The content of your website is a vital component that makes your services the clearest and easy to understand. WordPress provides many built-in types of content that are best suitable for simple blog websites. Why we need custom plugins in WordPress? We need to fix our bad links, old content and old links that are causing the traffic loss by WP 301 Redirects plugin and many others that are also used for the same task. Almost every type of work can be done using plugins.
In this digital world which is full of competition, you can’t fulfill your business requirements without giving a customized look to your business website by custom post type WordPress. You will find different content types to create attractive and eye-catching websites.
In this article, you will learn how to create a custom post type in WordPress and the top 7 plugins that are used to create a custom post. I will also explain the features of each plugin with a comparison chart, so you can choose the best custom post type plugin.
What is Custom Post Type?
It is an individual piece of content that you create after login to the dashboard of your WordPress website. When you navigate to Posts and click on the Add New post you will see a particular interface for your blog posts. There are many options are available to add paragraphs, images, lists, audio and many more to publish your post. As you can see the picture given below:
The custom post type is not only used for blog posts and sometimes known as the custom content type which is not included in the WordPress by default. You can create more specific types of content by using the same editor and make your website easier to manage.
If you want to add a custom post type for products, you navigate to the Products menu (if it is not listed then you must install the woocommerce plugin provided by the WordPress to use the functionality of the eCommerce store) and click on the Add New. It will also help you to display testimonials, product gallery and other features to make your conversion rate better. You will be directed to a product page with the access of custom editor for adding shipping times, product images, price, and many more. As you can see in the picture:
What is Custom Post WordPress Plugin?
WordPress is a CMS (Content Management System) that displays the posts on the basis of their post type. The website’s page has the post type “page” and blog posts/articles have post type “post”. There are many predefined WordPress post types including:
- Page (Post Type: ‘page’)
- Post (Post Type: ‘post’)
- Navigation menu (Post Type: ‘nav_menu_item’)
- Attachment (Post Type: ‘attachment’)
- Revision (Post Type: ‘revision’)
You can also remove the built-in functionally and add your own custom functionality with the help of custom post type WordPress plugin. The custom post is also a regular post but it has a different post type value. Following are the examples of custom post type:
- Online Store
- Testimonials
- Products
- Places
- Media
- People
Why We Need WordPress Custom Post Type Plugins?
You have endless possibilities to show your content in a specific manner and not forced to use only the built-in post types of WordPress. When you need custom post types? When your content cannot be displayed in either post or page type and you want to display titles, email addresses, phone numbers, photos, etc. Moreover, you can specify the layout of the post on each page of your website as you want to show.
For your better understanding, consider an example of a blog and portfolio. You must want to distinguish them by using different types of content for both to display and structure. Expert developers can also create their own post types but if you are a beginner then the plugins options is best for you to use the specific functionality. There are many free WordPress plugins available but if you are unable to perform a particular task you can also use any paid.
If you don’t have understanding of how to install WordPress, you can visit this article.
What are the Top Custom Post Type WordPress Plugins?
- Custom Post Type UI
- Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields
- Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK
- Custom Post Type Maker
- CPT-onomies: Using Custom Post Types as Taxonomies
- MB Custom Post Type
- Custom post type generator
How To Install and Activate a Plugin?
Open your dashboard, click on the plugins button and navigate to Add New. Further, there are two options are available either you want to upload your plugin or install using the WordPress plugins store. Click on the upload plugin if you have plugins, otherwise enter the plugin name in the search bar, you will find all the related plugins with necessary information including version compatibility, developed by and active installations. As you can see in the picture:
You have installed the plugin but it will not work until you activated it. There are options to activate your plugins, either you can install and activate from the search store or later by performing the bulk operation. First, install and then click on the activate button as seen in the picture given below:
Navigate to installed plugins and click on the inactive plugins, check the plugin checkbox it will select all the inactive plugins. Now select the option active from the list and click on the apply button to perform the action as you can view the picture given below:
Comparison Chart of Top Custom Post Type WordPress Plugins
| WordPress Custom Post Type Plugins | Custom Post Type UI | Pods | WCK | Custom Post Type Maker | CPT-onomies | MB Custom Post Type | Custom Post Type Generator |
| Active Installs | 800,000+ | 90,000+ | 20,000+ | 9,000+ | 3,000+ | 2,000+ | 2,000+ |
| Rating | 4.6 | 5 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 5 | 5 |
| UI for New CPTs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, via extensions | Yes |
| Recommended Skills | PHP knowledge required | PHP knowledge required | PHP knowledge required | Beginner | Beginner | PHP knowledge required | PHP knowledge required |
| Custom Post Types | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | via extension | using generated code |
| User Interface | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy |
1. Custom Post Type UI
Pros:
- Simple and Good User Interface that is easy to use.
- It helps you to add custom post types to “built-in” or “custom taxonomies”.
- Support a number of available post editor features.
- A separate listing for “taxonomies” and “custom post types”.
Cons:
- It only creates the types, you need to add them manually.
- The plugin have no description for a few more complex options.
- There is no built-in feature of adding custom fields.
2. Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields
Using Pod, you can enjoy the extensive collection of fields and better fulfill your business needs.
Pros:
- Good user interface, robust and option-rich wp custom post type plugin.
- You can also create Advanced WordPress Content Types that use database tables.
- You can create a new WordPress custom content type, Custom Post Types, and Custom Settings page.
- Pods allow you to extend the content type’s power like Media, Users, Comments, and Taxonomies of WordPress.
Cons:
- It is not suitable for beginners, you must need basic knowledge to understand how to get the required functionality by reading its impressive documentation.
3. Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK
Pros:
- Simple and straightforward interface.
- Good startup guide present on the “General Settings” page.
- Organize admin with different post-types & display themes.
- It enables you to create and maintain custom post types, custom taxonomies, custom fields and Meta boxes for posts or pages.
- Pro version is available with enhanced features and functionalities.
Cons:
- Limited functionality is the free version.
4. Custom Post Type Maker
Pros:
- Excellent UI with different sections for Taxonomies & Post Types.
- You can manage regular posts and pages by using its interface.
- It provides maximum features offered by any WordPress CPT.
Cons:
- Neither handles the display of custom post types nor taxonomies.
- It is not updated regularly, hence it is not most widely used.
5. CPT-onomies: Using Custom Post Types as Taxonomies
Pros:
- Creates relationships between posts and allows them to use the “custom post types” as taxonomies.
- Create custom post type and registration of CPT-onomies without any added coding.
- Supports the registration of other custom post types that are created by other plugins and themes.
- Support the multisite environment. Anyone can register CPT-onomies across an entire network.
Cons:
- Not all WordPress taxonomy features are supported.
6. MB Custom Post Type
Pros:
- Custom post type in WordPress provided by the MetaBox team supports all post type arguments without writing custom PHP code.
- It is powerful, easy to use and a lightweight WordPress plugin.
- Supports live editing mode, which fills the essential labels automatically.
- It supports the Import/Export for registered custom post types without any extra plugins.
- You can also extend its functionality by using extensions.
Cons:
- It required to install the MetaBox plugin.
7. Custom Post Type Generator
Pros:
- Easy-to-use user interface.
- There is an option available to generate PHP code for WordPress custom post types, taxonomies in themes and WordPress custom post type plugins.
- Separately list the custom post, built-in and theme supported types.
Cons:
- When you are using the UI, there are no taxonomies and registered custom post types have appeared in the list of editable objects.
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