Do you want to transform your website using custom post types? Custom post types have the power to transform your WordPress website from a simple blog to a powerful Content Management System. These tools allow you to go beyond pages and posts by creating different types of content for your website.
WordPress has been here for almost two decades. And for many years, most people used it to run their personal websites and blogs. Until a couple of years ago, most of the websites powered with this platform were small sites and blogs. However, since most developers can create custom post types today, WordPress has been used to power different types of websites. Here are five simple ways that you can use custom post types for your WordPress.
Defining custom post types
Custom post types can be defined as content types such as pages and posts. Since WordPress has been evolving over the years from a simple platform to a complex content management system, the word post stuck with it. However, a post type can be any content type.
In most cases, WordPress comes with different post types such as page, navigation menu, post, revision, and attachment. You can create your custom post types and name them whatever you want. For example, if you manage a movie review website, you probably need to create a movie review post type. The post type can have several custom fields plus its own structure of the custom category.
Other common examples of post types include Testimonials, portfolios, and products. The majority of popular WordPress plugins use custom post types to store information on your website. Some of the top plugins that use custom post types include:
- WooCommerce: This allows you to add a custom post type to your site
- MemberPress: Enables you to add a member press product custom post type
- WP Forms: This allows you to create WP forms and store all your online forms safely
Do you need a custom post type?
You can add different types of content to your website and sort them into different categories and tags. Even students who need assignment writing help can add a link to their respective sites. Here are a few signs that show that you need a custom post type:
- The content you are posting doesn’t feel or look like a post
- It doesn’t need to be part of your entries’ series
- Tags and categories don’t help in the grouping and sorting of particular content
- You need extra fields to include more information
- You need to display a particular type of content differently to pages or posts
Here are five custom post types that boost your WordPress website:
1. Portfolio
Portfolio is one of the most widely used custom post types in the world. The majority of premium theme developers influenced this. Since developers and designers are the first to adopt this technology, you shouldn’t be surprised that they started using it to display their fine works.
2. Ecommerce
Among the majority of open-source content management systems, WordPress is considered to be the simplest platform to navigate and use. Being the best paper writing service to the majority of students, it was time that someone came up with a way to use it for e-commerce sites.
The ideal custom post type for e-commerce is products. You can use this together with other categories to organize products in other categories. With e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce gaining traction and having attained a milestone of more than a million downloads, products should be the second post type that has been used the most.
3. Question and answer sites
In most cases, WordPress offers user management systems and comments. Combining these two with custom post types will boost the performance of your site. Questions can be treated as custom post types and comments as answers.
4. Real Estate Listings
A common real estate listing consists of the details of a property along with other details such as agent and location. You can achieve this using a custom post type that targets property listing. Integrated with custom college paper writing service, they can be used by students to craft essays and create a complex listing for real estate with details such as location, size, and property types to name a few.
5. Directories
Most of the time, directories that you’ll find on the web have a structure similar to that of listings and categories. And this is similar in many ways to what WordPress offers. Whether it’s a local restaurant’s directory or a job listing site, you can use custom post types to create listings while comments can be used to give users a chance to leave reviews.
Creating a custom post type
One of the simplest ways to create a custom post type is through the usage of plugins. This method is ideal for beginners because it’s not only safe but also easy. One of the things you need to do is install and activate the plugin Custom Post Type UI. After activating it, the plugin will add an extra item in the menu of your WordPress admin called CPT UI. With CPT UI, you can create a custom post type of your choice.
Conclusion
Custom post types are essential tools for any person who owns or manages a website. These tools allow you to create different types of content beyond pages and posts. WordPress has evolved rapidly from a simple blogging platform to a complex content management system. Therefore, including the custom post types will increase traffic and make it easier for you to achieve your goals.
