Custom Post Types and Theme Builders: Breakdance

This video takes a look at the Breakdance page builder, specifically the theme builder features for creating a single and archive template for Custom Post Types. Breakdance is pretty new, with version one being released in September 2022. It is touted as being easier to use than Elementor, so I didn’t watch lots of videos or read documentation prior to starting. I want to see how intuitive it is.

Video Version

Problems Encountered

I ran into five issues:

1. Extra space in editor for header and footer that doesn’t show on the frontend. 
2. The global block / loop item preview defaulted to an image not a book or even post record. 
3. In the Post Loop Builder the single item is created separately from the Loop output requiring some back and forth editing.
4. If the advanced query conditions can’t be used for an archive template then you shouldn’t have the option to use them and I didn’t see a way to reset them.  
5. There is an issue with the icon library where it needs to be reset. 

Note: Breakdance is still pretty new and each update is a significant improvement.

Breakdance vs Elementor

Breakdance is supposed to be better than Elementor and people are asking how they stack up.

• To address performance issues Elementor introduced “experiments” but they have been lasting a long time and many still haven’t become defaults.  Breakdance is performant out of the box. WIN Breakdance.
• Dynamic data features:
  • Elementor officially supports ACF, Pods, and Toolset.  No support for display conditions or advanced field types.
  • Breakdance officially supports ACF, Meta Box, and Toolset.  It also has display conditions and support for advanced field types.  WIN Breakdance
• App like sites and edge cases – Because of Elementor’s extensive plugin ecosystem you are more likely to find a solution.  Breakdance is still new.  WIN Elementor
• Breakdance pricing is currently more attractive than Elementor’s, but if Breakdance raises prices then its lack of pricing tiers will favor Elementor.  No Winner
• Breakdance is as easy or easier to use than Elementor. It is also more modern.  WIN Breakdance

Conclusion

There are other options including:

• Bricks
• Other page builders
• Gutenberg-based solutions

Breakdance is relatively new, yet is already full featured. People who find Bricks too complex and don’t like Gutenberg may be happy with Breakdance.  It is powerful, flexible, and easy to use.