Tools shaped by the work.
Built by STS products begin with real problems, not feature lists.
We build tools and foundations for our own work first, use them in real projects, and let that experience help determine what they should become.
Some may eventually become public products. Others may remain internal tools. Either way, the goal is the same: build what’s useful and leave out what isn’t.
Built & In Use
These are projects currently powering the work behind Built by STS.
STS Starter
A lightweight WordPress foundation.
STS Starter is our native WordPress starter theme—a reusable foundation for creating custom websites without beginning every project from zero or depending on a page builder.
It establishes the fundamentals we want available at the beginning of a project: a thoughtful design-token system, native WordPress blocks, accessibility considerations, responsive behavior, performance-conscious defaults, and clear boundaries between presentation and functionality.
But it doesn’t decide what the finished website has to look like.
BuiltBySTS.com itself began with STS Starter before becoming its own independent theme. That gives us a real-world test of an important idea: a reusable foundation shouldn’t make every website look the same.
Current status: Internal foundation · Actively in use
STS SEO
SEO metadata without replacing WordPress.
STS SEO is our lightweight WordPress SEO metadata layer built around a simple principle:
Add what WordPress is missing. Leave WordPress core alone where it already provides the functionality.
Version 0.1.0 currently handles the needs we identified through an audit of BuiltBySTS.com: custom search descriptions, Open Graph metadata, X/Twitter Cards, social-image fallbacks, and canonical coverage where it was actually missing.
It intentionally does not replace WordPress systems that are already doing their jobs.
STS SEO v0.1.0 is currently running on BuiltBySTS.com as our functional baseline. We’re using it in real work before deciding what it should become next.
Current status: Internal project · v0.1.0 functional baseline · Actively in use
Built Before Released
We don’t want a product roadmap filled with features simply because another product has them.
Our process starts differently:
Identify a real need.
Understand what already exists.
Build the smallest useful solution.
Test it in real work.
Let experience inform what comes next.
That means you may see projects here before they’re available to download or purchase.
That’s intentional.
Built by STS is as much about documenting the process of creating useful tools as it is about the finished products.
What We’re Building Toward
STS Starter and STS SEO are the beginning, not a predetermined product catalog.
As we continue building websites and working with real-world WordPress projects, we’ll pay attention to repeated problems, friction in our workflows, and places where a focused tool could make the work better.
When those needs become clear, they may become the next thing Built by STS creates.
Until then, we’re comfortable not building something just to have something new to release.
Follow the Build
Want to see how these projects are taking shape?
The Workshop documents what we’re building, why we’re making certain decisions, what we’re learning, and sometimes why we decide not to add another feature.