Ultimate Guide to Create Custom WordPress Taxonomy

When managing a dynamic website, uploading articles, blog posts, and various content types are vital practices to align with the WordPress SEO Checklist. However, the tasks don’t end there. Ensuring visitors’ effortless navigation to this virtual library where they can discover each of the information quickly matters the most.

That’s where WordPress taxonomies come into play. It’s a powerful tool that allows you to categorize, classify, and arrange each web content piece with precision. The thing to note about WordPress taxonomies is they are built-in features, but it also lets users create custom taxonomy.

To help you get a clear picture, we’ll dive into what exactly taxonomy is and how you can create them. We’ll also have a look on how WordPress developers create categories and tags on WordPress sites. With that, let’s begin!

What is the Taxonomy Term in WordPress?

WordPress Taxonomy is a system for classifying content. It includes default taxonomies like categories and tags, and allows creating custom taxonomies. These groupings help organize posts, improve site structure, and enhance navigation and SEO by enabling users to find related content easily.

Types of WordPress Taxonomies

In WordPress, taxonomies are a powerful tool used to group posts and custom post types together. There are primarily two types of taxonomy categories and tags and the third is custom taxonomies. Here is a dive into all three of them:

• Categories: It is one of the default taxonomies in WordPress. They are hierarchical, meaning you can create parent and child categories. Categories are typically used to broadly group posts by topic or theme.
• Tags: Tags are another default taxonomy in WordPress. Unlike categories, tags are non-hierarchical, meaning they don’t have a parent-child relationship. Tags are used to describe specific details of a post, making it easier to find related content.
• Custom Taxonomies: Custom taxonomies allow you to create additional groupings for your content. These can be either hierarchical like categories or non-hierarchical like tags. Custom taxonomies are particularly useful for organizing custom post types.

When you create or edit a custom post type, page or post in WordPress, you can assign one or more taxonomy terms to it. Adding the correct and related taxonomies makes it easy for users to find related articles and explore much more information under the same topic niche.

Why Do Users Need Custom WordPress Taxonomy?

So, when default WordPress taxonomies are already available, why would anyone need to create a custom WordPress taxonomy? Well, that’s a good question, and the answer is: 

1) Greater specificity and 2) Granular Classification Options.

For instance, for a site selling clothing where eCommerce SEO is the most crucial factor, a custom taxonomy like ‘Clothing Sizes’ can help shoppers filter products by size, enhancing the user experience and increasing the product sales ratio. Here are several important reasons to consider Custom WordPress taxonomies:

• Consistency and Standardization: Custom taxonomies enforce consistency and standardization in content classification. This ensures that all content creators on the site use the same set of terms and categories, reducing confusion and maintaining a coherent structure.
• Improved User Experience: Custom taxonomies enhance the user experience by making it easier for visitors to find content relevant to their interests. That helps reduce the bounce rate and improve the user engagement.
• High Ranking SEO: Search engines appreciate well-structured websites. Custom taxonomies can improve your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) by providing search engines a clear roadmap about the web pages, blog posts, and associations. This can lead to better rankings in numerous search engine results, driving more organic traffic to your site.
• Filtering and Sorting: With custom WordPress taxonomies, you can create advanced filtering and sorting options for the content. For example, if you are running an eCommerce site. In that case, you can create a custom taxonomy to allow users to filter products by dimensions, color, brand, or other attributes, providing a more convenient shopping experience.
• Consistency and Standardization: Custom taxonomies enforce consistency and standardization in content classification. This ensures that all content creators on your site use the same set of terms and categories, reducing confusion and maintaining a coherent structure.

Custom WordPress taxonomies provide granular classification options, which default taxonomies cannot achieve. They ensure consistency, enhance user experience, improve SEO, and offer advanced filtering and sorting capabilities. If you need help building a site with custom taxonomy consider hiring WordPress developers.

How to Create Custom Categories and Tags in WordPress?

In WordPress, you can create new WordPress categories and tags for both pages and posts to organize your content. Here are the steps to create categories and tags for pages and posts:

Create Categories and Tags in WordPress Pages

In WordPress, you can create new WordPress categories and tags for both pages and posts to organize your content. Here are the steps to create categories and tags for pages and posts:

Step 1: Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard using your administrator credentials. For easy navigation, add ‘wp-admin’ at the end of your domain URL (e.g., yourdomain.com/wp-admin). If the login page is customized, you may need to use different methods to find your WordPress login URL.

