UniversalWP Documentation

Everything you need to know about UniversalWP — the universal WordPress theme with a built-in live page builder, 24 starter kits, and full Customizer integration.

Overview

UniversalWP is a WordPress theme designed to work for any type of website. Instead of being locked into one niche, UniversalWP ships with 24 professionally designed starter kits spanning industries like restaurants, agencies, portfolios, fitness studios, law firms, real estate, and more. Pick a starter kit, import it with one click, and customize everything using the built-in live page builder.

The theme includes a drag-and-drop page builder that runs directly inside the WordPress Customizer. There are no third-party page builder plugins required. The builder provides 20 block types covering layouts, content, interactive elements, commerce components, and social icons. Free tier users get access to the core blocks, while Pro users unlock advanced interactive and commerce blocks.

UniversalWP integrates with the WordPress Customizer for global settings including color schemes, typography, header styles, footer styles, and layout options. It also includes built-in WooCommerce support for online stores. The theme is lightweight, responsive, and optimized for Core Web Vitals performance.

Installation

UniversalWP is installed like any standard WordPress theme. Download the .zip file from your Boulley Technology account. In your WordPress admin, navigate to Appearance › Themes › Add New › Upload Theme, select the ZIP file, and click Install Now.

Once installed, click Activate. After activation, navigate to Appearance › UniversalWP to access the theme's settings panel. From here you can import a starter kit, open the page builder, manage your license, and configure global options.

UniversalWP requires PHP 7.4 or higher and WordPress 5.8+. It has no required plugin dependencies. WooCommerce is optional and only needed if you want to run an online store.

Note: If you are switching from another theme, your existing content (pages, posts, menus) will be preserved. However, page layouts built with the UniversalWP builder are specific to this theme and will not transfer to other themes.

Starter Kits

Starter kits are pre-built website designs that you can import with a single click. Each kit includes a complete set of pages, navigation menus, Customizer settings (colors, fonts, header/footer styles), and page builder layouts. After importing, you simply replace the demo content with your own text and images.

To import a starter kit, go to Appearance › UniversalWP › Starter Kits. Browse the available kits, preview them, and click Import on the one you want. The import process creates the pages, assigns menus, and applies the Customizer settings automatically.

UniversalWP ships with 24 starter kits covering a wide range of industries and use cases. Each kit is designed to be a complete starting point that you can customize to match your brand.

Caution: Importing a starter kit overwrites your current Customizer settings (colors, fonts, header/footer style). If you have already customized these settings, note them down before importing. Your existing pages and posts are not deleted, but new demo pages will be created.

What Gets Imported

Pages — A full set of demo pages (Home, About, Services, Contact, etc.) with pre-built page builder layouts.
Navigation Menus — Primary and footer menus pre-configured to link to the demo pages.
Customizer Settings — Color palette, typography selections, header style, footer style, and layout options.
Homepage Assignment — The imported Home page is automatically set as your static front page.

Page Builder

The UniversalWP page builder is a visual, drag-and-drop editor that lets you build page layouts without writing code. It runs inside the WordPress Customizer, so you see a live preview of your changes as you make them.

To open the page builder, navigate to the page you want to edit on the frontend, then click Customize in the admin bar. In the Customizer sidebar, click Page Builder. Alternatively, go to Appearance › UniversalWP › Page Builder and select the page you want to edit.

3-Panel Layout

The builder uses a three-panel interface:

Left Panel (Block Library) — A categorized list of all available block types. Click or drag a block to add it to the page.
Center Panel (Live Preview) — A real-time preview of the page as it will appear to visitors. Click any block in the preview to select and edit it.
Right Panel (Block Settings) — Configuration options for the currently selected block, including content fields, styling controls, spacing, and responsive visibility toggles.

Adding Blocks

Click the + button in the left panel or drag a block type from the library onto the preview. The block is inserted at the drop position. Each block has its own set of content and styling options that appear in the right panel when selected.

Editing and Reordering

Click any block in the live preview to select it. The right panel updates to show that block's settings. To reorder blocks, use the up/down arrows on the block toolbar, or drag blocks to a new position in the preview. To delete a block, select it and click the trash icon in the block toolbar.

All changes are previewed in real time. Click Publish in the Customizer header to save your changes, or close the Customizer to discard them.

