Memberlite is the flagship WordPress theme from Paid Memberships Pro. It is open-source, hybrid, and design-focused. Theme development is ongoing.

Tech Stack

My Role

I was tasked with modernizing the codebase, bringing new features to life, and using a combination of Classic WordPress and Gutenberg blocks to improve the theme over time. The goal was to give users, who are used to classic WordPress, exposure to Gutenberg blocks and design-freedom without impacting the user experience. I also managed project workflows in Trello to plan, prioritize and track feature development.

Impact

There have been 7 official releases (and some unreleased features) as of writing this. Memberlite’s UI has been overhauled for a friendlier and more simplified user experience. (Compare version 6.0 to 7.0) Modernized legacy code by migrating stylesheets to Sass, converting jQuery to
vanilla Javascript, re-factoring PHP, and establishing an automated build pipeline via
Github actions.

Also automated RTL language support, improved accessibility, gave the mobile menu a face-lift, and architected design features that combine Customizer settings and Gutenberg’s functionality. There was heavy block pattern design work and new block styles implemented with the goal of giving Memberlite users the design tools they need to hit the ground running.

Memberlite’s features, standards, and history were documented inside the theme, using the docs-as-code philosophy. Docs live and update with the project in version control.