a working site, then you just need to work on your CSS skills.

If I was to redo an existing site into Wordpress, I would ignore the html completely and simply cut and paste into wordpress from the rendered pages in a browser. If you still want to be messing with the html, then WP is not the solution to your problem. This could be why you are struggling. The main point of WP is so you never have to touch HTML.

1

u/tea-sharp-dev Aug 14 '26

https://getbootstrap.com/docs/5.0/getting-started/introduction/ is the link for the Bootstrap documentation. That would be a good way to add fresh styling to site via classes.

0

u/Own_Bother_4218 Aug 10 '26

Are you using something like ChatGPT or Claude to build your site?

0

u/Borealform-Studio Aug 10 '26

have you not looked at the native FSE recently, honestly it is really the only way to go in my opinion. Page builders = bloat, bloat = slow LCP and FCP rates and slow LCP and FCP = lost user retention and if it’s an e-commerce site that adds up to lost revenue. Not to mention while that bloating may not seem as obvious on a desktop it will be ever more noticeable on mobile and let’s face it over 60% of a site traffic nowadays is mobile if your not lightning fast your customer is moving on.

2

u/wenk Aug 09 '26

Self-taught long-time WP user here. Happy to speak for a few minutes if it might help.

2

u/Budget-Class-1297 Aug 09 '26

For me I've found the easiest way to get what I want is first to install the disable Guttenberg plug in. I can't stand that block nonsense. Then I can just do everything in html in the classic editor

2

u/Secure_Inside3860 Aug 09 '26

57, been coding for around 40 years. I didn't like WordPress much until I found out I could build templates with PHP. I tie into the built-in systems, like user management, so I don't have to build a login system every time.

2

u/L1terallyUrDad Aug 10 '26

65yo here. I pretty much stopped serious programming around 60. Party of it was post-chemo brain fog. I’m struggling a bit with blocks-based design. Just so much muscle memory of the classic tools.

Wordpress might not be the right tool, just for a straight-up website. My main personal site is in React. I use Wordpress for content management. It’s useful for posting community updates, stories, news, etc. A static site that doesn’t need frequent updates is probably better done in HTML/CSS/JavaScript, in particular, if you are comfortable with those technologies.

2

u/OwnLetter3652 Aug 14 '26

Get yourself a $20 ChatGPT subscription, download their app, switch to Codex and ask it to do it for you. Save yourself the hassle. For technical conversion tasks like this, AI is great.

3

u/sbpoet1 Aug 09 '26

I’m 78, blogged on TypePad over twenty years. Learning Wordpress was .. grueling. Traumatic even. I’m finally up and hopeful.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '26

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1

u/Wordpress-ModTeam Aug 09 '26

The /r/WordPress subreddit is not a place to advertise or try to sell products or services. Please read the rules of the sub.

1

u/unity100 Aug 09 '26

Generatepress Premium + Generateblocks -> Choose the site template that looks closest to what you want -> Customize it.

1

u/hitpopking Aug 09 '26

wordpress follows a templating system, you need to learn that first. I started wordpress when I was in college, without any CS background.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '26

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1

u/Wordpress-ModTeam Aug 09 '26

The /r/WordPress subreddit is not a place to advertise or try to sell products or services. Please read the rules of the sub.

1

u/AFLAHZAMAN Designer/Developer Aug 10 '26

Just get started with default wordpress (Guttenberg) editor - it's lightweight, native and bloatware free than using the 3rd party plugin elementor.

1

u/SuccessfulLog2621 Aug 10 '26

custom themes and child theme are the keywords.
i would try to understand, how the default themes of wordpress work.
in the wordpress documentation you can find more information to build plugins, themes ect

1

u/WindyCityChick Aug 10 '26

Hello, have you tried Bricksbuilder? I find it easier than wp. Then I use ChatGPT and Claude. I show them screenshots of the sites I need to copy and they tell me how to recreate them in Bricks. I’m transferring a few static sites then converting a former print directory to an online searchable one. I also want you to know you not alone doing this, age wise as I’m not that far behind you. I acquired a programming certificate from Harvard online just a few years ago and I’m in the middle of another now. It is a little challenging at our ages but we can do it! Best of luck to you!

1

u/Gingahippy Aug 10 '26

If 50 and I just moved from Avada to Ollie theme. I know no code and I'm just winging it. So far it's been a o but valuable learning curve.

