The Classic WordPress Template Hierarchy — The Map Behind Every Them

The Classic WordPress Template Hierarchy — Explained Like a Map

When you open a page on a WordPress site, you might think the system just “loads the right file.”
But behind the scenes, something much more elegant happens — a logical treasure…


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Muhammad Medhat

The Classic WordPress Template Hierarchy — Explained Like a Map

When you open a page on a WordPress site, you might think the system just “loads the right file.”
But behind the scenes, something much more elegant happens — a logical treasure hunt called the Template Hierarchy.

This hierarchy is the backbone of every classic (PHP-based) WordPress theme. It determines which template file WordPress will use to display a certain type of content — from a blog post to a category archive, to that friendly (or not so friendly) 404 page.

Let’s take a walk through that map — step by step — and see how WordPress decides what to load.

What Is the Template Hierarchy?

When a visitor requests a page, WordPress does three things:

  1. Queries the database to determine what’s being requested (a post, a category, a page, etc.).
  2. Builds a prioritized list of possible template files based on that type of request.
  3. Loads the first template file that exists in your active theme directory.

If nothing more specific is found, WordPress gracefully falls back to the ultimate safety net: index.php.

Think of it as WordPress saying:

“Do we have something specific for this? No? Okay, something more general? Still no? Alright then, use index.php and show something!”

That’s the beauty of the system — it never breaks, it just gets simpler.

1. Front Page and Home

Your homepage behavior depends on what you’ve set in Settings → Reading:

If “Your latest posts” is selected:

  1. home.php
  2. index.php

If “A static page” is selected:

  1. front-page.php
  2. If a page is assigned as “Posts Page”: home.php
  3. Fallback: index.php

In short:

  • front-page.php → Always highest priority for the site front page.
  • home.php → The blog posts listing.
  • index.php → The safety net.

📘 Reference – Front Page Display

2. Single Posts and Custom Post Types

Whenever you open a single post, WordPress looks for templates in this order:

  1. single-{post_type}-{slug}.php
  2. single-{post_type}.php
  3. single.php
  4. singular.php
  5. index.php

Example:
If you have a custom post type called movie and the post slug is inception, WordPress will try:

single-movie-inception.php
→ single-movie.php
→ single.php
→ singular.php
→ index.php

📘 Reference – Single Post Templates

3. Pages (Static Pages)

Pages have their own neat system because they can use custom templates.

Order of lookup:

  1. Template selected in the Page Editor (Template Name: in file header)
  2. page-{slug}.php
  3. page-{id}.php
  4. page.php
  5. singular.php
  6. index.php

Example: for a page titled About Us, with slug about, the chain might look like:

page-about.php
→ page-42.php
→ page.php
→ singular.php
→ index.php

📘 Reference – Page Templates

4. Archives: Categories, Tags, Custom Taxonomies

Category Archive

When browsing a category archive (like /category/news):

  1. category-{slug}.php
  2. category-{id}.php
  3. category.php
  4. archive.php
  5. index.php

Tag Archive

For tags, it’s similar:

  1. tag-{slug}.php
  2. tag-{id}.php
  3. tag.php
  4. archive.php
  5. index.php

Custom Taxonomies

If you’ve registered a custom taxonomy (say genre for books):

  1. taxonomy-{taxonomy}-{term}.php
  2. taxonomy-{taxonomy}.php
  3. taxonomy.php
  4. archive.php
  5. index.php

📘 Reference – Category, Tag & Taxonomy Templates

5. Author, Date, and Other Archives

Author Archives 

author-{nicename}.php
→ author-{id}.php
→ author.php
→ archive.php
→ index.php

Date Archives 

date.php
→ archive.php
→ index.php

Other archives (post type archives, search results, etc.) follow a similar pattern.

📘 Reference – Author and Date Archives

6. Search and 404 Templates

Search Results 

search.php
→ index.php

404 (Not Found) 

404.php
→ index.php

A well-designed 404.php can turn a dead-end into a friendly nudge — or even a chance to show helpful links or your site map.

📘 Reference – Special Templates

7. Attachments and Comments

  • Attachments (media items)

    • attachment-{mime_type}.php
    • attachment.php
    • single-attachment.php
    • single.php
    • index.php

  • Comments Template

    • comments.php is included inside your templates via comments_template().

📘 Reference – Attachments

8. Child Themes and Overrides

When using a child theme, the lookup happens twice — once in the child, then in the parent:

  1. WordPress first checks the child theme for the requested file.
  2. If it doesn’t exist there, it falls back to the parent theme.

Example:

/wp-content/themes/my-child-theme/single.php
→ /wp-content/themes/my-parent-theme/single.php
→ index.php

That’s why child themes are the perfect way to modify templates safely — without breaking or overwriting parent theme updates.

📘 Reference – Child Themes

9. Why This Hierarchy Is Brilliant

The hierarchy makes WordPress:

  • Predictable — You always know where to put your custom template.
  • Flexible — You can override only what you need.
  • Fail-safe — It always falls back to index.php.
  • Readable — Anyone who understands the hierarchy can quickly read a theme’s structure.

It’s like a well-thought-out decision tree that keeps WordPress adaptable without chaos.

Conclusion

The WordPress Template Hierarchy is not just a technical system — it’s design philosophy in code form.
It rewards organization, clarity, and foresight. Once you understand it, you gain full control over how every pixel of your site is displayed.

In the next article, we’ll explore how this hierarchy evolves in the Block Theme / Full Site Editing (FSE) era — and what remains timeless.

References


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Muhammad Medhat


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