I'd definitely pay for that.

Agreed. I think there is a pretty specific use case for WordPress sites, and that's where it excels: brochure sites and blogs. When you start incorporating any app-ish functionality and passing around data, bad news bears. Even ecommerce is pushing it. And don't get me started on those premium themes...

Re: 'green' CMSs - I'll check out SilverStripe. I've been in WP mode since discovering Timber, but it's on my list to check out some others.

Awesome - it's very well supported and documented. You can also use all the functionality of Twig, so splicing arrays, adjusting date formats, etc. is super simple. And extending templates is so awesome - really encourages your to DRY out your code, and come up with a design system.

The only concern I had was performance (the more things you layer on WP, the more problems) but that hasn't been an issue as long as you are caching well. Also don't plan on using plugins for major UI components (good to steer clear of those anyhow) - I think you could run into issue where they rely on some default WP functionality you've decided to abandon, as Timber makes it so easy to customize.

One thing to watch out for, though, is that it's not hard to request more from the database than you need - just be sure to use the global contexts sparingly. Just general best practice stuff.

Don't write off WordPress completely - I use Timber and Advanced Custom Fields for ground up sites. Timber lets you use Twig for templating - makes custom WP dev a dream.

I've toyed a lot with the idea of using Craft, et. al but scrapped that once I discovered Timber. Those other CMSs are a bit green still, and there's a ton to be said for WP's reputation and community support. If you are building from scratch, just make sure you give clients limited opportunity to mess things up. Remove all WYSIWYGs and force them to focus on content. Annotate the admin area well, and give them a good training on how to manage the site, and you're golden (probably).

Fixed, thanks!

And Brad Frost is the man, no question.

Awesome - yeah, I tried to include a bunch of comments and links to best practice stuff. Let me know if you have any questions!

Haha sounds good to me! Thanks!

Cool - I did that with a couple, but I like the idea of keeping the momentum evident. Thanks!

One thing not mentioned at all is the WordPress community, and that's pretty damn special. I also am very wary of anything new and trendy e.g. is Craft going to be around in 5 years? WP definitely will be, and it's familiar and trusted among clients.

That being said, WP dev certainly has it's downsides and I would love to try out Craft, but the future-proof-ness of WordPress seals the deal for me (at least on client work).

Agreed on fleshing out the projects beyond Dribbble shots (but understandably a temp site, looks great!)

This article has a good breakdown of portfolio site components.