Hi @robg48
I never explored this approach but do you really need a theme?
Considering you are using AI give a try to generate a custom theme and custom blocks, I made some blocks using AI in the past and it worked good, it my bypass if the issues is theme related.
But could you also extend what is happening on “aren’t as up to date on any changes in themes or WordPress in real time.” ?
Best Regards
Patrick Freitas
Hi @robg48 ,
If OpenClaw is doing most of the building, the main thing is to keep your setup as simple and predictable as possible.
Themes like Kadence or GeneratePress are solid, but they come with their own systems, options, and structure. AI tools often don’t follow those patterns correctly, which is why you’re seeing issues. It’s less about the theme being “bad” and more about the mismatch between the AI output and how the theme expects things to be done.
You might get more consistent results by testing with:
- a default block theme (like Twenty Twenty-Four / Twenty Twenty-Five)
- or a very minimal theme with almost no added features
This removes a lot of variables and helps you see whether OpenClaw itself is the problem or just how it interacts with the theme.
About the “not up to date” part — that’s a known limitation with AI tools. They often generate:
- outdated classes or markup
- settings that no longer exist in newer theme versions
- incorrect hooks or structure
So instead of letting it fully build everything on top of a complex theme, it usually works better to:
- use it for layout drafts, content, or small custom pieces
- then refine things manually inside WordPress
If you want to confirm the root cause, try running the same OpenClaw prompt on a clean install with a default theme and no extra plugins. That test usually makes it very clear where the issue is.
If you can share one example of what’s breaking, we can take a closer look at that specifically.
Thread Starter
Robert
(@robg48)
Thank you both! Sorry for the delay Patrick, just seeing your response now. And I’d ended up incorporating a bit of a hybrid of both your answers in taking “Hello Elementor” as a fairly bare bones theme, and built a Docker/Wordpress sandbox for it, imported everything into the sandbox, and converted everything into elementor and then it was just a few tweaks and it worked out very well. Turns out issues were being caused by AI trying to make html/gutenberg/and kadence blocks do what I was asking – created a bit of wreck…lol
Hello @robg48
Glad to know that you found a solution that’s working for you.
Kind regaards,
Jair.
