I’m running https://cost4estimating.com/ and I’m honestly at that point where my current setup is just not working anymore.
Pages are slow, plugins keep randomly conflicting, and building layouts feels way more complicated than it should be. I’ve been checking out Bricks Builder and it honestly looks like the cleanest option for performance + full control, so I’m seriously thinking about doing a full migration.
But I don’t want to rush it and break everything halfway through lol.
A few things I’m stuck on:
What’s your real-world workflow when migrating to Bricks? (staging first, full rebuild, then go live?)
Is there any realistic way to auto-convert existing pages or is it basically manual rebuild only?
How do you usually protect SEO, permalinks, and rankings during a full switch?
Any hidden issues or “wish I knew this earlier” moments you ran into?
Just trying to avoid turning this into a disaster mid-way
Any tips, workflows, or warnings would really help.
Hey Ella,
Before I start, please be aware that everything I’ll say will be my own opinion and based upon my own experiences and preferences.
I’m gonna try and respond to each of your points:
· Every time I had to migrate websites, or rebuild (using Bricks or not), it’s always felt like rebuilding from scratch was the best approach. It’s an opportunity to start fresh and avoid database and files bloat. Furthermore, fighting with existing content and features and trying to make everything work with a new system can often result in more time and effort. Then again, it all depends on the project and the amount of data there is to migrate and things to rebuild. But whatever you decide, work on a staging site or local copy and NEVER on the production site and make backups of your current site, please ^^
· Not that I know of; there is always AI, but I won’t go there and won’t recommend it at all! So yeah, it’s gonna suck a little!
· Planning, planning, and testing. I always make a full list of URLs before starting a migration project and then make sure every URL is still relevant and make redirects when necessary. But if it’s just a theme migration, your SEO should not be affected that much, I guess.
· Before starting, I would make sure that you get comfortable with Bricks’ design system, class management, components, and templates. Knowing how to use these appropriately will make your life easier during the build and after. Combining all of these with dynamic data is really what makes Bricks Builder so good!
I would recommend you check the new academy : https://academy.bricksbuilder.io
It’s really good, especially for new Bricks users.
Then you can test it out in the playground : https://try.bricksbuilder.io try and build a couple of pages, see if it’s the right tool for you.
Lastly, please be aware that rebuilding with Bricks or any other tool or builder won’t necessarily resolve all your problems. Good practices, having good plugin hygiene, and hosting can all play a big role in your pain points. But handled well, Bricks can definitely make your life easier!
I hope this will help.
Good luck if you decide to go through with it and let us know how it went
