Title: Posts page not using index.php
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# Posts page not using index.php

 *  [mbeebee](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbeebee/)
 * (@mbeebee)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/posts-page-not-using-indexphp/)
 * Hi,
    I’m using a static home page, and a secondary page for posts using default
   template (index.php) (“Default Template” selected on the Edit Page page). Everything
   worked fine this morning.
 * This afternoon the posts page no longer uses index.php to display posts. I don’t
   know what template it’s using, but it’s not index.php (I’ve modified it as a 
   test with no result). No matter what template I try (archives, links, etc.), 
   nothing changes.
 * Any thoughts on what happened? How do I figure out what template it’s using?
 * Thanks

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

 *  [stvwlf](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stvwlf/)
 * (@stvwlf)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/posts-page-not-using-indexphp/#post-1036451)
 * Hi – Add a comment to the top of your template pages
 *     ```
       <!--- index.php -->
   
       <!-- category.php -->
       ```
   
 * etc.
 * Then you can View Source and see which template is being used.
 * While you’re at it its a good idea to add another comment at the bottom
 * `<!--- end of index.php -->`
 *  Thread Starter [mbeebee](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbeebee/)
 * (@mbeebee)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/posts-page-not-using-indexphp/#post-1036462)
 * Great idea — thanks.
 * It looks like it’s using my home page template (home.php) for the posts, even
   though I have the “Travelogue” page selected for displaying posts (Settings/Reading).(
   The Travelogue page, in turn, has “Default Template” selected under Template.
   The default template should be index.php, no?)
 * But it looks like the main problem is WP is using the wrong template file for
   displaying posts. Now what? I’m not sure how else to point WP to a specific file
   other than the Settings/Reading section.
 * Thanks so much.
 *  [stvwlf](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stvwlf/)
 * (@stvwlf)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/posts-page-not-using-indexphp/#post-1036468)
 * Hi
 * This page contains all the rules on how WP picks the template it displays a page
   with, plus a big diagram of the hierarchy. See if any of this is useful
 * [http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Hierarchy](http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Hierarchy)
 *  Thread Starter [mbeebee](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbeebee/)
 * (@mbeebee)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/posts-page-not-using-indexphp/#post-1036684)
 * Thanks stvwlf — that did the trick.
 * I was using home.php as the home page, so when WP tried to display the posts 
   page, it used home.php, which takes precedence over index.php. I changed home.
   php to homepage.php, updated the settings, and everything works fine.
 * Thanks again!
 *  [Corey McKrill](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jupiterwise/)
 * (@jupiterwise)
 * [16 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/posts-page-not-using-indexphp/#post-1036797)
 * I had this same problem, and mbeebee’s solution worked for me too. It would be
   great if [this page](http://codex.wordpress.org/Creating_a_Static_Front_Page)
   had a bit more clarification about how templates are used for the Front Page 
   and the Posts Page.
 * For example:
    Title the second one as “Blog” (or you could call it “News”, “Articles”,
   etc.). This page will be a place-holder for showing the Posts on your site.
    1.  Custom Page templates will not work for this page! This page will automatically
       use the index.php template. (**Note:** if your static home page uses a custom
       template file named home.php, this page will use it as well, due to template
       hierarchy rules, and will not display your posts.)
    2.  **DO NOT add content** to the Blog Page. Leave it blank. Any content here will
       be ignored — only the Title is used.
    3.  Publish the Page.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

The topic ‘Posts page not using index.php’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [default template](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/default-template/)
 * [index.php](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/index-php/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 5 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [Corey McKrill](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jupiterwise/)
 * Last activity: [16 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/posts-page-not-using-indexphp/#post-1036797)
 * Status: not resolved

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