Custom Post Type single and archive pages are not working

Question

In an attempt to use the custom post type, after having registered a brand new CPT I have duplicated both the single and the archive pages appending the "-posttype" bit as specified in the register_post_type function.

However, if I try to load a single post or the archive page, both the pages are not loaded. I can't understand where the problem is.

Here is the code I use to register my Custom Post Type

$labels = array(
    'name' => _x('Facebook', 'post type general name'),
    'singular_name' => _x('Facebook', 'post type singular name'),
    'all_items' => __( 'All posts' ),
    'add_new' => _x('Add new post', 'Facebook'),
    'add_new_item' => __("Add new Facebook post"),
    'edit_item' => __("Edit Facebook post"),
    'new_item' => __("New Facebook post"),
    'view_item' => __("View Facebook posts"),
    'search_items' => __("Search in Facebook posts"),
    'not_found' =>  __('No facebook posts found'),
    'not_found_in_trash' => __('No facebook posts found in trash'),
    'parent_item_colon' => ''
  );
//$post_supports = array('title','editor','comments','thumbnail','excerpt');
$post_supports = array('title','editor','thumbnail');
$args = array(
    'labels' => $labels,
    'public' => true,
    'publicly_queryable' => true,
    'show_ui' => true,
    'query_var' => true,
    //'menu_icon' => get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/images/slider.png',
    'rewrite' => true,
    'capability_type' => 'post',
    'hierarchical' => false,
    'menu_position' => null,
    'supports' => $post_supports
  );

Any suggestions to why it is not working?

Answer 1

Try updating permalinks in settings. If that doesn't work please provide the code for your register_posttype function.

both the pages are not loaded

...meaning you get 404 errors, or the correct content loads but in the wrong templates? when new post types are added, you will get 404 errors using pretty permalinks until you flush the rewrite rules. this can be achieved by visiting the permalinks settings page.

Answer 2

I have copied your CPT code to my localhost. I had to add register_post_type( 'facebook', $args ); for the CPT to work. Don't know if you forgot to add this piece of code to the code in your question. I also added 'has_archive' => true, as I previously had suggested. I then updated my permalinks, which is set to 'Post name'.

I also created two templates, archive-facebook.php and single-facebook.php. This works as expected.

I tested this in a child theme and in a parent theme.

Other points of note, 'add_new_item' => __("Add new Facebook post"), is wrong for localization. The translator does not recognize a string inside ". You should always always use the single quote ' like 'add_new_item' => __('Add new Facebook post'),

Here is your modified code, and it works perfect as tested

$labels = array(
    'name' => _x('Facebook', 'post type general name'),
    'singular_name' => _x('Facebook', 'post type singular name'),
    'all_items' => __( 'All posts' ),
    'add_new' => _x('Add new post', 'Facebook'),
    'add_new_item' => __('Add new Facebook post'),
    'edit_item' => __('Edit Facebook post'),
    'new_item' => __('New Facebook post'),
    'view_item' => __('View Facebook posts'),
    'search_items' => __('Search in Facebook posts'),
    'not_found' =>  __('No facebook posts found'),
    'not_found_in_trash' => __('No facebook posts found in trash'),
    'parent_item_colon' => ''
  );
//$post_supports = array('title','editor','comments','thumbnail','excerpt');
$post_supports = array('title','editor','thumbnail');
$args = array(
    'labels' => $labels,
    'public' => true,
    'publicly_queryable' => true,
    'show_ui' => true,
    'query_var' => true,
    //'menu_icon' => get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/images/slider.png',
    'rewrite' => true,
    'capability_type' => 'post',
    'hierarchical' => false,
    'menu_position' => null,
    'supports' => $post_supports,
    'has_archive' => true
  );

register_post_type( 'facebook', $args );

Please also read the codex in connection to custom post types and register post type