How do I enable the template selection in the Wordpress toolbar when developing a custom theme?

Question

I am trying to develop a custom theme for Wordpress and would really like the section to be available to select your own page template for your pages in the admin area. I notice some themes have it and others do not see images below:

Without support:

With the desired support:

Is there some way to include this by modifying functions.php or another area of the themes files?

Answer 1

In WordPress, a custom page template allows you to create different layouts or designs for specific pages on your website. This customization allows you to choose a specific template for a page in the admin area, providing flexibility in how content is displayed.

<?php
/*
 * Template Name: Template Name
 * */

1. /* ... */: This is a PHP comment block. Comments in PHP are text that are not executed and are used for providing explanations or notes within the code.
2. Template Name: Template Name: This is a special comment used in WordPress to define a custom page template. By adding this comment block at the beginning of a PHP file within your WordPress theme, you're telling WordPress that this file can be used as a custom template for pages. The "Template Name" is the name that will be displayed in the WordPress admin area when selecting a template for a page. For instance, if you have a file named custom-template.php and it contains the code you provided, when you create or edit a page in WordPress, under the Page Attributes section, you'll see a Template dropdown where "Template Name" will appear as an option for selecting this custom template for that specific page.

As for your goal of creating a custom theme with the ability to select page templates in the admin area, ensure the following:

1. File Placement: Place your custom page template files within your WordPress theme directory.
2. Proper Comment Block: Include the comment block Template Name: YourTemplate at the top of each PHP file that you want to designate as a custom template.
3. WordPress Admin Area: When creating or editing a page in WordPress, look for the "Page Attributes" metabox. There, you should see a "Template" dropdown displaying the names of your custom templates. Select the appropriate template for the page you're editing.

Answer 2

Try adding support to page-attributes when registering your CPT.

https://make.wordpress.org/support/user-manual/pages/page-attributes/