11 ms·

Show HN: An AI-Powered WordPress Site Builder That We Are Open-Sourcing Today

192 points by selul 3y ago

pbowyer 3y ago
For those of us who haven't recently used WordPress it would be really helpful if you define what a FSE theme is. For others, it's "Full Site Editing" themes, which means... I guess you can edit anything in the theme customizer?
- selul 3y ago
  Hi there, That's a very good question. In WordPress, Full Site Editing (FSE) allows you to design your entire site—including the header, footer, and everything in between—using blocks. Blocks are the components for adding content in the new WordPress block editor, enabling you to easily incorporate text, images, videos, and more. For this new approach, your site will require a Block theme, designed specifically for compatibility with this new editor. Also, one thing to note here is that the traditional theme customizer is no longer present in this environment. Instead, FSE allows direct manipulation of site elements within the WordPress Block Editor interface.
- interestica 3y ago
  The full site editing thing really changes the wordpress paradigm. It's a different mental model. I've had people reach out for help because it ends up being a wall for them. The communication/education aspect of it needs work.
rodolphoarruda 3y ago
Sounds interesting and promising, I just hope it doesn't fall into the WP pricing trap that I have seen becoming the norm lately. The extreme case was this theme I downloaded for free, but later found out that in order to make all functionality work as I've seen in the demo, I would have to subscribe to an X number of paid plugins, something around a thousand dollars per year. This has nothing to do with the WP mentality from years ago.
- josefresco 3y ago
  Veteran of WordPress here: Pretty much every theme on Envato Marketplace comes bundled with plugins that at some point will create a licensing nightmare. It's been this way for years, and is not a recent development. The problem is in order to "bundle" these premium plugins (think Slider Revolution) the theme authors often devise their own propriety update mechanism that after a few years becomes...wonky at best. Separate licensing that relies on "native" update processes would actually be ideal. The process goes like this: 1. Login to update plugins. 2. Some plugins don't auto update because they require licenses. 3. Search for the theme's proprietary update process or plugin. 4. Discover that the Envato support license is expired. 5. Renew license (typically 6 months). 6. Update plugins again and... pray that it works because support is always a gamble. We stay away from Envato and the like if we can, but inevitably we acquire clients with themes purchased this way.
  - rodolphoarruda 3y ago
    Yes, I began to work with Envato back in 2008 and saw this licensing tsunami coming. I have canceled my subscription with them last November. I couldn't find a single theme without Elementor bundled up. I feel sorry for those many unadvised people who actually bought the theme to later had to open the wallet again to pay Elementor for a subscription.
  - konfusinomicon 3y ago
    hey now, when using terms like 'Slider Revolution' always remember to include a trigger warning to avoid sending all the salty wordpress webdevs into fits of insurmountable rage
    - josefresco 3y ago
      I hear you, just yesterday I was telling someone in my office how that plugin just gives me the sweats. I can stumble around sure but woah is that UI a beast. Very capable but not for the faint of heart.
- Beijinger 3y ago
hnrodey 3y ago
Commenting w/o reading the article. WordPress triggered me. Last month I created a brand new site using WordPress. I followed a 90 minute video on YouTube where I was instructed step-by-step on what to do. The result is that I'm happy with the finished product and learned a lot about WordPress along the way. However, I would have NEVER got there on my own absent this remarkable YT video. WordPress is too complex, too bloated, too filled with messages from plugins, too reliant on magic, too reliant on plugins to do anything advanced beyond setup a post or page. I hate WordPress so much. I'll still use it because it's entrenched, and because it's less time that coding a Jekyll site to equivalent functionality. But I hate it. Thoroughly.
- quesera 3y ago
  I'd love to share the link to that video with someone who will benefit as much as you have, so that I can continue to never think about WordPress myself.
  - rodolphoarruda 3y ago
    Folks here are commenting about this FSE feature that allows you to build a full site starting from a block theme. I did a quick search on YT for 'FSE full course' and found some. I think it's worth the time checking out.
- spiderfarmer 3y ago
  Same. I tried many times in the last 10 years to see if it improved, but every time it got worse. Especially the plugins. Automattic should have killed many of them by integrating the functionality, but they have seem to have stagnated years ago.
  - RobotToaster 3y ago
    Automattic are one of the worst offenders when it comes to plugins, a bunch of features that should be in core are in their jetpack plugin that integrates with their proprietary SaaS.
- 3y ago
imnotgpt 3y ago
