Before installing your theme

Installing a Kadence theme is a little bit different than installing a “regular” WordPress theme. There are a few important things to cover before you install your new theme:

• If you have an existing website
• If you’re using the Classic Editor
• If you're switching from a Genesis theme
• If your site is hosted on Bluehost

If you have an existing website

Installing your theme on a live site? During setup, demo content gets imported to your site. If you're using RSS-to-email services like Mailchimp, Flodesk, Kit, or anything else that automatically sends your posts to subscribers, be sure to pause your feeds temporarily, or your subscribers might get all the demo posts emailed to them. After the installation and import process is complete, you can delete the sample posts and then re-enable your RSS-to-email feeds.

If you're using the Classic Editor

Studio Gem themes are not compatible with the Classic Editor plugin. Kadence is built to take full advantage of the WordPress Block Editor. If you have the Classic Editor plugin installed and active, you’ll need to disable it before installing your new theme. Keeping it active will prevent key features of your theme from working properly.

If you're switching from a Genesis theme

• Plugins. Genesis themes usually come with a few Genesis-specific plugins, so you’ll need to deactivate them before installing your new theme. If it has “Genesis” in the name, it probably needs to go. Feel free to keep Genesis eNews Extended though if you want — it works with non-Genesis themes too.
• SEO. If you were using Genesis’ built in SEO settings, you’ll need to install and setup an SEO plugin like Yoast or Rank Math.
• Widget Areas. Keep in mind that Genesis themes often rely heavily on widgets for homepages and other areas, while Kadence is block-based. Don’t worry – You’ll still be able to add widgets to sidebars and footers.
• Header/Footer Scripts. If you added any header/footer scripts (analytics, ads, etc.) in the Genesis Theme Settings, these won’t carry over when you switch themes. Move any scripts from Genesis theme settings (Appearance > Customize > Theme Settings > Header/Footer Scripts) into a plugin like WPCode. Copy and paste the scripts then delete them from Genesis before you add them to WPCode to avoid errors.

If your site is hosted on Bluehost

Bluehost has a reputation for timing out during demo imports. To prevent this, it’s best to increase your server limits before starting the installation. Follow the instructions on this page under Basic Modes to update your PHP settings using the MultiPHP INI Editor. Update the values as shown below, then click the Apply button to save your changes.

max_execution_time = 6000
max_input_time = 6000
max_input_vars = 10000
memory_limit = 5120M
post_max_size = 5160M
session.gc_maxlifetime = 1440
upload_max_filesize = 5120M

If you’re not comfortable editing PHP settings yourself, Bluehost support can usually make these changes for you. Just share the values above in a support chat.