Tutorials

Let me guess: You've been searching for a WordPress A-Z plugin but none of them do exactly what you want them to do. Now, you need to create an alphabetical listing of your WordPress content but maybe you're not sure how to get started.

Don't worry - we've got you covered.

In this post, I'll show you how to use the Posts Table Pro plugin to create a WordPress alphabetical index from any type of content on your site - posts, pages, custom post types... you name it! You can use this to create A-Z listings, with posts listed by letter. Or maybe a WordPress glossary, where people can click on the A-Z letters or numbers to view the listings under each one.

Let's get started so you can have a working solution to your problem as soon as possible!

How to create a WordPress alphabetical index or list

To demonstrate how to create a WordPress alphabetical index, I’m going to use a real-life example of creating an A-Z movie index where visitors can click on any letter to jump straight to movies with names that start with that letter.

You can see an example of the end result below:

The process that I show you can work for anything, though. This means you'll be able to adapt this same basic approach to anything from regular WordPress posts to custom post types to numerical indexes and even WooCommerce products.

Posts Table Pro - the perfect WordPress A-Z plugin

While there are some simple WordPress A-Z plugins, most of them force you into using a single preset layout and only apply to regular WordPress posts.

On the other hand, by using Posts Table Pro, you’ll be able to:

• Create an A-Z index for regular posts, pages, or custom post types
• Manipulate your WordPress alphabetical index to show only the exact information that you want
• Include data from custom fields in your index

You can see a live example of the types of indexes that Posts Table Pro can help you create on this demo page.

Here’s everything you need to create your WordPress alphabetical index

• Posts Table Pro plugin (paid)
• Easy Post Types and Fields (free), to create custom taxonomy (for alphabetization) and/or custom post type

And if your theme doesn't already have functionality for tabs or toggles, you'll also need:

• Shortcodes Ultimate plugin (free), optional, but makes it easy to create clickable tabs to divide your index by the letters in the alphabet.

The entire process in a nutshell

I’m going to break down every single step in more detail. But before I do that, I want to give you a high-level look at the process so that you have an idea of where this article is going.

To create a WordPress alphabetical list you’ll:

1. Decide between listing regular posts, and pages, or using a custom post type
2. Create a custom taxonomy that you’ll automatically add the first letter of the post using a code snippet (for easy alphabetization) - or you can set the letters manually if you don't want to edit any code
3. Create a list of content for each letter using the Posts Table Pro shortcode
4. Display those lists in a tabbed interface using Shortcodes Ultimate (or something similar)

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Decide what content you want to index

Posts Table Pro lets you index and alphabetize content from:

• Posts
• Pages
• Custom post types

So if you haven’t already, it helps to think of the best way to store the content that you want to index.

• Posts - typically, people use the default posts to store blog posts. So if you want to create an alphabetical index to list WordPress blog posts, this is what you want.
• Pages - pages are generally more for static content. You can create an index of your pages, but for more specialized content, you'll probably want a custom post type instead.
• Custom Post Type - custom post types are flexible and good for storing non-standard content, like a movie entry, staff member, and more.

For this demo, I’m going to use a custom post type to store the movie entries. But if you want to use regular posts, instead, it’s as simple as removing one tiny little phrase later on in the article (I’ll explain this when we get there!).

Step 2: Create a custom post type using Easy Post Types and Fields

If you’re going to use regular WordPress posts instead of a custom post type, you can click here to skip straight to the next step.

To create your custom post type, install and activate the free Easy Post Types and Fields plugin. Then:

Go to  Post Type → Manage in your WordPress dashboard. Click Add New to launch the wizard.

First, enter the Singular and plural names for your post type. For this example, “Movie Review” and “Movie Reviews”. But again, you can adapt this to anything - “Staff Member”, “Artist”, or “Document”.

Select the type of information you wish to display and click Create.

And you are done! You should see your new custom post type show up in the WordPress sidebar.

I’ll cover some neat enhancements - like adding custom fields - later on. But for now, you’re ready to move on to the next step.

Further reading: How to create custom post types in WordPress (step-by-step)

Step 3: Create a custom taxonomy

In order to index content alphabetically, you need to create a taxonomy for Posts Table Pro to filter content based on.

Essentially, you create the Alphabetical Letter taxonomy and assign each post a taxonomy for the first letter in the post's title (don’t worry - I’ll show you a way to do this programmatically so that you don’t need to manually set the taxonomy for every content item).

For my movie example:

• “Eat Pray Love” would get “E”
• “Conspiracy Theory” would get “C”
• And so on...

Here’s how to create the necessary taxonomy:

If you skipped here from Step 1, you’ll need to install and activate Easy Post Types and Fields plugin before you continue.

1. Go to Post Type → Manage.
2. Click on the taxonomies button for the post type you wish to customize (in our example, it would be Movie Reviews).
3. On the Manage Taxonomies page, click on the Add New button.
4. Enter the singular and plural names for your new taxonomy. For our purpose, it would be Alphabetical Letters. The actual name can be anything but make sure the slug is easy to remember.
5. Make sure the Hierarchical checkbox is unchecked as there will only be 26 letters of the alphabet and no need to create sub-taxonomies.

After making those changes, make sure to click Add taxonomy button.

Step 4: Add content using the custom taxonomy

Now, if you go to add new content using regular posts or your chosen custom post type, you should see the new Alphabetical Letters taxonomy.

Add your content, making sure to add the appropriate letter to the Alphabetical Letters taxonomy for each piece of content.

How to add the taxonomy programmatically

For small amounts of content, it’s fine to add the taxonomy manually. But if you’re dealing with large amounts of content, you might prefer a method that doesn’t require you to manually input the taxonomy every single time.

Thankfully, you can do that using some basic code. Essentially, this code snippet will automatically chop off the first letter of any piece of content and add it as a taxonomy - no manual input required!

While you’ll need a tiny bit of PHP knowledge to get this done, it’s nothing too complex. Here’s the code I used for my example (credit to Kathy Is Awesome for this snippet):

Note - assisting with code snippets is outside of our plugin support. If you're not comfortable editing code yourself, we recommend using our plugin customization service.

/* When the post is saved, saves our custom data */
function kia_save_first_letter( $post_id ) {
 // verify if this is an auto save routine.
 // If it is our form has not been submitted, so we don't want to do anything
 if ( defined( 'DOING_AUTOSAVE' ) && DOING_AUTOSAVE )
 return $post_id;

//check location (only run for posts)
 $limitPostTypes = array('post');
 if (!in_array($_POST['post_type'], $limitPostTypes)) 
 return $post_id;

// Check permissions
 if ( !current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post_id ) )
 return $post_id;

// OK, we're authenticated: we need to find and save the data
 $taxonomy = 'glossary';

//set term as first letter of post title, lower case
 wp_set_post_terms( $post_id, strtolower(substr($_POST['post_title'], 0, 1)), $taxonomy );

//delete the transient that is storing the alphabet letters
 delete_transient( 'kia_archive_alphabet');
}
add_action( 'save_post', 'kia_save_first_letter' );

To make this code your own, you need to:

• Replace post in array('post'); with the name of your custom post type (only if you’re using a custom post type).
• Replace glossary in  $taxonomy = 'glossary'; with the name of your actual taxonomy

To find the name of your custom post type, click on Post Types → Manage and check the Name/Slug column. To check the name of Taxonomies, click on Taxonomies button and check the Name/Slug column:

You can then add this code to your site using a plugin like Code Snippets (I marked the two areas that you need to modify with arrows to make things clear):

Once you add the code, you’ll no longer need to manually edit the taxonomy for each piece of content. Instead, WordPress will automatically take the first letter of the post and add it to the taxonomy whenever you publish or update the piece of content.

You can see this in action below:

Step 5: Add content to the alphabetical list

Now, you’re ready to create the various alphabetical lists of your content.

After buying Posts Table Pro, you will get a confirmation email that includes a download link and a license key. Once you get the email, download the plugin from the link provided and save the zip file to your computer.

Next, upload the plugin to your WordPress admin by going to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, selecting the zip file, and then activating it. Once activated, the setup wizard will take you through a step-by-step process to create your first table. The wizard will guide you through the process of selecting columns, adding filters, and customizing the display of your table. With these easy-to-follow steps, you can quickly set up your Posts Table Pro plugin and start creating tables to display your content in an organized and efficient manner.

Here are some tips on which specific settings to choose in the table creator:

Choose which type of content to display

To create a table listing the pages or posts for a specific letter of the alphabet, the first step is to provide a name for your table and select the post type you want to display.

After giving your table a name and selecting the post type, the next step is to choose which posts or pages to include in your table. The available options will differ based on the post type you selected in the previous step. For example, if you chose a post with custom taxonomy, you will be presented with the relevant taxonomies to select from.

For example, to display content from the Movies post type, just choose 'Movies' from the dropdown menu in the 'Create' tab.

Choose which columns to display in your table

Now that you’ve selected what type of content to display, you need to choose the specific information that you want to display as columns in your table. For example, depending on what you’re displaying, you might want to show:

• Post title
• Custom fields
• A link or buy button
• Etc.

To do that, choose the column type from the dropdown menu and click "Add". You can also reorder columns by dragging and dropping the sort icon or column heading.

Filter posts to display them alphabetically and set the sort order

Add filters to your table that enable users to refine their selections. Filters appear as dropdowns above the table, allowing users to quickly sort and find the information they need. You can add as many filters as you like, depending on the content of your table and what your target audience would find most helpful. For example, you can add a filter for titles or categories.

In addition to filters, you can also choose how to sort the table. You can set the default sorting option and the sort direction. Sorting allows you to arrange your table's contents in ascending or descending order based on a particular column, making it easier for users to find what they are looking for. For example, if you have a table of books, you could sort them by name, allowing users to quickly find their books in alphabetical order.

Display your table

Once you have completed creating your table using the Post Table Pro plugin, there are two ways to add it to your website:

1. Using the Gutenberg editor: In the Gutenberg editor, you can insert a 'Post Table' block by clicking on the plus (+) sign and searching for 'Post Table'. Once you select the 'Post Table' block, it will be added to your page. You can then customize it further by choosing which table to display and other settings.
2. Using shortcode: If you're not using the block editor or prefer to use shortcode, you can copy the shortcode from the final page of the WordPress table builder. You can then paste the shortcode anywhere on your site, such as a page, post, or widget. The shortcode for each table also appears on the main list of tables in Post Tables → Tables, so you can easily access it at any time and add it to your site. By using shortcodes, you have the flexibility to place the table on any page, regardless of its content.

Step 6: Create tabs using Shortcodes Ultimate plugin and insert shortcode

If you want to create a set of clickable tabs like the example above, Shortcodes Ultimate provides an easy, theme-agnostic solution. With that being said, if your theme does include already functionality for tabs/toggles, we recommend using that first. If not, go for Shortcodes Ultimate!

