Unlock Custom Post Types for Author Websites

Introduction

Creating a professional author website requires a tailored approach to organising content. WordPress custom post types offer authors the ability to structure their content—like books, blogs, and events—uniquely, streamlining user experience and improving SEO. In this lesson, you’ll learn the basics of custom post types, how they work, and the benefits they bring to managing diverse content on your website.

What is a Custom Post Type?

In WordPress, a custom post type is a specific content type that you can create on the platform in addition to the default post type.

The default post type was designed for blogging and that’s all it should be used for. Custom post types allow us to create content layouts that are specific to our needs, providing more flexibility and control over how our content is structured and displayed.

In the use case for this course the author Dirk Volcano has created a “Books” custom post type to manage all his published book listings separately from his blog posts.

The Benefits of a Custom Post Type

• Organisation: Helps organise different types of content separately. Blogs don’t get mixed up with Books making it easier to manage and for visitors to find.
• Customization: Custom Post Types tailor the WordPress admin interface and post content structure to fit specific needs. As you’ll see in detail in the next lesson a “Books” post is laid out very differently to a regular Blog Post.

Use Cases for Custom Post Types

We are going to go deep into setting up a ‘Books’ custom post type in this course. Although it’s outside the scope of this course a growing author website may choose to ADD other custom post types including…

• Portfolios for  showcasing projects or work samples. For example the author may also be an artist who uses a PORTFOLIO custom post type to show off their artwork with a description and a form for new commissions.
• Products: With an established audience an author may move into direct sales selling books and merchandise. Adding WooCommerce, an ecommerce plugin, to WordPress automatically creates a “Products” custom post type.
• Events: Authors who frequently tour, attend panels, conventions or host workshops  benefit from having an EVENTS custom post type as a dedicated area to keep fans informed and as a destination for promoting the event.

Summary

WordPress custom post types enable authors to categorise and display content such as blogs, books, events, and products with precision. By creating distinct layouts and enhancing organisation, custom post types improve user experience and SEO. Mastering this feature is essential for crafting an engaging, efficient, and professional author website.