Step 2: Once logged in, navigate to the tabs section on the left side of the dashboard. Click on ‘Pages’ to access the list of your pages. This section displays all the pages on your website, allowing you to manage and edit them.

Step 3: Choose the page you want to add categories or tags to. If you’re creating a new page, click ‘Add New.’ If you’re editing an existing page, select the page you want to modify. This will open the Gutenberg editor where you can make changes.

Step 4: In the Gutenberg editor, look for the ‘Page Attributes’ panel on the right side. Here, you will find sections for adding categories and tags. This panel helps you organize your content by assigning relevant categories and tags.

Step 5: To add a category, click the “Categories” section. You can select an existing category by simply checking the box next to it. To create a new category, click the ‘+ Add New Category’ link and enter the category name. Remember, you can assign a page to one or more categories.

Step 6: Below the categories section, you’ll find the ‘Tags’ section. Here, you can add relevant tags to your page. Tags are used to describe specific aspects of your content. You can add multiple tags, separated by commas, to make your content easily searchable.

Step 7: After adding categories and tags, click the ‘Update’ button to save changes for an existing page. If you’re creating a new page, click the ‘Publish’ button. This ensures that your categories and tags are applied, improving content organization and SEO.

By following these steps, you can efficiently add or edit categories and tags in WordPress using Gutenberg. This not only organizes your content better but also enhances user experience and SEO, making your site more navigable and search engine-friendly.

Create Categories and Tags in WordPress Posts

Organizing your WordPress posts with categories and tags is crucial for improving site navigation and user experience. By effectively categorizing and tagging your content, you enhance discoverability and streamline the management of your posts. Here are the steps to categorize your blogs and add related tags to them.

Step 1: To begin categorizing your blogs and adding related tags, log in to your WordPress admin panel. This will take you to your WordPress dashboard, where you can manage various aspects of your site.

Step 2: Next, navigate to the ‘Posts’ section on the left sidebar of your dashboard. Clicking on ‘Posts’ will open a list of all your published and draft posts.

Step 3: In this step, choose whether you want to categorize an existing post or create a new one. If you’re editing a post, select the one you wish to modify from the list. If you prefer to create a new post, click on the ‘Add New’ button.

Step 4: Once you’re in the post editor, locate the ‘Page Attributes’ panel on the right-hand side in the block editor. This panel includes sections for both categories and tags.

Step 5: To categorize your post, click on the ‘Categories’ section within the ‘Page Attributes’ panel. You can select from existing categories by checking the relevant boxes. If you need a new category, click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link and enter your desired category name. Remember, you can assign your post to multiple categories if needed.

Step 6: Below the ‘Categories’ section, you will find the ‘Tags’ section. In this area, you can input relevant tags that describe the content of your post. Tags help in organizing and improving the visibility of your posts. Add multiple tags by separating them with commas.

Step 7: After categorizing and tagging your post, save your changes by clicking the ‘Update’ button if you are editing an existing post. For a new post, click the ‘Publish’ button to make your post live with the new categories and tags.

By following these steps to categorize and tag your posts, you ensure a well-organized blog that improves searchability.

How to Create Custom WordPress Taxonomy?

By simply using a plugin, there will be no coding tactics you’ll need to handle, blunders, or risks to get a single error on the WordPress site. Here, we’ll use the Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields plugin to create Custom WordPress Taxonomy.

Step 1: Install and Activate Pods Plugin

Here, we will install and activate the Pods plugin, which allows you to create and manage custom content types and fields in WordPress.

1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. In the left sidebar, go to ‘Plugins‘.
3. Click on ‘Add New.’
4. In the search bar, type ‘Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields.’
5. Once you find the ‘Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields‘ plugin by ‘Pods.io,’ you can begin the standard WordPress plugin installation process.
6. After installation, click the ‘Activate‘ button.

Once activated, you’ll have access to the Pods admin area where you can create custom content types and fields.

Step 2: Create a New Pod

In this step, we’ll create a new custom taxonomy using the Pods plugin. This will serve as a custom categorization system for your content.

