There are a few fundamental features in a Wordpress theme. To create a custom theme, a developer must simply have a functions.php, a stylesheet, and an index.php with the loop in it. However, the Internet is expanding, and not only are themes becoming more and more complex with a greater amount of options, but further additions are being added to the amount of files included in your average theme.

This post, however, is not directed at the aged Wordpress designer who has been churning out themes since 1.5. This post, instead, is directed at designers which are simply just beginning to explore the possibilities of Wordpress.

I was one such designer not too long ago. I became acquainted with Wordpress through a job opportunity – I was hired by a company to create and edit Wordpress themes. I received a day or two of training learning the needed PHP and other tidbits – such as what certain files did, and how to install themes. To date, I have been programming Wordpress themes for about a year now – whether editing them for SEO, or creating completely new themes, or even redesigning other themes. Through my work, I have discovered the power behind not just the CMS, but also through the lesser-known power of index.php and hierarchy.

Index.php is arguably the most important file in your Wordpress theme. Unlike in a static page, Index.php is the page which is used for your blog – that is, most commonly it utilizes “The Loop” in order to display posts, and while it is often used as the front page for your theme, its power lies in its place in the hierarchy of the template. This image shows a visual display of Wordpress’s hierarchy, pulled from this official page. Reading from the left, you can create a million different custom pages to edit your theme, but in the end, everything falls back on Index.php.

The thing behind this is that not only does it make Wordpress a very valuable and powerful CMS, but it also means that the amount of effort in putting together a theme can be reduced extensively by creating a good Index.php page. In plain English, it means that with a little bit of programming, you can have an entire Wordpress theme with multiple pages written in only three files – style.css and index.php (and have it look good too!)

Of course, I don’t tend to suggest only having your theme use the style.css file and the index.php. I feel that breaking tasks into files helps in later editing, et cetera, but it all depends upon your style of designing and programming. Nevertheless, it is important to have a strong index.php file, as it will act more as your “break prevention” file in lieu of other files missing, and it does allow for more theme flexibility – which, is, of course, the power of the CMS.