At the beginning of 2022, the Crocoblock team also saw this potential and launched their very first JetEngine integration. Initially, JetEngine served as a dynamic data provider, allowing Bricks users to create custom fields and meta boxes and select them as a data source, so the builder would render JetEngine data. At that time, Bricks was still a rookie, but look how it’s gaining popularity now! 

That’s why now we have the whole six Crocoblock plugins integrated with Bricks. To be exact:

1. JetEngine;
2. JetSmartFilters;
3. JetBooking;
4. JetAppointment;
5. JetSearch;
6. JetFormBuilder.

But first, let me tell you more about Bricks.

Table of Contents

• Bricks Builder 101
• JetEngine and Bricks
• How JetSmartFilters and Bricks Work Together
• JetBooking and Bricks Integration
• Using JetAppointment with Bricks
• JetSearch for Bricks
• JetFormBuilder and Bricks Combo
• Final Thoughts

Bricks Builder 101

“Just Build It,” says the motto on the homepage, and we get some familiar vibes, indeed. Bricks is a WordPress builder and a theme using a default WordPress template structure. The builder took everyone by surprise since it offered a website-building toolkit, a template library, and – most importantly – unbloated DOM, speed, and flexibility. 

Here is what Bricks brings to the table:

• Gutenberg compatibility;
• 100+ elements to mix and match;
• WooCommerce builder;
• Query Loops;
• Conditional Logic and role settings;
• Integrations;
• Popup builder;
• global CSS classes;
• clean code and optimized DOM;
• compelling performance, and more. 

A developer’s dream, isn’t it?

Bricks offers an LTD pricing plan for $599 and yearly plans starting at $79 per site.  

Another reason why many people switch to Bricks is its incredible performance combined with a visual builder functionality:

“Did some test creating exacting the same page in same environment, and the increase in speed and stability was dramatically higher! It’s really great!” (Crocoblock community)

Some are even convinced that Bricks builder for WordPress would be able to challenge Elementor:

“Elementor is like getting a ready made remote controlled car for Christmas. It’s cool… it has flashing lights, controls are easy. Bricks […] is like your sweaty dad coming in from toys’r’us with a huge bag full of lego technics, dumping it on the floor and telling you to make it your bloody self. C’mon… You’ve been doing this a while now. Dump the remote control and build one yourself.” (Crocoblock community)

Whatever the case, one thing is certain: after the initial integration, Crocoblock and Bricks users started to crave more. Our CTO, Andrew Shevchenko, created a poll asking the community whether they want Crocoblock to elaborate, and 60% of the members voted in favor. Finally, the improved and more solid integration has seen the light; we improved it, taking the users’ suggestions into account, and then added even more essential plugins that seamlessly work with Bricks. 

JetEngine and Bricks

JetEngine was the first Crocoblock plugin with Bricks integration, just because what can we do without custom post types, taxonomies, relations, glossaries, advanced Query Builder, and other perks this plugin offers, right? 

It has all the necessary widgets integrated, but it’s not the exact copy of the widgets available for Elementor or Gutenberg because Bricks has a bit different logic when it comes to fetching dynamic data, so some of the extra widgets are not necessary. 

It means that it is now possible to create a listing item layout using Bricks builder functionality and pull the needed data from custom fields via several dynamic widgets. Afterward, you will be able to output the created architecture in the Bricks editor using the Listing Grid widget.

To create a listing item, make sure to activate the corresponding toggle in the Bricks > Settings > Post types and activate the toggle to make Listing items editable with Bricks. 

In case you want to mix it with Gutenberg, activate the other toggle, “Load Gutenberg data into Bricks.”

And, of course, you can enjoy all the 19 JetEngine modules integrated with Bricks. 

Note that the User Geo Location feature is not integrated with Bricks yet. However, you can use it on the Gutenberg pages of your Bricks-powered site. 

How JetSmartFilters and Bricks Work Together 

“Thanks you Crocoblock team so much for hearing us. I have been waiting for using JetSmartFillter with Bricks since the first time Bricks realese.” (Crocoblock community)

JetSmartFilters and Bricks are compatible to offer the full power of advanced filtering. 

Now, there are two providers for filters: JetEngine and Bricks Loop, which means that it works with JetEngine listing and the native Bricks Query Loop. 

JetBooking and Bricks Integration

Implement the JetBooking plugin to provide clients with property or equipment booking functionality. The setup is straightforward and guided by a Wizard. 

JetBooking is now integrated with WooCommerce, so you are free to connect all the variety of payment methods and use a cart if needed. 

Also, there are many other useful integrations, such as Google Calendar, GetResponse, Zapier, Make, etc. 

Using JetAppointment with Bricks 

JetAppointment is a plugin for booking services on an hourly basis. It’s a powerful JetEngine add-on (requires it to work properly) with many necessary integrations and features, such as integration with WooCommerce and Zoom, custom workflows to set up confirmation/cancellation links, notification and reminder emails, recurring payments, variable hourly pricing, and much more. 

Crocoblock Support Team uses the JetAppointment plugin for booking Zoom appointments. 

Check out the use case and a step-by-step guide on how to create such functionality with JetAppointment. 

JetSearch for Bricks

JetSearch is the way to make website searches effective, convenient, and attractive for users. The great asset here is the Search Suggestion in a frame of the AJAX search that this plugin provides. 

What else? Well, we know that the native WordPress search engine is not that good. So, check out our new free experimental AI Search tool described here.

JetFormBuilder and Bricks Combo

JetFormBuilder is a free plugin based on the Gutenberg interface. It doesn’t mean that it’s not compatible with website builders. On the contrary, it adds flexibility to all of them!

See, every form plugin has its own UI, right? Most of them have a dedicated one, which, of course, has its own limitations in terms of styling, field combination, etc. 

Our developers thought about the idea of combining the native Gutenberg editor and the powerful form builder functionality to make it not only extremely compatible with anything but also able to combine various fields available in Gutenberg. 

For instance, if you want to add an image in between the inputs, feel free to do it using the native image block. Or, if you want to add a social login block provided by one of the third-party plugins, it will also work great. 

The JetFormBuilder widget is available in the Bricks editor for seamless form styling. 

Final Thoughts

Bricks is another winning integration implemented by the Crocoblock team. It supports six Crocoblock plugins: JetEngine, JetSmartFilters, JetBooking, JetSearch, and JetAppointment, and it makes a great combo with JetFormBuilder, which means more flexibility and higher performance. Thanks to the Bricks’ extraordinary speed and optimization, those who prefer JetPlugins will be able to build high-fidelity pages without bloated code.

Feel free to test out the new integrations and enjoy the combined powers of Bricks builder and Crocoblock plugins for creating complex dynamic websites.

The post Key to Using Bricks Builder and JetPlugins Together appeared first on Crocoblock.

In this article, I invite you to test and discuss how useful this tool is and how to combine it with the power of the Crocoblock suite. 

Table of Contents

• Elementor AI Functionality and Pricing
  • Pricing
  • Elementor AI functionality
  • Testing Elementor AI for images
  • Testing Elementor AI for text and code
  • AI-generated content and Google algorithms
• Inbuilt AI Functionality vs. ChatGPT
• Using Elementor AI With Crocoblock
• FAQ
• Takeaway

Elementor AI Functionality and Pricing

Pricing

Elementor AI integration is available only for Elementor Pro/Elementor Hosting, but a free limited version is included in the plan. It’s unclear what the limit is for that free trial, and if you want an unlimited one, it will cost you an extra $35.88 a year. 

Elementor AI functionality

There are four main things that this WordPress AI tool does:

1. Generating texts for text widgets (which includes translation).
2. Generating custom HTML and CSS for various Elementor widgets.
3. Creating custom code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) in the Custom Code section on the Dashboard;
4. Generating and editing existing images (extending, removing, or replacing the background, adding generative fill).

Testing Elementor AI for images

This feature is really impressive and convenient and can replace Adobe Photoshop AI when it comes to some generative fill or replacing backgrounds. Moreover, it’s more convenient because it’s right there, in the editor. 

Generating new images

This tool works great, and you don’t have to deal with Midjourney or DALL-E but can do it right in the editor without switching to other 3rd party tools. However, the results are not so impressive from the tests I’ve made. For instance, I’ve tried something that seems to be an easy task for an AI image generator – to create a colorful gradient without any objects on it. But it failed because it kept offering me objects, people, and even body parts. I hope this is because the tool is still in Beta and will be improved. 

My personal rating of the feature is 7 out of 10. 

Working with image backgrounds

And here, we talk about removing and replacing backgrounds. Let’s see, does it work properly?
As a matter of fact, it does. To challenge the Elementor AI, I’ve chosen a background that is not very different from the other colors. However, it clipped it perfectly, and the background removal tool works great.

A background replacement is also cool but will not work properly on complex objects like hair. Also, you need to consider the limitations of the previous section I’ve described. AI-generated images still don’t consider shadows, hues, and other nuances that normal photos have. 

My personal rating of the feature is 9 out of 10.

AI generative fill, expanding, and resizing

Generative fill is actually a gem, in general. If you are a designer, you’ve probably tested it, at least using other products, and know it can save you a lot of time instead of doing it manually. 

To perform a generative fill, you should mark the area where you want to add an object and then write in the prompt field what you want to add to the picture, and that’s it.  

To expand an image, which means generating an extra background based on the current one, just choose this tool and the aspect ratio of the future image. Here, even a prompt is not needed (but you can add it) because, by default, the AI will generate something that expands the current image. It works really well. 

If your image doesn’t have a proper resolution, it’s very easy to fix by using the resizing tool that fixes the quality to fit the new size you want to get. 

My personal rating of these features is 10 out of 10.

Testing Elementor AI for text and code and some thoughts about using it in real projects

AI text generation/grammar check for text blocks

This feature is the central one in the newly released AI functionality. It generates a text according to your prompt and then gives options to shape it the way you want.
Other than that, you can choose an additional option from the following list: 

• making text shorter;
• making it longer;
• simplifying text;
• fixing grammar and spelling mistakes;
• changing a tone of voice (with 12 options to choose from);
• translating (with a list of 25 languages). 

I really like it and find it useful to have grammar and voice tone options there. And, of course, the text content generation. 

It’s pretty entertaining to watch the promotional Elementor video that shows how you can choose a name for your site and pricing plans using AI. Well, it can work for sample sites, but if it’s a real business, it’s not a very good idea to work on the naming when building a website without any prior marketing research. I mean, it’s cool and fun for demonstration but not very applicable for real projects. 