To get started:

• Install and activate the free Shortcodes Ultimate plugin
• Go to the WordPress editor for the page you want to add your WordPress alphabetical index to
• Click on the new Insert shortcode button above the editor toolbar (or use a block if you're using the Gutenberg editor)
• Select the Tab option

• Enter “A” in the Title and Anchor

• Enter the Posts Table Pro shortcode in the Content box
• Click Insert Shortcode
• Repeat the process for each letter in the alphabet, making sure to change the letter in the Posts Table Pro shortcode each time to display the correct taxonomy term

Once you’ve added 26 shortcodes for all the letters in the alphabet (27 if you want to collectively include numbers 0-9 as a separate option), wrap the entire set of shortcodes in the [su_tabs] shortcode. You should have a separate [su_tab] shortcode for each letter of the alphabet, each containing a Posts Table Pro table.

If you get stuck, skip ahead. I've provided some sample shortcodes that you can copy and paste straight into your page.

Sample A-Z shortcode for you to copy

If the above seems a bit tricky, don't worry. Here's a set of sample shortcodes that you can use to get started. Just paste the entire group into your page, then replace 'alphabetical_letter' with the actual name of the taxonomy you're using to tag your posts with the correct letter":

[su_tabs]
[su_tab title="A"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:a"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="B"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:b"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="C"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:c"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="D"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:d"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="E"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:e"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="F"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:f"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="G"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:g"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="H"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:h"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="I"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:i"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="J"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:j"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="K"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:k"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="L"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:l"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="M"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:m"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="N"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:n"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="O"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:o"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="P"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:p"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="Q"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:q"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="R"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:r"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="S"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:s"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="T"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:t"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="U"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:u"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="V"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:v"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="W"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:w"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="X"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:x"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="Y"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:y"] [/su_tab] 
[su_tab title="Z"] [posts_table term="alphabetical_letter:z"] [/su_tab]
[/su_tabs]

Enjoy your new WordPress alphabetical index

Now, if you Publish your page, you should be able to see your WordPress alphabetical index.

Here’s what my example looks like after adding a few more movies. I’ll use a GIF so that you can see how the alphabetization works:

If you want to remove the search, filter, and/or pagination options, you can add additional shortcode parameters to further customize how things look and function.

And if you want to enhance your index with more information, here’s a neat way to display extra information using custom fields...

Enhancing your WordPress alphabetical index with custom fields

Because Posts Table Pro can display custom fields, you can use custom fields to display additional information as a separate column in your index.

For example, in my alphabetical movie list, it might be helpful to include extra information for things like:

• Release Date
• Director
• Etc.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Add custom fields using Easy Post Types and Fields plugin

To add custom fields to a custom post type, just edit that custom post type from the Post Types → Manage interface.

On the other hand, if you want to add custom fields to your regular WordPress posts, you’ll need to:

1. Go to the Post Types page and click on the Custom Fields button for the respective ost type.
2. Click on the Add New button on the Manage Custom Fields page.
3. Give your custom field a name, slug, and type. The type can be a simple text or a visual editor.
4. Click on the Add custom field button.

For example, here’s what it looks like after I’ve added a few custom fields:

Once you save your changes, you’ll be able to add information directly to those fields if you go to the relevant post type:

Step 2: Include custom fields as columns in Posts Table Pro

Now that you have your custom fields, all that’s left to do is include them as columns in your table. To do that, add a comma between each column you want to display.

You need to know the custom field name for this. You can find the field name in the Post Types → Manage interface:

So to add columns for Director and Release Date to my example from before, I would go to Post Types → Tables and click to edit my table. On the columns page, I would click to add a custom field column and add the custom field name.

Put it all together, and my example alphabetical movie index looks like this:

You may also like: How to use a WordPress index plugin to list pages, posts or any custom post type.

Create a WordPress numerical index with tabs for numbers 0-9

So far, you've learned how to create an A-Z alphabetical index in WordPress. If you'd like to create a numerical index - for example with tabs for numbers 0-9 - then the instructions will work for that too.

Creating An Alphabetical Index Of WooCommerce Products

All the steps that I’ve shown you in this article can be easily adapted to create a WordPress alphabetical index of WooCommerce products using our WooCommerce Product Table plugin.

Essentially, you’ll perform identical steps to everything I’ve discussed above but focus on the product post type that WooCommerce creates.

Here’s a quick summary of the steps that you’ll want to take:

• Use Easy Post Types and Fields to create a new Alphabetical Letter custom taxonomy that is associated with the Products post type
• Take the same code snippet from Step 4 and apply it to the product post type to programmatically add the product’s first letter to the Alphabetical Letter taxonomy that you created
• Use the WooCommerce Product Table shortcode to filter products by taxonomy and control what information is displayed
• Add the WooCommerce Product Table shortcode to tabs that you create with Shortcodes Ultimate

The advantage of using WooCommerce Product Table is that you'll be able to easily include product images, Buy buttons, and other ecommerce-focused information in your alphabetical product table.

Posts Table Pro is your flexible WordPress A-Z plugin

If you want to create a flexible WordPress alphabetical index, Posts Table Pro gives you all the functionality that you need.

You'll be able to organize any type of content, including custom post types. And you'll also be able to manipulate your content's front-end display by choosing exactly what shows up in the index, including custom fields.

Remember - to create the alphabetical list like the example above, all you need is:

• Posts Table Pro (or WooCommerce Product Table if you want to create an alphabetical list of WooCommerce products)
• Easy Post Types and Fields to create the custom taxonomy and/or custom post type
• Shortcodes Ultimate to display everything in a tabbed A-Z list (or your theme's built-in options)

Have any further questions about how to create a WordPress alphabetical index? Leave us a comment and we'll try to help out!

Today, I'm going to show you how to use Posts Table Pro as a WordPress job board plugin. This WordPress table plugin is an ideal way to list job vacancies in an easy-to-find, user-friendly format. Job hunters can quickly search, sort and filter the list of jobs to find the vacancies they're interested in.

As companies post job alerts on your site, you'll build your backlinks and authority with search engines, boosting your SEO and your traffic - creating a virtuous cycle that will help cement your site's place as the job site in your niche. Who needs LinkedIn?

I'll also show you how to add extra features to the job portal. This includes online job applications, a 'Submit a job' form with PayPal payments, and automatic expiry dates for when a job reaches its closing date. I'll provide step-by-step written instructions as well as a YouTube video tutorial that you can follow along with.

Before we start, I'll share three case studies of companies who have used this tutorial to create a real-life WordPress job board. Afterwards, I'll tell you how to do the same on your own website!

Case study #1 - WordPress job board plugin for Cardiac Output

Cardiac Output is a cardiology job board owned by ourselves at Barn2 Media. It has been the UK's leading cardiology job portal for over 25 years. We took it over back in 2013 to give it a fresh start and modernize its online presence.

We originally used WPJobBoard as the WordPress jobs plugin for Cardiac Output. However, it has never been as reliable as we would have liked. And at $97/year, it was more than we wanted to spend on a WordPress job board plugin. Our web host WP Engine recently told us about a security loophole in WPJobBoard. This was the final straw, so we decided to rebuild the job manager using our own Posts Table Pro plugin.

Posts Table Pro is hugely popular as one of the best WordPress job board plugins, and lots of our customers use it in this way. It made perfect sense to use it for Cardiac Output, so we decided to make the change.

In this tutorial, I will tell you exactly how I used Posts Table Pro to create a WordPress job portal for Cardiac Output. I'll include detailed screenshots and a full video tutorial. You can even see it in action on the Cardiac Output website! This will give you everything you need to create your very own WordPress job board.

Case study #2 - TVProductionContacts.com's Job Board

TVProductionContacts.com is a networking site for professionals in the TV production industry. The site's creator wanted to add a sortable job board to his site, to do this he chose to use Posts Table Pro. And this is the tutorial that he used to help him create the job board.

The job board has been customized to show just the right amount of columns. Info varies from job title and location, to rate of pay and contract duration. Job seekers can quickly sort through the table by using the dropdowns above the job board to filter out what they're looking for.

The table is easy to manage as there's a job submission form powered by the Gravity Forms plugin and the Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types add-on. Once each job submission has been approved, the table is automatically updated with the information.

Case study #3 - Ian Martin Job Board

IanMartin.com followed the instructions in this tutorial to create a job board for their WordPress website. They chose the Posts Table Pro plugin specifically because it handles custom post types and displays jobs in the required layout.

Developer Scott Russell said: "We do engineering, IT and technical project staffing so have a LOT of jobs we need to display, organize etc. We’re using a plugin called Matador that pulls jobs from our applicant tracking system, displays the job ads as custom post types and allows people to apply for jobs."

Each job is added to the custom post type created by the Matador plugin. The jobs can be divided into categories and industries, with an 'Industry' filter dropdown above the table. This makes it easy for jobseekers to sift through the long list of jobs and quickly find jobs in their industry. They can also click on an industry in the table to filter by that industry.

As well as the central list of all jobs, they have used the job board plugin to list jobs from specific industries only. For example, there's a page listing Power Generation jobs only. They also have location-specific pages where users can sort by location to find jobs in their area.

Read on to find out how to create your own job board.

How the WordPress job board works

We'll create a WordPress job manager by combining Posts Table Pro with free plugins to add all the features we need. This is what you'll need:

1. WordPress website with a theme, a domain name, and hosting. Note that Posts Table Pro is designed to work with any page builder plugin, such as Elementor, Beaver Builder, etc. It also works with the Gutenberg or Classic WordPress editors and has its own Gutenberg block. So however you've built your site, you'll be covered!
2. Easy Post Types and Fields - you'll use this free, lightweight plugin to save your jobs in the WordPress back end. It does this by creating a 'Jobs' custom post type, which adds a dedicated Jobs area to the WordPress admin. This is where you'll create jobs, add extra fields of information, and structure job types into categories.
3. Posts Table Pro - this WordPress job search plugin lists your job postings in a table layout on the front end of your website. It provides extra functionality such as search, sort, and filter.
4. (Optional) Post Expirator - use this free plugin if you want to automatically remove vacancies from the job board after the closing date.
5. (Optional) To add even more features to your WordPress job board portal, you can use a WordPress forms plugin (e.g. the free Contact Form 7 plugin) to take job applications online. Or you can use Gravity Forms to create a 'Submit a Job' form where employers can post vacancies directly to your website.

Video - How to create a WordPress job board

Watch this video to see me create a complete WordPress job portal with these plugins. You can pause as many times as you like, and create your own job board alongside me. I've also provided step-by-step written instructions below:

Step 1 - Create somewhere to store your job vacancies

To build a WordPress jobs board, you need an area for storing the job vacancies. We'll do this by creating a 'Jobs' custom post type. You'll have a dedicated 'Jobs' section on the left hand side of the WordPress admin. This keeps your job vacancies separate from other content, such as pages and posts.

