From Elementor to Headless: How I Rebuilt My Portfolio with React and WordPress GraphQL

The Challenge: Breaking Free from Page Builders After years of building websites with Elementor and traditional WordPress themes, I decided to challenge myself with a complete portfolio rebuild using modern web technologies. The goal? Create a blazing-fast, scalable portfolio that separates content management from presentation while maintaining the flexibility WordPress offers. What I built: A fully decoupled headless WordPress architecture with React powering the frontend. Live URLs: Frontend (React): https://othmanewp.com Backend (WordPress GraphQL): https://api.othmanewp.com Why I Made the Switch The Limitations I Faced with Elementor Don't get me wrong - Elementor is powerful and I've built countless successful sites with it. But as my skills evolved, I started hitting walls: Performance bottlenecks - Heavy page builders load lots of CSS/JS even when unused Limited customization - Want something truly custom? You're writing CSS overrides everywhere Scaling issues - Managing 100+ pa