WordPress Template Editor: Build Layouts

The WordPress Template Editor within the Site Editor environment provides powerful tools for building and customizing page layouts through visual block composition. Mastering template editing techniques enables you to create sophisticated, flexible layouts that adapt to different content types while maintaining design consistency.

Template Editor Fundamentals

The Template Editor operates within the Site Editor, accessible from Appearance → Editor → Templates. This interface displays all templates available in your theme—some provided by the theme, others created through customization. Each template defines the layout and structure for specific page types: homepage, single posts, pages, archives, search results, and more.

Templates in block themes consist entirely of blocks arranged to create page structure. Unlike post content editing where you work primarily with content blocks (paragraphs, images, headings), template editing emphasizes structural blocks: Template Part blocks for headers and footers, Query Loop blocks for post listings, Post Content blocks for content areas, and layout blocks like Group, Row, and Columns for organization.

Understanding the template hierarchy remains crucial. WordPress looks for increasingly specific templates before falling back to more general ones. For a single post, it checks for single-{post-type}-{slug}.html, then single-{post-type}.html, then single.html, finally index.html. Creating specific templates overrides more general ones, enabling targeted customization.

Building Templates From Scratch

Creating new templates begins with the “Add New Template” button in the Templates section. Choose a template type—the most common include Single (for blog posts), Page (for pages), Archive (for category/tag archives), Home (for the blog homepage), and Front Page (for the site homepage when different from blog).

Start with structural foundation: insert Template Part blocks for header and footer. These provide consistency across templates while enabling template-specific content between them. Most templates follow this pattern: header template part, main content area, footer template part. This three-section structure creates familiar, usable layouts.

The main content area varies by template type. Single post templates use Post Title, Post Featured Image, Post Content, and optionally Post Meta blocks (author, date, categories). Page templates might include only Post Title and Post Content. Archive templates require Query Loop blocks to display post listings with pagination.

Working With Layout Blocks

Layout blocks organize content spatially. The Group block creates a container for other blocks, useful for applying backgrounds, padding, or width constraints to sections. Set Group block alignment to full width, wide width, or default content width to control how sections span the viewport.

Row and Stack blocks (sometimes called Group variations) arrange child blocks horizontally or vertically with gap controls. Use Rows for side-by-side layouts—placing a sidebar next to main content, or creating multi-column footers. Stack blocks provide vertical spacing control between elements.

Columns blocks create multi-column layouts with responsive behavior. Add a Columns block, specify column count, then populate each column with content. WordPress handles responsive stacking automatically on mobile devices. Use Columns for magazine-style layouts, comparison sections, or any multi-column content presentation.

Spacer blocks add vertical space between elements, useful for creating breathing room in dense layouts. Set explicit heights or use responsive values. Separators create visual divisions with horizontal lines, optionally styled with colors or patterns defined in your theme.json.

Query Loop Blocks for Dynamic Content

Query Loop blocks power dynamic content display in templates, replacing traditional PHP loops. Insert a Query Loop block in archive, category, or search templates to display post listings. The Query Loop block provides settings for posts per page, pagination, filtering by category/tag/author, and ordering.

Inside Query Loop blocks, nest post blocks that define how each post appears: Post Title blocks for titles (typically linked to posts), Post Featured Image blocks for thumbnails, Post Excerpt blocks for summaries, Post Date and Post Author blocks for metadata. This block composition creates your post listing template.

Query Loop blocks include powerful filtering options. Exclude posts by ID, filter by taxonomy terms, show only posts by specific authors, order by date/title/menu order. Sticky posts can be excluded or shown first. These options create targeted post displays without custom PHP queries.

Pagination blocks work with Query Loop blocks to provide navigation between result pages. Add the Pagination block after your Query Loop, configure appearance (numbers, previous/next links, or both), and WordPress handles the pagination logic automatically. Style pagination through block settings or Global Styles.

Post Content and Post Template Blocks

The Post Content block renders the actual content created in the post editor. In single post or page templates, this block displays the post’s blocks. Style the Post Content block container, set width alignment, add padding or backgrounds—the block provides a wrapper around user-created content.