1a. How to create a Jobs custom post type in WordPress

1. Install and activate the free Easy Post Types and Fields plugin from WordPress.org.
2. Look for Post Type → Manage in your WordPress dashboard. Click 'Add New'.
3. Click 'Create New' on the next screen.
4. Enter the singular and plural post type names.
   • Singular Label - The singular name for your jobs, e.g. 'Job' (make a note of this, as you'll need it to list the vacancies using the WordPress job board plugin in Step 2).
   • Plural Label - A plural name for your vacancies, e.g. 'Jobs'.
   • Click 'Next'.
5. Select the type of information you wish to display and click Create.

Next, it's time to use the Easy Post Types and Fields plugin to create custom fields and taxonomies. These let you store extra data about each job vacancy in WordPress, such as job grade, hours, job description download link, and the 'Apply now' button.

Use custom fields to store one-off data about each job, such as the job reference or 'Apply now' link or button. Use custom taxonomies for data that you want to use to filter the WordPress job portal. For example, you might want to add filter dropdowns so that people can refine the jobs list by grade or hours, so use custom taxonomies for these.

Tip: You only need to create custom fields or taxonomies for data that WordPress can't store by default. Your Jobs custom post type can have all the standard WordPress core fields such as title, content, excerpt, featured image, tags and categories. You just need to create any additional fields that are needed on top of this, such as working hours or salary.

1b. Create custom fields for storing extra data about your jobs

1. Head over to Post Type → Manage in your WordPress dashboard.
2. If you want to add a custom field to a custom post type, click on the custom fields button for the respective custom post type. If you can't locate your pre-built post type in the list, it should be in the other post types tab (Such as posts, pages, products, or media).
3. On the manage custom fields page, click on the Add new button to add a custom taxonomy.
4. Give your custom post type a name, slug, and select the field type (text or visual editor). Click the Add custom fields button.
5. Repeat these steps for all the custom fields that you wish to create.

1c. Create custom taxonomies for grouping and filtering the jobs

1. Go to Post Type → Manage in your WordPress dashboard.
2. This time, click on the Taxonomies button for the post type you wish to customize.
3.  Click on the Add New button.
4. Enter the singular and plural names and the slug for your new taxonomy, as before. (Remember to make a note of the singular label for Step 2.)
5. Click on the Add taxonomy button.
6. Repeat the steps above to add more custom taxonomies.

Now, you'll see a 'Jobs' section on the left of the WordPress admin. This is where you'll manage the vacancy in your WordPress job board. When you create a job board, you'll see all the extra fields available to fill in for each job listing.

1d. Add vacancies to the WordPress jobs plugin

Next, it's time to add the job vacancies to WordPress:

1. Go to Jobs > Add New on the left of the WordPress dashboard.
2. Add all the information for the job and click 'Publish'.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each job vacancy.

Pro tips:

• To create clickable links, you should either add the HTML for a link to a Text custom field, or use a WYSIWYG Visual Editor field and add a link using the 'Insert/edit link' icon from the WordPress toolbar. If your WordPress theme comes with buttons, you can also add buttons to these fields. For example, you might want to create a 'Download' button where people can access a PDF of the job description. (If your theme doesn't have a button style, then I recommend the free Shortcodes Ultimate plugin.)
• Job boards typically have dozens of listings with structured fields (salary, location, dept, closing date). To add large numbers of jobs at once, use Posts Table Pro with the Setary bulk editor. That way, you can quickly add numbers via a spreadsheet interface with bulk actions.

Ok, so now you've finished creating the backend infrastructure for your website job portal. The next step is to use Posts Table Pro as a WordPress job board plugin that will list your jobs in a filterable table layout on your public-facing website.

Step 2 - Create a WordPress job board page

1. Install and activate the Posts Table Pro WordPress table plugin.
2. Once activated, the setup wizard will appear and guide you through the process of entering your license key.
3. Once you have installed the plugin, you can use the automatic setup wizard to create your first table. However, if you prefer to start right away or are already familiar with the plugin, you can create new tables anytime by going to Post Tables → Add New.
4. Follow the table wizard and customize your table by columns, filters, sort, and more.
5. To add your table to your WordPress site, you have two options. Firstly, you can use the Gutenberg editor by adding a 'Post Table' block and customizing it further with your preferred settings. Secondly, you can copy the shortcode from the WordPress table builder and paste it anywhere on your site, such as a page, post, or widget. You can find the shortcode for each table in the main list of tables in Post Tables → Tables.

2b. Choose your columns

On the table builder, you can add columns to your job board. To customize the columns displayed on your board, you have the option to select which columns to display and in which order. For instance, you can add:

• Image
• Title
• Company
• Hours
• Locations
• etc.

You can add a column by choosing the type of column from the dropdown menu and selecting 'Add'. As you add columns, they appear in the list of columns above, and you can rearrange them by dragging and dropping the sort icon on the left or the column title.

2c. Add filters to help people find a job

If you're planning to list more than about 5 jobs, then I recommend adding filter dropdowns at the top of the WordPress job board. You can add filters for categories, tags, or any custom taxonomy - each as a separate dropdown. Visitors can select more than one value at once, and each filtered view of the board has its own URL they can bookmark or share. This job portal has 3 filters, so users can find jobs of all stripes based on the country, location, and working hours:

To add a filter, select the appropriate option from the dropdown menu and then click on the 'Add' button.

Lastly, choose how to sort the table. You can set the default sorting option and the sort direction.

Job seekers can now sort by any column or use the search box or filters to find a job. If you've included any custom taxonomy columns in the list of jobs, then they can also click on this to filter the table. Any links or buttons will appear as clickable links on the job board.

Step 3 - Configure the single job page

In your WordPress job board, you'll see that people can click on the job title or image to access a separate page about that job. This page will show the job title, main content (where you may have added the full job description or person specification), and possibly the featured image - depending on your theme.

The easiest way to show extra information such as location and salary is to add this within the main content box for each job. There are 2 ways to automate this:

1. If you're technically minded, then you can create a custom template for the Jobs post type and use it to display the custom fields and taxonomies. For non-developers, I recommend posting a job on Codeable - this is a good way to find good developers with specific skills.
2. If you don't want to create a custom template, then you can use Posts Table Pro to display the custom fields and taxonomies directly on the single job pages. I'll tell you how to do this next. It's a neat way to show custom fields and taxonomies for specific jobs without having to edit any template files.

Use Posts Table Pro to show the extra job fields on the single vacancy page

On the Cardiac Output job site, I used Posts Table Pro to display the custom fields and taxonomies for each job at the top and bottom of the individual job page.

For example, in this screenshot, you can see two extra tables, which I added directly to the main content box for the job vacancy. The first table shows the job image, working hours, company name and location. The second table appears under an 'Apply for this job' heading and contains the contact details for enquiries, plus buttons linking to the downloadable job description and website.

The process for showing these fields on the single job vacancy page is similar to creating a table listing all your jobs, which I showed you in Step 2. However, there are a few differences to be aware of:

• Add id="123" to the Posts Table Pro shortcode, replacing 123 with the ID of the job vacancy post. You can find the ID by going to the Edit Job screen for that job, and looking for post=123 in the URL. For example, if the URL ends in /wp-admin/post.php?post=33563&action=edit then the ID for the post is 33653.
• Add links="none" to the shortcode to disable the links to the single job page. Your users are already on that page, so these links aren't needed!
• Add page_length="false" reset_button="false" search_box="false" totals="false" to the shortcode. This will remove any elements you don't need such as the number of jobs and search box, which aren't appropriate here.

For example, I used this shortcode to create the table shown at the top of the above screenshot:

[posts_table post_type="job" include="123" columns="image,tax:hours,cf:company,tax:location" shortcodes="true" links="none" page_length="false" reset_button="false" search_box="false" totals="false"]

Step 4 - Automatically expire vacancies from the job portal on the closing date

Lots of WordPress job boards need to automatically expire the job listings when the closing date passes. This saves manual work, as you don't have to set a reminder to delete the job on the closing date.

You can easily achieve this by adding the free Post Expirator plugin. Install the plugin and it will add a 'Post Expirator' box on the right of the Add Job screen. Use this to set a job vacancy expiry date to change the job status to 'Draft' when it expires.

Can jobseekers apply for a job vacancy online?

It's easy to add an 'Apply online' facility to your WordPress job board or portal.

You just need to create an enquiry form to use alongside the WordPress job board plugin.

You can do this using any WordPress contact form plugin. These instructions are for Contact Form 7 as it's free and hugely popular, but any contact form plugin is fine. (Tip: If you're planning to add a 'Submit a job' facility anyway, then you might as well use Gravity Forms for this. As you'll see in the next section, you'll be needing Gravity Forms so that employers can upload a job.)

1. Install Contact Form 7 and go to the 'Forms' section on the left of the WordPress dashboard.
2. Use the Contact Form 7 Documentation to create a Job Application form with all the fields you need. You can create short or long text fields, check boxes, radio buttons, and even extras like file uploads.
3. Add the contact form to a separate page on your website.
4. Next, add an 'Apply for Job' link to one of the fields in your job board. I recommend creating a custom field for the job application link (see Section 1b, above). You can display this as a column in the job board table (see Section 2). For each job, add a clickable button or link to the page with the contact form.

Do I need a separate application form for each job?

It's entirely up to you. The simplest option is to create 1 job application form and use it for all your jobs. Include a compulsory 'Job Title' field in the form so that applicants can tell you which job they're applying for.

Alternatively, you could create a separate form for each job. This is obviously more work, or you could ask a developer to dynamically generate separate forms for each vacancy and link to these from the 'Apply for Job' column in the job board.

Can I link to a 3rd party job applications page?

Absolutely. If you want people to apply via a third party job site (e.g. NHS Jobs if you're listing NHS jobs), just link to that URL from the 'Apply for Job' column in your WordPress job board, instead of using your own contact form.

If you're just using the WordPress job board plugin to list your own job vacancies, then you can stop now and start setting up your jobs portal. Keep reading if you want employers to be able to post job vacancies directly to your website.

You may also like: how to create a WordPress member directory

Can employers submit and pay for jobs online?

If you want recruiters to be able to post jobs on the website, then you can do this with the Gravity Forms WordPress forms plugin. You need to add a 'Submit a Job' form to your website where employers can enter all the vacancy details. You can also use it to take other information such as the employer's contact and payment details. This method means there's no need for each recruiter to set up their own company profile in order to post jobs to your site.

When a job advertiser submits the job vacancy, you will receive an email notification and a new job post will automatically be added to your WordPress job board. (If you want to approve each vacancy before it's added to the job board, then you can hold each post for moderation by an administrator.)

