How to Create WordPress Blueprints Easily in ServerAvatar

#wordpress #devops #automation #webdev

If you manage more than one WordPress site, you already know the drill. Every time you spin up a new project, you’re installing the same plugins, tweaking the same settings, choosing the same permalink structure, and removing the same sample pages. It’s not hard, but it is tiresome. And the more sites you run, the more time it eats up. That’s exactly the problem WordPress Blueprints in ServerAvatar solves.

In this guide, I’m going to walk you through exactly how WordPress Blueprints work, how to create one from scratch, and how to use it the moment you’re ready to deploy a new WordPress site. Whether you’re running one blog or managing a dozen client installations, this feature is worth setting up properly.

What Are WordPress Blueprints in ServerAvatar?

A WordPress Blueprint is a reusable configuration template that lets you pre-define everything, the themes you want installed, the plugins you rely on, your preferred site preferences, etc. Once you create a Blueprint, you can directly apply it to any new WordPress application you deploy through ServerAvatar. Just one click, and your new site lands exactly the way you configured it.

Think of a WordPress Blueprint as a checklist that ServerAvatar reads when you’re creating a new WordPress site. Instead of manually configuring each option after WordPress is installed, you define your ideal setup once from the Blueprint. Every time you spin up a new WordPress application, you simply select your Blueprint from a dropdown, and ServerAvatar handles the rest.

Why You Should Use WordPress Blueprints

Let me be direct, if you’re only running one WordPress site and you don’t plan to add more, Blueprints might feel like overkill. But the moment you’re managing two or more sites, the value becomes obvious fast.

Consistency Across Every Deployment
Serious Time Savings
Perfect for Client Projects
Easy to Standardize Your Workflow

How to Create a WordPress Blueprint in ServerAvatar

Here’s the step-by-step process for creating your first Blueprint.

Click on the “Create Blueprint” button in the top right corner.

Let’s now create a Blueprint. Here’s what you can configure inside a Blueprint:
- Blueprint Name: Enter a name for your blueprint so you can identify it later (e.g., “Client Blog Starter,” “E-commerce Setup”)
- Themes: Click on the “Add” button next to Themes and choose which themes get installed automatically when the WordPress application is deployed.
- Plugins: Select the plugins you want pre-installed and active by clicking on the “Add” button next to Plugins.
- Custom Themes/Plugins: Add any custom theme or plugin via a direct download URL if it’s not in the standard repository, and enable the toggle button to activate it after deploying the site.

Site Preferences: Here, you define your standard WordPress behavior:
- Site Language: Set your default dashboard language
- Timezone: Choose the timezone your site operates in (important for scheduled posts and cron events)
- Date Format and Time Format: Pick how dates and times display on your site
- Disable Search Engine Indexing: Enable this if you want new sites to stay hidden from search engines until they’re ready
- Organize Upload Folders: WordPress will automatically organize media uploads by year and month
- Permalink Structure: Choose your default URL format. “Post name” (/sample-post/) is the most readable and SEO-friendly option. You can also set a Custom Structure using tags like %year%, %postname%, %category%, and more

Cleanup: Decide which default WordPress content gets removed on setup
- Remove “Hello World” Post
- Remove Sample Page
- Delete All Existing Themes: Select only if you’re installing a specific theme via the Blueprint
- Delete All Existing Plugins: Select only if you’re installing a specific plugin via the Blueprint
- Delete Unneeded Core Files: Removes unnecessary WordPress template files you won’t use
Debug Settings: Here, you can set your default debug behavior:
- Debug Mode: Enables WordPress core debugging
- Debug Log: Writes errors to a server-side log file (safer for production)
- Display Errors: Shows errors directly on the page (keep OFF for live sites, useful for development)
Once you fill in all details, click on the “Create Blueprint” button

Once created, your Blueprint is listed in the “WordPress Blueprints” section of your ServerAvatar account.

You can edit or delete your WordPress Blueprints anytime.

Additionally, when you create a new WordPress application, you will see the dropdown option to select a blueprint for your application, completely optional, but incredibly handy when you do.