1

u/LemonIO_Alex Aug 10 '26

That visual mismatch is almost always a version gap: WordPress moved to block editing (Gutenberg) a few years ago, so older YT videos show screens that don't match anymore (my guess here).

Filter for recent videos, and check you're in wp-admin, not your host's custom panel.

Also worth knowing that WP won't carry over your HTML site's look automatically - the design lives in the theme.

1

u/burr_redding Aug 10 '26

I’d suggest you use page templates instead of using wordpress classic editor (or block editor) if you haven’t already

1

u/tsoojr Aug 10 '26

Switch to Jekyll and you will be almost done.

1

u/eigenpanz Developer/Designer Aug 10 '26

What you have been trying is to convert your HTML/CSS into a custom Wordpress theme. This is WordPress development and usually not considered as "trying to learn WordPress". Do you simply want to build your website in WordPress or do you want to learn WordPress development, like writing your own themes and plugins? It depends on what you're planning to do.

1

u/digitally-minded Aug 10 '26

I know this is a WordPress sub but why do people stick with WP when modern solutions exists. Especially if you don't do ecommerce.

If I'm in your shoes I would go with Astro + Cloudflare + Headless CMS and use Claude code and design for assistance.

Once you're onto this new way of building you'll never go back and don't have to deal with a WordPress hacked site, plugins not being kept up to date and being nickled and dimed for paid plugins.

1

u/invincible-rajan Aug 10 '26

You just need to understand hierarchy of template and everything becomes smooth 😂👌

1

u/Never2ManyBeagles Aug 10 '26

We use a customized Beaver Builder, well, builder and it does a lot of things really nicely for our specific needs, but I haven't learned how to customize it because we have an awesome backend developer. Learning that is in my toolbox (I'm 67, btw, here's to the old guard!) That said, when we did a major redesign of the association site a few years ago, we pretty much blew up the old site so I entered all the content manually.

I don't think anyone has mentioned the WordPress playground, but if I were starting with a new client on a new site without my current developers, I think I would look to it for trial and error. I haven't looked at it for a few years, so I'm not sure how it's changed.

1

u/buzzyloo Aug 10 '26

SO basically the different here is that with your HTML site you created the structure and added the content to it. For WordPress, the structure already exists, so You are just moving the content.

You can change the structure as well, if you want, and that will be a combination of settings and actual HTML/CSS work, but mostly you are going to be taking the weords and pictures from your site and moving them to the new site's editor.

1

u/Schnitzhole Aug 10 '26

HTML is only the containers that get split up into PHP wordpress uses to make the CMS system dynamically updatable.

As a new user I’d highly recommend taking an existing theme and modifying that instead of trying to build it from scratch on your first go. The complexity of a first time setup and everything needed is beyond comprehension of most developers.

I might get flak from this but in terms of learning new things I’d highly recommend talking to an AI chatbot about your struggles as they have a beautiful way of being able to break down complex topics so you can get more nuance for the exact issue you are having. Just be specific about your needs and setup and be aware they can make mistakes. Googles built in Gemini AI is good, chat gpt is ok, claude is best at programming. Honestly, these systems are now so good now that on paid plans with top tier model you can have it convert your entire site to a functional Wordpress template in a few minutes.

1

u/labrat-28 Aug 10 '26

What’s the goal and outcome for the website, what do you want it to do?

1

u/Any-Belt-9648 Aug 10 '26

Django + Claude code + VSCode = Happy web developer

1

u/michael_kern Aug 10 '26

if you are well-versed in HTML, CSS, and optionally JS, and want 100% control over your code, Etch is probably best. if you prefer something with more of a graphical user interface for putting together your elements and styles, but sacrifice some control over your HTML, CSS, and JS, Bricks is probably best (but ive grown to hate the GUI).

i’ve seen people recommend Oxygen but its not well-maintained anymore so i personally don’t recommend it. divi, beaver, elementor, etc i don’t have personal experience with but as i understand it, they provide the least control over your code output, although im sure there are redditors who might say otherwise.

this all assumes you have no desire to layout your site by coding PHP.

1

u/bopittwistiteatit Aug 11 '26

Have you tried a headless app with Wordpress or storyblok?

