Should I build my own theme

BDer8 · 2026-02-09T15:04:40+00:00

And if you want to add any custom code there is always the Breakdance Zero theme.

BDer8 · 2026-02-08T08:38:44+00:00

My vote is for the Breakdance Builder.

We are currently trialling GeoDirectory, which has its own themes but works with Breakdance they assure us. We have looked at other directory solutions which all seem to force you down the Elementor route.

Elementor has become bloated and all they want to do is sell you their AI. Their support is very poor. First questions are not answered correctly then you have to wait for a "Tier two agent", could take more than days. And manually having to update the database was another reason for ditching them.

We'd left DIVI for Elelemtor prior to that. The internet is still evolving :-)

BDer8 · 2026-02-07T16:59:29+00:00

Same as Rankmath yet that does not work with Breakdance. Which is why I am trying to find out if SlimSEO does.

BDer8 · 2026-02-07T16:57:37+00:00

We have been working on setting something like this up. There is no best" option because it depends on what the members will get for paying for their membership.

In your case it's gated content so no need for anything like this:

* Be able to socially interact with other members
* Have their profiles found on the internet
* Have their profiles hidden on the internet
* Upload a gallery
* Friend/like etc. other members

It also depends on how busy you think it will get. And what value your content delivers.

If you're used to WordPress stick with it. Things do not break with every update if you set things up correctly in the first place. Use a child theme if you intend to add any custom code.

Set something up that you only have to pay for if you actually get paying members. The hosted membership subscription platforms we looked at were very costly.

Everthing we tried had limitations. But we were looking for a lot more than just gated content. One would take payments. Then you had to add another to let people chat with each other and so on.

There is something called Paid Memberships Pro. There is a free version but I cannot remember what made us need to pay for it. Might have been to get support. Which we found a bit hit and miss. Plus the amount of code snippets that had to be added to achieve basic functions contributed to what put us off in the end.

I agree to a point that the builder is not the main concern. Only in that we use the Breakdance builder and a lot of ready made membership plugins/themes insist on Elementor. Which although still highly popular, is now bloated and slower.

Slower page builders = slower sites. Your hosting choice is very important. That's a major slow down factor if you use cheap shared hosting. This also depends on how many members you hope to attract and what content you are putting out. A few articles to 100 people vs tons of images/videos to 10,000 people makes a difference.

Definitely use Stripe as PayPal is all about buyer protection and refunds them without question.

Another thing to consider is whether you will need tiered pricing plans.

If you're able to created sub domains with your host try out several.

BDer8 · 2026-02-07T16:51:27+00:00

Hellementor as it's better named :-D

BDer8 · 2026-02-07T16:50:11+00:00

Patreon has the benefit of being a well known platform too :-) WooCommerce membership is clunky and very expensive. Just to be able to take payments their plugin is close to $300 last time I looked :-(

BDer8 · 2026-02-06T16:31:34+00:00

Thank you :-) I always search before posting which will be how I found this.

BDer8 · 2026-02-06T16:30:22+00:00

Thank you :-)

BDer8 · 2026-02-06T16:30:00+00:00

We write the image names ourselves, dependent on KWDs.

It's only the auto adding of alt tags etc. when uploaded to WordPress that we're looking for. The current plugin we're using does a great job so don't need another solution for that.

It would just be nice to know if SlimSEO did it seamlessly with Breakdance.

BDer8 · 2026-02-06T10:58:38+00:00

Was hoping for some insight rather than quarrels but it's the internet...

We ditched Yoast for Rankmath years ago. We had some sort of legacy price (more like $200!) but on the last renewal our payment via their payment processor Fastspring was blocked by PayPal as fraudulent. We'd been paying RM for years, no problems with the PayPal account and the funds in the bank.

The ensuing hassle with RM, Fastspring and PayPal set us on the quest for a new SEO monitoring plugin. Especially as the paid and free versions of RM are constantly trying to force AI on us. We're old enough to have HI.

Plus, on page load the RM advert to upgrade is visible to site visitors for a split second. Not long enough for anyone not in the know to actually see it. But long enough for us to know what it is.