Check out our full tutorial on how to use Gravity Forms to create a form, which will automatically add job posts to your website. You can also see it in action on the TV Production Contacts website - they followed the instructions in this tutorial to create their own 'Post a job' form:

You can use this method for free job listings, or you can take payment via invoice or PayPal:

• Manual payment for job listings Set up the form as described above. Make sure it's held for moderation if people have to pay before the job advert goes live. Manually send an invoice to the job advertiser.
• PayPal payment for job adverts Gravity Forms has a PayPal add-on that lets employers pay using PayPal before they can submit a vacancy to your WordPress job board.

How will you use the WordPress job search plugin?

In this tutorial, I've told you everything you need to know about how to combine different, simple job board software to create a fully functioning jobs site. You've learned how to create a dedicated 'Jobs' section within WordPress. You know the customization potential of adding extra fields of information to your jobs. You've also learned to list your jobs in a front end WordPress job board, with extra features such as job search and filters. And you know how to set up approvals for the email alerts you'll receive each time a recruitment agency submits a vacancy to the site.

Now it's time to put it into practice. Posts Table Pro comes with full support, so get in touch if you need any help or advice. I'd love to hear how you get on with our WP job manager plugin - please leave your comments below.

Have you ever noticed how long it takes to add products to the cart in WooCommerce? Customers have to visit a separate page for each product so that they can select quantities, choose variations etc. You can speed up the customer journey by adding a quick WooCommerce bulk order form to your website. To do it, simply install a WooCommerce order form plugin.

Order forms allow customers to view and compare a longer list of products than the traditional WooCommerce layout. For lots of stores, an order form fits aligns better with how customers browse and buy products. They can see everything on one page, compare products and make quick buying decisions. This encourages more sales by enabling customers to shop quickly and efficiently.

WooCommerce Product Table is the perfect way to create a quick order form. In fact, people keep telling me it's the best WooCommerce order form plugin around! We've built a quick order form demo so you can see how it works – go ahead and have a play.

Product Table actually grew out of our Posts Table Pro plugin. So many people were using that to list WooCommerce products in a table, and asking for table-native add-to-cart buttons, quantity pickers and variation dropdowns, that we built a dedicated plugin for it. It works best for stores selling fairly technical products, where the spec data matters more to the buying decision than a big image.

Of course, an order form layout isn't for everyone. In this post we'll help you choose between using a WooCommerce order form plugin and the standard WooCommerce shop layout, so you can rest assured you're creating the ideal product layout for your store. Once you've learned all about WC order forms, I'll provide step-by-step instructions plus a video tutorial on exactly how to set it up.

What is a WooCommerce order form?

By default, WooCommerce displays e-commerce products in a standard format, with each product occupying a relatively large amount of space.

This typical store layout has a grid format with 3 or 4 products per row. Each will have a large featured image, a title, a short description, a price, and an Add to Cart button. Customers click through to a single product page to read more information before adding the item to their shopping cart:

A WooCommerce order form is an alternative way to list products. Presented in a structured table format, each product takes up a single row in the table, and product images are much smaller. The layout is far more compact and often includes extra features, such as sort options and filters. The screenshot below shows what you can create:

An order form plugin lets you list many more products on a single page than you could in the default WooCommerce store layout. And, instead of clicking through to the single product page, customers can select variations, specify a quantity and add their chosen items to the cart – all directly from the order form.

Boosting sales with an alternative layout

Both the traditional category layout and order form view use the Woo cart and checkout. Once a customer has chosen their products, the process for placing an order is identical.

The real difference is how the products are presented in the first place. This is a key part of the buying process: it's the point when customers are exploring your products and making buying decisions. The layout has a big impact on your sales and conversion rates, so it's vital to choose the right layout for your products.

Comparing the two layout options for listing WooCommerce products, you can see how a WooCommerce order form plugin (or WooCommerce bulk order form plugin) makes much better use of space than a traditional store layout:

Using the product table, you'll fit twice as many products into the same amount of space. Because of the compact layout, it's also possible to fit in plenty of extra features, including filter dropdowns, a search box, sorting, and the ability to select quantities and variations. This is why we often refer to it as a WooCommerce bulk order form – because it's so much easier to order higher quantities.

What sort of websites need a WooCommerce order form plugin?

While the standard WooCommerce shop format is great for some stores, there are many cases when an order form gives customers a better buying experience.

A WooCommerce order form plugin is ideally suited to stores where customers don't want to hang around browsing, but instead want to quickly choose from a list of products. Let customers add multiple products to their carts from a quick one-page order form. 

How to create a WooCommerce order form

Watch this video tutorial below to learn how to create a order form in WooCommerce. You can watch me create the exact order form shown on the demo site then create your own on your WooCommerce site! Alternatively, read the quick setup guide or the step-by-step written instructions below the video:

Quick setup guide

1. Install the WooCommerce Product Table plugin on your WordPress site.
2. Use the table builder to control how you want the order form to work.
3. Go to Pages → Add New and add the product table block or shortcode.
4. Publish the page and view the WooCommerce order form.

Detailed written tutorial

To start, you need a WordPress website with WooCommerce set up and some products added.

Step 1: Install the WooCommerce order form plugin

Get WooCommerce Product Table, download the plugin zip file, and install it via Plugins → Add New.

Step 2: Create your first order form

The table builder helps you to create your first WooCommerce order form step by step. You can either create 1 order form listing all your products, or multiple order forms listing different products. Alternatively, you can enable the order form layout on your main shop pages instead of creating them one-by-one.

The table builder will open when you first activate the plugin. You can also open it later on via Products → Product Tables.

2a. Decide how to add the order form

Page 1 of the table builder lets you choose which method you'll use to display the WooCommerce order form on your site:

• Add it to a page using a block or shortcode - Do this if you want to create order forms which don't affect your main shop pages.
• Display on a shop page - Do this if you want to enable the WooCommerce order form layout throughout your store.

On the following page, you can then choose exactly which products to display in the WooCommerce order form.

2b. Choose what data to display in the order form

The 'Column' page lets you control which columns appear in the order form. You can display various data about your products including SKU, ID, name, description, short description, date, categories, tags, image, reviews, stock, weight, dimensions, price and buy button. The plugin supports product attributes and custom fields as separate columns in the table, e.g. size or color.

2c. Customize the add to cart column of the order form

The 'Buy' column is one of the most important parts of your WooCommerce order form. Configured correctly, you can use it to subtly encourage customers to spend more.

You can choose whether the 'Buy' column includes product variations and quantity picker, or whether you want customers to click through to the single product page to view the variations. And if you're using the Product Options plugin to add extra product add-ons, then these will appear in the order form too.

You can also choose whether to have normal add to cart buttons, multi-select checkboxes, or both.

Tip: The plugin settings page at Products → Product Tables → Settings also lets you customize the add to cart button wording. For example, you could reword it to 'Buy' to save space in the WooCommerce order form.

Use filters to help customers find your products

The WooCommerce order form can include filter dropdowns above or filter widgets alongside the table. This lets customers filter by category or product categories, tag or attribute. You can either include all possible filters or choose specific ones to appear.

Here's an example of the filters that come with the order forms in Product Table:

Or for even more filtering options, you can use it with our advanced filtering plugin - WooCommerce Product Filters. By using both plugins together, your filters can look more like this:

Change the sort order of the products in the order form

You can also choose how the products on the order form are sorted by default. Customers can also sort the products by clicking on a column header.

Use lazy load to improve performance in big order forms

The lazy load option speeds up the order form load time for WooCommerce stores with many products. This uses Ajax to load products one page at a time, so if you have thousands of products then this makes a big difference.

Step 3: Create an order form page(s)

(Note: Ignore this step if you selected for the order form to appear on your main shop pages.)

1. Copy the product table shortcode from the final stage of the table builder.
   

   

2. Create a new page which you will use for your order form.
3. Add any content that you like to the page. For example, you can add text or other content above and below the order form. You can also add subheadings (e.g. one for each category) and insert a different order form after each one.
4. Go to the part of the page where you wish to add a WooCommerce form. Add the shortcode that you copied above, or insert a 'Product Table' block using the WordPress block editor.
5. Publish the page and view it.

On your WooCommerce order form page, you'll see all your products listed in a neat table layout.

If you want to create multiple order forms - either on the same page or multiple pages - then that's fine too. Just create multiple tables, each one listing different pages. You can then insert multiple blocks or shortcodes to list them as needed.

Step 4: Add bonus features to your order forms

Now we've looked at the essential features for a WooCommerce order form, I'm going to tell you how to supercharge it even further. You can do this by using other plugins to add bonus functionality.

Add an on-page popup cart and checkout

A WooCommerce order form is all about bringing the shopping experience to a single page. For this reason, it makes sense to also bring the cart and checkout experience to the same page!

You can achieve this by adding a cart popup plugin to the order form page. The Fast Cart plugin is designed to work alongside your WooCommerce order form like this:

And also this:

Either use it as a popup cart, or skip the cart and open the checkout as soon as customers add products to their cart from the order form. That's the quickest way to shop because customers can add products and complete their order from the same page!

Add product quick view

Your order form can contain various columns of information about your products. However, you may want to display extra information that won't fit in the order form layout. Or you may want to sell product variations or other options without cluttering up the order form page.

You can solve this dilemma by using WooCommerce Product Table with the WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin. This adds quick view buttons or links, which open extra product information and purchase options in a user-friendly lightbox window. It's a great way to show extra information without taking customers away from the order form.

Disable the WooCommerce single product page

By default, customers can click on a product title or image in the order form to view a separate page for each product. Most product order forms don't need this feature. You can disable these links if needed so that the only way to view a product is on the order form page - especially if you're using quick view instead.

Add additional fields and custom fields to the order form

WooCommerce Product Table makes it easy to add additional fields to your order form. This is useful if you need to add media such as PDFs with more information about a product, or you just need other meta information.

We have a full tutorial on how to use WooCommerce custom fields here.

Create a printable WooCommerce order form

Since publishing this article, some of our customers have asked about how to create a printable order form. The idea of this is that customers can print the order form on paper and fill it in manually. They can then post it to place the order the old-fashioned way.

In response, we've created a separate tutorial on how to create a printable order form.

What types of product sell best in a quick order form?

Now we've learned how to use the best WooCommerce order form plugin, let's consider when to use one. After all, all products are different and some lend themselves to the order form layout better than others.

Let's take a look at some examples of when an order form layout is the best way to go:

WooCommerce wholesale order form

Trade customers typically make regular orders of products they're already familiar with. They don't want to spend ages browsing multiple product pages.

A compact wholesale order form lets them quickly select multiple products and instantly add to cart. This is more efficient than a more traditional WooCommerce product layout, which is too visual and spaced out.

For best results, use WooCommerce Product Table together with its sister plugin WooCommerce Wholesale Pro. Which adds other B2B functionality like wholesale registration and pricing. You can choose whether to enable the order form view for all customers, or just b2b users.

