diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cmd/init.js b/packages/cli/src/cmd/init.js
index 068f62ee69..9b68980ede 100755
--- a/packages/cli/src/cmd/init.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cmd/init.js
@@ -2,11 +2,10 @@ const fs = require('fs-extra');
 const path = require('path');
 
 const { Template } = require('@markbind/core');
-const { Site } = require('@markbind/core').Site;
 
 const logger = require('../util/logger');
 
-function init(root, options) {
+async function init(root, options) {
   const rootFolder = path.resolve(root || process.cwd());
 
   if (options.convert) {
@@ -17,28 +16,25 @@ function init(root, options) {
   }
 
   const template = new Template(rootFolder, options.template);
-  template.init()
-    .then(() => {
-      logger.info('Initialization success.');
-    })
-    .then(() => {
-      if (options.convert) {
-        logger.info('Converting to MarkBind website.');
-        const outputRoot = path.join(rootFolder, '_site');
-        new Site(rootFolder, outputRoot).convert()
-          .then(() => {
-            logger.info('Conversion success.');
-          })
-          .catch((error) => {
-            logger.error(error.message);
-            process.exitCode = 1;
-          });
-      }
-    })
-    .catch((error) => {
-      logger.error(`Failed to initialize site with given template with error: ${error.message}`);
+
+  try {
+    await template.init();
+    logger.info('Initialization success.');
+  } catch (error) {
+    logger.error(`Failed to initialize site with given template with error: ${error.message}`);
+    process.exitCode = 1;
+  }
+
+  if (options.convert) {
+    logger.info('Converting to MarkBind website.');
+    try {
+      await template.convert();
+      logger.info('Conversion success.');
+    } catch (error) {
+      logger.error(error.message);
       process.exitCode = 1;
-    });
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 module.exports = {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/Site/SiteConfig.ts b/packages/core/src/Site/SiteConfig.ts
index 6815adb2ac..f7a4bcb60a 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/Site/SiteConfig.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/Site/SiteConfig.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import path from 'path';
 import { FrontMatter } from '../plugins/Plugin';
 
 const HEADING_INDEXING_LEVEL_DEFAULT = 3;
@@ -99,4 +101,25 @@ export class SiteConfig {
     this.plantumlCheck = siteConfigJson.plantumlCheck !== undefined
       ? siteConfigJson.plantumlCheck : true; // check PlantUML's prerequisite by default
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Read and returns the site config from site.json, overwrites the default base URL
+   * if it's specified by the user.
+   *
+   * @param rootPath The absolute path to the site folder
+   * @param siteConfigPath The relative path to the siteConfig
+   * @param baseUrl user defined base URL (if exists)
+   */
+  static async readSiteConfig(rootPath: string, siteConfigPath: string, baseUrl?: string): Promise<any> {
+    try {
+      const absoluteSiteConfigPath = path.join(rootPath, siteConfigPath);
+      const siteConfigJson = fs.readJsonSync(absoluteSiteConfigPath);
+      const siteConfig = new SiteConfig(siteConfigJson, baseUrl);
+
+      return siteConfig;
+    } catch (err) {
+      throw (new Error(`Failed to read the site config file '${siteConfigPath}' at`
+        + `${rootPath}:\n${(err as Error).message}\nPlease ensure the file exist or is valid`));
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/Site/constants.ts b/packages/core/src/Site/constants.ts
index f5ae87a6ad..f9d7d7eaa3 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/Site/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/Site/constants.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,32 @@
+import difference from 'lodash/difference';
+import differenceWith from 'lodash/differenceWith';
+import flatMap from 'lodash/flatMap';
+import has from 'lodash/has';
+import isBoolean from 'lodash/isBoolean';
+import isEmpty from 'lodash/isEmpty';
+import isEqual from 'lodash/isEqual';
+import isUndefined from 'lodash/isUndefined';
+import noop from 'lodash/noop';
+import omitBy from 'lodash/omitBy';
+import startCase from 'lodash/startCase';
+import union from 'lodash/union';
+import uniq from 'lodash/uniq';
+
 export const INDEX_MARKDOWN_FILE = 'index.md';
 export const SITE_CONFIG_NAME = 'site.json';
 export const LAZY_LOADING_SITE_FILE_NAME = 'LazyLiveReloadLoadingSite.html';
+export const _ = {
+  difference,
+  differenceWith,
+  flatMap,
+  has,
+  isUndefined,
+  isEqual,
+  isEmpty,
+  isBoolean,
+  noop,
+  omitBy,
+  startCase,
+  union,
+  uniq,
+};
diff --git a/packages/core/src/Site/index.ts b/packages/core/src/Site/index.ts
index 02105a2a6e..5609d16ce7 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/Site/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/Site/index.ts
@@ -6,19 +6,6 @@ import walkSync from 'walk-sync';
 import simpleGit, { SimpleGit } from 'simple-git';
 import Bluebird from 'bluebird';
 import ghpages from 'gh-pages';
-import difference from 'lodash/difference';
-import differenceWith from 'lodash/differenceWith';
-import flatMap from 'lodash/flatMap';
-import has from 'lodash/has';
-import isBoolean from 'lodash/isBoolean';
-import isEmpty from 'lodash/isEmpty';
-import isEqual from 'lodash/isEqual';
-import isUndefined from 'lodash/isUndefined';
-import noop from 'lodash/noop';
-import omitBy from 'lodash/omitBy';
-import startCase from 'lodash/startCase';
-import union from 'lodash/union';
-import uniq from 'lodash/uniq';
 
