Using Custom Post Types with WordPress 3. Presented at WordCamp Victoria BC, May 15, 2010.

1. Custom Post types
in WordPress 3
Dave Zille
May 15, 2010 - WordCamp Victoria BC

2. About Dave
• President, dazil Internet Services
• WordPress dev, WordPress conversions
• web: dazil.com twitter: @dazil
• Principal, Learn it Today
• WordPress classroom and online training
• web: learnittoday.ca twitter: @learnittodayca

3. Agenda
• Custom Post Types:
• What are they? What aren’t they?
• Why do we need them?
• Custom Post Type ideas/examples
• Demo:
• Creating a custom post type
• Displaying a custom post type
• Resources

4. WordPress 3: Not just for Blogs Anymore!
The term “blog” has been
replaced with “site”
throughout
WordPress 3 is (officially)
an actual CMS!
WordPress install process
now asks for “Site Title”

5. Top 5 Reasons WP is a CMS:

6. Top 5 Reasons WP is a CMS:
1. Scalability

7. Top 5 Reasons WP is a CMS:
1. Scalability
2. Security

8. Top 5 Reasons WP is a CMS:
1. Scalability
2. Security
3. Menu Management

9. Top 5 Reasons WP is a CMS:
1. Scalability
2. Security
3. Menu Management
4. Custom Taxonomies

10. Top 5 Reasons WP is a CMS:
1. Scalability
2. Security
3. Menu Management
4. Custom Taxonomies
5. Custom Post Types

11. What are Custom Post Types?
• Custom Post Types are “content” types
• Not to be confused with “blog post”
• Traditional “post” is actually just another Custom
Post Type
• Can be used to store and administer different
types of content on your WordPress site
• Traditionally done via plugins (Flutter, Pods, etc)
• A huge part of why WP 3 is a CMS

12. What aren’t Custom Post Types?
• Custom Post Types are not:
• A replacement for Custom Fields
• (used in conjunction with Custom Fields)
• Completely GUI driven
• (i.e. cannot be created with default WP GUI)

13. Why do we need
Custom Post Types?
• Because Custom Post Types:
• Make it easy to create and edit different
forms of content within WordPress
• Eliminate the need to “fake” custom post
types by using 3rd party plugins
• Will make you and your clients happy!

14. Custom Post Type Examples
• Media:
• Video, Podcasts
• Title,YouTube URL, Length/Duration, Captions,
Show Notes, etc
• Information:
• Car for Sale
• Make, Model, Color, Features, Pictures, etc..

15. Custom Post Type Examples
• Information (cont’d)
• Real Estate Listing
• Price, # bed, # bath, amenities, photos, etc.
• Gallery/Portfolio
• Thumbnail, description, URL, etc.
• Calendar of Events
• Date, time, cost, location, etc.

16. Your First Custom Post Type

17. Your First Custom Post Type
• Case Study:

18. Your First Custom Post Type
• Case Study:
• Recipe database

19. Your First Custom Post Type
• Case Study:
• Recipe database
• Description

20. Your First Custom Post Type
• Case Study:
• Recipe database
• Description
• Ingredients

21. Your First Custom Post Type
• Case Study:
• Recipe database
• Description
• Ingredients
• Prep Time

22. Your First Custom Post Type
• Case Study:
• Recipe database
• Description
• Ingredients
• Prep Time
• Cook Time

23. Custom Post Types: The Code
• The register_post_type() function was introduced in
WordPress 2.9
• WordPress 3 makes register_post_type() very useful
• Minimal code, and a Custom Post Type is up and running:
add_action( 'init', 'create_recipe_post_type' );
function create_recipe_post_type() {
register_post_type( 'recipe',
array(
'label' => __( 'Recipes' ),
'singular_label' => __( 'Recipe' ),
'public' => true,
)
);
}

24. Custom Post Types: The Code

25. Custom Post Types: The Code
• Where does the code go?
• 2 options:
• Create a plugin file, or
• add to your theme’s functions.php

26. Custom Post Types: The Code
• Where does the code go?
• 2 options:
• Create a plugin file, or
• add to your theme’s functions.php
• This is useful, but can I do more?
• The register_post_type() function has 20+ arguments
• Can control a lot about CP Types using them
• Let’s review some of them..

27. Custom Post Types: The Code

28. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• label
• A plural descriptive name for the post type
• eg “Recipes”
• singular_label
• A singular descriptive name for the post type
• eg “Recipe”

29. Custom Post Types: The Code

30. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• description
• A short descriptive summary of what the post type is
• eg. “A set of directions with a list of ingredients for making
or preparing food.”
• public
• Whether or not the post type should be made available in the
admin
• boolean, default: false

31. Custom Post Types: The Code

32. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• menu_position
• Allows the positioning of the post type in the admin menu
• Default: a new post type is added after Comments
• menu_icon
• Allows you to specify a custom icon for the post type
• Default: posts icon

33. Custom Post Types: The Code

34. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments

35. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• hierarchical

36. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• hierarchical
• Determines whether the post type is hierarchical (as in ‘pages’),
or not (as in ‘posts’)

37. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• hierarchical
• Determines whether the post type is hierarchical (as in ‘pages’),
or not (as in ‘posts’)
• Default: false

38. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• hierarchical
• Determines whether the post type is hierarchical (as in ‘pages’),
or not (as in ‘posts’)
• Default: false
• can_export

39. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• hierarchical
• Determines whether the post type is hierarchical (as in ‘pages’),
or not (as in ‘posts’)
• Default: false
• can_export
• Specifies whether posts of the post type can be exportable using
WordPress’ export function

40. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• hierarchical
• Determines whether the post type is hierarchical (as in ‘pages’),
or not (as in ‘posts’)
• Default: false
• can_export
• Specifies whether posts of the post type can be exportable using
WordPress’ export function
• Default: true

