Divi is an incredibly fast website page builder and having a large collection of free layouts at your disposal helps further speed up your development time. But, if you are regularly creating Divi websites for your own needs or for clients then you can waste a lot of time setting up a new install just the way you like it every time you build a new site. Uploading Divi, changing your customizer settings, theme options and adding your API and then uploading, activating and setting up plugins all take the precious time you could be spending doing something else.
By creating a master template website with the Divi Theme, a blank child theme and all your plugins already set up, you can save yourself a lot of development time and avoid the repetitive tasks we all hate.
It will take a little time to think about what your template website should include and to set up, but once you have it created it is fast and easy to implement on each and every website you build in the future.
What to include in your master Divi template website?
Every website is different but if you take a look at the websites you have built in the past you will notice that most have a number of common elements that can be included in your Divi website template that can be re-used as a base template for all future projects. For me, I found that the following Theme, child theme, and plugins were something I was using for almost every site and so these are what will go into my master template. Yours may be different and include more or less, but as long as you are saving time and avoiding repetition then it is a worthwhile exercise.
- Divi Theme
- Bare Bones Divi child theme (no customization, but ready to add custom CSS and .PHP files as required)
- Updraft Plus plugin
- WP Super Cache plugin
- Yoast SEO plugin
- WP-Optimize plugin
- Smush plugin
and some other options you may want to consider;
- Add your Elegant Themes Username and API key into Divi Theme options
- Add your most used Divi layouts into the Divi library
You can create your template site on a sub-domain of a site you already have or on a new domain and hosting if you have them spare. Once you have set up your website template with your preferred Themes, plugins, and settings you can add and activate the All-in-One WP Migration plugin and start the export process.
There are many options but for this tutorial, we will be using the free All-in-One WP Migration plugin that has 2+ million active installs, a solid reputation, and extensive documentation. For more options to creating your site template check the list at the end of the post.
How to export your website template?
- On your master site you just set-up, Go to “Plugins”, click on “Add New” and search for All In One Migration. Click on “Install” and then on “Activate”
- Click on the All-In-One WP Migration tab in your sidebar menu
- Click on “Export To” green text and choose “File”
- Your export will begin to export the .wpress file that contains your master WordPress site template
- This master website file can then be used for every new site you create.
how to import your master Divi template into a new website?
Once you have completed the export steps above you will have downloaded a .wpress file to your desktop and can now use it on your new installation of WordPress to load your template site.
- On your new domain, you will need to install WordPress and the All In One Migrator plugin in order to import your master site.
- Go to “Plugins”, click on “Add New” and search for All In One Migration. Click on “Install” and then on “Activate”
- Hover over the All-In-One WP Migration tab in your sidebar menu and click on “Import” in the sub-menu
- Drag-and-drop the file you just downloaded from the export process above and the process will begin
- Once the process is complete you will be asked to re-save your permalinks (twice!) and the import will be complete.
- You can now see that your plugins, Divi and child theme are all installed and ready for you to start building with Divi.
If your import upload is getting stuck at a few % then you may need to check if your hosting is not on the unsupported list and may also need to edit your PHP settings. “Ideally, you will have memory_limit set to 256M, max_execution_time set to 500, and mysql.connect_timeout set to 400.”
Other options for creating a re-useable WordPress template
There are a few options to set up your template, depending on what hosting you have and what your preferred plugins may already have. Some of the other options for creating your master Divi template would include;
Duplicator – Price: Free. Duplicator is a hugely popular plugin with 1+ million active installs but it may be a little more complicated to use that All-In-One WP Migrator
Updraft plus – Price: Free (but needs addon or Premium version for cloning/migration addon at $30-$98). If you already have UpdraftPlus Pro then it’s a great option.
Flywheel Blueprints – Price: $165 a year hosting. A solid hosting platform that has blueprints built-in for easily creating master templates within your account.
Do you use a template for new WordPress website builds?
Are you a web designer creating a lot of client sites using a starter website set-up to save your development time? What software are you using to create the template and what do you include in every new site? Let us know in the comments below.
