Replace a Page

Take over an entire page (the 404 page, search results, an archive) and design it yourself.

Some pages on a WordPress site are generated for you and have no entry in Pages you can open and edit: the 404 page, the search results page, category and tag archives, author archives. A Page template part lets you design those yourself.

Unlike a Section, which adds content to a page, a Page template part replaces the page's content completely. What you build is what visitors see.

The most common use by far is a proper 404 page, one with your branding, a search box and a few links, instead of the plain "nothing found" message.

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1. Go to Template Parts

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Kalium -> Template Parts.

Switch to the Pages tab at the top, then click Add New.

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2. Name it and design the page

Name it after the page it replaces, such as 404 Page or Search Results.

Build the content in the editor. For a 404 page, a heading, a short line of friendly text, a search form and a button back to the home page covers it.

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3. Open Template Part Settings

Click the Kalium icon in the top-right corner to open the Template Part Settings panel.

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4. Set the Type to Page

Make sure Type is set to Page.

Type

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5. Choose which page it replaces

This is done with Display Conditions, and for a Page part the condition is the choice of page. Click Add Condition:

To replace	Choose
The 404 page	General Page -> 404 Error Page
Search results	General Page -> Search Page
The blog listing	General Page -> Blog Page
A category archive	Taxonomy -> Category Archive
A tag archive	Taxonomy -> Tag Archive
An author's archive	Archive -> Author Archive
A custom post type archive	Archive -> Custom Post Type Archive

Display Conditions

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6. Page Settings

Page parts have two settings:

Show Header Keep the site header above your replaced page. On by default.

Show Footer Keep the site footer below it. On by default.

Turning both off gives you a blank canvas with nothing but your content, which is exactly how a distraction-free landing page or a "coming soon" page is built.

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7. Publish

Click Publish.

To test a 404 page, type a web address on your site that does not exist, something like yoursite.com/this-page-is-not-real.

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Things to know

Nothing changed. Check the part is Published, the Type is Page, and that a condition is set. A Page part with no conditions never applies.

The replaced page still shows the old content underneath. That points to the Type being Section rather than Page, a Section adds to a page, a Page replaces it.

Two Page parts match the same page. Only one can win. Tighten the conditions so each matches its own page.

Search results have their own settings under Appearance -> Customize -> Search Results, the number of results, which post types to include, and the layout. If all you need is to change those, you do not need a template part. See Search Results.