 import { Template as NunjucksTemplate } from 'nunjucks';
 import { SiteConfig, SiteConfigPage, SiteConfigStyle } from './SiteConfig';
@@ -35,29 +22,13 @@ import { delay } from '../utils/delay';
 import * as fsUtil from '../utils/fsUtil';
 import * as gitUtil from '../utils/git';
 import * as logger from '../utils/logger';
-import { SITE_CONFIG_NAME, INDEX_MARKDOWN_FILE, LAZY_LOADING_SITE_FILE_NAME } from './constants';
+import { SITE_CONFIG_NAME, LAZY_LOADING_SITE_FILE_NAME, _ } from './constants';
 
 // Change when they are migrated to TypeScript
 const ProgressBar = require('../lib/progress');
-const { LayoutManager, LAYOUT_DEFAULT_NAME, LAYOUT_FOLDER_PATH } = require('../Layout');
+const { LayoutManager } = require('../Layout');
 require('../patches/htmlparser2');
 
-const _ = {
-  difference,
-  differenceWith,
-  flatMap,
-  has,
-  isUndefined,
-  isEqual,
-  isEmpty,
-  isBoolean,
-  noop,
-  omitBy,
-  startCase,
-  union,
-  uniq,
-};
-
 const url = {
   join: path.posix.join,
 };
@@ -70,16 +41,12 @@ const TEMP_FOLDER_NAME = '.temp';
 const TEMPLATE_SITE_ASSET_FOLDER_NAME = 'markbind';
 const LAYOUT_SITE_FOLDER_NAME = 'layouts';
 
-const ABOUT_MARKDOWN_FILE = 'about.md';
 const FAVICON_DEFAULT_PATH = 'favicon.ico';
 const USER_VARIABLES_PATH = '_markbind/variables.md';
 
 const PAGE_TEMPLATE_NAME = 'page.njk';
 const SITE_DATA_NAME = 'siteData.json';
 
-const WIKI_SITE_NAV_PATH = '_Sidebar.md';
-const WIKI_FOOTER_PATH = '_Footer.md';
-
 const MAX_CONCURRENT_PAGE_GENERATION_PROMISES = 4;
 
 const LAZY_LOADING_BUILD_TIME_RECOMMENDATION_LIMIT = 30000;
@@ -114,9 +81,6 @@ const HIGHLIGHT_ASSETS = {
   light: 'codeblock-light.min.css',
 };
 
-const ABOUT_MARKDOWN_DEFAULT = '# About\n'
-  + 'Welcome to your **About Us** page.\n';
-
 const MARKBIND_WEBSITE_URL = 'https://markbind.org/';
 const MARKBIND_LINK_HTML = `<a href='${MARKBIND_WEBSITE_URL}'>MarkBind ${MARKBIND_VERSION}</a>`;
 
@@ -301,17 +265,9 @@ export class Site {
    * if it's specified by the user.
    * @param baseUrl user defined base URL (if exists)
    */
-  async readSiteConfig(baseUrl?: string): Promise<any> {
-    try {
-      const siteConfigPath = path.join(this.rootPath, this.siteConfigPath);
-      const siteConfigJson = fs.readJsonSync(siteConfigPath);
-      this.siteConfig = new SiteConfig(siteConfigJson, baseUrl);
-
-      return this.siteConfig;
-    } catch (err) {
-      throw (new Error(`Failed to read the site config file '${this.siteConfigPath}' at`
-        + `${this.rootPath}:\n${(err as Error).message}\nPlease ensure the file exist or is valid`));
-    }
+  async readSiteConfig(baseUrl?: string) {
+    this.siteConfig = await SiteConfig.readSiteConfig(this.rootPath, this.siteConfigPath, baseUrl);
+    return this.siteConfig;
   }
 