Anyone know of any good multi site options other than Wordpress? Say you were running 300+ sites by your lonesome, what would you pick, Wordpress or something else? I’m asking because for this use-case Wordpress Multisite seems to be the only option, but I’ve also always despised its structure and inner-workings.
- selul 3y ago
  I don't think there is any other option. If those are very simple websites, there are some wp plugins that allow you to map them to domains, i.e you can use a single instance of WordPress and map the content to different domains. One plugin for this use case is WP Landing Kit.
- rovr138 3y ago
  What’s shared between these 300 sites?
- 1123581321 3y ago
  Look at Craft CMS multi site for a better implementation. It’s also multi-lingual, e.g. you can maintain Spanish and French translations for your global elements and then designate language for each of your sites and it’ll translate any shared content. However, for 300 sites, anything but a custom web app will get out of hand because that’s too many to manage in a UI that’s primarily meant for a handful of sites.
- rroose 3y ago
  Drupal has an excellent multi site solution with the domain access module with which you can share content between multiple domains/sites.
  - iamacyborg 3y ago
    I'll never understand why Drupal never became as popular as WP.
    - rroose 3y ago
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
tbwriting 3y ago
No shade to the creators as I'm sure the tool is great but if I didn't know better I'd say this seems like an astroturfed effort by WordPress to stay relevant. Existing AI tools alongside other open-source builders (Puck for React, Primo for Svelte, etc.) equals all the good things about WordPress's "WYSIWYG-ness" minus all the unnecessary bloat that's piled up over the years.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- marc_io 3y ago
  The power of WordPress lies in its community, branding, and marketplace. The options you mentioned simply don't compete in these areas.
- dmurko 3y ago
  WP is still by far the most popular CMS [1] and runs a large part of the internet. So I'm pretty sure it's still relevant. [1] https://kinsta.com/wordpress-market-share/ https://kinsta.com/wordpress-market-share/ or https://trends.builtwith.com/cms https://trends.builtwith.com/cms
ckluis 3y ago
I wish they had a better demo video of it in action.
- asranihardeep 3y ago
  Sorry for that, but you can give the tool a go at quickwp.ai - it's free to try.
nibab 3y ago
I commend you for plugging AI into a commonly used tool in this space vs creating your own platform for building websites with AI. It's refreshing to see someone working back from a great user experience and meeting the users where they are today. This requires focus in the face of constant integration challenges and lots of design restrictions/limitations. Best of luck going forward!
nkko 3y ago
WordPress has become an unwieldy mess of plugins and licensing nightmares. Until Automattic addresses the core technical debt, WordPress will continue disappointing developers seeking a clean, modern CMS foundation.
- vouaobrasil 3y ago
  That is absolutely true. But if you're just blogging and only need the base install with Classic Editor and Akisment, it's actually quite nice and still better than most other platforms for self-hosting.
  - keane 3y ago
    I appreciated this plugin inventory by Nick Simson: https://nicksimson.com/posts/plugin-inventory-2023/ https://nicksimson.com/posts/plugin-inventory-2023/ There are some high-quality GPL-spirited plugins and themes (like those by Anders Norén https://andersnoren.se/teman/ https://andersnoren.se/teman/ or Oliver Juhas https://www.webmandesign.eu https://www.webmandesign.eu) amid an utter avalanche of SEO cruft so you have to know where to look.
    - vouaobrasil 3y ago
      Thanks a lot, didn't know about this one! Seems a lot more helpful than the default, full of very similar ones.
  - joshstrange 3y ago
    It is _if_ you self-host. Paying wordpress.com has been a crappy experience IMHO. You don't get much for the base tier and you don't get plugins until you pay for a much more expensive tier. I just wanted a place to blog and was tired of managing my ghost self-hosted blog and didn't want to pay for ghost. I ended up having to move up a tier to do basic things (sunk cost) and I blog probably 1-2 times a year if that. Whatever, I've paid up for a year or two now and once that expires I'll re-evaluate.
- j45 3y ago
ec109685 3y ago
Is the tldr; having open ai generate json config files that are parameters to a Wordpress template?
- asranihardeep 3y ago
  Yes and no. While that is definitely part of it, we also use it for patterns geenration.
aussieguy1234 3y ago
As long as WordPress is around, PHP will never die. Great for me with my 15 years of PHP experience. Once upon a time, I was involved in creating the largest WordPress media platform in the world with WordPress. You can view it at news.com.au, but there are about 20 other publications hosted on the same platform.
me_bx 3y ago
I'm curious about whether there are any ethics boundaries for the website generator, as the demo video posted on twitter shows that fake 5 stars "user" reviews are automatically included in the website created...
- asranihardeep 3y ago
  Depends on the context here. In our tool, we comply with OpenAI policies to avoid generating anything like hate speech and etc. For the review, you get more of a starter-content as a website admin to start customizing, not the final edit but a start point. Hope it makes sense.

