Welcome back to the 31st edition of The Lab Report!
First up let me say, if you’ve opened this email… that’s pretty awesome.
I know your inbox is probably getting bombarded with 3 billion other Black Friday emails.
Black Friday – which I guess has now become Black Friday Week – is always sensory overload.
But I also kinda love it?
I always tell myself I’m not getting anything this year, but sometimes there are a couple deals that are too good to pass up.
They’re usually tools I’ve been eyeing for a while but haven’t pulled the trigger on. Or at least haven’t fully committed to.
Since there’s not a whole lot else going on in web design land right now, I thought I’d share my shortlist of Black Friday deals that most people should consider.
👨💻 1) WPCodeBox
I’ve started using WPCodeBox on all my sites to manage my PHP, JS, and CSS snippets.
It’s a better way to manage your snippets compared to adding them to your theme’s functions.php file or even using a plugin like Code Snippets.
For years I’ve used the free Code Snippets plugin, but WPCodeBox is actually such a step up.
Here’s why it’s better:
- You can’t accidentally take down your site (it will tell you that your snippet is causing a fatal error)
- You can save your snippets to your own cloud library(!). That means you can easily import it across multiple sites.
- The editor makes it easier to write, edit, and read code
- You can set conditions on where you want your snippets to run
- You can automatically beautify your code
- You can save CSS and JS snippets as external files
So, about the Black Friday deal…
There isn’t actually a discount available.
But prices are going up after BFCM.
And once version 2.0 stable is out (currently in beta), they’ll be switching it to a subscription instead of the current lifetime deal.
That means this week is definitely the best time to get it – if you’re gonna get it.
You can check out WPCodeBox here.
🛒 2) SureCart and SureMembers
I’ve talked about these in previous newsletters, but I’m a big fan of both SureCart and SureMembers.
(You can read my SureCart review here and my SureMembers review here).
They’ve only been out for a couple months now, but are growing quickly.
I think they’ll be hugely popular within a couple years – especially SureCart.
SureCart solves all the performance concerns that come with WooCommerce, and feels a lot more native to WordPress than integrating something like ThriveCart.
SureMembers is pretty simple, but has everything you need to restrict content and feels like it was actually built in 2022.
Starting tonight, SureCart’s new pro plans will be 50% off, and SureMembers will be up to 60% off (including a lifetime deal).
👷 3) WP Grid Builder
I’d consider WP Grid Builder to be an essential plugin for a lot of sites, especially if you have a blog or listing of any kind.
I use WPGB for my search, filtering, and pagination on both my blog and newsletter archives.
I’ve also used it to build a crazy map of shipwrecks in Thailand lol.
For Black Friday they’re offering 50% off on all plans, including lifetime deals.
I think this is the first time they’ve ever offered 50% off?
This is also the last time they’re offering a lifetime deal in 2022.
Definitely worth checking out WP Grid Builder if you need any grids, search, or filtering on your sites.
🏃 4) Cwicly Lifetime Deal
If you’ve followed me over the past couple months, you’ll know that I’m very bullish on Cwicly.
And that’s saying something, given that I basically laughed off Gutenberg in my Ranking WordPress Page Builders Heading into 2022 video.
I’ve started using it on the NewPulse site and it honestly gets better every week.
Page builders aren’t one-size-fits-all though, so here’s who I think should consider it:
- You want to explore using Gutenberg to build full websites
- You want a good block plugin you can use within your blog posts that’s just as powerful as Bricks or Oxygen
- You want to build future-proofed landing pages that aren’t tied to a specific theme
To be clear, there are still many things I don’t like about Gutenberg.
But when I start to view it as a blank canvas in which you can use blocks to build whatever you want, it becomes a lot more appealing.
You don’t really have to worry about things integrating with each other any more.
Now, don’t get FOMO if you don’t need it.
- If you’re building brochure sites for clients and are already using a modern page builder like Bricks, Oxygen, Breakdance etc, don’t overthink your tools. Cwicly will moreso be different than better.
- If you’re already happy with your builder and don’t need the benefit of using different Gutenberg blocks, stick with what you’ve got.
At the end of the day, a website is a website. There are reasons to want to use Gutenberg, and reasons to not want to. It’s really up to your needs & preferences.
But if you do, Cwicly is a great bet.
You can see the Cwicly Black Friday deal here on AppSumo.
*Just so you’re aware, they’ve only offered an LTD once for a couple days before, and won’t be doing another one. This one is going until November 25th, but they have limited codes available so it may end sooner.
🎁 My full roundup of Black Friday deals for web designers
The four deals above are my top picks so far this year.
I feel like they’re all useful for anyone that builds sites on WordPress.
If you want a slightly larger list, you can find my full Black Friday Cyber Monday 2022 roundup here.
It has everything from hosting, page builders, WordPress plugins, SaaS apps, design assets and more.
I’m also updating it daily.
Let me know if you think there’s anything I missed.
💬 Closing Comments
That’s all for this week. Thanks for sticking around ’till the end!
If you ever want to discuss any of the topics in this newsletter, I usually post a dedicated thread each week inside of the NewPulse Labs Facebook group.
You can also suggest any topics you think I should cover there, so be sure to join 🙂
Stay warm and talk soon!