Create a Custom Post Type in Your WordPress Theme

By Lisa Sabin-Wilson from WordPress Web Design For Dummies

In order to create and use custom post types on your WordPress website, you need to be sure that your WordPress theme contains the correct code and functions. In the following steps, you create a very basic and generic custom post type called “Generic Content,” and you also find detailed information on the different parameters you can use with custom post types to create different types to suit your needs:

In your Dashboard, choose Appearance→Editor link.

The Edit Themes page opens.
Click the Theme Functions template link to open the functions.php file.

The Theme Functions template opens in the text editor in the middle of the page.
Add the custom post type code to the bottom of the theme functions template file.

Scroll down to the bottom of the functions.php file and include the following code to add a Generic Content custom post type to your site:
```
// ADD CUSTOM POST TYPE
add_action( 'init', 'create_post_type' );
function create_post_type() {
 register_post_type( 'generic-content',
  array(
   'labels' => array(
    'name' => __( 'Generic Content' ),
    'singular_name' => __( 'Generic Content' )
   ),
   'public' => true
  )
 );
}
```
The function register_post_type(); can accept several arguments and parameters, which is detailed in the table. You can use a variety and a combination of arguments and parameters to create a specific post type. You can find more information on custom post types and using the register_post_type(); function on the WordPress Codex page.
Click the Update File button to save the changes made to the functions.php file.

Arguments and Parameters for register_post_types();
Parameter	Information	Parameters	Example
label	The name of the post type	None	'label' => __( 'Generic Content' ),
singular_label	Same as label, but in singular, not plural format (Posts become Post, for example)	None	'singular_label' => __( 'Generic Content' ),
description	The description of the post type; displayed in the Dashboard to represent the post type	None	'description' => __( 'This is a description of the Generic Content type' ),
public show_ui publicly_queryable exclude_from_search	public sets whether the post type is public. show_ui either shows admin screens or doesn’t. publicly_queryable allows this post type to be included in public queries within template code. exclude_from_search either shows post type in search results or doesn’t.	true or false (default)	'public' => true, 'show_ui' => true, 'publicly_queryable' => true, 'exclude_from_search' => false,
menu_position	Sets the position of the post type menu item in the Dashboard navigation menu; by default, custom post types appear after the Comments menu in the Dashboard.	Default: 20; sets integers in intervals of 5	'menu_position' => 25,
menu_icon	Defines a custom icon (or graphic) to the post type menu item in the Dashboard navigation menu; creates and uploads the image into the images directory of your theme folder	None	'menu_icon' => get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/images/generic-content.png',
hierarchical	Tells WordPress whether to display the post type content list in a hierarchical manner	true or false; default is true	'hierarchical' => true,
query_var	Controls whether this post type can be used with a query variable, such as query_posts	true or false; default	'query_var' => true,
capability_type	Defines permissions for users to edit, create, or read the custom post type	post (default); gives the same capabilities for those who can edit, create, and read blog posts	'query_var' => post,
supports	Defines what meta boxes, or modules, are available for this post type in the Dashboard	title (text box for title); editor (text box for content); comments (check boxes to toggle comments); trackbacks (check boxes to toggle trackbacks); revisions (allows revisions); author (drop-down box to define author); excerpt (text box for excerpt); thumbnail (featured image selection); custom-fields (custom fields input area); page-attributes (page parent and Page template drop-down lists)	'supports' => array( 'title', 'editor', 'excerpt', 'custom-fields', 'thumbnail' ),
rewrite	Rewrites the permalink structure for the post type	true or false; slug (permalink slug to prepend custom post types); with_front (if you’ve set permalink structure with a specific prefix)	'rewrite' => array( 'slug' => 'my-content', 'with_front' => false ),
taxonomies	Uses existing WordPress taxonomies (category and tag)	Category post_tag	'taxonomies' => array( 'post_tag', 'category'),
*<Tip>*

If you don’t feel up to writing all this code in the theme functions file, the Custom Post Type UI plugin from WebDevStudios provides you with an easy interface in your WordPress Dashboard. This plugin also simplifies the creation of custom post types on your site and bypasses the need to create the code in the Theme Functions (functions.php) file. You can find the free plugin.