The introduction of Custom Content Types was one of the core tipping points where WordPress went from a solid blogging platform on which you could do some simple CMS-style sites to a full fledged CMS which was capable of driving more complex content-centered web applications. In this talk I’ll briefly cover the “blobs vs chunks” distinction popularized by Karen McGrane and why content modeling matters in the CMS world. Then we’ll cover custom post types, custom meta fields, custom taxonomies, and other ways of doing structured content in WordPress.

1. Beyond Posts & Pages
Getting Chunky with
WordPress
WordCamp Boston 2013
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

2. #wcbos #chunky
http://www.isitedesign.com/
@jeckman

3. 3
#wcbos #chunky
http://delight.us/
@jeckman

4. #wcbos #chunky
http://www.cmsmyth.com/
@jeckman

5. Structured Content FTW
WordPress Can COPE
What Next
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

6. Structured Content
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

7. “We don't need more content –
we need content that does more”
- Sara Wachter Boettcher
#wcbos #chunky
http://www.cmsmyth.com/2013/04/contentthat-does-more/
@jeckman

8. Adaptive Content
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Reusable content
Structured content
Presentation-independent content
Meaningful metadata
Usable CMS interfaces
#wcbos #chunky
http://www.abookapart.com/products/conten
t-strategy-for-mobile
@jeckman

9. Web Publishing
Content Management
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

10. “WPT’s capture content with the
primary purpose of publishing web
pages. . . . CMS’s, on the other
hand, store the content cleanly,
enabling the presentation layers to
worry about how to display the
content.”
- Daniel Jacobson
#wcbos #chunky
http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/adapti
ve_content_management
@jeckman

11. WordPress Blobs
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

12. #wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

13. Can WordPress COPE?
#wcbos #chunky
http://www.slideshare.net/zachbrand/npr-apicreate-once-publish-everywhere
@jeckman

14. We can make
WordPress
chunkier.
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

15. #wcbos #chunky
http://www.etsy.com/listing/102633258/custo
m-made-for-you-furry-monster-feet
@jeckman

16. Custom Post Types
Custom Taxonomies
Custom Meta Data
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

17. Example: Alerts
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

18. Example: Alerts
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

19. register_post_type()
Arguments passed control:
• What to call it (Labels)
• Where to show it
– Public, Show UI, Searchable, has_archive
– Menu position
• Who can use it (capabilities)
• What it includes (supports)
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

20. add_action( 'init', 'create_post_type' );
function create_post_type() {
register_post_type( 'alerts',
array('labels' => array(
'name' => __( 'Alerts' ),
'singular_name' => __( 'Alert' )),
'public' => true,
'has_archive' => true,
));
}
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

21. Example: Slides
#wcbos #chunky
http://wordpress.org/plugins/meteor-slides/
@jeckman

22. function meteorslides_register_slides() {
$meteor_labels = array(
'name'
=> __( 'Slides', 'meteor-slides' ),
'singular_name’ => __( 'Slide', 'meteor-slides' ),
'add_new'
=> __( 'Add New', 'meteor-slides' ),
'add_new_item’ => __( 'Add New Slide', 'meteor-slides' ),
'edit_item'
=> __( 'Edit Slide', 'meteor-slides' ),
'new_item'
=> __( 'New Slide', 'meteor-slides' ),
'view_item'
=> __( 'View Slide', 'meteor-slides' ),
'search_items' => __( 'Search Slides', 'meteor-slides' ),
'not_found'
=> __( 'No slides found', 'meteor-slides' ),
'not_found_in_trash' => __( 'No slides found in Trash',
'meteor-slides' ),
'parent_item_colon’ => '',
'menu_name’ => __( 'Slides', 'meteor-slides' )
);
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

23. $meteor_args = array(
'labels'
=> $meteor_labels,
'public'
=> true,
'publicly_queryable' => false,
'exclude_from_search' => true,
'show_ui'
=> true,
'show_in_menu'
=> true,
'menu_icon'
=> ''. plugins_url(
'/images/slides-icon-20x20.png', __FILE__ ),
'capability_type'
=> $meteor_capabilitytype,
'capabilities'
=> $meteor_capabilities,
'map_meta_cap'
=> $meteor_mapmetacap,
'hierarchical'
=> false,
'supports'
=> array( 'title', 'thumbnail' ),
'taxonomies'
=> array( 'slideshow' ),
'has_archive'
=> false,
'rewrite'
=> false,
'query_var'
=> true,
'can_export'
=> true,
'show_in_nav_menus'
=> false);
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

24. Custom Post Types
Custom Taxonomies
Custom Meta Data
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

25. Example: Stories
Here we have a custom post type for
“Stories” with two custom taxonomies:
Locations and Topics
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

26. These Meta Boxes enable selection of
Location / Topic from a pre-defined set
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