Large product directory

A lot of our WooCommerce Product Table plugin users have HUGE e-commerce stores with thousands of products. A WooCommerce directory plugin is a good way to list large numbers of products in a directory structure.

For example, one website uses WooCommerce Product Table to display thousands of ball bearings for sale. Customers can use the filters to find the type of ball bearing they require based on product attributes such as size and color. They can then tick the products they want, add to cart and buy online. This would be a cumbersome process using the traditional WooCommerce shop layout. Not to mention that large pictures of ball bearings aren't necessary! Check out our tutorial on how to create a WooCommerce product catalogue. That ball bearings example is typical. In our own analysis of stores using the plugin, the biggest users are industrial and technical shops with spec-heavy catalogs of parts and components, where buyers compare data rather than browse images.

Here's a review from a customer who's increased sales by using Product Table to list thousands of products in a quick order form:

WooCommerce bulk order form

Similar to a wholesale order form, a WooCommerce bulk order form is useful for ordering large quantities of products. If a customer is buying products in bulk, they won't want to browse through the standard WC layout. A product table is perfect as a bulk order form because they can quickly order as many products as they like.

'Build your own product' configurator

Lots of WooCommerce websites let customers choose multiple items from a list to build a box, create their own pizza, build a luxury hamper, or similar. Customers can select items from a list and add them all to a cart with a single click. An order form is ideal for this 'build a product' format or product configurator.

Case study – using an order form plugin to sell hampers

Barks and Squeaks is an online store selling gifts and treats for fur buddies and their owners. As well as offering individual products, the Barks and Squeaks store sells hampers. To do this, they've created an order form using our WooCommerce Product Table plugin. This enables customers to quickly pack a hamper full of lots of products, without changing pages:

Which WooCommerce stores don't need a quick order form?

As you can see, a WooCommerce order form plugin is the right choice for lots of stores, but it isn't for everyone.

If you answer 'Yes' to any of the following questions, it's worth considering whether the standard WooCommerce shop format is a better fit:

• Does your store only have a few products?
• Do you sell highly visual products that will benefit from big images or multiple images?
• Do customers need to spend a long time reading detailed information about your products before deciding to buy?

As an example, imagine you own an online boutique clothing store. Think about how your customers would use your store. Big images will definitely play a crucial role in encouraging sales. Your customers will also be happy to take their time browsing items and reading detailed product information. They may then go on to make a considered purchase of one, two, or perhaps a few items.

With a WooCommerce order form, customers can click through to a single page for full product information. You can also increase the size of the product images for a more visual table:

But ultimately, deciding on the right layout to use comes down to which one best suits your particular customers. With smaller purchase quantities and less need for quick purchases, your imaginary boutique clothing store is likely to benefit from the highly visual layout characteristic of the standard WooCommerce shop format.

Create a quick WooCommerce order form today 🚀

How your customers want to shop should dictate your store's product layout. The default WooCommerce shop layout works for customers who are happy to take their time browsing images and reading descriptions. But, when your customers need to buy multiple items quickly, a WooCommerce order form plugin is a much better solution.

We'd love to see your WooCommerce form – share your website in the comments below. We might even link to it from the WooCommerce Product Table showcase!

Over 100,000 WordPress sites run the free Pods plugin. It's a fantastic way to create custom post types, custom fields, and taxonomies - everything you need to store extra data. Keep reading to discover an easy way to install Pods and list the data in a searchable, sortable table.

At Barn2, we love the WordPress Pods plugin because it makes it so easy to add extra content types to any WordPress website and has a list of premium addons. Instead of messing up your site by adding everything as pages and posts, you can create WordPress custom post types or CPT and create custom settings pages. Your new custom post types appear as separate sections on the left of the WordPress admin menu. They're perfect for storing articles, events, publications, members, directory listings, or something completely different. However, there is a problem.

While Pods is a wonderful and versatile plugin for creating custom post types, fields, and taxonomies in WordPress, it does have a limitation regarding displaying the custom data in the back end, which is great for storing and organizing information for internal use. However, it does not include any functionality to display the custom data on the front end, meaning that you will need to use additional tools or code to display the information on your website.

The solution is to use WordPress Pods plugins with the Posts Table Pro plugin. Posts Table Pro is a WordPress table plugin that displays your custom post types, fields, and taxonomies in a searchable, filterable table. It's the perfect way to show custom content.

This Pods WordPress plugin tutorial is the complete guide on how to use Pods to create WordPress custom post types, custom fields, and taxonomies. I'll show you how to create each of these extra content types. You'll also learn how to display them on your website using Posts Table Pro.

In this article

• In this article
• What are the alternatives?
• How to create a WordPress custom post type with Pods
• Creating WordPress custom fields with Pods
• How to create WordPress custom taxonomies
• Displaying Pods content in the front end of your WordPress website
• How to password protect custom post types
• Pods: The verdict

Either read the whole article or click straight to the section you need. Alternatively, you can watch us create and display a custom post type in this video:

What are Pods?

Pods is a powerful and feature-rich plugin for WordPress. Whether you're looking to add custom post types, custom taxonomies, or custom fields that are meta boxes added to your posts to input additional information, this plugin provides you with all the tools you need to do so. Pods - Custom Content Types and Fields make it easy to create custom content types and fields, even for those without technical expertise, thanks to its user-friendly function.

One of the standout features of Pods is the level of support that it receives from a team of well-known WordPress.org experts. This ensures that the plugin is always up-to-date and in line with the latest development in WordPress.

I've obviously had my head in the sand for the last 4 years because according to the plugin changelog, Pods was released back in 2014 - and it has been updated every few months since then. For some reason, I only heard of it recently when customers started asking if our plugins work with Pods.

I did some investigation and discovered that lo and behold, Pods is a fantastic way for creating the extra data that people need to display using our WooCommerce and WordPress table plugins.

Download Pods

What are the alternatives?

There are various other plugins for creating WordPress custom post types, fields, and taxonomies. These include:

• Advanced Custom Fields - Excellent for creating custom fields. There's a free and a Pro version. If you just need to create custom fields, then ACF is ideal for WooCommerce. ACF is compatible with Elementor, Gutenberg, WooCommerce, and WPML Multilingual plugin. But if you want custom post types and/or taxonomies too, then Pods is a better all-round plugin.
• Toolset - This plugin is well-supported and from On the Go Systems, the company behind WPML. You can use it to create custom post types, fields, and taxonomies. I recommend Pods in this article because it's just as good as Toolset and completely free, but Toolset is a valid option too.
• Custom Post Type UI - A free plugin for creating WordPress custom post types and taxonomies. I've used this a lot and it's a good option, but use Pods if you need custom fields too.

If you're using Posts Table Pro to list custom post types on your WordPress site, then you can equally create the data using any of the above plugins. However, we like Pods because you can use it to create custom post types, fields, and taxonomies. That way, you just need one WordPress plugin (Pods) to create and store the data, and another (Posts Table Pro) to display it on the front end.

How to create a WordPress custom post type with Pods

First, I'll show you how to use Pods to create a WordPress custom post type. I'm assuming that you have already installed the free Pods WordPress plugin. If you haven't done that yet, do it now.

1. 

   Navigate to Pods Admin → Add New → Create New.
2. On the 'Add New Pod' screen, choose 'Custom Post Type' from the 'Content Type (like Posts or Pages)' dropdown.
3. Add a Singular and Plural label. This is how your WordPress custom post type will appear in the admin. For example, if you're creating a 'Documents' custom post type for a WordPress document library, then the Singular Label would be 'Document' and the Plural 'Documents'.
4. Click 'Next Step'.
5. The next screen lets you add custom fields to your custom post type. We'll look at this in the next section. For now, click on the 'Advanced' tab and scroll down to the 'Supports' and 'Built-in Taxonomies' sections. Tick any extra fields that you want to be available for your custom post type.
6. Click 'Save Pod' and you can start adding custom posts straight away!

Adding posts to your WordPress custom post type

If you look to the left of the WordPress admin, you'll see a new link with the Plural Name you just added. To add a post to the custom post type you just created, go to [custom post type Plural Name] > Add New in the WordPress admin (e.g. Articles > Add New if your custom post type is called 'Articles'). 

The 'Add New' screen for your custom post type will look like my screenshot, plus any extra fields that you ticked in Step 5, above. Add all the data for your custom post and click 'Publish'. 

Keep reading to learn how to create custom fields and taxonomies for storing extra data in WordPress. Or if you want to get started with displaying your custom post types on your website without any extra fields, skip ahead now.

Creating WordPress custom fields with Pods

In this section, we'll explore how to use Pods to create custom fields for any post type in WordPress, including post types created with Pods, standard blog posts, pages, WooCommerce products, events, portfolios, and more.

Before diving into the process of creating custom fields with Pods, it's important to understand the various field types available. Pods offer a wide range of custom field types, including text, date, file uploads, checkboxes, and more. In this section, I'll provide a comprehensive list of all the custom field types you can create with Pods, to help you make informed decisions about which fields to use for your specific needs.

Pods custom field types

Posts Table Pro lets you display these Pods custom field types:

• Plain Text - Unformatted text.
• Website - A clickable link to any website or URL. Good for website links or downloads (e.g. in a WordPress document library).
• Phone - Displays phone numbers. Use the 'Advanced' tab to select a format, and Pods will automatically add any dashes.
• Email - A non-clickable email address. If you want to make it clickable, then I suggest adding it to a WYSIWYG field instead. That way, you can highlight the email address and add the link.
• Plain Paragraph Text - Paragraphs of text with line breaks but no formatting.
• WYSIWYG (Visual Editor) - Probably the most useful field type, this adds a full WordPress visual editor to your custom field. You can add any type of content and format it using the WordPress toolbar. You can even add images, videos, audio files, galleries, etc.
• Date/Time, Date & Time - These 3 fields display dates and/or times. Use the 'Additional Field Options' tab to choose the format. Pods will show a date/time picker when you add data to this custom field. It will then show it on your website in the correct format.
• Plain Number - Use this to store any number with no special symbols or extra formatting.
• Currency - This field lets you display a currency or price. Use the 'Additional Field Options' to choose the currency symbol etc.
• oEmbed - Displays any of the oEmbeds supported by WordPress. For example, if you paste a YouTube video URL then WordPress will automatically display it as an embedded video player using Posts Table Pro. (Note: You can also insert oEmbeds into the WYSIWYG field type.)

Pods custom fields that work but are less relevant/useful

• Color Picker - With this field type, Pods will display a color picker when you add a custom post. Posts Table Pro will then show the hexadecimal value of the color. Not sure why you'd ever want to do this, but it's there if you need it!
• Yes/No - In theory this field does work with our plugins. However, if you select 'Yes' then it will just display as '1', which isn't very user-friendly! I'd recommend a different field type for displaying this sort of information.
• Code - Useful for displaying shortcodes or source code on your website.