192 points by selul 3y ago

For those of us who haven't recently used WordPress it would be really helpful if you define what a FSE theme is. For others, it's "Full Site Editing" themes, which means... I guess you can edit anything in the theme customizer?

selul 3y ago
Hi there, That's a very good question. In WordPress, Full Site Editing (FSE) allows you to design your entire site—including the header, footer, and everything in between—using blocks. Blocks are the components for adding content in the new WordPress block editor, enabling you to easily incorporate text, images, videos, and more. For this new approach, your site will require a Block theme, designed specifically for compatibility with this new editor. Also, one thing to note here is that the traditional theme customizer is no longer present in this environment. Instead, FSE allows direct manipulation of site elements within the WordPress Block Editor interface.
interestica 3y ago
The full site editing thing really changes the wordpress paradigm. It's a different mental model. I've had people reach out for help because it ends up being a wall for them. The communication/education aspect of it needs work.

rodolphoarruda 3y ago

Sounds interesting and promising, I just hope it doesn't fall into the WP pricing trap that I have seen becoming the norm lately. The extreme case was this theme I downloaded for free, but later found out that in order to make all functionality work as I've seen in the demo, I would have to subscribe to an X number of paid plugins, something around a thousand dollars per year. This has nothing to do with the WP mentality from years ago.

josefresco 3y ago
Veteran of WordPress here: Pretty much every theme on Envato Marketplace comes bundled with plugins that at some point will create a licensing nightmare. It's been this way for years, and is not a recent development. The problem is in order to "bundle" these premium plugins (think Slider Revolution) the theme authors often devise their own propriety update mechanism that after a few years becomes...wonky at best. Separate licensing that relies on "native" update processes would actually be ideal. The process goes like this: 1. Login to update plugins. 2. Some plugins don't auto update because they require licenses. 3. Search for the theme's proprietary update process or plugin. 4. Discover that the Envato support license is expired. 5. Renew license (typically 6 months). 6. Update plugins again and... pray that it works because support is always a gamble. We stay away from Envato and the like if we can, but inevitably we acquire clients with themes purchased this way.
- rodolphoarruda 3y ago
  Yes, I began to work with Envato back in 2008 and saw this licensing tsunami coming. I have canceled my subscription with them last November. I couldn't find a single theme without Elementor bundled up. I feel sorry for those many unadvised people who actually bought the theme to later had to open the wallet again to pay Elementor for a subscription.
- konfusinomicon 3y ago
  hey now, when using terms like 'Slider Revolution' always remember to include a trigger warning to avoid sending all the salty wordpress webdevs into fits of insurmountable rage
  - josefresco 3y ago
    I hear you, just yesterday I was telling someone in my office how that plugin just gives me the sweats. I can stumble around sure but woah is that UI a beast. Very capable but not for the faint of heart.
Beijinger 3y ago

hnrodey 3y ago

Commenting w/o reading the article. WordPress triggered me. Last month I created a brand new site using WordPress. I followed a 90 minute video on YouTube where I was instructed step-by-step on what to do. The result is that I'm happy with the finished product and learned a lot about WordPress along the way. However, I would have NEVER got there on my own absent this remarkable YT video. WordPress is too complex, too bloated, too filled with messages from plugins, too reliant on magic, too reliant on plugins to do anything advanced beyond setup a post or page. I hate WordPress so much. I'll still use it because it's entrenched, and because it's less time that coding a Jekyll site to equivalent functionality. But I hate it. Thoroughly.

quesera 3y ago
I'd love to share the link to that video with someone who will benefit as much as you have, so that I can continue to never think about WordPress myself.
- rodolphoarruda 3y ago
  Folks here are commenting about this FSE feature that allows you to build a full site starting from a block theme. I did a quick search on YT for 'FSE full course' and found some. I think it's worth the time checking out.
spiderfarmer 3y ago
Same. I tried many times in the last 10 years to see if it improved, but every time it got worse. Especially the plugins. Automattic should have killed many of them by integrating the functionality, but they have seem to have stagnated years ago.
- RobotToaster 3y ago
  Automattic are one of the worst offenders when it comes to plugins, a bunch of features that should be in core are in their jetpack plugin that integrates with their proprietary SaaS.
3y ago

imnotgpt 3y ago

Anyone know of any good multi site options other than Wordpress? Say you were running 300+ sites by your lonesome, what would you pick, Wordpress or something else? I’m asking because for this use-case Wordpress Multisite seems to be the only option, but I’ve also always despised its structure and inner-workings.