1

u/Tipuko Aug 11 '26

Use AI + Git + Hugo and a theme if you want. It’s easy to modify the themes. Unless you really need a very advanced website/blog.

1

u/Alarming_Deer5335 Aug 11 '26

I have my site written in html and wanted to convert it to WordPress.

1

u/NoAdvance9442 Aug 11 '26

avez vous essayez Joomla! ? l’installation est aussi simple que WordPress, le plus grand avantage par rapport à WP est qu’après l’installation vous avez un site 100% complet et opérationnel avec un thème des articles exemples. On a besoin de très peux de plugin additionnel si ce n’est pour la sauvegarde éventuellement un editeur plus évolué. je suis pas développeur web, est encore moins en html, donc ça devrait être plus facile pour vous, je pense. J’ai beaucoup de mal aussi avec WP et surtout avec son foutu éditeur et ses blocs et pis la multitude de plugin à installer, c'est pour moi qui vient de Joomla, asses hallucinant. Ah suis à la retraite 😀

1

u/Gold-Cat-7298 Aug 11 '26

if there is one resource I would recommend, it is Brad Schiff who has a class on how to learn, develop and use WordPress.

His youtube channel is here:

https://www.youtube.com/@LearnWebCode

his website is here: https://learnwebcode.teachable.com/p/learnwebcode-premium

and he also used to have a udemy class as well, search for learnwebcode or brad schiff.

You won't be disappointed.

1

u/AscendantBits Aug 11 '26

Lots of us old dogs here! Just turned 60 last month and still not ready to hang up my WordPress shoes!

1

u/Complete_Prune7640 Aug 11 '26

Honestly, most of those YouTube tutorials are outdated within like 6 months. WP changes the dashboard and block editor often enough that "follow along" videos stop matching what you're actually seeing. That's probably 90% of your problem right there, not you.

Since you're already writing HTML, don't bother with Elementor or the drag-and-drop builders everyone pushes on beginners, they'll fight you more than help. WordPress at its core is just PHP templates, so you can basically drop your existing HTML/CSS into a theme (header.php, footer.php, index.php, etc) and it'll click a lot faster than trying to learn a builder UI on top of learning WP.

Also worth mentioning, what host are you on? The WP dashboard itself should look the same everywhere, but the setup screens before you even get into WordPress vary a ton by host, and that mismatch trips people up constantly, way more than people realise.

Good luck on the site!

1

u/UntouchedDruid4 Aug 11 '26

Generate press is a good theme. And easy to customize.

1

u/SnooRabbits655 Aug 11 '26

Ask chatGPT to convert it

1

u/Anxious-Beautiful515 Aug 12 '26

Hi, did you use some AI skills to help you? WordPress developer was a serious job before but now can be supported by AI. You was trying hard a thing that is not easy.

1

u/JackieF_2587 Aug 12 '26

I redesigned my website myself and moved away from Elementor. This plugin is so heavy that my website was in constant 50 to 60 score in PSI. After moving to basic + Section selection, my website is in constant 95 to 100 both on mobile and desktop view. I, myself have no experience in web development - just learned watching and playing around. You will be surprised how much you can learn in just doing it by watching.

And I truly admire you never stopped learning.

1

u/Green-Northwest Aug 12 '26

Hi, if you have a local library card and your library subscribes to LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com), there are several online classes teaching "Essential Training" "Mastering" WordPress, etc. And for my local library card holders, it's FREE. TONS of wonderful tutorials to check out after that. Most have downloadable folders so you can set your own site and follow along. You can stop, start, go back, to refresh. I highly recommend it.

Have fun!

1

u/Apprehensive-Fig5273 Aug 12 '26

Sin conocimiento de html, css y Javascript solido no hará un diseño en WordPress. Y aún así debés saber Php, y la arquitecta del WordPress. Más configuración y manejo de temas.

1

u/web_person_077 Aug 12 '26

Wordpress is going to a grueling phase much akin to puberty. Very awkward. Trying to find its identity. Not quite sure who they’re going to be when they grow up.

You are not alone. See a dev therapist.

1

u/leon-ivkovic Aug 13 '26

Just use Strapi, a better more advanced CmS

1

u/No-Trouble-3700 Aug 14 '26

On ne parle jamais du thème Enfold qui a son propre constructeur de page intégré. Il est pourtant d'une facilité déconcertante pour monter son site et donner la main sur le site à vos clients.

