Welcome

Version: 1.4.x License: Commercial / GPL‑compatible Requires: WordPress 6.4+, PHP 8.0+

PorterWP is a developer‑first toolkit that turns any WordPress block theme into a fully‑fledged, schema‑driven application. It ships as a plugin and expects a companion /porter folder inside your child theme where all configuration lives.

  • Zero‑boilerplate Custom Post Types & Taxonomies via JSON.

  • ACF Blocks, block styles, patterns & variations without touching PHP.

  • Automatic include of theme PHP helpers from /porter/inc.

  • Production‑only object‑cache layer with a one‑click purge.

  • A premium Filters block that adds faceted search to any Query Loop.

Quick Start 🚀

  1. Buy & download PorterWP Premium Get your license at https://porterwp.com/ and grab the ZIP plus your Freemius key.

  2. Install the plugin Upload via Plugins › Add New or run:

    wp plugin install ~/Downloads/porterwp-premium.zip --activate

  3. Activate your licence A Freemius modal will prompt for the key; you can revisit it under Plugins › PorterWP Premium › Manage License.

  4. Install the latest skeleton theme Download or clone the starter from https://github.com/whoisandywhite/porterwp-public/tree/main/resources/theme-skeleton (it is a complete WordPress theme) and drop the whole folder into wp-content/themes/.

    1. Rename the folder if you like (my‑theme, client‑site, …).

    2. Open style.css inside the theme and change the theme header (Theme Name, Author URI, etc.).

    3. Open package.json and update the name + description fields so NPM uses your project slug.

  5. Compile assets (optional, recommended)

    npm install        # once
npx gulp build     # production build
npx gulp watch     # dev: SCSS → CSS, JS minify, etc.

Recommended wp-config.php additions

// Tell PorterWP when to cache
// Options: production, staging, development, local
if ( ! defined( 'WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE' ) ) {
    define( 'WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE', 'development' );
}

PorterWP only caches in production. Keeping other environments set to development or local means you never have to hit Clear Cache while theming.

Next → Directory Structure

Configuration Files

The JSON files inside porter/config/ let you shape every aspect of the theme. See the Configuration Files Index for a full breakdown.

Build Pipeline

PorterWP ships with a Gulp 5 / ES modules tool‑chain for compiling Sass, minifying JS, and generating block assets.

File
Purpose

gulpfile.js

Task definitions: compile SCSS, autoprefix, uglify CSS, minify JS, auto‑generate block style stubs, and create post‑type icons.

package.json

NPM dependencies and scripts for the build pipeline (no theme‑specific names—this is a prototype starter).

# install dependencies
npm install

# one‑off production build
npm run gulp build   # or: npx gulp build

# watch files during development
npm run gulp watch   # or: npx gulp watch
NextDirectory Structure

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