WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) in the world, powering millions of websites. Its file and directory structure is quite clear and logical, which makes it easy to manage and create your own content.
Main directories in WordPress
a) /wp-admin
Catalog /wp-admin
contains files and scripts related to the WordPress admin panel. Access to this directory should be limited to users who have administrative privileges to ensure the security of the site.
b) /wp-content
This is the heart of any WordPress site – it contains themes, plugins, images, and all sorts of custom user files. Everything you add to your site (such as plugins and themes) will be in this directory. In the catalogue /wp content
there are the following subdirectories:
- /plugins: This directory contains all installed plug-ins. Each plugin has its own subdirectory where its files are stored.
- /themes: All installed themes are listed here. Like plugins, each theme has its own directory.
- /uploads: This directory stores all the files that have been uploaded to the site through the WordPress interface, such as images, PDFs, audio files, etc.
c) /wp-includes
This directory contains files that are necessary for the proper functioning of WordPress. It contains various libraries like JQuery libraries, Atom Lib, SimplePie, etc.
Key files in WordPress
a) wp-config.php
wp-config.php
is one of the most important files in your WordPress installation. It contains detailed information about your WordPress configuration, such as database information (database name, username, password, host), unique authentication keys and salts, database table prefix, ABSPATH to your WordPress files, and much more.
You can edit this file to make various settings such as increasing the memory limit, disabling debugging, etc. For example, to increase the memory limit, you can add the following line of code:
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
b) .htaccess
File .htaccess
is used by Apache servers to process various rules such as redirects, URL rewriting, IP blocking, etc. In the context of WordPress, this file is used to generate pretty permalinks.
File .htaccess
it might look like this:
# BEGIN WordPress RewriteEngine On RewriteBase / RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule . /index.php [L] # END WordPress
Note, however, that editing the .htaccess
can have a big impact on how your site works, so you should always back it up before making any changes.
c) functions.php
File functions.php
is included in every WordPress theme and allows you to add features and functionality to your website without having to edit the theme source files. Anything you add to the file functions.php
, will be automatically loaded by WordPress.
For example, you can add the following code to register a new menu in your theme:
function register_my_menu() { register_nav_menu('new-menu',__( 'New Menu' )); } add_action('init', 'register_my_menu' );
File and directory management plugins
There are many WordPress plugins that help you manage the files and directories on your website. For example, “File Manager” allows you to manage files directly from the WordPress admin panel, similar to popular file management programs such as Windows Explorer or Finder.
Plug "Advanced Custom Fieldsallows you to add custom fields to your posts, pages, and custom types, giving you extra control over your content and its display.
In conclusion, the WordPress file and directory structure is well organized and logical, which allows you to easily manage the content on the site. Familiarization with this structure is the key to effective work with this system.