The OceanWP Writer Is Again: How Nicolas Lecocq Constructed 6 New WordPress Merchandise With AI
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In the event you’ve been a part of the WordPress neighborhood for some time, you then’ve virtually undoubtedly heard of OceanWP. Introduced as a loose theme with premium-level options, it temporarily become a staple for freelancers, companies, and DIY web site homeowners.
The author, Nicolas Lecocq, stepped clear of WordPress after promoting the theme, most effective to go back years later with a complete new way to development merchandise. This time, he’s growing sooner and considering otherwise about functionality, person enjoy, and the function AI can play in building.
Below his new corporate, DigiHold, Nicolas has introduced six WordPress merchandise in not up to twelve months — paintings he says would have taken him years prior to.
On this interview, Nicolas stocks what’s imaginable when enjoy meets new AI gear and while you prioritize growing merchandise that really lend a hand consumers.
“A product works when it solves an actual downside… that’s what I focal point on now.”
Nicolas Lecocq – Writer of OceanWP & Founding father of DigiHold
Stay studying to get insider recommendation and guidelines from the author of one of the a success topics in WordPress historical past.
📣 That is our collection, #MyWordPressStory, which brings you insights from one of the crucial maximum a success leaders within the WordPress trade.
In the event you’d love to be featured in our interview collection – whether or not you’re a plugin developer, founder, or search engine marketing skilled – be happy to achieve out and tell us thru our touch shape.
📹 Video Interview with Nicolas Lecocq
In the event you’d like to take a look at our whole video interview with Nicolas Lecocq, then you’ll be able to watch it beneath:
Or you’ll be able to use the hyperlinks beneath to look what we lined within the interview (and extra):
🚀 Meet Nicolas Lecocq: From Sports activities Blogger to Self-Taught Developer
Nicolas’s adventure with WordPress began in 2012, now not with a marketing strategy, however with a private interest.
His first weblog thinking about MMA sports activities, and even supposing it didn’t closing lengthy, it offered Nicolas to the versatility of WordPress.
“I sought after to create a weblog and I searched on Google ‘the easiest way to create a weblog,’ and it was once clearly WordPress.”
Nicolas Lecocq
Quickly, he was once tinkering with topics and experimenting with code. On the time, finding out sources have been way more restricted than they’re these days.
Nicolas trusted a mixture of YouTube tutorials, on-line boards, and one thing many seasoned builders nonetheless swear by means of: learning the code of different topics to look how they have been constructed.
“I used to be gazing YouTube movies, however there was once now not a large number of data like now… I discovered truly myself and bit by bit by means of enhancing topics.”
Nicolas Lecocq
His early freelance paintings concerned making shopper internet sites responsive, again prior to mobile-friendly designs have been the usual.
That procedure published an perception that will later outline his profession: each and every mission looked as if it would require finding out a wholly new theme.
Nicolas started imagining a unmarried, flexible resolution.
One theme that might take care of any form of site — from eCommerce to genuine property — whilst protecting a constant workflow for builders and web site homeowners alike.
💥 Comparable Put up: Tobias Bäthge became a interest mission for his baseball group into TablePress, a WordPress plugin now powering 700K+ websites. Learn the entire interview to look how he did it.
📈 The OceanWP Phenomenon: When Unfastened Beats Top rate
OceanWP began so to streamline Nicolas’s shopper paintings.
As an alternative of adapting to a brand new theme for each and every mission, he constructed one that might take care of the rest, and he knew it inside and outside.
“When you’ve got one theme to create the rest, it’s more uncomplicated for you when you know the way to make use of it.”
Nicolas Lecocq
At the beginning, Nicolas deliberate to promote OceanWP as a top rate theme.
But if his first strive at a paid theme on ThemeForest didn’t acquire traction, he determined to take a unique way.
He launched OceanWP without spending a dime, however paired it with a spouse plugin, Ocean Additional.
This allowed customers to free up the entire attainable of the theme with out breaking WordPress.org pointers.