Almost the same story is with a generation of longer text blocks: descriptions, calls to action, etc. I doubt that AI will do all the job for you, but it can really help to generate new ideas.

The “tone of voice” option is another great tool to help native and primarily non-native speakers deal with the language.

My personal rating of the feature is 10 out of 10. 

Automatic AI translation in WordPress 

There’s one cool option that Elementor offers in a frame of text-generating feature: the automatic translation into 25 languages. It’s a very handy tool, but can it replace translation plugins? The short answer is “no,” and there are a few reasons for that. 

First of all, translation plugins’ main job is creating a structure for multilingual sites, while Elementor AI is just adding a translation to the existing page or block. However, you can use it with plugins like Polylang, which basically creates a duplicate of the page, and for small sites with a simple structure, it can be a way to do the translation. 

My personal rating of the translation tool and its applicability is 8 out of 10. 

AI content generation for WooCommerce product descriptions 

The introductory video and the page about the new AI integration suggest that we use it almost everywhere, including a description of products. The thing is, I doubt anyone uses Elementor editor for adding and editing WooCommerce products; instead, we prefer a Gutenberg or Classic editor, not to mention that if the shop has hundreds or thousands of products, they are being added in bulk, using import or custom synchronization solutions with the CRM. 

My personal rating of this way of using the feature is 3 out of 10. 

Adding AI-generated HTML/CSS to your WordPress website  

CSS generation seems to be the most useful AI tool here, and the fact that it’s built into the editor makes it really useful because it uses the right selectors for the current object if you generate CSS for the widget – this is how Elementor Pro works. As you know, it was “recognizing” widget selectors before; that’s why you would use the “.selector” class when writing custom CSS instead of finding its absolute name. But that’s not all; it can “understand” complex selectors and is really handy. I will show an example of using this feature in the next section. 

Is this feature helpful in adding custom styles, hover effects, and some CSS animation to widgets? Definitely, yes. It saves you a lot of time because even if you know CSS well, why not have some premade code you can correct later instead of writing many lines by hand? 

Can you build mindblowing new structures that will work almost like a custom-made widget? No, it’s not made for it.

Considering HTML, I’m not sure there are many cases when you need to add custom HTML because we already work with a builder with its structure and all it entails. But adding custom GA tracking and other marketing codes and events using it is handy. 

My personal rating of this feature’s usefulness and performance is 9 out of 10. 

Adding custom AI-generated JavaScript or PHP to your WordPress website  

For the sake of justice, I should say that Elementor doesn’t promote or state that the tool is made for generating JavaScript or PHP snippets. However, there’s an example on their website where it’s been generated. To be honest, I’ve tried the same prompt, but the result was not impressive at all.  
But you can always ask to generate a Google Tag Manager script or something like that (not so custom), and it will work well. There are a few places to insert such snippets and even one in the back end, in Elementor > Custom Code. And, as before, you can choose the part of the site, the snippet to be displayed, priority, and conditions.

My personal rating of this way of using the feature is 5 out of 10. 

AI-generated content and Google algorithms

The thing that definitely should be considered when using AI-generated content is to be sure that Google will not penalize it and that it will not harm the site’s SEO ranking. 

According to the recent Google statement, as long as it’s high-quality content that meets the E-E-A-T requirements, it will be ranked equally with the human-generated one. That’s why it should be human-first, helpful, and reliable, and, what is important, it should not violate spam policies. That’s why using AI just to paraphrase and automatically translate existing texts to create as much content as possible is a very bad idea, as well as generating texts just to include keywords. 

Inbuilt AI Functionality vs. ChatGPT

The question I always ask myself when I see a new WordPress plugin AI integration is, “Is it more efficient and convenient than just using a ChatGPT in another browser tab?” Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because I’m that retrograde who thinks that the progress must be stopped, but because the way ChatGPT gives you an answer is more detailed in most cases, especially when it comes to writing code. It gives a thorough explanation of what the code does, variable names, etc., so if you are unfamiliar with PHP or JavaScript, it would be really handy. 

While the Elementor built-in code generator doesn’t give such an explanation, also the code (if it’s HTML+CSS+PHP or JavaScript) can be generated in a few different sections with separate “insert” buttons. When you press one, the window disappears with the rest of the code. 

At the same time, ChatGPT offers a much more convenient way to communicate, and you find all the snippets in one window, which doesn’t disappear; moreover, it saves your prompts’ history. Apparently, Elementor doesn’t save the history for you because it would be a collection of your private data (because you use ChatGPT under your own account, while Elementor integration works under their account).

Using Elementor AI With Crocoblock Suite

All Crocoblock plugins that work with Elementor can be roughly divided into two categories: 

• For working with, organizing, and displaying dynamic content in WordPress (JetEngine, JetSmartFilters, JetBooking, etc.). Such plugins work equally on the back end and front end. AI functionality can definitely help to stylize them exactly the way you want.
  Also, don’t forget about JetFormBuilder – even if it’s a Gutenberg plugin (and here is the explanation of why it’s an advantage), there’s a powerful JetForm widget that lets you stylize every little detail of the form on Elementor. However, if you need more, just use AI-generated custom CSS. 
• And those that work more like Elementor add-ons (JetElements, JetTricks, JetTabs, etc.). Here, you can make good use of AI for generating some content and code. 

This is an example of how JetEngine listing can be modified with the help of custom CSS generated with Elementor AI. I’ve used the sample prompt and slightly changed it. I like that it picked up the right complex selector, and the code worked totally fine:

FAQ

Takeaway

Elementor AI integration is a great thing, but it’s not something mind-blowing, at least because the same task can actually be done with the help of ChatGPT, Midjourney, and other AI tools using their interfaces. But having a generator right there in the editor is 100% very handy.

Adding AI to WordPress plugins, add-ons, and themes is a hot trend. AI is helpful, but I wish its power would be used in really time-consuming things (sometimes even annoying) related to the builder directly – for instance, making a site responsive, fixing some glitches and overlaps while doing it, or even adding more flexible and rich widgets. 

For now, we still need extra add-ons, additional Elementor widgets, powerful plugins for dynamic content, and a lot more. Elementor and suites like Crocoblock reinforce each other. Every new feature makes this symbiosis even better, and working with the builder brings even more fun. Also, don’t forget that JetEngine has started implementing its own Open AI integration – there is more to come.

The post Elementor AI: First Impressions and Use Cases for JetPlugins appeared first on Crocoblock.

SQL Query AI Generation: Who Is This Tool For?

JetEngine Query Builder and SQL queries

First of all, I hope you enjoy JetEngine Query Builder, which offers great flexibility when working with dynamic content in WordPress. Using its functionality, you can create really complex queries in an entirely visual and user-friendly interface (so you don’t need to know how to code) to pull exactly what you need from your database to display it on the front end. I’m talking about selecting particular post types in a particular order that belong to certain taxonomy terms, created by authors you want, etc. On top of that, you can use conditional selections and much more.

Without a shred of doubt, Query Builder is a very powerful tool. 

It has a list of sources or Query Types you can choose from:

And one of them is called SQL Query. It means that you can write a custom query and display whatever you want directly from your WordPress database on the front end. This is really a unique tool JetEngine offers you.

How to use SQL Query AI Generator?

First, go to JetEngine > Query Builder and choose the SQL query as a query type. Then, activate the Advanced/AI mode toggle (in the JetEngine 3.2 Beta release, it’s at the top of the list, while before, it was more at the bottom). Click the “magic wand” icon and write your prompt. Be as clear as you can and give the names of your meta fields or post/taxonomy types. Use the correct WordPress- and SQL-specific words as much as possible. 

There are some sample prompts to give you an idea of how to write them. On click, they will appear in the prompt window. 

After you receive the result generated through AI integration, check if it is correct and supposed to work.

Which Crocoblock users can use AI SQL Query Generator in the Query Builder? 

For now, this option is not for everyone. Here are some limitations of the Crocoblock site:

• It’s only available for sites that use Master Keys (not those that work on the subkeys);
• As of now, 30 queries per month are available for Lifetime users and five for all the rest. 

When to use SQL query type in JetEngine? 

Use SQL query type by the JetEngine Query Builder if post/term or other query type options that already exist is not enough for you. Because a Query Builder SQL query type is something added to other query types in the Builder to give all the freedom for the advanced users who know how to work with SQL queries and get the results they need.

If there is a way to use a traditional way of creating a query, just by clicking all the tabs in the Query Builder and selecting the options you need, use it, and it will be more clear to edit, especially considering that there are so many of those options. 

What to consider when using this conversational AI integration?

The key here is it is just a conversational AI, and, after all, you are the smartest one here . Don’t forget that AI doesn’t have knowledge about your website structure, IDs, meta field names, etc. So be as specific as possible and give all the details you can to create a good prompt. Name your meta fields in the prompt, so the AI will use them in the result. 

But that’s not all; the main thing here is being able to make good use of SQL queries because if you do, there are no limitations for you in using dynamic content. AI is good enough to just generate something quite general according to your prompt, but you should be able to understand SQL syntax and correct inaccuracies it has made. 

The Bottom Line

AI plugins for WordPress and CMS AI integrations, in general, earn growing popularity, and they are really the tools to save you a lot of time. But the key thing here is your knowledge and expertise, as well as your understanding of the structure and goals of your website. 

What are the tools you want JetEngine to have the AI integration to make your life better? If you have ideas, feel free to write them in the GitHub Repository, and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletters to get all the updates about recent releases. 

The post Introducing AI Integration With JetEngine WordPress Plugin appeared first on Crocoblock.

Celebrating the occasion, we couldn’t help but feel nostalgic and remember all the good times and pivotal moments. Great things start small, as they say. It’s been a pleasure to stroll down memory lane, relive those experiences, and witness a small yet ambitious startup growing into a 70-people project. Impressive, is it not?

Now, it’s right about time to spread the joy.  

Let me take you five years back and show you what challenges Crocoblock had to face, what it brought to the industry, and who made Crocoblock what it is today. 

Table of Contents

• History: How It All Started
  • Key milestones
• About Crocoblock: Faces Behind the Brand
• Main Challenges
• Crocoblock Innovations
  • Dynamic content and its power
  • Theme Builder and visual theme parts creation
  • Other features you might find handy
• To Be Continued

History: How It All Started

The Crocoblock story traces back to 2014. It looked a lot different and had a different logo. At the time, we were a small product team who created WordPress themes. Each theme contained a physically separate code and demo content that made the theme attractive to customers. Today, Crocoblock no longer has such a concept, but formally, our dynamic and design templates are the closest to it. 

