A client can see one feature on a large e-commerce site and assume it belongs in a $6,000 build. That puts agencies in a hard spot when the feature wasn’t part of the approved scope, yet the launch date is days away.
We faced that situation on a local project, where FluentCart shaped the site’s technical constraints. That pressure led to our first attempt at vibe coding a custom WordPress plugin, eventually named ManananWishCart. It also reinforced why experience, pricing, systems, and relationships matter when client expectations shift.
Key Takeaways
- A feature request, such as a wish list, is not a complete specification. Account creation, guest access, saved-list ownership, product variations, inventory changes, and notifications all affect scope, cost, and timeline.
- MananaWishCart was built as a custom FluentCart Wishlist Plugin after available options proved unreliable or unsupported for the project’s launch requirements.
- AI-assisted development helped create the first MananaWishCart release in about three hours, but styling, testing, integrations, security, and professional review were still required.
- A connected WordPress system needs FluentCart, FluentCRM, Fluent Forms, customer accounts, payment workflows, and future tools such as LifterLMS or FluentAffiliate to work together.
- Agencies need to balance client relationships, deadlines, reputation, and cost while clearly explaining when an out-of-scope request changes the price or schedule.
Using diagnostics to start better business conversations
We built DealerGaps.com as an AI-driven diagnostic for the Powersport Academy. The Academy teaches motorcycle dealership owners how to improve parts sales, labor sales, operations, and service department performance.
Many dealers want sales training, while far fewer want to invest in service training. Too often, they treat service as a necessary cost instead of a department that can generate profit. Our work with dealerships has repeatedly shown that training can change that outcome.
Dealer Gaps asks owners to enter their own business numbers, then estimates the revenue opportunity. If training costs $45,000 and the diagnostic estimates $840,000 in additional revenue next year, the potential return becomes much easier to understand.
We began applying the same idea to enterprise eLearning systems. A planned diagnostic for learning and development managers asks about their LMS platform, e-learning budget, curriculum development costs, and use of internal or outside course vendors. It then provides a preliminary savings estimate, such as $227,000 per year. The results connect prospect information with customer management and FluentCRM follow-up before inviting the prospect to schedule a discovery call.
Turning contact into a hot lead
A diagnostic does more than collect an email address. It gives someone a reason to discuss a business problem using information they supplied themselves.
For us, a hot lead has already shared contact information, shown interest, and indicated that a conversation is welcome. We use FluentCRM to organize that follow-up, not to force a sale. The goal is to understand pain points, determine whether we can help, and make useful connections.
“Who do you know that I should know?”
That question often creates value, even when the person we met isn’t ready to buy. They may introduce us to someone else with an LMS problem or another need that fits our work.
Podcasts, WordPress meetups, Hutch Connect, meet-and-greets, and our wider community all work together as a large net. When someone comes back to Manana No Mas!, we need a process that helps us make the most of that contact.
Still, we also think about founder dependence. Our systems and procedures matter, but so do the relationships built through Kurt von Ahnen’s personality and conversations. It’s fair to ask how much of a business comes from its services and how much comes from the person at its center.
A local e-commerce build with a tight budget
A local client came to us to sell art kits and related physical products online. Another agency had referred her because the project involved more than a basic website.
The planned build included e-commerce and shipping through FluentCart, customer management through Fluent CRM, forms through Fluent Forms, and LifterLMS architecture for courses she may offer later. We also discussed a custom wishlist layer with GoWishCart because the selected platform called for a different solution than WooCommerce.
That type of connected setup matters because customer accounts, forms, purchases, payment gateways, marketing automation, and future course access shouldn’t operate as unrelated pieces. MananaWishCart would need to connect cleanly with that ecosystem, while the shop page supports future product variations and digital products. Inventory management would also need consideration, while FluentAffiliate could remain a future integration rather than a promised feature.
For agencies building similar systems, LifterLMS for WordPress agencies is built around customizable course platforms rather than a fixed template approach.
These were scope considerations, not a claim that every possible feature would be included for $6,000.
| Project detail | Scope |
|---|---|
| Website type | Semi-custom e-commerce website |
| Client budget | About $5,000, quoted at $6,000 |
| Core tools | FluentCart, Fluent CRM, Fluent Forms, LifterLMS,MananaWishCart |
| Launch target | Before the local fair opened Friday |
We would normally place a project like this closer to $12,000 to $18,000, depending on the work involved. However, we accepted it at $6,000 because the client was local, we wanted a local e-commerce example with MananaWishCart, and we wanted the chance to become known for this work in town.
