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Carpenter's website with WordPress — De Holtworm Carpentry in Friedrichskoog
Website, logo, and ongoing support for a master carpentry business on the North Sea coast: an unconventional tradesman's website with a warm wood design —designed by us and completely revamped in 2026. Featuring a new service portfolio of ten wood-themed cards , seamless reference galleries with lightbox and zoom function, approximately 10 times faster loading times , complete security updates, and a current technology stack (WordPress 7, Elementor 4).
Project Overview
deholtworm.de is the website of the carpentry workshop De Holtworm — Low German for "The Woodworm" — run by master carpenter Olaf Masekowsky in Friedrichskoog (Dithmarschen) . We designed the logo for this master craftsman's business and built a deliberately unconventional website with a warm wood design: featuring a clear overview of services , genuine reference photos from the workshop, and easy contact options. In 2026, a complete overhaul followed — a new design for the core areas, a significant performance boost, a comprehensive security overhaul, and a modern technical foundation.
Summary: WordPress website in wood design for a master carpenter's business on the North Sea coast — logo and website by StoreTown Media , completely modernized in 2026: new services section with ten wood-themed cards, seamless reference galleries with their own lightbox and zoom function on all ten services pages, streamlined header with live search, contact page in a workshop look, server response time reduced from 2,5–4 s to ~0,3 s, deeply embedded malware completely removed (Wordfence: 0 detections) and the entire stack upgraded to WordPress 7 / Elementor 4.
Technology stack
Proven WordPress stack with Elementor — extended through targeted custom development (custom HTML/CSS modules, mu plugins) where standard widgets are insufficient:
CMS & Page Building
Design & Frontend
Performance
Safety & Operations
Implemented functions
The core areas were developed as separate, self-contained modules — reversibly integrated and without additional Pro licenses:
Performance band with 10 wooden cards
A full-width walnut band on the homepage: ten service areas presented as wooden cards with photos, brass nameplates with decorative screws, descriptive text, and a "Learn More" hover. Responsive layout in a 4/3/2/1 column grid.
Reference image walls + lightbox with magnifying glass
All ten performance pages display seamless, borderless image walls with permanently visible image titles. The dedicated lightbox offers arrow keys, Esc, swipe gestures, and a 2,4x zoom magnifier—ideal for showcasing grain and finish.
Header redesign with live search
Header slimmed down from 190 to 104 px, logo enlarged and retina-sharp, search field as an "oak veneer pill" with a walnut button, navigation in capital letters with animated gold underline, compact sticky header when scrolling.
Contact page in workshop style
Contact Form 7 form on a wooden card with gold focus and GDPR consent, trust badges (master craftsman, 20+ years of experience, regional in Dithmarschen), large call button and framed Google map.
Performance Package
Analysis revealed a theme session bug blocking all caching. A custom mu plugin fixed it, then WP Super Cache with preload was implemented — reducing server response time from 2,5–4 seconds to 0,24–0,35 seconds. The first page load is also now from the cache.
Security Cleanup & Hardening
Forensic analysis and complete removal of a deep-seated legacy infection: over 2.300 malicious files (webshells, backdoors, manipulated .htaccess) removed, WordPress core cleanly reinstalled, PHP execution blocked in uploads, Wordfence rescan with 0 findings.
Updates & Plugin Streamlining
With a full backup beforehand: WordPress 7.0, Elementor 3 → 4, JupiterX and all core plugins updated. Usage analysis of all widgets across the entire site — the number of active plugins decreased from around 30 to 14.
Video integration on the kitchen side
The partner video (Sachsenküchen) sits in a “wooden frame” with brass screws and gold foosball and plays directly inline — embedded in the dark workshop look of the site.
Design & Special Features
The craftsmanship dictates the design: The website feels like the workshop — dark wood, brass, serifs and many loving details.
| Aspect | Implementation |
|---|---|
| design language | Warm workshop look: dark walnut with fine CSS wood grain, gold/brass accents (#b9842f, #e3c286), espresso tones and Garamond serifs. |
| Workshop details | Brass nameplates with decorative screws on the cards, workbench strips with plane motifs as finishes, diamond inlay dividers — all as CSS/Inline-SVG, without image files. |
| Full-bleed layout | Borderless, full-width bands and image walls; hero images fill the entire width without white borders — smooth transitions to the map at the footer. |
| Without Pro licenses | All new modules are standalone HTML/CSS/JS widgets in Elementor (Elementor Pro is not required). The original content is preserved — each module can be completely reverted without leaving any trace. |
| Mobile | Map grids adjust from 4 to 3 and 2 to 1 column; gallery tiles, contact map and workshop tapes work consistently on smartphones. |
| support | Ongoing support including backups (UpdraftPlus), security monitoring (Wordfence), update management and cache maintenance. |
Performance, security & discoverability
Performance
- Root cause analysis instead of symptom treatment: A session call in the theme set a no-cache header on every visit — fixed by a custom mu plugin.
