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Template Files

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Template files are used throughout WordPress themes, but first let’s learn about the terminology.

Template Terminology Template Terminology

The term “template” is used in different ways when working with WordPress themes:

  • Templates files exist within a theme and express how your site is displayed.
  • Page Templates are those that apply only to pages to change their look and feel.  A page template can be applied to a single page, a page section, or a class of pages.
  • Template Tags are built-in WordPress functions you can use inside a template file to retrieve and display data (such as the_title() and the_content()).
  • Template Hierarchy is the logic WordPress uses to decide which theme template file(s) to use, depending on the content being requested.

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Template files Template files

WordPress themes are made up of template files. These are PHP files that contain a mixture of HTML, Template Tags, and PHP code.

When you are building your theme, you will use template files to affect the layout and design of different parts of your website. For example, you would use the header.php template to create a header, or the comments.php template to include comments.

When someone visits a page on your website, WordPress loads a template based on the request. The type of content that is displayed in by the template file is determined by the Post Type associated with the template file.  The Template Hierarchy describes which template file WordPress will load based on the type of request and whether the template exists in the theme. The server then parses the PHP in the template and returns HTML to the visitor.

The most critical template file is index.php, which is the catch-all template if a more-specific template can not be found in the template hierarchy. Although a theme only needs a index.php template, typically themes include numerous templates to display different content types and contexts.

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Template partials Template partials

A template partial is a piece of a template that is included as a part of another template, such as a site header. Template partials can be embedded in multiple templates, simplifying theme creation. Common template partials include:

  • header.php for generating the site’s header
  • footer.php for generating the footer
  • sidebar.php for generating the sidebar

While the above template files are special-case in WordPress and apply to just one portion of a page, you can create any number of template partials and include them in other template files.

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Common WordPress template files Common WordPress template files

Below is a list of some basic theme templates and files recognized by WordPress.

index.php
The main template file. It is required in all themes.
style.css
The main stylesheet. It is required in all themes and contains the information header for your theme.
rtl.css
The right-to-left stylesheet is included automatically if the website language’s text direction is right-to-left.
comments.php
The comments template.
front-page.php
The front page template is always used as the site front page if it exists, regardless of what settings on Admin > Settings > Reading.
home.php
The home page template is the front page by default. If you do not set WordPress to use a static front page, this template is used to show latest posts.
header.php
The header template file usually contains your site’s document type, meta information, links to stylesheets and scripts, and other data.
singular.php
The singular template is used for posts when single.php is not found, or for pages when page.php are not found. If singular.php is not found, index.php is used.

single.php
The single post template is used when a visitor requests a single post.
single-{post-type}.php
The single post template used when a visitor requests a single post from a custom post type. For example, single-book.php would be used for displaying single posts from a custom post type named book. The index.php is used if a specific query template for the custom post type is not present.
archive-{post-type}.php
The archive post type template is used when visitors request a custom post type archive. For example, archive-books.php would be used for displaying an archive of posts from the custom post type named books. The archive.php template file is used if the archive-{post-type}.php is not present.
page.php
The page template is used when visitors request individual pages, which are a built-in template.
page-{slug}.php
The page slug template is used when visitors request a specific page, for example one with the “about” slug (page-about.php).
category.php
The category template is used when visitors request posts by category.
tag.php
The tag template is used when visitors request posts by tag.
taxonomy.php
The taxonomy term template is used when a visitor requests a term in a custom taxonomy.
author.php
The author page template is used whenever a visitor loads an author page.
date.php
The date/time template is used when posts are requested by date or time. For example, the pages generated with these slugs:
http://example.com/blog/2014/
http://example.com/blog/2014/05/
http://example.com/blog/2014/05/26/
archive.php
The archive template is used when visitors request posts by category, author, or date. Note: this template will be overridden if more specific templates are present like category.php, author.php, and date.php.
search.php
The search results template is used to display a visitor’s search results.
attachment.php
The attachment template is used when viewing a single attachment like an image, pdf, or other media file.
image.php
The image attachment template is a more specific version of attachment.php and is used when viewing a single image attachment. If not present, WordPress will use attachment.php instead.
404.php
The 404 template is used when WordPress cannot find a post, page, or other content that matches the visitor’s request.

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Using template files Using template files

Within WordPress templates, you can use Template Tags to display information dynamically, include other template files, or otherwise customize your site.

For example, in your index.php you can include other files in your final generated page:

Here is an example of WordPress template tags to include specific templates into your page:

<?php get_sidebar(); ?>
<?php get_template_part( 'featured-content' ); ?>
<?php get_footer(); ?>

There’s an entire page on Template Tags that you can dive into to learn all about them.

Refer to the section Linking Theme Files & Directories for more information on linking component templates.