Let’s say that you want to create a new WordPress page which its layout does not look like any post/page template and you’re thinking how to create a custom page template for WordPress. This article will help you know how to do that.
As you know, the files defining each Page Template are found in your Themes directory. To create a new Custom Page Template for a Page you must create a file. Go to the directory where you installed WordPress then go to the theme directory. It usually looks like this: “/wp-content/themes/twentyten/” where “twentyten” is your current theme name.
You need to create a new file or duplicate the page.php file there. Let’s call our new Page Template for the custom Page “page-without-sidebar.php”. At the top of the page-without-sidebar.php, put the following:
<?php /* Template Name: Page No Sidebar */ ?> |
The above code defines this page-without-sidebar.php file as the “Page No Sidebar” Template and the Template Name: Page No Sidebar is the name that will show up in the Template drop down list when you create/edit a page.
In the custom page, we don’t need the sidebar, so next step you need to include the header and footer and add some HTML as your design.
An example of a new custom Page
<?php /* Template Name: Page No Sidebar */ ?> <?php get_header(); ?> <div id="container"> <div id="content" role="main"> <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam sapien tellus, viverra vitae sollicitudin sed, tincidunt et elit. Vestibulum volutpat metus ac risus porta eu ultricies tellus pretium. Vestibulum ante nisi, interdum sed varius in, mattis vel nisl. Integer venenatis eros et dolor sollicitudin tincidunt. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam venenatis interdum felis, ac placerat leo pharetra sed. Cras ullamcorper feugiat sapien sodales commodo. Fusce nisi libero, hendrerit rhoncus vulputate in, gravida sit amet urna. Vivamus vehicula ullamcorper felis, sit amet varius nunc feugiat non. Ut tristique ligula vel ligula fringilla tempor.</p> <p>Praesent in viverra risus. Suspendisse fringilla tellus vel ante tempus tempor. Aliquam et mi sed velit luctus volutpat non eu augue. Maecenas ut metus lobortis nulla lacinia pellentesque. Vivamus ac enim ut ipsum sodales sagittis quis pellentesque lectus. Fusce et porta mi. Nunc orci purus, varius a tincidunt sit amet, sagittis non justo. Ut posuere lobortis enim vel condimentum. Donec lectus erat, ultrices eu hendrerit a, convallis pretium leo. Vestibulum venenatis, quam eget feugiat scelerisque, nibh nisi cursus nulla, quis sodales augue nisi eu quam. Nullam in lorem diam, id interdum elit. Nunc sit amet dolor ac dolor volutpat viverra non sed magna. Aliquam posuere rutrum bibendum. Duis lobortis bibendum nisi sed ornare. Suspendisse mollis consectetur lectus ac suscipit. Morbi et nisl at erat congue commodo vitae non urna. Mauris vitae eleifend erat. Nunc molestie nibh a magna pellentesque et sollicitudin justo pellentesque. Nunc quis lacus sit amet metus ultricies consectetur ac quis dolor. Nullam sapien purus, tempor accumsan ultricies nec, sollicitudin sit amet turpis.</p> </div><!-- #content --> </div><!-- #container --> <?php get_footer(); ?> |
Creating a new page based on the new custom page
Now, your new custom page is ready, this step will create a new page from that template. You need to log in to the WordPress admin and add a new page then assign your new template to it.
WordPress Create New Page Template
As you see, in the Page Attributes panel, in the Template drop down list, there is an item called Page No Sidebar. It’s the Template Name we set in the page-without-sidebar.php template page file above.
You shouldn’t add anything in the WordPress editor, let’s leave it blank, content of the page should be controlled in the template file.
