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Latest Notes & Updates

Short thoughts, work in progress, lessons learned, & the occasional personal update.

It’s been a while since I worked outside of WordPress. Just spent a week on a Wix project for a healthcare practice, working on some of the design refinements and consistency fixes.

The way you build on different platforms really does differ.

I guess that’s one of the harder parts of freelancing, you need to adapt fast. Enjoyed working on it though.

Posted 1 day ago

Recently visited my fiancée’s family, so I got some time off from this workstation and worked from somewhere else for a bit.

That’s one of the things I’m really grateful for with freelancing. You have the freedom to bring your work anywhere and get a change of scenery when you need it.

But yeah, good to be back at this little workspace!

Posted October 5, 2026

Got my new eyeglasses! Been trying to take better care of my eyes since they take the most stress in this kind of work. So I make sure to get them checked from time to time.

Also, I always go with transition lenses. Just being practical 😅

Classy and functional at the same time!

Posted October 2, 2026

Being a freelancer taught me that you need a backup for everything. Projects, internet, even your computer 😀. Since my main machine is a Mac Mini running the M4 chip, I just needed this laptop repaired as a backup.

But with all the AI integrations these days, PCs and laptops are getting expensive. Even the repairs!

Posted September 29, 2026

I’m continuing an Elementor project, and I can see myself building custom solutions around it again.

For growing sites with heavy dynamic data and conditional layouts, it’s not really its strongest area.

But it’s still great for marketing sites and for less technical users. Also noticed it now has an MCP, which is a nice plus if you’re using AI.

Posted September 25, 2026

Almost done with the design plans for all the dynamic systems on a tradie company web design project.

8 structured data systems in one project. Connecting and strategizing everything so it all works from day one.

I guess freelancing feels fulfilling once you’re done with this kind of project. But the process behind it? That’s a bit overwhelming.

Posted September 20, 2026

Started a new project for a B2B equipment dealer in the sewer and pipe industry based in Germany.

This time I’m not starting from scratch though, the previous provider left it at about 15% progress so I’m just picking up where they left off.

The only real challenge? The language. Shifting from English to Deutsch 😅

Hallo zusammen 👋

Posted September 18, 2026

Currently working on one of my monthly site care tasks, checking the speed of a client site. And it’s still performing well. These routine checks don’t look exciting but they keep things running the way they should.

Speed is one of the hardest things to improve on a website because there are so many factors like server, how the pages are built, and the tools used to build them. But I’m still glad I was able to improve this one.

Recent speed test result of Flor & Order
Posted September 13, 2026

One thing you can’t really control when handling projects is the timeline. It can shift at any point, especially when you’re working with trade businesses.

Just picked up the design phase of the flooring company project again. Glad I’m already done with the major pages and just working on the Learning Resources and Projects dynamic pages now.

Posted September 9, 2026

Been using Basecamp for project management since I started freelancing.

I’ve tried the more popular ones, but Basecamp is still one of the most straightforward tools out there.

Btw I’m almost done with a new post on how I onboard client projects using it.

Posted September 3, 2026

Since I left my corporate job last year to go full-time freelancing, I’ve been putting a lot more effort into this website.

And one of the most rewarding things so far is how much easier it is to get content indexed by Google.

Just added a new post and it got indexed almost immediately.

Posted September 1, 2026

Got my new earbuds from Anker and I’m really liking the noise cancellation so far. Been using the one from Baseus for 2 years and it finally needed a replacement.

Looks small but this pair really helps when I need to focus.

Posted August 30, 2026

My WP Booking System review is now showing up in AI Overviews and SERP, just like my Bricks Builder one. Been ranking for both too.

Posted August 27, 2026

Found some old clips of my website designs done on Adobe XD. Different versions of my site over the past 10 years. A lot of testing and trial and error. It’s been a journey.

Had to switch to Figma with all the issues around XD being phased out.

Posted August 26, 2026

I can’t remember if they’re going to post recordings of the 2-day event, but I was still able to gather some insights from my phone and memory 🙂

Here’s the new blog about HighLevel Live Manila.

Posted August 23, 2026

Since I’ve already added more than 10 notes, I can say I’m really liking this new feature on my website.

See the full post on why I added microblogging to this website.

Posted August 19, 2026

I’m at the point where I want to offer businesses stuck on WPBakery a free rebuild.

Nah maybe a discount 😅

But seriously, if you’re going with WordPress, at least use a solid page builder like Bricks (my bias), Beaver, Divi, or Elementor. Launching a site is just a small part of it.

Building new pages and optimizing over time is the long game, and your site builder matters for that.

Posted August 17, 2026

Been handling website projects in the home improvement space, especially clients in AU.

Looking at these skylight photos all day got me thinking. What’s it like living in a house with a transparent roof like that? Then I imagined having one here in PH. Sounds great when it rains. Then summer hits 😂

jk, these skylights are actually automated and packed with features.

Posted August 15, 2026

WPBakery might be the only page builder where the experience is equally rough whether you’re using backend or frontend editing. Divi handles this way better.

Sorry, I keep comparing these two because they both offer both modes, but the quality gap is real. Credit to the Divi team for getting that right!

Posted August 14, 2026

Got a chance to attend the HighLevel Manila 2-day event!

I just realized I wasn’t able to record everything. Now I’m trying to piece together all the info I remember and the photos I have.

The insights they shared were pretty overwhelming 😅

Posted August 10, 2026
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Table of contents

A Polling Web Application for a Pastry Business built using React & Redux.

November 06, 2022

10 mins read

Reader Disclosure

Disclosure: I may occasionally include affiliate links in my posts or pages. If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission, which helps me keep this website running and create more useful content. However, this does not affect my opinion on the product or service in any way. I only recommend products and services that I truly believe in and use myself.

Originally developed for a pastry business in Wildetaube, Germany. This single-page application was a part of their small system that helped the client manage their business.

This article may contain some technical terms which provides an overview of how I constructed this custom functionality. If you have any questions, please let me know.

What is the main problem?

The main problem that the client wants to fix is that they need a fair decision on what set of cakes they are going to bake every week. So our goal is to build something that can help them decide by letting each staff vote.

How I built the application?

I developed this polling app using React JS by using the create-react-app package. I used the React Router for page routing. Although it looks like a simple application, I still need a good state management package to help me manage the application state. I used the Redux state management package for this. I love using the Redux dev tools, it gives me a good insight into my app’s process and state.

The client is currently using WordPress for their business. So I just need to integrate the custom app into their current platform. Luckily, WordPress support REST API so I used that for the application data. 

I think planning your CSS is still important when it comes to developing your applications and websites. Other than creating custom CSS for some projects, I’m using the Bootstrap CSS framework if I’m building custom websites. But since the Tailwind CSS is becoming popular, I used it for this project.

Feature overview:

  • Polling capability
  • Limited time for polling
  • Sorted results
  • Restricted actions for specific user roles
  • Authentication
  • Mobile-ready

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How does the application work?

I designed the application to make it easier to use. I’m always assuming that users that will use the application are not tech-savvy. 

Before the staff can join the poll, a user with an administrator role needs to add a poll, he/she can add duration and a title for the current poll. 

A user with no administrator role can only join a poll or view the poll’s results.

After an administrator adds a poll, this poll is now listed on the Poll’s main menu.

Then the users or the selected staff can now start voting for their preferred cakes in the single poll menu. They can vote for a limited amount of time only. If the time expires, clicking on the heart button and form submission will be disabled. 

Also, there’s a maximum number of cakes that they can select.

The users can view the results by going to the Results page.

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