Hi Comunity
My journey in web design began in 1996, when I built my very first website using hand-written HTML. Looking back, it was a very different internet, but that's where my passion for creating websites started.
In 2002, I discovered PostNuke, which opened the door to dynamic, database-driven websites. It was a huge step forward from static HTML and gave me my first real experience with content management systems.
Two years later, in 2004, I moved to WordPress, and I've never looked back. WordPress quickly became the platform I wanted to build my career around, and after more than two decades, it still forms the foundation of almost everything I create.
I've been a supporter of Elegant Themes and became a Lifetime Member before Divi even existed. In early 2014, a few months before Divi 2.0 was released, I started working with Divi. Over the next ten years, I built countless websites using Divi.
By early 2024, however, I felt that Divi had fallen behind the competition. After carefully evaluating of the available page builders, I decided to move my workflow to Elementor, which at the time I believed offered a more modern and capable development experience.
But, in January 2025, I started to testing Divi 5 Public Alpha. I followed every release closely, experimenting with the new architecture and watching the platform evolve month by month.
By mid-2025, I was back working in Divi again. The new architecture, significantly improved performance, and modern development approach convinced me that Divi was once again the builder I wanted to work with.
Today, I work exclusively with Divi 5.
Nearly 30 years after writing my first HTML page, I still enjoy learning, testing new ideas, and pushing WordPress further. Whether I'm building custom WordPress websites, WooCommerce stores, creating Divi layouts, or developing new products for the Divi community, my goal is always the same: to create websites that are fast, scalable, easy to manage, and built to last.
Welcome to the community, Pedro! 👋
What an incredible journey from hand-coding HTML websites in 1996 to working exclusively with Divi 5 nearly 30 years later.
Your experience across PostNuke, WordPress, WooCommerce, Elementor, and Divi gives you a perspective that very few people in this space have. I also really respect that you were willing to move away from Divi when it no longer met your standards, then carefully test Divi 5 before deciding to return. That says a lot about how seriously you approach your work.
It’s great to have someone here who understands both where web design has come from and where it is heading.
I’m sure your knowledge, testing experience, and product development background will add a huge amount of value to the community.
Welcome, Pedro. We’re very glad to have you here!
What a journey! It's fascinating to hear from someone who has experienced everything from hand-coded HTML and PostNuke to WordPress, Elementor, and now Divi 5.
I especially found your move back to Divi after spending time with Elementor interesting. Your perspective as someone who has worked extensively with both builders is incredibly valuable.
Having used both builders extensively, where do you think Divi 5 still has room to grow? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on where Elegant Themes should focus next.
Looking forward to learning from your experience and insights in the community!
Naba Hi,
Well, first, Divi 5, as I see it, is 100% stable. They still have some serious issues, e.g., sometimes the selected font gets changed on the front, which is a bug I reported over 4 months ago, and they still have not resolved. I was in contact with them again last week... This can easily be fixed with a CSS and PHP snippet, but it should not be needed to do in a page builder.
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On "where Elegant Themes should focus next", I may get some comments that I'm stupid. But I would really love it if they actually make Divi into a CMS and we would never need to be worried about conflicts with WordPress, as I said, many may look at me with a big question mark, but this is a way I would like to see them go.
Pedro Alvarez Haha, turning Divi into a full CMS sounds really interesting. It might be possible in the future, but it would certainly be a major shift for the platform.
Naba Agree :)
But you must admit, it would be bloody cool :)
Pedro Alvarez Yeah, it would be cool :)