Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Learn why and how to create custom fields and metaboxes for you
Citation preview
Technology Hotspot & Salon
268 14th Street, Oakland, CA 94612 | Open 11-7 Monday - Friday | Drop-in co-working space, workshops and technology services | More info: http://www.techliminal.com
Content in this presentation is Copyright (c) 2010 Tech Liminal. CC-Share-Alike. Feel free to use stuff from this presentation, but leave a link to Tech Liminal
WordPress Custom Fields and Metaboxes
East Bay WordPress Meetup
1
www.techliminal.com Content © 2011, Tech Liminal
Introduction
• Web Developer• Information Architect• 15 years of experience in
technology & marketing orgs• Freelancer, Entrepreneur
• Technology Hotspot & Salon• Co-Working• Workshops, Conferences• Expert, friendly help with web &
social media
Anca Tech Liminal
2
www.techliminal.com
Agenda
• Why Custom Fields / Metaboxes
• Example 1: Directory Website
• Example 2: Conference Website
• WP Alchemy
• Custom Fields in the Database
3
www.techliminal.com
Why?
• Custom post types + custom fields turn WordPress from a blogging/CMS into a viable tool for operating your business
• Domain knowledge (e.g. events, products, etc)
• Make it easier for users to put information in the right place
4
Directory Website
5
www.techliminal.com
Montclair Village Directory Website
6
Custom Information for each business
Listing by category
www.techliminal.com
Montclair Village Directory Website
7
Custom MetaboxCustom Fields in the
Database
www.techliminal.com
Compare With Plain Custom Fields
8
Custom Metabox “Plain” Custom Fields
•Easier to remember what needs to be filled in•Better user experience for new people
www.techliminal.com
How This is Displayed
9
Conference Website
10
www.techliminal.com
Scenario
• International conference with events held during 1 week in September/February
• Local Event Organizers create and manage their own events
• About 300 Organizers, 1000 events each time around
• These are not WordPress experts
• They only use this tool for 8 weeks/year
11
www.techliminal.com
Some Design Concerns
• Each Metabox matches to a particular part of the event organization process
• Some information is not accessible to all users
• Designed based on how the application is going to be used.
• Minimize support requests, questions, errors.
12
www.techliminal.com
Event Post Type
13
•Custom Post Type + Metaboxes•Implemented in a plugin
Posts 2 Posts FTW
Custom Metabox
Custom Metabox
www.techliminal.com
On The Front End
14
www.techliminal.com
MetaBoxes: WP Alchemy
15
• http://www.farinspace.com/wpalchemy-metabox/
• Add to a folder in your theme or plugin
• Build HTML metaboxes
• Makes Saving and Retrieving Easier
Subfolder in my Plugin
www.techliminal.com
MetaBoxes: WP Alchemy
16
mb_event_info.php - Metabox template you
control.
www.techliminal.com
MetaBoxes: Putting It In the Post
17
show it only on my “event” post type (in
plugin code)
Not sure why, but it has to be loaded on init,
rather than admin_init
Individual, rather than array of, fields
www.techliminal.com
What About Searches?
18
Perform the query
Add each field value to the meta_query array, with compare property
Add the Meta_query to the query args
Create an array for the custom field values to
query.
This checks for a single vlaue
www.techliminal.com
Resources• WordPress for Programmers: TL Class Starting in January
• Tech Liminal WordPress Support Group
• http://techliminal.com/wordpress-support-group
• WP Alchemy: http://www.farinspace.com/wpalchemy-metabox/
• Tammy Hart’s reusable Metaboxes:
• https://github.com/tammyhart/Reusable-Custom-WordPress-Meta-Boxes
• http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/add_meta_box
• Learn about adding metaboxes
• http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/register_post_type
• Create your custom post type
• http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/get_post_meta - How to get (and set) custom fields programmatically
19