The main problem was finding a way to create demo content so the user could edit it conveniently. At the time, there weren’t many visual builders to choose from, and those existing on the market were problematic or unavailable due to license restrictions. 

Looking for a solution, we wandered from one editor to another until, almost by accident, we decided to try Elementor. We turned a blind eye to a critical problem it had back then and took our chances.

Key milestones

To make the transition to Elementor smooth, we had to solve several main tasks:

• Organize a pipeline production for coders to create new themes as quickly as possible.
• Provide design opportunities and make sure designers can draw anything they wish without having to worry about restrictions.
• Provide certain coding freedom and create a centralized library storing all elements used in the themes.
• Make the design process visual, giving the ability to change elements like colors, typography, spacing, etc., from the editor.

2017-2018

It soon became clear that the Elementor core was not enough to cover all these tasks, so we needed to develop additional solutions. These solutions should be implemented as separate plugins (according to the WordPress concept, plugins give functionality, and themes contain design).

Furthermore, we combed through MANY different designs and realized the majority of the elements they contain are standardized and can be reduced to a limited number of Elementor widgets. This is how JetElements appeared, our first plugin with a set of basic widgets for every website type.

Next, we witnessed the growing popularity of magazine-like WordPress themes. After having researched the competitors, we saw that such themes also contained a limited set of elements. So, we created JetBlog.

Somewhere along the road, the product concept called for change. We’ve had plugins now, not just themes, and these plugins could interest the end user. So we grabbed JetElements and went to sell it at CodeCanyon.      

For some time, the plugin had been among the most popular add-ons for Elementor since we kept updating it and processed numerous requests from coders who created new themes using JetElements.

It was smooth sailing – we got a task and developed a plugin to tackle it; the plugin fueled the production of themes while being sold as a separate product. Soon after, we released JetMenu, JetTabs, JetReviews, JetWooBuilder, and JetBlocks.

Over time, the plugin range extended, and their value increased. It was the perfect time to revive Crocoblock. Since 2018, the project has stepped into its new era, all thanks to its founding fathers – Andriy Andreyev (CEO) and Andriy Shevchenko (CTO).

2018-2019

At first, Crocoblock was far from dynamic solutions; it mainly focused on design. We were devoted to theme-making without focusing much on functionality. At a certain point, we faced that it wasn’t enough for our users. We wanted them to be able to create fully functional websites using our plugins, but there wasn’t a ready-made solution. Therefore, we released JetEngine, a plugin for creating dynamic content entities such as custom post types, meta fields, and taxonomies without having to do the actual coding.

The idea is not revolutionary; some plugin providers have been around longer than Crocoblock. But what we managed to do is to connect complex dynamics with design in Elementor’s UI. As a result, we lowered the threshold for our users to enter the world of dynamic websites and made it possible to move from blogs, small business sites, and WordPress landing pages to more complex projects.

After JetEngine, we developed JetSmartFilters, more plugins for eCommerce, JetSearch, and JetPopup. The plugin focus has shifted from design to functionality.

2019-present day

Then the Lego-like website building emerged, and this is something we still haven’t implemented to the fullest and what someday is likely to become our most significant achievement.

According to this concept, a site of any complexity can be divided into structural parts – Lego cubes, modules, or components (you can call them whatever you like). Each component is not so difficult to implement, but when used together, they will create a unique website. With that in mind, we released JetBooking, JetAppointment, JetFormBuilder plugins, and most JetEngine modules.

Another pivotal moment to bring up is a detour toward better Gutenberg editor compatibility. Most (if not all) JetPlugins have been intended initially for Elementor use, so they showed the best possible compatibility there. In October 2019, we released JetEngine 2.1.0 and started adapting other JetPlugins to the WordPress native editor.

As explained by Andriy Shevchenko:

“There were several reasons for doing so. First, we wanted to give users the ability to choose which builder they prefer to use. The code responsible for rendering elements on the front end is 90% independent of the builder. For that matter, we wanted to ensure higher rendering speed, especially for listings. Lastly, Gutenberg is a WordPress native editor, and we wanted to abide by its principles and make our plugins self-sufficient.”

And what about the Crocoblock website? It’s been patient enough to wait for a complete makeover. Here is what the Crocoblock website looked like at first:

And that’s the current design you all know and adore:

Until now, we have kept up the good work and tried hard to release more new features, updates, and compatibilities. Our latest development (2022) involved Bricks Builder, JetEngine, and JetSmartFilters. We plan to expand the Bricks integration and add compatibility for other dynamic plugins, like JetBooking, JetAppointment, and JetFormBuilder.

About Crocoblock: Faces Behind the Brand

Enough about the brand; I’m sure you are eager to learn more about those who made it.

The Crocoblock team has grown from 5 to 70 people. I like to think it’s not a team but a community where everyone is passionate about what they do and knows how to do a good job. We are like-minded individuals, and each tends to bring something original to the table. 

At present, the team comprises:

• 2 founding fathers
• 11 developers and coders
• 4 QA specialists
• 20 support agents
• 1 COO/product owner
• 2 project managers
• 1 SMM specialist
• 1 SEO specialist
• 1 affiliate/outreach manager
• 3 technical writers
• 4 copywriters
• 4 designers
• 2 video creators

Today, Crocoblock is a separate project owned and operated by a holding company, Jetimpex Inc. The project has been steadily growing its following while perfecting its product range. So far, JetPlugins have collectively reached 80K+ installs and rising.

Main Challenges

“Every challenge you face today makes you stronger tomorrow.” – Roy T. Bennett.

Honestly, I couldn’t agree more. Business is about perpetual growth, about being ready to go all the way and face challenges, whatever they may be.

• The first challenge was to decide which builder to choose for our plugin development. After some wandering, we decided to give Elementor a try. The whole thing worked like a charm. JetPlugins became known and spoken about. 
• The second challenge was to start a separate project considering we already had other tasks in the company. It was not easy to bring ourselves to do it, but we found the greatest motivation in our community, which had constantly been asking us to launch a project.
• Another problem we had to handle was the WordPress development plans. Since the WordPress team announced FSE (full site editing) development, the process has been relatively slow, leaving all plugin developers wondering what would be better to develop next. We cannot anticipate what will come in the next WordPress releases, too, so much is left for juggling.
• Then COVID-19 had stricken, and we had to organize efficient work. Because our team members worked from different cities – Kyiv, Lviv, and Mykolaiv – it was quite a challenge. 

“We {the Mykolaiv team} are used to working from the office, and we wanted to keep coming there. I guess the biggest challenge was to organize safe transfers from people’s homes to the office and the other way around; plus, the need to follow the sanitary standards.” (Anna Hurko)

COVID made us realize how important it is to stay connected, try and socialize, especially during a lockdown. Little did we know about the worst challenge awaiting us. 

• 2022 split our lives into “before” and “after”; a full-scale invasion launched by the neighboring country made us go into survival mode. We got scattered all over Ukraine; some even went abroad. It wasn’t safe to keep working from the office anymore, so we got to do what needed to be done – learn how to work remotely. 

But did it stop us from delivering? Never. We kept working from shelters, coding from basements, processing support tickets in the dark, and doing the best we could.  

We are hoping the war will be the last negative experience to endure. At least we know how resilient we are and have what it takes to keep up the good work no matter what.

Crocoblock Innovations

The entire Crocoblock philosophy revolves around dynamic content and making the websites dynamic. Our #1 best-seller, JetEngine, is configured to give web creators more freedom and development opportunities.

Dynamic content and its power

There are three stages to handling dynamic content: 

1. creating a data structure and data input (CPT, taxonomy terms, meta fields, CCT, relations);
2. fetching data from the database;
3. data output on the front end. 

“Speaking about their attractiveness and attention focus for the client, they go in reverse order. The most appealing opportunity is actually the third stage – data output.” (Andriy Shevchenko)

The JetEngine plugin offers multiple options for showcasing data dynamically. For instance, these three powerful widgets/blocks – Dynamic Field, Dynamic Image, and Dynamic Link – give many customization options for the content you wish to output. Namely, change the format, customize the output using callbacks, use dynamic elements in the URL and labels for links, make images clickable, and add dynamic URLs. Moreover, these widgets/blocks are versatile, meaning you can use them when building a listing and a single page.

Now, let’s talk about getting data from the database and our tool – Query Builder. What makes it innovative is the ability to receive many data types, which competitors rarely offer. In addition to commonplace posts, terms, and users, we have the following:

• a separate Query Type for getting WooCommerce data;
• the ability to get data directly from any tables in the database;
• the ability to receive data from third-party resources via REST API;
• fetching data from meta fields like a repeater.

Some more honorable mentions

Among the remaining dynamic features, it is worth bringing up the following:

• It is possible to create meta fields for posts, terms, and users and add their values to the REST API responses for posts, terms, and users. JetEngine creates standard endpoints from the core, which one can only do through coding.
• The Global Options pages feature allows you to create new options and provides a UI for editing them. Moreover, you can use global options as a UI for editing the core and third-party plugins’ options. 
• Relationship Builder makes it possible to connect two different content types – CPT + CPT, CPT + Users, CPT + Terms, Terms + Users, etc. 
• CCTs (custom content types) allow you to create custom database tables and store any data there. Data from these tables will be available in the Query Builder and can be displayed using listings.

Theme Builder and visual theme parts creation

Theme Builder from the JetThemeCore plugin makes the whole process of theme template creation visual. The builder shows which header, footer, and body templates are applied to which pages. In addition, you can create new templates using a one-stop dashboard, edit the existing templates, and configure their visibility. 

“These functions should be theoretically performed by the Site Editor, yet since it currently doesn’t, we give the user a tool for building such a structure while making it all visual.” (Andriy Shevchenko)

Other features you might find handy

1. Smart filters – you can filter listings anyhow you want. Different apply types are available; AJAX filtering without reloading the page, a regular page reload option, and a mixed variant.
2. AJAX search – it’s a way to build a convenient and smoothly running search tool.
3. Pop-up builder – you can create static pop-ups for marketing purposes and dynamic pop-ups to output forms, quick-view images, and other dynamic content. 
4. Mega menu – using JetMenu, one can create content-rich mega menus for the desktop and simple hamburger panels for mobile devices.
5. Form builder – build different form types in the native WordPress block editor.

