advantages of splitting up layout into header, page, footer
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I was taught to put the header stuff into header.php, the footer stuff into footer.php, and so on. But it hit me today that I don’t know why it is advantageous to split things up that way. I’m happy to load the style sheet in header.php, but is there some reason why I should keep my banner div in header.php and not move it into page.php? And similarly with the footer stuff? The advantage of having everything in one place (page.php) would be: eliminate mistakes about closing the wrapper div. If you’ve got one </div> too many, you end up closing the wrapper div prematurely, often without realizing it.
I’m fine with keeping the sidebar code in sidebar.php. I like the idea of putting the logic of whether to use the sidebar in page.php, and putting the actual sidebar code into sidebar.php.
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Headers and footers are used in multiple template files – not just page.php
Thanks! So if I’ve got a simple situation with no multiple templates, there’s nothing wrong with moving the header and footer stuff to page.php?
You have no posts, no categories or archives?
I do — but I don’t think that resulted in multiple templates, did it? The only files I’ve modified are header.php, page.php, footer.php, style.css and functions.php. Everything else I’ve done via the admin panel.
I do — but I don’t think that resulted in multiple templates, did it?
Your single posts use the single.php template file. Archive, category & tags pages may use archive.php, category.php and tag.php template files respectively. The results of any searches are displayed using the search.php template file.
All of these files require header & footer – hence a single header.php file and a single footer.php file that can be included in each and every one of your theme’s template files.
I see.
Thank you, Esmi.
Also it’s a good idea to develop standard habits. A standard approach across all sites means you are less likely to make mistakes. Also this site may be simple (now) but may become more complex, requiring you to rework it.
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