Post Template blocks work inside Query Loop blocks, defining the repeating template for each post. Every post in the query renders using the Post Template structure. Build your post card design inside Post Template: add Post Featured Image, Post Title, Post Excerpt, Post Date in your desired arrangement.

Both blocks support styling through block settings and Global Styles. Set typography for Post Title blocks, image aspect ratios for Post Featured Image blocks, excerpt lengths for Post Excerpt blocks. These settings create consistent post displays while remaining editable.

Conditional Display and Variations

Some blocks support conditional display based on context. The Post Featured Image block can hide when posts lack featured images, preventing empty image containers. Post Author, Post Date, and Post Terms blocks similarly show only when relevant data exists.

Create template variations for different contexts by building multiple specific templates. A single-product.html template can differ entirely from single-post.html, each optimized for its content type. Category-specific archive templates (category-news.html) provide targeted layouts for different archive contexts.

While block themes don’t support traditional PHP conditionals in templates, thoughtful template creation and block selection achieve similar results. Create the templates you need for different contexts rather than using conditional logic within a single template.

Block Locking for Template Protection

Lock critical template blocks to prevent accidental modification. Lock Template Part blocks to prevent header/footer removal, lock layout container blocks to maintain structure. Access locking from block options menu: prevent removal, prevent movement, or lock all aspects.

Template locking creates guided editing experiences. Users can modify content within locked structures without breaking layouts. A locked three-column footer allows editing footer content while preventing accidental column deletion or reordering.

Balance protection with flexibility. Lock structural elements but leave content blocks unlocked. This approach maintains design integrity while empowering users to customize within defined boundaries.

Responsive Design Considerations

Block theme templates adapt responsively through block-level responsive settings and CSS generated by theme.json. Column blocks stack on mobile automatically. Row blocks can be configured to stack or maintain horizontal layout on mobile devices.

Use responsive typography by leveraging font size presets that scale appropriately. Set responsive padding and margins using theme.json spacing presets. Test templates at various viewport sizes to ensure layouts adapt gracefully.

Consider mobile-first design when building templates. Start with layouts that work on small screens, then enhance for larger viewports. This approach ensures usable mobile experiences while enabling richer desktop layouts.

Template Patterns and Rapid Development

Use block patterns to accelerate template creation. Insert header patterns into header template parts, footer patterns into footer template parts. Archive layout patterns provide starting points for Query Loop configurations.

Create custom patterns specifically for template building. A “sidebar layout” pattern might include a Row block with two columns configured for main content and sidebar. A “post hero” pattern could provide a styled Post Featured Image with overlaid Post Title for dramatic post headers.

Patterns enable consistent template development across multiple templates. Build patterns for common template sections, then compose templates by combining patterns. This modular approach speeds development while ensuring consistency.

Advanced Template Techniques

Nested Query Loop blocks enable complex content displays. A Query Loop showing categories could contain nested Query Loops showing posts from each category. This pattern creates grouped post displays without custom PHP.

Custom CSS classes on template blocks enable additional styling beyond theme.json. Add classes to Group blocks wrapping template sections, then style these classes in your theme’s style.css. This approach provides styling flexibility while maintaining visual editability.

Experiment with creative block combinations. Use Cover blocks with Post Featured Images for hero headers, Spacer blocks with responsive heights for dynamic spacing, Query Loop blocks with custom queries for related posts sections. Block composition enables sophisticated layouts through visual building.

Testing and Refinement

Test templates with diverse content scenarios. View with long titles and short titles, with and without featured images, with varying excerpt lengths. Ensure templates handle edge cases gracefully without breaking layouts.

Use template preview mode to see templates as visitors will. This mode renders templates with actual content, revealing layout issues invisible in edit mode. Preview across different device sizes using browser developer tools.

Iterate based on testing. Adjust spacing, refine typography, modify layouts based on real content performance. Template development is iterative—initial builds provide foundations, refinement creates polish.

The Template Editor represents the creative heart of block theme development. By mastering template composition through blocks, understanding Query Loops for dynamic content, and leveraging layout blocks effectively, you build sophisticated, flexible templates entirely through visual editing. This democratizes template development while providing the power and flexibility needed for professional WordPress sites.