Category: wpCentral

WordPress templates themes are quite popular among both technical and nontechnical users. However, if you wish to develop a theme all by yourself you would need to understand more about how it functions and the first thing is to understand the WordPress theme hierarchy. A theme is a vast term that includes multiple elements including but not limited to images, style sheets, JavaScript and templates. The streamlined combination and display of these elements determine the final look of your WP site.

The benefits of learning about WordPress template hierarchy

As opposed to common notion you don’t have to be a genius for creating your WordPress theme. However, it is important to get yourself acquainted with the hierarchy of WordPress. To put in short a single template file or combination of different template files are employed to create the pages of a WordPress website. These template files are fetched from a specific area of the WP web page.

The particular areas of your website are affected by the templates with specific filenames and help you in identifying the template names used for specific item type.

Hence if you want to go deeper into the WordPress and wish to develop your theme the very first thing is to get acquainted with the WordPress template hierarchy.

For the different pages, WordPress uses a specific naming pattern. Following is the hierarchy level in the appropriate order that will help you understand the same more clearly.

Homepage

By default the homepage shows your site’s latest blog post but you can also modify it by going to the reading page in the settings page (in you WP admin)

·         front-page.php – The WordPress will search this file if you use static front page and will employ it for showing the front page

·         Home.php – for the users having a static front page but don’t have front-page.php template in the theme, the WordPress will find a home.php file. It also employs it to show blog posts on your home page

·         index.php – In case both the front-page.php and home.php are not available, the WordPress falls back to index.php, WP’s default fallback template for displaying any of the site’s pages.

Single post

WP goes through these files for showing the single post

·         single-{post-type}-{slug}.php – for showing/altering a specific individual post in any post type. Example post type: ‘features’, post slug: Apple-phone, WordPress would find single-features-Apple-phone.php.

·         single-{post-type}.php – WordPress will then search for the template to display this specific type of post. For example, post type: features, then WordPress would look for single-features.php.

·         Single.php – Next, WordPress will go to single.php.

·         Singular.php – This is the best substitute for a single item display from any post type.

·         Index.php –As the last fallback the WordPress will go to index.php.

Single page Template Files

WordPress pages are one of the default post types. They allow you to create static pages in your website instead of posts. See our guide on the difference between posts vs. pages.

·         Custom Page Template – This is the page that has been assigned to a specific page.

·         page-{slug}.php – For the page slug reach-us, WordPress will use page-reach-us.php.

·         page-{id}.php – For the page ID 19, the WordPress will find template file page-19.php.

·         Page.php – This template is used for displaying all the static pages.

·         Singular.php – All single post type ultimately fall back to this file as the default substitute

·         Index.php – As mentioned this is the ultimate default option.

Template files for Category archives

 The category related page is showed using these templates:

·         category-{slug}.php – For displaying category archive page for a particular category. For category slug features, WordPress will find the category-features.php template.

·         category-{id}.php – Next the WordPress will search the templates with its ID. For the category ID 19, WordPress will search category-19.php.

·         Category.php – This is used as the default template to display all category archive pages.

·         Archive.php – The default template that WordPress uses to display the archive pages.

·         Index.php – The ultimate template.

Template files for tag archives

 The tag archive pages are displayed using these files

·         tag-{slug}.php – For the tag’s slug phones, WordPress will find tag-phones.php.

·         tag-{id}.php – For the tag’s ID 19, the WordPress will find tag-19.php template.

·         Tag.php – The default template for tag archives

·         Archive.php – This is the default template for any type archive page.

·         Index.php – The ultimate substitute

Template files for custom taxonomy archives

Categories and tags are two default WordPress taxonomies. Users can create their custom taxonomies as well. Here is how WordPress looks for templates to display custom taxonomy pages.

WordPress uses categories and tags as the default WordPress taxonomies but it is possible for you to create your taxonomy depending upon your specific requirements. However, here is how the WordPress searches the templates for displaying the taxonomy pages:

·         taxonomy-{taxonomy}-{term}.php – For the custom taxonomy niche, containing the term ‘technology’, WordPress will search taxonomy-niches-technology.php.

·         taxonomy-{taxonomy}.php – For the taxonomy niche, the WordPress would search taxonomy-niche.php.

·         Taxonomy.php – This is the default template for showing any custom taxonomy archives.

·         Archive.php – This is the default template for all the WP’s archive pages

·         index.php– The ultimate template

Template files for custom post types

 This is the way the WordPress searches templates for displaying custom post type archives.

·         archive-{post type}.php – If your post type is features, WordPress will search archive-features.php.

·         Archive.php – This is the default template used to display the archive pages in WordPress.

