Issue to find FSE theme for GenerateBlocks?
Their homepage recommends… GeneratePress 
They don’t include such megamenu as Cwicly, but doc helps you styling a mega-menu:
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sorry yes haha I am aware of GeneratePress, but I didn’t think it was a FSE theme? Thanks I will take a look again into the docs as clearly I didn’t read properly 
Thanks also regarding the mega menu I will read that too!
Reading your comment, I couldn’t help but feel like you’re echoing my own thoughts and experiences. Like you, I’ve also found myself considering the custom development route more seriously now, as it offers the control and certainty that’s becoming harder to find within the WP ecosystem.
The discontinuation of Cwicly feels like a step back in a field that desperately needs forward-thinking and innovation. It’s a sentiment many of us share, feeling lost in what seems like an unchanging landscape, despite the brief glimmer of hope Cwicly provided.
I share your cautious interest in Builderius as well. It’s a tough call to consider diving into another platform. The thought of investing more years into a tool, only to possibly face another dead end, is disheartening.
As you consider taking some time off and possibly stepping away from the community, know that your efforts and contributions have been appreciated. Whatever direction you decide to take, I wish you all the best and hope that the path you choose next brings you fulfillment and success.
Cheers
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By the looks of you photo it seems you were always leaving so I guess now it all makes sense
@iamkeef I tried Pinegrow about a year and a half ago. I built a site with it. Unfortunately I kept running into bugs that cost me serious dev time. But I believe that this has probably improved. They have some great tools but I do find their UI somewhat cumbersome. Some things like just linking a Wordpress menu can be rather complicated and take ages to implement. But there is Adam Lowe who creates lovely how to videos for them. I would hope the issues I ran into that frustrated me should be resolved.
The code route is developing your own custom blocks with mostly React. You will have to have a good understanding of React to create even the most standard blocks. FSE Blocks are so new they are still evolving. Running a npx package and installing a standard boilerplate block that Wordpress provides will give you an idea.
Then there is Bricks that has a load of third party support. Pairing that with Gutenbricks, you can create Gutenberg blocks that are editable. I actually contacted the dev of Gutenbricks and he was very positive. That is developing very quickly.
I will always prefer Cwicly though. It was the prefect solution for me. Bricks still hasn’t implemented components. Of course there is Greenshift and Stackable.
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Hi @hopscotch ! So I spent yesterday watching hours of Adam Lowe’s videos and I have to say that Pinegrow looks really impressive (and Adams videos are brilliant). I mean yes I agree, the interface isn’t exactly user friendly - but I guess like with any technology, it’s easy when you know how and difficult when you don’t. The thing I really like is that Pinegrow is doing things ‘the wordpress way’. I’m not saying that I like the way wordpress does things, but at the end of the day that is the tool I am building on and so aligning myself with it where possible, without dependencies, is very appealing to me. In the same way Cwicly embraced gutenberg, that is what initially made it appeal to me - before I realised just how brilliant Louis and his team are, then it appealed even more!
But I am not a react developer and so anything which allows me to build native blocks without having to code it from scratch, it what I am looking for right now - and so it seems Pinegrow is going to be the closest fit for me. I love the fact I can delete Pinegrow and the blocks will still work and not need Pinegrow at all to be updated. Oh - and also Pinegrow offers Tailwind integration. It’s not that beautiful Cwicly integration, but still, it’s there. I will update here further once I actually start to build some custom blocks with it though
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@iamkeef Indeed Pinegrow has literally everything. I have half of Bootstrap’s classes saved in my wee brain and Pinegrow supports Bootstrap as well 
It’s the best tool for custom independent block creation. I suppose I should take another look lol
Adam is wiser than you know 
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@hopscotch Ahhh I remember the bootstrap days - they were good days. Haven’t used that in a long time now haha. If you like bootstrap then take a look at uikit (https://getuikit.com/) I love their components its so feature rich. Am already thinking I could use Uikit to build some dynamic component blocks with Pinegrow… possibly…
Regarding Pinegrow and the removal of block plugins (and Pinegrow itself) dependencies, there is something I can’t resolve… but I’ve never used Pinegrow or alike, so forgive me if it is obvious.
