Blueprints are so powerful and flexible because you can create them in any way you want. You can bundle plugins, themes and custom code together to create a site that is perfect for your needs and sell them as a hosted solution. You can tie Blueprints to your recurring subscriptions and so much more. In this document we will first explain you how to create your first Blueprint.

Step 1 - Launch a new Blueprint.

In your Hub you can create a new Blueprint by clicking on the Launch New Blueprint menu link on any of your Hub pages. The Launch New Blueprint page was created automatically when your installed the Dollie Hub plugin so you should also see it in your Page listing in your WordPress admin.

1. In the first form field give your Blueprint a name. For example my-agency-blueprint.
2. Press Launch New Blueprint and the Blueprint will be created.
3. Once your Blueprint is launched you will see the same Dashboard as a regular site, but with one extra area to manage and configure this blueprint. You'll also see a bar at the bottom of the screen saying your new Blueprint is in Staging mode. This means that the Blueprint is currently only visible and usable by you, until you're ready to start using it. So what's next?

Step 2 - Build Out Your Blueprint

Now that you have launched your Blueprint you can start building it out. You can add plugins, themes and anything else you'd like to your Blueprint. Here are some common steps our customers use to build their Blueprint:

• Installing your favorite page builder plugin.
• Creating some beautiful default pages
• Setting up WordPress core to your liking.
• Configuring your plugins to your liking.
• Setting up the theme.
• Hardening WordPress and adding custom code/functionality.

It's all up to you and a Blueprint in essence is like any other WordPress site. The Sky is the limit!

Step 3 - Publish Your Blueprint

Once you have build out your Blueprint you can publish it. By Publishing your Blueprint you're basically saying "Alright, I'm ready to start using this premade site across my platform". So only Publish your Blueprint once your plugins are configured, your theme is set up, and you have double-checked that no accidental sensitive data is included (like test user accounts, private API keys etc.)

Once you've confirmed all this simply press "Publish Blueprint" and you're ready to configure the last remaining step.

Step 4 - Configuring Your Blueprint

Now we're getting to the most exciting part of the process, choosing how to use your Blueprint on your platform. You'll be able to choose from various settings that cover specific use cases, so let's briefly go over them.

Private Blueprint

When you set your Blueprint to private, only you and your team members can view it on the "Launch New Site" form. Perfect if you want to hide this Blueprint from your customers/client or if you want to test it before you make it available to everyone on your platform. This is also a useful setting if offer White Glove Agency services and want to hide the magic stuff from your clients. (Also see our article about Access Control to learn more about that).

Blueprint Title, Description and Image

These fields allow you to describe your Blueprint in the "Launch New Site" form and in any other place across your platform. You can keep it as simple or fancy as you want. For example:

Title - Restaurant Design 
Description - A beautiful restaurant design that looks great on any screen size. It includes functionality to add your menu, staff and other details easily. 
Image - A screenshot of the menu page.

Now when you or your customers go to Launch a new site you'll see your Blueprint is listed using your description and image. Pretty sweet huh?

Linking a Blueprint to a WooCommerce Product?

This powerful feature allows you to link your Blueprint to a WooCommerce product. When you do this you can create a powerful one-click checkout experience for your customers.

Step 4 - Launching a New Site based on Your Blueprint

Once created a blueprint can either be presented to customers as a "pre-made site design" on your front facing pages using the dollie shortcode [dollie-blueprints] or you can keep it for internal usage through your launch page.

1. Go to the Launch New Site page.
2. Select your Blueprint from the list of available Blueprints.
3. Click the Launch New Site button.
4. Watch the magic happen!

Once your site is launched you'll see that it's an exact copy of your Blueprint. You can create as many blueprints as you like and offer them to the customers or your staff on your platform.

Step 5 - Updating Your Blueprint

If you have made changes to your Blueprint (for example if you've updated some plugins and added some new landing pages) you can publish a new version of your Blueprint so that this version will be used when a new site is launched by your customers. Here's how you do this:

1. Go to Site Dashboard of your Blueprint.
2. Click on Manage Blueprint menu item.
3. Click on the Update Blueprint button.
4. Done!

Now this version of your Blueprint will be used when a new site is launched by your customers.