The setup wizard · Group manual

The setup wizard is a short series of screens that asks for what a group website needs: the parent company's details, how people reach you, which businesses the group runs and whether they share one brand or each have their own. At the end it can add the starter pages and main menu, sample photos and a complete sample group, so you start from a finished-looking website instead of blank pages.

It takes about five minutes. Everything you type can be changed later, and nothing you skip is lost.

This page covers the Group kit's wizard step by step. For the wizard in general (how the steps, Back and Skip for now work), see The setup wizard in the shared chapters. Features marked (Pro) need a Pro or Agency licence.

When the wizard opens

The wizard opens by itself the first time you sign in to WordPress after you switch on the Group kit plugin (a plugin is an add-on for WordPress) and the Group theme. See Installing.

Until you finish it, a reminder appears at the top of the Dashboard, the Plugins and Themes screens and the Group screen. Click Continue setup to go back to where you left off.

How to run the setup wizard again

Go to Group → Settings.
Click Run setup again at the top right.

Running it again is safe. The starter content step never makes copies, and pages you have edited are left alone.

The steps

The bar at the top shows all seven steps. A green tick means the step is saved. You can click any step's name to jump to it.

Step 1: Welcome

The first screen lists the steps ahead and reminds you that everything is also under Group → Settings.

Read the list. It is numbered the same way as the steps in the bar at the top.
Click Let's start.

Step 2: Your group

These are the parent company's details. Its name and logo appear on every page, in emails and on the staff sign-in page. The company details go in the footer.

In Trading name, type the group's name, for example "Northgate Group". It is also used as the website's title.
In Short name (optional), type the short form used in phrases like "A Northgate business" and "Northgate Property". Leave it blank to use the name without "Group" or "Ltd".
Fill in Registered company name (optional), Company number (optional) and VAT number (optional) (for example GB123456789) if you have them.
In Tagline (optional), type a short line about the group. It shows in the footer and in search results.
Under the boxes, click Choose image. The media library opens.
Click Upload files and choose the group's logo from your computer (or pick one you've already uploaded in Media Library), then click Use this image.
The logo now shows in the box, with Change image and Remove next to it. You can also leave it and add it later.
Click Save and continue.

Step 3: How people reach you

These details show in the website's header, footer and contact sections.

In Phone numbers, type the group's numbers, one per line, the main number first.
In WhatsApp number (optional), type a number only if it is on WhatsApp, in international format (for example +447700900123). Leave it blank to hide the WhatsApp buttons.
In Public email, type the group office's address.
In Address, type the group office's address. Line breaks are kept.
In Send notifications to, type the address that should get messages from the plain contact form, and anything not routed to a business. For several people, put commas between the addresses.
Click Save and continue.

Step 4: Your businesses

Tell the wizard which businesses the group runs. Each one gets a card on the home page, its own page, a place in the menu and its own inbox for the contact form.

For each business:

In What it's called, type a short name, for example "Property". Its own brand name, if it has one, can be added later.
In What it does, in a few words, type a short description, for example "Homes to rent and buy".
In Its enquiries go to, type the email address for this business's enquiries. Leave it blank to send them to the group office.
In What should the form ask them?, type the question the contact form asks when someone picks this business, for example "Which property are you asking about?".
Tick It runs stock and equipment (e.g. machines at client sites) if this business looks after stock or equipment at clients' sites, such as vending machines. This switches on the stock and client tools for it (Pro).

The step shows two businesses to begin with. Click Add another business for more. Then click Save and continue.

You can add more businesses, hide them or change their order at any time under Group → Businesses.

Step 5: How they look

Choose whether the whole group shares one look, or each business has its own.

Choose one:
- One brand for all: every business follows the group's logo, colours and type, told apart by name and number. Suits a group known by one name.
- Each business its own brand: each business shows its own logo, colour, heading font and corners, while the menu, forms and footer stay shared. Suits businesses known by their own names.
Click Preview on the website under either choice to see it.
The "not sure" choice is the label of the extra option on the contact form for people who don't know which business they need. It starts as "Not sure". Change it if you like, for example to "Something else".
Click Save and continue.

