How to make a WordPress custom page template

It’s actually very easy to do this but I couldn’t figure out how to do this because there is a couple of “gotchas”. The hardest part about looking up info on how to make a custom WordPress template is most posts on the internet go over how to create a “Theme” and not a template for the actual page. Most people use the wrong terminology. Yes a theme is different then a template.

Create a new .php file in the your theme directory.

http://server/wp-content/theme/[theme_name]/

Call it what ever you like. It’s easier if the name matches the name of the template. For example I created a file called:

frontpage.php

At the top of the page you have to enter the following.

<?php
/* Template Name: Front Page*/
?>

Now when you go to create a page in wordpress you can now select the “template” that you want to use. Here’s an example:

Now that you know how to do this you can create special layouts for other pages in WordPress. Exmaples might be a “Map” page or “Sitemap” page etc.