Add post type pages with plugin

Question

Can I add the archive and single page for a custom post type added by my plugin?

I know it will only have to be a best guess with contents like:

<?php get_header(); ?>
<h2><?php _e('My Post Type', 'my-slug'); ?></h2>

<?php //get posts and list ?>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

Which would mean it would need to be possible for a user (or me) to override those pages in a theme using archive-{post-type}.php and single-{post-type}.php or something similar.

Answer 1

You can't without hooking a filter to recognise the files in your plugin BUT you can hook into the template_include filter and register your own file e.g.

add_filter('template_include', 'my_function_name');
function my_function_name( $template ) {
 if( is_post_type_archive( 'post_type' ) ){
  $template = dirname( __FILE__ ) . '/templates/archive-post_type.php';
 }
 if( is_singular( 'post_type' ) ){
  $template = dirname( __FILE__ ) . '/templates/single-post_type.php';
 }
 return $template;
}

I was given this code by another WSE user when I had this exact need