In this tutorial we will be showing you how you can easily use different template styles (like you theme’s page templates and other manually designed templates) with your single posts, custom post types and pages etc.
Earlier we have discussed about enabling your theme to include “Post Templates” in much the same way you can add “Page Templates” so that you can choose a different template on per post basis to give each blog post a unique style and layout.
Now this tutorial is about a similar WordPress plugin called WP Custom Post Template. The plugin works for posts, pages and you can selectively enable it on other custom post types too.
It allows you to add custom post templates in your WordPress post types. Using this plugin you can easily apply your custom template in single page like page template, a single post template, a single custom post type template etc.
It allows you to define templates similarly to page templates, and then it replaces your theme’s single.php for the specified post.
Site admins can include multiple custom post type and decide where they like applying custom post templates. Hence they can choose a template which is not default single.php template.
To start using the features of this plugin, you must have the custom post template files in your active theme’s directory (located in your site’s root -> wp-contents -> theme folder).
Most WordPress themes already have some default templates like the new Twenty Fourteen theme has various page templates: default template, a contributer’s page template, a full width page template (with no sidebars). These are set while adding or editing a WordPress page (Dashboard -> Pages -> Add New/Edit -> Page Attributes Metabox).
After the plugin is activated you will be able to use those templates (and other manually designed page templates) on your single post screens. The plugin enables the template selection metabox on ADD NEW/EDIT post screens.
Also you can visit your admin area Dashboard-> WP Custom Post Template page to enable it for other custom post types etc.