Wordpress - Custom Post Type Plugin: Where Do I Put The Template?
So what's the best practice here?
I would say a combination of letting the theme handle it and providing a default with your plugin.
You can use the single_template
filter to switch out the template. In your callback, see if the theme provided a template for the post type, if it did, do nothing.
<?php
add_filter('single_template', 'wpse96660_single_template');
function wpse96660_single_template($template)
{
if ('your_post_type' == get_post_type(get_queried_object_id()) && !$template) {
// if you're here, you're on a singlar page for your costum post
// type and WP did NOT locate a template, use your own.
$template = dirname(__FILE__) . '/path/to/fallback/template.php';
}
return $template;
}
I like this method the best. Combine it with providing a sound set of "template tags" (eg. the_content
, the_title
) that support whatever custom data that goes along with your post type and you give the end user a lot of customization power along with some sound defaults. Bbpress does this sort of thing really well: includes user templates if it finds them and provide a lot of template tags.
Alternatively, you can use a callback with the_content
filter, and just change stuff in the content itself.
<?php
add_filter('the_content', 'wpse96660_the_content');
function wpse96660_the_content($content)
{
if (is_singular('your_post_type') && in_the_loop()) {
// change stuff
$content .= '<p>here we are on my custom post type</p>';
}
return $content;
}
You could hook into template_include
and return your plugin file if the request is for your post type:
add_filter( 'template_include', 'insert_my_template' );
function insert_my_template( $template )
{
if ( 'my_post_type' === get_post_type() )
return dirname( __FILE__ ) . '/template.php';
return $template;
}
But this will change the look drastically. There is still no clean solution.