Uzair Khan

29/09/2026

One of the AI coding sessions on a client build confidently used a WordPress function that doesn't exist.

Ran the same task (wiring up the ACF fields for a client's editable menu) through two different AI coding sessions just to see how they'd handle it. One came out clean. The other confidently wrote wp_get_footer(). Sounds real, isn't. WordPress didn't throw an error either, it just looped forever and took the whole site down.

Fix was simple once I found it (swap in the real function, wp_footer()), but it's a good reminder: AI-written code can sound completely sure of itself while being completely wrong. If you're using AI to help build anything real, always double check the parts you didn't personally verify.

29/09/2026

I built a client's landing page two ways at once to see which would hold up.

Client runs a mobile food trailer business and wanted a landing page in WordPress. He already uses Elementor on his other sites, so that was the expected path.

Instead of assuming Elementor was the right call, I built the page one way as a hand-coded theme, the other in Elementor using an AI build process through MCP. Didn't guess which would win, just built enough of both to see for myself.

The hand-coded version came out closer to the original design and finished without a fight. The Elementor/MCP version wasn't as accurate and took longer to get right, at least with the setup I was running. So that's what I delivered, with one condition: prices, photos, and text all live in ACF fields on plain WordPress edit screens (no code needed) so the client can update his own menu without calling me every time something changes.

Moral of the story: test before you commit, even when the "obvious" choice is sitting right there.

28/09/2026

Two projects delivered. Both praised by the client in writing. Neither paid.

In June I took on a project through a referral for Bradley Kirkland, who operates ANW Media and The Graphix Resource, Inc. It started with a flat $100 landing page (RCF Hut), done through Graphix Resource. I delivered it and it went live.

Shortly after, he brought me into a much bigger project: a full rebuild of the ANW Media agency website on GoHighLevel. By his account, a previous developer hadn't finished it, so I redesigned and rebuilt it from the ground up. I hadn't worked hands-on with GHL before, but with a solid development background I picked it up quickly and put real effort into the build: custom CSS, scripts, functionality, the works.

The feedback along the way was positive. He told me directly: "outstanding work." Later, when I followed up on the invoice, he wrote: "you've done a wonderful job."

I don't usually start work without an advance, but because this came through a referral, I made an exception on both projects to build trust early. That's a decision I'd make differently now.

Then payment stalled, and the reason kept changing. First a pricing discussion, then the work being "incomplete." When I asked for even half as assurance, he declined. What he called incomplete were revisions, not unfinished deliverables, and I wasn't refusing to make them. I asked several times for a specific list of what was left and never got one. He eventually removed my access to the project. Communication, which had been quick up to then, slowed to brief, partial replies over several weeks and then stopped, including when I asked to be paid the smaller, undisputed $100 invoice on its own.

Three months and two completed projects later, both invoices remain unpaid, and I've closed them out.

I'm not sharing this to vent. I'm sharing it because it's an expensive reminder of what every freelancer and small agency owner needs to hold firm on, no matter how good the referral or how warm the rapport feels early on:

Get a deposit. Every time.
Put terms in writing. Every time.

A verbal agreement and a WhatsApp thread are not a contract. Trust is earned through delivery and payment both going as promised, not handed over upfront because someone comes recommended.

Every project I take on from here has staged payments, a signed scope of work, and clear terms before a single hour goes in. If you're still working on handshake deals, let this be the nudge to change that before it costs you.

22/09/2026

A client running a mobile food trailer business sent over brand assets and asked for a landing page in WordPress, with Elementor available since that's what his other sites use.

I started with a fully interactive HTML mockup as the source of truth, reviewed and approved before any WordPress work began. From there, I converted it two ways in parallel: one straight into a hand-coded WordPress theme, the other into Elementor using an AI-driven build process. I didn't assume either would win going in, I built enough of both to actually compare them.

The direct theme conversion translated with high fidelity and finished reliably. The Elementor path was noticeably less accurate to the original design and took longer to get right under the setup I was running at the time (that gap likely narrows with more headroom on the tooling side, but it wasn't close enough on this project to bet the deadline on it). Given a real delivery date, I went with the version that actually worked.