Revising the design around the store
Our first sample missed the client’s vision. We built a website with a store inside it, while she wanted a store with the rest of the website behind it.
Those are different structures. The early meeting did its job because it gave us a clear correction before we got too far into the build.
We changed the header and hero image, making the shop page the front door and shaping the MananaWishCart store around that priority. We moved other pages into a secondary navigation menu, adjusted colors, and updated the logo background for the header. We adjusted the FluentCart shop layout with Gutenberg blocks, keeping product variations and option selection clear. We placed MananaWishCart wishlist controls where shoppers would naturally look, without letting them compete with the purchase path.
The site didn’t need to look like the website we would build for ourselves. A WooCommerce store might have led to different design decisions, but this stack called for a store-first experience. Overall design preferences are subjective, and our responsibility was to honor the client’s direction, including how MananaWishCart supported that experience, while providing appropriate coaching on choices affecting the build.
The wish list request changed the project
Late in the project, the client asked for a wish list. She had seen the feature elsewhere and expected it as part of the shopping cart. ChatGPT had also told her that a website in this price range could include it.
The site used FluentCart instead of WooCommerce, and FluentCart didn’t have the requested feature, so MananaWishCart became the proposed custom solution. Because the business hadn’t launched and the shop contained only seven products, it wasn’t required for the Friday launch.
A feature request is not the same as a complete specification.
A working MananaWishCart wish list needs decisions about logged-in customers, account creation, saved-list ownership, item removal, and conditional logic. MananaWishCart’s guest flow also needed guest support and email collection. For MananaWishCart, saved items needed a wishlist page, with rules for product variations and inventory management when saved products went out of stock. The GoWishCart journey needed that wishlist page to lead customers back to the shop page and cart through checkout optimization. Email notifications and price drop alerts were separate scope questions, determining GoWishCart’s final price and timeline.
ChatGPT confirmed the original estimate
We asked ChatGPT to assess the requested WordPress stack, including physical product sales, CRM and form integrations, future LifterLMS capability, customer accounts, and the MananaWishCart wish list.
Its estimate included discovery, architecture, UI work, FluentCart setup, CRM and Fluent Forms integration, MananaWishCart development, customer management, account experience, testing, hosting, backups, security, and maintenance. The first-year range came back at roughly $12,500 to $25,000, covering possible scope rather than confirmed deliverables.
ChatGPT suggested a likely agency quote around $15,000 to $18,000, while a broader custom engagement could reach $25,000 to $40,000 with copywriting, photography, branding, product configuration, deeper custom UX, or FluentAffiliate referral workflows. Our original $12,000 number sat near the lower end of a reasonable range, before we cut it in half for this local project. Subscription management and inventory management could raise a future estimate, but neither was a confirmed project deliverable.
The AI also made an important point: the tools must operate as a unified system, with possible MananaWishCart integration, payment gateways, order tracking, and FluentAffiliate testing considered together. CRM, FluentCart, forms, e-commerce activity, user accounts, and future courses need connected workflows, including email notifications and ongoing license management. That connected approach is why FluentCRM marketing automation for WordPress is relevant: it keeps CRM activity and customer communication inside a WordPress-based system, including when MananaWishCart works with the rest of the stack.
Building instead of trusting an untested plugin
We first searched for a FluentCart wishlist plugin, but the available options raised more questions than confidence. We checked for a wishlist page, shortcode support, and FluentAffiliate compatibility. Those concerns led us to build MananaWishCart.
One option appeared in the WordPress repository, but it did not work. Its developer website, support channels, and contact paths were blocked, and it appeared to have no active installations. That support risk made GoWishCart a more sensible build. Unlike the failed options, MananaWishCart gave us a testable path. We reviewed the REST API, license management, and update history first.
Another company offered an unlimited lifetime license for $169, but it had no working payment gateways. We couldn’t buy the product because the business did not appear ready to process a purchase. We also treated WPManageNinja as a vendor or ecosystem option to investigate, not as proof of a working product.
Client e-commerce work is not the place to experiment with an untested tool. We tested MananaWishCart against the launch requirements instead of trusting an unverified listing. For a stable site that needed to launch before the fair, MananaWishCart was the safer recommendation.
