Download a free WordPress Starter Theme

WordPress Theme Setup

Taking the time to get to know WordPress is very important and should be seen as an investment which makes you – as the editor of your website – independent from others. You will see that WordPress is a powerful Content Management System which is easy to learn and actually can make a lot of fun.

If you’re completely new to WordPress (or if you’re unsure), please refer to the Codex before you proceed.

Feel free to follow the WordPress Theme Setup Guide, if you…

…have basic HTML knowledge
…understand the following resource
…have a working WordPress instance
(Alternatively just access the magic Playground)
…run an actively supported PHP version
…run the latest WordPress version
…already have downloaded the ZIP file of your preferred Starter Theme:
1. Full Site Editing
2. Bootstrap
3. Material Design
…don’t fear the command line 😉
…can spend 10-15 minutes of your time for the initial Setup

Activating the Theme

Log in to the WordPress Dashboard of your website – or access the Playground.
Select the Appearance panel, then > Themes.
Select > Add New and Upload the zipped copy of the Theme.
Activate it

Adding Content

[Optional] Import Demo Content

Download the XML provided under https://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Unit_Test and import it on a new WordPress instance.

Of course you can also add content from scratch:

Create the Main Pages* by clicking > Add New in the Pages panel.

Page 1 (Home)
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Contact
Blog (Page Template “Blog Index”)

If something looks wrong make sure to review the General Settings and assign the Theme location to the Menu(s).

*Unless otherwise specified select Template “Default Template” under Page Attributes

General Settings

Go to Settings panel > General.
Go to > General, change the Site Title and select the correct Timezone.
Save
Go to > Reading
- Click on Front page displays and select the Front page which should appear as first page on your website
- Select the Posts page (Blog) which will list all Blog entries
- Save
Go to > Permalinks and select “Day and name”.
Save

If you are using a new Block Theme you can skip this section, directly open the Site Editor and edit the menu in the according template part.
Otherwise go to Appearance > Menus.
Create a new Menu and select “Main Menu” under Theme locations.
Set up the Menu Structure by adding Pages to the menu.
Drag each item into the order you prefer.
Save
If needed, repeat the steps for the “Footer Menu”.

Optional: If your Theme supports another Menu, Create a new Menu, add/order the Pages and select the appropriate Theme location

Theme Customization

If you are using a new Block Theme go to Appearance > Editor to open the Site Editor.
If you are still using a Classic Theme go to Appearance > Customize to open the Theme Customizer.
Setup General Settings of your Site, the Page Layout or the Colors and preview the changes in realtime.
If you’re happy click on Save & Publish.

Add Content

All our Starter Themes are compatible with the WordPress Block Editor and in general we recommend to only use the built-in Editor and no third-party Page builder.
Feel free to extend your Website with Plugins.

Frontend development (NPM, Gulp, webpack)

Heads up: This is an essential part of the learning process and you’ll get your hands dirty. But ultimately, a modern development workflow improves code quality and saves time!

1. FSE Block Starter Theme

Getting Started

2. Bootstrap Starter Theme

Getting Started

3. Material Design Starter Theme

Getting Started