1. Once the Pods plugin is activated, you will see a new ‘Pods Admin‘ menu tab in the WordPress dashboard.
2. Click on the ‘Pods Admin‘ tab.
3. In the Pods Admin interface, you can create a new custom content type (pod) by clicking on ‘Add New.’
4. From the dropdown next to the content type, select ‘Custom Taxonomy Type (like Posts or Pages)‘.
5. After selecting, type out a new taxonomy name you want to add. 
6. Assure to fill out both boxes next to ‘Singular Label‘ and ‘Plural Label.’ For example, you can name it ‘Tech Language‘ and ‘Tech Languages.’
7. Once it’s all done, tap on ‘Next Step‘.

After completing this step, you will have successfully created a new custom content type (pod) to manage and organize content effectively.

Step 3: Manage Fields

Here, we will add custom fields to your newly created pod. That will allow you to store additional data and customize the information associated with your taxonomy. These fields can store additional data associated with your taxonomy, such as ‘Label,’ ‘Name,’ and ‘Field Types‘.

1. To add fields, click the ‘Add Field” button.
2. By following the prompts to configure the field type and options.
3. Click the ‘Save Pod‘ button to create your custom taxonomy.

Once done, your custom taxonomy will include the specified custom fields, enabling you to store and manage data. This will enhance the functionality and organization of your WordPress site.

Step 4: Define Taxonomy Advanced Options

In this step, you can specify advanced options for your custom taxonomy. These options include choosing whether the taxonomy will be hierarchical (like categories) or non-hierarchical (like tags), setting a custom rewrite slug, and defining user capabilities. Configure the options according to your requirements. Additionally, ensure to checkmark ‘Associated Post Types’ to ensure the correct display configuration.

Step 5: Configure REST API

To configure it navigate to the ‘REST API’ tab in the Pods Admin interface. Checkmark the box next to ‘Enable.’ By enabling the REST API, you’ll be able to add the custom WordPress taxonomy to a page or post using the Gutenberg editor. This ensures your custom taxonomy can be utilized and displayed correctly on your site.

By following these steps, you can create a custom WordPress taxonomy category using the Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields plugin. This procedure also helps you to manage custom taxonomy and its taxonomy term on your website as needed.

How to Display Custom Taxonomy in WordPress Website?

You can display custom taxonomies on a WordPress website created using the Pods plugin using Gutenberg and within the child theme you are currently using only. Here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Add Custom WordPress Taxonomy in Page/Post

Here, we’ll integrate the newly created custom taxonomy into a WordPress page or post. It will allow you to display content based on the updated taxonomy.

1. Login to your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. Navigate to the Page/Post you want to add custom WordPress taxonomy.
3. Scroll down and pick the section for displaying custom WordPress taxonomy.
4. Click on the ‘+‘, and add the ‘Post Grid.’
5. Once added, look for the ‘General‘ tab on the right-side menu.
6. Under that, you’ll get to see a tab labeled ‘Taxonomy‘. From its dropdown, you can choose the custom taxonomy you recently created.
7. Based on the custom taxonomy details you’ve created, you’ll also get to pick the category.
8. Below that, you can also customize the number of articles categorized in that custom taxonomy.

Now, you’ll be able to select and display content associated with your custom taxonomy within a specific page or post.

Step 2: Preview Draft & Publish on Live Web

Once you are satisfied with the results, as Gutenberg displays real-time results, you can only review the draft from the editing panel. If you still need to make changes you can directly edit it in the drafts before publishing it on the live site. After you are done click on the “Update” button to view changes on the live site.

Following these steps, you can effectively display custom taxonomies on your WordPress site. It will improve content organization and presentation of your site, enhancing user experience.

FAQs About WordPress Taxonomy

To Summarize

Organizing your WordPress website is crucial for both you and your visitors. While categories and tags are helpful, custom taxonomies offer a more level of organization. By using tools like the Pods plugin, you can efficiently categorize your content, enhancing both user experience and SEO.

With well-structured taxonomies, your visitors will find it easier to navigate and discover relevant content, driving better engagement. If you too want to take control over how you organize your content, hire WordPress developers. They can make your site robust and elevate it with the power of custom taxonomies.