The most recent versions of WordPress include the ability to utilize custom post types and taxonomies, which significantly enhance the platform’s versatility. But what exactly are these features? Simply put, they allow users to add various types of content beyond the standard posts and pages, enabling the inclusion of diverse data forms and classifications that extend far beyond basic tags and categories.

For example, consider the P2 theme I’m currently using for this blog. It offers several options at the top of the posting area: Status Update, Blog Post, Quote, and Link. Currently, these represent the standard post types, each associated with a default category. The theme intelligently determines whether to display a title based on the specific category of the post. However, suppose you want a more structured approach to categorizing your content. In that case, Automattic—the creators of WordPress and the P2 theme—could enhance the theme by creating custom post types for each of these options.

If they opted to implement custom post types, you would have the ability to select “Status Update,” “Quote,” and “Link” directly in the WordPress admin area. Each of these post types could be tailored to fit their content type. For instance, a “Status Update” post might only require a body field, omitting the title field entirely, which streamlines the user experience for that particular post type.

In addition to custom post types, creating custom taxonomies would further enrich the organization of your content. Custom taxonomies allow you to categorize your posts in ways that are more specific and relevant to your needs. For example, if each post type had a designated custom taxonomy, you could sort your posts by their type, and also leverage categories for your classification system. This means you could have multiple ways to filter and display your content, making it more user-friendly and adaptable to different content strategies.

Understanding Custom Taxonomies in WordPress

The potential applications for custom post types and taxonomies are vast. Businesses can create distinct post types for case studies, testimonials, or product reviews, allowing for targeted content management that speaks directly to their audience. Meanwhile, educational websites can define post types for lessons, quizzes, and resources, each with their unique attributes and display options.

Furthermore, plugins extend this functionality even further, enabling users to create custom post types and taxonomies without any coding knowledge. Tools like Custom Post Type UI and Pods make it simple to define new content types and taxonomies through an intuitive interface. This democratization of content management empowers users to shape their websites according to their specific needs, driving engagement and improving the overall user experience.

One notable advantage of using custom post types and taxonomies is that they help improve the site’s SEO. By categorizing content more effectively, search engines can better understand the structure and relevance of your website’s information. This, in turn, can enhance visibility in search results and attract a more targeted audience.

P2 Theme’s fake “Custom Post Types” which are really just categories.

This all only works if you incorporate the custom post types & taxonomies into the theme. You can create them, but if the theme doesn’t know what to do with them, they’re worthless. An example of the custom post types is on the home page of Fiddler.Online. The images and text of our portfolio, are each a custom post type. It looks a lot like a normal post when you’re editing it in the WP admin, but the theme knows to put them in that carousel of our portfolio.

Here’s a really great explanation I found regarding custom taxonomies. And here’s a great plugin that lets you quickly and easily create custom post types and taxonomies in your WP admin. The problem with the plugin is its only half the battle: you’ll still need to make your theme make use of them.

UPDATE: here’s an excellent and very detailed article about all the details of custom post types. Also, those “fake custom post types” I referred to have actually been added to WordPress core in a different way than I thought they would. They’re not custom post types. Instead, they’re Post Formats. Which are sorta like pre-set categories which are made to display the post in different ways. So instead of an entirely different post type as I expected when I wrote this, now it’s just a little radio button where you select which format you want to use.