To Be Continued

Wow, what a journey! For a young project, Crocoblock has indeed faced many challenges, which helped it grow and made it exceptional. 

What makes us all proud today:

• The fact our project is recognized among the WordPress community members.
• Crocoblock products are truly helping people develop WordPress websites.
• Our team has grown from five to a whopping 70 people.
• Every team member is a professional. 
• We always strive to get creative and find room for improvement.
• We are lucky to have gathered the finest Crocoblock Community out there.

The best is yet to come, right? Thank you for being there all the way.

P.S. Don’t miss the Crocoblock B-day announcements; there will be SALES!

The post Crocoblock Evolution: History & Innovations appeared first on Crocoblock.

Luckily, there’s now a way to test out all the Crocoblock and other WordPress plugins without worrying about crashing your site. InstaWP lets you do just that and enhances your WordPress development process, as many developers and agencies have already discovered.

Let’s take a closer look at InstaWP in this article!

Table of Contents

• What is InstaWP?
• Pricing Plans of InstaWP
• What Are Some of InstaWP’s Top Features?
• How to Use InstaWP?
• Can You Clone Your Current Website to InstaWP?
• How to Test Out Crocoblock Plugins with InstaWP?
• How to Launch a Test Website with Pre-installed Plugins and Themes
• How to Make a Template Containing Your Preferred Settings
• How to Use This Template to Make a New Site
• How to Make the Test Website Live
• What People Say About InstaWP
• Final Thoughts

What is InstaWP?

The homepage of InstaWP tells you its primary purpose: it lets you “spin up a WordPress sandbox in less than a second.” 

The founder of InstaWP, Vikas Singhal, came up with this idea because as a WordPress developer himself, he found that he was always spending a lot of time setting up a new site for testing and cleaning up an old installation to start fresh. That took away time from actually testing plugins and developing sites.

This led to the creation of InstaWP, born from his idea of making a disposable WordPress site. And InstaWP isn’t just a sandbox for testing all the plugins you want. It’s designed to be an all-in-one WordPress development toolset that helps designers, developers, agencies, and enterprises.

How good is it? 

Well, it got funding from Automattic, the makers of WordPress. That says a lot!

Pricing Plans of InstaWP

The fantastic thing about InstaWP is that you don’t even have to pay to use it. As soon as you land on the homepage, you can click on one of the Try for Free buttons at the middle of the page or on the upper right.

Once you press that button, you’ll be taken to this screen:

You can choose your WP version, PHP version, and even the configuration, whether you want the site as default, as WooCommerce, or as a multisite. Press the “Launch your site Instantly” button to access your WordPress test site.

You have to remember, though, that if you go with this method, you’ll have a test site that’s only valid for a mere eight hours. It will get deleted after that. Eight hours might not be enough if you plan to test out all Crocoblock plugins.

Thankfully InstaWP‘s pricing has a free tier included, as you can see here in its yearly plans:

There are also monthly plans:

• Personal – $14/month;
• Professional – $29/month;
• Agency – $79/month.

Although you’d notice that when you compute it, you save more if you take the annual plans – you get more value!

The free plan gives you three active websites that are live for 48 hours – more than enough for you to try out all the possible plugins you want to try. Of course, if you plan to do heavier website development, you can avail of their other plans packed with more features. Here’s a more detailed comparison of the plans.

If InstaWP doesn’t live up to your expectations in 14 days, they guarantee a full refund, no questions asked. That means getting InstaWP is risk-free.

What Are Some of InstaWP’s Top Features?

InstaWP lives up to being an all-in-one WordPress development toolset with these top features.

Instant WordPress sites

InstaWP promises snappy creation of WordPress sites with its Apache + Nginx-based servers that run 24/7, so you don’t have to spend a long time doing the setup. 

You can create WordPress sites with various combinations of WordPress from 3.7 to Nightly builds, PHP versions from 5.6 to 8.2, and preset Configurations. InstaWP will set the domain names, but you can customize the name later.

You’ll also get Free SSL since InstaWP automatically provides an SSL certificate and sets it up in seconds. It will work with every browser, too – no more headaches on your end.

One more benefit you can get is the ability to map a custom domain to websites and showcase it to your clients. If white labeling is your service, you can do that very well.

And because you can also set tags on your test websites, you won’t be confused about which one you’re working on.

Templates 

Once you’ve set up a site you want to use as a base or blueprint for all your websites in the future, you can easily set that up as a template. 

For example, if you’ve already chosen all your Crocoblock plugins, themes, and other settings, you don’t need to install them again one by one on every new website you make. You’ll be able to save hours while developing a new site.

With this template, you can also set a logo, apply custom colors and CSS, and generally set it up according to your brand. You can even set up multiple CRM solutions – even if it’s just a sandbox – and then use the template repeatedly without having to set up anything anymore.

If you work in a team, don’t worry that your templates are only accessible to you. You can get Shared templates links so your teammates can also work using those. 

Configurations

You can set your PHP and server configurations based on your WordPress requirements. You can also make WordPress configurations and sites with dummy content for testing needs and install plugins and themes.

You can also use InstaWP to create multiple configurations per team to have separate “personas” of WordPress presets. That way, there’s consistency even if a new site is being created.

Tools

With InstaWP, you can Enable SFTP or SSH for any WordPress site and enable or disable it as needed. This lets you do editing via code and the database using your favorite tools. You can also view your logs for easy troubleshooting of any errors. Do take note that this is limited to paid accounts.

And if you’re happy with your site and want to migrate it to live, you can do so with any hosting provider you choose. InstaWP websites can be migrated easily to any other server.

Git integration

You can connect Git repositories with your InstaWP account, whether public or private. Multiple ones can be connected at a time. 

Whenever you create a new site from a template, a Git repository will be auto-pulled and merged with the new site. You’ll also be able to trigger actions using in-built Github actions support automatically. 

InstaWP promises to add more features soon, such as setting up non-Github platforms using webhooks and connecting an existing site with Git repositories.

Other integrations

InstaWP makes your daily workflow faster with a Chrome extension – InstaWP Launcher, Drag and Drop features, and Magic Logins. You can even integrate InstaWP with Slack, and more program integrations coming soon.

With the Chrome Extension installed, you can easily install WordPress Plugins and Themes directly by visiting WordPress.org and clicking on InstaWP’s “Launch” button alongside the “Download” button. This significantly speeds up your workflow.

How to Use InstaWP?

As mentioned, one of the primary things you can do with InstaWP is try out plugins for free without breaking your site. But first, you need to make a WordPress sandbox. Once you sign up at InstaWP and create an account, you’ll arrive at this screen:

Make your WordPress test site by clicking the + New Site button in the middle of the Add New + button in the upper right corner. This menu will appear:

Once you have chosen your desired settings, press Create Site to continue. This is the following screen:

Press Magic Login to log in to your WordPress Admin Dashboard. You can add your desired plugins, change themes, write blog posts, and more from your Dashboard – just like an accurate WordPress site.

Can You Clone Your Current Website to InstaWP?

If you have a live WordPress website and want to experiment with it instead of a blank one without affecting the actual site, InstaWP makes it possible with the InstaWP Connect plugin.

It has the same technology based on InstaWP, so you can be sure it is a reliable plugin. To get it, go to WordPress.org, click Downloads & Extend, go to Plugin, type in InstaWP Connect, then press download to install it on your live WordPress website. Using this, you’ll be quickly able to make a copy of your website for experimentation.

How to Test Out Crocoblock Plugins with InstaWP?

Once you have your test site, you can install some plugins. That way, you’ll know which ones you like and which will not work for your website – all without affecting your actual site. And, of course, in our test, we will try Crocoblock plugins (you can use your premium subscriptions or freemium plugins).

Here are three ways to go about it. 

From the test WordPress website dashboard

At your test WordPress site, go to Plugins. Hover your cursor above it and wait for a pop-up menu to appear. Click on Add New. In the next screen, type JetFormBuilder and press Enter. 

For the sake of the example, we’ll try installing JetFormBuilder. Press Install, and make sure to press Activate after. After that, as you’ll see, the JetFormBuilder option will now be on the left-side menu with all its available options.

You can now start making forms.

That was easy! And it works just like it’s a real website!

Using InstaWP Chrome extension

For this method, install the InstaWP Chrome Extension. You can get it from the Google Chrome Web Store.

Ensure also that you’re already logged into your InstaWP account and have a test site already.

From here, go to the WordPress.org website. Hover over Download & Extend, then click on Plugins from the drop-down menu.

Type Crocoblock in the search bar. This time, let’s install JetStyleManager.

On the next page, since you have the InstaWP Chrome extension, you’ll see the “Launch” button. Click the Launch button to create a new InstaWP sandbox site with this plugin installed. 

Login to the site, and you’ll see the plugin installed:

Now, if you currently have more than one test website on your dashboard, you can press the arrow and make the dropdown button appear. Select the site where you want the plugin installed.

The check mark will appear once the plugin has successfully been installed.

Go to your test website, and you’ll see that the plugin has been installed on top of the first one you installed already.

Drag and drop from WordPress.org

You can also install a Crocoblock plugin by simply going to WordPress.org. For this example, we’ll install JetSticky for Elementor.

Once you’re on the plugin page, highlight the link to the plugin.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/jetsticky-for-elementor/

Keep your mouse button pressed to drag it to your InstaWP dashboard tab. Hover it over to the test website you want it installed in. This will happen:

Drop the plugin file in the indicated window, and installation will start. Launch your test WordPress site and see that it has been installed.

How to Launch a Test Website with Pre-installed Plugins and Themes

InstaWP allows you to launch a test website with all the plugins you want to install, plus a theme already in place. Sounds pretty convenient. This is great for those who want to start with a theme and plugins in place instead of installing everything one by one.

To do this, go to Configurations at the top menu, then look for the WordPress option. You’ll be taken to this screen:

Scroll down until you see this:

You can enter a WordPress theme’s slug from the WordPress repository. For example, if you want to install Kadence, make sure to copy the slug, the end of the website address.

https://wordpress.org/themes/kadence/

Then copy and paste it into the appropriate blank.

Do the same for your plugins – highlight the slug and paste them into the plugins section. Get them all from the WordPress repository. 

Make sure to press scroll back up and press Save. Then go back to the Configurations screen, and if you want to save this theme plus presets as a default configuration, press + Add New, then name it. In this sample, we’ll save this preset as Test.

Go back to Sites, then press Add New +.

