ManicSoup Labs · Development Services
Custom WordPress sites — and the systems underneath them.
I build the website, and the system underneath it. WordPress sites for independent professionals, small businesses, and member organizations — plus the custom systems some of them need underneath: directories, online giving, registration, class tracking, subscriptions. I publish WordPress plugins that other people run on their own sites, so when a site needs something off-the-shelf can't do, that's a problem I take on rather than a reason to tell you no.
25 years
Building websites, starting in 2000
50+
Sites live and under my care right now
Fixed price
Agreed in writing before you pay anything
$19/mo
Hosting, if I handle it
Two reasons people call me.
Most projects are one or the other. Some start as the first and become the second.
01 — The site
You need a site that works.
It looks sharp, it loads fast, it shows up when someone searches for what you do, and you can update it yourself without calling anyone.
- A design that doesn't look like a template
- Fast on a phone, not just on your desktop
- Found in search, and quotable by AI assistants
- Editable by you, with training and written documentation
- Custom tools your customers actually use, like a live punch list
02 — The system
You need a site that runs your organization.
People, money, events, and learning all in one place instead of four apps and a spreadsheet that only one person understands.
- Member and staff directories with private records
- Online payments, dues, and recurring giving
- Registration, capacity, reminders, and check-in
- Courses, certificates, subscriptions, and archives
What "a system" actually means.
A website tells people who you are. A system does the work. It knows who your people are, takes their money, registers them for things, and issues what they earned — without anyone retyping it into a second app.
Most designers build the first thing. I build the second, because I also publish the software that makes WordPress do it.
What gets built
Every one of these started as a real problem somebody called about on a Monday.
01 / Sites
Sites and redesigns
Native Divi 5 builds, or a tired site brought forward without losing what already works.
02 / People
Directories and members
Searchable public listings with individual detail records. Private information stays private.
03 / Money
Payments and giving
Dues, recurring gifts, designated funds, year-end statements. Handled through Stripe.
04 / Events
Registration
Signups, ticketing, capacity, reminders, and check-in that works on a phone at the door.
05 / Learning
Courses and certificates
Enrollment, progress, completion, and certificates that generate themselves.
06 / Jobs
Punch lists and job tracking
A live punch list your customers can follow as items get checked off. On the last site I built one for, it's the owner's favorite part.
07 / Rescue
Site rescue
White screens, fatal errors, plugin conflicts. I publish the plugin that finds them.
08 / Upkeep
Hosting and care
Hosting at $19 a month, plus updates, backups, monitoring, and someone who answers when it breaks.
Who I work with
- Home and property services
- Practitioners and coaches
- Spiritual centers
- Professional associations
- Publishers
- Nonprofits
- Training providers
- Small service businesses
Recent work
LJ Handy Human Services — Sacramento County home services. Their first website — there was no old site to carry forward, no existing content, and no traffic history to lean on. The site is built around one idea: make it effortless to say what you need. The punch list lets a customer tick off everything that needs doing across six categories, then turns it into a message sent in one tap or drops it straight into the quote form. No blank contact box to stare at. The headline animates through what LJ actually does — paints, mows, fixes, cleans, plumbs, hauls, shows up — and the rest of the page reveals section by section as you scroll, so a long page still feels like it is moving with you. Plus a service map covering 40+ towns with rates by county, a job gallery, and a blog.
What it costs.
Published, because you shouldn't have to email someone to find out whether you can afford them. Every project gets a written scope and a fixed price before you pay anything.
01 — Refresh
Refresh
Your existing site brought forward. Divi 5 migration, speed, mobile, accessibility.
Starting at
$1,800
Keeps what already works. Fixes what doesn't.
02 — Build
Build
A new site, native Divi 5. Full build, content structure, and training for whoever updates it.
Starting at
$3,500
Most projects land here.
03 — Systems
Systems
Custom functionality built for you. Directories, payments, registration, courses, punch lists.
Starting at
$7,500
When off-the-shelf genuinely can't do it.
Hosting
$19/mo
Enterprise infrastructure, less than most agencies charge.
Care — Essential
$95/mo
Updates, backups, monitoring, and a human who answers.
Care — Priority
$195/mo
For sites running payments or memberships.
Small jobs
$95/hr
For the things that don't need a whole project.
Every number here is a starting point, not a wall. Tell me your budget and what you actually need, and I'll tell you straight what's possible inside it — or whether you'd be better served by something simpler. I'd rather scope a project you can afford than sell you one you can't.
Who builds it
Larry Hearn
RScP · CADC-II · ICADC · SAP
You are hiring a person, not an agency. The person you talk to is the person accountable for your site — no account manager relaying messages, no handoff to someone who has never spoken to you.
I built my first website in 2000 and have not stopped since. More than 50 are live and under my care right now, and I publish two WordPress plugins in the official directory.
I'm also a certified substance use disorder counselor and educator, trained in unconditional positive regard — meeting people exactly where they are, without judgment. Most people come to me a little embarrassed about their website. Nobody needs to be.
Tell me what you're working with.
Thirty minutes, free, no pitch. You'll get a written scope and a fixed price before you pay anything.