Getting Started with WordPress AI Starter Sites

Kualo's AI Starter Sites take the usual headache out of building a WordPress website and replace it with something that feels almost unfairly easy. Just describe what you do, answer a few simple questions, and the AI builds a real, fully formed, multi-page WordPress site - with content tailored to your business, relevant images, and layouts that look professional from day one.

You might tweak a heading or swap out a photo, but the bones are already there and already good. No digging through endless themes, no blinking cursor mocking you while you try to write your About page, no late-night existential crises just to add a contact form.

You skip straight past the "Guess I'm a web designer now" phase and land at "Hey, check out my new site."

How to launch your WordPress AI Starter Site

AI Starter Sites can be installed into WordPress via WP Toolkit. The feature is included as part of the AI Starter Site Set, which you can select as an option during installation.

Step-by-step: using the AI Starter Site

Once you install WordPress using the AI Starter Site set, the AI Site Builder launches as soon as you log into WordPress. The process is straightforward, but the walkthrough below covers each screen so you don't miss anything useful.

1. Name your site and choose your site type

First, give your site a title. This appears in browser tabs, search engines, and various parts of your layout.

Then choose your site type. You can type anything - such as "Gardener", "Food Blog", or "Coffee Shop" - and the AI will suggest matches as you type. You can pick from the list or write your own.

This guides the AI's content suggestions, including:

• The tone and style of your homepage copy
• The kind of services or products it might reference
• The images it suggests later in the process

For example, pick "Gardener" and the AI will suggest outdoor imagery and starter text about landscaping and planting services. Choose "Travel Blog" and it will lean toward personal, story-driven content and destination imagery.

2. Describe your website

This is the most important step and your biggest opportunity to shape how your site looks and sounds. The AI uses what you write here to generate page content, layouts, and the tone of your copy. The more specific and detailed you are, the better the results.

What to include in your description:

• What you do: "We serve dangerously good coffee, mouthwatering lunches, and baked things so fresh they should probably have their own reality show."
• Who you do it for: "We're here for sleepy commuters, remote workers, hungover brunchers, oat-flat-white loyalists, and anyone who just wants a decent sandwich and a reason to smile."
• What makes you great: "We roast our beans locally, make our toasties borderline spiritual, and always have at least one cake that'll ruin your willpower. Plus, we're big on sustainability - compostable everything, local suppliers, and discounts if you bring your own cup."
• Where you're based and areas you serve: "You'll find us in Dalston, East London - just down the road from the overground, around the corner from that vintage shop, and within easy reach of Hackney and Stoke Newington."
• Opening hours: "Open seven days a week: Mon-Fri 7:30am-5pm, Sat-Sun 8:30am-6pm (brunch til 3, come hungry)."
• Example services: "Specialty coffee, legendary grilled cheese, colourful salads, banana bread with a cult following, high-speed Wi-Fi, playlists with taste, and the occasional pop-up supper club."

Here's how a full description might look:

We're a fiercely independent coffee shop based in Dalston, East London - just minutes from Dalston Junction, round the corner from that vintage place everyone pretends they discovered first.

We serve ethically sourced coffee, loose-leaf teas, and lunches that'll ruin your packed-salad ambitions. Think legendary grilled cheese, colourful seasonal salads, banana bread with a cult following, and fresh bakes straight from the oven.

We're here for commuters, freelancers, brunchers, and flat-white obsessives. Our beans are roasted locally, milk's organic, and there's plenty for plant-based and gluten-free folks too.

Open seven days a week: Mon-Fri 7:30am-5pm, Sat-Sun 8:30am-6pm (brunch til 3 - come hungry). We've got fast Wi-Fi, a laid-back coworking vibe, and a discount if you bring your own cup. Oh, and we host the occasional supper club, if you're into that kind of thing.

3. Add contact info

This is where your future customers find you, call you, email you, or politely ask for a quote. It's also where the AI takes notes, so you don't have to paste this information onto five different pages later.

What to include:

• Your email address (e.g. [email protected])
• Phone number, if you want clients to call you
• Your business address
• Social media links (Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, and so on)

Everything you enter here gets used automatically across your site - filling your contact page, footer, and any call-to-action sections. If you add your address, any maps on the site will be pre-configured to zoom right in, no fiddling needed.

You can always update this later in the WordPress dashboard, but the more you fill out now, the smoother the process ahead.