   listAssets(fileIgnore: Ignore) {
@@ -375,120 +331,6 @@ export class Site {
     return new Page(pageConfig, this.siteConfig);
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Converts an existing GitHub wiki or docs folder to a MarkBind website.
-   */
-  async convert() {
-    await this.readSiteConfig();
-    this.collectAddressablePages();
-    await this.addIndexPage();
-    await this.addAboutPage();
-    this.addDefaultLayoutFiles();
-    await this.addDefaultLayoutToSiteConfig();
-    Site.printBaseUrlMessage();
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Copies over README.md or Home.md to default index.md if present.
-   */
-  async addIndexPage() {
-    const indexPagePath = path.join(this.rootPath, INDEX_MARKDOWN_FILE);
-    const fileNames = ['README.md', 'Home.md'];
-    const filePath = fileNames.find(fileName => fs.existsSync(path.join(this.rootPath, fileName)));
-    // if none of the files exist, do nothing
-    if (_.isUndefined(filePath)) return;
-    try {
-      await fs.copy(path.join(this.rootPath, filePath), indexPagePath);
-    } catch (error) {
-      throw new Error(`Failed to copy over ${filePath}`);
-    }
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Adds an about page to site if not present.
-   */
-  async addAboutPage() {
-    const aboutPath = path.join(this.rootPath, ABOUT_MARKDOWN_FILE);
-    try {
-      await fs.access(aboutPath);
-    } catch (error) {
-      if (fs.existsSync(aboutPath)) {
-        return;
-      }
-      await fs.outputFile(aboutPath, ABOUT_MARKDOWN_DEFAULT);
-    }
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Adds a footer to default layout of site.
-   */
-  addDefaultLayoutFiles() {
-    const wikiFooterPath = path.join(this.rootPath, WIKI_FOOTER_PATH);
-    let footer;
-    if (fs.existsSync(wikiFooterPath)) {
-      logger.info(`Copied over the existing ${WIKI_FOOTER_PATH} file to the converted layout`);
-      footer = `\n${fs.readFileSync(wikiFooterPath, 'utf8')}`;
-    }
-
-    const wikiSiteNavPath = path.join(this.rootPath, WIKI_SITE_NAV_PATH);
-    let siteNav;
-    if (fs.existsSync(wikiSiteNavPath)) {
-      logger.info(`Copied over the existing ${WIKI_SITE_NAV_PATH} file to the converted layout\n`
-        + 'Check https://markbind.org/userGuide/tweakingThePageStructure.html#site-navigation-menus\n'
-        + 'for information on site navigation menus.');
-      siteNav = fs.readFileSync(wikiSiteNavPath, 'utf8');
-    } else {
-      siteNav = this.buildSiteNav();
-    }
-
-    const convertedLayoutTemplate = VariableRenderer.compile(
-      fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'siteConvertLayout.njk'), 'utf8'));
-    const renderedLayout = convertedLayoutTemplate.render({
-      footer,
-      siteNav,
-    });
-    const layoutOutputPath = path.join(this.rootPath, LAYOUT_FOLDER_PATH, LAYOUT_DEFAULT_NAME);
-
-    fs.writeFileSync(layoutOutputPath, renderedLayout, 'utf-8');
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Builds a site navigation file from the directory structure of the site.
-   */
-  buildSiteNav() {
-    let siteNavContent = '';
-    this.addressablePages
-      .filter(addressablePage => !addressablePage.src.startsWith('_'))
-      .forEach((page) => {
-        const addressablePagePath = path.join(this.rootPath, page.src);
-        const relativePagePathWithoutExt = fsUtil.removeExtensionPosix(
-          path.relative(this.rootPath, addressablePagePath));
-        const pageName = _.startCase(fsUtil.removeExtension(path.basename(addressablePagePath)));
-        const pageUrl = `{{ baseUrl }}/${relativePagePathWithoutExt}.html`;
-        siteNavContent += `* [${pageName}](${pageUrl})\n`;
-      });
-
-    return siteNavContent.trimEnd();
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Applies the default layout to all addressable pages by modifying the site config file.
-   */
-  async addDefaultLayoutToSiteConfig() {
-    const configPath = path.join(this.rootPath, SITE_CONFIG_NAME);
-    const config = await fs.readJson(configPath);
-    await Site.writeToSiteConfig(config, configPath);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Helper function for addDefaultLayoutToSiteConfig().
-   */
-  static async writeToSiteConfig(config: SiteConfig, configPath: string) {
-    const layoutObj: SiteConfigPage = { glob: '**/*.md', layout: LAYOUT_DEFAULT_NAME };
-    config.pages.push(layoutObj);
-    await fs.outputJson(configPath, config);
-  }
-
   static printBaseUrlMessage() {
     logger.info('The default base URL of your site is set to /\n'
       + 'You can change the base URL of your site by editing site.json\n'
diff --git a/packages/core/src/Site/template.ts b/packages/core/src/Site/template.ts
index f2c8a308d3..0d2bb6a2cc 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/Site/template.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/Site/template.ts
@@ -1,24 +1,46 @@
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import path from 'path';
+import walkSync from 'walk-sync';
 import * as fsUtil from '../utils/fsUtil';
+import { INDEX_MARKDOWN_FILE, SITE_CONFIG_NAME, _ } from './constants';
+import { SiteConfig, SiteConfigPage } from './SiteConfig';
+import { VariableRenderer } from '../variables/VariableRenderer';
+import * as logger from '../utils/logger';
+
+const { LAYOUT_DEFAULT_NAME, LAYOUT_FOLDER_PATH } = require('../Layout');
 
