--- title: "Design a great agent starter site" url: "https://mycommunitysync.com/design-an-agent-starter-site" community: "CommunitySync" description: "What to put inside a starter so it clones into a personal site an agent can make their own in minutes — pages, placeholder copy, listings, navigation, and theme." updated: "2026-07-18T21:33:11.892+00:00" --- # Design a great agent starter site *Agent Websites* A starter site is the head start you give every agent. The better it's built, the less each agent has to do — they clone it, swap in their name and photo, and they're live. This guide is about *what to put in a starter*, not the mechanics of the editor (those are covered in the Website Builder guides, linked throughout). Open a starter by clicking **Edit** next to it in the **Starter sites for agents** section — see [Create a starter site for your agents](/create-an-agent-starter-site). ## How editing a starter differs You're in the same website editor you use for the community site, with two differences worth remembering: - The site is badged **Starter** in the top bar, and there's **no Publish or Go live button**. A starter never goes public — it's only ever cloned. You build it with **Save** and check it with the **Preview** (eye) button. - **Everything an agent clones is the draft you've saved.** When an agent clones the starter, they copy your saved draft — the theme, the navigation and footer, and every page. So there's no "publish the starter" step: whatever you Save is what agents get. Save often, and preview before you tell agents it's ready. ![A starter open in the website editor, badged Starter with no Publish button](https://iaktsmonietvbikzietg.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/site-assets/kb/as-starter-editor.png "A starter is badged 'Starter' and has no Publish button — build it with Save and Preview.") ## Build the pages a personal site needs Start from the shape of a real agent site. A solid solo-agent starter is usually four pages: 1. **Home** — a hero that introduces the agent, plus a few sections that build trust. 2. **About** — room for a bio, a photo, credentials. 3. **Listings** — the agent's properties (see below). 4. **Contact** — a lead form so buyers and sellers can reach them. Add these pages and arrange their blocks in the editor — see [Manage your website's pages](/manage-website-pages) and [Add and arrange blocks](/add-and-arrange-blocks). To repeat consistent sections across pages, [reuse a layout with page templates](/page-templates) as detached (non-CMS) copies. ## Write copy agents will personalize, not copy blindly The single most useful thing you can do is write the words as **ready-to-swap placeholders**. An agent should be able to find-and-replace their details and be done. ![The Solo Agent starter home page with a placeholder agent name and bio](https://iaktsmonietvbikzietg.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/site-assets/kb/as-solo-home.png "A well-built starter (the Solo Agent example) clones into a personal site an agent just personalizes — swap the name, photo, and bio.") - Use an obvious stand-in name and role — for example a **John Doe, real estate agent** placeholder — so it's clear what an agent needs to change. - Leave the agent's bio, headline, and contact details as short prompts, not finished prose about a specific person. - Point buttons at the right *pages* (Listings, Contact) even though the words are placeholder — the structure survives the clone, the copy gets rewritten. The goal: an agent who clones this should never have to *build* anything, only *edit*. ## Add the agent's listings Put a **Listings** block on the listings page (and a small selection on the home page if you like). Use the dynamic listings block so the page fills itself from your community's inventory — see [Show listings on your website](/listings-on-your-website). By default it shows your community's listings, which is a great preview. Once an agent clones the starter, they can narrow that same block to **their own** properties from their editor, so their personal site shows their inventory. You don't need to do anything special — just include the block. ## Set navigation, footer, theme, and brand These carry over to every cloned site, so set them once, well: - **Navigation and footer** — one nav and one footer for the whole site. Build them so the menu matches your pages. See [Set up site navigation](/set-up-site-navigation) and [Build your footer](/build-your-footer). - **Theme and style** — pick a theme and tune the type and spacing. See [Choose a theme](/choose-a-theme) and [Fine-tune your website's style](/fine-tune-website-style). - **Brand colors** — cloned sites inherit your community brand by default, and agents can override their own logo and photo later. Set sensible brand colors so the starter looks finished out of the box. See [Set your site's brand colors](/set-your-site-brand-colors). - **Images** — use real, well-cropped photography; upload it into the site so it travels with the clone. See [Manage website images](/manage-website-images). ## What to leave out - **CMS collections and blogs.** Agents don't get the content-management surface on their personal sites, so a starter built around a blog or a CMS collection won't clone into something they can maintain. Keep starters to standard pages and blocks. - **Anything community-specific an agent shouldn't inherit.** Remember every word and image becomes the agent's until they change it — don't leave in copy that only makes sense for the office as a whole. ## Preview before you hand it over Click the **Preview** (eye) button in the editor to see the real, responsive output. Agents also get a **Live demo** link on the starter's picker card that opens this same preview — so a rough starter is a rough first impression. Walk every page at desktop and mobile widths before you announce it. ## Troubleshooting ### There's no Publish button in the editor That's expected for a starter. Starters are never published — they're clone sources. Use **Save**; whatever you save is what agents clone. The Publish and Go live buttons only appear on real (public) sites. ### My listings block is empty in the preview The block shows your community's listings. If your community has no published listings yet, it renders empty — add inventory, or accept that agents will populate it with their own after cloning. See [Show listings on your website](/listings-on-your-website). ### I changed the starter but an agent's site didn't update That's by design. A clone is independent — your later edits to the starter reach only *new* clones, not sites an agent already created. See [Manage your agent starter sites](/manage-agent-starter-sites). ### Agent Websites - [Create a starter site for your agents](https://mycommunitysync.com/create-an-agent-starter-site.md) - [Manage your agent starter sites](https://mycommunitysync.com/manage-agent-starter-sites.md) - [How agents build sites from your starters](https://mycommunitysync.com/how-agents-use-your-starter-sites.md) - [Agent starter sites, explained](https://mycommunitysync.com/agent-starter-sites-overview.md)