AgilePress

Tag: Gutenberg

  • The Page Builder Trap: Why We Said Goodbye to Elementor and Divi

    If you ask 10 WordPress agencies for a quote, 8 of them will propose a website built with Elementor, Divi, or WPBakery.

    It is easy to see why. These tools are visual, they allow for rapid prototyping, and they lower the barrier to entry for designers who don’t know how to code. For the agency, it is profitable: they can drag-and-drop a site together in a few days.

    But at AgilePress, we don’t build for our convenience. We build for your long-term success.

    And that is why we have banned heavy page builders from our development stack. Here is why reliance on these tools is a business risk.

    The Performance Penalty (DOM Bloat)

    Page builders work by wrapping content in layers of code. To display a simple headline, a builder like Elementor might wrap the text in a section, a column, a widget, and an inner-section.

    This creates what developers call Excessive DOM Size.

    Instead of clean HTML, your browser has to render thousands of nested tags.

    • The Result: Slower rendering times, lower scores on Google Core Web Vitals, and a sluggish experience on mobile devices.
    • The AgilePress Way: We use native WordPress blocks. If we need a headline, we render a headline. No wrappers, no bloat, just the code required to show the content.

    The “Shortcode Graveyard” (Vendor Lock-in)

    This is the most dangerous trap for a business owner.

    Page builders often store your content inside proprietary “shortcodes.” If you build your site with Divi or WPBakery today, and two years from now you decide to switch themes or uninstall the plugin, your content disappears.

    Instead of your beautiful text, you will see a mess like this: [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]...[/vc_column_text][/vc_row]

    This is called Vendor Lock-in. You are held hostage by the software. To leave, you have to rebuild your website from scratch.

    AgilePress builds natively. We use the standard WordPress Block Editor (Gutenberg). This means your content is stored as clean HTML. If you stop working with us, or if you change your theme, your content remains perfectly readable and editable. You own your data, not the plugin developer.

    The Security and Maintenance Headache

    A page builder is a massive piece of software sitting on top of WordPress. It introduces:

    1. More Attack Vectors: Popular builders are frequent targets for hackers because they are installed on millions of sites.
    2. Dependency Hell: When WordPress releases a major update, you have to wait for the page builder to update. If they break compatibility, your site breaks.

    By removing this massive dependency, we reduce the surface area for bugs. We rely on WordPress Core, which is maintained by the best engineers in the world.

    The Future is Native (Gutenberg)

    Years ago, page builders were necessary because the default WordPress editor was too simple. That is no longer true.

    With Full Site Editing (FSE) and the modern Block Editor, WordPress now offers a powerful, visual way to build layouts natively.

    • It is faster.
    • It is built into the core (no extra plugins).
    • It is the standard that every future WordPress update will support.

    Using Elementor in the era of modern WordPress is like installing a separate operating system on top of Windows just to open a folder. It’s redundant and resource-heavy.

    Conclusion: Engineering vs. Assembling

    There is a place for page builders. If you are a DIY hobbyist building a personal blog on a Sunday afternoon, they are great tools.

    But for a professional business website where ROI, speed, and longevity matter, they are a liability.

    At AgilePress, we don’t just assemble parts. We engineer solutions using the native power of WordPress. It takes more skill on our end, but it delivers a faster, safer, and more profitable asset for you.

  • ACF + Gutenberg: How to Render Dynamic Data Without PHP (Or Page Builders)

    If you build professional websites with WordPress, you likely rely on Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) to structure your data. It is the gold standard for custom content.

    But bridging the gap between ACF and the Gutenberg Block Editor has always been a friction point.

    For years, developers have been stuck between a rock and a hard place:

    1. The “Hard” Way: Write custom PHP code in single.php or create custom blocks (which slows down development).
    2. The “Bloated” Way: Install heavy page builders like Elementor just to drag-and-drop a dynamic field (which slows down the website).

    At AgilePress, we refuse to compromise on speed or workflow. That is why we built our own solution.

    Meet AgilePress Content Block for ACF.

    We developed this tool to scratch our own itch. We wanted full control over the layout without touching theme files and without loading a 5MB page builder.

    AgilePress Content Block allows you to render any ACF data directly inside a native Gutenberg block using simple HTML logic.

    Here is why this micro-plugin is a game-changer for minimalist development.

    1. Simplicity: Stop Writing get_field()

    The main advantage of this plugin is speed of execution. You no longer need to edit template files just to show a phone number, a job title, or a custom date.

    You simply add the block in the editor and type your HTML template using intuitive tags:

    • For simple text: Just use {field_name}.
    • For groups: Use {group:subfield}.

    It’s that easy. The plugin parses these tags and displays the real data on the frontend with zero performance penalty.

    2. Versatility: Mastering Repeaters and Galleries

    The biggest pain point for many ACF users is displaying Repeater Fields or Image Galleries without code. Writing a PHP foreach loop inside a block pattern is tedious and error-prone.

    We solved this with a logic system built right into the block. You can loop through rows of data using double curly braces:

    HTML

    <div class="team-grid">
  {{team_members}}
    <div class="card">
       <h3>{name}</h3>
       <p>{position}</p>
    </div>
  {{/team_members}}
</div>

    This simple snippet replaces dozens of lines of PHP code. It works perfectly for:

    • Team member lists
    • Product features
    • Event schedules
    • Image sliders and galleries

    3. Full Control (Zero <div> Soup)

    Unlike other “dynamic field” blocks that force you into a specific layout or wrap your content in unnecessary containers (aka “div soup”), AgilePress gives you 100% control.

    You write the HTML. You add your own CSS classes. You decide the structure.

    This makes it incredibly versatile. You can use it to build a hero section, a metadata sidebar, or a complex grid layout, knowing exactly what markup will be rendered on the final page. It is clean code, generated from the editor.

    How to Get Started

    We believe in open source. The plugin is completely free and available on the WordPress repository.

    1. Install “AgilePress Content Block for ACF”.
    2. Add the block to your post or page.
    3. Write your HTML template in the settings panel.
    4. Publish and enjoy dynamic content without the headache.

    Ready to streamline your workflow?

    👉 Download AgilePress Content Block for ACF