The Essential Guide to WordPress 3.0 Custom Taxonomies

Posted in WordPress 596 days ago • Written by:

In general, taxonomies are used to arrange, classify and group things. By default, Taxonomies in WordPress are tags and categories that WordPress is using for the posts. Apart from these two, WordPress makes it possible for theme developers to create their own taxonomies which are created within the functions.php theme file. This is what we are going to cover today. We will learn how to work with Custom WordPress taxonomies.

Recently, I’ve started working on my portfolio WordPress theme, and I needed to define different information for each project/template, like price, colors, style, etc. For this thing, I needed to create three more taxonomies which are looking like this:

WordPress Custom Taxonomies Example

Creating a new taxonomy

This is as simple as it is to look at the picture above. All you have to do is to copy the code below, in your functions.php. If your theme doesn’t have one, which I don’t think it hasn’t already one, just create the file yourself. Now, this is the code you have to write for each taxonomy you are creating:


<?php

register_taxonomy('test', 'post', array(
'hierarchical' => false,  'label' => 'test',
'query_var' => true, 'rewrite' => true));

?>

Just replace “test” with the name of the taxonomy you wish to create. That’s how you create custom taxonomies. The’ll just appear in the Dashboard below the Post Tags.

Using the new taxonomies

We have created them, but as well as tags and categories, you need some code if you want to output them in your article. That’s a little code snippet that goes into your WordPress loop, just like the post tags and categories:


<?php echo get_the_term_list($post->ID, 'people', 'People: ', ', ', ''); ?>

See it yourself

Below are some examples of what we were talking about in this tutorial:

PopCritics.com is using custom taxonomies to output different details about the movies. See the Genre(s), Actor(s), etc…
TypeChart.com is another great example of WordPress site that is making good use of taxonomies for finding font styling. You can see that in the sidebar.
Soh Tanaka‘s portfolio is also using taxonomies to output details on projects. Observe the Client, Date, URL, Tasks, etc…

I hope you have understood what taxonomies are. I’m sure you have heard about them before, but never wondered what they are, but what about using them for creating a nice t-shirt store?

Using Custom Taxonomies to create a T-shirt store

Now that you have learned how to use custom taxonomies, we will use them for creating a T-shirt store. This won’t be a fully functional one, we will just build up the part that is using custom taxonomies.

1. Preparations

First of all we need a theme. We will use the new WordPress 3.0 default theme, called Twenty Ten. In order to get this theme and have it properly working, you need to download WordPredd 3.0 RC2. To get this version, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and the last one should be WP 3.0 RC2. Do not be worried working with WP 3.0, it has the same template tags.

Next, you will need a local server, so the best way to create it, is using WAMP, or just build up your own environment following this previous tutorial on 1stWebDesigner.

Now that you have your local server up and running, just install WordPress.

2. Editing the Twenty Ten theme

Now we need to create our custom taxonomies. First of all, think about what custom taxonomies you will need. For a T-shirt store we need to provide:

size details
price
brand

So, just open up the Twenty Ten functions.php file and create those custom taxonomies. I suggest to write the code at the end of the file for avoiding to break the default functions that the theme has. You can see the code that you will need and as It is, without any PHP tags:


// Custom taxonomy for Size
register_taxonomy('Size', 'post',  array(
'hierarchical' => false, 'label' => 'Size',
'query_var' =>  true, 'rewrite' => true));

// Custom taxonomy for Price
register_taxonomy('Price', 'post',  array(
'hierarchical' => false, 'label' => 'Price',
'query_var'  => true, 'rewrite' => true));

// Custom taxonomy for Brand
register_taxonomy('Brand', 'post',  array(
'hierarchical' => false, 'label' => 'Brand',
'query_var'  => true, 'rewrite' => true));

After creating the custom taxonomies, we need to modify the loop too. So this will be a little difficult, because you need to take care to not break any of the theme’s code. Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through this.

Modifying the loop. Open up the index.php file from the 2010 theme. After you have opened it, you will see a tag that is calling the loop.php file:


<?php
 /* Run the loop to output the posts.
 * If you want to  overload this in a child theme then include a file
 * called  loop-index.php and that will be used instead.
 */
 get_template_part( 'loop', 'index' );
 ?>

We will need to completely delete this, and create a our own loop. So, instead loop tag, copy and paste this following code:


<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post();  ?>
<div id="post-<?<span class=">
<pre><?php the_ID(); ?>" ></pre>
</div>
 <h1><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"></a>
<div>
 <!--Insert custom field and custom taxonomies code here-->
<pre><?php wp_link_pages( array( 'before' =>  '</pre>
<div>' . __( 'Pages:', 'twentyten' ), 'after' =>  '</div>
' ) ); ?>
 </div><!-- .entry-content  -->
</div>
<pre><?php endwhile; else: ?></pre>
<div id="post-<?<span class=">
<pre><?php the_ID(); ?>" ></pre>
</div>
 <h1  class="entry-title">Nothing here...</h1>
<div  class="entry-content">
Sorry, no T-shirts avaiable for  sale. Try coming back later.
 </div><!--  .entry-content -->
</div>
<?php endif; ?>

This is the loop that we will use. The ID and class are some theme specific styles. You have to notice that I have removed the meta data. Now, we will need to add the codes that will retrieve our custom taxonomies and we will need to make use of custom fields too, to retrieve t-shirt thumbnail. Add them exactly where you see the HTML comment in the above code. Now, here’s the code that we need:


