Installing A Kadence Starter Theme (sometimes referred to as a Starter Template) and its demo is a straightforward process.
Using one of Kadence’s starter templates is a fantastic way to swiftly create a website with a professional, pre-designed layout without starting from scratch. These templates offer fully responsive designs with demo content, customizable layouts, and built-in optimization, all of which can be imported in just a few clicks. This allows bloggers, regardless of their technical skills, to have visually appealing and functional websites up and running quickly.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started:
Importing From Kadence Dashboard
To make designing your website easier, Kadence offers pre-made Starter Templates that can be imported with a few clicks. Here’s how to do it:
1. Go to Plugins > Add New.
2. In the search bar, type Kadence Starter Templates. This may already be installed.
Install and activate the plugin.
3. After activating the plugin, navigate to Appearance >Kadence > Starter Templates.
4. You’ll see a range of starter templates or demos to choose from. Browse through them to see which you prefer, then click on any design to preview it and see how it will look on your site.
5. Once you find a design you like, click the “Full Site” option to import the entire demo content.
6. After selecting your demo, choose whether to import the complete demo, including content, or just the design.
7. Click the “Start Import” button.
8. Wait for the import process to finish. Depending on your server and the size of the demo content, this may take a few minutes.
9. Once the demo content is imported, you can customize your site by going to Appearance > Customize and using the Kadence theme options to modify its look and feel.
Importing From Your PC
1. Upload any suggested plugins for the child theme you want to use.
2. Upload the Child Theme via the Dashboard -> Appearance -> Themes. Click the Add New Theme button near the top of the page, then click the Upload Theme button.
3. Once installed, click the Activate button.
4. To install the demo, go to the Dashboard > Kadence > Starter Templates page. Click on the dropdown menu on the top right of the page. By default, the dropdown may contain either Elementor, Block Editor, or Kadence AI.
5. You will see the Child theme you uploaded on the Starter Template dashboard.
6. Click on your child theme to start the import. The import includes all customizer, design, and demo settings.
7. You will be taken to the import page; ensure the toggle for the Import Customizer Settings in the Advanced Settings is on. The Advanced settings include a list of the required plugins, which should have been uploaded before installing your theme. Plugins marked with red text saying NOT INSTALLED indicate that a Pro Plugin is required. If you are using Pro Plugins, they should be installed and activated before importing the Kadence Classic Theme (framework).
8. Once ready, you can click on Finish and Launch. This will prompt you to verify you want to import the theme. Once the import is completed, you can view your website and see your new website.
Importing On An Established Site
1. Update your site to the latest version of WordPress before installing your theme and updating any plugins installed on your site.
2. Ensure your site has been backed up when updating WordPress software, plugins, or themes. We highly recommend WP Staging Pro because it’s super fast. The free version can be downloaded via your WordPress dashboard repository.
3. If you currently use the Classic Editor plugin, please deactivate it before installing your theme. Kadence is built for the Block Editor and does not support the Classic Editor.
4. If you currently use an automatic RSS-to-Email service or a plugin that automatically publishes your social media posts, you’ll want to pause those temporarily. The theme installation process will import the demo posts on your site. Once your theme is installed, you can delete the demo posts and resume your RSS-to-Email feed.
5. Follow the above instructions to launch your new theme.
NOTE: The demo import typically takes 5 to 10 minutes. Please don’t leave the page until the import is done. It may be slower on lower-quality hosts and faster on higher-quality hosts. Using our recommended hosting, BigScoots, the import should only take a minute or two. We do recommend others, so feel free to check out our resources.
Occasionally, you may encounter an error message saying the import didn’t load correctly. For troubleshooting, please check out our Demo Import Errors.