Stepping Into Custom Post Types

K. Adam White, WordCamp Boston 2011 Stepping Into Custom Post TypesPhoto by dolanh

Introduction Who is this guy, anyway? K.Adam White Front-end developer & data architect

Introduction

Custom Post Types• What is a custom post type?

Custom Post Types• What is a custom post type?• Your own content type• Blog Posts, Pages, Attachments, Revisions and Menus are all “post types” in WordPress 3.0

Register your post type• Created in functions.php (or a plugin) using the “init” hook:• add_action( init, create_post_type ); function create_post_type() { register_post_type(‘nameOfCPT’); }

A Basic Custom Post Type• add_action( init, create_post_type ); function create_post_type() { register_post_type( acme_product, array( labels => array( name => __( Products ), singular_name => __( Product ) ), public => true, has_archive => true, ) ); }

Basic Post Type Attributes • Names: How they display in the admin screens (left) • What fields the post type supports: the content editor, a title, thumbnails, comments, etc • Access rights

Default Template Fields• Title, Content, Publish box

All Template Fields • Many more fields available out of the box • Once enabled, can be hidden or shown from the Screen Options tab

Go Crazy!add_action(init, codex_custom_init);function codex_custom_init(){ $labels = array( name => _x(Books, post type general name), singular_name => _x(Book, post type singular name), add_new => _x(Add New, book), add_new_item => __(Add New Book), edit_item => __(Edit Book), new_item => __(New Book), all_items => __(All Books), view_item => __(View Book), search_items => __(Search Books), not_found => __(No books found), not_found_in_trash => __(No books found in Trash), parent_item_colon => , menu_name => Books‘ ); $args = array( labels => $labels, public => true, publicly_queryable => true, show_ui => true, show_in_menu => true, query_var => true, rewrite => true, capability_type => post, has_archive => true, hierarchical => false, menu_position => null, supports => array(title,editor,author,thumbnail,excerpt,comments) ); register_post_type(book,$args);}

But I need more…• You can use the build-in Custom Fields to store custom data attributes• You can extend the built-in template fields with add_meta_box() or a related plugin: I recommend WPAlchemy’s MetaBoxes• Custom Taxonomies allow you create your own tags and categories, just for a particular Post type

But I’m not much of a coder…• There’s a plugin for that• Custom Post Type UI will let you create and configure a post type without touching functions.php• Also supports custom taxonomies

Demo: Custom Post Type UI

How to display your Post Types• Template Hierarchy:

Template Pages• Create templates using the post type or taxonomy’s name: – single-{post_type}.php – archive-{post_type}.php – taxonomy-{taxonomy}.php• e.g. if your post type is acme_products, single-acme_product.php will be used when you try to view a single product item

Using CPTs on other pagesFrom the WordPress Codex:$args = array( post_type => product, posts_per_page => 10 );$loop = new WP_Query( $args );while ( $loop->have_posts() ) : $loop->the_post(); the_title(); the_content();endwhile;

Case Study: Nutfield Technology

CPT #1: Home Page ItemsTitle, Content, Featured Image, and custom fields

Custom Fields• Using WPAlchemy MetaBox• Allows for easier content maintenance

CPT #2: Products • Content, Title, Featured Image, File Attachments, 5 Taxonomies, 3 WPAlchemy custom fields, Gravity Forms, and more

Custom Taxonomies in Action• Terms used as classes, to allow easy JavaScript filtering of a product list

Advantages of Custom Posts• Modularization of content on the homepage• Better Admin panel experience for editors• Taxonomies allowed quick development of a product selection application• Allowed normal strengths of WordPress posts (featured images, file attachments) to be used on a custom template

Disadvantages• Adding custom fields is still code-heavy and difficult• No visual ‘template builder’ in WordPress• Query syntax for custom posts can be tricky

Gotcha’s1. Namespaces: Always prefix your post type names with a namespace, e.g. register_post_type(‘acme_products’); instead of just ‘products.’ This will minimize conflicts with other plugins.

Gotcha’s2. Portability: If you change your theme, you will need to do a lot of work to make it compatible with your custom post types Locks you in to a particular theme (or theme framework)

Gotcha’s3. SEO: To make the most of a custom post type, you should re-write their URLs using the ‘rewrite’ => array(‘slug’ => ‘seo-friendly-title’) parameter when creating the CPT. This will also hide your namespace from the public.

Gotcha’s4. Easy to get carried away: Remember that another human will have to maintain these items! Design for simplicity. A more general data structure is usually the best.

References• Justin Tadlock’s Custom Post Types in WordPress• WordPress Codex Custom Post Types page• WPAlchemy custom MetaBox class• Example add_meta_box() plugin on WP Engineer• Custom Post Type UI plugin

Thank You!• adam@kadamwhite.com• +K.Adam• @kadamwhite• This is my first talk—Please rate me! http://speakerrate.com/talks/8024-stepping- into-custom-post-types

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Stepping Into Custom Post Types

by K.Adam White on Jul 23, 2011

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