<img src="ID, 'post-icon', true);  ?>" alt="Icon for Post #"  />
<ul>
<li><?php echo get_the_term_list($post->ID,  'Size', 'Size: ', ', ', ''); ?></li>
<li><?php echo  get_the_term_list($post->ID, 'Price', 'Price: ', ', ', '');  ?></li>
<li><?php echo get_the_term_list($post->ID,  'Brand', 'Brand: ', ', ', ''); ?></li>
</ul>

<?php the_content(); ?>

Notice that the custom field name is “thumb”. For using this custom field you need to create a new one with the name thumb, and the value of it is the link to your thumb. Now that we have everything set, what about trying to publish a sample post. Take a look at mine:

Conclusion

So, you have learned how to use custom taxonomies, and you have created a little T-shirt store. Well, not a fully functional one, but it’s a good start :)

If you have any questions regarding this tutorial please do not hesitate to ask via comments. I’ll try to solve all your problems. Thank you!

For Further Reading:

First Steps in Creating a Web Design Business

Put Your Website on a Diet with Minifiers

How To Charge More As a Freelancer

6 Things To Consider For A Better Web Design Career

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Article was created by Cosmin Negoita

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Visit Cosmin Negoita's Website | Follow Cosmin Negoita On Twitter

I'm a young web designer & developer from Romania who fell in love with creativity and Adobe. Follow me at @cssfactory

51 Brilliant Comments - Join Discussion Now!

paul
Posted 10 days ago
51

I want to set up a structure like this:

Zip Code —–> Supplier ——-> date/comment
——–> date/comment
——–> date comment
Supplier ——-> date/comment
——–> date/comment
——–> date comment
zip code ——> supplier —–> date/comment
—–> date coment

so it is many zip codes – many suppliers within zip code – many comments within suppliers by date

Searchable by zip code

I have been told I can use a custom taxonomy for zip code
can I group suppliers within zip code, than comments with supplier using this method (I’m a bit confused/daunted but I don’t want to start PHPing/SQLing as I’m on a deadline)
Thanks

Reply
Tamas
Posted 14 days ago
50

Thank you so much. Beautifully explained, this is exactly what solved my issue. I wish you all the best:)

Reply
Sheharyar
Posted 17 days ago
49

Brilliant! Thanks for the tutorial!

Reply
mark shirley
Posted 40 days ago
48

Great article is there a tutorial similar that would explain how to do this with twenty eleven, as the way the loop is set up is completely different. Thanks Mark

Reply
Wewodowly
Posted 48 days ago
47

Here are some more links on the topic, weight loss calorie intake chart

http://ufotoysonline.com/img/

Reply
Ryan
Posted 78 days ago
46

Thanks for this. I was about to hack my way through this and would have wound up with something really ugly, and much harder.

Reply
Rawaf
Posted 114 days ago
45

It’s great post and I useful from some new info about custom taxonomies But I search about how can I display the post by taxonomy term as like display post by category .. have anyone info or tutorial about this ?

thank you

Reply
free classifieds in india
Posted 136 days ago
44

Hey Cosmin Negoita it is great to see your post on wordpress, i was just planning to create a T-shirt store now i can use this script well..

Reply
Stefan
Posted 143 days ago
43

hej. nice tutorial, but i dont understand the last step.
where is the exact position and in wich file i have to place the last code snippet?

thanks in advance

Reply
Dan
Posted 186 days ago
42

Hey guys, you might be interested in a great way to order the taxonomy terms is the Advanced Taxonomy Terms Order

Reply
Ma’moun Diraneyya
Posted 274 days ago
41

Hi,

Thanks for the tutorial. It is helpful.

Now I need additional two things for my special case. Using a hierarchal custom taxonomy associated with a custom post type, I need:

(1) To change the admin meta-box to a drop-down menu to make sure the post has only one term associated. The drop-down menu should show just the latest children terms, so let us say, for example, I have those terms:
Zone X
–> Package X (Zone X’s child)
—-> District X (District X’s child)
Zone Y
–> Package Y (Zone Y’s child)
—-> District Y (District Y’s child)
I want the drop-down to show only the latest children: District X and District Y.

(2) To automatically select all parents of a selected child term when saving the post. So, let us say the user chose District Y in my previous example, then both Package Y and Zone Y should be selected as well, behind the scenes.

Could you help me with that please, or point me out to any helpful reference?
Thanks in advanced,

Reply
Bjorn johansen
Posted 306 days ago
40

I am using Twenty ten as a base for mye theme. Is there any way to change the taxonemy already included. I am thinking like instead of showing the word
post in all places in the blog, could you replace post with blogarticle instead.
So the theme would show blogarticle by xxxx instead of post by xxx

Reply
Tom
Posted 337 days ago
39

Not really sure that custom taxonomies is what you want to be using for things like Price etc. You’re better off creating a custom post type for Product and then setting up meta for that. Unless you have a very fixed list of prices (eg: every item is either $10, $35 or $100).

Take a look at the WordPress Codex entry, that covers this topic exactly: http://codex.wordpress.org/Post_Types#Custom_Types

Or this awesome tutorial that actually does exactly what you’re talking about:
http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/wordpress/rock-solid-wordpress-3-0-themes-using-custom-post-types/

Reply
Geoff
Posted 425 days ago
38

Hey Dawg, I used this tutorial to get it working for me…

http://justintadlock.com/archives/2009/06/04/using-custom-taxonomies-to-create-a-movie-database

Its under the heading of “Taxonomy term templates”

Reply