Title: What is the difference between single.php and content.php
Last modified: August 21, 2016

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# What is the difference between single.php and content.php

 *  Resolved [SusanaMPL](https://wordpress.org/support/users/susanampl/)
 * (@susanampl)
 * [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/what-is-the-difference-between-singlephp-and-contentphp/)
 * Hello, first of all, sorry for my english.
    I’ve searched the forums in English
   and Spanish, the internet and I’ve also reviewed several themes( cotango , twentyfourteen,
   twentythirteen , twentytwelve , thebootstrap ) but I don’t understand the difference
   between single.php and content.php . In the three themes index.php use the function:`
   < php get_template_part ( 'content' , get_post_format ()); ? >` In The Bootstrap
   changes a little but it does the same. I understand that this function calls 
   a file to load the content of a single post, sometimes differentiating between
   types of posts. If this is so, what is the function of single.php file? file 
   which is present in every themes I’ve revised; according I’ve read in the documentation,
   single.php is used to display the content of a post ( what he does content.php).
   Moreover, in all the reviewed themes, single.php has the function `get_template_part`
   used to load another template, `content-postformat.php`, and I can’t find from
   where they call the single.php file in any of the themes.
 * If someone could explain the difference I would greatly appreciate it .
 * And if noone can understand what I can say, please, erase the question.
 * Thanks and sorry.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/)
 * (@esmi)
 * [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/what-is-the-difference-between-singlephp-and-contentphp/#post-4652145)
 * single.php is loaded automatically by WordPress for single posts. Have you reviewed
   the theme template hierarchy in [Theme Development](http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development)?
   I think it will become a lot clearer once you understand the hierarchy.
 *  [Simalam](https://wordpress.org/support/users/simalam/)
 * (@simalam)
 * [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/what-is-the-difference-between-singlephp-and-contentphp/#post-4652158)
 * Hello SusanaMPL,
 * The function of the single.php template is used when viewing a single instance
   of a WordPress post type. It is a standard file that will get called by the template
   hierarchy system.
 * [Template Hierarchy](https://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Hierarchy)
 * [Diagram](http://codex.wordpress.org/images/1/18/Template_Hierarchy.png)
 * If you follow the diagram you can see when the single.php file will get used 
   in your theme.
 * One reason themes will load a separate template for the content inside of the
   single.php is to accommodate for multiple post types.
 * For example in your theme if you had 5 post types that when viewed singly they
   all had a sidebar and an ad placement. You could add all of the code for the 
   sidebar and the add placement inside the single.php file.
 * Then for each of your post types you could have a completely different layout
   by using the get_template_part function inside the single.php. This way you would
   not have to duplicate the sidebar and ad placement inside a template for each
   post type.
 * Hope that helps!
 *  Thread Starter [SusanaMPL](https://wordpress.org/support/users/susanampl/)
 * (@susanampl)
 * [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/what-is-the-difference-between-singlephp-and-contentphp/#post-4652302)
 * Simalam thank you very much, I have reviewed the files and you’re right, I haven’t
   realized that, content-postFormat.php don’t have get_header and cia.
    Really,
   thank you very much.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

The topic ‘What is the difference between single.php and content.php’ is closed 
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## Tags

 * [content php](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/content-php/)
 * [Difference](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/difference/)
 * [single.php](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/single-php/)

 * 3 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [SusanaMPL](https://wordpress.org/support/users/susanampl/)
 * Last activity: [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/what-is-the-difference-between-singlephp-and-contentphp/#post-4652302)
 * Status: resolved

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