Getting Started
From a blank install to your first recipe published, in roughly the time it takes to brew a pot of coffee.
This guide assumes you've already installed the theme and Pro plugin and activated your license. Now we'll get your site looking like a real food blog instead of an empty WordPress install.
Run the demo importer
Navigate to Appearance → Demo Importer. You'll see a single button: Import Demo Content. Click it.
In about ten seconds, the importer creates:
- Six sample categories: Breakfast, Mains, Soups, Desserts, Drinks, and Sides.
- Six sample recipes — real recipes with full Recipe Card blocks pre-filled. Browse them, edit them, learn from them, then replace them with your own.
- Customizer settings for the footer text and layout.
Write your first recipe
Create a new post (Posts → Add New). Give it a title, optionally write an introduction paragraph or two, and then look in the block inserter for the Recipe Card block (it's under the "Food Recipes" category, or just type "/recipe" to search for it).
Fill in the recipe details in the sidebar:
- Recipe name & summary — separate from the post title; this is what shows in the card and in Schema.
- Times — prep, cook, total. Use natural phrasing ("30 minutes", "1 hr 15 min"). The block converts to ISO 8601 automatically for Schema.
- Ingredients — one per line, in the order you'll use them.
- Instructions — one step per row. Numbered automatically.
Set a featured image (used on the homepage cards), assign a category, and publish. That's a complete, Schema-marked-up recipe post.
Choose a homepage layout
Go to Appearance → Customize → Homepage. The Pro plugin adds a Layout Style dropdown with five options:
- Grid — the default editorial grid with a featured row every 5 cards.
- Masonry — Pinterest-style staggered tiles for sites with lots of imagery.
- Magazine — one large featured story with a sidebar of secondaries.
- List — wide rows, image left, content right. Great for long-form recipes.
- Featured — a hero post followed by a 3-up grid.
Try each one — switching is instant, and you can preview before saving. The Customizer section Homepage Layouts covers each in detail.
Next steps
From here, the most common next stops are: deeper into the Recipe Card Block (ratings, print, custom fields), changing the accent color and fonts, or setting up Dark Mode for your readers.