41. Custom Post Types: The Code

42. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments

43. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• supports

44. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• supports
• Defines what meta boxes and other fields appear when editing
or creating a post

45. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• supports
• Defines what meta boxes and other fields appear when editing
or creating a post
• Options: title, editor, comments, trackbacks,
revisions, author, excerpt, thumbnail, custom-
fields, page-attributes

46. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• supports
• Defines what meta boxes and other fields appear when editing
or creating a post
• Options: title, editor, comments, trackbacks,
revisions, author, excerpt, thumbnail, custom-
fields, page-attributes
• Default: title, editor

47. Custom Post Types: The Code

48. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments

49. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• register_meta_box_cb

50. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• register_meta_box_cb
• taxonomies

51. Custom Post Types: The Code
register_post_type() arguments
• register_meta_box_cb
• taxonomies
• capability_type / capabilities

52. Custom Post Types: Displaying

53. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Customizing the custom post type
template

54. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Customizing the custom post type
template
• single.php

55. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Customizing the custom post type
template
• single.php
• template for the custom post type (default)

56. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Customizing the custom post type
template
• single.php
• template for the custom post type (default)
• single-post_type_name.php

57. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Customizing the custom post type
template
• single.php
• template for the custom post type (default)
• single-post_type_name.php
• custom template for the custom post type

58. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Customizing the custom post type
template
• single.php
• template for the custom post type (default)
• single-post_type_name.php
• custom template for the custom post type
• eg. single-recipe.php

59. Custom Post Types: Displaying

60. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Displaying custom post types on your site’s
homepage

61. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Displaying custom post types on your site’s
homepage
• Add to your theme’s functions.php:

62. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Displaying custom post types on your site’s
homepage
• Add to your theme’s functions.php:
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_get_posts' );

63. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Displaying custom post types on your site’s
homepage
• Add to your theme’s functions.php:
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_get_posts' );
function my_get_posts( $query ) {

64. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Displaying custom post types on your site’s
homepage
• Add to your theme’s functions.php:
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_get_posts' );
function my_get_posts( $query ) {
if ( is_home() )

65. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Displaying custom post types on your site’s
homepage
• Add to your theme’s functions.php:
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_get_posts' );
function my_get_posts( $query ) {
if ( is_home() )
$query->set( 'post_type', array( 'post', 'recipe' ) );

66. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Displaying custom post types on your site’s
homepage
• Add to your theme’s functions.php:
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_get_posts' );
function my_get_posts( $query ) {
if ( is_home() )
$query->set( 'post_type', array( 'post', 'recipe' ) );
return $query;

67. Custom Post Types: Displaying
• Displaying custom post types on your site’s
homepage
• Add to your theme’s functions.php:
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_get_posts' );
function my_get_posts( $query ) {
if ( is_home() )
$query->set( 'post_type', array( 'post', 'recipe' ) );
return $query;
}

68. Other Custom Post Type Functions

69. Other Custom Post Type Functions
• Get the “post type” of a post:

70. Other Custom Post Type Functions
• Get the “post type” of a post:
• get_post_type() allows you to check the post type of a
specific post

71. Other Custom Post Type Functions
• Get the “post type” of a post:
• get_post_type() allows you to check the post type of a
specific post
$post_type = get_post_type($post_id);

72. Other Custom Post Type Functions
• Get the “post type” of a post:
• get_post_type() allows you to check the post type of a
specific post
$post_type = get_post_type($post_id);
• Check if a post is of a specific type:

73. Other Custom Post Type Functions
• Get the “post type” of a post:
• get_post_type() allows you to check the post type of a
specific post
$post_type = get_post_type($post_id);
• Check if a post is of a specific type:
• is_post_type() allows you to check a specific post against
a specific post type

74. Other Custom Post Type Functions
• Get the “post type” of a post:
• get_post_type() allows you to check the post type of a
specific post
$post_type = get_post_type($post_id);
• Check if a post is of a specific type:
• is_post_type() allows you to check a specific post against
a specific post type
if ( is_post_type( 'recipe', $post_id ) )

75. Other Custom Post Type Functions
• Get the “post type” of a post:
• get_post_type() allows you to check the post type of a
specific post
$post_type = get_post_type($post_id);
• Check if a post is of a specific type:
• is_post_type() allows you to check a specific post against
a specific post type
if ( is_post_type( 'recipe', $post_id ) )
echo 'This is a not a blog post. It is a recipe.';

76. Other Custom Post Type Functions
• Get the “post type” of a post:
• get_post_type() allows you to check the post type of a
specific post
$post_type = get_post_type($post_id);
• Check if a post is of a specific type:
• is_post_type() allows you to check a specific post against
a specific post type
if ( is_post_type( 'recipe', $post_id ) )
echo 'This is a not a blog post. It is a recipe.';
else

77. Other Custom Post Type Functions
• Get the “post type” of a post:
• get_post_type() allows you to check the post type of a
specific post
$post_type = get_post_type($post_id);
• Check if a post is of a specific type:
• is_post_type() allows you to check a specific post against
a specific post type
if ( is_post_type( 'recipe', $post_id ) )
echo 'This is a not a blog post. It is a recipe.';
else
echo 'This is not a recipe.';

78. Resources
• WordPress.org Codex: register_post_type function reference:
• http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/register_post_type
• Blog post: Custom post types in WordPress:
• http://justintadlock.com/archives/2010/04/29/custom-post-types-in-
wordpress
• Blog post: First impressions of custom post type:
• http://wpengineer.com/impressions-of-custom-post-type/
• Plugin: Custom post type UI plugin for WordPress
• http://www.strangework.com/2010/03/03/custom-post-type-ui-plugin-for-
wordpress/