Choose your POM Theme learning path
POM Theme covers several kinds of WordPress work. You do not need to learn all of them before making a useful change. Start with the path that matches the result you own, then follow links into another chapter only when the work crosses that boundary.
If you are launching a new site
Use this order:
- Install and update POM Theme.
- Connect the POM Theme license.
- Learn where each kind of change belongs.
- Complete the first-site checklist with one representative page.
- Work through the relevant builder, design, layout, content-model, forms, search, template, or WooCommerce chapter.
- Finish with the production launch checklist.
This path establishes global decisions before individual layouts. It also gives you one real page on which to test typography, navigation, responsive behavior, and reusable styles.
If you edit page content
Start with Build pages with POM. The POM Page Builder is the right place for the composition of a particular page: rows, columns, text, images, calls to action, and other components.
Use POM shortcode library when you need the controls or limitations of one component. Move to Create dynamic templates only when the same presentation must render structured records repeatedly.
If you own the visual system
Begin with Create a consistent design system, then continue to Configure the site layout.
The distinction matters:
- Design system owns shared brand assets, colors, fonts, buttons, icons, and general component styling.
- Site layout owns the persistent frame around content, including the header, mobile navigation, subheader, breadcrumbs, footer, contact dock, and sidebars.
Change these shared settings before compensating with page-level CSS or repeated builder adjustments.
If you organize structured content
Read Build structured content before entering production records. It covers POM-managed post types, taxonomies, custom fields, saved queries, permission rules, and their relationships.
Then use Create dynamic templates to decide how archive, feed, and single views present that data. Use Build faceted search only when visitors need to filter or explore the resulting collection.
If you build forms
Go to Build forms with POM. Theme-wide form activation, styles, defaults, and integrations live under Settings → POM Theme, while the visible Forms menu owns individual forms and submissions.
Do not begin with a builder component alone. First enable and configure the forms system, then create the form, place it on a page, and test validation, delivery, storage, privacy, and failure behavior.
If you build a store
Start with Build a WooCommerce store with POM. Keep the ownership boundary clear:
- WooCommerce owns products, prices, tax, stock, shipping, payments, orders, and accounts.
- POM Theme owns the supported storefront layouts and optional presentation enhancements exposed under Settings → POM Theme → E-Commerce.
- The POM Page Builder owns composed page content, not WooCommerce business records.
Test every customer journey the store actually uses, not just the Shop page.
If you maintain custom code
Use POM Theme for developers for supported hooks, helpers, shortcodes, merge tags, templates, content models, assets, CLI commands, and integration boundaries.
Read the user-facing guide for the feature first. The developer reference explains how to extend a supported contract; it does not replace understanding what the editor is trying to achieve.
If something is already wrong
Open POM Theme help and choose the symptom. Record the affected URL, user role, device, action, expected result, and actual result before changing settings.
If you do not yet know which chapter owns the result, use the complete documentation map or the interface map.