Your site setup checklist

Your site setup checklist

You bought Reign. This page takes you from an empty WordPress site to a finished site that is ready for visitors. Work through it top to bottom: the order matters, because later steps use the pages, plugins and menus that earlier steps create.

Most sites take an afternoon. Each step links to a guide with the details. If you want the big picture first, read how your site fits together: it shows how plugins, pages, menus and Reign connect, with ready-made menus for each kind of site.

1. Before you start

• Your host runs WordPress 6.5 or newer and PHP 8.0 or newer. See install Reign.
• You have a backup, or you are working on a staging copy. If the site already has content, try everything on staging first.
• You can log in as an administrator.

2. Install the theme

• Download reign-theme.zip from your wbcomdesigns.com account, then upload and activate it under Appearance > Themes > Add New > Upload Theme. See install Reign.
• Install the child theme now, before you customise anything: Reign Settings > Tools > Download child theme, then upload and activate it. Your settings carry over, and any code changes you make later survive updates. See child themes.
• Install Wbcom Essential from Reign Settings > Extend. It is part of Reign and adds the blocks and Elementor widgets you will build pages with.
• Activate your licence under Reign Settings > License, so theme updates arrive automatically. See activate your licence.

3. Add the features your site needs

• Pick the plugins for the site you are building: community, forums, courses, events, media, jobs, directory, services or a shop. See choose your plugins. The free editions are enough to launch; see what you can build with the free plugins.
• Install them from Reign Settings > Extend with Install free. No licence is needed for this.
• Install the community plugin first (BuddyNext for a new site) and finish its setup wizard. In its companion plugins step, untick the plugins you do not want. See build a community site.
• Finish each other plugin’s setup wizard. They open on the next admin page after you install them.
• Load demo content if you want to see the site filled in. Seven of the plugins offer it; Wbcom plugins lists exactly where. You will remove it before launch.

4. Make it yours

Reign Settings > Home tracks these for you under Brand your site.

• Logo, site icon, colours and fonts. See the Brand your site checklist.
• Header layout and the icons it shows. See header layout.
• Menus: main menu for guests and members, the profile dropdown menu, and the phone menu. See set up your menus.
• Your homepage. See build your homepage.
• Page layouts and sidebars. See choose page layouts and sidebars.
• Footer widgets and copyright line. See change the footer.
• Light and dark mode. See turn on dark mode.

5. Let people join and log in

• Open registration. With BuddyNext, set Registration mode to Open registration; otherwise tick Settings > General > Anyone can register.
• Choose how login and sign-up look: a popup, your own pages, or the branded WordPress login screen. See set up login and registration.
• Create a terms page and a privacy policy page, and choose the terms page if BuddyNext asks for one.

6. If you sell

• Set up WooCommerce and check the shop, cart and checkout pages. See add a shop.

7. Check everything before launch

• Open the site in a private (incognito) window and look around as a visitor: header, menus, homepage, login and register buttons.
• Register a test account and log in as a member: profile dropdown, notifications, messages.
• Look at the site on a phone, or at phone size in the Customizer. See make it look right on phones.
• Search for something you know exists and check the results page. See pages and search.
• Switch between light and dark mode and check both.

8. Launch

• Remove the demo content. For BuddyNext: BuddyNext > Platform > Tools > Demo Data > Remove Demo Data. Use each plugin’s own remove option for the rest.
• Delete the test account you made.
• Go to Settings > Reading and make sure Discourage search engines from indexing this site is not ticked.
• Go to Settings > Permalinks and select Save Changes once, so every community and plugin page address works.
• Keep Smart Performance on for faster pages. See Smart Performance.

After launch

• Before each Reign update, take a backup. See update Reign safely.
• Put CSS and code changes in the child theme, never in the Reign folder.
• Need help? Copy the System status from Reign Settings > Tools into your support ticket. Common questions are answered in the FAQ.