What's your web platform of choice?
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Hey!
Note: its a long post due to talking about what I'm looking for, but the main question is in bold
This is more of a general post since I'm trying to figure out what web platforms any of you have tried before or have past experiences with! Basically, I want a platform that is both scalable and flexible! We are already are making solid sales in our first year and with the release of a new plugin and redesign from the ground up, we're hoping to gather more traction. I myself have created some html/css/js websites as well as utilizing the LAMP stack before. I've also ventured off into the page builder mess (wix, squarespace, etc) as well as the open source mess (wordpress!). Everything has their pros and cons, but I was hoping to get some info from people who release audio plugins and which platform easily caters to plugin/audio centered businesses. I've heard (and used some) of these guys:
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WordPress
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Webflow
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Framer
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Wix
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Squarespace
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Shopify
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Code from scratch + frameworks :face_with_steam_from_nose:
These of course are some of the bigger names out there.. I was thinking of kicking wix, squarespace (currently using), and shopify due to their massive limitations. These things from what I have seen are mainly for really small businesses or people who just want to put something out on the web asap such as a portfolio or other not-so-much dynamic pages. I'm ok with some limitations, but it should definitely allow for more customizability and less beginner geared since when working with audio plugins, you need to handle lots of licensing, support, sales, etc. I've used wordpress and am "comfortable" (as a beginner and not like those custom theme development guys) with it, but from my experience, it all just feels clunky, somewhat outdated (in ui design capabilities) but it does offer levels higher felxibility than something like squarespace. It seems to be what you guys use the most, and why? Webflow is another I've heard that is relatively new, its designing capabilities to make modern and eye-catching websites that look enterprise-like are what gives it the popularity, as well as having an interface which is catered towards people who have already done html and css before. But I dont know about using it for a software business site with a bunch of ecommerce... And framer is like webflow but i heard it doesnt have as much features. Coding from scratch is well, coding from scratch... which I don't know we have the time for currently.... If you've made a website on a similar scale from scratch, how long has it taken you? Ultimately, my question is what do you use, and why. What have you tried other than that and what made you pick the one you're using?
Thanks a ton!
i make music
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@Casmat said in What's your web platform of choice?:
Ultimately, my question is what do you use, and why. What have you tried other than that and what made you pick the one you're using?
I've used a few different platforms (including shopify) and ended up with WooCommerce. The page building is simple, the features are quite capable and I'm really enjoying creating wordpress plugins to interface with my HISE stuff.
Dan Korneff - Producer / Mixer / Audio Nerd
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@Dan-Korneff said in What's your web platform of choice?:
I'm really enjoying creating wordpress plugins to interface with my HISE stuff.
How trivial is wordpress plugin creation? How'd you start, I was stumped haha
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@Casmat said in What's your web platform of choice?:
How'd you start
I was "introduced" to writing wordpress plugins during the integration of Unlocker in my HISE stuff. It was not a fun process.... but now that I have a better understanding of the language, I can bang out something pretty quick.
I consider myself a slow learner, so it took me a few months to catch on.
The key is to not try to do a million things all at once. Start with a single task. one step at a time. debug. and build along the way.Dan Korneff - Producer / Mixer / Audio Nerd
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@Dan-Korneff Ahh, makes sense! Thanks for the tip!
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@Casmat WordPress here. I wrote my first two plugins this year. I didn't find it too difficult but i do have a lot of experience with php.
For web hosting I'm using vultr.
Libre Wave - Freedom respecting instruments and effects
My Patreon - HISE tutorials
YouTube Channel - Public HISE tutorials -
@Casmat wordpress here too, with WooCommerce. So using lots of "off-the-shelf" plugins for stuff like serial number assignment and issuing etc. Using it becuse its pretty close to what I would really like in terms of functionality, but yeah the UI design is not too "cutting edge" even with a paid-for theme.
Basically WP because its the best compromise of time vs look vs functionality...
I havent got into making my on WP plugins yet.
HISE Development for hire.
www.channelrobot.com -
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Wordpress here too :) And I'm using VPS, which is faster than shared hosting (I've used DigitalOcean and Vultr, both are great).
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@d-healey ahh, that’s good! I may have to dabble a bit more into plugin making now, I’ve got a bit more php knowledge now than when I first tried!
i make music
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@Lindon yup, that’s what i had thought in terms of compromises, I guess you can’t get anything perfect without spending lots of time on a custom site haha
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@Casmat Here is the detailed info that I shared before.
https://forum.hise.audio/topic/5720/web-design/5?_=1700576854525
develop Branch / XCode 13.1
macOS Monterey / M1 Max -
@Casmat Also ChatGPT is really good with PHP and Javascript, I've done good stuff with it (and learned a lot)
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@bendurso said in What's your web platform of choice?:
Also ChatGPT is really good with PHP and Javascript, I've done good stuff with it (and learned a lot)
There is a risk with ChatGPT that you learn bad coding, because unless you know the difference you will assume that if it works it's good code.
If you already know what you're doing and you're using ChatGPT to shortcut work you could do that's one thing, but relying on it to produce code you don't understand is not always a wise idea.
I use ChatGPT all the time to write little snippets, and I almost always have to correct/improve them.
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Another question I guess, how have you guys done designing on Wordpress, it’s of course a bit clunky, do you use things like elementor/Divi to design or what?
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@Casmat I like to be as minimal as possible. I use the Storefront theme and Gutenberg.
However I'm experimenting more with blocks and playing with FrostWP. I also added the responsive blocks plugin just yesterday because it has some stuff I'm not able to do with vanilla gutenberg.
You should also add the code snippets plugin, it has a ton of uses and makes customising things with code very easy.
Libre Wave - Freedom respecting instruments and effects
My Patreon - HISE tutorials
YouTube Channel - Public HISE tutorials -
@orange said in What's your web platform of choice?:
@Casmat Here is the detailed info that I shared before.
https://forum.hise.audio/topic/5720/web-design/5?_=1700576854525
That's really helpful Thanks!
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@d-healey ooh I’ll take a look at that!
