Archived topic
Need advice for building a performant website
3 replies · Started by Alessio on March 16, 2021
Hi there!
This is just indirectly related to GeneratePress and other products like GenerateBlocks, but I hope that you can help me a little.
I'm asking this here because I know that you guys care about performance, and I'd like to get the most out of my website's performance. I'd also be willing to pay for some advice. I've just donated $10 to make up for your time and to support development, but I'd still understand if this question goes further than the scope of your support.
My goal is to use as many of your products as possible (GenerateBlocks/-press etc.) instead of relying on other, less performant plugins.
First, this is my situation: I'm running an affiliate website with different kinds of products. Each product has their own product page with a price comparison/image/description/buy button. Additionally, there are multiple comparison tables for each product on different subpages.
I'm currently using an affiliate plugin for the product pages and comparison tables called Affiliate-Toolkit, however, it isn't updated as often anymore, so I'd like to re-create my website from scratch. I also own a plugin called "Content Egg" which I can replace Affiliate-Toolkit with. It would grab all the pricing data for me.
My main issue is designing the product pages/comparison tables and all that stuff in the most performant way (I know CSS/HTML, but I don't want to use the HTML widget for every single product box. It's very unflexible as well). I'd love to reach 100 in google page speed scores as well as having a modern website at the same time (I thought about using the new Glassmorphism trend to design it). I've also thought about using WooCommerce for that, as it already has this product page structure, but I figured it's bad for the performance.
What do you think would be the best way to build (in my case re-build from scratch) that website? I currently own GeneratePress, but I'm thinking of getting the paid version of GenerateBlocks. Do I need that, or is GP Premium 2.0 enough? What aspects of my website would your plugins be able to handle and for what would you recommend other, third party plugins? Can your plugins handle dynamic fields, or would I need something like ACF for that?
I'm looking forward to your reply! Have a great day!
Alessio
Hi there,
Let's answer the questions one by one.
I’m currently using an affiliate plugin for the product pages and comparison tables called Affiliate-Toolkit, however, it isn’t updated as often anymore, so I’d like to re-create my website from scratch. I also own a plugin called “Content Egg” which I can replace Affiliate-Toolkit with. It would grab all the pricing data for me.
If it isn't being updated anymore, you should really consider changing your plugin as it's possible that the development for Affiliate-Toolkit is abandoned. It may be better to learn a new plugin now rather than keeping an abandoned plugin which could potentially be a pain in the future.
I’ve also thought about using WooCommerce for that, as it already has this product page structure, but I figured it’s bad for the performance.
Not necessarily. You should be able to improve on this with optimization plugins.
What do you think would be the best way to build (in my case re-build from scratch) that website?
This is ideal but not necessary.
I currently own GeneratePress, but I’m thinking of getting the paid version of GenerateBlocks. Do I need that, or is GP Premium 2.0 enough?
GP Premium doesn't overlap with GB as they serve different purposes but they work in tandem. :)
GP Premium 2.0 allows you to create content templates and GB lets you "beautify" the content template you're making. :)
What aspects of my website would your plugins be able to handle and for what would you recommend other, third party plugins? Can your plugins handle dynamic fields, or would I need something like ACF for that?
Aside from the styling(customizer, GP Premium) and layout template(GP Premium 2.0), Hook Element allows you to insert things from hooks on different parts of the site.
https://docs.generatepress.com/article/hooks-element-overview/
https://docs.generatepress.com/article/hooks-visual-guide/
As for other plugins:
If you need post listing, you can use WP Show Posts, which we also support.
http://wpshowposts.com/
And as for any custom field, yes ACF should work. I've actually recommended this quite a bit to some users with their questions here.
If you need custom post types, try Pods or CPT UI.
Also, since this is in the context of making the site performant, you definitely would need optimization plugins.
The simplest one would be Autoptimize
https://docs.generatepress.com/article/configuring-autoptimize/
But of course, you can use any optimization plugins of your preference.
Consider using image optimization plugins as well. (smush or optimole)
Hi Elvin,
Thank you for your answer! I'm still a bit confused regarding ACF and GenerateBlocks.
Would I use GenerateBlocks to design stuff like Comparison tables, or would I need "ACF Blocks"?
When do I need to use GenerateBlocks, and when do I need to use ACF Blocks?
Would I use GenerateBlocks to design stuff like Comparison tables, or would I need “ACF Blocks”?
When do I need to use GenerateBlocks, and when do I need to use ACF Blocks?
ACF is useful when you need to associate specific data to posts or pages. ACF allows posts or pages to hold certain data values through its fields.
You can also fetch these data values and display them as well.
I highly recommend reading more about ACF here - https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/ - especially the documentation.
GenerateBlocks is mainly for you to be able to make a layout of your preference. Say, for example, you want to display a Grid Row with 5 columns, GenerateBlocks will allow you to do that easily with extra styling. :)
