Genes: WordPress Deserved a Worthy Opponent
A lightweight PHP framework born from frustration, refined over 5 years, and converted into an AI-ready codebase.
Genes: WordPress Deserved a Worthy Opponent
Over five years ago, frustrated with WordPress's bloated complexity and other frameworks downloading mysterious files without permission, I set out to build something better. WordPress deserved a worthy opponent.
The Origin Story
Every popular framework at the time was either impossibly heavy or scrambled and messy. WordPress required a dozen plugins just to do simple things. Other frameworks had weird dependencies that cluttered projects with files you never asked for.
I wanted lightweight. I wanted simple. I wanted control. So I started building Genes—a PHP framework that strips away the nonsense and gives you exactly what you need to build modern web apps and backends.
Years of Stealth Development
For several years, I used and improved Genes quietly in production. It powered real projects. I ironed out the quirks, optimized the patterns, and refined the architecture. Eventually, I marketed it as a starter under my company name. Had a couple of sales. Then AI arrived like a freight train and changed everything.
The AI Pivot
As AI became my daily development companion, I realized something: if Claude was helping me with Genes, others could benefit too. So I converted the framework into an AI-ready codebase—complete with documentation, examples, and GitHub project structure prepared by AI agents.
The irony? After years of building WordPress's worthy opponent, I failed. But the codebase lives on, now augmented by AI to help others build faster and lighter.
Human Ideas, AI Documentation
The core solutions, optimizations, and architectural decisions are mine. Most of the ideas AI couldn't figure out on its own—human creativity still has the edge. But AI converted my framework into something usable by everyone, with clear documentation and working examples.
The Philosophy
We don't need more pesky, flimsy Next.js and React bloat taking over the world. PHP remains the world's greatest web scripting language. It's still the best, most lightweight solution for web apps and backends. It's the cheapest way to launch something online.
Genes is my answer to the complexity creep in modern web development. More documentation and samples will come regularly.
Power to PHP. Power to simplicity. Power to developers who just want to build without the ceremony.