Hi there,
I have a WordPress website that uses a theme. The default homepage uses Elementor.
I have redesigned the homepage in Figma as a visual so will be rebuilding it completely.
My question is, should I build the homepage from scratch as a template file (HMTL, CSS, JS, PHP etc) or use the Elementor page builder?
I am thinking coding it from scratch as it will give me more flexibility and also won’t bloat the page out with the page builder’s code. I’m guessing this will be an advantage to page speed.
Any thoughts would be great!
Thanks!
What is the skill level of you and those who will be making changes to the site? If none of you are really devs, then you might want to use the page builder. However, if some of your group are devs and will know how to debug and write code to fix issues, then I say build it yourself as it will do exactly what you say… less bloat, more flexibility.
Do keep in mind that coding stuff yourself can also open up security issues if you are not careful. Again, if you are devs that know where the dangers are, then I say do it from scratch. However if you are more of a marketing person, then the page builder might be a better option.
Not only go with whatever is comfortable for you, but those who will interact with the site. You don’t exactly want to code up something that later can’t be changed by others are on your staff.
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Thanks for the reply.
I would class myself as a frontend designer/developer.
I will be building it myself and possibly the help of another dev. HTML/CSS wise is all totally fine. I will possibly be needing to include shortcodes and custom PHP to create some custom areas of the homepage.
I am thinking of going ahead and creating it from scratch. I then face the issue of all the inside pages either being built with the page builder or custom coding them. I’m not a fan of having a mixture as it means there will be slight differences in spacing, padding etc. I’m too much of a pixel-perfect guy and would want everything to be exact. 
In which case, I’m surprised you’re even thinking of using a page builder. The HTML and CSS code produced by Elementor is a dogs dinner - and that’s being unkind to dogs. 
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Get the website done with Custom-Code as it also helps in SERP too.
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if you have knowledge for custom theme building from scratch and mainly time… then i suggest to go with custom coding as it will avoid uncessary code and is more secure as well as speed up your site too
There is nothing to stop you using the same CSS as the rest of the site on your custom pages.
But:-
I have no experience of working with Elementor, but from what code snippets I have seen from it, I would probably agree with the above.
That may mean if you did use the CSS from Elementor, you find yourself inserting some pretty horrendous class attributes in your HTML.
Hi, Coding for your homepage can be time-consuming. I think you can go for a good website page builder. As I'm not that good with coding skill, I use CloudFunnels to build my home pages. It has drag & drop editor and many in-built templates to make the work easier.
I would definitely recommend you to use this tool if you’re planning to use a website builder.
Is it compatible with WordPress, @oliviaareid29? Because that is what the OP is using.
No Cloudfunnels is actually an individual product. You can say it’s an alternative to Wordpress.
That’s not very helpful to somebody asking specifically about a WP site, then.
In future, please check before posting that your answer fits the OP’s requirements.
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I believe that using our own code is way more secure than any website builder. The codes used by CMS for security purposes are always same, which makes it an easy target for hackers. So team code here!
I think website builder is the perfect choice because from builder you would not have any type of confusion coding related and it will manage automatic your website.
It has been several weeks since the OP visited, so there seems little point in continuing to offer opinions.
Thanks to all who contributed.
Thread closed.