Video summary

Why I Don't Use WordPress Anymore

Main summary

Key takeaways

Technology

Background & Motivation (WordPress → Other Approaches)

  • They started building websites around 2017–2018, used WordPress, and later built with tools like Elementor, Bricks, Edge, and other approaches.
  • WordPress was useful for shipping client work faster than fully custom development, at a reasonable price.
  • Over time, they argue that the meaning of “custom” changed:
    • It used to imply high labor/time/cost/team
    • Now it’s cheaper and more accessible

Core Technical Thesis: Less “Builder Layers,” More Code-First Orchestration

They claim their current approach is more efficient because it reduces complexity and abstraction layers compared to typical WordPress stacks.

What they see as extra layers in WordPress

They describe WordPress site delivery as involving multiple layers, such as:

  • Database-stored builder content
  • Builder rendering
  • Theme
  • PHP plugins
  • The final “then it ships” step

Their preferred direction

They prefer:

  • Having an AI generate the code
  • Writing code into files
  • Shipping the result, rather than operating primarily inside a page-builder abstraction

Why reducing layers matters

They emphasize limiting breakage by reducing the number of layers the AI has to guess or infer.

AI / Agentic Workflows Replacing Repetitive Tasks

They describe using agentic workflows and AI to automate repetitive or manual tasks.

  • They mention a $200 “Claude Code” subscription, framing it as heavily subsidized at the moment.
  • Their workflow shift is described as moving from:
    • “designer/operator clicking around”
    • to orchestration (a “command center” / “AI OS” concept)

The logic behind constrained systems

They argue that if you keep the system’s layers constrained, you’ll:

  • understand what’s happening more clearly
  • reduce probabilistic mistakes (since LLM output is not deterministic)

Recommendations: “Can You Do This If You’re in WordPress?”

They encourage WordPress users—even those who aren’t full-time developers—to stop viewing coding as impossible or only for experts.

  • They recommend (conceptually) code “in WordPress” as a transitional step.
  • Their main broader point is that you should:
    • learn how components connect (services, how pieces work together)
    • ignore gatekeeping that claims you can’t move beyond your current skill boundary—especially with AI assistance

Tradeoffs / Costs / Maintenance

They acknowledge the new workflow has costs and ongoing maintenance:

  • You don’t get the same benefit from a plug-in ecosystem
  • You still must manage deployment and bug maintenance

They also describe managing environments/services differently than WordPress, including:

  • Cloudflare Pages
  • GitHub/version control (implied by “use version control in GitHub”)

Complexity and client editing

  • They suggest marketing websites typically aren’t complex enough to require the old WordPress builder/plugin approach, so risk may be lower than people assume.
  • They expect client visual editing to evolve:
    • WordPress-style visual editing still exists
    • but they predict agentic editing for clients will become the future (they call it early)

Product / Feature-Like Takeaway (What They Built)

They frame their approach as:

  • code generation + systematization
  • the AI produces the “actual stuff,” while the user processes and systematizes it to avoid reinventing everything

They also mention providing “blueprints” that show their stack, and that these are accessible on their site.

Action Items / Where to Learn More

  • Watch their other content (videos + live streams over the last 9 months) to see how the workflow evolved.
  • Their site includes blueprints and a page on marksmancy.co that outlines the stack they use.
  • They mention a free workflow to download and summarize videos using yt-dlp and Claude, as a way to quickly digest live streams/videos.
  • Community reference: Modern Builder Society (linked in the description).

Main Speakers / Sources

  • Primary speaker: the video creator (no other specific named sources mentioned in the subtitles)
  • AI tools referenced: Claude / Claude Code (the main AI work assistant)

Original video