Troubleshooting 404 Errors for Custom Post Types A 404 error, meaning a “404 Page Not Found” error, occurs when a user attempts to access a page or resource that does not exist on a website. With custom post types (CPTs) in WordPress, it is possible for invalid URLs for custom content to trigger frustrating 404…
The Core Problem: Ugly Default URLs WordPress automatically generates URL structures for custom post types and taxonomies. However, the default URLs are often long, unreadable strings of question marks, numbers, and other non-semantic characters such as: http://example.com/post-type/?p=123 http://example.com/taxonomy/?term=456 These messy default URLs provide a poor user experience, hurt site navigation, and present challenges for search…
The Problem with Default Permalinks The default permalink structure in WordPress utilizes complex query strings that contain excessive information about the custom post type or taxonomy term. For example, a default custom post type permalink may appear as: http://example.com/?post_type=products&p=123 Likewise, default taxonomy term links end up convoluted and lengthy: http://example.com/?taxonomy=product_cat&term=widgets These default WordPress permalinks create…
Why URL Control Matters Controlling URLs is crucial for any WordPress website. Custom rewrite rules allow site owners granular control over URLs to improve user experience, aid search engine optimization, and customize site behavior. Improves User Experience Clean, descriptive, and consistent URLs positively impact user experience. Rewrite rules can create human-readable URLs that clearly communicate…
Why You Need Custom Archives Creating custom post type archives in WordPress allows you to better organize content that utilizes custom post types. By registering an archive, you enable control over how those custom posts are displayed and can improve site navigation. Better Organization for Custom Post Types WordPress comes with built-in archives for posts…
Why Follow Best Practices Following best practices when using jQuery in WordPress offers several benefits that can make development easier and improve the user experience: Avoid conflicts with other scripts Using proper coding techniques like unobtrusive event binding and placing scripts in the correct order reduces the chance of jQuery code interfering with other JavaScript…
The Problem with $ in Anonymous Functions A common issue that arises when working with jQuery in WordPress is losing the reference to the jQuery object ($) inside of anonymous functions. Since anonymous functions create their own scope, the $ variable no longer refers to jQuery as intended. For example, the following code sample will…
The Problem: Menus Lack Descriptive Text One limitation of standard WordPress menus is that they only display the menu item title by default. There is no built-in way to add descriptive text or details about a link without custom coding. This makes the menus less informative and engaging for site visitors. For example, a menu…
A fast, responsive WordPress website leads to higher visitor engagement, lower bounce rates, and better conversions. However, over time, WordPress performance can degrade due to growing databases, unoptimized code, and inefficient workflows. By implementing caching, compression, query analysis, and other optimizations, site owners can dramatically improve WordPress speed and performance. Caching Dynamic Content with Plugins…
What are Custom Post Types, Taxonomies, and Fields WordPress allows users to extend and customize its content management capabilities through the registration of custom post types, taxonomies, and fields. At a high level: Custom post types – Enable creating custom content types beyond the built-in post and page. Examples are products, services, testimonials etc. Custom…
