What people usually do first
What people usually do first
Section titled “What people usually do first”These guides walk you through one job at a time. Each one tells you what you will end up with, what to have ready, the exact clicks, and how to check that it worked. You do not need to read them all, and you do not need to follow them in order. The list below is simply the order most site owners find easiest.
Setting up a brand-new site? Start with your site setup checklist. It puts these guides in launch order, with everything else you need around them.
A few words used in every guide:
- The Customizer is WordPress’s live editor for how your site looks. Open it at Appearance > Customize. You see your changes in a preview before you save them.
- Publish is the button at the top of the Customizer that saves your changes to the live site.
- A menu location is a named spot in your design where a menu can appear, such as the main bar at the top of the page.
The usual order
Section titled “The usual order”Start with how your site fits together if you want to see how all the pieces connect, with ready-made menus for community, course, event, directory, job board, services and shop sites.
- Build a community site. Install BuddyNext, load sample members and posts, and see a working community. Skip this one if you are not building a community.
- Set up your menus. Fill the menu spots Reign gives you, so visitors and members can find their way around.
- Build your homepage. Use Reign’s starter pages or ready-made sections, then tell WordPress which page is your front page.
- Set up login and registration. Let people sign up, choose between a popup and full pages, and brand the login screen.
- Choose page layouts and sidebars. Decide which pages have a sidebar and what goes in it.
- Change the footer. Add footer widgets, edit the copyright line and set the footer colours.
- Turn on dark mode. Give visitors a light and dark switch and check both looks.
- Make it look right on phones. Tidy the mobile header, logo and menu.
- Add a shop. Install WooCommerce and see what Reign styles for you.
Before any of them
Section titled “Before any of them”If you have not yet installed Reign or entered your licence key, start with install Reign and activate your licence. Then the Brand your site checklist covers your logo, colours and fonts.
When you want every option
Section titled “When you want every option”The guides pick the settings that matter most. For every control in a panel, open the Customize section of these docs.