·         Index.php – The ultimate template of WP.

Template files for displaying author archives

For each WP author (of your site) the WordPress generate the archive pages. We are going to explain the path used by WP to search author archive pages:

·         author-{nichename}.php – For an author named Tom author-Tom.php.

·         author-{id}.php – If the user ID is 9, the WordPress will search author-9.php.

·         Author.php – This is the default template that displays the WordPress author archive pages.

·         Archive.php – This is the default template for displaying all the archive pages.

·         Index.php – The default template

Template files for date-based archives

If you want WordPress to display your posts based on a date based archive pages (specific months and years), then here is the way it does the same.

·         Date.php – This is the default template for the date-based archives.

·         Archive.php – This is the default template that displays author archive pages (in WP).

·         Index.php – The default ultimate template of WordPress.

Template files for search pages

·         search.php – This is the default page used to show the search results in WordPress

·         Searchform.php – The template for displaying search forms

·         Index.php – The ultimate template in WordPress.

Template files for 404 error pages

If the WordPress cannot look for the requested content it will show the page 404 error

·         404.php – Te 404 page is displayed using these default templates

·         Index.php – The ultimate default template in WordPress.

Template files for attachment pages

·         MIME_type.php – Put simply Mime Type in the file type and examples include image.php, video.php, application.php, pdf.php, etc.

·         Attachment.php – The attachment pages are displayed using this default template.

·         single-attachment.php – for displaying single attachment

·         Single.php – the single post type items are displayed using this default template

·         Index.php – The ultimate default

Template files for embeds

You can also render an embedded post in the WordPress Since WordPress 4.5

·         embed-{post-type}-{post format}.php – WordPress will search the post type and post format template. For the feature with video, WordPress will search embed-features-video.php.

·         embed-{post-type}.php – For the post type features, WordPress would find embed-features.php.

·         embed.php – The ultimate substitute for all templates. .

Conclusion

WordPress Template Hierarchy plays a vital role while learning the WordPress development. However its complexity can overwhelm a new learner, especially the ones who are from non-programming background. The best way to learn WordPress template hierarchy is to simplify the complex things and start learning in small phases.

Many times you come across a website with an awesome design and unique looks, and you strongly wish that your site should also have similar looks. The good news is that to a great extent it is now possible to apply the same looks to your own website. Many WordPress websites use the theme or pre-built layout with extended editing features. If you find out the exact theme used by a WordPress site then you can also purchase the same theme and change the looks of your site without any detailed or complex designing process. Now another question that comes to the mind is how to find the theme used by a WordPress website. In this blog we are going to discuss various ways in which you can easily find out the theme.

Two popular methods of detecting a WordPress theme are:

1.    Manually checking the WordPress theme of a site using an easy and quick DIY method

2.    Using online WP theme detectors for getting detailed information about the theme or plugins

The manual method of checking a WP theme

·         Right-click anywhere in the center of the website for which you wish to detect the theme to open the dropdown menu.

·         Click View Page Source that will open a new page in the next tab

·         Go to the new tab and press ctrl+f. Enter style.css in the search tool and click enter.

·         You will see a file link that looks like this: http://wpplugindirectory.org/wp-content/themes/wpplugindirectory/style.css?ver….

·         Click on it and a new file with other details (name, author and version) will be opened. This represents the theme header showing the details of the theme.

Note

·         In case the website is using the child theme you can see the details of the parent theme in the theme header

·         In that case, the parent theme name is defined in the header block parameter called Template.

WordPress theme detectors to check the WP theme

If you wish to get the comprehensive details about the theme or the plugins used by a specific website then it is best to go for the WordPress theme detectors. Here we will review the 3 best WP theme detectors with key details, pros, and cons.

ISITWP.com

Sometimes you might be interested in getting other associated details as well like the hosting provider and WHOIS data. In that case ISITWP. com could be a great option for you.

The tool detects the exact WordPress theme used by the website and can also determine whether it is a standard theme or a tailor-made version specifically created for a particular website. It also offers you an easy link to Google the other details of the theme and checks whether it is possible to download it.

Along with that it also detects the active plugins and offers comprehensive details in a user-friendly format including the plugins name, details (introduction and functions), downloading link and even the reviews that will help you in taking the right decision. 

Last but not the least it also offers you a comprehensive list of best WordPress plugins/tools that are neatly classified into purpose-specific categories like best eCommerce plugins, or best booking plugins. Clicking on any category will open the detailed comparison of some of the best tools in the category so that you can choose the one that perfectly fits your needs.

