Can't find template options
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I am testing the Gateway theme on my test blog. For a full-width post the theme page says go to the “Template section of the Page Options module.” I can’t find a “Page Options module” that contains a “Template section.” There’s a “Screen Options” tab at the top of the editing screen, but it doesn’t include “Templates.” Help, please. I’ve had the same problem with other themes (can’t see template options).
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there,
It sounds like you’re navigating WordPress.com via our older interface (the one with a black admin bar at the top and wp-admin in the URL).
You can change the page template in wp-admin by navigating to Posts > Edit. Click on the Screen Options tab and make sure the box next to Page Attributes is checked. From there, search for the Page Attributes module on the right hand of your editor and then choose from the Template dropdown menu.
The documentation you were referring to is for our newer interface (the one with the blue admin bar at the top and that you can navigate to by clicking “My Site” in the top left of WordPress.com).
You will find the Page Options module to the left of your editor when navigating to My Site > Page > Edit in WordPress.com.
Let me know if that helps to clarify things for you or if you have any extra questions.
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Sorry, siobhyb. I only just saw this. Didn’t get a notification of your reply, although I am subscribed to this topic.
Yes, I’m using the older interface (much prefer it). The first thing I did was look under the Screen Options tab. The only options shown are At a Glance, Activity, Your Stuff, What’s Hot, Quick Draft, Stats, and Admin Preferences. All are checked. There is no “Page Attributes” option to check, and no Template dropdown showing anywhere on the page. I know I’ve used templates in the past. I don’t understand why they’ve disappeared.
Is WP phasing out parts of the old interface?
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Hi @windwhistle,
Sorry, siobhyb. I only just saw this. Didn’t get a notification of your reply, although I am subscribed to this topic.
I’m glad you manually double checked for a reply!
Email notifications from these forums sometimes end up in Gmail’s social or spam folders. You could consider whitelisting emails from *@wordpress.com to make sure you don’t miss further notifications.
Yes, I’m using the older interface (much prefer it). The first thing I did was look under the Screen Options tab. The only options shown are At a Glance, Activity, Your Stuff, What’s Hot, Quick Draft, Stats, and Admin Preferences.
The options you listed display only on the main /wp-admin landing page after clicking the Screen Options tab. The options change for each page that you navigate to within /wp-admin. So, you will need to navigate to Pages > Edit in the left sidebar and select the Screen Options tab while actually viewing the editor for your page in order to see the Page Attributes checkbox.
Let me know if that’s clear or if you have any extra questions.
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Yep, notifications were in spam. Sorry about that.
No matter how I approach it, the most I can get under Screen Options is Likes and Shares, Writing Helper, Revisions,, Excerpt, Send Trackbacks, Discussion, Comments, Slug, Author, Categories, Tags, and Featured Image. No Templates mentioned anywhere. Could it be that when the theme doesn’t offer templates, they don’t show as a screen option? But then, I only asked in the first place because I wasn’t seeing the templates that a theme supposedly had.
I’m very confused, and for now have given up on the idea of changing themes. Still, for future reference, I need to be seeing those template options. I know I’ve seen and used them in the past, but it could have been several years ago.
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Hi @windwhistle,
Different options are displayed under the Screen Options tab depending on whether you’re editing a post or a page.
From the description of the options you saw, it seems like you were on a post editor rather than a page editor: Page Attributes will only display while viewing the editor for a page, while Send Trackbacks and Categories will only display while viewing the editor for a post.
Please navigate to the Pages section in the left here and then select the option to Edit one of your pages:
https://windwhistle.wordpress.com/wp-admin/
Let me know how that step goes.
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Aha, finally I see it. I kept looking for “Page Attributes” to appear as one of the things to check under Screen Options, and it never appears there. But when on the editing screen for a page (not a post), the Page Attributes module does appear down on the right side of the screen.
I was hoping to see a full-width template for posts, which would be so much easier than having to change the visibility on sidebar widgets to get them out of the way. I’ve learned some themes will give you a full-width post when you do this, and some won’t.
Anyway, thank you so much for your patience! I really appreciate it.
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I’m happy to hear that you found that option of changing your page template, @windwhistle!
You’re right that there isn’t a built in option to display posts at full width with the Gateway theme.
If you upgraded to WordPress.com Premium or Business then you could use some custom CSS to remove the sidebar from individual posts, though.
If any other questions come up, then please don’t hesitate to start another thread.
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I use WordPress Premium on my main blog and posts on my current theme (Opti) will expand to full width if I use the visibility options to remove the widgets from specified pages/categories. Apparently not all themes will do this, and I’m not adept enough with CSS to implement it.) It would be simpler if a theme offered templates for full-width posts (not just pages). Twenty Sixteen, for example, would be nearly perfect if it offered a full-width post template. Even if I remove the sidebar widgets, the posts won’t expand.
Anyway, thank you for all your help and patience.
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Hi @windwhistle,
You’re right that there’s some variation between the way different themes work and I appreciate the feedback on this lack of consistency.
It’s worth noting that, if you do decide to upgrade to Premium on the site that you have Gateway active on, then we have staff and volunteers who specialise in helping with CSS on our dedicated forums:
https://en.forums.wordpress.com/forum/css-customization
If not, it may be worth either sticking to posts that have a sidebar or switching to a different theme.
You know where to find us if any questions come up.
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