_THIS TUTORIAL IS NO LONGER RECOMMENDED. PLEASE FOLLOW_ [**_How to Create Accessible Primary Template(s) Properly in Oxygen (Important!)_**](https://circle.digitalambition.co/c/oxygen-trainings/how-to-create-accessible-primary-template-s-properly-in-oxygen-important) _INSTEAD!_
The Main template is the most important template in Oxygen. It controls the header and footer as well as dynamically pulling in whatever content is supposed to be on your core pages (via the Inner Content element).
Even when you create templates for other purposes, they’ll pull in the header and footer from the Main template, so it’s important that the Main template is configured correctly.
By the end of this tutorial segment, you’ll know:
1. The difference between page templates, library layouts/elements, and re-usable parts.
2. How to create and assign a Main template properly.
3. How the Inner Content element works and best practices.
4. How to properly build a Footer.
5. The three ways to build a Header.
6. How to get started with the Header Builder element.
7. How to get started with the Pro Menu element.
## Why Templates Are Important
Templates give you the ability to build a specific layout and apply it to multiple pages/posts/archives automatically (or manually).
For example, a **Blog Post template** allows you to control the layout of dozens to thousands of blog posts from one single source template.
A **Main template** allows you to control the header and footer across your entire site from one single source template.
It does this by making certain parts of the layout static (like colors/sections/etc.) while pulling in other parts dynamically (such as the body of a blog post or the main page content of a page created with the Oxygen builder).
Templates make your site scalable and future proof and allow you to style areas that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to style without coding (such as archive pages).
Some templates are required (like the Main template) and some templates are optional (like a Service page template).
## When to Use a Template
If you need to control the layout of multiple pages/posts from one single source, then you should _consider_ using a template.
There’s no definite answer beyond the critically important templates I’m going to cover in this series. For example, sometimes I make a template for Service pages and sometimes I don’t. There are many things to consider.
Once you get comfortable making and using templates, you’ll better be able to consider the need for a template in various use cases.
_Note: It’s very difficult to think of everything ahead of time in longer tutorials like this as well as to know which parts need the deeper dives vs which parts don’t, so please don’t hesitate to ask questions if anything is unclear._
