Four Different Meanings of “Template” a WordPress Pro Should Know

Experienced users and developers will use the word “template” casually in and around WordPress to mean slightly different things in slightly different contexts. There are four general things that people will be referring to when they say the word, all substantially different. They may be saying “template” when they mean:

1. A raw-HTML file or set or files (usually for sale)
2. A WordPress theme
3. A file in the WordPress template hierarchy
4. A Handlebars, Twig, PHP, etc template file

Each of these usages is good to know of, and to understand in a bit more detail. So let’s get to explaining them.

As a Raw HTML File

For people like me who simply can’t make any design look good, HTML templates are a salvation.

For people like me who simply can’t make any design look good, HTML templates are a salvation. Whatever I’m using to run the site — raw HTML documents I edit, WordPress, or some other CMS or web framework — I can take the (usually sold for money, but sometimes free) template and have something that probably looks about 10x better than I could do.

If you’re working in WordPress, this generally isn’t in play as much because of the next definition. But for people who’ve been around longer, or who aren’t familiar with WordPress, this may well be what they mean by the word “template.”