selul 3y ago
I don't think there is any other option. If those are very simple websites, there are some wp plugins that allow you to map them to domains, i.e you can use a single instance of WordPress and map the content to different domains. One plugin for this use case is WP Landing Kit.
rovr138 3y ago
What’s shared between these 300 sites?
1123581321 3y ago
Look at Craft CMS multi site for a better implementation. It’s also multi-lingual, e.g. you can maintain Spanish and French translations for your global elements and then designate language for each of your sites and it’ll translate any shared content. However, for 300 sites, anything but a custom web app will get out of hand because that’s too many to manage in a UI that’s primarily meant for a handful of sites.
rroose 3y ago
Drupal has an excellent multi site solution with the domain access module with which you can share content between multiple domains/sites.
- iamacyborg 3y ago
  I'll never understand why Drupal never became as popular as WP.
  - rroose 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

tbwriting 3y ago

No shade to the creators as I'm sure the tool is great but if I didn't know better I'd say this seems like an astroturfed effort by WordPress to stay relevant. Existing AI tools alongside other open-source builders (Puck for React, Primo for Svelte, etc.) equals all the good things about WordPress's "WYSIWYG-ness" minus all the unnecessary bloat that's piled up over the years.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
marc_io 3y ago
The power of WordPress lies in its community, branding, and marketplace. The options you mentioned simply don't compete in these areas.
dmurko 3y ago
WP is still by far the most popular CMS [1] and runs a large part of the internet. So I'm pretty sure it's still relevant. [1] https://kinsta.com/wordpress-market-share/ https://kinsta.com/wordpress-market-share/ or https://trends.builtwith.com/cms https://trends.builtwith.com/cms

ckluis 3y ago

I wish they had a better demo video of it in action.

asranihardeep 3y ago
Sorry for that, but you can give the tool a go at quickwp.ai - it's free to try.

nibab 3y ago

I commend you for plugging AI into a commonly used tool in this space vs creating your own platform for building websites with AI. It's refreshing to see someone working back from a great user experience and meeting the users where they are today. This requires focus in the face of constant integration challenges and lots of design restrictions/limitations. Best of luck going forward!

nkko 3y ago

WordPress has become an unwieldy mess of plugins and licensing nightmares. Until Automattic addresses the core technical debt, WordPress will continue disappointing developers seeking a clean, modern CMS foundation.

vouaobrasil 3y ago
That is absolutely true. But if you're just blogging and only need the base install with Classic Editor and Akisment, it's actually quite nice and still better than most other platforms for self-hosting.
- keane 3y ago
  I appreciated this plugin inventory by Nick Simson: https://nicksimson.com/posts/plugin-inventory-2023/ https://nicksimson.com/posts/plugin-inventory-2023/ There are some high-quality GPL-spirited plugins and themes (like those by Anders Norén https://andersnoren.se/teman/ https://andersnoren.se/teman/ or Oliver Juhas https://www.webmandesign.eu https://www.webmandesign.eu) amid an utter avalanche of SEO cruft so you have to know where to look.
  - vouaobrasil 3y ago
    Thanks a lot, didn't know about this one! Seems a lot more helpful than the default, full of very similar ones.
- joshstrange 3y ago
  It is _if_ you self-host. Paying wordpress.com has been a crappy experience IMHO. You don't get much for the base tier and you don't get plugins until you pay for a much more expensive tier. I just wanted a place to blog and was tired of managing my ghost self-hosted blog and didn't want to pay for ghost. I ended up having to move up a tier to do basic things (sunk cost) and I blog probably 1-2 times a year if that. Whatever, I've paid up for a year or two now and once that expires I'll re-evaluate.
j45 3y ago

ec109685 3y ago

Is the tldr; having open ai generate json config files that are parameters to a Wordpress template?

asranihardeep 3y ago
Yes and no. While that is definitely part of it, we also use it for patterns geenration.

aussieguy1234 3y ago

As long as WordPress is around, PHP will never die. Great for me with my 15 years of PHP experience. Once upon a time, I was involved in creating the largest WordPress media platform in the world with WordPress. You can view it at news.com.au, but there are about 20 other publications hosted on the same platform.

me_bx 3y ago

I'm curious about whether there are any ethics boundaries for the website generator, as the demo video posted on twitter shows that fake 5 stars "user" reviews are automatically included in the website created...

asranihardeep 3y ago
Depends on the context here. In our tool, we comply with OpenAI policies to avoid generating anything like hate speech and etc. For the review, you get more of a starter-content as a website admin to start customizing, not the final edit but a start point. Hope it makes sense.