Build Mode Live: July 2022 Sessions

Build Mode is a new live event hosted by myself, Sam Munoz, and Brian Gardner with the intention of sparking conversation within the community about modern WordPress, the future of Full Site editing, and how the changing landscape impacts business owners.

As a way to document the important conversations we are having, we will be sharing monthly summaries covering what was discussed, key takeaways, and a look ahead.

Summary

For this first month of Build Mode, we decided to focus on subsets of the WordPress community by offering sessions centering on the following groups:

• Freelancers
• Agencies
• Product Owners

By breaking up the calls in this way, we were able to gather together like-minded individuals with similar business models and objections to modern WordPress.

In total, we hosted 2-3 calls for each group throughout the month of July 2022.

Key Takeaways

• The modern WordPress theme by WP Engine, Frost, is being used by many members of the community to learn and experiment with Full Site Editing (FSE)
• People are taking a hybrid approach to learning modern WordPress, for example, using blocks without FSE
• There is a service opportunity to switch clients over from “classic” WordPress to modern WordPress
• A meaningful way to learn and practice with modern WordPress is through your own website (no client pressure, low barrier to entry)
• There is value to building as close to the core of WordPress as possible
• Some people see modern WordPress as unlocking opportunities such as: saving time, portability, creating turnkey sites, paid themes & blocks, and shifting into more consulting work

Blockers & Objections to modern WordPress:

• There needs to be a way to lock blocks by user role (this can be accomplished now via code as described in this article)
• There is a strong sentiment that “no-code” or “low-code” WordPress feels like an attack on the experienced developer and their livelihood
• The shift from page builders to the block editor is difficult because it requires updating established workflows and systems
• There is uncertainty over the future of WordPress and the vision for the project overall
• For product creators, supporting classic & modern WordPress themes is a challenge as well as updating documentation for older themes

What’s Next for Build Mode

After the success of Build Mode, we will continue hosting these calls and have conversations around topics discussed during previous sessions.

For example, upcoming conversations may include:

• “Why should you even bother with modern WordPress?”
• “Do you want to build on outdated software or for the future of WordPress?”
• “How do you build in time to learn & create new workflows?”

If you are interested in attending an upcoming Build Mode session, you can sign up using this link and join us.

Let us know you’ll be there by tagging or DM-ing us on Twitter, @hellosammunoz and @bgardner.

Until next time, get building! 🛠