WordPress isn’t limited to simple blog posts or basic pages. Both posts and pages are actually types of custom content on WordPress.

When building a WordPress site, you can opt to use the default content types or create your own. For instance, if you write reviews, you might create a custom post type specifically for reviews.

Custom content is essentially a way to make uploading to your website easier and quicker by customising fields, posts and more for your specific needs.

Custom Post Types

The most commonly used type of custom content is custom post types. Posts refer to a single item of content within WordPress, such as a blog post. By default, WordPress already has five post types built-in without the need for any special code or plug-ins. These include Post, Page, Attachment, Revision and Navigation Menu. Odds are, you’ve already worked with all five of these on a regular basis.

You’re free to create as many custom content types as you need and add them to your WordPress installation. Each type you create will contain custom fields for adding text, images and other media. Many WordPress themes come complete with numerous post types already built-in such as portfolios, reviews, product descriptions and testimonials.

After you’ve added a post type to your site, it will show up within your dashboard. You can use them just like you would create a new blog post or page.

Adding Custom Post Types

You have several different ways to add custom post types to WordPress. If you’re comfortable editing the code behind your site, you can use the register_post_type() function. If you’d rather not deal with adding code to your site yourself, you can also hire a WordPress developer to create a post type for you.

Another common method is installing a theme that supports the post types you’d like to use. If you’re having a theme custom made for you, ask the developer to include any post types you might use to avoid having to add them in later.

If you’re happy with your current theme and don’t like messing with code, custom content plug-ins are available to make adding your post types a little easier. Two commonly used plug-ins include Custom Post Type UI and Custom Content Type Manager. There are also plug-ins designed to add specific content types to your current theme.

Custom Taxonomies

Post types aren’t the only custom content you can create. WordPress uses taxonomies as a way of grouping things together. By default, WordPress has four taxonomies including Category, Tag, Link Category and Post Formats. As you can see, these all group different content elements together. Though the ability to create your own custom taxonomies has been available since version 2.3, it didn’t really take off until version 2.9.

Much like with custom post types, you have several ways to create and add them to your site. For developers, you’ll use the register_taxonomy() function. You can also find custom taxonomies within themes, plug-ins and through custom development.

After you’ve added a new one, it’ll show up as a new meta box when you create a post. It’ll look similar to the Tags box you’re used to seeing, but it’ll have a custom name and fields specifically for your needs. While these might not seem quite as useful as post types, grouping items together makes managing your content much easier.

Custom Media Management

Custom content isn’t limited to text or categories. It’s also a powerful way to manage your media, such as images and video. One post type many users create or install is a gallery. This allows you to group images of the same type or tag into one section, such as a gallery page. You can also create custom content fields for adding media to posts quickly and easily. You can even add multiple content types, such as audio, video and images to a single field for better media management.

WordPress already lets you upload media and divide it into categories for easier access later. Custom content types could be created to automatically pull from specific categories, much like creating a slider for website.

Conclusion

Custom content on WordPress is yet another way to fully customise your website to your specific needs. You don’t have to settle for what’s built-in. Instead, develop your own custom content post types, taxonomies and media management options. From using themes and plug-ins to hiring a developer, the options are nearly endless.