As a WordPress user and developer, I can definitely say that I am into frameworks. I like trying out different frameworks and plugins, because it fascinates me as to what I can pull off with WordPress. When you dive deep into it, you can pull off some pretty amazing stuff.
One aspect of WordPress that I’ve felt has always been a little weak is their selection of page builders. WordPress drag and drop page builders range in quality, but most of the time they cause trouble. You try to integrate them, and they either break the theme, or their styles are overridden by the theme itself. There have always seemed to be limitations to WordPress theme page builders.
A theme I have always liked is Divi (I’ve covered Divi previously on SitePoint), which has its own page builder. I always thought Elegant Themes should create a separate plugin from their page builder. Apparently, they must have read my mind, because they just released their page builder as a plugin.
I have a library of specific themes I go to when I need to turn around a project quickly. The problem is that preset themes don’t offer that much flexibility. I can go in and customize a WordPress theme all day long. Just because I can do something doesn’t mean I want to. It can be more cost effective, especially for lower budget or more time sensitive projects, to implement a customizable system for your project.
You can drop the new page builder plugin into any theme. This means that if you find just the right theme, you can easily customize it. This is especially great for specialty themes that do something specific. You won’t fall victim to trying to hack a theme to make it look how you want it to. 
Having the ability to use the modular page builder makes it a great work around for themes that rely too heavily on shortcodes. It may be more of a personal preference, but I dislike themes that rely on shortcodes for their content structure. If I wanted to wrap each paragraph in code, I’d build the site in HTML. With the builder, you can add modules and place your content in them to build each page. Each module also offers options for customization, too.
Instead of modifying an existing theme and worrying about your customizations being future-proof, you can use the page builder to create the page layouts for your site. This is an excellent choice, because even if you update the theme, your page builder content will remain the same, because it is separate from the theme.
This can be a double-edged sword, because when you add to a theme, you usually use a child theme. When you update the base theme, the child theme saves you from losing your customizations. On the other hand, This is a plugin, and there’s not a way to create a “child plugin”. If you make customizations to the plugin itself, such as to the base code, it may be overwritten when you update the Divi Builder Plugin.
You can avoid problems with updates by applying code and CSS to the designated areas within the plugin itself. Each module has a section where you can add classes and CSS to it individually. Each module can be customized, giving you maximum flexibility. The other added advantage to this is that when you update, the CSS that you applied to each module will be carried over in the update, just like a theme or plugin’s options would be if you updated it.
Build any kind of layout you can imagine. The concept is simple. Everything starts with rows, which can be stacked on top of each other. Each row can be built with different combinations of columns and width variations. Using the rows that stack on top of each other, you can build an unlimited number of layout combinations.
The Divi builder plugin is packed with 46 modules that will allow you to build a powerful, feature-rich site. Everything can be found within modules, which you can drop into the layout modules.
This means that you can build a site just how you want it, with the features you want, where you want them. Imagine having the ability to create landing pages, services pages, beautiful case study and product showcase pages, and more. Here’s a list of the modules available in the Divi Builder Plugin:
The sections below are all customized for full width use. They have added features that make sense for full-width sections of your site.
These sections are:
If you want to create a highly customized site, but you don’t want to be tied to one particular theme, you can use the Divi Builder Plugin to customize any WordPress theme. With 46 different modules to choose from, you can add custom functionality and features to any post or page.
You can check out the Divi Builder Plugin here.
James George is a professional web developer and graphic designer. James is an expert in design, and a professional web developer, with a special interest in WordPress. Founder of Design Crawl, James has been a professional designer since 2005.
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