4. Choose images

This step sets the visual tone of your website and gives the AI something to work with when building out your pages.

You can choose from a library of high-quality, free-to-use images tailored to your business type, or upload your own if you already have them.

• Click to select images that feel relevant - gardens, food, yoga, events, whatever fits your vibe.
• Use the search bar at the top or pick from suggested tags (e.g. "plant selection", "outdoor spaces", "garden design").
• Select as many as you like - we recommend at least 6-10 to give the AI more to work with.
• To use your own photos, switch to the Upload Your Images tab and drag in anything from your computer or device.

The AI places your selected images into the layout, though it doesn't always know which image suits which section best. That said, the results are often surprisingly good, and you can move or replace any image later with just a few clicks.

5. Pick a layout

Based on everything you've told the AI - your business type, description, and images - it suggests a range of clean, professional layouts that work on any device. The ones it thinks are the best fit appear at the top, but you're free to choose any layout that catches your eye.

• The images you selected earlier are already placed into the layout to give you a sense of how things could look.
• You can swap out images at any time - nothing is fixed.
• Focus on the overall structure of the layout: how content is arranged and how sections flow, rather than exact image placement.

What about colours and fonts?

The AI picks a colour scheme it thinks will suit your business, but this is just a starting point. You'll be able to change colours, fonts, and styles, adjust spacing and layout blocks, and move, remove, or restyle anything you like.

6. Fonts, colours, and logos

This is where your site starts to look like your site, not just "a site."

Fonts You'll get a few font pairings to choose from - classic serif, clean sans-serif, bold and punchy, sleek and understated. You don't need to be a typography expert. Just pick the one that feels most like your voice and carry on. You can always change it later.

Colours Choose a palette that fits your vibe, or go full control and build your own. Start with a primary colour, then tweak the saturation, brightness, and style (light or dark). Whether you want earthy tones or electric pink, everything adjusts to match.

Logo If you've got one, upload it here.

If you don't have one yet, the AI Starter Site doesn't generate logos, but here are a few ways to get one quickly:

• Canva - a DIY option with logo templates
• Looka - an AI-assisted logo maker with solid results
• ChatGPT - useful for ideas or a brand style concept to feed into a logo tool
• Fiverr - hire a designer to create something polished

Or skip the logo for now and come back to it. Your site won't mind.

7. Select features

Now it's time to give your site some extra capabilities. Want to take bookings, chat with visitors, or sell products online? Tick a few boxes and your site can do that.

Here's what you can add:

• A blog - share thoughts, updates, or advice. Great for building trust and improving your search rankings. Blogging is built into WordPress, no plugin needed.
• Contact form (via SureForms) - a drag-and-drop form builder for contact forms, inquiry forms, or any kind of form you need, without touching a line of code.
• Website emails (via SureMail) - makes sure your site can send email reliably, such as form notifications and password resets.
• Online store (via SureCart) - turns your WordPress site into a fully functional online store, supporting physical and digital products, payments, coupons, and more.
• Appointments and bookings (via LatePoint) - lets customers book time with you automatically, without the back-and-forth emails.
• Automations (via Ottokit) - a no-code automation tool for creating workflows, such as sending a welcome email when someone fills out a form.
• Live chat (via 3CX Live Chat) - real-time chat (or even video) right from your site.

The AI Starter Site uses the Astra WordPress theme - a lightweight, performance-first theme that forms the foundation of your website - alongside Spectra, a powerful visual page builder that works natively with WordPress's block editor.

These are just a starting point. WordPress has thousands of plugins, so if you want something different or want to swap tools later, you can. Pick what feels useful, ignore what doesn't, and add more later.

8. Click "Start Building"

Click Start Building and, in under five minutes, your site is generated - no blank pages, no tangled settings, no stress.

You'll get:

• A homepage
• Inner pages such as About, Contact, and Services
• Draft copy based on what you told the AI
• Menus, layout, and structure - all connected
• Your selected images, placed and ready

You've skipped the hard part. Now add your services, refine your story, tweak the design, and hit publish when you're ready.

Ready to launch?

With AI Starter Sites, you're not staring at a blank screen - you're starting with structure, style, and substance, all shaped by your own words. It's everything great about WordPress, minus the usual overwhelm.

It's your site. Take it as far as you like, with total freedom to customise, expand, and grow.