As you can see, your new configuration can be selected. Press Create Site. Once you launch your test site, you’ll see that the theme is there. And so are your plugins.

How to Make a Template Containing Your Preferred Settings

Let’s say you’re done testing your Crocoblock plugins and have found what works for you. You can now save the settings as a template, so you don’t have to repeat the process. The same goes for the template – you’ll use it as a base for all your websites. 

In your InstaWP dashboard, click Templates, then click the + Add Template in the middle of the Add New + on the upper right.

This menu will appear. 

Select the site you want as a template, then click Next. Enter your Template Name, the description, and whether you want it to be shared or as a private template. Press Save.

How to Use This Template to Make a New site

Once you have this template, you can use it to make many sites. Go back to the Sites menu and click on Add New +. But this time, click the From Template option instead of creating a website from scratch. You’ll see the template you just saved. 

Select the template, then Click on Create Site. A new site will be created, and when you log in, you’ll find that the test site has the same settings as the template. Do this step each time you need to make a new website, and you’ll save plenty of time.

How to Make the Test Website Live

As mentioned above, InstaWP can also make all those test websites live. On the Sites page, find the website you want to export. Go to the rightmost menu, or the one with three dots, click on it, and look for the word Migrate:

You’ll arrive at the migrate interface, where you can pick your choice of hosting servers:

InstaWP offers built-in migration support for these. Enter the necessary details, and InstaWP will do the rest. Don’t forget to have a checklist of going from staging to making your site live before going live to ensure a stress-free launch.

What People Say About InstaWP

InstaWP is one of those products in the WordPress ecosystem that is seeing remarkable adoption from people of various backgrounds, developers, designers, freelancers, and agencies who love it. 

The ability to quickly spin up disposable WordPress test sites, create staging environments, change the configurations, and set up pre-built templates shave off many hours from development work. 

Other than that, InstaWP provides a sense of security and the ability to start fresh or revert whenever you wish to. Here are some of the case studies, and check out the various use cases of InstaWP.

Final Thoughts

To wrap things up, InstaWP has a lot of upside regarding WordPress website development. You can use it to test plugins, themes, and other customizations even in its free version; it will speed up your workflow.

It’s a relatively new tool for making WordPress sandboxes, and more features are still in development. But, with Automattic itself backing it, it’s safe to say that InstaWP will be an in-demand tool by website developers and agencies. And with an ever-growing user base of 8,000+ freelancers, agencies, and companies, you can bet that it will improve.

The post Using InstaWP WordPress Sandbox with Crocoblock Plugins appeared first on Crocoblock.

It’s time to find out more about GeneratePress, another theme from the Crocoblock Integrations arsenal. It’s fully responsive, lightweight, and localization-friendly. Moreover, the theme helps you build quality websites using WordPress native editor. 

Today, we’ll try and learn every little detail about the GeneratePress free theme, see how to install it, and check out some creative website examples powered by GP. 

Table of Contents

• What Is GeneratePress WordPress Theme?
• GeneratePress Theme Benefits
• Why Crocoblock Users Choose GeneratePress?
• How to Install GeneratePress WordPress Theme?
• GeneratePress Theme and JetPlugins: A Winning Combo
• GeneratePress Theme FAQ
• Final Thoughts

What Is GeneratePress WordPress Theme?

Claimed to be “a perfect foundation” for WordPress websites, GeneratePress is a multi-purpose free theme developed by Tom Usborne. It can be downloaded from WordPress.org, where it currently has over 500K active installations and boasts a solid 5-star rating (1000+ WordPress users have voted it 5/5). The theme has been downloaded more than 4,858,370 times; don’t you agree it’s rather popular?

GeneratePress is a lightweight theme meant to enhance the site’s speed and accessibility. Its 7.5KB page size, two HTTP requests, and zero dependencies prove the point. The theme is editor-friendly and supports the native WordPress Block editor, Elementor, Beaver Builder, Brizy Builder, and other page builders. In addition, GeneratePress supports many plugins, including WooCommerce and JetPlugins by Crocoblock. 

Among the free theme features, I’d like to point out the following:

• open-source and fully responsive;
• supports WCAG 2.0 regulations to make websites accessible for all user groups;
• fast-performing since it sends two requests to the server weighting 7.5KB;
• four customizer options – Site Identity, Color Options, Typography System, and Layout Options;
• WooCommerce-compatible;
• translated into 25 different languages;
• LTR and RTL-ready;
• 100% Block editor support. 

The free theme version is quite enough to build a blogging website. However, they do offer a GeneratePress Premium to extend the basic functionality even more and elevate customer care. Take, for instance, the GenerateBlocks plugin and a premium theme. Such a combo creates a block-based theme builder, which helps to build a website structure visually without coding. Premium gives total design freedom and eliminates the need for sourcing the missing functionality elsewhere – for only $59 a year.

To sum up, GeneratePress free version is a quality blogging theme suitable for freelancers, professionals, and development aficionados. Let’s find out what makes it so appealing.

GeneratePress Theme Benefits

Speaking about the free GP version, it has several advantages compared to other WordPress themes. 

• Excellent performance

For instance, GeneratePress is a well-performing theme. Its GTmetrix scores show a solid A and 100% page speed. The main stylesheet weighs 5.2KB, and two server requests add 2.3KB to the total. Thanks to that and valid HTML/CSS, GeneratePress makes the supported website load almost instantly.

• Gutenberg-tailored

The primary page builder for the GeneratePress theme is the WordPress block editor (Gutenberg). For that matter, website creators do not need additional builders from the start, as they already have WordPress core features and a free theme. GP Premium is WordPress-compatible, too. 

• SEO-friendly

GeneratePress’s performance metrics make it a decent choice for enhancing a website’s SEO. Besides, the theme is mobile-friendly and helps to adapt the web version for mobile and tablets.

GeneratePress PRO benefits

Now, let’s have a look at the GeneratePress Premium version. Its price starts from $59 per year for up to 500 websites. There is a Lifetime package, too. From the functionality standpoint, it adds up tremendously to the free core giving more possibilities for site customization and page building. 

• Block-based theme builder

The GP Premium introduces the Theme Builder, which gives a website developer complete design freedom without coding. Throw a free GenerateBlocks plugin into the mix, and you’ll be able to create dynamic Elements – Block, Hook, Layout, and Header – and assign them to different website parts. 

• Starter site library

In addition to page-building tools, the GeneratePress team provides a catalog of starter websites. They are all professionally designed, fully customizable, and can save you man-hours when designing a website from scratch. 

Other GeneratePress PRO features include advanced hooks, more styling controls, a mobile header, secondary navigation, infinite scroll, advanced layouts, and more.

Why Crocoblock Users Choose GeneratePress?

Truth be told, GeneratePress is not the most popular theme among Crocoblock community members. Only 7% choose GP Pro as a good addition to JetPlugins and Elementor, claiming it will ensure the needed performance level. Another poll created by Jan Gruchow shows 10% voted GeneratePress and GenerateBlock as the Best Gutenberg Setup for JetEngine.

No matter what, there are GeneratePress fans who choose it over other themes for many reasons. For starters, it shows good plugin compatibility:

“I’m Using generatepress. So Far so good. Used Astra, kadence , hello , ocean wp but they always interfere with Jetwoobuilder. Generapress is also very lightweight than others.” (Crocoblock community)

Another point is good performance and customization freedom:

“I actually use the Croco license with GeneratePress and enjoying much success with it. It’s a lightweight and very responsive theme.” (Crocoblock community)

“I’d consider Astra Pro or GeneratePress. Both fast but with some good options in the theme customiser.” (Crocoblock community)

Moving onward, GeneratePress is recognized for its flexibility and multiple page-building options. Some users value its Theme Builder:

“I use Gutenberg + GeneratePress + GenerateBlocks, and I can build all kind of pages there. It is easy, […]. You will enjoy it.” (Crocoblock community)

“GeneratePress Premium. I think it’s the first theme that introduced the theme builder feature.” (Crocoblock community)

To sum it up, Crocoblock users love the GeneratePress theme because it is:

• well-performing;
• flexible and customization-ready;
• has a theme-building toolkit;
• shows good compatibility.

How to Install GeneratePress WordPress Theme?

There are two methods to install the GeneratePress parent theme:

• using the WordPress theme manager;
• using the Crocoblock Installation Wizard.

To follow the first way, log into WordPress Dashboard, open the Appearance > Themes pathway, click “Add New,” and type “generatepress” in the search bar. Once you see the theme, press “Install” and then activate it.   

The second method involves Installation Wizard, where one can choose a theme from six available options. Choose the Full Crocoblock installation type, then choose the theme GeneratePress by hovering over it and clicking “Install.” It will activate automatically.

GeneratePress Theme and JetPlugins: A Winning Combo

JetPlugins and GeneratePress are good together, and you can check out the live website examples in the Made with Croco library. 

Education

Plugins: JetElements, JetEngine, JetTabs, JetTricks

Real estate

Ernesto Palano is a realtor’s business card website developed by Italian web creators.

Plugins: JetElements, JetEngine, JetMenu, JetPopup, JetTabs, JetTricks

Hosting

Now, here is a real gem! AntaHost is a hosting provider whose website involves – wait for it – a whopping 11 JetPlugins. The plugins covered dynamic content, search, website templates, navigation menu, blog, design choices, and more. Check out the site to see what GeneratePress and 11 Crocoblock plugins can look like together.

Plugins: JetEngine, JetBlocks, JetBlog, JetElements, JetMenu, JetPopup, JetReviews, JetSearch, JetTabs, JetThemeCore, JetTricks

Ecommerce

GeneratePress and Crocoblock can be good for WooCommerce projects, too. For instance, the example below uses JetWooBuilder and JetThemeCore to form product page templates. 

Plugins: JetBlocks, JetElements, JetSmartFilters, JetThemeCore, JetWooBuilder

Blog

Predictive Hacks is a blog dedicated to Data Science. It shares insights, case studies, and tutorials and is powered by four JetPlugins.

Plugins: JetBlog, JetElements, JetSmartFilters, JetEngine

Healthcare

Plugins: JetElements, JetMenu

News portal

Plugins: JetBlog, JetElements

GeneratePress Theme FAQ

Final Thoughts

GeneratePress is a solid option when it comes to picking a website theme. It’s fast, lightweight, and popular – almost 5M users downloaded it, and 100K+ keep using it up to the present. What makes it so good? I’d like to believe the features and benefits it provides:

• multi-purpose and fast-loading;
• lightweight installation package (10KB archive);
• supports major page builders and plugins;
• interesting theme customization options;
• adequate GeneratePress pricing;
• WooCommerce compatibility;
• free GenerateBlocks plugin extends the core functionality;
• clean layout and customizable elements.

