From download to live site: launching a WordPress starter template

Downloading a starter template is the easy part. Turning it into a real, launch-ready site trips people up in predictable, avoidable ways. Here's the order that actually works.

1. Install the required plugins first

Before importing anything, check the template's required-plugins list and install every one of them — page builder, forms plugin, any block add-ons. Importing content before the plugins that render it exist is the most common cause of a "broken" first import.

2. Import the template content

Most starter templates ship as a one-click importer (theme + demo content + widgets + customizer settings) rather than separate pieces. Run the full import rather than cherry-picking parts — piecemeal imports are far more likely to leave orphaned references behind.

3. Fix the homepage setting

This is the single most common post-import bug: WordPress shows your latest blog posts as the homepage instead of the designed front page. Go to Settings → Reading and confirm "Your homepage displays" is set to "A static page," with the correct page selected. If it's already correct but the homepage still looks wrong, double-check Appearance → Menus to confirm the primary menu location is assigned.

4. Replace every placeholder brand element

Go through the site systematically and swap out: the logo (check both the header and the footer — templates often duplicate it), the site title and tagline in Settings → General, any favicon, and the business name wherever it appears in body copy, not just the header.

5. Swap the dummy content, page by page

Work through every page methodically: headline, body copy, images, and any Lorem Ipsum hiding in secondary sections like testimonials or FAQs. It's easy to catch the hero section and miss a placeholder buried three sections down — a full page-by-page pass is worth the time.

6. Final QA checklist before you launch

• Every nav link goes somewhere real — no dead "#" links left over from the demo.
• Contact forms actually deliver to your inbox — send yourself a real test submission.
• The site works and looks correct on mobile, not just desktop.
• No demo-only plugins (like a one-click-import helper) are still active and slowing things down.
• Every image has real, descriptive alt text — not the importer's placeholder filename.

Get through that list once, methodically, and what started as a generic template is a finished site nobody would guess came from a demo.