Continuing from the previous tutorial, in this article, I will elaborate on how to initialize a WordPress website and apply the correct template to make your website look more professional.
Website Initialization
After installing WordPress, when you log in to the backend administration interface (https://[your_domain]/wp-admin), you’ll notice several popup notification messages. This is mainly because web hosting service providers often pre-install some recommended plugins or themes when setting up WordPress on your website. Most of the time, we won’t actually need all of these things, so I would strongly advise readers to initialize the website and bring it back to its cleanest state after installing WordPress. This approach not only visually and structurally cleans up the website, but also prevents conflicts between these pre-loaded plugins and the functionalities you’ll actually need in the future.
Uninstall Pre-Install Plugins
In the backend, select Plugins from the left sidebar. Here, you’ll see all the pre-loaded plugins listed. Select all of them, then choose Deactivate and subsequently Delete.
Remove Default Pages
Next, similarly navigate to Page from the left sidebar in the backend. Here, you’ll find some pre-generated pages by WordPress. Once again, select all of them and then choose Move to Trash. Please note that since I’m using my current website status as an example, the interface you see might be slightly different, but this won’t affect the operation.
Remove Default Posts
Lastly, again from the backend’s left sidebar, select Posts. Here, you’ll notice some system-generated posts. Once again, select all of them and then choose Move to Trash.
Install Template Plugin and Theme
With that, the website initialization is complete. For those who enjoy coding their own websites, you can start designing each element of your website and applying them from here. However, since we’re using WordPress, most of the time, we can benefit from a wide range of online resources to find a suitable style for our website and make modifications based on that, which can be much more efficient. In the past, we would often search for a suitable theme online and apply it to our website. However, it was often challenging to find a theme that perfectly met our needs, leading to a high chance of needing to pay extra or spend a lot of time on customization, which might even involve modifying code.
Therefore, below I will introduce how to use the combination of Astra and Starter Templates to achieve a highly flexible and customized website design.
Install Astra
Astra is a fast and incredibly lightweight WordPress theme. Its primary feature is its high compatibility with popular visual editors for WordPress, such as Elementor and Beaver Builder. This makes maintaining websites built with Astra relatively low in technical complexity, and even those who don’t code can easily adjust website designs through its web-based user interface. Additionally, Astra provides a considerable number of templates to use, including the Starter Templates I’ll introduce later. Even in its free version, Astra offers powerful features that are suitable for most scenarios. Whether it’s an e-commerce platform, a blogging system, or a personal brand website, you can find suitable templates within it.
- Go back to the website’s backend, and in the left sidebar, find Appearance and click on Themes. Then, within the Add Themes section on the right side, search for Astra and click Install, followed by Activate.
After the installation is complete, when you visit the homepage of your website, you’ll notice that the page has changed a bit, but the appearance is still quite basic. Don’t worry, next we’ll use the Starter Templates to select a theme that suits the style of your website.
Install Starter Templates
Starter Templates is a plugin developed by Astra’s team (Brainstorm Force). It offers a wide range of both free and premium templates for various types of websites, and it’s fully compatible with Astra.
- Go back to the website’s backend, click on Plugins in the left sidebar, and then search for Starter Templates in the Add Plugins section on the right side. Click Install Now and then Activate.
- After the installation is completed and activated, under the Appearance menu on the left side, you’ll see the option for Starter Templates.
- Clicking on it will redirect you to the Starter Templates website. Click on Build Your Website Now below. At this point, you’ll see the following options:
Here, you can freely choose your preferred Page Builder. Since this tutorial series will primarily use Elementor as the main Page Builder, select Elementor and continue. - Finally, you’ll be directed to the template selection page. On this page, choose a template that suits your website style and apply it. For example, let’s consider the Love Nature template. You’ll be asked if you have a website logo. If you don’t have one or haven’t decided yet, it’s okay. You can still modify it within your website later. Click Skip & Continue and proceed to the next step.
Next, you’ll be asked about your preferred fonts and website color style. These can also be modified from the website backend in the future. Once you’ve made your selections, click Continue to proceed.
Finally, you’ll be asked for some basic information. Once you’ve filled that out, click Submit & Build My Website, and the template installation process will begin.
- Once the installation is complete, you’ll notice that some template pages have been added to your Pages section. Additionally, certain plugins required for this template will be installed under Plugins, usually including Elementor and WPForms Lite.
At this point, the initial structure of your website has been set up. In the upcoming chapters, we’ll explain how to use Elementor to edit and design pages, as well as introduce some excellent plugins you can use.
