Blueprint

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Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the tools and services I’ve used to build my portfolio site. I got the idea from WPBeginner and their blueprint page.

Disclosure: Many of the links below will have affiliate links after the next edit and I will receive a commission if you purchase a product from visiting these links. I’m going to add links not because I think I will make any money form that, but rather I need a reason to test the affiliate link manager in Rank Math’s SEO plugin.

History

The oldest page on my site is dated August 7, 2016. That’s eight years and five days from when I’m writing this. The oldest item in my portfolio is dated April 5, 2006. It’s a flyer I created for 21C Museum Hotel. I probably should ditch those really old items, but you never know who might see it and like it. The whole point of this site is to help me find a job, and you never know what will click when someone views your work. Besides, the old stuff is still good work, and I’m proud of it. It’s just old.

The first portfolio site I built was based on the Genesis theme from StudioPress. I built a custom child theme using their sample theme. That theme served me well for years, and I built many client sites using their framework. In 2018, WPEngine purchased StudioPress, and as has happened so many times, that was the beginning of the end. That same year, WordPress released Gutenberg, their block-based editor. StudioPress seemed to half-heartedly start developing their block-based solution, but it never seemed to take off, or maybe their implementation just never clicked with me. Regardless, I discovered the Astra theme and have not looked back.

Hosting

This site and others are hosted on Cloudways, and I have been a customer since May 2015. For the longest time, I was a DreamHost customer, but ultimately, their shared hosting just became too slow for my purposes. I still have a few domains registered there, and I think they are a wonderful company, but the next level of hosting I needed just wasn’t cost-efficient for my purposes.

Domains

Until recently I purchased all my domains from Google. Their DNS setup was super easy, and I loved the speed at which changes were propagated across the internet. The prices were always reasonable, too. Unfortunately, they sold their domain business to Squarespace. They’re a fine registrar, but I can’t see myself ever building a site with them, so I’m not sure how long I’ll keep my domains with there.

WordPress

Duh. Of course, this site is built with WordPress. I’ve been using it since version 1.5, I think. At the time, I was building sites with Joomla, but as WordPress grew from a blog platform to a full-fledged CMS, I used it exclusively.

Theme

I began switching to the Astra theme in November 2021, and that’s what this site is built on. I’ve also used it for a few client projects. Brainstorm Force makes Astra, and I’m a Pro customer.

Plugins

WordPress is nothing without the universe of plugins—both free and paid—the provide so much of the functionality of the platform. I think I’ll just list everything here unless I mention it specifically elsewhere, like Gravity Forms. Then I may pare the list down to those plugins that tend to have a wider appeal. Of course there’s a plugin that will display all the plugins installed on a site. It’s called Plugins List and you can see the results below.

Custom Post Types

I love Custom Post Types (CPTs)! I won’t go into all the details here, but suffice it to say they really increase WordPress’s usefulness.

Advanced Custom Fields is by far the most popular plugin for building CPTs, but I have never been that fond of it. Instead, I started using Toolset (formerly Types and Views) in December 2011 and have used it almost exclusively for CPTs and templating. As with many plugins, the introduction of the Gutenberg editor has put their product development on hold as they find their footing in the new block-editor world.

Forms

I only have one simple contact form on this site but it was built with Gravity Forms. It is really the only form solution I’ve ever used. I’ve inherited sites from other developers that used freemium form plugins but they are never as good as Gravity Forms.

There’s also a number of companies and developers that build add-ons for Gravity Forms. They are divided in to two categories on the site—Certified Add-Ons and Community Add-Ons.

My go-to for extending Gravity Forms has always been Gravity Wiz and their add-ons called Gravity Perks.

More to Come

This blueprint page is a work in progress, and I have many plugins and tools to add. Stay Tuned. if you have a question about a specific plugin or feature, let me know.

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