When designing some block with Pinegrow, I imagine you’re somewhat tied to some internal Wordpress framework and API, like functions to register blocks, blocks settings, to handle custom fields, display blocks in the canvas and on frontend, etc.
So, what if WP makes some changes in its internal things?
(and with FSE fast and messy development, I have some fears!)
With a block plugin, the plugin dev team ensures that their blocks keep working, following WP updates.
But here, what is the process?
Do we have to reinstall Pinegrow plugin to fix the block on a site, or fix it in desktop version then re export the plugin to installs using it?
And what about clients sites without maintenance plan?
They have no way to fix Pinegrow blocks. OK, they don’t pay maintenance or support, but they can’t even profit from a more classical plugin update.
I sometimes build sites for associations or friends who can’t afford a maintenance plan, and I would prefer that some plugin team does the work for me
Can confirm. There are probably easy workarounds by tweaking the workflow a bit, but it was quite annoying when re-exploring the tool.
I used it for a while before Cwicly, and I literally checked it out again earlier this day.
Was a bit shocked that they are still on v3 and how slow the development is.
But I agree with you, it’s really powerful and flexible.
Here are their WP themes, which are based on UIkit.
I recommend checking out the first 3-4 ones to get an impression, if anyone is interested.
I used YooTheme / UIKit when working on a project for an agency a few years ago.
Very professional tool (at the time, now I can’t say, but feels a bit outdated to me).
The first theme I saw using some kind of design system, for example only 5 different spaces (from xs to xl) available. And indeed very efficient.
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Thanks - I actually used Yootheme Pro for nearly 10 years and decided last year to switch to Cwicly (that’s how much I loved Cwicly).
Yootheme Pro is a very good page builder but for some reason it is not very well known in the Wordpress community. But I wanted to get closer to Gutenberg / block editor and I also found Yoothemes support and communication very frustrating over the years. But their product is great.
You are right about v3 of Uikit, v4 has been in development for so long, I wonder if they will just switch to v5 (like php missing out v6 haha)
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I think in this case you would just reactivate Pinegrow and then update the block to the new requirements.
The main thing is the code is not dependent on Pinegrow and should be output in the correct wordpress format, so that any developer can then update without Pinegrow.
But Pinegrow will of course update their own system to work with any updates to Wordpress too. it’s just that you do not need it and can take it away.
The main thing here which is relevant is that you are not tied in to a builder / system, should it go under like Cwicly has. Yes the plugin dev team makes their blocks compatible with each update to wordpress, but what happens (like with Cwicly) if the plugin gets sunsetted? You can’t then take that block code and use it independently of the plugin. That’s the main difference with Pinegrow as you can take that code and it will work standalone as though it was hand coded as a native block
I understand, but you’re still tied to WP and Pinegrow.
Just found an example while watching Adam Lowe videos:
A response from Adam Lowe on FB:
This is actually the first time Pinegrow has had any compatibility issues since they started working with WordPress several years ago. That doesn’t mean they are immune to compatibility problems if WordPress decides to break backward compatibility, but it’s highly unlikely given the history of both products.
Sridhar and David McCan agreed with Igor on a discount that will last for a week to make the transition to Greenshift more affordable for anyone interested.
It’s 30% discount until March 20, which will then reduce to 15%.
Since this thread is about where to go, I think it is appropriated to share the coupon here.
I’m not affiliated with or have any relationship with anyone involved. It’s my first post in the forum since I was LTD holder but never used Cwicly, was my backup just in case something happen to Bricks. It seems I need a new plan as backup now…
I don’t know if I will purchase it for myself, but after lurking in the group for a few days, it’s the closest plugin I’ve found to Cwicly. It’s not as good as Cwicly, but it’s the most advanced option that uses Gutenberg.