That decision came with its own follow-up problem: a hand-coded theme is precise, but it usually means calling a developer every time someone wants to change a menu price. Not acceptable for a small business owner managing his own content day to day. So the delivered theme routes all of the actual content, prices, photos, story copy, hours, through ACF fields on a plain WordPress edit screen. No code needed for any of that. Elementor stayed installed for future pages that don't need the same precision.

The lesson wasn't "custom code beats page builders." It was testing both approaches far enough to get real evidence, then building the decision on what actually delivered, not on which one sounded better going in.

17/08/2026

A question in the Elementor Facebook community caught my attention: could tabs work as carousel navigation instead of dots or arrows, the way The Folio Society does it on their homepage? The screenshot they shared showed exactly what they meant. Tabs across the top, each one filling up like a little countdown before the slide changes on its own. I liked it enough to build it for a client.

The tab/carousel sync wasn't actually the hard part. Making sure the client could add a new slide from a normal WordPress screen was the real challenge. No Elementor involved. No risk of breaking the layout.

Under the hood it's Elementor Pro, ACF, and a bit of custom JavaScript stitched together to create something Elementor doesn't do natively.

The whole thing started with one screenshot someone posted in a group. That's still one of my favorite ways a project can start.

If you're a developer, business owner, or just an Elementor user who wants to recreate this on your own site, DM me and I'll send over the files.

01/04/2026

Small reminder from a recent website migration job.

The client messaged saying half their visitors were seeing the old site and half were seeing the new one. Naturally, they assumed something was broken.

Nothing was.

When you move a website between hosting providers, DNS changes don’t happen instantly and caching at the ISP, browser, or CDN level can also delay what users see. Different ISPs around the world are still caching your old records and they update at their own pace. Completely normal.

The mistake most people make: jumping straight to switching nameservers. The issue is that nameserver changes are cached at the registrar and resolver level, usually 24 to 48 hours, and you can't speed it up. But A record TTL? You control that. Lower it to 300–600 seconds before you migrate and the cutover becomes much faster and cleaner.

The better sequence:

→ Lower your TTL 24 hours before the move

→ Point the domain to the new server (if you’re only changing hosting), keeping the DNS provider the same for now

→ Wait until most global resolvers reflect the change

→ Then move nameservers if needed

Think of Nameservers like changing your home address at the post office, while an A Record is like giving someone a sticky note with your new coordinates. One is permanent but slow; the other is fast but temporary.

A free tool called WhatsMyDNS shows you exactly how your DNS change is spreading across the globe in real time. Genuinely useful during migrations.

DNS issues are often about timing and sequencing but misconfigurations can still happen.

Have you ever done a website move and had this exact panic?

02/02/2026

Question for small business owners with WordPress sites:

If you could rebuild your site without paying yearly theme subscriptions and without agency pricing, would that matter to you?

I’m testing a simpler setup for early-stage businesses and want real feedback before offering it.

Comment “yes” or “no” - both help.

24/12/2025

Quick share for anyone who wants to build apps with AI.

Lovable is giving 2 months of their Pro plan for free when you use the code NEXTPLAY-LOV-25 at checkout.
​
That means you can build and deploy full web apps, try out ideas, and see if the tool fits your workflow without paying anything for the first 2 months.

Steps:

1. Go to lovable.dev and sign up or log in
2. Click “Upgrade to Pro”
3. Choose the $25/month Pro plan
4. Enter the code NEXTPLAY-LOV-25 and make sure it shows $0 for 2 months

A couple of important notes:

▪️You do need to add a valid payment method (card) at checkout.
▪️You will be charged $25/month after the 2 months if you do not cancel before the promo period ends.

If you just want to test it, set a reminder to review or cancel before the 2 months are up.
​
Tag a friend who is always talking about building something but never ships.

02/12/2025

WordPress 6.9 just dropped… and it quietly fixes some of the most annoying parts of working in WordPress today.

As someone who builds and edits WordPress sites, these changes can seriously speed up everyday work and reduce plugin bloat.

Here are the updates that stand out:

▪ Real-time collaboration lets your team leave comments, replies, and “resolved” markers on any block (Notes), just like Figma or Google Docs, so feedback finally lives exactly where the change needs to happen.