Custom field types that can't be displayed using our plugins

• Password field - You can use this to add an encrypted password in the back end, but the password column will appear blank if you try to display it using Posts Table Pro. This is for security reasons.
• File / Image / Video - If you need to add files, images, or videos, then you can easily add these to one of the other field types. For example, you can add images using the 'Add Media' button of a WYSIWYG Visual Editor field, add videos by pasting a YouTube link to a WYSIWYG Visual Editor field or use the oEmbed field type.

How to create WordPress custom fields

Alright, now that you're familiar with the various custom field types that are available to you, it's time for me to guide you through the process of creating custom fields. Whether you want to add custom fields to a post type created using Pods or an existing post type, such as blog posts, pages, WooCommerce products, events, and others, the instructions will vary. However, don't worry, I'll walk you through the process step-by-step to make sure you end up with the custom fields you want.

Adding custom fields to Pods custom post types

1. Go to Pods Admin > Edit Pods and click on the WordPress custom post type that you're creating custom fields for. This will take you to the 'Manage Fields' tab on the 'Edit Pod' screen.
2. Click 'Add Field' and enter the data for your custom field:
   • Label - This will appear above the custom field on the add/edit custom post screen.
   • Name - (Generated automatically when you add the Label.)
   • Description (Optional.)
   • Field Type - Choose a supported type of custom field from the list above.
   • Options - Choose whether this field is mandatory when you create and save a custom post, or whether you can leave it blank.
3. Click 'Save Field'.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to create as many WordPress custom fields as you need.

Adding custom fields to other WordPress post types

To add extra fields to other post types such as posts, pages, products, or events, the instructions are the same as above. However, instead of Pods Admin > Edit Pods, you need to go to Pods Admin > Add New and click the 'Extend Existing' option. From there, you can add custom fields to any post type - not just those created in Pods.

Entering data for your Pods custom fields

As you move forward with creating or editing a post in your WordPress custom post type, you'll notice a section named 'More Fields' that displays all of your custom fields. This section is located just below the main content editor for the post.

Enter all the relevant information for your custom fields and proceed to publish or update the post. With Pods, you don't have to worry about formatting errors as it provides helpful warnings if you attempt to enter any information in an incorrect format.

Now that you know to add custom fields to your posts, I'll explain how you can create custom taxonomies using Pods. On the other hand, if you're eager to start showcasing the custom post types and fields directly on your website, feel free to move ahead.

How to create WordPress custom taxonomies

So far, you've learned how to create a custom post type using the Pods framework. You've also learned how to create custom fields for your custom post type. Next, I'll teach you how to create taxonomies for your post types.

1. Go to Pods Admin > Add New and click the 'Create New' option.
2. On the 'Add New Pod' screen, select 'Custom Taxonomy (like Categories and Tags)' from the Content Type dropdown.
3. Add a Singular Label and a Plural Label. For example, if you need the custom taxonomy to store country data then the singular should be 'Country' and the plural should be 'Countries'.
4. Click 'Next Step'.

5. Most people reading this article won't bother adding fields to their taxonomies because (a) this is a niche case, and (b) they're not supported by our plugins. So go straight to the 'Advanced Options' tab and scroll down to 'Associated Post Types'. This is really important, as it's where you link WordPress taxonomy with the post type that you need to use it on. Choose a post type from the list. This could be normal WordPress pages or posts, or a custom post type.
6. Click 'Save Pod'.

How to add custom taxonomy terms in Pods

Now you've created a WordPress custom taxonomy for your post type, it's time to add data to it.

You can add categories and tags to your custom post type, allowing them to be displayed in multiple taxonomy archive pages and appearing on your home page or blog page. To do so, go to the "Add or Edit" page for the post type you want to apply the taxonomy to. Just like WordPress categories, you'll see the taxonomy option on the right side of the page.

At first, it will look something like this screenshot, as you haven't added any data yet. Click 'Add New Country' (or whatever you called your taxonomy) and add 1 or more terms. These will appear as checkboxes. You can make terms parents of each other to create hierarchical taxonomies in a nested structure:

Tip: You can also add, edit, delete and restructure your custom taxonomies centrally. Find the post type on the left of the WordPress admin, and hover over it to find the link for the taxonomy. This page will be just like the main 'Categories' page in WordPress, and you can use it to manage the taxonomy terms.

Displaying Pods content in the front end of your WordPress website

Pods is an excellent tool for creating custom post types, fields, and taxonomies that can store additional data in the backend of your WordPress website. However, displaying custom post types metadata on the front end can be challenging, especially for non-technical users who do not have the time or expertise to add custom code to their template files.

For those who want an easier solution, Posts Table Pro is a WordPress table plugin that can help display the Pods fields on the front end of your website without the need for complex coding. This plugin makes it easy for you to showcase the custom data stored in Pods in a dynamic and organized manner on your public-facing pages. So, whether you're a developer or a non-technical user, Posts Table Pro provides an accessible way to bring your Pods fields to life on your website.

What is Post Table Pro?

Posts Table Pro is a powerful WordPress plugin that provides an easy solution to display all types of WordPress content management system, including custom post types, custom fields, and custom taxonomies, in a table format. The Table is fully searchable and sortable, which makes it easier for visitors to find the information they're looking for.

Additionally, Post Table Pro offers a range of filter options, so you can choose to display only specific columns or items, making it a highly flexible solution for displaying data on your website. With it, you can create tables of custom post types and fields that are easy to navigate, making it the ideal choice for anyone who wants to display their Pods fields on the front end of their website.

You can also use the plugin to display WordPress custom post types, with each custom post appearing as a separate row in the table. It can also display custom fields as columns in the table. You can list custom taxonomies as columns in the table, and also as filter dropdowns above the table. With WordPress Pods, you can even create tables that list posts with a specific value for a custom field or a term for a custom taxonomy. You can then add custom taxonomy filters. Additionally, using the WordPress Pods get field value function, you can retrieve the value of a specific field for a post.

I'll show you how to do all this next.

How to list custom post types Plugin on a WordPress website

1. Install the Posts Table Pro plugin.
2. Set up Posts Table Pro using the instructions in the 'Getting Started' email.
3. Go to Pages > Add New and create a page that you'll use to list the custom post type.
4. Add the following shortcode: [posts_table post_type="your_post_type"]
5. Replace your_post_type with the label for the post type you want to display. If you created the post type using Pods then this will be the Singular Label you added earlier. If you added the Label as multiple words, then you need to add an underscore (not a hyphen) between each word, as I did in my example.
6. Now view your page, and you will see all the posts for that custom post type listed in a neat table layout.

At this point, your list of custom posts will look something like this:

You can use the Posts Table Pro knowledge base to show different columns, rename the columns, and much more.

How to list custom fields in the front end

Next, I'll show you how to list your Pods custom fields as separate columns in the table. Again, you'll need Posts Table Pro for this:

1. Create a table using Posts Table Pro, as per the instructions in the previous section. Extend your shortcode to something like this: [posts_table post_type="your_post_type" columns="title,cf:your_custom_field_1,cf:your_custom_field_2"]. Replace the blue text with the Singular Label of the custom fields you want to display. If the Singular Label consists of more than one word, then you need to add an underscore between each word. In my example shortcode, I have shown you how to add 2 custom field columns. You can add as many as you like - separated by commas, with cf: before each one.
2. If you want to display formatted content (e.g. links, text formatting, HTML, shortcodes or video), then you should also add shortcodes="true" to the shortcode. For example: [posts_table post_type="your_post_type" columns="title,cf:your_custom_field_1,cf:your_custom_field_2" shortcodes="true"]

Now, your table will look something like this:

How to show custom taxonomies in the front end

By now, you've learned how to display WordPress custom fields in a table with extra columns for custom fields and other data. You should see new fields appear in the sidebar of your dashboard or the label you designated. Now, let's extend it by showing a custom taxonomy:

1. Use Posts Table Pro to create a table, as per the instructions in the previous two sections.
2. Extend your shortcode by adding tax: followed by the Pods custom taxonomy. For example: [posts_table post_type="your_post_type" columns="title,cf:your_custom_field_1,cf:your_custom_field_2,tax:country" shortcodes="true"]. This time, replace the text in green with the actual Singular Label (separated by underscores if it's multiple words) for your WordPress taxonomy. If you want to show multiple taxonomies, then just separate them with commas and make sure you add tax: before each one.
3. Save the page and view the table.

Your table will now contain the custom post title, custom fields, and custom taxonomies:

Nice!

People can click on any custom taxonomy in the table to filter by that term. Read on to discover how to add taxonomy filter dropdowns above the table too.

Now you know how to create WordPress custom post types, fields, and taxonomies, and to list them on your website. Let me show you how to create tables that display only those posts that have a specific custom field value or taxonomy. Additionally, I'll explain how to add custom taxonomy filters to help users easily find your posts. This can be done by using WordPress Pods get field value that provides access and display the custom fields and taxonomies of your posts. With this plugin, you can easily filter and sort posts based on their custom field value or taxonomy term.

How to list posts based on a custom field value

You can use Posts Table Pro to show posts with a specific custom field value. For example, if you have a custom field called 'Vegetarian' then you can create a table listing all posts with a custom field value of 'Yes'.

To do this, you need to add cf="<field name>:<field value>" to the posts table shortcode. To use my example with Posts Table Pro, this would be:

[posts_table cf="vegetarian:yes"]

How to list posts with a specific custom taxonomy term

It's also possible to use our plugins to show posts that are labelled with a specific custom taxonomy term. For example, if you have a custom taxonomy called 'Country' then you can create a table listing all posts with the term 'France'.

You can do this by adding term="<taxonomy_label>:<term slug or ID>" to the posts table shortcode. To use my example with Posts Table Pro, this would be:

[posts_table term="country:france"]

How to let your users filter by custom taxonomy

Finally, I'll tell you how to add custom taxonomy filters above the list of posts. The filter will appear as a dropdown list - 1 for each custom taxonomy. Users can refine the list of posts by clicking on the taxonomy terms in the dropdowns.

To do this, add filters="tax:<taxonomy_label" to your posts table shortcode. For example, this shortcode will list posts with filters for the country and year taxonomies:

[posts_table filters="tax:country,tax:year"]

How to password protect custom post types

Before we close, I'll quickly tell you how to hide your WordPress custom post types from public view. There are lots of reasons you might want to protect some or all of a custom post type. For example, you might be creating a private document library that only specific people can access. If you're a designer then you might need a private portfolio that is hidden from public visitors to your website.

There are 2 ways to do this:

• Password protect categories within your custom post type
• Create private custom post-type categories that are only visible to logged-in users based on their role

You can learn how to use both methods in our tutorial: Password Protect Any WordPress Custom Post Type (In Just 5 Minutes).

