Introduction

Every website built on WordPress has storage for essential files that power the website and collect data, depending upon the website’s performance. Such files are also responsible for storing CSS files during upgrades to the website theme. As a developer on WordPress, you must know how to navigate the WordPress directory and file structure. This will allow you to better understand your system internally and know if your system needs more improvements for certain features. Let us learn how one can navigate their WordPress Directories and work according to the file structure.

How to find your WordPress Directory

A WP Directory needs to be organized to maintain a proper file structure.

1. Using File Manager provided by Hosting

Well, navigating to your main directory is quite a simplistic process. When you open WordPress, you can open any directory for the selected website and access the folders for your themes and plugins present in the subdirectories. You can navigate to your hosting Cpanel and look for File Manager, as shown below:

2. By Installing an FTP (File Explorer) plugin in WordPress

An FTP plugin is nothing but a file manager for your wp directory. Online you may find various methods to add a wp plugin for FTP. When you have installed your FTP plugin, you will be able to use or modify any file in your WordPress with the plugin, making any creator’s life even easier. You can download WP File Manager from here.

3. By using FTP Client at desktop and connecting WordPress with it

You can use external software and connect your WordPress site with it. To know more, read this article.

The Folder structure in WordPress public_html Directory

In any WordPress directory, the file structure is important. It is organised as:

• wp-admin
  This folder consists of administrative tools which act as the online data handling and ‘reception’ tool for your website. It manages dashboards, logs ins etc.

• wp-content
  This further branches into two particular subdirectories: plugins and themes. The themes include files which form the parent and the child theme of your WP website. On the other side, the folder for plugins stores the plugins that you add to your website as features.

• wp-includes
  This folder stores all the necessary miscellaneous tools crucial to running your website smoothly. Such folders consist of files for widgets, floating icons, post like/share commands etc.

Files in WordPress public_html Directory

The files within public_html play an important role in the website’s day-to-day implementation and working. The files are:

• .htaccess
• Default.html
• index.php
• license.txt
• phperror_log
• readme.html
• wp-activate.php
• wp-blog-header.php
• wp-comments-post.php
• wp-config-sample.php
• wp-config.php
• wp-cron.php
• wp-links-opml.php
• wp-load.php
• wp-login.php
• wp-mail.php
• wp-settings.php
• wp-signup.php
• wp-trackback.php
• xmlrpc.php

The important files among the above are:

• .htaccess: It is used to manage permalinks and redirects.
• index.php: It is the first file that is loaded on the website.
• wp-config.php: It is used to save your website’s important configuration, database connections, and file limits.

Conclusion

Well, nobody quite discusses the basics which are crucial for moving ahead. Similarly, understanding and navigating smoothly amongst the files is an important skill that could be useful for certain bug fixes and updates on the website.