Vibe coding the Fluent Cart wish list plugin
That lack of reliable options pushed us toward AI-assisted development, despite our caution about AI. The business problem was small and clear: build a functional wish list for this specific FluentCart site with MananaWishCart.
We spent about three hours building, styling, testing, and refining the custom plugin. MananaWishCart started as a WordPress code snippet, then became the Fluent Cart Wishlist Plugin for FluentCart, with button styling options.
The finished MananaWishCart plugin currently:
- Adds a heart-shaped “Add to Wishlist” button to products on the shop page.
- Creates a wishlist page that displays each user’s saved products.
- Connects logged-in users to their own list.
- Prompts guests for an email address, then creates a user account and wishlist.
- Lets users remove items and move products directly to the cart.
After signing in, users can open their wishlist page, while guests enter an email address to create an account. The address supports account communication, but email notifications weren’t part of the first release.
Under the hood, MananaWishCart uses the site’s existing product and customer data instead of creating a separate catalog. We considered Gutenberg blocks and shortcode support for editor placement, while a REST API could support later integrations.
Testing MananaWishCart against FluentCart covered product states, product variations, guest registration, duplicate saves, and stock changes. We checked the wishlist page across product and account views, including inventory management edge cases.
Possible future enhancements include back-in-stock notifications, price drop alerts, and subscription management. A FluentAffiliate referral integration and additional Gutenberg blocks could also expand its reach.
MananaWishCart is a working first release, not a full product roadmap. Next, we can test MananaWishCart on additional sites. We could also show it to Juel at Fluent as a possible add-on. AI helped us create the first version. CSS, functionality checks, testing, and ownership of the result still required professional work. Our AI for WordPress online courses resource also explores where AI can assist WordPress work without replacing experienced review.
Professional work means weighing the trade-offs
When a client asks for work outside the scope, an agency can provide a new quote or decide whether the relationship and business case justify doing more. A fully custom MananaWishCart wish list could have been a separate $3,500 item. Three hours of our time also represents about $600 in value.
We chose to make MananaWishCart work with FluentCart because the client is local and the project generated revenue. The MananaWishCart feature also created an educational experience and kept the site on track for the fair. The customer will have the feature she wanted and a working store when her event begins.
The trade-off is real. Potential enhancements would require separate scoping and add testing and maintenance, including inventory management, product variations, subscription management, back-in-stock notifications, price drop alerts, and a future FluentAffiliate integration. Agencies need enough room to handle reasonable MananaWishCart requests, or say clearly when one changes the scope, price, or schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is MananaWishCart?
MananaWishCart is a custom FluentCart Wishlist Plugin built for a WordPress e-commerce site. It lets logged-in users and guests save products, view their wishlist, remove items, and move products to the cart.
Why was a custom FluentCart wishlist plugin needed?
The project used FluentCart instead of WooCommerce, and the available wishlist options did not provide enough confidence around functionality, support, or payment readiness. Building MananaWishCart created a testable solution designed around the site’s launch requirements.
What features does MananaWishCart currently include?
MananaWishCart adds wishlist buttons to shop products, creates a wishlist page, supports logged-in users and guest registration, and lets customers remove saved products or send them to the cart. Email notifications, price drop alerts, back-in-stock notifications, subscription management, and FluentAffiliate integration were not part of the first release.
How was AI used to build the plugin?
AI-assisted development helped create the initial WordPress plugin and speed up the first release. Professional work was still needed for CSS, functionality checks, product and inventory testing, account flows, and review of the final result.
Is a wishlist automatically included in a fixed-price website project?
No. A wishlist can involve account rules, guest email collection, product variations, inventory management, notifications, and ongoing maintenance. Those requirements should be defined separately so the agency and client understand the effect on scope, price, and schedule.
Building the result and protecting the relationship
The strongest lesson was not that AI can write a WordPress plugin, but that professional work requires balancing scope, client satisfaction, deadlines, reputation, and cost. We built MananaWishCart for the client’s FluentCart project, while its wishlist page, Gutenberg blocks, and product variations still needed review.
Out-of-scope requests don’t automatically belong in the original price, and future integrations such as FluentAffiliate need explicit scope. MananaWishCart’s FluentCart implementation still required professional review because professional judgment matters after the proposal was signed.