Custom Post Template
Plugin Review
AI-ResearchedWhat is Custom Post Template?
Custom Post Template offers a simple way to assign unique templates to individual WordPress posts. Developed by Simon Wheatley, this plugin has been available for 18 years. It currently holds 10K+ active installs with a 4.8/5 rating from 43 reviews. An impressive 91% of those ratings are 1% are one-star.
The plugin adds a dropdown menu to the post edit screen. This lets you select a different template for each post, similar to how page templates work. It replaces the default single.php file for that specific post only. The plugin does not change templates on archive or listing pages.
Key Features of Custom Post Template
- Per-Post Template Selection – Choose a custom template for any single post directly from the editing screen dropdown.
- Standard Template Header Syntax – Define templates using a PHP comment like
Template Name Posts: Snarferat the top of your file. - Single Post Only Scope – Templates only affect the single post view, leaving category and date archives unchanged.
- Custom Post Type Support via Filter – Extend functionality to custom post types using the
cpt_post_typesfilter hook. - No Theme File Modification Required – Works with your existing theme by adding new template files to the root theme directory.
- Lightweight Codebase – The plugin adds minimal overhead, with no extra database queries or complex settings pages.
- Backward Compatibility – Tested up to WordPress 3.4.2, ensuring stability on older installations.
Who Should Use Custom Post Template?
This plugin suits site owners who need to change the single post template per post without creating a custom page template for every entry. It works well for blogs, news sites, or portfolios where individual articles require distinct layouts. The setup process is straightforward for users comfortable editing theme files.
With 10K+ active installs and a 91% five-star rating, the plugin appeals to developers and advanced users. It requires basic knowledge of PHP template headers and theme file placement. Beginners may find the manual file creation step challenging, but the plugin itself is simple once templates exist.
Installation & Setup
Installation is beginner-friendly. Upload the plugin folder to your WordPress plugins directory and activate it from the admin panel. After activation, create custom template files in your theme’s root folder with the required header comment, and they will appear in the post editor dropdown. No configuration menus or settings exist.
Support & Community
Support activity is minimal. In the last two months, the plugin has 0 open threads and 0 resolved threads, showing a 0% resolution rate. The last update was Nov 28, 2017. With version 1.5 being the current release, users may rely on community knowledge or self-documentation. The 2% one-star rating likely stems from the dated code and lack of active support, though the 91% five-star score indicates the core functionality still works as intended.
Pros & Cons
- With 10K+ active installs and a 4.8 rating from 43 reviews, this plugin is widely trusted for its core functionality.
- 91% of its 43 ratings are 5-star, indicating high user satisfaction with its straightforward approach to assigning custom post templates.
- It allows any theme to support per-post template selection via a drop-down on the edit screen, using a simple PHP comment header similar to page templates.
- Developers can extend the plugin to custom post types using the `cpt_post_types` filter, as shown in the provided example code.
- The plugin is lightweight and focused, only affecting single post templates without altering archive or listing page templates.
- Post template files must reside in the theme’s root directory, not in sub-folders, which can clutter the theme file structure.
- The plugin has zero support threads resolved out of zero total, suggesting either no community support or an unmaintained support forum.
- It does not provide a visual template preview or any advanced conditional logic for template assignment, limiting use to manual per-post selection.
Technical Details
- Requires WordPress
- 3.4+
- Tested up to WP
- 3.4.2
- First Released
- 2008 (18+ years)
- Support (last 2 months)
- 0 threads
Feature Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, Custom Post Template is completely free and available on WordPress.org. It has 10K+ active installs and is rated 4.8/5 from 43 ratings.
Custom Post Template has 10K+ active installs, making it a well-established plugin since its first release in 2008. It maintains a high rating of 4.8/5 from 43 user ratings.
The plugin requires WordPress 3.4 or higher and has been tested up to WordPress 3.4.2. It was last updated on Nov 28, 2017 and is at version 1.5.
The plugin was last updated on Nov 28, 2017 and is currently at version 1.5. While it has not seen recent updates, it has been stable since its first release in 2008 with no support threads in the last 2 months.
Custom Post Template requires PHP5 or higher — using PHP4 will cause a parse error. The plugin is not compatible with PHP4 servers, as noted in its documentation.
Support threads for the last 2 months show 0 total and 0 resolved, indicating minimal recent activity. However, with 10K+ installs and a 4.8/5 rating from 43 users, most users find it works reliably out of the box.
Yes, beginners can use it easily — you just upload post template files to your theme folder and select them from a dropdown on the post edit screen. The plugin requires WordPress 3.4+ and PHP5+, and has straightforward installation steps as described in its documentation.
It adds a dropdown to the post edit screen so you can select custom templates for individual posts, similar to page templates. Templates are defined with a 'Template Name Posts:' comment at the top of your theme files, and the plugin works with custom post types via the 'cpt_post_types' filter.