Tip: Use the Section block as a container for other blocks. Sections let you set background colors, images, and padding for groups of content, giving your pages a polished, structured appearance.

Block Types

UniversalWP includes 20 block types organized into five categories. Free tier users have access to Layout, Content, and Social Icons blocks. Pro users unlock the Interactive and Commerce block categories.

Layout Blocks

Section — A full-width container that wraps other blocks. Supports background colors, gradient overlays, background images, and custom padding. Use sections to create distinct visual areas on your page.
Columns — Splits content into 2, 3, or 4 columns with configurable width ratios. Each column acts as a drop zone for other blocks. Columns automatically stack vertically on mobile devices.
Spacer — Adds vertical whitespace between blocks. Configurable height in pixels with separate values for desktop and mobile breakpoints.
Divider — A horizontal line separator with configurable style (solid, dashed, dotted), color, width, and thickness. Useful for visually separating content sections.

Content Blocks

Heading — A text heading with selectable HTML tag (H1 through H6), custom font size, color, alignment, and optional decorative underline accent.
Text — A rich text block supporting paragraphs, bold, italic, links, and lists. The primary block for body copy and descriptions.
Image — Displays a single image with optional caption, link, alt text, border radius, and lightbox support. Images are responsive by default.
Video — Embeds a video from YouTube, Vimeo, or a self-hosted MP4 file. Supports autoplay, loop, muted, and custom poster image settings.
Button — A call-to-action button with configurable text, link, size (small, medium, large), style (filled, outline, ghost), border radius, and hover effects.
Icon Box — An icon paired with a heading and description text. Choose from a built-in icon library. Commonly used for feature highlights and service descriptions.
List — A styled list with custom icons or bullets, configurable spacing, and optional divider lines between items. Useful for feature lists, checklists, and benefit summaries.

Interactive Blocks (Pro)

Accordion — Collapsible content panels. Each panel has a title and expandable body. Only one panel can be open at a time (or configure for multi-open). Ideal for FAQs.
Tabs — Tabbed content panels with horizontal tab navigation. Each tab has a label and a content area. Useful for organizing related information without long pages.
Contact Form — A configurable contact form with name, email, subject, and message fields. Submissions are sent to your configured email address via wp_mail. No third-party form plugin required.
Google Map — Embeds a Google Map centered on a specified address or coordinates. Configurable zoom level, map height, and optional marker label.
Countdown — A countdown timer that ticks down to a target date and time. Displays days, hours, minutes, and seconds. Useful for product launches, sales events, and coming-soon pages.

Commerce Blocks (Pro)

Pricing Table — A multi-column pricing comparison layout. Each column includes a plan name, price, feature list, and CTA button. Supports a highlighted "recommended" column.
Testimonial — Displays a customer quote with name, role/company, avatar image, and optional star rating. Multiple testimonials can be displayed in a carousel or grid layout.
Team Member — A profile card with photo, name, job title, bio text, and social media links. Use in a Columns block to create a team grid.

Social Blocks (Free)

Social Icons — A row of linked social media icons. Supports all major platforms (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, GitHub, and more). Configurable icon size, color, shape (circle, square, rounded), and spacing.

Customizer

UniversalWP extends the WordPress Customizer with theme-specific panels for colors, typography, header, footer, and layout. All changes are previewed in real time before you publish.

To access the Customizer, go to Appearance › Customize or click Customize in the admin bar while viewing your site.

Colors

The color panel provides 5 configurable color slots that cascade throughout the theme:

Primary Color — Used for buttons, links, accents, and active states.
Secondary Color — Used for secondary buttons, hover states, and supporting accents.
Text Color — The default color for body text and paragraphs.
Heading Color — Applied to all heading elements (H1 through H6).
Background Color — The main page background color.

Each color slot accepts any hex color value. When you change a color, every element that references that slot updates instantly in the preview.

Typography

The typography panel lets you select from 15 font options for headings and body text independently. Available fonts include system defaults, popular Google Fonts (Inter, Roboto, Open Sans, Lato, Montserrat, Poppins, Playfair Display, Merriweather, Nunito, Raleway, Work Sans, Source Sans Pro, DM Sans), and a classic serif option.