Pods: The verdict

In conclusion, Pods is a top-notch plugin that offers a comprehensive solution for creating Pods - custom content types and fields, and taxonomies within the WordPress platform. You can also create custom content types and fields by writing code, but it requires a good understanding of the functions.php file and custom CSS codes. With its user-friendly interface, versatility, and support from a team of WordPress experts, Pods provides an efficient and effective way to enhance the functionality of your website.

Used alone, you need some technical know-how to display Pods custom fields on the front end of your WordPress website. However, that's not a problem because you can use Posts Table Pro to list your Pods data, without needing any technical expertise.

What do you think of Pods compared to other plugins for creating custom data in WordPress? Did you find this Pods WordPress plugin tutorial helpful? Please let me know in the comments.

Posts Table Pro Pods

Discover the best WordPress podcast hosting options to build your listener base, and how to set them up.

Podcasts have never been more popular, and for good reason: they're highly engaging, and a great way to draw attention to your business, sell your products, and earn money through advertising – but they also take a good deal of work to create. You need microphones, audio editing, and podcast hosting. It's easy to focus on the first two on this list, but quality WordPress podcast hosting is going to let you take your podcast to the next level.

In this article, I’m going to tell you why it’s important to choose the best WordPress podcast hosting option which will give you maximum exposure. We’ll talk about why it can be a great idea to host podcasts on your WordPress website. I’ll also show you how to display them more effectively in a way that keeps your podcast episodes evergreen so that people can continue to find and enjoy them long after they’re published. We’ll do this using the Posts Table Pro WordPress plugin, which is perfect for displaying podcast episodes and playlists in a searchable, filterable table.

Why does podcast hosting matter?

Choosing the right podcast hosting platform can make all the difference in the success of your podcast. While microphones and audio editing software are important, podcast hosting is equally crucial. A quality podcast hosting platform will enable you to upload and share your podcast episodes easily and ensure that your listeners can access them quickly and without interruption.

The right podcast hosting platform can also provide advanced features and tools to help you grow your audience, such as analytics to track listener behavior and preferences, as well as built-in marketing and promotion tools. It can also give you full control and ownership over your podcast content, allowing you to decide how and where it is distributed.

Therefore, it's important to invest in a reliable podcast hosting platform that can offer fast and secure hosting services for your listeners and help you grow your audience and monetize your content. Without a good podcast hosting platform, your podcast may not be able to reach its full potential, and you may miss out on valuable opportunities to engage with your listeners and grow your brand.

Self hosted WordPress podcast hosting vs managed hosting

When it comes to podcast hosting, there are two primary options available: self-hosted WordPress podcast hosting and managed hosting. Both options have their own pros and cons, and understanding the differences between them is crucial for choosing the best hosting solution for your podcast.

Self-hosted WordPress hosting means that you are responsible for hosting and maintaining your own website and podcast. This means that you will need to purchase your own web hosting plan and install WordPress on your own server. You will also need to install and configure podcasting WordPress plugins, such as Seriously Simple Podcasting or PowerPress, to manage your podcast content. This option gives you complete control over your website and podcast, but it also requires technical knowledge and can be time-consuming to set up and maintain.

Managed hosting, on the other hand, is a hosting service where the hosting provider takes care of all technical aspects of hosting and maintaining your website, including security, backups, updates, and optimization. Managed hosting services often include a range of additional features and services, such as automatic updates, and advanced caching. This option is ideal for podcasters who want a hassle-free hosting experience and do not have the technical knowledge or time to manage their own hosting.

Why is self hosted WordPress podcast hosting better?

Self hosted WordPress podcast hosting can be a better option for several reasons. First, it gives you full control over your podcast and website. You have the freedom to customize your site as you wish and can choose which plugins and tools to use to manage your podcast content. This flexibility is particularly useful if you have specific design or functionality requirements.

Another advantage of self hosted WordPress podcast hosting is that you have complete ownership and control over your data. You are not reliant on a third-party hosting service to store and manage your content, which means you can back up and restore your data at any time.

A self hosted podcast also offers greater scalability, as you are not limited by the storage or bandwidth restrictions of a managed hosting service. This means you can upload and share as much content as you need, without worrying about running out of space or exceeding your monthly bandwidth allowance.

Getting started with WordPress as a podcast hosting platform

If you are looking to create a successful podcast, one of the most important decisions you will make is choosing the right hosting platform. While there are many hosting options available, WordPress stands out as a great choice for podcasters.

WordPress for podcast hosting is that it is highly customizable. With WordPress, you can choose from a wide range of themes and plugins to create a unique and professional-looking podcast website. You can also customize your site's design and functionality to meet the specific needs of your podcast and your audience.

In this post, we will provide you with a comprehensive guide on how to use WordPress as your podcast hosting platform. You will learn how to create a filterable and sortable database for your podcast episodes, as well as easily navigable archives, analytics, and email signup forms on your self hosted WordPress website. Additionally, we will cover how to keep your listeners engaged by automatically sending them new episodes via email.

Our step-by-step guide covers all you need to know about getting your podcast working, including:

• Getting a WordPress website online.
• Adding podcast episodes to your site using the Seriously Simple Podcasting WordPress plugin.
• How to list podcast episodes in an archive using the Posts Table Pro plugin.
• Submitting your podcast to iTunes, measuring its success with analytics, and turning listeners into subscribers with an email newsletter signup + auto sending of new episodes.

We'll keep costs to a minimum here: you'll need to pay for WordPress hosting (and a domain name, if you need one) and the Posts Table Pro plugin for podcast archives, but that'll be it. You can get a head start by getting Posts Table Pro right away.

Visit Podcast Archive Demo

Get started with WordPress

Back when it was hard to get high-quality hosting at reasonable prices, hosting companies would get a bit huffy about the large amounts of data transferred by podcasters' audio files. Because of this, it might have made more sense to subscribe to an all-in-one podcast hosting service. Compared to a website with just text and a few images, podcasts do use more data.

Thankfully, we now have ready access to super fast, reliable hosting, so the data transfer issue is becoming increasingly irrelevant. For most, going the self hosted podcast route is now by far the most beneficial.

By choosing the open source software, WordPress, rather than a traditional podcast hosting service, you'll maintain complete ownership over your podcast content. You'll also be able to maintain a core focus for your podcast marketing, with a central point to direct social media and search engine traffic to, a place to analyze listener numbers and engagement, and the option to hook listeners or advertise in whichever way fits your business model.

Overall, it's just much more flexible.

To get started, all you need is:

1. A domain name
2. A WordPress hosting plan
3. A WordPress theme

If you already have a WordPress website up and running, skip ahead in one section, to add your podcast episodes to WordPress.

If you don't already have a website ready to go, read on. Here are the three steps you need:

1. Domain name

Firstly, you'll need a domain name so people can find your website and podcast easily. If you have a domain name already, you'll simply need to direct it to your WordPress hosting. If not, you can pick one up for a few dollars through a domain name provider, such as NameCheap. You should pick a domain name that matches either your brand or your podcast name (Domain Wheel is great for generating ideas).

2. WordPress hosting plan

We've previously discussed in detail how to choose a host for your WordPress website. For the purposes of hosting your podcast, we recommend getting started with some robust managed hosting, such as that offered by WP Engine.

WP Engine specializes in WordPress hosting, offers exceptional support, and has useful tools you can access directly from your WordPress dashboard.

The other benefit of using a WordPress hosting specialist like WP Engine is that all the work of installing WordPress is done for you. That means you'll be able to get on with the important business of designing your website and getting your podcast online.

3. WordPress theme

There are thousands of free and premium themes available in the WordPress theme directory – you can search and install these from your WordPress Dashboard by going to Appearance → Themes → Add New. One of the recent (free) themes which are included in all WordPress installations (the Twenty Something series) would be a convenient starting point. You can always change your theme later.

If you aren't familiar with WordPress, check out our top tips on creating a low-maintenance WordPress website. If you choose your theme wisely, you won't even need to do any code – perfect for non-techies! CodeinWP has a good list of free WordPress themes.

Make your own podcast hosting: Add podcast episodes to WordPress

Now you have your WordPress website ready, the next step is to upload and organize your podcast files.

There are a couple of ways you can go about uploading your podcast. The less desirable option is to add your media files directly to a post or page on your WordPress site. This will work fine in that people will be able to access your podcast on your website. However, it makes it tricky to measure your podcast's success, and even trickier to get the formatting correct for submitting to iTunes.

To solve these issues you can create a specific custom post type to make sure all the information is in the right place. Instead of reinventing the wheel, we recommend taking the quicker, easier (and free) alternative, which is to use a plugin that does exactly what you need it to.

 

The Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin is ideal for WordPress podcast hosting. It's free, and does all of the above for you:

• Creates a custom post type automatically, so it's easy to upload, assign metadata and manage your podcast files in one place from your WordPress website
• Supports both audio and video podcasts
• Pairs with extensions, including one that lets you analyze podcast usage stats
• Formats your podcasts ready for submission to iTunes

First up, you'll need to add this plugin to your WordPress site. Go to Plugins → Add New and search 'Seriously Simple Podcasting'. Click Install Now then click Activate.

Starting to use Seriously Simple Podcasting

Once installed, the Podcast menu item is added to the sidebar in your WordPress Dashboard, and a new custom post type podcast is created:

If you're going to group your podcast episodes by series, you'll need to create a series category.

To do this, go to Podcast → Series. Fill out the fields to give your first series a name (e.g. Series one) and, optionally, a description. Click Add New Series.

Go ahead and create another series (or multiple other series) if you have more podcast series ready to upload.

Add podcast episodes to your WordPress podcast hosting

Next up, you'll want to start adding your podcast episodes to the site.

Head over to Podcast → Add New. Just like you would do with a new blog post, you'll need to give your podcast episode a title. I've called this example 'First ever podcast episode':

If you like, you can include a full description or transcript of your podcast episode in the content box just under the title in the editor. And, if relevant, you can select which series the podcast belongs to on the righthand side of the editor. You can also add any relevant tags to each episode. We'll show you listeners can filter your podcast episodes by these taxonomies later on.

If you then scroll down, you'll find the Podcast Episode Details box. Here is where you'll upload your first podcast episode.

Checklist of steps for adding each podcast episode

These are the steps you need to run through for each episode:

1. Select whether you're uploading an Audio or Video file, click Upload File, upload your first podcast file, then click Select.
2. You can manually add the duration and file size, or leave these fields blank to auto-calculate.
3. Add in the date recorded so listeners will know how old or new your podcast is.
4. If necessary, there's also the option to mark specific episodes as explicit or choose to block them from appearing in any external podcast libraries to you submit your podcast.
5. It's a good idea to add a summary of the episode in the Excerpt box as we can display this later in our searchable podcast library.
6. Add your podcast's series and any relevant tags. Users will be able to use these to quickly filter the episodes they want.
7. Hit Publish and your first podcast is ready to go!