In addition, the GeneratePress WordPress theme can power different website types, from usual blogs to eCommerce projects. And JetPlugins help you get past the default layout and give you enough tools to bring into being many creative ideas.

The post Why Crocoblock and GeneratePress Theme Make a Good Combo appeared first on Crocoblock.

Well, yes, it’s a time for some nostalgia, so I’ve asked a few members of the Crocoblock team how they feel about WordPress, what was their first encounter with it, about the most memorable project, and would they choose it again if they would start their career today. 

Let’s see what they answered. 

Andrew Shevchenko – CTO

and his side hustle that turned into a decade-long story. 

It was 2010, and my friends and I decided to get a side hustle and launch a couple of small projects to generate some money on advertising while running niche blogs. We chose two topics: agricultural equipment and fishing/hunting (and you still can find them on the archive here and here). So, the question was how to choose a CMS for those blogs.

The first thing Google told us to do was to use WordPress. At that time, we knew almost nothing about other CMS as well, so why not try? My first impression was, “Wow, so, with a little knowledge of HTML and CSS I had back then, I can make a full-fledged site, really?”. I guess it was the main thing attracting people at that time: you could simply change some HTML in templates and add your CSS, and the most boring theme turns into your own unique website. 

In a short time, working with WordPress became my serious full-time job. 

If I start my career now, I might not choose it as a profession, be honest, because nowadays, everyone wants to be swag and code cool front end or create mobile apps. But if you ask me which platform I would use for my own project, it would definitely be WordPress. 

Andriy Andreyev – CEO

and his commitment to making coders’ life better.

Code is poetry, and I like that it is the WordPress motto. I also believe it’s the number one platform in the world that helps so many people launch and maintain their projects, develop ideas, and achieve something big they dream about. Like many others, I started a long time ago as a coder, then got captivated by its flexibility and potential. 

Crocoblock is my main project so far, and it was born as a response to clients’ needs which started once the picture evolved so clearly – who we are working for and what solutions we can offer. So, here we are now, with, for example, JetEngine, which does the job of more than ten plugins and other products. Indeed, we have new ideas that I believe we can implement soon. 

Actually, my main goal and job are to solve problems and help developers by delivering the toolkit they need. And that’s what drives me the most and the whole project.

Anna Gurko – COO

and her passion. A lot of passion.

Before I was introduced to WordPress, I was already acquainted with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. So, when I started using it, I already knew site-building principles, but this CMS was more organized, clear, and easy to use. It was nine years ago when the dashboard looked pretty similar, but the way the content was put together was not the same: a lot of shortcodes, and a considerable part of the work was all about writing CSS rules, editing HTML, and understanding PHP hooks. 

I started as a customer support specialist working with templates on night shifts with (obviously) clients who were about to lose their tempers. That’s why, for me, working with WordPress is always associated with being client-oriented – I was not only learning the product but also how to communicate with customers and understand their needs, using common sense and Google, after all. So, the primary skill I got at that time was understanding clients’ requests in the first place and being willing to help. And only with this attitude it’s possible to really help, not just to close the support ticket. 

This approach naturally led to the fact that I started mentoring new customer support specialists. When the company launched a new project, I entirely switched to it, but the most valuable thing was that I had the clients’ feedback, and the product owners had a hard time with me channeling it. Well, they have nothing else to do but offer me the QA Release Manager position working in production. And here I am, working as a Crocoblock COO. 

But the most important thing I’ve learned in a support team is that we work not for WordPress or our particular products. But WordPress itself, together with any related products, has been created for clients and their needs – for making and managing websites faster and better without needing to become a senior developer to do it.

Would I choose WordPress again if I start my career now? Well, it’s been nine years since I made this choice, so it’s a big part of my life. But I would never choose a career path by selecting a technology because all that matters to me is its value for people and their projects. That’s why an efficient instrument with a clear idea and mission behind it is all that matters to me. 

Vitalii Fedorov – Head of QA

and his bug-busting superpowers.

I started working as a QA Tester in 2015, and not only was the grass greener back then, but WordPress was a bit simpler. Most of the themes were something like this, mainly for blogging. But still, some challenges could be expected if WooCommerce was there and the site became a shop. Actually, it was inspiring that plugins could expand the functionality so much. 

Soon, the company switched to bigger projects, one of them being called Monstroid. Once upon a time, a happy developer made a git-commit, saying, “everything works perfectly,” and went home. But other developers and I stayed almost overnight. Because, you know, bug hunting is not a joke. However, we won, and the project was released the next day. 

Andriy Prudnykov – Head of Support

and his inexhaustible interest in WordPress.

I learned about WordPress six years ago while studying front-end development, so we used it to practice our HTML/CSS/JavaScript skills. I remember that I was very surprised by the ease of how relatively complex websites can be run by this CMS, especially in comparison with writing every line of code from scratch. The list of default hooks also impressed me, which means that there were so many ready-made solutions!

Then I had my first clients and projects where themes should be customized, and, well, it was cool when I could do it with existing tools and plugins, but what if it’s something more complex, where I had to hard-code custom solutions? I remember one of them was the real estate website for a Czech client, and I worked my hardest. And years later, I realized how much easier it can be done and how much faster it can work with Gutenberg and JetEngine. 

For many projects, WordPress is the best solution; it is very time-efficient, has a lot of ready tools, and also, which is extremely important, it never stops evolving. And this is one of the reasons why I’m still not tired of it. 

Dmytro Bartoshchak – Developer

and his undisguised love for cool features and burgers.

I worked as a QA Tester, and after my first encounter with WordPress, I thought, “Wow! This thing works so fast, and so much things can be done using it!”

If you want to know a funny story about WordPress and me, I also have one. So it was this restaurant theme that I had to make, and the project was really interesting and had a lot of cool features. The only problem was that the pictures were amazing, too. So appetizing, with all those juicy burgers and steaks, so I was constantly hungry. The good news is that upon the template completion, Anna Gurko, then the manager of the project, bought me a huuuuuuge steak. 

Now, it’s your turn. What is your story? 

The post WordPress 20th Anniversary: Let’s Celebrate With Crocoblock Team appeared first on Crocoblock.

Have you ever tried to use Elementor and its Hello WordPress theme? Chances are you could even start a web development project on it. Since the dive-in can sometimes be confusing, what could be better than a  clean and flexible Hello theme?

Today, we will discover its perks and features, learn how to install it, and see creative website examples run on the one and only Hello Elementor theme. Stay tuned.

Table of Contents

• What Is Hello Elementor Theme?
• Hello Theme Benefits
• Why Crocoblock Users Love It?
• How to Install the Elementor Hello Theme?
• How Hello Theme and JetPlugins Go Together
• Hello Theme FAQ
• Wrapping Up

What Is Hello Elementor Theme?

Hello is a feather-light WordPress theme developed by the Elementor team. It is a forever-free, plain-vanilla, and clean-code theme, appreciated by over 1M web creators worldwide. Hello helps keep everything simple and secure and gives the greatest flexibility. Therefore, it is the optimal choice for those willing to start a blank-canvas website, where every little thing can be customized however they like.

Alongside its popularity, the Hello theme is rated 4.5 stars, which proves its quality, too. Since Hello was “built by Elementor for Elementor,” there are no compatibility issues. The team aimed to deliver a solid base for website building, friendly to both newbies and seasoned developers. In addition, there is a welcoming Elementor community ready to discuss all theme-related concerns.

Because the Elementor theme is so plain and clean, one could say its feature list is practically non-existent. I’d dare to agree since the main features I can outline are as follows:

• 100% Elementor-compatible;
• supports 100+ website kits made by Elementor;
• header and footer customization options covering colors, logos, fonts, and section visibility;
• WooCommerce compatibility;
• RTL ready;
• suitable for different website types – portfolio, eCommerce, technology, blog, education, events, landing pages, etc.;
• allows creating responsive designs for mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.

Hello Theme Benefits

Despite the modest feature list, the Hello Elementor theme still has a few aces up a sleeve. 

• Versatility and design freedom

The WordPress theme by Elementor is a great starting point because it is practically a blank canvas. Not too much styling and no bloated code – one can simply install the theme and proceed to customize it freely.

• Excellent performance

Hello theme is light and fast. It takes only 6KB of resources, loads in ¼ second, and sends fewer requests (how about two?) to the server for the website to load. It makes the websites load almost instantly, which is always impressive.

• Forever free

Honestly, I’m not sure what to add – free is always good.

• Elementor-tailored

Since the theme is created by Elementor, it works seamlessly in the free and Pro versions. Those who prefer a visual website builder will surely find it pretty helpful. 

• SEO-friendliness

Hello boasts decent performance metrics, which affect the search engine rankings in the first place. Using Hello, it is possible to improve the site’s SEO and adapt it to fit mobile devices.

Why Crocoblock Users Love It? 

Hello Elementor theme turned out to be the most popular option among Crocoblock community members. In a public poll created by George Upson, Hello left the competition behind, having scored 86% votes. You might wonder how. The thing about the Hello theme is its simplicity and clean code. 

“I usually use “Hello Theme” because it’s simple and clean.” (Crocoblock community)

“If you’re using elementor then stick with a barebones theme such as hello or kava.” (Crocoblock community)

Another advantage is design freedom. Hello is not overloaded; it’s pretty versatile, making every creative idea possible. 

“Personally, I never had a problem with Hello, if with other themes that put designs where I don’t want them and it’s annoying when you’re used to a blank theme.” (Crocoblock community)

“Hello theme is fully customizable, it is a white page.” (Crocoblock community)

Some prefer Hello because it’s excellent performance-wise.

“For clear development 100% hello.” (Crocoblock community)

“Im using Hello theme plus croco pack for my ecom website and still working well. Performance class A.” (Crocoblock community)

Moreover, the Hello theme boasts a super easy setup. 

“The beauty of the settings of the Hello is there are no settings. Haha. It’s all done with Elementor Pro.” (Crocoblock community)

To draw a line, Crocoblock users love Hello because it is:

• easy to set up and use;
• clean and simple;
• versatile and design-friendly;
• well-performing.

How to Install the Elementor Hello Theme?