You can set the base font size and line height for body text. Heading sizes scale proportionally based on the base size, following a modular type scale.

Layout Options

Content Width — Set the maximum width of the content container (default 1200px). Affects all pages and posts.
Sidebar — Choose between no sidebar, left sidebar, or right sidebar for blog and archive pages.
Blog Layout — Select grid, list, or masonry layout for the blog archive page.

Header Styles

UniversalWP includes 3 header layout styles that you can switch between from Appearance › Customize › Header.

Default — Logo on the left, navigation menu on the right. A clean, standard header layout suitable for most websites. The header has a solid background color and a subtle bottom border.
Centered — Logo centered above a horizontally centered navigation menu. The two-line layout gives the header a more prominent, branded appearance. Works well for sites with shorter menu structures.
Transparent — The header overlays the page content with a transparent background. Text and logo appear in white (or a configurable color) against the page content beneath. Ideal for hero sections with full-width background images. The header transitions to a solid background on scroll.

All header styles support a sticky mode that keeps the header fixed at the top of the viewport as the visitor scrolls. Enable or disable sticky behavior from the Header panel in the Customizer.

Tip: The transparent header style works best when your homepage starts with a Section block that has a background image. This creates a seamless hero area where the header and content blend together.

UniversalWP includes 2 footer layout styles configurable from Appearance › Customize › Footer.

4-Column — A full-width footer divided into 4 widget columns above a bottom bar containing copyright text and optional social icons. Each column is a widget area where you can place any WordPress widget (text, navigation menus, recent posts, etc.). This is the default footer style.
Minimal — A single-line footer with copyright text on the left and optional social icons on the right. No widget columns are displayed. Use this for a clean, simple footer that stays out of the way.

Both styles support custom copyright text with dynamic placeholders ({year} for the current year, {site} for your site name) and an optional "Back to Top" button.

UniversalWP registers 5 widget areas that you can populate from Appearance › Widgets or through the Customizer.

Sidebar — Displayed on blog posts, archive pages, and any page that uses a sidebar layout. Common widgets include search, recent posts, categories, and tag cloud.
Footer Column 1 — The leftmost column in the 4-column footer. Typically used for an about blurb or company description.
Footer Column 2 — The second column. Commonly used for a navigation menu widget linking to important pages.
Footer Column 3 — The third column. Often used for contact information, business hours, or a secondary navigation menu.
Footer Column 4 — The rightmost column. Frequently used for a newsletter signup form or social links.

Footer widget areas are only visible when using the 4-Column footer style. Switching to the Minimal footer hides these widget areas on the frontend, but their contents are preserved and will reappear if you switch back.

WooCommerce

UniversalWP includes built-in WooCommerce support. When WooCommerce is installed and activated, the theme automatically applies its styling to shop pages, product archives, single product pages, cart, and checkout.

WooCommerce-specific features include:

Product Gallery — Single product pages display a responsive image gallery with thumbnail navigation and lightbox zoom. Visitors can click product images to view them at full size.
Shop Layout — The product archive supports 2, 3, or 4 column grid layouts, configurable from the Customizer. Products per page is also adjustable.
Cart Icon — An optional cart icon with item count badge can be displayed in the header navigation. It updates dynamically via AJAX when products are added to the cart.
Quick View — Visitors can preview product details in a modal overlay without leaving the shop page. Quick view displays the product image, title, price, short description, and add-to-cart button.
Responsive Checkout — The cart and checkout pages are styled to match the theme and are fully responsive on all device sizes.

Note: WooCommerce must be installed separately. UniversalWP provides the styling and layout integration, but the shop functionality itself comes from the WooCommerce plugin. Install it from Plugins › Add New and search for WooCommerce.

License Activation

UniversalWP is a paid theme. All tiers (Pro, Business, Agency) require a valid license key to unlock Pro blocks, receive theme updates, and access premium starter kits.

To activate your license, go to Appearance › UniversalWP › License. Enter the license key you received after purchase and click Activate. UniversalWP validates the key against the Boulley Technology license server and binds it to your domain.

License key formats follow this pattern:

UWPR-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX — Pro license
UWBS-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX — Business license
UWAG-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX — Agency license

If you need to move your license to a different site, deactivate it first from the License tab, then activate it on the new domain. You can also manage your licenses from your Boulley Technology account portal.

