Title: Explain Root Directory with index.php
Last modified: August 18, 2016

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# Explain Root Directory with index.php

 *  [gethelped](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gethelped/)
 * (@gethelped)
 * [18 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/explain-root-directory-with-indexphp/)
 * my first custome field.
 * Well, generally speaking the supposed page that is generated first is the index.
   php file, but in my case the only code I see is:
    <?php /* Short and sweet */
   define(‘WP_USE_THEMES’, true); require(‘./wp-blog-header.php’); ?> I understand
   it, somewhat but I can’t get past reading and comprehending what it says. Where
   is the supposedly “loop” mentioned. This headache started after attempting to
   add custom fields in a simple post, but, it required some extra coding inside
   a PHP file, I think. How can I make the custom field appear?

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  [Jeremy Clark](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeremyclark13/)
 * (@jeremyclark13)
 * [18 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/explain-root-directory-with-indexphp/#post-642088)
 * Your looking in the wrong place. To change the code for you theme you need to
   look in you theme folder. It’s under wp-content/themes/yourthemename/ All you
   files should be there. This is the index.php file you want to look at.
 * Resources:
    [http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Themes](http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Themes)
   [http://codex.wordpress.org/Stepping_Into_Templates](http://codex.wordpress.org/Stepping_Into_Templates)
   [http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags](http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags)
   [http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop_in_Action](http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop_in_Action)
 *  [MichaelH](https://wordpress.org/support/users/michaelh/)
 * (@michaelh)
 * [18 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/explain-root-directory-with-indexphp/#post-642089)
 * If you are using the WordPress Default 1.6 theme, then an example of [The Loop](http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop)
   is in wp-content/themes/default/index.php.
 * Your theme’s index.php file is not to be confused with other index.php files 
   that you find in WordPress. The index.php file you described above is in your
   web-root folder and SHOULD NOT be changed. Typically you should only change the
   index.php file that is part of your theme.
 * You will want to review several Codex articles:
    [Stepping into Templates](http://codex.wordpress.org/Stepping_into_Templates)
   [Template Hierarchy](http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Hierarchy) [Using_Custom_Fields](http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Custom_Fields)
   [WordPress Backups](http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Backups)

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘Explain Root Directory with index.php’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 2 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [MichaelH](https://wordpress.org/support/users/michaelh/)
 * Last activity: [18 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/explain-root-directory-with-indexphp/#post-642089)
 * Status: not resolved

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