If there's something we haven't covered, feel free to contact our team and we'll do our best to point you in the right direction.

FAQs

Can I edit the content after the AI builds my site?

Yes. The AI gives you a solid head start, but everything is customisable. Edit pages, swap images, rewrite copy, change colours - whatever you like. It's your site.

What if I don't like the design?

No problem. You can:

• Pick a different layout before you build
• Customise everything after it's created
• Rerun the AI Starter (note that this will overwrite your existing content)
• Install a different theme entirely - Spectra works well with most modern block-based themes

Can I use WooCommerce or other plugins?

Yes. This is self-hosted WordPress under the hood - fully flexible and endlessly extendable. WooCommerce, SEO tools, booking systems, forums, course builders - it's all possible.

Do I have to use the suggested plugins?

No. The included tools are carefully chosen to save you decision fatigue, but they're completely optional. Keep what you like, remove what you don't, and add anything else you need.

Are these plugins free?

All the core tools included in AI Starter Sites come with fully functional free versions. Some offer paid upgrades with additional features, but you're not required to upgrade unless you want to unlock advanced capabilities.

What if I want to change my images later?

The images you choose during setup are placed automatically, but you can swap them out at any time. The media library keeps everything tidy and ready to reuse.

Will it work on mobile?

Yes. All layouts are responsive, so your site looks great on phones, tablets, laptops, and everything in between.

Do I need to know how to code?

Not at all. Everything is visual and block-based - drag, drop, type, done. If you do want to add custom code or involve a developer later, you have the freedom to do that too.

Can I undo or rebuild if I change my mind?

Yes. You can relaunch the AI Starter tool from Appearance > AI Builder. Just note that rebuilding will replace your current content, so it's best done early on or after taking a backup.

Is this different from ProSite?

Yes. ProSite is Kualo's non-WordPress builder, suited to static brochure sites. AI Starter Sites are built on WordPress, which means:

• Better suited to blogs, shops, and growing businesses
• More flexible and customisable
• Compatible with thousands of plugins

Can I add new pages after the site is built?

Yes. WordPress makes it easy to add as many pages as you like. With the Spectra page builder, you can:

• Use pre-built page layouts designed for things like About, Services, and FAQs
• Build pages block-by-block using Spectra's drag-and-drop elements
• Duplicate an existing page if you like its structure and just want to change the content

Can I change my site's colours, fonts, or layout after building?

Yes. Nothing is locked in. Use global styles to quickly tweak colours and typography, or adjust each section manually. You can even switch to another template later if you want a full design refresh.

What if I already have a site - can I still use this?

If you're starting fresh or happy to replace your existing site, yes. If your current site is live and in use, we recommend:

• Installing WordPress in a subdirectory or subdomain to test AI Starter first
• Cloning your site into a staging environment so you can experiment without affecting your live site

Can you help me build or customise my website?

We're here to support you with technical issues related to hosting, installation, or the AI Starter setup itself, but we don't offer hands-on help with designing or building your site.

That said, you have plenty of support options:

• Spectra and Astra are well-documented with guides, videos, and community forums
• WordPress has a huge ecosystem - there's a tutorial for almost anything you want to do
• If you want expert help, you can hire a WordPress freelancer or agency to take your site further

Is this the same as WordPress.com?

No. This is self-hosted WordPress, meaning you have full control and flexibility, and you can install any plugins or themes you like. Unlike WordPress.com, there are no platform restrictions.

Can I switch away from AI Starter Sites later?

Yes. You can uninstall the plugins, change themes, or rebuild your site however you like. AI Starter Sites are a launchpad, not a lock-in.

Do I need to install each plugin myself?

No. The plugins are installed automatically when you launch the AI Starter Site. You just select which features you want - everything else is handled behind the scenes.

Will my site be optimised for speed?

Yes. AI Starter Sites are built for performance from the ground up:

• Astra is one of the fastest WordPress themes available - lightweight, bloat-free, and highly optimised.
• Spectra adds powerful features without slowing your site down. It's built to work smoothly with Astra and WordPress's native block editor.
• LiteSpeed Cache comes pre-installed and configured, speeding up page loading by serving cached versions of your site, optimising images, and reducing resource usage.
• All of this runs on Kualo's high-performance hosting infrastructure, so your site loads quickly whether it's day one or you're receiving thousands of visitors.