License keys are annual. Your key remains active for 12 months from the date of purchase and renews automatically unless cancelled. When your license expires, the theme continues to function and your existing pages are unaffected, but you stop receiving updates and Pro blocks revert to their free-tier behavior.

Important: Deactivate your license before migrating to a new domain or resetting your site. If you lose access to your old site without deactivating first, contact support from your Boulley Technology account to release the license.

Troubleshooting

Theme Not Appearing After Upload

If UniversalWP does not appear in your themes list after uploading the ZIP file, the most common cause is uploading the wrong file. Make sure you are uploading the installable theme ZIP (named universalwp.zip), not the full download package. If your server has a low upload size limit, the upload may silently fail. Check your PHP upload_max_filesize and post_max_size values in php.ini and increase them if they are below 32MB.

Page Builder Not Loading

If the page builder panel does not appear in the Customizer, first confirm that UniversalWP is the active theme (not just installed). Clear any page caches and object caches, then try again. If you see a blank panel or a JavaScript error in the browser console, a plugin conflict is the most likely cause. Temporarily deactivate other plugins one by one to identify the conflict. Common conflicts include caching plugins that aggressively minify or combine JavaScript files.

Styles Not Applying

If Customizer changes (colors, fonts, header style) are not reflected on the frontend, a caching layer is almost always the cause. Clear your browser cache, any server-side page cache, and CDN cache if applicable. If you are using a CSS minification plugin, clear its cache as well. UniversalWP outputs custom CSS via wp_head, so aggressive HTML minification plugins can occasionally strip or corrupt the style output.

Starter Kit Import Fails

Starter kit imports create multiple pages and apply Customizer settings in a single operation. If the import fails partway through, your server may be hitting a PHP memory or execution time limit. Increase memory_limit to at least 256MB and max_execution_time to at least 120 seconds in your php.ini. On shared hosting where you cannot change these values, contact your host to request an increase. After fixing the limits, delete any partially imported pages and try the import again.

Pro Blocks Show as Locked

If Interactive or Commerce blocks appear with a lock icon in the builder, your license is either not activated or has expired. Go to Appearance › UniversalWP › License to verify your activation status. If the license shows as active but blocks are still locked, click Refresh License to re-validate with the license server. This can happen after a domain change or server migration.

FAQ

Is UniversalWP a page builder plugin?

No. UniversalWP is a WordPress theme that includes a built-in page builder. You do not install it as a plugin. It is uploaded and activated through Appearance › Themes like any other WordPress theme. The page builder is a feature of the theme, not a separate plugin.

Do I need Elementor, Beaver Builder, or any other page builder?

No. UniversalWP has its own built-in page builder with 20 block types. You do not need any third-party page builder plugin. Using another page builder alongside UniversalWP is possible but unnecessary and may introduce conflicts. The built-in builder is designed to work seamlessly with the theme's styling and Customizer settings.

Can I use UniversalWP with WooCommerce?

Yes. UniversalWP includes full WooCommerce support out of the box. Shop pages, product archives, single product pages, cart, and checkout are all styled to match the theme. Additional features like product quick view, cart icon in the header, and configurable shop grid columns are included. Simply install and activate WooCommerce and the integration works automatically.

What happens when my license expires?

Your site continues to function normally. All your pages, layouts, and content remain intact. However, you will no longer receive theme updates, and Pro-only blocks (Interactive and Commerce categories) will revert to a limited free-tier state. You can renew your license at any time from your Boulley Technology account to restore full functionality and resume updates.

Can I switch between starter kits after importing one?

Yes. You can import a different starter kit at any time. Importing a new kit overwrites your Customizer settings (colors, fonts, header/footer style) and creates new demo pages, but it does not delete your existing pages. If you have customized the demo pages from the previous kit, those customizations will remain on those pages. The new kit's pages are created as additional pages.

How many sites can I use UniversalWP on?

It depends on your license tier. Pro licenses are valid for one site. Business licenses cover up to 3 sites. Agency licenses allow unlimited site activations, making them ideal for freelancers and agencies building sites for clients. Each site requires its own activation, and you can manage all your activations from the Boulley Technology account portal.