Installation

How to install and set up WPDocs on your WordPress site.

Requirements

Before installing WPDocs, make sure your environment meets the following requirements:

  • WordPress 6.0 or higher
  • PHP 8.0 or higher
  • Node.js 18+ and npm (for theme development only)
  • Composer 2.x (for theme development only)

Quick Install

WPDocs consists of two components that work together: the WPDocs Theme and the WPDocs Core Plugin. Both are required for a fully functional documentation site.

Step 1 — Upload the Theme

  1. Go to Appearance → Themes in your WordPress admin panel
  2. Click Add New → Upload Theme
  3. Select the wpdocs.zip file and click Install Now
  4. Click Activate once installation completes

Step 2 — Upload the Plugin

  1. Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
  2. Select the wpdocs-core.zip file and click Install Now
  3. Click Activate Plugin

Step 3 — Create Your First Section

Navigate to WPDocs → Sections in the admin sidebar. Create at least one section — for example “Getting Started”. Set its order to 0 so it appears first.

Step 4 — Create Your First Doc Page

  1. Go to WPDocs → Add New Page
  2. Enter a title like “Introduction”
  3. Write your content using the WordPress editor
  4. In the right sidebar, assign it to the section you just created
  5. Set Menu Order to 0 in the Doc Settings box
  6. Click Publish

Visit your site — you should see a documentation layout with your sidebar section and page content.

Development Setup

If you plan to customize the theme CSS or JavaScript, you need to set up the development environment:

# Navigate to the theme directory
cd wp-content/themes/wpdocs

# Install PHP dependencies (TailPress framework)
composer install

# Install JavaScript dependencies (Tailwind, Vite)
npm install

# Start the development server with HMR
npm run dev

# When ready to deploy, build production assets
npm run build

The Vite dev server runs on localhost:3001 and provides instant hot module replacement — CSS changes appear without page reload.

WordPress Multisite

WPDocs is fully compatible with WordPress Multisite networks. The plugin can be Network Activated, and each sub-site can maintain its own independent documentation with separate sections, pages, and settings.