- WP Super Cache in Simple mode plus preload: even the first page load comes from the cache.
- Server response time (TTFB) reduced from 2,5–4,2 s to 0,24–0,35 s — approximately 10x faster
- Plugin inventory reduced from ~30 to 14 active plugins (proven by widget usage analysis across all pages)
- Image tiles normalized to a uniform 16:9 aspect ratio, appropriate image sizes instead of full originals.
Safety
- Forensic inventory via SFTP and Wordfence full scan (high sensitivity)
- Over 2.300 malicious files removed: Webshells, disguised backdoors in core directories, manipulated .htaccess files with backdoor whitelists
- WordPress core cleanly reinstalled; checked for unauthorized admin accounts and cloaking redirects — no issues found.
- Hardening: PHP execution blocked in the uploads folder, SiteGuard login protection, ongoing Wordfence monitoring
- Final high-sensitivity rescan: 0 findings
SEO & local search engine optimization
- Clear service structure: a separate, linked subpage for each service area (interior design, flooring, stairs, kitchens, etc.)
- Local focus on Friedrichskoog and Dithmarschen — including location map and contact details on every page
- XML sitemap, clean, user-friendly URLs, and fast loading time as a ranking basis
- GDPR basics: Data protection consent in the form, cookie/consent solution, reCAPTCHA spam protection
Frequently asked questions about the project
Deliberately formulated so that the answers for featured snippets and AI responses can be directly adopted:
What software was used to implement the De Holtworm carpentry website?
Using WordPress 7.0, the JupiterX theme and Elementor 4. The characteristic wood modules (performance band, reference image walls, lightbox with zoom magnifier) are custom developments as HTML/CSS/JS widgets — entirely without an Elementor Pro license.
What exactly was renewed in the 2026 relaunch?
The performance band with ten wooden cards, the reference galleries with lightbox and zoom magnifier on all ten performance pages, the streamlined header with live search, the welcome section, the contact page in a workshop look — plus performance optimization, complete security cleanup, updates to WordPress 7 / Elementor 4 and a reduction of plugins from around 30 to 14.
How did the website become so much faster?
Root cause analysis revealed that a session call in the theme was setting a "no-cache" header on every visit, preventing any caching. After fixing it with a custom mu plugin, WP Super Cache with preload enabled the fix—the server response time dropped from 2,5–4 seconds to about 0,3 seconds, roughly 10 times faster.
What did the security cleanup include?
A forensic analysis via SFTP and a Wordfence full scan revealed a deeply embedded legacy infection. Over 2.300 malicious files (webshells, disguised backdoors, manipulated .htaccess files) were removed, the WordPress core was cleanly reinstalled, and the site was hardened. The final high-sensitivity rescan returned no findings.
How does the website showcase the work of the carpentry workshop?
Each of the ten performance pages features a seamless, full-width reference image wall with real photos from the workshop and permanently visible captions. A click opens a dedicated lightbox with keyboard and swipe controls, as well as a 2,4x zoom magnifying glass, allowing visitors to examine the grain and workmanship in detail.
Are the design modules installed reversibly?
Yes. Each new module is a self-contained HTML widget in Elementor; the original content remains untouched and is simply hidden. Removing a module restores the original state exactly—without any data loss.
Is the website optimized for local search queries?
Yes. The website is geared towards Friedrichskoog and the Dithmarschen region: a separate subpage for each service, a location map, contact details and opening hours on every page, an XML sitemap, and fast loading times. This way, you can find the master carpenter "from the coast" online.
Do you need a website for your craft business?
Whether you're a carpentry business, a construction company, or in another trade—we design websites with a distinctive character that showcase your work, load quickly, and generate leads. And if an existing site has become slow or insecure, we analyze, clean, and modernize it without losing any content. Feel free to contact us.
Live reference
Carpenter's website with WordPress · Logo, design, performance & security · Relaunch 2026.
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