They might get admission to an surprisingly beneficiant set of options without spending a dime at a time when maximum robust topics have been locked in the back of paywalls.
“I put such a lot of loose options… it was once like a top rate theme made without spending a dime. So everybody liked it.”
Nicolas Lecocq
Along those gear, Nicolas additionally introduced top rate OceanWP add-ons for paid options.
Enlargement was once sluggish within the first six months, fueled principally thru phrase of mouth. However as soon as it stuck on, it grew in no time.
Inside of a yr, OceanWP went from a facet mission to one of the widespread topics available on the market. With 1000’s of installs, Nicolas noticed his OceanWP source of revenue leap from round $2–3K monthly to $15K monthly.
The mix of suppleness, wealthy options, and a loose access level made OceanWP a favourite for freelancers, WordPress companies, and DIY web site developers alike.
We will be able to additionally vouch for the OceanWP theme. We’ve beneficial it lots of occasions through the years for its versatility and whole characteristic set.
In reality, we regularly come with it amongst our most sensible possible choices without spending a dime topics in more than one classes. It even is available in at #4 on our record of the best possible loose WordPress trade topics.
🎯 Finding out From Luck and Setbacks
Development OceanWP gave Nicolas a crash route in what it takes to develop and maintain a well-liked WordPress product. Along the wins got here precious classes.
Some of the largest? Efficiency issues.
“I added such a lot options I didn’t truly consider functionality… now functionality is the very first thing to consider.”
Nicolas Lecocq
Early variations of OceanWP packed in an enormous record of features, however Nicolas admits that a few of the ones options bogged down internet sites.
Over the years, person comments assisted in shaping enhancements. This was once comments that got here in thru touch paperwork, WordPress.org boards, beef up emails, or even GitHub.
For Nicolas, the ones conversations weren’t simply trojan horse experiences or characteristic requests. As an alternative, they have been a roadmap for making the product higher.
“It’s your advent, nevertheless it’s their product. So that you all the time want to pay attention to them.”
Nicolas Lecocq
After 3 to 4 years, he determined to promote OceanWP.
The enjoy were formative, however he sought after to discover new concepts and cope with private priorities.
His subsequent mission, Olympus, aimed to be sooner and extra centered than OceanWP. However simply after release, private instances and partnership problems pressured him to step away.
The setback reshaped how he approaches collaboration.
“I will be able to now not make my mistake with Olympus to do unhealthy partnerships now. I’m very selective about who works with me.”
Nicolas Lecocq
From the ones studies, Nicolas carried ahead a number of essential classes: prioritize functionality, construct for person wishes, and make a choice collaborators with care.
🤖 The AI-Powered Comeback: Development 6 Merchandise in Below a Yr
In 2024, Nicolas returned to WordPress building with a well-known start line: freelancing and development internet sites for shoppers.
However he spotted one thing that will outline his subsequent bankruptcy. Just about each and every shopper sought after to promote one thing, whether or not it was once services and products, eBooks, or eLearning content material.
That commentary become the basis for his new corporate, DigiHold.
DigiHold is designed to hide eCommerce wishes with the next merchandise:
DigiCommerce – A platform for promoting virtual items, services and products, and on-line classes
DigiBlocks – A selection of Gutenberg blocks for development high-performance websites
DigiFusion – A minimalist WordPress theme with Professional options for complete customization
Every product additionally has a Professional model, making a complete of six releases, all in-built below a yr.
The variation this time? A performance-first way paired with the ability of AI.
“You can not do coding with out AI. It’s such a lot sooner… it’s a sport changer.”
Nicolas Lecocq
Nicolas leaned closely on Claude AI, which he prefers over ChatGPT for building duties.
His workflow comes to coaching the AI on his codebase, asking it to lend a hand put into effect options, after which sparsely reviewing each and every recommendation for functionality, safety, and person enjoy.
He was once fast to emphasise that AI doesn’t change the want to know the way to code, nevertheless it amplifies it.
