Hi Jana! If you'll be keeping your starter out at room temperature, you'll always want to feed it twice a day. Once your starter is well established (predictable in its activity), you can start storing it in the fridge and taking it out once a week to feed it. The feedings will remain the same — equal parts flour, water and starter by weight. If you're using it in a recipe that is calling for fed or active starter, you'll want to see that the starter is just about double in size and is bubbly in appearance before using it the recipe. In recipes that are calling for unfed or discard starter, then you can just use the discard without feeding it — in these recipes, its main purpose will be to lend flavor to the baked good, not leaven it. You certainly can use whole wheat flour to get your starter going. Best of luck and if you have any questions while on your sourdough journey, please feel free to reach out to our Baker's Hotline folks! Morgan@KAF

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