 const requiredFiles = ['index.md', 'site.json', '_markbind/'];
 
 const PATH_TO_TEMPLATE = '../../template';
+const ABOUT_MARKDOWN_FILE = 'about.md';
+const ABOUT_MARKDOWN_DEFAULT = '# About\n'
+  + 'Welcome to your **About Us** page.\n';
+const CONFIG_FOLDER_NAME = '_markbind';
+const SITE_FOLDER_NAME = '_site';
+const WIKI_SITE_NAV_PATH = '_Sidebar.md';
+const WIKI_FOOTER_PATH = '_Footer.md';
+
+type NaviagablePage = {
+  src: string,
+  title?: string,
+};
 
 export class Template {
-  root: string;
-  template: string;
+  rootPath: string;
+  templatePath: string;
+  siteConfig!: SiteConfig;
+  siteConfigPath: string = SITE_CONFIG_NAME;
+  navigablePages!: NaviagablePage[];
 
   constructor(rootPath: string, templatePath: string) {
-    this.root = rootPath;
-    this.template = path.join(__dirname, PATH_TO_TEMPLATE, templatePath);
+    this.rootPath = rootPath;
+    this.templatePath = path.join(__dirname, PATH_TO_TEMPLATE, templatePath);
   }
 
   validateTemplateFromPath() {
     for (let i = 0; i < requiredFiles.length; i += 1) {
       const requiredFile = requiredFiles[i];
-      const requiredFilePath = path.join(this.template, requiredFile);
+      const requiredFilePath = path.join(this.templatePath, requiredFile);
 
       if (!fs.existsSync(requiredFilePath)) {
         return false;
@@ -30,9 +52,9 @@ export class Template {
 
