I agree.
I really wanted Divi to workout but Elementor is just beefier. Essentials Elements and Dynamic Content for Elementor also push me towards elementor. And I do have a DIVI LTD…
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So the astra pro, which is normally 249$ ($149.40 with the -40% off) could be enough then. Sounds interesting. I’ll try their free version first.
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Yeah, I didn’t wanna opt for a sub. I know, when you stop the sub apparently everything will keep working but for how long? Till WP changes its’ core and some paths/rules from the theme dont work anymore. Till an update produces a crucial bug and you need to re-sub for updates? Security…
Very happy if I can make Divi work. If it’s 1-2 seconds more in load time so be it. Especially for unmanaged clients I do a one-off website for that dont want a sub I’d rather have them on a LTD because if smth breaks it is me they call 
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Or you can split the $270 with me and we share a license 
Maybe then we can get @Ympker to join us haha a go three-way, not the sexy kind, but still.
Never tried Beaver, but I dont’ think ultimate addons for elementor replaces Elementor Pro.
I have Essential Addons for that. And will probably get this too ElementsKit - Access WP widgets & templates | AppSumo
I think I’ll be all set then.
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It has all the pro theme features unlocked. Agency is just for extra Starter sites, elementor+beaver extension and some of their extra plugins.
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That’s exactly why I went for DIVI, but now want to have a stack of LTDs that allow me to use Elementor FREE without feeling I’m missing out for not having the PRO version.
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Aha, so you are basically trying to build your own Elementor “Pro” with LTD enhancements for Elementor free to circumvent the sub issue? Sounds like a plan, but wouldn’t be for me. Not gonna lie though, I have seen some great stuff from Elementor Pro so it is definitely not bad.
Divi Den, Divi Space, Divi World etc… Lots of premade layouts/sections/child themes coming up for BF sale, too.
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It would be interesting to check how this ElementsKit on AppSumo compares with Essential Addons (unfortunately I didn’t buy the LTD on appsumo at the time).
The idea of using elementor kits and avoiding having to pay for elementor plan is appealing.
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Exactly.
That’s why Astra Custom Layouts are so important for me. Along with a Pop-Up builder cause elementor pro popup is quite nice.
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A side question: do you guys by chance use a wordpress plugin or any kind of service to send proposals to your clients for your jobs?
I’m searching since hours for such a plug-in or even a woocommerce integration (it would be cool to have a signing system so that the client could accept the proposal and pay directly through woocommerce).
I think that sending interactive proposals (with display on hover parts or popups) could be very effective but I just would like something quick to compose each time and not having to set up it manually.
Any suggestions? (any non-wordpress suggestions are also well accepted)
Personally, I think that WordPress should only be for website stuff. I don’t even like the newsletter plugins.
Not only because of the speed but also because it makes switching sites a whole different game.
You have a few options.
ERPnext if you want something that is very complete, can bring IT to your whole company, and is self-hosted.
Something simpler but SaaS.
Plutio
or
Desktera
There’s also SwellEnterprise but they have this weird idea of having their social media on htier users company dashboard… and their social media links on the left…
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Thank you for your reply.
I agree, I also don’t like solutions that stretch wordpress far from being what it is, a CMS made for blogs and websites (like some CRM plugins for wordpress, for example).
I also know many other self-hosted solutions that allow to send proposal, for example odoo (which, similarly to erpnext, is a very nice open source epr); invoice ninja is also able to send proposals and is self hostable and very cheap.
But the proposals that these system create are quite ugly.
In order to create something nicer without having to compose PDF in indesign and sending them via email, I started to think that a good solution could have been to compose directly some cool looking emails, but email as well have a lot of limitations and can’t be as interactive as webpages.
I like the idea of sending a good looking and interactive proposal (with popups, show on hover, ecc …) and I believe that, really, it would be very cool to send the client to a page where to show a well designed proposal that I could customize each time starting from some saved templates.
Setting everything up each time (designing the page, setting up the signing forms and links, …) is doable but it’s definitely not the quickest solution.
Since I believe that there must be many designers having the same need, it just feels strange that nobody has built a plug-in or a solution for that… (for the moment I’ve only found many expensive saas solutions but nothing self-hostable).
I dont’ think there is anything quite as you describe but there are some SaaS dedicated to “beutify” proposals, some include the option of Digital Signatures. Actually I think Plutio does all this already.
Currently you have this at AppSumo.
One that seems popular is https://betterproposals.io/
yes, betterproposals has also been on appsumo in the past , last week I visited the website of fresh proposals and I was not convinced (their wordpress website doesn’t look professional to me, and it also feels like their product is still at an early stage).
For this reason I started to think at a way to do that myself with the tools I’ve already got, but thank you very much anyway for taking the time to suggest them!
But, in case you do jobs for clients, how do you guys do with proposals ?
edit: there’s also a list of proposal saas here Top 11 Proposal Software Tools for Agencies and Freelancers
Quite honestely I never found a tool that made me want to quit my process.
I use Indesign.
I started with a template that I designed following the brand guidelines.
Then, all proposal are built in parts (chapters kinda), so I have a template for each chapter (ie. intro, scope, payments terms, and so on and so forth) that I slightly change for each new proposal.
In the end, the part I spend most time on is the intro, scope and solution description. But thats’ something no solution can do for me… so Indesign is just fine.
All proposals (in PDF) are then uploaded to the CRM…
Most of my clients come from real life contacts, or forum members. There is too many ppl in line already so I am not actually sending out custimized proposals, really. Getting right to the point, usually.
You could use an Invoice Ninja installation for this? Though fron looking at your additional posts, it’s worth mentioning that IN can’t create interactive proposals.
yes, despite being perfectly functional unfortunately invoice ninja proposals are in my opinion a little bit too plain simple.
@Ympker and @404error : Thank you for reporting your workflow and experience
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Depending on the job, I’ll often write proposals almost from scratch but they end up more like a tender than a quote - but I’ve always had good feedback on level of details, looking good, etc.
If it’s a smaller job I’m doing for myself, then InvoiceNinja does the trick.
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