You would also appreciate the detailed information about starting a blog or making a WordPress website

Pros

·         Along  with these details, it also offers associated information like hosting provider and Whois link

·         Offers a detailed description of active plugins including download link and reviews

Cons

·         Takes some time for processing

·         Offers only basic information about the theme.

WhatWordpressThemeisthat.com

One of the highly trusted WP detector tools is What WordPress theme is that. While using any theme detector tool is more or less easy, it is the volume and value of the information provided by this theme detector that sets it apart from the others. Just visit the site and in the relevant text box type the website for why you wish to check the theme.

The tool is fully capable of recognizing the difference between the parent theme and the child theme and giving you the relevant information.

You can also expect it to tell you about the active plugins of the site that can help you to add a similar functionality on your site. Instead of being limited to the WordPress, it goes a mile ahead and also detects the theme built on Drupal or Joomla.

Pros

·         Quick to use

·         Simple interface

Cons

·         It can recognize specific plugins only

·         It doesn’t provide you sufficient details about the theme needed for practical benefits

WPthemedetector.com (WPTD)

WPTD is also a reliable option to check the details of the WP theme used by any website. Along with detecting the theme and active plugins, it also offers some other relevant details that can make things even easier for you and can help you to assess the theme reputation.

For instance, it fetches you the total number of websites made on the same theme, the detailed information about the plugins key statistics or the theme and whether or not the theme is available for download. All this data along with some key stats proactively help you in taking the informed decision.

Pros

·         The tool can even detect whether the theme is being used out of the box or it has been customized.

·         Offers comprehensive details and key stats needed for a wise decision

·         You get sufficient information regarding parent as well as child theme

Cons

·         It is slower when compared to other theme detectors

·         It is unable to fetch the information about inactive plugins used by the theme

Conclusion

With the help advanced techniques and smart tools you can detect the precise theme used by any WordPress website. It provides you the key information and associated details of the theme used by a specific website. If it is available for purchase you can buy the theme you like, add the content, tailor it to suit your taste and publish the site.

Comments play a vital role for any website, especially blogs. It helps you to know what people think about your latest posts and how do they interact with the same. Besides, the comment sections are a simple yet effective way to cultivate a loyal reader community. However, many times you may find your comment section rife with spam comments containing backlinks and irrelevant advertising messages. This is an unethical cheap way to get the backlinks and many spammers now use automated spam bots to randomly post such spam comments on different sites. Nearly every blogger has to face this annoying incident.

In this post, we will tell you about an effective way to fight and stop these malicious spambots with the help of reCAPTCHA. This guide will mention a step by step tutorial on adding reCAPTCHA to your WordPress comment section so that your site will be able to fight (and defeat) the malicious spambots

What is a Spambot?

Spammers use a bot known as spambot that goes around the web and randomly posts the spam comments on any website (including yours). It helps them to automate the process of spamming and increase the volume of spam comments with least efforts. Being technically advanced the spammers can find out the sophisticated ways to continue spamming even if you have installed antispam on your site.

How does reCAPTCHA help to stop Spambots?

reCAPTCHA makes it possible to tell humans and robots apart using innovative and efficient technology.

Generally the users need to click a checkbox to complete an action and proceed further. It proves that they are human beings and not robots. In case the attempt fails then they are offered a challenge to identify slightly deformed or obscure text or a series of images containing a specific object.

Can you use reCAPTCHA on your site?

In its endeavor to stop spam Google allows the common people to freely use reCAPTCHA for verification purpose on their site. It helps them to validate login attempts, contact form submission, and comments. The site owners can thus remain assured that the action has been initiated by a real human being and not by any spamming bot.

Adding reCAPTCHA is not a difficult task and even the people with beginner-level technical knowledge can do it without any difficulty.

Steps to add reCAPTCHA to the comments section of your site

Note: You first need to install and activate the plugin named reCAPTCHA in WP comment form

·         Plug-in setting configuration

·         You will be prompted for keys for Google reCAPTCHA. There is an easy provision available on the reCAPTCHA site to create these keys.

·         You would need to provide 2 Google API keys to proceed further. Both the keys are available on Google reCAPTCHA website and you can get them by clicking admin console button in the top pane of the page

·         Upon prompting, log in with your Google credentials and fill in the general information on Register a New Site page.

·         Fill in your website name in the label field and then click reCAPTCHA V2 radio button

·         You will be offered 2 options. Select “I am not a robot” checkbox

·         Type your site’s domain name in the domain textbox

Tip: if you wish to employ the same keys for multiple domains then just click the + icon and type the additional domain names.