▪ A universal Command Palette (Cmd+K/Ctrl+K) works across the Site Editor and classic WP Admin, making it much faster to jump to pages, templates, or settings without digging through menus.

▪ A native Accordion block means cleaner FAQ sections with no extra plugins, plus support for rich layouts with other blocks like images and video inside.

▪ New "Time to Read" and "Word Count" blocks help set clear expectations for readers and give writers an easy way to keep content length under control.

▪ A simple “hide block” toggle lets you keep seasonal or work-in-progress sections in your layout without publishing them or cloning pages.

▪ Under the hood, the new Abilities API, Interactivity API updates, and Block Bindings improvements lay the groundwork for more powerful AI workflows and dynamic experiences in future versions.

For teams and creators working in WordPress every day, 6.9 turns a lot of small daily frustrations into smoother, more focused workflows.

29/11/2025

I locked in 4 years of Hostinger Business hosting for Rs. 26,842 ($96 USD). Here's the complete cost breakdown.

Black Friday hosting deals are everywhere, but most hide the real long-term costs behind flashy discount percentages. I'm sharing my actual analysis so you can make an informed decision.

What I Paid:

🔹Business Plan (48 months): Rs. 26,842 total
🔹Regular price without discount: Rs. 1,34,352 (R̶s̶.̶ ̶2̶,̶7̶9̶9̶/̶m̶o̶n̶t̶h̶)
🔹Effective monthly cost: Rs. 559.20 ($1.99/month)
🔹Got 20% extra discount via referral link (saved Rs. 6,710)

What's Included (For Full 48 Months):

🔹50 websites | 200GB NVMe storage
🔹Daily + on-demand backups
🔹Free CDN
🔹AI agent for WordPress (Kodee)
🔹WordPress staging tools
🔹Supports ~100,000 monthly visits

What's Free only for First Year:

🔹Domain (renews at regular price - check Hostinger's domain pricing for your TLD)
🔹5 mailboxes per website

After Year 4: Renewal jumps to Rs. 2,299/month (Rs. 27,588/year or $98/year) unless you migrate or negotiate.

Why Business vs Premium?

Premium costs Rs. 499/month +2 months free (85% off) but gives you:

🔹Only 3 websites & 100GB SSD (vs 50 websites & 200GB NVMe)
🔹2 mailboxes per website (vs 5)
🔹Weekly backups (vs daily + on-demand)
🔹No built-in CDN (need third-party like Cloudflare)
🔹No AI agent or staging tools
🔹Handles ~25,000 monthly visits

Business costs ~40% more but gives you 16x more websites, 2x storage, faster NVMe drives, 2.5x more email accounts, better backups, built-in CDN, and can handle 4x more traffic. For multi-site projects or growth plans, the extra cost is worth it.

Both Premium and Business are shared hosting. If you need dedicated resources (200,000+ visits), consider Hostinger's Cloud/VPS plans, though they cost significantly more.

This makes sense if you:

🔹Have committed multi-year projects (not experiments)
🔹Need multiple websites or plan to scale
🔹Can set a 2028 calendar reminder to evaluate alternatives before renewal
🔹Value predictable costs over month-to-month flexibility

Skip this if you:

🔹Are testing ideas or might abandon projects
🔹Only need 1-2 simple websites (Premium might be enough)
🔹Hate long-term commitments
🔹Will forget about the renewal price jump

The "85% off" marketing is calculated against the Rs. 1,34,352 renewal price (R̶s̶.̶ ̶2̶,̶7̶9̶9̶/̶m̶o̶n̶t̶h̶ × 48), not what people paid before the sale. The real savings compared to normal pricing are more modest, but this is still the lowest price of the year for those who need reliable shared hosting for multiple projects.

I have a referral link if you decide this fits your situation. I get a commission (like the 20% discount I received).

Referral link: https://hostinger.com?REFERRALCODE=UZAIR07
I earn a commission from this, same as the 20% discount I received. The breakdown above is honest either way.

Also worth checking: WebHostMost.pk has Black Friday deals running. I haven't tested them, so research thoroughly before committing:

https://www.webhostmost.pk/special-offer/black-friday

Hostinger has been super reliable. We’ve pulled big sales off of the back of the website, and consistent reliability has been key.