In this article we have featured How do I set up GeneratePress, If you are looking at the steps to install GeneratePress, then you are on the right page. Here, you will be able to do it easily, as I describe the steps in the easiest manner and you can do along.
If your time is limited, like many of us in today’s busy world, then go directly to the final steps and download a zip file or purchase a theme. If you prefer to set up GeneratePress manually (and learn along the way) then follow the steps below and skip down to part three when you’re ready.
Table of Contents
How do I set up GeneratePress?
Part 1: Initial Setup
What’s included?
GeneratePress is a free, open-source WordPress theme for bloggers. It can be installed either manually or by using the popular Envato Market plugin. In addition to being free, GeneratePress also includes several premium plugins to extend its functionality. You can download all these resources from GitHub, but if you don’t know what Git is then follow along as we install everything else manually first and worry about downloading a zip file later (you can skip down to part three if you prefer).
What web host and domain name should I use?
You’ll need a web host and domain name to get started. The most popular place for hosting WordPress is Bluehost. These instructions will assume you’re using Bluehost, but it doesn’t really matter to your hosting company as long as the Control Panel looks somewhat similar. If you already have a domain or are purchasing one through your web host then skip down to part three: Downloading GeneratePress, which begins with ‘From here.’
Now let’s make sure we know our available FTP login information. Navigate your Control Panel dashboard and click on the ‘+’ icon next to ‘MySQL Databases’:
Once you’ve clicked on MySQL click on ‘Create a new database:’
Fill out your name, select a database name (I’ll use gpp for this tutorial), but don’t worry about selecting collation since that won’t matter for now. We’re going to leave the prefix as-is and then hit ‘Create Database.’ After that’s done click on the icon next to your new database listing:
Now you need to create a user with all permissions set to ‘All’ so go ahead and fill in those fields now. I’m going to use username as GP for this example because it’s short and easy to understand which makes it simple to type later. You can also see where my password is almost too long so let’s assume you’ll do something similar necessary. Of course, if you’re concerned about security then you can change your password to something more complex after GeneratePress is up and running.
After filling out the username and password (and changing them, if necessary), go ahead and check ‘Create User.’ If all went well you’ll now see this screen:
This user allows us to access our site’s files via FTP so let’s copy it so we don’t lose it again. Click on ‘Change File Permissions’ under ‘Actions:’
Now click on ‘Copy file permissions…’ so we can paste the information somewhere where we won’t forget later:
Finally, click back on home (dashboard) in the top left corner of your navigation bar then scroll down until you see ‘Show Hidden Files (dotfiles)’ then enable the option.
Now that we’ve done that let’s open up a new tab in our browser and navigate to our FTP site where ‘wp_’ is the name of our database from earlier, for example, ftp://username:[email protected]/public_html/wp_. After you’re there look for a folder named public which should be below your wp_ directory. We’ll rename this folder gpp because GeneratePress will make a new one called generatepp_com-PropertyGuru-com when it downloads. You could also delete this folder and create a new one with your website’s name to start fresh if you wanted to.
Part 2: Downloading GeneratePress
The easiest way to install GeneratePress is via the Envato Market plugin, but if you’re subscribing to multiple Envato products then it might not be worth it so let’s do it manually.
From here on out, I’ll assume you’ve already purchased the plugin (or registered for a free membership) because sometimes it can be challenging to navigate Envato’s site if you’re not familiar with how it functions.
Without even logging into your WordPress dashboard, open up your web browser and go to https://codecanyon.net/user/login , then follow the link for ‘My Accounts,’ find yourself in the Dashboard section of their site, then click on Downloads:
You should now see an option called GeneratePress along with several other Envato market products you might subscribe to so let’s install it by clicking on the blue ‘Download’ button next to GeneratePress:
…and this will download the plugin to your computer so you can manually install it. You might get a pop-up asking if you want to open or save the file, select ‘Save File’ and remember where it is so we can find it later.
Now let’s go back to our WordPress Dashboard, click on Plugins > Add New, then upload a .zip file that was just saved on your computer, a name that folder ‘GeneratePress,’ then hit Install Now.
Inside the new GeneratePress folder under plugins there should be several files including one called generatepress.php which is what we need to activate everything:
While still in the same browser tab as before but now over at https://codecanyon.net/account/profile , where you’re logged in, head over to Downloads > Products and see that GeneratePress is listed there so let’s install it.
Once that’s done be sure to navigate back to https://codecanyon.net/user/login , log out of your Codecanyon account, then login to your WordPress Dashboard again (if you haven’t logged in yet this session). Now click on Plugins > Installed Plugins, find GeneratePress under ‘Active’ plugins, then click on Activate Plugin :
And with that, you’ve successfully installed GeneratePress! You can now go ahead and remove the test site I made for us using the Delete option under Tools > Delete Temporary Site. Let’s take a look at how your site looks now:
What’s next?
Now that you have GeneratePress installed, the fun begins. You can customize your theme with all sorts of settings via Appearance > Theme Options, or use some of the premade layouts under ‘Theme Layouts’ to get started quickly.
You can also adjust your settings by selecting a theme option or layout from the dropdown menu in the top left corner of your dashboard’s screen (should say ‘Super Admin’).
If you want to know what each setting does then be sure to visit their documentation site. To make changes to any default layout, open up http://generatepress.com/examples/layout-listing/ and find a layout number that matches one on our site. Then just click on that layout number to begin editing it.
You can also adjust your settings by navigating over to Appearance > Customize. Let’s do some customizations! Remember how we made these changes to the homepage? Since each homepage has its own unique content across all pages, let’s choose another page to customize. With your mouse hovering inside the left-hand side of your screen where shows examples of widgets, hover over the image of the text widget and click on the dropdown menu:
Now select ‘Page 1’ from that list. Then, inside the Page 1 panel where it says ‘Standard Page Content’ let’s add another paragraph after the existing one by clicking on a New Paragraph, then typing in a paragraph or two just like we did for Homepage.
In these examples, we used GeneratePress version 2.1.11 but I also have all previous versions available in case you need reference material. checkout our full detailed GeneratePress Review, and get the full insight.
Conclusion: How do I set up GeneratePress?
And with that, we’ve officially set up GeneratePress! If you want some additional help be sure to check out the official documentation site or feel free to leave any questions down below. Enjoy, and I’ll see you in the next post!
If possible please leave me feedback on my article via the comment section at the end of this page. If a question or concern arises later on that I didn’t cover, I’d love to have a discussion with you about it and help resolve your issue.
