Why AI Mode
AI Mode makes it possible to build larger, custom-designed websites with Lay Theme and WordPress as an established foundation.
Lay Theme remains a fast way to create a straightforward portfolio website. AI tools can now generate simple websites from a description too. The difference becomes more important when a website has many kinds of content, repeated layouts, relationships, filters and a client who needs to maintain everything after launch.
Larger Websites Need Structure
Consider a gallery website. It may need a page for every artist, a page for every exhibition, separate artwork records, artist and exhibition overviews, and relationships between all of them. The client should be able to add a new artist or exhibition while the layout stays intact.
AI Mode can create Custom Post Types for these different kinds of content. A Custom Post Type is simply a dedicated content section in WordPress. The admin can have clear sections called Artists, Exhibitions and Artworks.
Custom Fields define what editors can enter for each type. An Artist might have a portrait, biography, birth year and related exhibitions. An Exhibition might have dates, a location, participating artists and a gallery of images. The editor gets a focused form, and the layout stays protected.
What Is a Taxonomy?
A taxonomy is a named system for grouping content. WordPress Categories and Tags are both taxonomies. Larger websites often add more specific ways to organize information.
For example, Artworks could have a taxonomy called Medium, with terms such as Painting, Photography, Sculpture and Video. A gallery might also need separate taxonomies for Location, Exhibition Type, Year or Collection. These are like a third, fourth or fifth set of categories, each with a clear purpose.
Editors select these values from predefined terms, so they stay consistent. Custom Views can then create filters, indexes and archive pages from them automatically.
From Figma to a Real CMS
A designer can create components and page systems in Figma, then use AI Mode to turn them into reusable Custom Elements and Custom Views. Custom Fields connect the design to editable content, while Custom Post Types and Custom Taxonomies define the information structure behind it.
This workflow turns a design into a structured website. The result is a frontend that follows the design and a WordPress admin that the client can understand and maintain.
AI Mode can also help migrate hundreds of existing projects, artworks or exhibitions into the new structure.
Designers and Frontend Development
AI is making the boundary between designer and frontend developer less rigid. Designers can now implement interactions, components and data-driven pages that previously required a professional frontend developer.
That also introduces a new responsibility. Designers need to think about how content is named, grouped, related, migrated and edited. A complete website includes a clear frontend and a well-structured WordPress admin.
A good AI Mode project therefore starts with questions such as:
- Which kinds of content need their own section?
- Which values should be fields, and which should be taxonomies?
- How are Artists, Exhibitions, Artworks or other records related?
- Which parts of the design should become reusable Custom Elements?
- What should a client be allowed to edit while the design stays intact?
An Established CMS Foundation
An entirely AI-coded website also requires a database, admin panel, permissions, media handling and editing workflow. AI Mode starts with WordPress and Lay Theme as the established foundation.
The AI adapts that foundation to the project's content model and design. The designer gains much more freedom, and the client receives a familiar, maintainable CMS.
See Building Complex WordPress Websites with AI for a complete content-model example, Building Complex Websites with AI Mode for the broader workflow, Capabilities for the technical reference and WordPress Admin for the management screens.