The Hardest Part Shouldn’t Be the Theme: Why WA Needs a Real Website-Setup Tutorial

byJDGresham

801 followers

2 weeks ago

I love Wealthy Affiliate. I don’t see myself leaving, because this place works and the value is real.

But when I joined back in 2022, I built my first website using GeneratePress, and it was extremely basic.

Fast forward to 2025. With all the updates and the new Bootcamp, I decided to build a second website devoted to WA and MMO.

In one of his blogs, Kyle encouraged members to try a different theme instead of sticking with GeneratePress. Of the two he recommended, I chose Kadence.

As many of you have heard me admit, I am tech-challenged. I’m not ashamed of that. It’s just a fact I have to work with.

I also don’t remember the old lessons, nor the details of how I built my first website. “Use it or lose it” kicked in hard. I didn’t use the knowledge enough to retain it.

So when it came time to build my second website, I had to consider myself a beginner again.

Kadence kicked my tuckus.

Even switching to GeneratePress only reduced the difficulty. It didn’t eliminate it.

I searched for training videos inside WA on how to actually build out a website using modern WordPress blocks, and I couldn’t find them.

I’m not saying they don’t exist. I’m saying I can’t find them, and that means other beginners can’t either.

So here is my suggestion:
Week 1 of Core Training and Week 1 of Bootcamp should be dedicated to building out the website itself, using GeneratePress as the example theme.

That would give beginners like me the foundation needed for everything else. After that, anyone can switch themes if they want to. But at least they’ll start with a solid, working site.

The Current Training Assumes the Website Is Already Built Correctly, or That the Member Already Knows How to Do It

Here’s the problem I ran straight into, and I know I’m not the only one.

The current WA training assumes the website is already built correctly, or that the member already knows how to do it.

That assumption worked six years ago. It does not work today.

Modern WordPress has changed everything — blocks, containers, rows, grids, flex layouts, theme settings, global styling, and the entire structure of how pages are built.

But the training still jumps straight into niche selection, writing content, and branding as if the foundation is already in place.

For a beginner, the foundation isn’t there. Not even close.

You can’t write content with confidence if the website underneath it isn’t built correctly.

You can’t apply UX principles, readability standards, or design logic when you don’t even know how to shape the homepage.

You can’t follow SEO best practices if the page structure itself isn’t stable.

Most new members are stuck long before they ever reach the lessons that teach them how to grow.

Why This Gap Exists in the First Place

This gap didn’t come from neglect. It came from the speed of WordPress changes.

The original WA training was written in a time when website setup was simple: pick a theme, activate it, and start writing. That’s it.

Modern WordPress doesn’t work that way. Everything now happens through blocks, containers, grids, and layout controls.

Kadence, GeneratePress, and most modern themes expect you to understand layout logic before you ever touch a design setting.

The problem is, beginners don’t know any of that — and the current training no longer covers it.

That’s how this gap formed. WordPress evolved, the ecosystem changed, and the training naturally moved toward content, branding, and marketing.

But the foundational step that used to be easy is now the hardest part for new members.

It isn’t anyone’s fault. The ground moved underneath us. The training just hasn’t been updated to match the new reality of how websites are built today.

The Solution — What WA Needs To Add

The fix isn’t complicated. WA doesn’t need to overhaul the entire training system, rewrite dozens of lessons, or rebuild Bootcamp from scratch.

What we need is a single module at the very beginning of Core Training and Bootcamp that teaches members how to actually build their website before they do anything else.

And it needs to be built around a theme that is stable, predictable, well-supported, and easy to teach. GeneratePress fits that role better than anything else right now.

A Website-Setup Week would walk beginners through installing the theme, setting global colors and fonts, configuring the header and footer, and building a simple homepage layout using containers, rows, and basic blocks.

It doesn’t need to be fancy or advanced. It just needs to give new members a clean, working website they understand before they start learning keyword research, content creation, branding, or SEO.

Once that foundation is in place, members can switch themes if they want to. But at least they’ll be changing from a position of knowledge, not confusion.

A beginner shouldn’t have to fight the theme for hours just to get a headline where it needs to go. The website should be the easiest part of the journey, not the first roadblock.

A simple, modern, GeneratePress-based setup module would solve that for every new member who joins this platform.

Members Also Need Guidance on the First Essential Pages

There’s one more piece that belongs either at the end of the Website-Setup Week or at the very beginning of the content creation phase.

Members need clear, simple instructions for creating the first essential pages of their website.

These are the pages every site must have before any real content strategy begins:
About Me, Privacy Policy, Contact, and the Affiliate Disclosure.

The training mentions these pages later, but beginners need them much earlier. These pages establish trust, clarity, and credibility from day one.

A quick lesson showing where these belong, how to structure them, and why they matter would close another small but important gap.

And once those pages are in place, the member finally has a complete foundation — a stable site, a clean layout, and the core pages that every visitor expects to see.

Only then should they move into writing their first real posts and building momentum.

A Direct Call to WA Leadership

I’m not writing any of this to criticize WA. I’m writing it because this platform works, and I want to see the one missing piece finally put in place.

The people who run WA have always cared about removing barriers for beginners. This is one of the last barriers that still remains.

Kyle, Carson, Jay, Eric — I’m asking you to take a serious look at adding a Website-Setup Week to both Core Training and Bootcamp.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be long. It just needs to walk new members through building a functional homepage using GeneratePress before they move into content creation.

Right now, this missing step slows people down more than anything else. A simple, modern setup module would remove that friction across the entire platform.

If WA adds this, beginners will hit the ground running. They will understand their site. They will move forward with confidence instead of confusion.

And they will stay longer, build faster, and succeed sooner because of it.

Closing

At the end of the day, this isn’t about themes or tech frustration. It’s about giving new members the foundation they need so the rest of the training can actually work the way it was designed to.

WA has always excelled at removing obstacles. This is one of the last remaining ones. A simple Website-Setup Week, based on GeneratePress, would give beginners a clear starting point so they can focus on learning, building, and moving forward without wondering why their site doesn’t behave.

I’ve rebuilt two sites now. I’ve broken things, fixed things, and learned the hard way. I’m not embarrassed by that. It showed me exactly where the gap is, and why so many new members lose momentum before they ever reach the good parts of this platform.

If WA adds this one missing step, the entire training system becomes stronger. Members will understand their site. They’ll build faster. They’ll stay longer. And they’ll succeed sooner.

That’s the goal. And this one addition would get them there more reliably than anything else.

“If you’ve struggled with building your site or your theme, please share your experience in the comments below — I’d like to see how widespread this issue is.”

JD