Basic Template

=== Basic Template Files ===

To generate such a structure within a [[Using Themes|WordPress Theme]], start with an index.php template file in your Theme’s directory. This file has two main functions:
* Include or “call” the other template files
* Include the [[The Loop|WordPress Loop]] to gather information from the database (posts, pages, categories, etc.)

For our simple structure, we only need to include two other template files: the ”’header”’ and the ”’footer”’. These must be named header.php and footer.php. The [[Template Tags]] that include them look like this:

In order to display the posts and pages of your blog (and to customize how they are being displayed), your index.php file should run the [[The Loop|WordPress Loop]] between the header and footer calls.