Ask HN: Customising a WordPress Theme to Launch My MVP, Bad Idea?

[Goldar]

As a founder with 0 coding chops, I've been exploring my options to get my MVP out the door.

One idea is to modify an off the shelf WP theme to produce a workable product. My goal would be to get an off the shelf theme like this:

https://www.appthemes.com/themes/clipper/

In the ball park of:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/

In terms of UI/UX; the needed features would be ability for a user to upload content, upvotes, plus some basic forum functionality, comments profiles etc.

How viable is this approach?

[mooreds]

Why are you worried it might be a bad idea? I think whatever the shortest path to a functioning product is the best psth forward, and there are plenty of successful sites on WordPress.

After you validate the idea you may need to shift platforms (or not). So be prepared for that possiblity.

[CM30]

Eh, it's perfectly viable. The average user doesn't give a toss about what 'powers' a website or app, they only care it does what it needs to. If a customised WordPress theme is the fastest/most convenient way to get your MVP out the door, go with that. Go with whatever you're most comfortable with.

[codegeek]

Very Viable. Time to market is the key. If you can get an MVP quickly using WordPress, then do that. Once you have paying customers, you can always improve/enhance as needed. You are thinking about this correctly. Build it quickly, get customers, do validation etc. Everything comes later.

[zhte415]

No need to reinvent the wheel, especially as you're one man band. A plus for starting on Wordpress is should you get traction and need ultrafeature there is an army of developers that can give you ultrafeature, given you specify it well.

[hbcondo714]

I think it's viable. They have an active community support forum that can assist in your endeavors:

https://forums.appthemes.com/report-clipper-bugs/

[justhw]

It's a great idea for an MVP. It's amazing what you can do with WordPress sometimes. You do not want to be writing custom code for months just to validate the idea. You can ship quick and get feedback.

[yurishimo]

BBPress will be your friend. It’s the most robust forum software for WP and has a lot of additional Add-ons that can be used to get the other stuff you need.

It’s a lot of customization though if you don’t like the look.

[Goldar]

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like there aren't any gaping holes in the approach. So, I'm off to build something. I'll keep you posted

[wprapido]

Highly recommended. After all, your customers / clients, don't care about tech, as long as you solve their problems.

[deathtrader666]

Should be okay..

[nu11p0inter]

I would give this approach 3 out of 5 stars on yelp