One of the things that drove me nuts when first learning Wordpress was figuring out what page was driven by which php code. I mean really there was a page called single.php a page called page.php, the index and more.
Easy to figure out was the header, footer and sidebars. Self explanatory… header.php - stuff at the top of the page, footer.php at the bottom and SURPRISE - sidebar.php was that stuff on either the left, right or both sides of the page.
But what page was delivered when someone clicked on the main navigation links - and what about a category - or a specific post. When trying to edit what showed up on these pages - frustration quickly set in.
So an Internet search ensued. I got a lot of great information form already knowledgeable Wordpress developers, and then I ran across the ULTIMATE resource - at least for me… a graphical depiction of how the hierarchical structure of Wordpress works.
Click on image for full size view.
This picture shows exactly what page is served when a user clicks on various elements within the Wordpress platform, and what happens if that page doesn’t exist. I find it an indispensable tool when designing themes or using themes from other designers.