sales-skills/sales-beaver-builder

Beaver Builder Platform Help

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

1. What are you trying to do?

   • A) Fix a broken state — pages/editor loading slowly, the editor lags or freezes on big layouts, the builder got deactivated on all pages except the home page after a migration, layouts broke / "Beaver Builder not working" after a WordPress or plugin update, styling missing, license won't activate
   • B) Build with the editor — Rows/Columns layout, Modules (Heading, Photo, Button, Gallery, Slider, Subscribe Form, HTML, etc.), reusable Templates and Saved Rows/Modules, responsive editing, global rows
   • C) Use Beaver Themer — dynamic headers/footers/archives/singular/404/search templates, Field Connections to pull WordPress/custom-field/ACF/EDD/The Events Calendar/WooCommerce data, the Loop Builder for post listings, location/conditional rules
   • D) Develop / automate — write a custom module (extend FLBuilderModule, FLBuilder::register_module()), use the fl_builder_* hooks/filters, the Beaver Builder Theme + theme hooks, or read/write fl_builder layout data via the WordPress REST API / WP-CLI
   • E) Pick or compare a plan (Starter / Plus / Professional / Unlimited, or free Lite) or weigh Beaver Builder vs Elementor/Divi/Bricks/SeedProd/Gutenberg block plugins

2. Free or paid? The free Beaver Builder Lite (WordPress.org) ships a limited set of modules and no Themer/templates. The paid plugin adds the full module set, the Template/Saved-row system, and (on current plans) Beaver Themer + Loop Builder + WooCommerce support on every tier; multisite is Professional+ and white labeling is Unlimited-only.

Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already contains enough context, skip to Step 2.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| Problem domain | Route to | |---|---| | Funnel strategy, page structure, builder selection across tools (Elementor/Divi/Bricks/SeedProd/Gutenberg blocks…) | /sales-funnel — Run: /sales-funnel {user's original question} | | A/B testing methodology (Beaver Builder has no native split testing) | /sales-vwo — Run: /sales-vwo {user's original question} | | Email sequences/automation after a Subscribe Form opt-in | /sales-email-marketing — Run: /sales-email-marketing {user's original question} | | Growing the list, lead-magnet strategy | /sales-audience-growth — Run: /sales-audience-growth {user's original question} | | WooCommerce store/checkout strategy across platforms | /sales-checkout — Run: /sales-checkout {user's original question} | | WordPress/WooCommerce funnel + upsells around the pages | /sales-cartflows — Run: /sales-cartflows {user's original question} | | On-page/technical SEO beyond clean markup | /sales-seo — Run: /sales-seo {user's original question} |

If the question is Beaver Builder-specific, continue to Step 3.

Step 3 — Beaver Builder platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full platform reference — modules/capabilities, pricing/plan gates, data model, integration recipes, and best practices. For the developer API (custom modules via FLBuilderModule, FLBuilder::register_module() settings, the fl_builder_* hooks/filters, the Hooks Reference, and the WordPress REST surface for fl_builder layout data), read references/beaver-builder-api-reference.md.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Focus on the user's specific situation.