   generateSiteWithTemplate() {
     return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-      fs.access(this.root)
-        .catch(() => fs.mkdirSync(this.root))
-        .then(() => fsUtil.copySyncWithOptions(this.template, this.root, { overwrite: false }))
+      fs.access(this.rootPath)
+        .catch(() => fs.mkdirSync(this.rootPath))
+        .then(() => fsUtil.copySyncWithOptions(this.templatePath, this.rootPath, { overwrite: false }))
         .then(resolve)
         .catch(reject);
     });
@@ -53,4 +75,145 @@ export class Template {
         .catch(reject);
     });
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Converts an existing GitHub wiki or docs folder to a MarkBind website.
+   */
+  async convert() {
+    this.siteConfig = await SiteConfig.readSiteConfig(this.rootPath, this.siteConfigPath);
+    this.collectNavigablePages();
+    await this.addIndexPage();
+    await this.addAboutPage();
+    this.addDefaultLayoutFiles();
+    await this.addDefaultLayoutToSiteConfig();
+  }
+
+  getPageGlobPaths(page: SiteConfigPage, pagesExclude: string[]) {
+    const pageGlobs = page.glob ?? [];
+    return walkSync(this.rootPath, {
+      directories: false,
+      globs: Array.isArray(pageGlobs) ? pageGlobs : [pageGlobs],
+      ignore: [
+        CONFIG_FOLDER_NAME,
+        SITE_FOLDER_NAME,
+        ...pagesExclude.concat(page.globExclude || []),
+      ],
+    });
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Collects the paths to be traversed as navigable pages
+   */
+  collectNavigablePages() {
+    const { pages, pagesExclude } = this.siteConfig;
+    const pagesFromGlobs = _.flatMap(pages.filter(page => page.glob),
+                                     page => this.getPageGlobPaths(page, pagesExclude)
+                                       .map(filePath => ({
+                                         src: filePath,
+                                         title: page.title,
+                                       }))) as NaviagablePage[];
+
+    this.navigablePages = pagesFromGlobs;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Copies over README.md or Home.md to default index.md if present.
+   */
+  async addIndexPage() {
+    const indexPagePath = path.join(this.rootPath, INDEX_MARKDOWN_FILE);
+    const fileNames = ['README.md', 'Home.md'];
+    const filePath = fileNames.find(fileName => fs.existsSync(path.join(this.rootPath, fileName)));
+    // if none of the files exist, do nothing
+    if (_.isUndefined(filePath)) return;
+    try {
+      await fs.copy(path.join(this.rootPath, filePath), indexPagePath);
+    } catch (error) {
+      throw new Error(`Failed to copy over ${filePath}`);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Adds an about page to site if not present.
+   */
+  async addAboutPage() {
+    const aboutPath = path.join(this.rootPath, ABOUT_MARKDOWN_FILE);
+    try {
+      await fs.access(aboutPath);
+    } catch (error) {
+      if (fs.existsSync(aboutPath)) {
+        return;
+      }
+      await fs.outputFile(aboutPath, ABOUT_MARKDOWN_DEFAULT);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Adds a footer to default layout of site.
+   */
+  addDefaultLayoutFiles() {
+    const wikiFooterPath = path.join(this.rootPath, WIKI_FOOTER_PATH);
+    let footer;
+    if (fs.existsSync(wikiFooterPath)) {
+      logger.info(`Copied over the existing ${WIKI_FOOTER_PATH} file to the converted layout`);
+      footer = `\n${fs.readFileSync(wikiFooterPath, 'utf8')}`;
+    }
+
+    const wikiSiteNavPath = path.join(this.rootPath, WIKI_SITE_NAV_PATH);
+    let siteNav;
+    if (fs.existsSync(wikiSiteNavPath)) {
+      logger.info(`Copied over the existing ${WIKI_SITE_NAV_PATH} file to the converted layout\n`
+        + 'Check https://markbind.org/userGuide/tweakingThePageStructure.html#site-navigation-menus\n'
+        + 'for information on site navigation menus.');
+      siteNav = fs.readFileSync(wikiSiteNavPath, 'utf8');
+    } else {
+      siteNav = this.buildSiteNav();
+    }
+
+    const convertedLayoutTemplate = VariableRenderer.compile(
+      fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'siteConvertLayout.njk'), 'utf8'));
+    const renderedLayout = convertedLayoutTemplate.render({
+      footer,
+      siteNav,
+    });
+    const layoutOutputPath = path.join(this.rootPath, LAYOUT_FOLDER_PATH, LAYOUT_DEFAULT_NAME);
+
+    fs.writeFileSync(layoutOutputPath, renderedLayout, 'utf-8');
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Builds a site navigation file from the directory structure of the site.
+   */
+  buildSiteNav() {
+    let siteNavContent = '';
+    this.navigablePages
+      .filter(navigablePage => !navigablePage.src.startsWith('_'))
+      .forEach((page) => {
+        const navigablePagePath = path.join(this.rootPath, page.src);
+        const relativePagePathWithoutExt = fsUtil.removeExtensionPosix(
+          path.relative(this.rootPath, navigablePagePath));
+        const pageName = _.startCase(fsUtil.removeExtension(path.basename(navigablePagePath)));
+        const pageUrl = `{{ baseUrl }}/${relativePagePathWithoutExt}.html`;
+        siteNavContent += `* [${pageName}](${pageUrl})\n`;
+      });
+
+    return siteNavContent.trimEnd();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Applies the default layout to all addressable pages by modifying the site config file.
+   */
+  async addDefaultLayoutToSiteConfig() {
+    const configPath = path.join(this.rootPath, SITE_CONFIG_NAME);
+    const config = await fs.readJson(configPath);
+    await Template.writeToSiteConfig(config, configPath);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Helper function for addDefaultLayoutToSiteConfig().
+   */
+  static async writeToSiteConfig(config: SiteConfig, configPath: string) {
+    const layoutObj: SiteConfigPage = { glob: '**/*.md', layout: LAYOUT_DEFAULT_NAME };
+    config.pages.push(layoutObj);
+    await fs.outputJson(configPath, config);
+  }
 }