You can create a new custom post type using the PostType class. The
constructor for which accepts an array containing properties specific to Awesome
CPT (these include most of the properties documented below).
Ever post type requires an ID (lowercase letters and underscores only) and the singular and plural variants of the post type name (letters and spaces only). The singular and plural names should be lowercase in most cases (special casing is mentioned in the next section).
$my_movie = new Awesome_Post_Type( array(
'id' => 'my_movie',
'name' => array(
'singular' => 'movie',
'plural' => 'movies'
)
) );
$my_small_group = new Awesome_Post_Type( array(
'id' => 'my_small_group',
'name' => array(
'singular' => 'small group',
'plural' => 'small groups'
)
) );
Note that internally, the custom post type is initialized when WordPress is
initialized (via the init action, with a priority of 10).
Awesome CPT will automatically generate capitalized and title variants based on
the name array you provide (using ucfirst() and ucwords(), respectively).
For instance, the above small_group post type is equivalent to the following:
$my_small_group = new Awesome_Post_Type( array(
'id' => 'my_small_group',
'name' => array(
'singular' => 'small group',
'plural' => 'small groups'
),
'title' => array(
'singular' => 'Small Group',
'plural' => 'Small Groups'
),
'cap_name' => array(
'singular' => 'Small group',
'plural' => 'Small groups'
)
) );
In most cases, you can let Awesome CPT correctly generate these other name variants. However, for names which require special casing, you may specify these variants yourself.
$my_tv_show = new Awesome_Post_Type( array(
'id' => 'my_tv_show',
'name' => array(
'singular' => 'TV show',
'plural' => 'TV show'
),
'title' => array(
'singular' => 'TV Show',
'plural' => 'TV Show'
),
'cap_name' => array(
'singular' => 'TV show',
'plural' => 'TV show'
)
) );
Awesome CPT also accepts an array of arguments (the same arguments array passed
to register_post_type) via the args property:
$my_movie = new Awesome_Post_Type( array(
'id' => 'my_movie',
'name' => array(
'singular' => 'movie',
'plural' => 'movies'
),
'args' => array(
'menu_icon' => 'dashicons-video-alt2',
'menu_position' => 20,
'has_archive' => 'movies'
)
) );
You can read about these possible arguments via the WordPress Codex.
Note that all Awesome CPT post types are made public by default (in contrast to
the normal WordPress default for public).
CTP Classes will automatically create labels for your post type based on the
name, title, and cap_name arrays. For instance, the first small_group
example will generate the following labels:
'name' => 'Small Groups'
'singular_name' => 'Small Group'
'add_new' => 'Add New'
'add_new_item' => 'Add New Small Groups'
'edit_item' => 'Edit Small Groups'
'new_item' => 'New Small Groups'
'all_items' => 'All Small Groups'
'view_item' => 'View Small Groups'
'search_items' => 'Search Small Groups'
'not_found' => 'No small groups found'
'not_found_in_trash' => 'No small groups found in the Trash'
'parent_item_colon' => 'Parent Small Groups:',
'menu_name' => 'Small Groups'
However, you can override any of these by specifying them in the labels array:
$my_small_group = new Awesome_Post_Type( array(
'id' => 'my_small_group',
'name' => array(
'singular' => 'small group',
'plural' => 'small groups'
)
'args' => array(
'labels' => array(
'menu_name' => 'My Small Groups'
)
)
) );
One of the unique features of Awesome CPT is its ability to automatically generate action messages for your post type. These messages appear when you publish, schedule, or update a post.
If you wish to override these messages, Awesome CPT allows you to hook directly
into the post_updated_messages filter, like so:
function my_post_updated_messages( $messages ) {
// extend the $messages array here
return $messages;
}
$my_movie = new Awesome_Post_Type( array(
'id' => 'my_movie',
'name' => array(
'singular' => 'movie',
'plural' => 'movies'
),
'post_updated_messages' => 'my_post_updated_messages'
) );
You can add columns to a custom post type's admin screen using the
add_columns() method. The method accepts an array as its only argument, which
in turn accepts a variable number of arrays. Each of these arrays contains
properties for each column.
The properties of each column include:
id: required; the ID of the columntitle: required; the title of the column to appear in the column headerpopulate: required; a function which should echo the column value for each post. It receives the post ID as its only parameter.
$my_movie = Awesome_Post_Type( array(
'id' => 'my_movie',
'name' => array(
'singular' => 'movie',
'plural' => 'movies'
)
) );
$my_tv_show->add_columns( array(
array(
'id' => 'release_date',
'title' => 'Release Date',
'populate' => function( $post_id ) {
echo get_post_meta( $post_id, 'release_date', true );
}
),
array(
'id' => 'poster',
'title' => 'Poster',
'populate' => function( $post_id ) {
echo get_the_post_thumbnail( $post_id, 'thumbnail' );
}
)
) );
Note that the anonymous functions used above are only supported in PHP 5.3 and
newer. For older versions, define your function beforehand, and set the
populate property to the function's name as a string.
...
'populate' => 'my_function_name'
...
Naturally, you can also reference methods if you are working within a class:
...
'populate' => array( $this, 'my_method_name' )
...
To make a column sortable, simply specify the meta_key and orderby
properties for any given column. The value for the meta_key property must be
the ID of some meta data stored on the post. The orderby property is the
generic name of the data by which you are sorting (as shown in the page URL).
array(
'id' => 'gross_income',
'title' => 'Gross Income',
'populate' => function( $post_id ) {
echo '$' . number_format( get_post_meta( $post_id, 'gross_income', true ) );
},
'meta_key' => 'gross_income',
'orderby' => 'gross_income',
'numeric' => true
);
Setting the numeric property's value to true will sort the column
numerically rather than alphabetically.
You can add contextual help menus for your custom post type to aid users of your plugin. These menus appear in the top-right corner of the current admin screen, next to the Screen Options tab. To add these help menus, specify the help_menus option as an array of arrays, where each sub-array represents the help menu for a particular admin screen. Each menu array consists of the ID of the screen, as well as an array of help tabs for that screen.
$my_movie = Awesome_Post_Type( array(
'id' => 'my_movie',
'name' => array(
'singular' => 'movie',
'plural' => 'movies'
),
'help_menus' => array(
array(
// Edit screen that lists all movies
'screen' => 'edit-my_movie',
'tabs' => array(
array(
'id' => 'movie_overview',
'title' => 'Overview',
'content' => '<p>Movies are similar to pages.</p>'
)
),
'sidebar' => '<p><strong>For more information:</strong></p><p><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/" target="_blank">Support Forums</a></p>'
),
array(
// Post Edit screen for an individual movie
'screen' => 'my_movie',
'tabs' => array(
array(
'id' => 'movie_creating',
'title' => 'Creating Movies',
'content' => '<p>Creating a movie is very similar to creating a page.</p>'
)
)
)
)
) );