There are three main methods to get the Elementor theme up and running: 

• from a custom Elementor-built cloud website (the theme will activate automatically);
• through the WordPress Themes repository;
• via the Crocoblock Installation Wizard. 

The second method requires you to open the WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Themes > Add New, and type “Hello” in the search bar. Once the needed theme pops up on the page, click “Install” and then “Activate.” 

The third method has a dedicated theme selection step, which is triggered under the Full Crocoblock installation type. To install the Hello theme, it is enough to hover over the tile and click the “Install” button. The theme will be activated automatically.

How Hello Theme and JetPlugins Go Together

Crocoblock is always seeking winning integrations, so no wonder Hello is the first theme on the list. JetPlugins and Elementor theme are good together, as proved by numerous examples from the Made with Croco library. It is fairly easy to develop a full-fledged niche website using the Crocoblock and Elementor toolkits. 

Booking

Ecommerce

“Hello + ePro + WC +JSF and couldn’t be happier.” (Crocoblock community)

Although sometimes JetWooBuilder and Hello theme show not the best compatibility, it is still possible to create something unique involving WooCommerce. 

“Ive used woobuilder on a lot of sites. Never had an issue. It’s by far the most in depth woo editor out there. Hello theme with jetwoo is a great combo.” (Crocoblock community)

Travel

Not a regular booking website but rather a business card. You could represent a business online and add a contact form to a separate page to plan a future trip like a safari.

Digital agency

Using Hello, one can build anything from marketing to web design and financial solutions websites.

Restaurant

Cinema

Healthcare

Beauty

As you can see, the Hello Elementor theme and JetPlugins combo can bring many creative ideas to life. The main thing is to be daring and let one’s imagination roam free. 

Hello Theme FAQ

Wrapping Up

Hello by Elementor is a good and time-proven WordPress theme. It has been created to up the game for inexperienced developers giving them a quick and ready-to-go solution that can be customized all the way around. 

Hello is appreciated by one million users; it’s fast, responsive, and lightweight. Many prefer it over standard and “big-name” theme brands because it doesn’t limit their imagination. Hello theme is a good starting point allowing you to flesh out whatever website design you have in mind.

The post How Well Would Crocoblock and Hello Elementor Theme Work Together? appeared first on Crocoblock.

Table of contents:

• What Is the OceanWP Theme?
• Why OceanWP and Crocoblock Make a Good Combo
• How to Install the OceanWP Theme
• Guide to Building a Dynamic WordPress Website
• Bottom Line

What Is the OceanWP Theme?

OceanWP is a versatile modern WordPress theme that helps create beautiful and unique websites for any occasion. Its creators, OceanWP LLC, believe everybody deserves tools for building splendid websites. Their theme is equally attractive for beginners (because it provides intuitive and user-friendly tools that require no coding skills) and WordPress experts (because it has more features and functionalities to realize their ideas). 

Because OceanWP has so many customization options, it is insanely popular, with the number of downloads approaching 6 million. Not only do people download it often, but they also use it, like it, and give it almost exclusively 5-star ratings on wordpress.org.

Let’s see what OceanWP’s main features and benefits are.

OceanWP theme is perfect for eCommerce sites

Although OceanWP is a multi-purpose theme, there’s one particular application where it shines brighter than any other theme, and it’s creating online stores. Whether you sell physical items, digital products, or services, OceanWP will accommodate your specific needs. 

While the team supports integration with a viral WooCommerce plugin that ensures the backend functionalities essential for online stores, it also provides multiple tools for presenting products with maximum effect. Here are examples of conversion-enhancing gadgets to be used on eCommerce websites:

• Woo Popup extension displays a woo pop-up immediately after a customer adds an item to a cart offering to proceed to the checkout screen or continue shopping. This feature creates a better user experience for customers who came to buy only one item and also reduces shopping cart abandonment rates.
• White Label extension allows replacing all instances of OceanWP name with your business name to impress your clients and develop unique branding.
• Portfolio extension provides a simple way to display your products on any page using shortcodes or page templates. With this tool, you get complete control over items styling and filter products by their features, tags, and more.

Website demos and templates

For users who don’t feel comfortable about their design skills, OceanWP prepared fantastic news: the theme comes with 220+ high-quality demo websites made by professional web developers and designers. Most of the demos are tailored to specific needs, so they are grouped into 25 categories (bars, eCommerce, photography, lifestyle, etc.) for quick searching.

I’ve mentioned that OceanWP offers unprecedented customization options for all elements. But if changing colors/fonts/sizes is tiring, use built-in templates and suggested customizable styles and create unique designs. It seems like OceanWP has pre-made options for everything:

• seven header styles;
• three mobile menu styles;
• three blogging layouts;
• four shop and product categories styles;
• three pagination styles;
• and many more.

Expendability

OceanWP offers a large collection of free and premium extensions that are easy to choose from and install. These extensions improve the WordPress theme functionality and customize your dynamic website even more, and some of them are required installs for selected site demos. With many extensions, OceanWP allows using the theme in optimal configuration and keeping it lightweight.

Right now, OceanWP has seven free and 14 paid extensions which can be purchased separately or in a bundle with any paid plans.

The theme is tightly linked to popular third-party plugins like WooCommerce, LifterLMS, LearnDash, and page builders such as Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi, etc.

Support

When users buy a quality product, they expect to get quality support, which is the case with OceanWP products. The support is really quick, and developers even provide a basic support level to free users:

• responding to any bugs users find within the OceanWP theme or Ocean extensions;
• answering questions about the theme features, settings, etc.

All free users can receive support via the wordpress.org forum or Ocean WP Facebook Community Support Group, and the support team is active on both channels. 

All users who have purchased at least one paid extension are entitled to support services via the ticketing system. If you bought Ocean Core Extension Bundle, you get a Priority Support Cover, which means you get priority in ticket replies. Even if you don’t own any OceanWP paid licenses, you can purchase a Priority Support Cover plan for three months or a year.

Other free support options include thorough documentation for the OceanWP theme on the Knowledge Base page. It covers many general questions, guides, troubleshooting advice, and more.

Other benefits and features

• Page speed. If you are building a dynamic website, you know for sure that page speed is vital. Pages should load instantly and look good on all devices. OceanWP lives up to that since it’s mobile-responsive, SEO-optimized, and boasts first-rate page speed scores.  
• Beginner-friendliness. Although there’s a learning curve to master the OceanWP theme, you are still prone to a quick start. OceanWP’s accessibility is paramount; it’s easy to use and set up. Plus, you can always integrate it into a page builder you prefer.
• Responsive design. OceanWP takes its commitment to responsiveness rather seriously. Their demo templates adapt to any screen size and are easy to read on mobile devices and tablets. 
• Reasonable pricing. It doesn’t cost a cent to install the core OceanWP theme, and some of the plugins are also free. As to the premium demos and plugins, they are reasonably priced. For more details, check the paragraph dedicated to pricing.

Altogether, OceanWP features serve the purpose of helping every developer create good-looking web spots regardless of their coding or design experience.

Pricing

The core OceanWP theme is free. However, there are 13 premium extensions, which can be bought separately to extend the website functionality. 

Each premium extension comes at a fixed yearly price – $29.99.

OceanWP boasts three pricing plans – Personal, Business, and Agency. All three grant access to the same features; the main differences are the number of supported activations and access to primary support services.

A Personal membership plan is for three sites only and costs $54. A Business plan supports up to six sites and has a price tag of $89, and it’s the most popular one. Finally, the Agency package comes at $159 a year and can support up to 50 sites.

Don’t want to be billed annually? Consider a lifetime plan, then. You pay once – from $222 to $636 – and enjoy all OceanWP features forever.

Why OceanWP & Crocoblock Make a Good Combo

OceanWP and Crocoblock is a tried and true combo allowing both newbies and seasoned developers to build a dynamic website from the ground up.

Uncomplicated visual editing

As a developer, you no longer have to switch between the back and front. Gutenberg Blocks makes the whole routine straightforward. When building a website on the backend, you create a unique structure that will look the same on the front end. It’s that simple. Even those lacking special technical and design knowledge can build the website they want.

A no-brainer workflow

WordPress page editor gives developers equal possibilities in terms of website creation. Previously, custom websites were created by a designer-developer tandem. A designer comes up with a site layout, and a dev implements it. Today, anyone can devise a design concept and turn it into a dynamic website – all thanks to Gutenberg and Crocoblock tools.

Fewer third-party integrations

Gutenberg is fully compatible with a #1 Crocoblock dynamic plugin – JetEngine. It’s a standalone product whose principal purpose is to give developers as much dynamic functionality as possible without having to recur to external solutions. Many such solutions offer one to two dynamic content features, which is never enough. But if you choose JetEngine, you’ll gain access to more than 30 features for both dynamic and static content – all for one price. 

Read also: 10 Plugins You No Longer Need If You Have JetEngine

As you can see, Crocoblock plugins and OceanWP theme are great together. They let you improve load times, conversion rates and optimize the website for search engines. In the end, you get a well-performing website powered by the minimum needed tools. 

How to Install the OceanWP Theme

OceanWP can be easily installed through Crocoblock Installation Wizard. 

1. Open the WordPress dashboard.
2. Follow the Crocoblock > Installation Wizard.  
3. Press the “Let’s Go” button on the welcome screen.
4. Select the “Full Crocoblock installation” type to install the package.
5. At the next step, select the OceanWP theme. 

After you finish the installation, go to Appearance > Themes. The installed OceanWP theme should already be there. You will see a notice informing you that it’s recommended to install Ocean Extra. We’ll dare to go further and say that it’s mandatory because the theme won’t work correctly without Ocean Extra. Install the plugin and proceed to customize the theme as necessary. 

Once done, refresh the page. You will see another notice suggesting you jumpstart the OceanWP setup. It comprises four steps:

• a welcome screen that you see in the picture below;
• a demo selection step, where you are supposed to pick a free demo template;
• a demo customization step;
• the final step screen, asking you to enter the draw and get a chance to win a premium extensions bundle.

By the way, OceanWP and Cloudways have partnered up to bring users the most extraordinary WordPress experience yet. Now you can purchase the Ocean Core Extensions Bundle, choose any WordPress website template demo you wish to start with, and get everything installed on Cloudways servers with one click.

The available demo templates are categorized, so you can pick any to create Blog, One Page, Business, Corporate, Sport, or eCommerce websites. Go through all setup steps to get the website ready to go. If you do not want to install any demos at the moment, you can always skip those steps and do it later. Just open the Theme Panel > Install Demos pathway in the WordPress admin panel and choose a demo template you fancy.