The design itself (Mosaic, Charter or Parallel) and its colours are under Site Settings → Design & colours. See Designs.

Step 6: Starter content

This is where the wizard builds your website. Each switch adds one kind of ready-made content. Switch on the ones you want, then click Save and continue. Running this step again never makes copies.

Switch	Starts	What it adds
Starter pages and menu	On	The home page (every business's card, the contact form that sends each enquiry to the right business, and more), a page for each business, About the group, News, Contact, My account (the client area) and Photo credits, with the main menu. Its "Our businesses" list follows your businesses by itself. Pages you already have are left alone.
Sample photos	On	24 stock photos of homes, offices, vending, logistics and people, from Pexels (free to use), each credited to its photographer on the Photo credits page.
Sample group: Northgate Group	Off	An example group with four businesses (Property, Vending, Logistics and Consulting), their services, listings, people, testimonials and news, so you can see every section working.
Legal pages (drafts)	On	Terms and conditions, a privacy policy and a cookie policy, filled in with your details and saved as drafts for you to check before publishing. Add the law that applies under Group → Settings → Privacy first.
Sample stock, equipment and clients (Pro)	Off	For the sample Vending business: products, suppliers, stock with its opening movements, three client accounts with sites and machines, and service visits.
Keep the menu at the top when scrolling	On	The header with your name and menu stays in view as visitors scroll.

While the starter content is added

When you click Save and continue, a box appears under the switches: Adding your starter content… Please keep this page open. Each part you switched on gets a line that says working… and then done. The sample photos are added a few at a time, so their line counts up, for example Sample photos: 8 of 24.

Keep the page open. It takes a minute or two, mostly for the photos. When everything is done, the next step opens by itself. If the box turns red and says This didn't finish, click Save and continue again: the wizard carries on where it stopped and never adds anything twice.

Step 7: All done

The last screen lists what this run of the wizard did (anything an earlier run added isn't listed again), then gives you four links: See the website, Open Group → Today, Review all settings and Add staff and choose what they can do.

Click Finish. The wizard closes and you land on Group → Today.

What you have at the end

With every switch on, the wizard leaves you with:

Businesses: the ones you typed in step 4, each with its own page, under Group → Businesses, plus the sample businesses that weren't already there.
Pages: Home (the front page), About the group, News, Contact, My account and Photo credits, all published. Terms and conditions, Privacy Policy and Cookie policy are drafts.
Main menu: Our businesses (a list that follows your businesses), About, People, News and Contact, with Get in touch and Client sign-in buttons.
The sample group: 20 services across the four businesses, 8 property listings, 6 people, 4 testimonials, 8 news posts and 4 places (Leeds, Harrogate, Wakefield and Ilkley).
Sample stock and clients (Pro): 8 stock items in 2 places, 3 client accounts with 4 sites and 5 machines, with their orders, plans and a document.
Photos: 24 sample photos in the media library, listed with their photographers on the Photo credits page.

This is the home page a visitor sees straight after the wizard:

How to remove the sample content

There's no single "remove samples" button, and the sample items are not labelled "Sample" in the lists. Use the list on this page to find them.

Under Group → Businesses, move the sample businesses you don't run (for example Logistics and Consulting) to the Trash.
Under Group → Services, Group → Listings, Group → Team and Group → Testimonials, move the sample entries to the Trash. If one of your own businesses was filled in with samples, check its services and listings and keep the ones you want.
Under Posts, move the eight sample news posts to the Trash.
Under Group → Areas, remove the sample places you don't use.
(Pro) Under Group → Stock & equipment and Group → Clients, remove the sample stock, clients, sites and machines.

To remove the sample photos, put your own photos on the pages first, then go to Media, search for "Pexels", select the sample photos and delete them permanently. Then update the Photo credits page.

Next steps

Designs: Mosaic, Charter and Parallel, their colour palettes, and how to switch.
Quick start: the checklist from here to your first enquiry.
Your look: your logo, colours, menus and footer.