In this article, Louis Jodon de Villeroché – the founder of Topicimes, a WordPress agency based in Rennes, France – shares how his team builds smart, scalable websites using JetEngine and other Crocoblock plugins.
About Me and Topicimes
Hi, I’m Louis. I’m 24, self-taught, and absolutely passionate about the web. I founded Topicimes in September 2023, and today we support over 125 clients – from freelancers and SMEs to famous French comedians like Jérémy Ferrari, Arnaud Tsamere, and Tunisian star Lotfi Abdelli.
We’re a 100% WordPress agency, focusing on user-friendly, SEO-ready websites using Elementor and Crocoblock. Nearly half of the sites we build rely on JetEngine, making dynamic data easy to manage over the long term.
From Passion Project to Professional Studio
Before going pro, I created many personal websites – some attracted more than 200,000 users. That gave me the confidence to launch Topicimes.
What matters most to me? Human connection. My approach is simple: understand the client’s dream and build it with care, communication, and curiosity. Learning new tools is easy these days – with official documentation, YouTube tutorials, AI (like ChatGPT or Claude), and a willingness to fail and learn.
Projects that Inspire Me
I’m especially excited about projects where we can push Crocoblock to the limit. With just JetEngine, JetSmartFilters, and a bit of custom code, we can build platforms that are truly unique.
Some of the most exciting ones include:
- job platforms;
- event websites;
- advanced listing systems.
Crocoblock lets us build tailored experiences, not just generic templates.
My Favorite Project: Théâtre Fémina, Bordeaux
One project I’m incredibly proud of is the rebuild of the legendary Théâtre Fémina website.
We needed a smart way to display upcoming events. Each event could happen on multiple dates, and the system had to show the next available one automatically. I created a custom post type (“Événements”) and used a JetEngine repeater for date handling.
Then came the fun part: writing a custom solution to extract the next closest date from the repeater and sort events dynamically based on it.
Let’s say:
- Event A: 01/08/2025, 10/08/2025
- Event B: 04/08/2025
If today is 03/08/2025, the system knows Event B should appear first, even if Event A was added earlier.
It sounds simple, but making it work dynamically was a real technical puzzle. And JetEngine made it possible.
The Solution: Crocoblock Plugins
To build this, we used:
- JetEngine: for custom post types, repeaters, and query builder;
- JetSmartFilters: for filtering events;
- JetTricks: for UX enhancements.
Query Builder was especially useful – it allowed me to sort complex data with precision and flexibility.
I usually turn to Crocoblock’s support site for technical issues – the live chat is fine for quick questions, but for deep functionality, the knowledge base and community are more helpful.
More sites we built with Crocoblock (selected):
- Spectacles Nantes;
- Alpes Ascensions;
- Clarnie;
- Jeremy Ferrari;
- Dark Smile Productions;
- Dark Smile TV;
- Spectacles Humour.
Favorite Tools
- Best organization tool: Notion;
- Hosting: Kinsta;
- Must-have plugin: Elementor;
- Page Builder vs. Native: Page Builder all the way;
- Team size: 1;
- Wireframing: Figma;
- Crocoblock plan: Freelance Lifetime.
My go-to plugins:
- Security: WPS Hide Login;
- Translation: TranslatePress;
- SEO: RankMath;
- Caching: Kinsta native.
Advice for WordPress Creators
Master your tools. There’s no shortcut – you’ve got to really understand Elementor, JetEngine, and the whole Crocoblock suite. The better you know them, the more creative and confident you become. That’s how you build real solutions, not just websites.
