Adding a New Post Type

Create a post type with the Custom Post Type Builder, build its Page Builder layout, and choose its settings. The example is a Projects post type for Northfield Studio, a small web design studio in Leeds.

Create the Post Type

  1. Go to ToolsAll Post Types and click Add New Post Type.
  2. Enter the name of the post type, for example Projects.
  3. Build the layout in Page Builder. It opens by itself on a new post type.
  4. Choose the settings in the Post Type Settings box below the editor.
  5. Click Publish. The post type registers only when it is published.

After you publish, the post type shows in the admin menu, and its URLs work at once.

Build the Layout

Use the Page Builder Add Row and Add Widget buttons as on any page. If you are new to Page Builder, read Building a Page first.

For the Northfield Studio projects, the layout has three rows:

  • A one-column row with a SiteOrigin Image widget for the project image.
  • A two-column row with a SiteOrigin Editor widget for the project summary on the left, and a SiteOrigin Editor widget for the client name and services on the right.
  • A one-column row with a SiteOrigin Call To Action widget that says “Start your project”.

Content you enter in a widget of the layout shows in each new post. Editors can change it in each post, unless the widget is Read Only.

Read Only Widgets

A Read Only widget has the same content in every post. Editors can’t change it in a post. You change it here, in the post type layout, and the change shows on all posts. The Call To Action in the example is a good use for it.

  1. Edit the widget.
  2. In the Widget Styles sidebar, open the Custom Post Type group.
  3. Check Read Only.

The Custom Post Type group shows only in the layout of a post type, not on normal pages. At the moment, Read Only works fully only when Editable layout is off. With Editable layout on, the widget becomes editable in a post after the post is first saved.

The Custom Post Type group in Widget Styles with Read Only checked

Post Type Settings

The Post Type Settings box is below the editor.

The Post Type Settings box for a Projects post type

Post Supports
The editing features that posts of this type have. The content editor is always on. Default: Title, Author, Thumbnail, Excerpt and Comments.

  • Title: The title field.
  • Author: The Author box.
  • Thumbnail: The Featured image box.
  • Excerpt: The Excerpt box, for a short summary.
  • Trackbacks: The Send Trackbacks box.
  • Custom Fields: The Custom Fields box.
  • Comments: Comments on the posts, and the Discussion and Comments boxes.
  • Revisions: Saves revisions of the posts.
  • Page Attributes: The attributes box, with Order, and Parent for hierarchical post types.
  • Post Formats: The Format box, when your theme supports post formats.

Some of these boxes are hidden at first. To show them, open Screen Options at the top of the post editor.

Editable layout
Lets editors add, move and delete rows and widgets in each post. When it’s off, posts always use the rows and styles of this layout, and editors can only change widget content. When it’s on, this layout is only the starting layout of new posts. Don’t turn it off after you add posts. Default: off.

Slug
The name WordPress uses for the post type, and the start of its URLs, for example /projects/harrogate-bakery/. Leave it empty to use the post type name. Use lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens. The slug can have up to 20 characters; the addon cuts longer slugs. You can’t use post, page, attachment, revision, nav_menu_item, action, author, order or theme. Each post type needs its own slug: if two post types have the same slug, only one of them works. Don’t change the slug after you add posts, because the posts stay with the old slug and no longer show.

Hierarchical post type
Lets a post have a parent post, like pages. To choose the parent, also check Page Attributes in Post Supports. Default: off.

Has archive pages
Adds an archive page that lists the posts of this type, at the slug URL, for example /projects/. Default: on.

Exclude from search results
Hides the posts from the site search. Default: off.

Display Menu Item
Shows the post type in the admin menu. Default: on. At the moment, turning it off also blocks all the admin screens of the post type, so you can’t add or edit its posts until you turn it on again.

Admin Icon
The Dashicons icon next to the post type in the admin menu. Shows only when Display Menu Item is on.

Labels
Singular: The name of one post, for example Project.
Plural: The name of the post type in the admin menu and on its list screen, for example Projects.
Both use the post type name when empty. At the moment, other admin text, such as the Add Post heading, still says Post.

Description
A note about the post type. At the moment, the addon saves this text but doesn’t use it.

Taxonomies
Groups for the posts, such as categories and tags. Each taxonomy has Label, Slug, Hierarchical and Display taxonomy column settings. See Custom Taxonomies.

Warnings on Existing Post Types

When a post type already has published posts, its edit screen asks you to confirm some changes:

  • When you click Update and Editable layout is off, because the layout change affects the existing posts.
  • When you uncheck Editable layout.
  • When you click in the Slug field or change it.

Click Cancel in the message to stop the change.

Page Settings

If your theme is a SiteOrigin theme with a Page settings box, such as SiteOrigin Corp, the box also shows on the post type. Its values are the page settings for new posts of this type. See Page Settings.

Deleting a Post Type

Go to ToolsAll Post Types, hover over the post type and click Trash. WordPress no longer registers the post type. Its posts stay in the database, but you can’t see or edit them. To get them back, restore the post type from the Trash and publish it again.