Initial steps

Every custom template starts the same way. Follow the steps below before diving into the other tutorials.

This tutorial assumes you have some basic experience using FTP or your web server’s control panel to copy and edit files.

Where possible, I recommend practicing on a local development environment or a staging site before deploying changes to your live site.

And, of course, make a backup of your site first.

Create a folder

Create a folder in your theme named “strong-testimonials”.

wp-content/themes/{my-theme}/strong-testimonials

Copy a template

Each template is actually a group of files located in a folder named for the template. You need all the files in the specific template folder for the template to work.

/strong-testimonials
    /templates
        /default
            /img
            config.json
            content.css
            content.php

Copy the entire template folder from the plugin into the new “strong-testimonials” folder in your theme. For example, to copy the default template:

From:

wp-content/plugins/strong-testimonials/templates/default

To:

wp-content/themes/{my-theme}/strong-testimonials/default

Notice there is no “templates” subfolder in the theme.

Override or new?

Option 1: Override the existing template

At this point, your copy of the template will override the original. There can only be one template named “default”, “modern”, etc. and your theme gets the last word.

This is, by far, the easier and simpler solution because you can start customizing the template now.

Next step: Learn about the template files and how to modify them.

Option 2: Create new template(s)

If you want to create a new template from the one you just copied and add it to the list of available templates in the view editor, then you must rename it.

This requires a few more steps but it allows you to create multiple custom templates while still being able to use the plugin’s templates.

Next step: Learn how to rename your custom template.