·         Your default email address will automatically appear the email field but you also have the option to provide additional emails if you want

·         Accept the terms and conditions to proceed further. Don’t forget to pick the option “Send alerts to owners” checkbox as it will allow Google to alert you about any alarming activity or find some fault with the configuration settings.

·         Click submit button and wait for getting the key pair (site key + secret key)

·         If required you can also copy the key pair and save it in a file for the future reference. Don’t forget to protect the file with a strong password for the safety purpose.

·         Go to WP dashboard and select reCAPTCHA in comments option from the setting menu in the admin panel

·         Go to “Paste the Goggle reCAPTCHA API keys pair” section and paste both the keys in the relevant boxes. Now click Save your Google reCAPTCHA keys pair and click the toggle button.

·         Click “Save changes” and you are done.

·         If you need you can also add a personal touch to reCAPTCHA in the reCAPTCHA customize option that allows you to modify the basic visual settings like size, style, and alignment of the checkbox.  

·         Visit your website and head to the comment section to ensure that it is working fine

Conclusion

reCAPTCHA allows you to secure your website against spam bots with strong verification process that don’t annoy the human visitors. By adding Google reCAPTCHA you can remain assured that your blog will be fully safe from the risks of spam bots.

WordPress is the most popular CMS that is used across the globe. Due to its strong features and quick nontechnical processes, it has become the most preferred choice for the bloggers and businesses alike. It does not require the users to go through a learning curve and also offers them lots of tools to efficiently create, manage, and grow their website. In this blog we are going to mention some of the major reasons to use WordPress for building your website:

Free to create and maintain your site

You don’t have to pay a single dollar for installing and using WordPress CMS. It is free. You can create your site and change it the way you want without any dependency. Thus it saves you from the costs and hassle associated with hiring web designers.

Technically, it is possible to build your site on the WordPress and name & host it for free but in that case, you will get the name like yoursite.wordpress.com that doesn’t sound impressive, does it? For a strong online branding, you would need to buy domain name like yoursite.com. For that, you need today a very small, even negligible amount as the domain names start from as low as $2!

Likewise, you would need to have your hosting plan to launch it publicly on the global level so that anyone can access your site across the world. For that, you need to buy a hosting plan that is affordable and reliable.

Open Source Benefits

Along with being free, WordPress is also an open-source CMS. So there are no restrictions on using the WordPress CMS and you don’t need any license for the same.

Also, it is pretty easy to align your site’s functionality or design to match your business needs by modifying its source code. You can continue enjoying the services regardless of the website type and purpose, traffic volume, resource requirements and the overall revenue of your site.

Easy designing without dependency

Designing your website looks like a daunting job especially if you are a nontechnical person without any prior designing experience. However, when you opt for WordPress, things become much easier for you.

WordPress offers you a huge collection of ready made layout called themes. You can choose the one that seems best for your purpose.  All you have to do is to add your content in the appropriate placeholders with the help of an easy graphical pick-drag-drop process that doesn’t require coding at all.

To make things even nicer it also offers you an ability to customize the color and style if you want. It allows you to personalize the theme as you like.

Aligns with search engine guidelines

Google is seldom vocal about any specific product or brand. WordPress holds the distinct reputation of being endorsed by one of the most respected authorities of Google- Matt Cutts who publicly endorsed the WordPress CMS in 2009.

An even more solid factor is that the WordPress structure facilitates the hassle-free crawling of search engine spiders by offering them a streamlined path. Quick and relevant crawling proactively helps the search engines to bring the WordPress sites in the top results during relevant searches. So, other SEO factors being equal, you stand a better chance of ranking higher than your closest competitors using a non WordPress site.

Improved security

As the WordPress is an open-source platform the people may have the security concerns but the good news is that the recent security developments in the underlying architecture have made WordPress much more secure than many of its peers.

Besides, the huge thriving community of advanced developers also results in quick security patches to protect it against the latest threats. Also, there are some good protection guidelines to follow for enhancing the security of your WordPress site.

Trusted by majority

WordPress is the most widely used CMS across the globe that certainly shows the trust the people have in its potential and capacities with a mind-blowing 59.5 percent websites being powered by WordPress; it is officially the topmost CMS in the market.

Even a comparison with other CMS further adds to its distinct reputations. There is a colossal gap of over 50% between WordPress and the second most preferred CMS in the market (Joomla with 5.9%, whole Drupal stands 3rd with 4.9 and Magento acquires the 4th position with 2.8 percent). In short, we can say that WordPress doesn’t have any close competitor until now.