• Beaver Builder is a standalone drag-and-drop builder, not a Gutenberg block plugin. It edits pages in its own live front-end UI (Rows → Columns → Modules) over any theme — so it does not produce wp-block-* markup like Kadence/Spectra/GenerateBlocks. Its reputation is stability + clean, semantic HTML and a gentle learning curve, not raw feature count.
• Low lock-in is a genuine selling point. When you deactivate Beaver Builder, the formatting disappears but your text content survives cleanly in the default WordPress editor (it isn't left as broken/"invalid" blocks). That makes BB safer to leave than block plugins — call this out when a user worries about migration/lock-in.
• Performance isn't automatic. BB outputs clean markup, but heavy pages (many modules, large images, sliders, third-party row backgrounds) still load slowly and lag the editor. Before blaming BB, check the theme, image sizes, third-party scripts, and a caching/optimization plugin; split very long pages; cache assets. (See Troubleshooting.)
• Beaver Themer is where the power is. Themer turns BB into a full theme builder — dynamic headers/footers/archives/singular/404 templates plus Field Connections that bind any row/column/module setting to WordPress data, custom fields, ACF, EDD, The Events Calendar, or WooCommerce. The Loop Builder (Themer) renders dynamic post listings. On current plans Themer + Loop Builder ship on every paid tier.
• The real automation surface is WordPress + the PHP API, not a hosted Beaver Builder API. There is no hosted REST API and no outbound webhook. Extend via custom modules (FLBuilderModule + FLBuilder::register_module()), the large fl_builder_* hooks/filters surface (see the Hooks Reference), the Beaver Builder Theme hooks, and the WordPress core REST API / WP-CLI (a page's layout lives in post_content plus the _fl_builder_data post meta — best-effort serialized data, not a documented public schema).
• Lead capture is the built-in Subscribe Form module (native ESP integrations — Mailchimp, etc., extendable via fl_builder_subscribe_form_services) or a third-party form plugin + Zapier. Pair with /sales-email-marketing for the sequence.
• Plan gating drives surprises. Themer/Loop Builder/WooCommerce are on all paid tiers now, but multisite is Professional+ and white labeling is Unlimited-only; the free Lite has a reduced module set and no Themer/templates. Confirm the tier before promising a feature.

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there.

Gotchas

Best-effort from research (2026-06) — review these, especially plan-gated features and integration details that may be outdated.

1. Builder deactivated on all pages except the home page after a migration. A common post-migration symptom (URL/serialized-data mismatch). Run a proper search-replace on the database (e.g. WP-CLI search-replace or a migration plugin that handles serialized data), clear caches, and re-save affected pages.
2. "Beaver Builder not working after upgrading." After a WordPress, theme, or BB update the editor may fail to load or styles vanish — usually a cache or stale-CSS issue or a plugin/theme conflict. Clear page/object/CDN cache, re-save the page (regenerates CSS), bump PHP memory, and isolate conflicts (default theme + only BB active).
3. Slow loading / sluggish editor on big pages. Clean markup ≠ automatic speed — many modules, large images, sliders, and third-party scripts still cost. Optimize images, add caching/minification, split long pages, and audit the theme before assuming BB is the cause.
4. Low lock-in, but not zero. Deactivating BB leaves text cleanly in the default editor (a plus) — but shortcode-based modules and Themer dynamic layouts won't render without BB. Don't promise a perfectly styled site after deactivation.
5. No hosted REST API, no outbound webhook, no native A/B testing. It's a WordPress plugin — automate via the WordPress REST API + the PHP module/hooks API + WP-CLI; measure/split-test with a separate tool (VWO, Microsoft Clarity).
6. Plan gates. Multisite = Professional+; white labeling = Unlimited-only; free Lite drops Themer/templates and many modules. Pricing/feature splits change — verify on wpbeaverbuilder.com/pricing.
7. Custom-module naming. Use a prefixed, lowercase, dash-separated module slug (e.g. acme-button) to avoid collisions with core modules; gate registration behind class_exists( 'FLBuilder' ).

Related skills

• /sales-funnel — Funnel strategy, page structure, and builder selection across tools (Elementor, Divi, Bricks, SeedProd, Kadence/Spectra/GenerateBlocks, ClickFunnels, Leadpages)
• /sales-seedprod — A WordPress landing-page + Theme Builder plugin — compare the standalone-builder + theme-builder approach and templates vs Beaver Builder/Themer
• /sales-cartflows — WordPress/WooCommerce funnel + checkout/upsells around the pages (CartFlows officially supports Beaver Builder for step design)
• /sales-spectra — A Gutenberg-native block plugin — the block-editor contrast to Beaver Builder's standalone drag-and-drop UI (markup, lock-in, performance)
• /sales-kadence — A Gutenberg block plugin with a design library and Kadence AI — compare blocks, dynamic content, and plan gates vs Beaver Builder + Themer
• /sales-vwo — A/B testing and heatmap methodology Beaver Builder lacks natively
• /sales-audience-growth — Growing an email list (lead magnets, opt-in strategy) behind a Subscribe Form
• /sales-email-marketing — Email sequences to run after a Subscribe Form captures the lead
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code