These video playlists by Ferdy Korpershoek and WPTuts will help you master the premium extensions bundle. 

Guide to Building a Dynamic WordPress Website

Any dynamic WordPress website starts small. You will need to build CPT templates, add meta fields, set the posts relations, configure content listings, add Data Stores, and do many more actions depending on the website type.

Today, we will build a dynamic blog, so stay tuned to find out what it incorporates.

Add custom fields to the meta box

Custom fields output additional information about posts, and they are attached either to Custom Post Types or Meta Boxes. To create a new Meta Box, follow the JetEngine > Meta Boxes pathway and hit the “Add New” button. Fill out the General Settings and add as many meta fields as needed afterward. Finish the routine by clicking “Add Meta Box.”

Next, we need to attach this Meta Box to the CPT. In the Enable For Post Types drop-down, you must select a post type to which this meta box will be applied. Since we are creating a culinary blog, the corresponding CPT would be “Recipe.” Save the changes. 

Create a custom post type

Custom Post Type, aka CPT, is the #1 thing to structure the website content. Unlike regular posts, CPTs can have their slugs and archive pages. Most importantly, they tend to “house” other WordPress posts and categorize them.

To create a new CPT, go to JetEngine > Post Types > Add New. You won’t see the Meta Box fields you created at the previous step but don’t worry. The fields will appear on the post-addition screen.

Provide the Post Type Name; the slug will be generated automatically. Fill in the Labels fields if necessary and click on the “Add Post Type” button.

Now, it’s time to add new posts to the Recipe CPT. Locate the “Recipe” item on the WordPress control panel, hover over it, and click the “Add New Recipe” subitem. You will be redirected to a post-addition screen. Fill in the post contents, add images where needed, and hit the “Publish” button. Create as many posts as necessary and proceed to the next step.

Build a listing grid for posts 

You can easily output all blog posts on the same page using a Listing template. To create one, proceed to JetEngine > Listings, press “Add New,” and then fill out the fields as shown in the screenshot below:

On the Gutenberg page editing screen, start adding dynamic JetEngine blocks to build the listing item layout. Dynamic Image, Dynamic Field, Dynamic Meta, etc., will help you succeed.

Next, go to Pages > All Pages and open a Gutenberg-built page. If you do not have any, create one by hitting “Add New.” In the newly-opened window, find the Listing Grid block and place it somewhere on the page. Select a listing to show by picking it from the Listing drop-down in the Block section on the left sidebar.

Adjust the rest of the settings, apply styles if necessary, and then press the “Publish” button. That’s it – you’ve just added a Listing Grid to the page. Let’s check it out on the front end:

Create a contact form

Last but not least, we can add a contact form to the page and thus streamline communication between the blogger and their audience. To make it happen, you’ll need to install and activate the JetFormBuilder plugin. It’s free.

You can create a form layout by yourself or choose a ready-made JetFormBuilder Pattern. Click on the “+” button in the upper left corner, select the Patterns tab, and pick the “JetForms” option from the drop-down list. You will see all available Patterns, including the one we need – the Contact Us Form.

Once you added all necessary blocks to the page, proceed to apply custom form block styles. Also, make sure to set up the Post-Submit Action; otherwise, the contact form won’t work correctly. 

This time, we are going to set up the Send Email action.

Now, it’s time to add the form to the page. Open the page where you would like to place the form. Find the JetForm block and drop it somewhere. In the Choose Form drop-down, pick the contact form you’ve just created. 

Customize the remaining settings and press the “Publish”/“Update” button. Ready to enjoy the way it looks on the front end? Neat, stylish, and workable – just what you need.

FAQ

Bottom Line

OceanWP theme and Crocoblock dynamic plugins are a go-to combo. It’s relatively easy to create a website that is not just eye-catching but also functional. 

JetEngine, JetFormBuilder, and JetStyleManager are just a few plugins we could use today. In fact, the possibilities are endless. Some other solutions include JetSmartFilters to add a filtering gear to the Posts archive page, JetSearch for quick sitewide search functionality, JetReviews to add a dynamic Reviews & Comments section to the Post single page, and many more. 

Have you already tried to build a dynamic website with JetPlugins and OceanWP? Please share it in the comments below or submit it to our Made with Crocoblock directory.

The post Creating a Dynamic Website with OceanWP Theme and Crocoblock appeared first on Crocoblock.

What Is Blocksy?

Blocksy is a light, innovative and free WordPress theme. It allows the developer to customize and subsequently edit the block structure of the site effortlessly. Blocksy Pro unleashes even more features for WordPress users.

Add super easy installation, a user-friendly intuitive interface, and a variety of Blocksy quirks (Live Search, Sticky Sidebars, and many other options), and you’ll get a flawlessly working WordPress theme.

The Creative Themes team created the Blocksy theme to help developers make attractive, functional projects in minutes without writing code.

Therefore, the theme has several key features. Here they are:

• ready-made designs for different sites that you can use out of the box;
• vast customization possibilities;
• fast and efficient work.

Let’s look at these possibilities in a little more detail.

Design features

This theme feature is helpful for those who don’t know what website they want to see. To use one of the templates, go to the Blocksy tab on the WordPress toolbar, select Starter Sites, and activate one of the templates.

Next, Blocksy will offer installation steps that you need to confirm. Then, immediately with the theme, the necessary blocks, plugins, and demo content are loaded and activated, which you can replace with your own.

Customization options

It is the most interesting feature of the Blocksy theme. It is very well adapted to the Gutenberg workflow, so the interaction with the theme is similar. In the editor, you immediately see what your future site looks like. If you want to add or remove something, you click in the right place and change this website section.

All changes are displayed in real-time. You can customize everything from fonts, colors, and pictures to functionality, headers, and footers.

Elements can be added or moved by simple drag and drop.

In the toolbar, you can switch display options, see how the website looks on different devices, and customize this display for yourself.

Productivity

The theme is written using the most modern programming languages ​​and technologies. The developers used React, Webpack, and Babel. Therefore, the code is compact and convenient.

All elements are optimized, so the website using the theme works fast and has good SEO performance.

Blocksy Theme Features

The theme has many free features but allows you to expand the functionality with paid options. So let’s take a look in a little more detail.

Blocksy free features:

• compatibility with Gutenberg, WooCommerce, Elementor, Brizy, and Beaver Builder;
• JavaScript support;
• a built-in ability to translate content into any language of the world;
• preview changes in real-time;
• clean code without extra rows;
• responsiveness of each element;
• ready-made website templates;
• extensive customization options;
• header constructor;
• a capability to view and adapt the mobile version in the editor;
• the ability to change the typography of any element on the site;
• sticky sidebar;
• lazy loading system.

Blocksy premium features:

Now let’s see what the paid version of the Blocksy theme offers:

• user support;
• additional fonts;
• improved header and footer constructor;
• custom sidebars;
• extended menu;
• more features of the hook system;
• advanced WooCommerce tools.

Blocksy Pro starts at $49 per year for a single site. The Lifetime package costs $149 for a single project and $299 for an unlimited license.

Support Overview

There are several options on how you can solve a question you may have when working with the Blocksy theme:

• video tutorials;
• knowledge base with documentation and valuable materials;
• tickets, to which support responds within 24 hours from Monday to Friday.

In addition, the Blocksy theme has a Facebook Community where you can ask any question and get an extended answer.

What’s Changed?

It’s a considerable milestone for us because our team constantly replenishes the list of the themes Crocoblock is compatible with. And it is an excellent thing for those who prefer using a particular theme and want to use Crocoblock plugins as well.

So, how is this integration manifested for both parties?

Crocoblock Installation Wizard

Now, Crocoblock users can see Blocksy in the Installation Wizard, where they can install the theme right away in a couple of minutes. 

In turn, Blocksy Pro users see JetEngine in the list of Useful Plugins in the admin panel.

Post Types Extra & JetEngine Integration

Blocksy offers the cool Post Types Extra widget. It means that you can now add JetEngine custom fields in CPT’s archive and page/post title layers. It might be a game-changing feature, so go and see how the functionality of this widget is expanded with JetEngine.

JetWooBuilder & Blocksy theme

JetWooBuilder 1.10.5 update comes with the new Blocksy theme integration. Now you can use the JetWooBuilder plugin flawlessly with the Blocksy theme.

Benefits of Using JetEngine & Blocksy

You might not need the cumbersome visual builders because you want to avoid those multiple server requests in the first place.

Also, you probably want to stick to some light theme, flexible in terms of stylization and a visual component, but don’t want to install dozens of plugins. Don’t worry; JetEngine & Blocksy now work flawlessly together, so you can design dynamic websites cost-effectively.

It’s win-win cooperation from both sides. You can develop a complex website structure using JetEngine — create a variety of Custom Post Types, add Taxonomies, configure multiple relations, and make them hierarchical — and wrap everything in the Blocksy theme, taking all its benefits. For example, you can add the hero section to your dynamic website, use multiple dynamic blocks, and apply Color Scheme Editor. 

Learn how to build a WordPress appointment website with a tutorial by Jack Cao:

More Possibilities

Now you can add JetEngine Custom Fields and custom Meta Boxes to your archive cards or page/post title section. Assign a custom field to one of your posts and display it as a separate layer in the Post Title section. After you set up the custom fields, you will be able to output them from Blocksy’s Customizer.

More valuable features you can apply to your dynamic website built with the JetEngine plugin:

Personalized settings

Blocksy theme provides the developer with complete control over the project’s appearance. After creating a Single page of your website, you can apply custom stylization options freely. 

Display featured image

Using the Dynamic Image block, you can display the featured image of your JetEngine’s CPT, taxonomy, or category.

WooCommerce compatibility

Create Product CPTs with JetEngine and display the attributes using dynamic blocks within the Blocksy theme.

Display repeated blocks effortlessly

Having repeating blocks set you to create with JetEngine for CPTs and taxonomies, you can keep your listing’s structure and insert them into the Blocksy theme.

FAQ

Sum Up

Blocksy is a professional WordPress theme that will help you create any website effortlessly. Wide customization options, a choice of design solutions, and full compatibility with popular editors make it really intriguing for developers.

Add high loading speed, clean, error-free code, integrated micro-marking, and lazy loading, and get virtually limitless possibilities for your dynamic website with JetEngine and Blocksy.

The post Using Blocksy Theme with Crocoblock appeared first on Crocoblock.