Dynamically assign same page template to child page as parent

3 comments

1. Paste following code to your theme’s functions.php:

   add_action('save_post','changeTemplateOnSave');
   function changeTemplateOnSave(){
       global $post;
       $curr_tmp = get_post_meta($post->ID, '_wp_page_template', true);
       $parent_tmp = get_post_meta($post->post_parent, '_wp_page_template', true);
       if($post->post_parent)
           update_post_meta($post->ID,'_wp_page_template',$parent_tmp,$curr_tmp);
   }
   

   This will force WordPress to change page template to it’s parent template on post save.
   Not tested but should work.

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2. A little correction to the Max Yudin’s solution:

   add_action('save_post','changeTemplateOnSave');
   function changeTemplateOnSave(){
       global $post;
       $curr_tmp = get_post_meta($post->ID, '_wp_page_template', true);
       if($post->post_parent){
           $parent_tmp = get_post_meta($post->post_parent, '_wp_page_template', true);
           update_post_meta($post->ID,'_wp_page_template',$parent_tmp,$curr_tmp);
       }
   }
   

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3. One further little correction if you care about php warnings in the background.

   When creating a new post/page the folllow notice was being output

   Notice: Trying to get property of non-object error

   Fixed this by making sure $post exists or and is not empty.

   add_action('save_post','changeTemplateOnSave');
   
   if ( ! function_exists( 'changeTemplateOnSave' ) ) {
   
       function changeTemplateOnSave() {
   
           global $post;
   
           if ($post) {
   
               $curr_tmp = get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_wp_page_template', true );
   
               if ( $post->post_parent ) {
   
                   $parent_tmp = get_post_meta( $post->post_parent, '_wp_page_template', true );
   
                   update_post_meta( $post->ID, '_wp_page_template', $parent_tmp, $curr_tmp );
               }
           }
       }
   }
   

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