Template Files

Templates are PHP source files used to generate the pages requested by visitors, and are output as HTML. Template files are made up of HTML, PHP, and WordPress Template Tags.

Let’s look at the various templates that can be defined as part of a Theme.

WordPress allows you to define separate templates for the various aspects of your site. It is not essential, however, to have all these different template files for your site to fully function. Templates are chosen and generated based upon the Template Hierarchy, depending upon what templates are available in a particular Theme.

As a Theme developer, you can choose the amount of customization you want to implement using templates. For example, as an extreme case, you can use only one template file, called index.php as the template for all pages generated and displayed by the site. A more common use is to have different template files generate different results, to allow maximum customization.

Security Note: Consider blocking direct access to your theme PHP files by adding the following line at the top of them, or be sure to refrain from executing sensitive standalone PHP code before calling any WordPress functions.