DreamHost ACADEMY

Browsing websites online can be both inspiring and frustrating. You may have wondered how certain sites were built. Fortunately, the dynamic designs you see on display don’t have to be just a pipe dream. With WordPress and WP Website Builder, you can have customizable and professional templates right at your fingertips.

In this article, we’ll walk through how to design your site using our WP Website Builder. We’ll also tour the drag-and-drop tools and templates it offers. If you’re ready to start building, let’s dive right in!

How to Get WP Website Builder

When you sign up for one of our web hosting plans, you’ll have the option to include WP Website Builder with your account. You can select the WP Website Builder option at checkout to get started.

If you’re already a DreamHost customer and don’t have WP Website Builder installed, you can visit the DreamHost panel and add it to a new or existing WordPress install.

Designing Your WordPress Website With WP Website Builder (In 6 Steps)

Getting started with WP Website Builder is easy. Once you have your DreamHost account set up and WP Website Builder installed, you’re ready to start creating.

Step 1: Access Your WordPress Dashboard

To access all the tools included with WP Website Builder, you can log in to your WordPress admin dashboard. You likely received an email with a link to the login page when you signed up for your hosting account. Alternatively, you can use the primary URL for your site plus /wp-login.php.

If this is the first time you’ve accessed your WordPress site with WP Website Builder installed, you’ll be presented with a setup wizard, Inspirations.  Our site builder is powered by BoldGrid, which includes a collection of plugins, themes, and services designed to make building and managing WordPress websites easier.

Inspirations will help you through three easy steps. That means you can be up and running with your new website design in a matter of minutes.

Step 2: Choose a Design

From the Inspirations wizard, you can select Let’s Get Started to view your theme choices.

Here you’ll be able to view and choose from over 200 beautifully-designed site builder themes. To install a theme, mouse over your choice and click on Select.

Step 3: Select Your Content Structure

Next, the Content page covers several important aspects of building your website. You’ll be able to load common, pre-built content pages to your site. Simply click on Change Content to view your options.

This will open up some custom options. You can choose a Base, Five Page, or Kitchen Sink page set. Additionally, you’ll be able to decide whether your site will have a blog.

Another feature in the Content wizard is an easy-to-use tool for checking how responsive your theme is on mobile screens.

Once you’ve selected your content structure, you can click Next to move on to the Essentials panel.

Step 4: Provide Essential Site Information and Complete Your Installation

This is an optional portion of the wizard but is worth filling out. You can supply your information here, and it will automatically be added to specific key areas of your website’s theme, such as your Contact page.

You can always change the information provided in the Essentials form later on, as well. After you fill out the form, click Finish and Install to begin designing and customizing your new website!

Step 5: Design Pages and Posts With Drag-and-Drop Blocks

Back in your WordPress dashboard, you’ll see your pre-loaded content pages when you navigate to the Inspirations menu. To demonstrate how you can design page elements with the builder, let’s click on the pencil “edit” icon next to Testimonials.

Once the page opens, you’ll have the option to select Add Block to add or move content.

This will take you to a live view of your page with drag-and-drop editing tools. You can drag existing blocks around or pull blocks in from the library.

You can also use the Types drop-down menu to access more block options.

Step 6: Customize Your Blocks and Publish Your Content

After adding blocks to your page, you can return to your editing panel by clicking on the check mark in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Back in the editing area, you can select any block to engage the editing tools.

Once you’re done making changes to your content, you can save your page as a draft or publish your content.

Ready to Create a Beautiful Website?

You don’t have to settle for boring site design when you can build dynamic and visually-stunning WordPress websites with WP Website Builder. You’ll be able to maximize your site’s potential with customizable templates and drag-and-drop design blocks.

Here at DreamHost, we want you to build with confidence. That’s why we offer the best tools and complete hosting solutions for your WordPress website!