In this tutorial we'll walk you through from start to finish — how to build a basic blog website using a theme template.

#1 Start with a fresh install of IgnitedCMS

#2 Let's grab a template to use

One of the simplest way to get a website ready and out of the box is to purchase one from a reputable site such as themeforest.net.


When we have selected one we like we can simply add the base files to the system and customize the parts we want our customers to use. In this tutorial we'll show you how to do this.


In this tutorial we'll be using Stack but you could equally use any html template you wish. So let's purchase the files and get started.

#3 Add the theme files to IgnitedCMS

Once you have purchased a template, it should come with various files, namely the a handful of html templates, css files and a few javascript files.


In order to get it working with our system we just have to be careful where we put these file and how we link them in the main html entry point.


Below we've separated out the main files and directories we will need. Simply drag the folders into the resources folder.

If we open the html file in the web browser we should see the following:-

Let's setup the _layout.php and _footer.php file by extracting out the bits that we need. From the main template.

The anatomy of any HTML template is as follows, where the [head] and [footer] are reused across all templates

[head]    -> _layout.php
[body]    -> Our section types
[footer]  -> _footer.php

In the dashboard click on 'Fields'

Now click on the 'new field button' and create one called title with the following information

Next let's create a section

Call the section 'home' and make sure it is of type single, then finally drag in the title block from the red section to the green section and click save.

Now click on entries you should see the new section created there.

Enter in some text in the title field and click save