Using native WordPress features to build an MVP

WordPress is incredibly flexible. It is also very easy to add custom data types (post types, comment types, etc) and to build WordPress to do almost anything one wants to do. Developers enjoy writing code to launch new features into the world. As enjoyable as it is to get to writing code as quickly as possible, it’s also very possible to build out an MVP of many features using tools built directly into WordPress by default. As an example, WordPress’ page system has plenty of features built in to build a solid MVP of many features with no new code, as a way to introduce a feature and test it with your audience. By doing this, we’re trading in coding time for some slightly manual setup upfront. There is, however, a lot one can do using built in blocks to create dynamic structures.

Lets use an example of building an MVP for a knowledge base as a starting point.

Before we dive in, the example outline below assumes the reader knows how to create pages and sub-pages within a WordPress site. To learn how to do this, visit WordPress’ beginner course on creating pages within the block editor.

Decide on the structure

In our example, we want a central page for visitors to start from. Once a visitor arrives at this page, we’d like them to see sections of the knowledge base, and be able to click in and read more, work through example courses and exercises, watch videos, etc. We sometimes also want to break up a single section into digestible sub-sections, without needing to create sub-pages and separate the content too much.

To do this, we’ll start by creating a single top-level page called “Knowledge Base”. We’ll then create sub-pages under our knowledge base page for, say, “Tutorials”, “Courses”, and “Videos”.

Our page structure should now look like this:

Knowledge Base
↪ Tutorials
↪ Courses
↪ Videos

We can now create a page under each of these sections for our content. For example, a page per tutorial, course, or video under each section. On each of these top-level section pages, we’ll add a “page list” block to show the pages underneath the page we’re currently on.

Creating structure for our content

Lets zoom in on courses for a moment. We want each course to have links to sub-sections within the course, and the final section to have a link to the next course. We don’t need quizzes or tests in this example.

To do this, we’ll use the “page-break” block to separate the sections of our course, and add a “button” block at the end of the course to move the visitor to the next course, with a manual link.

The “page-break” block is a less used feature of WordPress which enables a certain page to have pagination built in. If your page URL is, say, /courses/getting-started/, this block can create sections in that page which result in /courses/getting-started/2/, etc for the sub-sections.

For videos and tutorials, the same approach applies. Add a sub-page to the relevant section, add the necessary links (as links or as button blocks) to each section, to guide the visitor through the content in the way you feel flows best, and to offer “back” options to return to the main section page if your site doesn’t have breadcrumbs.

We now have:

Knowledge Base
↪ Tutorials
↪ Courses
↪ Getting Started (with built in pagination)
↪ Videos

We’re ready to launch

Within a few clicks, your content is now in standard WordPress pages, using blocks built into WordPress directly, to build out a knowledge base to serve your audience. No custom post types, no custom fields, and no new code.

So easy, anyone can do it.

WordPress has many features built right in. It’s important to use WordPress to it’s fullest when building out your content. Knowledge is power, and knowing that these blocks are available is very empowering to help anyone build out an MVP of a feature they’d like to test on their WordPress site.

Check out a demo here using WordPress Playground

What will you build an MVP of using built in WordPress tools? Share your work in the comments below.