How Agencies Can Use Local Blueprints to Streamline Workflow

Brian Gardner Avatar

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Local Blueprints

Local is an all-in-one development solution that empowers developers to establish and oversee multiple WordPress installations locally.

Local has many use cases, including full-blown site development and the swift creation of isolated testing environments for themes, plugins, and WordPress releases, ensuring optimal performance and compatibility.

In this article, we’ll cover the benefits of streamlining workflow, what Local Blueprints are, and how agencies can use WordPress and the Frost theme.

The advantages of Local, however, go well beyond individual development endeavors. It is a formidable asset for agencies and teams looking to optimize workflows and boost productivity.

What Are Local Blueprints?

Enhancing the value of Local, Blueprints stand out as a remarkable feature. These customizable templates empower developers to preset various settings for their WordPress sites, including themes, plugins, and other unique adjustments.

Blueprints streamline the setup process for new sites and minimize errors and inconsistencies, ultimately saving time and effort. In addition, their versatility allows for use across numerous sites or for sharing within teams.

For those seeking to transform their site into a reusable blueprint for upcoming projects, a few straightforward steps will enable you to generate a Blueprint for repeated use.

How to Create a Blueprint

To begin, create a Local site encompassing all the elements you want to include in your Blueprint, such as themes, plugins, and pages. Once you have set up your site to your liking, you can turn it into a Blueprint.

To do so, navigate to the desired site and click on the “Start site” button in the top right corner of the page. Alternatively, right-click the site’s name on the sidebar and select “Start site.”

Local Blueprints
Select “Start a site” in the upper right corner.

The next step is to save your site as a Blueprint. To do this, click the menu (…) icon near the site name, or right-click the site’s name on the sidebar.

Local Blueprints
Select “Save as Blueprint” from the three-dot dropdown.

Select “Save as Blueprint” and give your template a name.

Local Blueprints

You have transformed your site into a Blueprint, allowing you to use it repeatedly. So, the next time you need to create a new site, choose your Blueprint from the available templates and commence building.

Utilizing Local Blueprints can save valuable time and simplify your workflow, crafting stunning and practical sites more effortlessly than ever.

Why Use Local Blueprints

Utilizing Local Blueprints can save valuable time and simplify your workflow, crafting stunning and practical sites more effortlessly than ever.

Blueprints are a remarkable tool that can save developers substantial time during the WordPress site-building process. By utilizing Blueprints, developers no longer need to navigate through the plugin and theme directories or execute command-line commands to set up a site.

Instead, they can use a preconfigured collection of tools and settings to establish their sites swiftly and efficiently.

For developers who rely on a particular set of tools to build their sites, such as a preferred theme, plugins, or specific database settings, Blueprints provide an ideal solution. They can effortlessly create a Blueprint containing all their preferred tools and environments as a project starting point.

Blueprints are also an excellent option for agencies and freelancers who frequently build similar sites. With a Blueprint, they can quickly spin up preconfigured sites with their preferred tools and settings, saving them valuable time and effort.

But it’s not just developers who can benefit from Blueprints. Users who build WordPress plugins and themes or work on WordPress core can also use Blueprints to set up new sites to test their latest builds quickly. This makes testing and debugging new features or changes much easier without spending time setting up a new site from scratch.

An Anecdote: Avalanche Studio

Let’s dive deeper into the world of our imaginary web development company, Avalanche Studio, which has earned a reputation as a premier WordPress agency in the industry. Over the years, the team at Avalanche Studio has worked tirelessly to provide exceptional service and innovative solutions for clients seeking top-notch WordPress development.

They were searching for ways to streamline its workflow to save resources, improve team efficiency, and ultimately enhance client satisfaction. They stumbled upon Local, a solution that promised to address their concerns and help them achieve their goals:

Increased Efficiency: Local enabled Avalanche Studio to work more efficiently, completing projects faster and improving client satisfaction.

Cost Reduction: By minimizing errors and mistakes, Local contributed to reducing costs associated with rework and delays. It also helped the agency identify further cost-cutting opportunities.

Improved Collaboration: Sharing Local Blueprints proved to be a powerful tool in enhancing collaboration, minimizing conflicts, and promoting productivity by establishing clear roles and responsibilities within the team.

Scalability: The streamlined workflow provided by Local allowed Avalanche Studio to scale its operations effectively, making it easier to onboard new team members and expand their services.

Competitive Advantage: By implementing Local, Avalanche Studio differentiated itself from competitors through faster turnaround times, superior quality work, and efficient project management.

Utilizing Local proved highly beneficial for Avalanche Studio, providing a competitive edge through accelerated turnaround times and project management. In addition, optimized workflows enhanced their agency’s performance, ensuring success in the competitive WordPress market.

Avalanche Studio had long been on the lookout for ways to streamline their development process. As they dug deeper into Local’s features, they stumbled upon the treasure that is Blueprints, which enabled Avalanche Studio to tackle projects more efficiently and precisely.

Frost WordPress Theme

Embracing the sophistication of simplicity, Frost is an innovative WordPress theme that enables agencies to create visually beautiful and feature-packed websites. Its sleek, minimalist design offers unparalleled functionality while maintaining a stunning aesthetic.

Frost WordPress Theme
Frost is the ultimate WordPress theme for website builders.

It features a range of valuable site-building elements—such as patterns and layouts—that include hero and portfolio sections, call-to-action buttons, headers, footers, customer testimonials, and full-page sections.

WordPress agencies could create a Local Blueprint based on the theme to leverage the power of Frost. One way to do this would be to fork Frost, create a base theme, and save it as a Blueprint.

By integrating Frost with Local Blueprints, WordPress agencies can enhance their efficiency and workflow. This combination allows them to maintain project consistency, streamline resource sharing, and bolster collaboration.

In addition, leveraging the power of Frost and Local Blueprints together ensures that agencies can deliver high-quality, visually engaging websites quickly, exceeding client expectations and promoting long-term success.

Conclusion

Local Blueprints help teams collaborate by efficiently sharing resources, ensuring consistency, and reducing errors. As a result, they boost WordPress agencies’ workflow efficiency and save time for essential tasks like design and content creation.

In summary, Local Blueprints serve as a catalyst for WordPress agencies by streamlining processes, enhancing collaboration, and upholding high-quality standards, which ultimately paves the way for superior project outcomes, delighted clients, and sustained business.