Before You Start
Bricks is a WordPress theme (not a plugin!), so it installs like any other theme — but a few key settings decide how smooth everything feels later. Follow this guide and you’ll have a clean development environment in 30 minutes.
Written against Bricks 2.x (2026). If a setting lives somewhere else in your version, go with what your install shows.
Step 1: Download and Install
- Buy a license at bricksbuilder.io ($99/year, all features included, no per-site fees)
- Download
bricks.zip(the theme file) from your member area - In WordPress, go to Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme → choose
bricks.zip→ Install Now - Click “Activate” after installation
⚠️ Strongly recommended: also enable a Child Theme:
- The official Bricks child theme is available for download — upload and install it the same way
- Activate the child theme (
Bricks Child Theme), not the Bricks parent theme directly - Why: when you later edit functions.php or add custom code, updating the Bricks parent theme won’t wipe your changes
Step 2: Basic WordPress Settings (Do These)
General
- Settings → General: set site title, timezone, and date format
- Settings → Reading: choose “A static page” and pick a homepage (don’t use “Your latest posts”)
Permalinks
- Settings → Permalinks → choose “Post name” (postname)
- Skip extra URL levels (category/date prefixes) — they’re bad for SEO; the cleaner the URL, the better
Media
- Set useful thumbnail sizes: small 960, large 1920
- Turn off “Organize my uploads into month- and year-based folders” (keeps all images in the media root — easier to manage)
Search Visibility
- During development: check “Discourage search engines from indexing this site”; make sure you uncheck it before launch (put it in your launch SOP!)
Step 3: Bricks Core Settings (Performance-Critical)
Open the Bricks Builder (edit any page) → Settings → Theme Styles:
General
- Disable Emoji (removes bloat)
- Don’t disable Embed (you’ll want YouTube videos)
- Disable Google Fonts (switch to local loading — see below)
- Disable jQuery Migrate (faster)
- Generate element IDs and classes on demand (key to ultra-clean code)
Performance
- CSS loading method: External Files
- Stylesheet loading: Web Font
- Disable lazy loading (Bricks’ own — let Perfmatters take over)
API Keys
- Add your Google Maps API Key (if the site uses maps)
- Skip Mailchimp if you don’t use it
Step 4: Localize Fonts (Performance + GDPR)
- Bricks Settings → Custom Fonts → Add font (e.g., Outfit, or whatever your project uses)
- Upload the ttf/woff2 files to the media library → create a
fontsfolder to keep them organized - Theme Styles → Typography → select the local font as your font family
- Result: pages make no Google Fonts requests, 2–3 fewer external requests, and speed jumps immediately
Step 5: The Essential Plugin Stack (Bricks’ Recommended Setup)
| Plugin | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic CSS (ACSS) | CSS variables + design system | Highly recommended — the perfect partner for Bricks |
| Frames (by ACSS) | Prebuilt component library | Headers to heroes, everything included |
| Perfmatters | Performance optimization | Script delay/disable/cleanup |
| RankMath SEO | SEO settings | The free version is enough |
| WPCoder (WPCodeBox) | Code snippet management | Manage custom CSS/JS/PHP |
| WS Form / Fluent Forms | Forms | Lightweight replacement for Elementor forms |
| ShortPixel | Image compression | Automatic WebP conversion |
In Kevin Geary’s (Bricks community leader) full plugin-stack video, the takeaway is: the fewer plugins, the better. Bricks covers the core itself — plugins should only fill the gaps where Bricks isn’t strong.
Step 6: Quick Verification
Once everything is installed and configured, run a test:
- Create a test page and drag in a few elements
- Run PageSpeed Insights on it (a local URL won’t work — use a temporary domain)
- Target: 90+ mobile score
FAQ
Q: Can Bricks and Elementor be used together? No. Bricks is a theme — installing it replaces the Elementor theme, and the Elementor plugin stops working. Pick one.
Q: Is there a free version? No. Bricks is paid only ($99/year), but there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can buy it and try it risk-free.
Q: Does it lock in my content? No. Content is stored in native Gutenberg format — switch themes and your content survives.
Next Steps
Environment sorted? Time for the core learning:
- [The 5 Bricks pitfalls everyone hits](link to pitfalls article) (saves you time)
- Bricks Query Loop in practice: dynamic content done right (advanced)
Bricks pays you back the more you use it — get the environment right up front and every future site reuses this exact setup, doubling your build speed.