Create blueprints with Local by Flywheel – .com

In this tutorial we will see how to create blueprints locally in order to speed up development times in WordPress.

Blueprints and Local by Flywheel

Blueprints are base configurations that we can replicate on other websites as many times as we want. When we create a blueprint of an existing site, its theme, plugins, settings and so on will be saved as a “template” that we can use later to create new sites.

Local by Flywheel is a local development environment optimized for WordPress that, in addition to other very interesting features, allows us to create blueprints of our sites in just a few minutes. This is very useful since in this way we can save time and be more efficient in our work, especially if we are dedicated to development, implementation or design in WordPress.

The idea is to create a base web with the configuration that we need to replicate, and from there save its corresponding blueprint. When creating a new website we will have the option of starting from that blueprint or creating it from scratch.

Let’s see the steps we have to follow. In this case we will start from a web base previously created in Local by Flywheel. Remember that if you want to learn to work locally and know its advantages, you can access the .

Create the base web

The first thing we have to do is fine-tune the website that we want to save as a blueprint. To do this, we will open the Local by Flywheel tool on our computer. This will automatically start the necessary services for our websites to work locally.

In the panel on the left we will see a list with the sites that we have created. To enter we will have to click on the name of the site we want to access, and then click on “Admin”.

Then we will see that the WordPress administration panel opens in our browser. It is time to start making the configuration changes and installations that we need our web base to have.

In the case of the example we will make some basic settings. First of all we will modify the section “Permanent links” within “Settings”. We will also configure some “Settings/Generals”, and finally we will install the Genesis Framework and the Genesis Sample theme.

This configuration will depend on what we need. Since the blueprints will serve as “templates” when creating new sites, the ideal is that we have several base webs according to the themes, plugins and settings that we use most frequently.

We can then save each of them as a blueprint. So when we have to create a site, we will simply have to choose the blueprint that best suits what we are looking for, and in minutes we will have it ready according to the configuration of our base web. In the next step we will see how to do it.

Save as blueprint in Local by Flywheel

Once we have our base web configured according to our preferences, we are going to save it as a blueprint. To do this we go to the Local by Flywheel interface, and in the menu on the left we will place ourselves on the site whose configuration we want to store as a template.

Then we click on the right button, and from all the options that appear we select the one that says “Save as Blueprint”.

We only have one more step to go. On the next screen we will be asked for the name we want to use to refer to this template. It is preferable that we use something descriptive, in this way we can easily identify it, especially if we have several blueprints created. Once we insert the name, we save with the “Save Blueprint” option.

We already have our first blueprint saved and ready to use. Now we only have to start creating new sites from this blueprint. This will allow us to eliminate the initial configuration and adjustment time of our site, in addition to the time to install and configure the base themes and plugins that we usually use in the type of website that we are creating.

We can repeat the process as many times as we need. Local by Flywheel allows us to create a total of 10 blueprints in our installation, so we can get a lot of use out of it. In the next point we will see how to create the new site from an existing blueprint.

Create new site using an existing blueprint

Now it’s time to create a new site using the blueprint settings we just saved. To do this we will have to click on the “+” button (Add Local Site) that we will find in the lower left corner.

The site creation screen will open, and it will ask us for the name of the site. Next we must configure the rest of the options, for this we will click on “Advanced Options”.

Depending on the name that we have indicated, Local by Flywheel will suggest a local domain for our new site, and also the path where its corresponding files will be installed. In addition, as we can see, we have a special section to indicate if we want to create our site from an existing blueprint or if, on the contrary, we prefer to install it from scratch.

If we display “Create site from Blueprint?” We will see the available options, and we simply have to choose the one we want to use. In this case we will choose the blueprint that we created in the previous step. Once selected, we will click on “Create site from blueprint” to begin the installation process, and as soon as it is ready we will go to the following screen:

And now yes! We have already created our new site with all the configuration and settings of the chosen blueprint. In addition, from this same window we could customize both the web server (Apache or nginx) and the PHP version for this specific site.

To do so, we would only have to click on the “Change” button and check “Custom” in “Local Environment”. This is interesting to know since it can be useful to adjust these parameters when the client’s server has a different configuration.

Finally, if we want to enter the website that we have created, we will have to click on “Admin” to access the WordPress administration panel, or on “View Site” to see how our site has turned out. Our browser will open immediately according to the option chosen.

If we enter our desktop through “Admin” we will see that everything is exactly the same as on the web that we use as a base to create the blueprint, even the users and passwords to access will be the same.

In fact, the only thing that will change is the WordPress address and the site address, as can be seen in “Settings/General”. Otherwise, you will have the same settings, themes and plugins. Even the very configuration of our themes and plugins will have been maintained.

And that’s all! In just a few minutes we have created a fully functional website according to the specifications of our blueprint, and we have saved the time of configuration and installation of plugins and themes. What an invention, right?

Summary and conclusion

Using blueprints will allow us to launch sites more efficiently and quickly. If we work locally we can easily create them using the free tool Local by Flywheel which is optimized for WordPress.

To do so, we will have to start from a base web that we will configure according to our needs, and then we will save its corresponding blueprint. In this way we can use it later as a template in the creation of new sites, saving configuration and installation time for our themes and plugins.

And you already know it, if you dedicate yourself to the development, design or implementation in WordPress take a look at the . In it we see two very interesting options to work more efficiently, and you will also have access to web development or marketing in general 🙂