Getting a job board live on WordPress should not take a week of configuration. WP Career Board is built around a Setup Wizard that handles the page scaffolding for you, and four blocks that drop into your existing theme without any custom code. This guide walks you through the full process from a fresh plugin install to a live, publicly viewable job listing.
Before you start: what you need
- A WordPress site running version 6.0 or newer with the block editor (Gutenberg) active
- Admin access to the site
- The WP Career Board plugin zip (from WordPress.org or your Wbcom account if you have a Pro license or a Reign Theme bundle)
You do not need WooCommerce, BuddyPress, or any other plugin to complete this guide. Those integrations are optional and can be enabled later.
Step 1: Install and activate the plugin
- In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
- If you are installing from WordPress.org, search “WP Career Board” and click Install, then Activate.
- If you have a zip file, use Upload Plugin instead.
Once activated, a setup notice appears at the top of the Plugins screen. You can click that or go to Career Board > Setup Wizard from the admin menu.
Step 2: Run the Setup Wizard
The Setup Wizard creates four pages your job board needs and places the correct block on each one. It takes about two minutes to run.
The wizard creates:
| Page | Block placed | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs | Find Jobs | Displays the searchable job listing grid |
| Post a Job | Post a Job | The form employers use to submit listings |
| Employer Dashboard | Employer Dashboard | Where employers manage their listings + applicants |
| Candidate Dashboard | Candidate Dashboard | Where job seekers track their applications |
Accept the defaults on the first run. You can rename these pages or move them later without breaking anything - the plugin references them by block, not by URL.
The wizard also lets you set:
- Listing moderation - whether new job posts go live immediately or require admin approval before publishing. For a new board, require approval while you are establishing quality standards.
- Guest applications - whether job seekers need an account to apply. Allowing guest applications lowers the barrier for candidates but means you collect less structured data about applicants.
Click “Finish setup” and the wizard exits to a confirmation screen showing all four pages as published links.
Step 3: Verify the pages look right
Open the Jobs page from the front end. You should see the Find Jobs block with the search bar and filter controls. On a brand-new board this is empty, which is expected.
If the block is missing or shows an error, check that the Find Jobs block is actually present on the page by editing it in the block editor. The Setup Wizard places it automatically, but if a page-builder plugin or theme is intercepting page creation it can sometimes strip blocks from the initial page template.
Open the Post a Job page next. You should see a multi-field form with fields for job title, category, location, description, and job type at minimum.
Step 4: Post your first job listing
You can post a listing from two places: the frontend Post a Job form, or wp-admin under Career Board > Jobs > Add New. For testing, the admin route is faster.
Go to Career Board > Jobs > Add New and fill in:
- Job title - clear and specific (“Senior React Developer - Remote” is better than “Developer Needed”)
- Job description - use the block editor here; headings and bullet lists display well in the listing
- Job type - Full-time, Part-time, Freelance, Internship, or Temporary (all five ship in free)
- Location - include a city or mark it as Remote
- Category - choose from your existing job categories, or add one from the category field
- Application deadline - optional, but setting one activates the 3-day and 1-day reminder emails that go to candidates who saved the listing without applying
- Company information - name, logo, and short description. This populates the public company page linked from every listing.
If moderation is enabled, set the listing to Pending status and then approve it from the Jobs list view (hover the row and click Approve, or open the listing and change the status to Published). If you set moderation to auto-publish, simply publish the listing directly.
Step 5: Check the live listing
Visit the Jobs page from the front end. Your listing should appear in the grid. Click through to the single-listing page and verify:
- The company logo and description appear correctly
- The Apply button is visible and clickable
- The job type, location, and deadline display in the listing header
If the listing does not show up on the Jobs page, confirm the listing is Published (not Draft or Pending) and that the Find Jobs block on the Jobs page does not have a category filter pre-set that excludes your listing’s category.
Step 6: Submit a test application
Open the single listing in an incognito window (or log out) and submit an application using a test email address. You should receive a notification email at the admin email address.
Then log back in as admin, go to Career Board > Applications, and find your test application. The application shows:
- Applicant name and email
- Submitted resume file (if you attached one)
- The job it was submitted for
- Current status: Submitted
From this view you can manually move the status to Reviewing, Shortlisted, Rejected, or Hired. Each status change sends a templated notification email to the applicant automatically.
What you have at the end of this guide
After completing these six steps you have a working job board:
- Plugin installed and activated
- Setup Wizard completed - four pages created with the correct blocks
- Moderation preference set
- At least one live job listing published
- Test application submitted and visible in the admin
- Status-change email confirmed working
Common issues and quick fixes
The four pages were created but the blocks are missing. Edit each page and add the correct block manually: Find Jobs on the Jobs page, Post a Job on the Post a Job page, and the two dashboard blocks on their respective pages.
The employer or candidate dashboard shows a login prompt even when the user is logged in. Check that the page is not cached with the user logged out - clear any caching plugin’s cache and test again.
The company logo is blurry or not displaying. The plugin expects logos at 200x200 pixels minimum. If the uploaded image is smaller, re-upload a higher-resolution version from the Employer Dashboard.
Job listings are not appearing in search. By default the Find Jobs block shows all published listings. If you have category or location filters applied in the block settings (visible in the block editor sidebar), clear them or make sure the listing matches.
Next steps
With the basics working, the two areas most worth configuring next are search filters and email templates.
Search filters - keyword, location, job type, category, salary range, and remote policy - are active by default on the Find Jobs block. You can show or hide individual filters from the block settings panel in the editor. No code required.
Email templates for each application status change live under Career Board > Settings > Email. The defaults are functional, but updating them with your brand name and tone takes about ten minutes and makes a noticeable difference in how professional the board feels to applicants.
For a closer look at what employers and candidates can do once accounts are set up, see how the employer and candidate dashboards work in practice.