August 30, 2016 — In this session, I’ll explain how a typical WordPress page template works, using the Twenty Sixteen theme as an example. I’ll show:

How does the page template display your content with a header, footer and (sometimes) a sidebar (or two)?
How does the header get there in the first place and what does it do?
How did the default menu get there, and can you move it?
Why do some pages have sidebars and others do not?
How do sidebars work, and can I add a new one to my site?
What is a sidebar, really, and why do you find them in the Widgets section?
And what about the footer?

…and maybe a few more things. This is a “tiptoe through the templates”, not a “camp out for 2 weeks in the templates”, but by the time we’re done, you’ll have a reasonable understanding of how page templates work and how you might use your own in a child theme.

This session is aimed at advanced beginners to intermediate users. You’ll need a working knowledge of HTML. If you know a little PHP, great, but you don’t need to know PHP to understand what I’ll be covering.

October 30, 2010