Tools Of The Trade

This is the CMS that runs it all. Although you can find many dated features/systems within WordPress, as a whole it is still the best CMS currently available.

WordPress’s media manager is still terrible all these years later, so HappyFiles is a non-negotiable for me. Built by the same team that made Bricks, and its quality reflects that. It provides a quick way to organize most anything within the platform.

This one is simple—it’s the SEO plugin I started with and never found a reason to switch. It handles the basic meta title/description needs, OG image data, etc. Free to use.

Although there are many form builders, WS Form is special because it extends functionality far beyond the others on the market. It provides a ton of integration/flexibility to use variables, hidden inputs, conditions, actions and more. When you really use a CMS the way you’re supposed to, you need a form that can support it.

ACF is the go-to for customizing and expanding your WordPress environment. It allows you to add custom post types, fields, taxonomies and more. This is how you really get the most out of the CMS.

Figma is great for sketching out ideas and designs without being bogged down by the speed/limitations of a dev environment.

Using a page builder is the only way to build websites in WordPress in a way that’s truly efficient & effective. Unfortunately, most builders are geared towards DIYers and/or those who are not developers. As a result, the underlying code is completely bloated, performance is terrible, and the final product is ‘meh’ at best.

Bricks Builder is different because it’s made for developers, which means it outputs clean code and encourages best practices. The Bricks team continues to update regularly and add features/improve quality of life.