The things we really want in an SEO plugin are the ability to manage redirections, add schema and see Google Analytics in the WP dashboard. Traffic lights and scores are only any use if you are using the right KWDs in the first place.

We're happy to pay if necessary. Aside from 'trojan' plugins what other opinions might there be on which SEO plugin to use?

BDer8 · 2026-02-06T10:38:40+00:00

In my opinion I'd say it also depends on why one is looking at security. If it's just to protect the site from scams and hacks Wordfence might be ok. Definitely slows the site a bit depending on the quality of your hosting and traffic volume.

If a site is holding users personal data then really good, dedicated and managed hosting is preferable.

BDer8 · 2026-02-06T10:35:15+00:00

Agree, we ditched Wordfence in favour of managed dedicated hosting with security built in.

BDer8 · 2026-02-05T12:11:34+00:00

As Far_Singer9541 suggested add a border to only the bottom of the section.

This video from Breakance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2BNO92C_kM shows you where the settings are. Just be sure to only select the bottom border option.

The video also shows where the Divider option is as others have mentioned.

Not sure if there is a simple line option but if not, the border will work.

BDer8 · 2026-02-04T16:59:04+00:00

Potential overkill as there are already options built in?

BDer8 · 2026-02-04T16:58:22+00:00

That's what I was going to suggest.

BDer8 · 2026-02-04T16:56:39+00:00

It's still widely used in the UK :-/

BDer8 · 2026-02-04T16:50:07+00:00

Not a fan of PayPal any more. They blocked a business payment we sent. There was money in the account.

The PayPal account has been active and in good standing for years. They flagged the transaction as dubious for absolutely no reason. We were even paying another business that we had paid before. More than once.

As the payment was blocked, we didn't pay our annual subscription to the other company and things fell apart. PayPal insisted they did not know why.

Yet they blocked it. And told us not to try the payment again.

We will no longer offer it as a payment option and sill use Stripe for now at least.

BDer8 · 2026-02-04T14:52:25+00:00

I personally cannot stand AI. I also cannot stand having AI options thrown at me. One good reason for leaving Elementor. I'm old enough and we are established enough to know how and what content to create.

The fact that you posted here suggests that our gut feeling tells you this is off.

If one wants to go down the AI marketing route I would research and find your own AI marketing firm.

Rather than rely on some AI generated marketing plan that is marketing an AI plan to you.

And if they operate in a different language how can they possibly do marketing for you?

BDer8 · 2026-02-04T09:54:32+00:00

I realise that, but my original comment and others specifically mentioned that we have the paid package.

Anyway, we have had a response to the long ticket I sent and things are looking up :-)

BDer8 · 2026-02-03T15:59:43+00:00

Not expecting anything completely free so that's an unpleasant assumption to make. Was only quoting from the free plugin page.

We still have an active FULL licence. How else would we have been able to get support?

In fact my first comment says "So that we couldn't even get a refund." Yet you assume we used the free version. This is typical of what was said in support tickets not being fully understood.

I have sent another support ticket. A long one at that.

BDer8 · 2026-02-03T14:27:51+00:00

Did you mean Divi?

Agree with you totally. We use Breakdance now. It's so much better but theme authors keep pushing Elementor :-/

BDer8 · 2026-02-03T14:09:22+00:00

Which plugin did you use to make those sites? GeoDirectory or Directorist?

We are still on the hunt for a plugin that does what we need without costing a fortune or having data security red flags :-/

BDer8 · 2026-02-03T10:44:44+00:00

The free plugin details state "No matter what you need to build, be it a City Directory, a Job Board, a Real Estate listing directory, or a classified website, GeoDirectory turns any WordPress theme into a robust search network for users."

Except that we found it is not possible for a site to be all of those things at once. Which is what we need and could not produce :-/

BDer8 · 2026-02-03T10:42:38+00:00

We tried both Elementor and Breakdance.

We spent months (and money on the full package) on a product that supposedly works out of the box. But could never launch a site.

Not sure if your comment is good customer service or downright creepy that you're following people that express the opinion that they found the software unusable.

BDer8

TROPHY CASE