WordPress template hierarchy (visual overview):
Home Page Display:
By default, WordPress sets your site’s home page to display your latest blog posts. This page is called the blog posts index. You can also set your blog posts to display on a separate static page.
- home.php: Used to render the blog posts index, whether it is being used as the front page or on a separate static page. If home.php does not exist, WordPress will use index.php.
- index.php: Default fallback for rendering the blog posts index.
- front-page.php: Overrides home.php if exists.
Front Page Display:
The front-page.php template file is used to render your site’s front page, whether it displays the blog posts index or a static page.
- front-page.php: Renders the front page, taking precedence over the blog posts index template.
- home.php: Used if front-page.php does not exist and the front page displays the blog posts index.
- page.php: Used when the front page is set as a static page.
Privacy Policy Page Display:
The privacy-policy.php template file is used to render your site’s Privacy Policy page.
- privacy-policy.php: Renders the Privacy Policy page, taking precedence over other static page templates.
- custom template file: Page template assigned to the Privacy Policy page.
Single Post Display:
The single post template file is used to render a single post.
- single-{post-type}-{slug}.php
- single-{post-type}.php
- single.php
- singular.php
- index.php
Single Page Display:
The template file used to render a static page (page post-type).
- custom template file
- page-{slug}.php
- page-{id}.php
- page.php
- singular.php
- index.php
Category Display:
Rendering category archive index pages.
- category-{slug}.php
- category-{id}.php
- category.php
- archive.php
- index.php
Tag Display:
To display a tag archive index page.
- tag-{slug}.php
- tag-{id}.php
- tag.php
- archive.php
- index.php
Custom Taxonomies Display:
Custom taxonomies use a slightly different template file path.
- taxonomy-{taxonomy}-{term}.php
- taxonomy-{taxonomy}.php
- taxonomy.php
- archive.php
- index.php
Custom Post Types Display:
Custom Post Types use the following path to render the appropriate archive index page.
- archive-{post_type}.php
- archive.php
- index.php
Author Display:
Rendering author archive index pages.
- author-{nicename}.php
- author-{id}.php
- author.php
- archive.php
- index.php
Date Display:
Date-based archive index pages.
- date.php
- archive.php
- index.php
Search Result Display:
Search results follow the same pattern as other template types.
- search.php
- index.php
404 (Not Found) Display:
404 template files are called in this order.
- 404.php
- index.php
Attachment Display:
Rendering an attachment page.
- {MIME-type}.php
- single-attachment-{slug}.php
- single-attachment.php
- single.php
- singular.php
- index.php
Embeds Display:
The embed template file is used to render a post which is being embedded.
- embed-{post-type}-{post_format}.php
- embed-{post-type}.php
- embed.php
- wp-includes/theme-compat/embed.php
Non-ASCII Character Handling:
Since WordPress 4.7, any dynamic part of a template name which includes non-ASCII characters in its name supports both the un-encoded and the encoded form.
Filter Hierarchy:
The WordPress template system lets you filter the hierarchy.
Common Theme Functions
- wp_head(): This function is used to output crucial information for the head section of your theme, such as stylesheets, scripts, and meta tags. It’s typically called within the
<head>section of your theme’s header.php file.
<?php wp_head(); ?>- wp_footer(): Similar to wp_head(), this function outputs essential scripts and markup for the footer section of your theme. It’s usually called just before the closing
</body>tag in your theme’s footer.php file.
<?php wp_footer(); ?>- get_header(): This function fetches the header.php template file of your theme. It’s commonly used to include the header section in other template files, like index.php, single.php, etc.
<?php get_header(); ?>- get_footer(): Similar to get_header(), this function includes the footer.php template file of your theme into other template files.
<?php get_footer(); ?>- get_sidebar(): This function fetches the sidebar.php template file of your theme. It’s used to include a sidebar section in other template files.
<?php get_sidebar(); ?>- body_class(): This function adds classes to the
<body>tag based on the current page, post, or category being viewed. It’s typically used in the body tag of your theme’s header.php file.
<body <?php body_class(); ?>>- post_class(): Similar to body_class(), this function adds classes to the post div based on the current post being displayed. It’s usually used within the loop in template files like single.php and index.php.
<div id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class(); ?>>- the_post_thumbnail(): This function displays the featured image (post thumbnail) of the current post within the loop. It’s commonly used in template files like single.php and archive.php.
<?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?>- the_content(): This function outputs the content of the current post within the loop. It’s used to display the main content of a post or page.
<?php the_content(); ?>- the_title(): Similar to the_content(), this function outputs the title of the current post or page within the loop.
<?php the_title(); ?>
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