"WordPress themes are like a good old recipe – you’ve got your essential ingredients like style.css and index.html, and then you’ve got the optional add-ons like functions.php, readme.txt, and screenshot.png to spice things up. Just think of it as a theme’s secret sauce! And let’s not forget the standard folders – templates, styles, patterns, and parts – each serving up their own unique flavor to make your website pop! 🍰✨🎨"
Overview of WordPress Theme Structure 📁
In this lesson, we will explore the structure of WordPress themes. You will familiarize yourself with the folders and files used in a WordPress theme, describe the required and optional files needed to create a block theme, and list the standard folders used with a block theme.
Folders and Files in a WordPress Theme
| Folder/File | Description |
|---|---|
ask |
Contains fonts, images, CSS, and JS files |
parts |
Includes HTML files for the header and footer |
patterns |
Consists of PHP files for components |
styles |
Contains Json files for variations on Global Styles |
templates |
Includes HTML files for generating pages and posts |
Required and Optional Files for a Block Theme 📋
Necessary Files
- style.css: Main stylesheet for configuring theme data and adding custom CSS
- index.html: Default fallback template necessary for WordPress to consider this a block theme
Optional Files
- functions.php: Automatically loaded by WordPress after theme initialization
- readme.txt: Required when submitting the theme to the official WordPress theme directory
- screenshot: Recommended image of the theme for display in the WordPress admin and theme directory
- theme.json: Site configuration file for settings and styles
Standard Folders Used with a Block Theme 📂
Templates Folder
- HTML files representing the overall document structure of the front end
Styles Folder
- Json files representing different style variations for users to pick colors and fonts
Patterns Folder
- Reusable components made up of one or more blocks that users can insert within the site editor
Parts Folder
- Smaller sections that can be included within top-level templates, such as headers, footers, and sidebars
This concludes the overview of the structure of a WordPress theme. For a deeper dive into specific files and folders, stay tuned for the upcoming modules.
