LiveCanvas 4.4 – complete “Websites in a Box” via child themes

LiveCanvas 4.4 introduces a set of thoughtful updates — but more importantly, it begins a clear shift in strategy: empowering developers to build self-contained child themes that deliver not just design, but a rich editing experience out of the box.

Each child theme can now bundle styles, demo content, and a curated set of blocks, sections, and pages — deeply integrated into the editor. The goal is to make LiveCanvas themes feel like complete, modular site kits, not just starting points.

🔰 Smoother Onboarding for New Installs

Spin up a new WordPress site and install the LiveCanvas plugin — you’ll now be guided through a simple onboarding flow that:

• Installs the Picostrap parent theme
• Allows to choose a child theme
• Optionally imports starter content

This helps new projects get off the ground faster and provides an opportunity to explore how modular themes are structured.

Currently offered child themes include the default Picostrap starter and LC Gourmet, our new demo theme that showcases the modular content concept.

📦 Themes as Readymade UI Kits (for Developers)

With 4.4, child themes can include a /livecanvas/ folder — a special directory where you define the building blocks of the editor interface.

This folder has a defined structure:

• /blocks/ – atomic UI components (e.g. buttons, features)
• /sections/ – layout-ready page sections
• /pages/ – full-page templates

Each subfolder holds simple .html files. LiveCanvas automatically recognizes and categorizes them inside the editor, giving you a powerful way to ship a design system alongside your theme.

You’ll see this structure clearly in the Picostrap Starter Child Theme, which serves as the perfect starting point for building your own modular, editor-aware theme kits.

For developers, this means your child theme can become a reusable UI kit, not just a style layer — complete with all the parts your clients or team need to build consistent layouts quickly.

⚙️ [IN FLUX] Theme Initialization via JSON

To streamline setup, you can optionally include a starter-data/theme-options.json file inside your child theme. This allows you to auto-apply:

• Picostrap Customizer settings, including all Bootstrap-related configuration

That means you can define a theme’s visual identity — colors, typography, container widths, etc. — directly from the file system, without requiring any manual Customizer interaction.

Picostrap also includes an “Extra Utilities” panel, found under Appearance → Picostrap Options, where you can export your current Customizer settings as a JSON file — ready to reuse or ship with your theme.

Please refer to the documentation page for more details.

🧩 Editor Enhancements

• Contextual “Save as…” window
• Live previews for custom blocks, sections, partials, and pages
• Searchable custom sections interface
• Backend option to download blocks/sections as raw HTML
• Easier browsing and insertion of partials, with switch/reference tools

🤖 AI & Dynamic Content Improvements

• Prompt history added for AI-assisted generation
• Support for OpenRouter models (broader AI options)
• Post loop handling now includes pagination
• New dynamic post layout support

🛠️ Fixes & Polish

• Fixed: "Read more" links in Tangible Elements
• Fixed: WooCommerce total results label internationalization
• Fixed: clearer messaging for missing AI API keys

💡 What This Means for Developers

LiveCanvas is becoming more than just a visual builder — it’s evolving into a theme platform for developers. With a clean file structure, reusable content folders, and optional JSON-based setup, you can now ship complete, modular WordPress site kits that give users a polished editing experience from day one.

Whether for clients or internal use, 4.4 makes it easier to build themes that are consistent, reusable, and editor-friendly.