What’s a Template in WordPress: vs WordPress Theme (2025)

What’s the difference between a template and a theme?

By the end of this guide, you will understand what makes your WordPress site look and function the way it does.

Here’s what we’ll talk about here:

• What’s a template
• Why use a template
• Templates vs themes

Ready? Let’s get started.

What is a WordPress template?

A WordPress template is a file that dictates how a specific type of content, such as a page, post, or category archive, is displayed on your website.

Templates are a key part of a WordPress theme and they work alongside other template files to create a cohesive design and layout for your site. 

Templates allow you to control various aspects of your site’s appearance, including the structure of headers, footers, sidebars, and content areas​.

Here are some key components of templates:

• Template parts: Reusable sections like headers, footers, and sidebars that can be independently edited and applied across multiple templates.
• Blocks: Fundamental building units used to create content and design elements in a modular way, such as text, images, and complex layouts.
• Patterns: Predefined collections of blocks that help create complex layouts quickly and consistently, such as call-to-action sections or multi-column designs.
• Dynamic content: Elements within a template that change based on the specific content being displayed, like post titles, dates, and author information.

Of course, there may be additional pieces of data added to posts, pages, and custom post types to display varied information.

All of them make up a template. 🙂

Why use a WordPress template?

More than just aesthetics, templates also improve functionality.