The developer seems like a nice guy and engages with the community; he also listens to them. So, I suggest checking it out and deciding for yourself.
Here is the coupon: WPLTDS
PD: If someone from the team reads it, hope you are healing and to see you back on track someday. 
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Well your take on Bricks is one of the worse ones.
The obvious first: of course you can style classes. Just activate the class and all styling goes into it. So weird what you state here.
You can integrate Gutenberg if you want, there is for example Gutenbricks, that let’s you hotlink Bricks templates into Gutenberg enviroment, with them there as custom blocks but live synced, so your customer can change content in Gutenberg, but you design it in Bricks. Pretty awesome. You can also let content be made with custom fields, as that is pretty easy to accomplish, like in Cwicly… Also the interface can be pimped with Advanced Themer, so you have a pretty advanced choice of doing things pretty fast. Amazingly so, and give or take kind of same experience as in Cwicly with similar features.
Hard to input content? or to add images? What? Making image heavy text posts problematic? What? I am really confused. Even though, just use Gutenberg for your posts, if you feel more comfortable with that. And you can design live snyced templates/custom blocks with Gutenbricks for your customers.
Yes I spoke of two addons, but that is maybe one of the pain points here also, Cwicly was doing everything by itself and had to move as WP Site / Block builder / Gutenberg was moving. In Bricks no one is complaining (too hard) of missing templates - even though there is only a small selection, as there are solutions to it, like 10 different template add ons, taking pressure off Bricks.
So my advice would be not only judge a tool by itself but also take the ecosystem into account. I mean one level higher, that is why Wordpress is dominating website publishing.
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@iamkeef I can still build a site nearly as fast with Bootstrap as I could with any builder. It’s just second nature at this point. I have worked with Tailwind but the mobile first thing always wrecked my head. I suppose if I was just starting off like a very young one I wouldn’t have this limitation.
@yankiara no tool is perfect, but your blocks remain in Pinegrow and a simple update to Pinegrow and re-exporting the block should remedy the issue (I need to watch Adam’s video to confirm). It’s the best option for block creation independent of any specific plugin/tool. I will say mastering Pinegrow’s animations (with GSAP) are another learning curve all on their own. I hope they have improved that.
@Marius I think I will also give Pinegrow another look. I think its best to have a two pronged approach to avoid having all our eggs in one basket.
Bricks & Gutenbricks I find it ethical as you can create your blocks in Bricks, then export them as blocks with editable fields including dynamic content for use in Gutenberg. You can also update the design of the block within Bricks and the changes apply in Gutenberg. So your clients would not have to see or work with the builder, just Gutenberg. BUT you must have both Bricks and Gutenbricks active on your site for the blocks to continue to function. Thats why Pinegrow has the edge for me in that regard besides frameworks.
@jonn_mc I was hoping to see more Youtube creator content for Greenshift. But that said it is certainly worth a look. They seem to have a following and the discount offer is helpful.
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Mobile first is the default, but you can work desktop first if you like, using “max” when defining your breakpoints.
(This is actually what Cwicly does when you don’t reset the breakpoints to TW ones.)
The heavy issue with Bricks being the best obvious alternative, is that it kind of forces you to attach to it, several other workarounds (pluginns) that their developers charge sometimes more than the bricks license itself, making it kind of a disgusting deal.
But then the issue of giving all the power to one company owner that can f up everything.
I think the real purpose of web design now is tied to marketing and sales and master the UX UI is to have the power to implement quickly if you want to compete.
For that, the greenshift devs are more in the right track it seems, but for the people who are really trying to master and have freedom into the UI UX, more knowlegdeable devs, its so poor.
Some other alternatives are rising, but they have to be aggressive and tough to remain in business, this is no walk in the park and not in 2024.
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