196 - Coding v non-coding

Debate with Nathan Wrigley and David Waumsley

Setting up the Debate

When setting up this debate series we naturally got asked to compare one page builder against another. A great topic, but tricky for us as we both use the same page builder and know it best. As people are passionate about their brands and we don’t want to fuel divisions because of our ignorance.

Instead, we thought we would probably talk about the major players within this debate... about whether we as generalists (who deliver whole sites alone - mostly)  are better off learning some basic code skills or not. This could have an influence over which tools we prefer in WordPress.

We might disagree which software falls into which category, but..

Some lean more toward being an all-in-one solution for the wider non-coder market

Others have a coding audience in mind, or at least people who want to put their solution together with their own choice of plugins

Coding - David

• I am going to claim the Genesis Theme Framework, Beaver Builder and Oxygen Builder as some well known platforms which may be geared to those who don’t mind touching code.
• You can build impressive sites with these tools without code, but I believe these aim to serve those who prefer to add their own touches and will want to pick their own plugins for contact forms and pop-ups.
• You cheat yourself long term if you try to avoid code. How many wasted days searching the plugin repository for simple effects like a hide and reveal. Perhaps installing a very heavyweight plugin for things that a few lines of code could have sorted.
• Bloat is the usual argument against Megathemes and all-in-one solutions, but I think it means different things to different people. Some say it refers to too much code output, some for backend intrusions. My concern is more with technical debt when things are not modularised, resources used (which is both a cost and Green issue) and also stability.
• I don’t think code free will ever exist. Browser, CSS and HTML specifications have always changed over time. Relying on any one tool to do it all means you're relying on something that will go out of date, and you have to learn a new one.
• I like that it gives me the edge over clients!
• I rely on making money from hosting. So the lighter the solution the better.

No coding - Nathan

• Divi, Brizy, Elementor, Toolset are more all-in-one tools. You simply need not code if what they can offer is enough for what you need.
• Code free is the way it is all going - not perfect today, but that is not a reason to look back.
• All-in-one is better for user experience and more integrated.
• Design is important. I find it hard enough just to get the design right, let alone doing all the coding! Better to leave the code to the tools that can handle that so I can concentrate on the getting the site shipped quickly.
• With design skills, you are above your client's level.
• It does not matter that tools which pack everything in them will end up with deprecated code, because clients should rebuild their sites every few years anyway!

Final thoughts

On the whole, we're lucky with the tools we've picked. We took wrong turns, looking at Megathemes to do things quickly. It was a false economy for us when we wanted one thing different to the scores of options they gave us. It took twice as long! Since then, we have preferred simple layouts that we can add to.

Mentioned in this episode...

Elementor

Beaver Builder

Toolset

Brizy