Examples

Example 1: Build a custom module and register it

User: "How do I add my own module to Beaver Builder and register it so it shows up in the editor?" Approach: Beaver Builder's developer API is a PHP module class + a registration call. Create a class that extends FLBuilderModule and sets its config in the constructor (name, description, group/category, dir, url, icon, editor_export, enabled, partial_refresh, include_wrapper); include the file from your plugin behind a class_exists( 'FLBuilder' ) guard; then call FLBuilder::register_module( 'YourModuleClass', $tabs ) where $tabs defines tabs → sections → fields (e.g. a text/photo/color field). Use a prefixed, dash-separated slug (acme-button) to avoid clashing with core modules, and render output in the module's frontend.php. Pull the exact class skeleton, the register_module() settings array, and the field types from references/beaver-builder-api-reference.md.

Example 2: Pull dynamic ACF/WooCommerce data into a template

User: "I want one blog-post template that fills in each post's title, featured image, and an ACF field automatically — and a product template for WooCommerce. How?" Approach: This is Beaver Themer. Create a Themer Layout of type Singular (for posts) or a WooCommerce product layout, set its Location (e.g. "All Posts" / "All Products"), then in any module use Field Connections — click the plus icon on a setting and bind it to Post Title, Featured Image, an ACF field, or a WooCommerce field. The template then renders the correct data per post/product. For dynamic listings (a grid of posts), use the Loop Builder. Themer + Loop Builder ship on all paid tiers. See the Beaver Themer + Field Connections section in references/platform-guide.md.

Example 3: Which plan do I need, and what survives if I leave Beaver Builder?

User: "Do I need the top plan for a client multisite and white labeling — and if I cancel, do my pages break?" Approach: On current plans, multisite is Professional+ (50 sites) and white labeling is Unlimited-only; Starter (1 site) and Plus (3 sites) include the full builder + Themer but not those two. On lock-in: when you deactivate Beaver Builder the text content survives cleanly in the default WordPress editor — only the formatting/layout and any shortcode/Themer-dynamic modules stop rendering. So a client site degrades gracefully rather than filling with broken blocks, but it won't stay visually styled. Flag pricing as best-effort and verify on wpbeaverbuilder.com/pricing; confirm current tiers in references/platform-guide.md.

Troubleshooting

Builder is deactivated on every page except the home page after a migration

Symptom: After moving the site (new host/domain/staging→live), Beaver Builder layouts render only on the home page; inner pages show raw/unstyled content or a "this layout was built with Beaver Builder" prompt. Cause: The migration left stale URLs/paths inside Beaver Builder's serialized layout data (_fl_builder_data) — a plain find-replace that doesn't handle serialized PHP corrupts or misses it. Solution: Run a serialized-data-safe search-replace (WP-CLI wp search-replace 'oldurl' 'newurl' --all-tables, or a migration plugin that handles serialized data), then clear page/object/CDN cache and re-save affected pages. Confirm the WordPress Address/Site Address (Settings → General) match the new URL.

"Beaver Builder not working after upgrading"

Symptom: After a WordPress core, theme, or Beaver Builder update the editor won't open, hangs, or pages lose their styling. Cause: Stale cached CSS/JS, an outdated BB/Themer/theme version, low PHP memory, or a plugin/theme conflict introduced by the update. Solution: Update Beaver Builder, Beaver Themer, and the BB Theme together; clear all caches (page/object/CDN/browser) and re-save a page to regenerate CSS; raise PHP memory (WP_MEMORY_LIMIT); then isolate conflicts by switching to a default theme with only Beaver Builder active and re-enabling plugins one by one.

Pages and the editor are excruciatingly slow

Symptom: Front-end pages load slowly and the editor lags or freezes, especially on long/complex layouts. Cause: Too many modules, oversized images, slider/background scripts, an unoptimized theme, or no caching — not BB's markup itself. Solution: Compress/serve images at the right size (WebP), add a caching + minification plugin, reduce module/slider count, split very long pages into sections or Themer parts, and audit the theme and third-party scripts. Confirm front-end speed with PageSpeed Insights after each change rather than judging from the editor.