With the WordPress themes you may start your own blog or website with minimum efforts. However, some people have more specific demands in terms of functionalities and they might decide to write their own custom code to meet the needs. It could be challenging for the users as these custom code snippets are needed to be added in the crucial functions.php file and a minute mistake in the process or coding can have fatal effects on your site. So, in this tutorial, we are going to share different ways to add custom code snippet in the WordPress site.

Add through functions.php file

Open the functions.php file of your theme and insert the code there. Though this one line step might seem to be the easiest one, it is not really recommendable due to the risk involved. Any time you will update the theme the custom code will also be cleared along with other data.

Performance updates, bug fixes, improved security and other developments make it necessary to update the theme and you may forget to copy and save your code snippet before updating the theme.

Try to avoid this method, especially, if you have purchased a paid WordPress theme, you might need to update it on a more frequent basis.

Use Child Theme

A better method of inserting custom code snippets is to create a child theme and insert it there.  The users of child theme would need to insert the code at the end of the functions.php file of their child theme.

Note: insert the code after the last line. In case your file ends with a closing PHP tag (?), then make sure that the code of the function should be inserted above that code.

However, this method also exposes you to the same disadvantage of losing your code when you change your child theme without copying and saving your custom code. So, you need to save the code in your system or jot it down. Either way it complicates the things and isn’t a reliable way.

Creating a custom plugin for storing custom snippet

This method needs more efforts and expertise but in the long run it proves to be much more reliable than the first 2 methods we discussed above as your custom code isn’t affected even when you update the theme in the future.

·         Create an empty file with a relevant name using text editor. Copy and paste it at the top.

Here’s how it should look like

<?php
/*
Plug-in Name: Your custom function name
Version:     1.0
*/

·         The custom code can be inserted below this line. Once done, save the file with a relevant name making sure that it should end with the extension “.php”

·         Go to your server and upload the file in yoursite/wp-content/plugins/. Depending upon your preference or convenience you can either upload directly through hosting panel or use Filezilla for the purpose.

If you are concerned about the size of the file then you can also convert it into a zip file to reduce the weight. After that you can upload the zipped file through the WP dashboard through plugins menu.

·         Now you need to activate the plug-in through WP Dashboard by selecting the activate option on your plugins page.

·         You can easily add or edit your code in the future as per the requirements.

This method is most reliable among the 3 options we have discussed until now. However, the major limitation is that it requires you to have an advanced WordPress knowledge and isn’t recommended for non technical users.

Use a WP plugins for adding custom functions

We understand that the above-mentioned method can be overwhelming for the new users and everyone is not prepared to go through a learning curve just to be able to customize the functionality of their WP site. Hiring a WordPress developer for the same can inflate the costs. That is why we present a beginner-friendly way to add custom code that is equally recommendable for the nontechnical as well as seasoned WordPress users. We have discussed 2 Plugins here- My custom Functions and Code Snippets Plugin

My Custom Functions

·         Just visit the WordPress website, search for My Custom functions plug-in and download it.

·         Go to your WP dashboard and open the plug-in page. Click add new and install the My Custom Functions plug-in

·         After the successful installation activate the plug-in

·         (Version 4.10 or above) Visit Settings and click on PHP inserter

·         (Versions below 4.10) Select custom functions from the appearance menu

·         Switch toggle button to On and save changes

Code Snippets Plugin

The Code Snippets is a fantastic plug-in that makes the things easier even for the users with limited technical knowledge.

·         Install and activate the plug-in

·         Observe your WordPress admin area and you would notice a new menu called snippets that is meant for storing the custom code snippets.

·         Open Add new snippet page and insert the code in the textbox named Code. Give it a relevant name under Add new snippet textbox.

·         If required you can also add a description in the text area just below the coding area.

·         After the description area you can add the relevant tags for organizing the code in a better and more comprehensible manner.

·         Now click save changes button.

·         The default option Run Code Anywhere is fine if you don’t have any specific demands. However, the users with specific demands can also choose between only run in the admin area or only run in site front end as per their requirements.

·         Your code snippet would start working immediately once you have saved and activated it.

Benefits of Code Snippets Plugin

·         The plugin comes with an advanced capability of identifying any syntax error and saving your site from malfunctioning by automatically deactivating the snippet.

·         The intuitive GUI of code snippets plug-in helps offer a neat and simple ecosystem for managing the custom code snippets. Besides you would also love the easy functionality for activating, deactivating, modifying and exporting individual/multiple code snippets without going through complex processes.

·         One of the major challenges for the users of custom code is to move it to a new server. Code snippets make things easier for you. All you have to do is to open the import page from the snippets menu and go through the appropriate import process selecting the settings and requirements that match your requirements. ..

·         There is also a provision of changing the general a specific setting to suit your preferences.