How to create custom layouts for a WordPress theme

Go to Appearance and check whether your site has Editor or Customize. A block theme uses the Site Editor for templates, template parts, styles, and patterns. A classic theme normally uses PHP template files, Customizer settings, CSS, or a child theme.

Do this check first because the same layout change can use completely different tools. Editing a PHP file will not change a layout that has already been customised and saved in the Site Editor.

Write down where the new layout should appear: one page, a post type, all posts, an archive, search results, or the whole site. Separate reusable areas such as the header, footer, sidebar, and query loop from page-specific content.

Check the layout on desktop, tablet, and mobile before building it. Decide which content must remain dynamic, such as post titles, featured images, author details, archive headings, or custom fields.

With a block theme, open Appearance > Editor, then choose Templates or Patterns and Template parts. Edit an existing template or create a custom one using blocks such as Group, Columns, Query Loop, Post Content, Featured Image, and Navigation.

Use template parts for repeated areas such as headers and footers. A change made inside a template part is used wherever that part appears. Save the template, then assign a custom template to the relevant page or post when the editor offers that option.

With a classic theme, create and activate a child theme before changing template files. Copy only the parent template files you need to alter into the child theme, keeping the same names and folder structure. Use the template hierarchy to target the narrowest location, such as a specific category archive before a general archive template.

Add layout CSS to the child theme rather than editing the parent theme. This preserves your changes when the parent theme updates, but copied templates can become outdated when the parent theme changes its markup. A missing file name, incorrect folder, or inactive child theme means WordPress will continue using the parent template.

Preview the front page, a normal page, a single post, category and tag archives, search results, the 404 page, and any custom post types affected by the change. Confirm that dynamic content still appears, menus work, images have useful alternative text, and the layout does not overflow on a phone.

If your file changes appear to do nothing, check whether a user-saved Site Editor template has priority over the theme file. Clear page-cache and browser-cache layers, and check that the edited template actually matches the URL being viewed.

For a site-wide layout that would otherwise require several template overrides, use Beaver Themer with Beaver Builder. It provides visual templates for headers, footers, archives, singular content, and dynamic layouts, with display rules for deciding where each layout appears.

Choose this route when you need to build and maintain several layouts without editing PHP files. Keep the manual route for a small number of simple changes, especially when your theme already exposes the controls you need.