Pszczelarz Kozacki

Bespoke hybrid WordPress platform

This project is a custom-built brand website for a honey producer. It serves as a high-end digital business card with integrated e-commerce capabilities for specialized products. It demonstrates a hybrid architecture, combining the SEO and content management strengths of WordPress with the interactivity of a React.js library.

🎯 Project Goals

The client required a pixel-perfect implementation of a custom design (from PSD) that would distinguish their brand from competitors. Key requirements included:

1. Sales automation: A tool for configuring and ordering personalized wedding gifts
2. Product discovery: An interactive advisor to help customers choose the right honey
3. Zero-code management: A backend so intuitive that non-technical staff could update every text, image, and translation without breaking the layout

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Frontend: HTML5, SCSS, JavaScript & jQuery, React.js (interactive modules), Bootstrap CSS
• Backend: Custom WordPress theme (PHP), REST API, Custom Post Types, ACF Pro, WPML (multilingual)
• Integrations: Stripe API (payments & order management), Contact Form 7, OpenStreetMap

🌟 Key Features & Implementation Details

1. React.js wedding gift creator (hybrid integration)

To handle complex product customization, I stepped outside standard WordPress capabilities and built a React.js application embedded directly into the theme.

• Live preview: Users can modify jar labels, cap colors, fonts etc. seeing changes instantly
• Seamless payments: Integrated Stripe API with a custom webhook system. Once payment is confirmed, the system automatically sends order details to the company, automating the order process

2. "Honey Advisor" system

A custom logic implementation using WordPress Custom Post Types and Taxonomies. This 3-step interactive guide filters the product catalog based on user preferences, directing them to the perfect product match.

3. Full editorial control (ACF)

A priority for this project was independence for the client.

• I utilized Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) to modularize the entire design
• The client has full control over the content via an intuitive admin panel
• No page builders were used ensuring code cleanliness and high performance

4. Stability & long-term reliability

• Production-proven: The system has been running smoothly in production for over 3 years
• Maintenance-free: Thanks to the solid architectural decisions made during development, the site requires minimal technical intervention, proving the quality and durability of the code

💡 Challenges & Solutions

• WordPress & React integration: The main challenge was seamlessly embedding a modern React application within a traditional PHP-based WordPress environment. I solved this by leveraging the ACF Pro REST API to fetch dynamic configuration data. This allowed the React frontend to stay decoupled while remaining perfectly synced with the backend data managed by the client
• Design fidelity: The project required a pixel-perfect implementation of high-fidelity PSD designs, ensuring the website looks exactly as envisioned by the graphic designer across all device sizes
• Complex state management: The gift creator is a multi-step experience where users need to navigate back and forth without losing their progress. I implemented React Context API to manage the global state of the configurator. This ensured a smooth, "single-app" feel, allowing users to revisit earlier steps and modify details (like honey type or cap color) while preserving all subsequent customizations
• Automated workflow: Integrating Stripe wasn't just about the payment. I had to ensure that the complex state from the React app was correctly serialized and passed through a custom API endpoint to trigger post-payment webhooks, ensuring the client receives 100% accurate production data every time