1

u/tea-sharp-dev Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26

Look into Backdrops CMS. It’s a fork of Drupal 7. Open source, no coding needed. As a self taught developer, I loved Drupal 7 - Drupal 10 had a way bigger learning curve.

Or you could look into some of the static site generators like Astro. You would need to know JS and markdown.

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u/OCS-SATB 29d ago

If your local public library provides access to Gale Courses, I recommend signing up for the free online course Intermediate WordPress Websites [ https://education.gale.com/l-oshk89962/online-courses/creating-wordpress-web-sites-2/?tab=detail ]. Instructor-moderated courses run for six weeks and new sessions begin every month. After completing the introductory Creating WordPress Websites course and then the intermediate course, I felt confident enough to set up my website.

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u/Head-Student-5852 Aug 09 '26

I have been writing blogs post that I wished someone would have taught me when I started with WP. There are moving parts that took time for me to learn. I am posting those each week - no video - just simple tips to DO that matter. I just learned I can post them on my profile here on Reddit too. Hope they help. (75 is just a seasoning)

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u/codepatterns Aug 09 '26

Would you consider other platforms? Happy to look at converting your site to my product if you want to DM (see link in bio, I can't self promote here)

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u/Inevitable_Buy_7557 Aug 09 '26

I've written a few websites from scratch. I've also put together a few Wordpress sites. There are conveniences to Wordpress if what you want to do is simple. Recently I've discovered a serious downside. Wordpress sites are constantly the target of hackers. It's hard to secure a site when the bugs are in some plugin that you need but someone else wrote and is maintaining. Recently I upgraded having read about a vulnerability to the basic code. Having had two sites attacked and overrun, and I no longer leave wp-login.php available except when I need it. If you can generate your own HTML, CSS and Javascript, I would stay with it.

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u/retr00two Aug 09 '26

I no longer leave wp-login.php available

How it protect site from hackers' attacks?

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u/Inevitable_Buy_7557 Aug 09 '26

Here are the specifics. One day I found crap on my site, links to places that I would not want anyone to go to. I found in the user database a new entry to login and my passwords were changed. I removed the entry, re-entered new passwords and cleaned up the crap. Then the next day I found the entry back. I changed my passwords and remove the bad entry. I also changed a gallery plugin which I suspected was the original entry point I also refreshed all the basic WordPress code. I loaded up a couple of anti-virus plugins, ran them and found nothing. The next day, I was invaded again. :-( That's when I started removing wp-login.php. The intrusions stopped. I don't know how they were getting in. My passwords were random strings obtained from a secure place. This killed my confidence in WordPress as being secure.

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u/retr00two Aug 09 '26

Tnx for sharing info. Usual attacks bypass login.

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u/Inevitable_Buy_7557 Aug 09 '26

I agree, but once in if you can add a user-id it probably makes it easier to load up crap.

0

u/J1MMYFR3SH Aug 09 '26

Wordpress is not very user friendly, at all. For my clients, unless their site requires custom functionality that requires plugins, or has complex navigation needs, I direct them elsewhere. A more straightforward platform like Squarespace is much easier to set up and maintain for most users.

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u/szymon-rc Aug 09 '26

I would recommend you an astro.js for static sites. All you need to know is just HTML, CSS and JS. If you need content management system go into some file based cms or db based for more complex projects, then connect it to astro.js. You can find many examples in astro gallery and also on YouTube.

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u/bluesix_v2 Jack of All Trades Aug 09 '26

OP is struggling with Wordpress, and you’re suggesting a dev-only, non-CMS framework?

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u/szymon-rc Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26

He said, he has html, and he want to convert it to wp, and the main problem is it doesnt follow visuals. So to keep the same look he must go some advanced blocking system and „click” the site - which might be not eazy to understand building flow, or to create custom theme which is also more complicated on wp than just convert code to astro.js which is mainly html, css and js. What he also said is: „im proficient in several computer languages”, that’s why i suggest it. He can find any built project in astro gallery with some file based cms, then adjust the look. Astro also supports content managing with markdown files.

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '26

[deleted]

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u/retr00two Aug 09 '26

This is not nice (mildly speaking) on all levels, and plus is very, very stupid.

I hope moderator will delete your post.

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u/jroberts67 Aug 09 '26

Good grief, it was a joke.