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05 — Theme & Plugins

Theme: Astra + Child Theme

Astra is the best free theme for trade sites:

  • Lightweight (~50KB frontend)
  • Fully compatible with Elementor
  • Responsive out of the box

Install

  1. Appearance → Themes → Add New → Search "Astra" → Install & Activate
  2. Create a child theme for customizations:
docker compose exec wordpress bash -c '
mkdir -p /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/astra-child
cat > /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/astra-child/style.css << "CHILD"
/*
Theme Name: Astra Child
Template: astra
Version: 1.0.0
*/
CHILD
cat > /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/astra-child/functions.php << "FUNC"
<?php
add_action("wp_enqueue_scripts", function() {
    wp_enqueue_style("parent-style", get_template_directory_uri() . "/style.css");
});
FUNC
'
  1. Activate the child theme in Appearance → Themes

Must-Have Plugins

Install all from Plugins → Add New:

1. Elementor (Page Builder)

Visual drag-and-drop editor. Use the free version — it covers 90% of needs.

2. Rank Math (SEO)

  • Run the setup wizard after activation
  • Set your business type, social profiles, sitemap options
  • See 07-seo-optimization.md

3. WP Super Cache (Performance)

  • Settings → WP Super Cache → Enable caching
  • Expert tab: enable mod_rewrite mode
  • See 08-performance.md

4. Imagify (Image Optimization)

  • Sign up at imagify.io for a free API key (20MB/month free)
  • Settings → Imagify → Enter API key
  • Recommended config:
{
    "auto_optimize": true,
    "backup": true,
    "lossless": true,
    "optimization_format": "webp",
    "resize_larger": true,
    "resize_larger_w": 2560
}

5. Jetpack Boost (Critical CSS + Lazy Load)

Enable all modules:

  • Critical CSS generation
  • Lazy image loading
  • Concatenate JS/CSS

6. Polylang (Multilingual)

See 06-multilingual.md

7. Contact Form 7

Create a contact form with: Name, Email, Phone, Country, Message, Product Interest.

8. Flamingo (CF7 Storage)

Critical: Contact Form 7 does NOT store submissions by default — it only sends emails. If your email server fails or the recipient address is misconfigured, all inquiries are permanently lost.

Install Flamingo alongside CF7. It automatically saves every form submission to the WordPress database. View all inquiries in WP Admin → Flamingo → Inbound Messages.

9. Chaty (Chat Widget)

Add a floating WhatsApp/Email button. Configure your WhatsApp business number.

10. eCommerce Product Catalog

Lightweight product showcase without WooCommerce overhead. Good for B2B catalog-style sites.

Plugin Performance Note

Only install plugins you actually use. Each plugin adds overhead. The 10 plugins above are carefully selected to balance functionality and performance.

Next Step

→ 06 — Multilingual