27. function gc_taxonomies_story_topic() {
$labels = array(
'name =>' _x( 'Topics', 'taxonomy general name' ),
'singular_name’ => _x( 'Topic’,'taxonomy singular name' ),
'search_items'
=> __( 'Search Topics' ),
'all_items'
=> __( 'All Topics' ),
'edit_item'
=> __( 'Edit Topic' ),
'update_item'
=> __( 'Update Topics' ),
'add_new_item'
=> __( 'Add New Topic' ),
'new_item_name'
=> __( 'New Topic' ),
'menu_name'
=> __( 'Topics' ),
'popular_items' => NULL, );
$args = array(
'labels' => $labels,
'hierarchical' => false,
'show_tagcloud' => false,
'show_admin_column' => true,
);
register_taxonomy( 'topic', 'story', $args );
}
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

28. add_action('admin_menu','remove_my_meta_boxen');
function remove_my_meta_boxen() {
remove_meta_box('tagsdiv-locations','story','core');
remove_meta_box('tagsdiv-topic','story','core');
}
function add_locations_box() {
add_meta_box('location_box_ID', __('Location'),
'gc_style_locations','story', 'side', 'core');
}
function add_topics_box() {
add_meta_box('topic_box_ID',__('Topic'),
'gc_style_topics', 'story', 'side', 'core');
}
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

29. function gc_style_locations($post) {
echo '<input type="hidden" name="taxonomy_noncename"
id="taxonomy_noncename" value="' .
wp_create_nonce( 'taxonomy_location' ) . '" />’;
$locations = get_terms('locations', 'hide_empty=0');
?><select name='story_locations' id='story_location’><?php
$names = wp_get_object_terms($post->ID, 'locations');
print_r($post);
?><option class='location-option' value=’’
<?php if (!count($names)) echo "selected";?>>None</option>
<?php
foreach ($locations as $location) {
if (!is_wp_error($names) && !empty($names)
&& !strcmp($location->slug, $names[0]->slug))
echo "<option class='location-option' value='" . $location->term_id
. "' selected>" . $location->name . "</option>n";
else
echo "<option class='location-option' value='" . $location->term_id
. "'>" . $location->name . "</option>n";
}
?>
</select>
<?php
}
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

30. Custom Post Types
Custom Taxonomies
Custom Meta Data
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

31. We’ve also got custom meta data here for:
• Pull Quote
• School
• Teacher
• Democracy Coaches
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

32. Custom Post Meta Boxes
• add_meta_box() passed a styling function
• style function outputs the html needed for admin
screen
• save function added to save_post action
• update_post_meta to store
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

33. function add_meta_boxen() {
add_meta_box('pullquote_box_ID',__('Quote'),
'gc_style_pullquote','story','side','core');
add_meta_box('school_box_ID',__('School'),
'gc_style_school','story','side','core');
add_meta_box('teacher_box_ID',__('Teacher'),
'gc_style_teacher','story','side','core');
add_meta_box('coaches_box_ID',__(’Coaches'),
'gc_style_coaches’,'story','side','core');
}
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

34. function save_taxonomy_data($post_id) {
// <snip>
$post = get_post($post_id);
if ($post->post_type == 'story') {
$location = $_POST['story_locations'];
wp_set_object_terms( $post_id,(int) $location,
'locations' );
}
if ($post->post_type == 'story') {
$topic = $_POST['story_topics'];
wp_set_object_terms( $post_id, (int) $topic, 'topic' );
}
update_post_meta($post_id,
update_post_meta($post_id,
update_post_meta($post_id,
update_post_meta($post_id,
}
#wcbos #chunky
'pullquote',$_POST['pullquote']);
'school', $_POST['school'] );
'teacher', $_POST['teacher'] );
'coaches', $_POST['coaches'] );
@jeckman

35. #wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

36. Chunky Via Plugins
• Custom Post Type UI
– http://wordpress.org/plugins/custom-post-type-ui/
• Custom Post Type List Shortcode
– http://wordpress.org/plugins/custom-post-type-listshortcode/
• Secondary HTML Content
– http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/secondary-htmlcontent/
• Attachments
– http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/attachments/
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

37. #wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

38. For Further Exploration
• Relationships between Posts
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

39. #wcbos #chunky
http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/10657
@jeckman

40. For Further Exploration
• Relationships between Posts
• Display of Custom Post Types
– archive-{post_type}.php
– single-{post_type}.php
• Expanding the WordPress presentation tier
– Timber ( http://jarednova.github.io/timber/ )
– JavaScript ( see
http://www.kadamwhite.com/archives/2013/videoevolving-your-javascript-with-backbone-js )
– API (http://developer.wordpress.com/docs/api/ )
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman

41. Thank You!
@jeckman
#wcbos #chunky
@jeckman