The Archive.php Template

The Archive.php Template

The archive.php template handles category pages, tag pages, author pages, and date-based archives. It displays a list of posts that match the current archive.

Creating archive.php

<?php get_header(); ?>

<main id="main-content">
    <div class="container">
        <div class="content-wrapper">
            <div class="primary-content">
                <header class="archive-header">
                    <h1 class="archive-title">
                        <?php
                        if (is_category()) {
                            single_cat_title('Category: ');
                        } elseif (is_tag()) {
                            single_tag_title('Tag: ');
                        } elseif (is_author()) {
                            echo 'Author: ' . get_the_author();
                        } elseif (is_date()) {
                            if (is_year()) {
                                echo 'Year: ' . get_the_date('Y');
                            } elseif (is_month()) {
                                echo 'Month: ' . get_the_date('F Y');
                            } elseif (is_day()) {
                                echo 'Day: ' . get_the_date('F j, Y');
                            }
                        } else {
                            echo 'Archives';
                        }
                        ?>
                    </h1>
                    <?php if (term_description()) : ?>
                        <div class="archive-description">
                            <?php echo term_description(); ?>
                        </div>
                    <?php endif; ?>
                </header>

                <div class="post-grid">
                    <?php if (have_posts()) :
                        while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
                            <article class="post-card">
                                <?php if (has_post_thumbnail()) : ?>
                                    <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">
                                        <?php the_post_thumbnail('medium_large'); ?>
                                    </a>
                                <?php endif; ?>
                                <div class="post-card-body">
                                    <h3><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">
                                        <?php the_title(); ?>
                                    </a></h3>
                                    <p class="post-meta">
                                        <span class="date"><?php echo get_the_date(); ?></span>
                                        <span class="author">by <?php the_author(); ?></span>
                                    </p>
                                    <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
                                    <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" class="read-more">Read More →</a>
                                </div>
                            </article>
                    <?php endwhile; ?>
                </div>

                <!-- Pagination -->
                <div class="pagination">
                    <?php the_posts_pagination(array(
                        'mid_size'  => 2,
                        'prev_text' => '&laquo; Previous',
                        'next_text' => 'Next &raquo;',
                    )); ?>
                </div>

                <?php else : ?>
                    <p>No posts found in this archive.</p>
                <?php endif; ?>
            </div>
            <?php get_sidebar(); ?>
        </div>
    </div>
</main>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

Conditional Tags Used

Tag	Returns True When
is_category()	Viewing a category archive
is_tag()	Viewing a tag archive
is_author()	Viewing an author's posts
is_date()	Viewing a date-based archive
is_year()	Viewing a yearly archive
is_month()	Viewing a monthly archive

Pagination

the_posts_pagination() outputs page navigation when there are more posts than fit on one page (controlled by Settings → Reading → "Blog pages show at most").

.pagination {
    text-align: center;
    margin-top: 40px;
    padding-top: 20px;
    border-top: 1px solid #eee;
}

.pagination .page-numbers {
    display: inline-block;
    padding: 8px 14px;
    margin: 0 3px;
    background: #f0f4f8;
    color: #555;
    border-radius: 4px;
    font-size: 14px;
}

.pagination .page-numbers.current {
    background: #3498db;
    color: #fff;
}

.pagination .page-numbers:hover:not(.current) {
    background: #ddd;
}

Key Takeaways

• archive.php handles category, tag, author, and date archives
• Use conditional tags to display the appropriate archive title
• term_description() outputs the category/tag description if one exists
• the_posts_pagination() adds page navigation for large archives
• The Loop automatically shows the posts relevant to the current archive