“Every now and then it tells me very unhealthy issues. And I comprehend it’s now not excellent, so I don’t do it,” Nicolas mentioned.
🔮 Why AI Integration Issues: Development for The next day to come’s Internet
For Nicolas, AI isn’t only a behind-the-scenes building instrument. It’s additionally one thing he’s actively development into his merchandise.
DigiFusion Professional now comprises integrations with ChatGPT and Claude, permitting customers to generate content material for weblog posts and pages with out leaving WordPress.
It’s a part of his better trust that site homeowners must be supplied to make use of AI in their very own workflows, now not simply builders.
This focal point on AI integration comes from a forward-looking view that the best way other people seek the internet is converting.
“You wish to have to know the way to put into effect search engine marketing for AI as it’s the longer term… it’s going down.”
Nicolas Lecocq
Nicolas predicts that AI-driven seek gear like ChatGPT will change many conventional Google searches.
For builders and web site homeowners, that suggests desirous about easy methods to optimize content material for AI. It is a shift he believes will change into essential within the coming years.
“I believe it’ll be more uncomplicated to go looking on the internet with ChatGPT, so other people will use it increasingly,” he mentioned.
Through designing merchandise with AI features from the beginning, Nicolas is positioning DigiHold to be in a position for that transition and serving to his consumers do the similar.
💡 Product Philosophy & Developer Recommendation
If there’s one commonplace characteristic with all of Nicolas’s merchandise, it’s that they’re born from real-world wishes, now not traits.
DigiCommerce, DigiBlocks, and DigiFusion each and every got here from fixing particular issues his shoppers confronted.
“A product works when it solves an actual downside… if you happen to simply create it to make cash, I imagine it’ll now not truly paintings.”
Nicolas Lecocq
That mindset shapes the whole lot from his characteristic selections to how he manages functionality.
Even if he believes strongly within the significance of person comments, he’s now not afraid to show down requests that will decelerate a web site.
As an alternative, he prefers to supply workarounds by means of kid topics or customized code.
“Efficiency and person enjoy need to be in thoughts while you construct WordPress merchandise now.”
Nicolas Lecocq
His building workflow could also be lean and intentional.
He makes use of:
Visible Studio Code for coding
Native for staging environments
Photoshop for design paintings
ClickUp for organizing options, comments, and concepts
Claude AI as a coding assistant, however by no means in its place for core abilities
For brand new builders, his recommendation is apparent: grasp the basics prior to depending on AI.
“You truly want to be informed code first, after which AI is helping along with your code.”
Nicolas Lecocq
That suggests beginning with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, figuring out how issues paintings, after which the use of AI to hurry up and refine what you already know the way to do.
💥 Comparable Put up: In search of extra recommendation from founders? Take a look at our interview with Ionut Neagu, co-founder of Themeisle.
💭 Ultimate Ideas
Nicolas Lecocq’s tale comes complete circle, from educating himself WordPress by means of enhancing topics to development one of the widespread loose topics on the planet.
Now, he’s returning years later with a brand new mindset and a strong new toolset.
His adventure is a mixture of resilience, adaptability, and steady finding out. The setbacks he confronted didn’t finish his profession. As an alternative, they reshaped how he works, how he chooses collaborators, and the way he builds merchandise.
Now, with AI as a part of his day-to-day workflow, he’s in a position to transport sooner than ever whilst protecting functionality and person enjoy entrance and middle.
However his recommendation to different builders is to look AI as an accelerator, now not a alternative.
“For my six merchandise, I imagine I will have completed them in some years manually. I did it in not up to a yr with AI.”
Nicolas Lecocq
For builders and marketers, Nicolas proves that robust abilities, person comments, and contemporary gear can free up new paths.
To be told extra about what Nicolas is operating on these days, take a look at the DigiHold site.
📚 Bonus: Professional Assets for WordPress Builders
Having a look to observe in Nicolas’s footsteps and construct your individual WordPress merchandise?
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