Have we ever wondered how we can create new classifications (taxonomies) in WordPress. For example, you could have a movie site and there is a term that classifies them by genre (Drama, Terror or Adventures). I could have a portfolio to show my works and want to filter them by a classification that identifies them as: Type of Portfolio (Responsive Web, E-commerce or Web Business), for this purpose there are taxonomies and in this post we will detail them.
What is a taxonomy?
The word taxonomy comes from Greece and is used for the process of classification or ordering of objects, meanings, types of knowledge, etc. In Greek taxo means ordering and organizations; So it is easy to deduce that it is a taxonomy, but if you do not understand it yet, just think of it as something to group together certain elements that have something in common.
What is a taxonomy in WordPress?
After getting an idea of what taxonomy means, taking it to the WordPress context is easy. WordPress you use them to sort and group post_type, either those that come by defects such as page and post, or those that we define through the Custom Post Type (CPT), by the way if you don’t know what a Custom Post Type is, read this article about them:
Hierarchical and non-hierarchical taxonomies
There are two types of taxonomies in WordPress: hierarchical and non-hierarchical. The hierarchical ones are like the categories that we find in a basic WordPress installation, they support a parent-child structure, which is nothing more than a category can have sub-categories, for example the Animal category can have sub-categories like: Mammals , Birds and Reptiles, even Birds can have sub-categories such as: Turkeys, Chickens or Canaries and so on forming a tree structure. Non-hierarchical ones are simpler and more linear like WordPress tags and are mostly used to classify objects without having to depend on a parent element, for example the colors Blue, Green or Yellow.
How to create a taxonomy in WordPress?
To create a taxonomy in WordPress is simple, it’s just two steps.
1 – Create a function that will define the taxonomy.
add_action('init', 'wr_portfolio_taxonomies');
This function has two variables inside $labels, $args and a register_taxonomy() function. The $labels variable is an array that has all the taxonomy customization tags.
$args :It has a set of properties such as: hierarchical that defines whether the taxonomy will be hierarchical or not; labels property receiving the $labels tag array; show_admin_colum defines if a column will be shown in the table of the post_type that make up the taxonomy; rewrite defines the post_type that will be classified by the taxonomy.
2- Call the hook that creates the taxonomy.
function wr_portfolio_taxonomies(){
$labels = array(
'name' => 'Types Portfolio',
'singular_name' => 'Type Portfolio',
'search_items' => 'Search Types Portfolio',
'all_items' => 'All Types Portfolio',
'parent_item' => 'Parent Type Portfolio',
'parent_item_colon' => 'Parent Type Portfolio:',
'edit_item' => 'Edit Type Portfolio',
'update_item' => 'Update Type Portfolio',
'add_new_item' => 'Add New Type Portfolio',
'new_item_name' => 'New Type Portfolio Name',
'menu_name' => 'Types Portfolio'
);
$args = array(
'hierarchical' => true,
'labels' => $labels,
'show_ui' => true,
'show_admin_column' => true,
'query_var' => true,
'rewrite' => array('slug' => 'type_portfolio')
);
register_taxonomy( 'type_portfolio', array('portfolio'), $args );
}
You just need to call the init action to complete the registration process of the new taxonomy.
Conclusion
As we have seen taxonomies play a fundamental role in WordPress, its use greatly enhances this technology. Taxonomies make this CMS (Content Management System) not only a blog, but what your mind can create. We can create hotel reservation sites, websites that create events and even as a strong competition to develop virtual stores. Check more about taxonomies in WordPress Official Doc.
If you want to keep learning about WordPress development, read this articles:
Custom Post Type in WordPress (CPT)
How to create a plugin in WordPress?