Add in any remaining podcast episodes, by going to Podcast → Add New again and repeating the steps above.

Once you've added all your episodes, it's time to display them nicely on your website. Next, we'll cover how to enhance your self hosted WordPress podcast hosting, by creating a sortable podcast archive that can display your latest episodes in a convenient format.

How to list podcast episodes in an archive: quickly find episodes

Your website needs to be an easy place for visitors to listen to your podcast. Visitors should be able to find episodes they're interested in, easily listen to them, and sort through your archives. This section will show you how to list podcast episodes on your WordPress site.

Seriously Simple Podcasting lets you display your most recent podcasts, but just displaying a long list of podcasts in the order of newest to oldest isn't always the most helpful – especially if you're trying to engage new listeners or those who have missed a few episodes.

A better solution is to create a library of your podcasts by displaying them in a sortable and searchable table. This will let your listeners quickly sort through episodes, conveniently listen to them, and makes everything extremely simple for you.

The Posts Table Pro plugin can pull in all the information you've already added using Super Simple Podcasting. It uses this information to autogenerate your podcast library, in a sortable, filterable, and searchable list. This is the perfect format for podcast archives. For a searchable, filterable directory of episodes, see our guide to creating a WordPress audio library.

Plus, each time you add a new episode to your website, Posts Table Pro will update your library automatically :)

WordPress podcast hosting is superior :)

The animated screenshot above shows this in action. Note how listeners can even conveniently filter by podcast series!

In addition to the benefits mentioned already – listeners can search all your podcast episodes in one place, easily find the episode(s) they're looking for by sorting the table or filtering by series or tags, and listen to episodes directly from your podcast library – you can even add newsletter signups to this page in order to keep listeners hooked, which we'll cover after this section.

To get started, purchase and download the plugin.

Your purchase will include instructions on installation and setup. Once installed, decide whereabouts on your website you'd like to display your podcast library. This might be on your home page, or on a separate podcasts page. In this example, we'll be putting our podcast on a homepage.

How to create your sortable table

When you've chosen where to display your podcasts, generating your podcast library is simple. Upon installing the plugin, an automatic setup wizard will initiate and provide a comprehensive guide to creating your first table.

The instructions below will describe each step involved in creating a table.

1. Choose a name for the library and select the post type you want to display. Here we're displaying the custom post type podcast.
2. Select the posts or podcast episodes to include in your library.
3. Customize the columns you want to display in your table by selecting which columns to add and in what order. You can also rename or hide column names and remove columns as needed. I suggest adding a column for episode date, title and listen now.
   

   

4. Add filters. will set your table to be filterable by the podcast series, as shown in the example below. You can also add filters like tags and categories.

   

5. Customize the sorting options for your table, including the default sorting option and the sort direction

Display your podcast library

Once you have completed creating your table with the Post Table Pro plugin, the setup wizard will confirm that you are finished and provide instructions for inserting the table onto your website. By choosing one of these two options, you can easily add your table to your website and make it accessible to your visitors.

• Use the "Post Table" block in the Gutenberg editor.
• Copy the shortcode from the table builder and paste it anywhere on your site. This option gives you the flexibility to place the table on any page, regardless of its content.

Ready to publish your podcast

When you're done making your library look great, click Publish and the page will publicly display the table with your podcasts. Nice work! Visitors can now easily find your entire archive of podcasts, and you've made a fantastic self hosted podcast solution.

You can use a similar technique to create a WordPress audio library. The linked post will even show you how to use WooCommerce Product Table to sell access to your podcast.

Podcast hosting: next steps

Now your WordPress podcast hosting is all setup and your podcasts are beautifully displayed on your website, you're ready to get promoted and grow your podcast further.

This section will show you three advanced next steps you can take, two of which you can only do because you've chosen to self host your WordPress podcast hosting. We'll show you how to submit your podcast to iTunes, how to set up podcast analytics, and how to add an email signup box in order to convert listeners into long-time subscribers.

Submit podcast episodes directly to iTunes from WordPress

To increase your audience reach, you need to submit your podcast to iTunes.

Yet another useful feature of the Seriously Simple Podcasting WordPress plugin, is that it organizes your podcast episodes in an iTunes-friendly format. Once you've uploaded your episodes to your WordPress website, you're almost ready to submit them all in one go to iTunes.

Before you do, you'll just need to go to Podcast → Settings → Feed details and upload a Cover Image for your podcast.

Once you've done that, to submit your podcast to iTunes, simply go to Apple's podcast submission page and sign in using your Apple ID (or create one if you don't have one already).

The Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin will autogenerate a URL for your podcast. You can find this in your WordPress Dashboard by going to Podcast → Settings → Publishing.

The URL you need is the Complete feed and will be something similar to https://yourwebsite.com/feed/podcast

Copy and paste your Complete feed URL into the box on the iTunes submission website and click Validate:

 

You'll then see a preview of how your podcast will appear on iTunes.

Once iTunes is happy your podcast meets the requirements, and you're happy with how everything looks, click Submit.

Podcasts can take up to 10 days to make their way through the iTunes approval process but are often processed much faster than that. Once complete, you'll be able to see your podcast in iTunes – alongside the best podcasts in the world.

While you're waiting for your podcast to be approved on iTunes, it's worth getting your analytics set up too. We'll look at these next.

Podcast analytics

If you want to successfully grow your podcast audience, it's important to keep track of how many listeners you have, and how they're consuming your podcasts.

There is a multitude of analytics tools out there, but seeing as we've already installed Seriously Simple Podcasting, let's go ahead and use their add-on plugin, Seriously Simple Stats.

Just like the name suggests, this plugin is seriously easy to use and ideally suited to measuring the success of your podcast.

Among other things, it can measure where people are listening to your podcast (e.g. iTunes, your website, or via a download), how many listeners you have, and what your most popular episodes are.

This is all vital information you can use to optimize future podcasts, source sponsorship, and boost advertising revenue.

You can download Seriously Simple Stats free from the WordPress plugin directory. Go to Plugins → Add New then search "Seriously Simple Stats". Click Install Now then click Activate.

You can access Seriously Simple Stats right from your WordPress dashboard, head to Podcast → Stats. Your stats will start showing up here over the coming days.

The industry secret is podcast stats are horribly unreliable: keep in mind that a download to your podcast isn't necessarily a listen to your podcast. My podcast app, for example, downloads the latest episode of my favorite podcasts every week. I don't necessarily listen to them, and if I do listen, I don't necessarily listen all the way through.

Don't be disheartened by this; given podcasts are downloaded and listened to separately, there's no prospect of fixing this in the short term. What you can do, however, is keep your listeners hooked by connecting with them in your email inbox and your podcast app. We'll cover how to handle this next.

Collect email subscribers for your podcast using MailChimp

Don’t miss out on turning one-off listeners into long-term subscribers! Getting inside your listeners' email and their podcast app is a great way of ensuring listeners know about the latest episodes, and what you're doing, and are excited about the podcast in the long term.

We'll let you collect email subscribers by adding an email subscription box to your podcast page using MailChimp and the MailChimp for WordPress plugin. This is a major benefit of handling your WordPress podcast hosting yourself.

First, sign up for a free MailChimp account if you don’t already have one. The free account lets you have up to 2,000 subscribers, which is plenty to be started with.

Next, add the MailChimp for WordPress plugin to your site: in your WordPress Dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New, then search "MailChimp for WordPress plugin". Click Install Now then click Activate.

You’ll need to pair this plugin with MailChimp. From the Dashboard, head to MailChimp for WP → MailChimp, and click Get your API key here. Copy your API key from MailChimp and go back to MailChimp for WP → MailChimp. Paste the key into the API Key box and click Save Changes.

Once connected, you’ll also need to create a new list in MailChimp to start collecting email subscribers. From MailChimp, go to Lists → Create List → Create List, and fill out the details.

Add your email signup form to WordPress

Next, create the signup form for your website. From your WordPress Dashboard, go to MailChimp for WP → Form, give your form a title, select the MailChimp list you want subscribers to be added to then click Add new form.

The plugin will generate a shortcode for your form. Click Get shortcode, copy the shortcode, and paste it on your podcast library page so listeners can easily subscribe to future episodes:

You'll be collecting podcast subscribers in no time! Hooray! You know, however, need to be emailing new episodes out to your subscribers. You can automate this by connecting your podcast RSS feed to Mailchimp. Our popular tutorial on how to create an RSS-Driven Campaign in MailChimp shows you how to do this, and take a step out of your podcast email setup.

Best practices for podcast SEO on WordPress

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial for any website or content to gain visibility on search engines such as Google. It involves optimizing your website's content to make it easier for search engines to crawl and index, and ultimately rank it higher in search results. Similarly, optimizing your podcast for SEO can help it reach a wider audience and increase its visibility.

Tips for optimizing your podcast for search engines

1. Use descriptive titles and descriptions: Make sure to use descriptive titles and descriptions that accurately reflect the content of your podcast episodes. This will help search engines understand what your podcast is about and display it in relevant search results.
2. Include relevant keywords: Identify relevant keywords and incorporate them naturally into your titles, descriptions, and episode summaries. However, avoid keyword stuffing, which can negatively impact your SEO.
3. Use transcripts: Transcripts of your podcast episodes can be helpful for SEO as they provide search engines with text to crawl and index. They also make your content more accessible to those who may prefer to read or skim content rather than listen to an entire episode.
4. Optimize your website's metadata: Ensure that your website's metadata, such as titles and descriptions, are optimized for SEO. This can help your website rank higher in search results, which can indirectly help your podcast gain more visibility.
5. Use internal linking: Internal linking, or linking to other relevant content within your website, can help improve your website's overall SEO. By linking to other relevant content, you can also help search engines understand the context and relevance of your podcast.

Troubleshooting common WordPress podcast hosting issues

Even with the best WordPress podcast hosting, issues can sometimes arise. Here are some common issues you may encounter and how to troubleshoot them:

Slow website performance

Slow website performance can lead to a poor user experience and may cause visitors to leave your site. This issue can be caused by a number of factors, such as poorly optimized images, an outdated WordPress version, or a plugin conflict.

To troubleshoot slow website performance, you can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to analyze your website's speed and identify areas for improvement. You can also try optimizing your images by compressing them and resizing them to the appropriate dimensions. Updating WordPress and plugins to their latest versions can also improve website performance.

Audio file playback issues

Audio file playback issues can be frustrating for listeners and may cause them to stop listening to your podcast. These issues can be caused by incorrect file formatting or encoding, insufficient bandwidth, or compatibility issues with the podcast player.

To troubleshoot audio file playback issues, make sure that your audio files are in the correct format (usually MP3) and encoded at the appropriate bitrate. Check your web hosting plan to ensure that you have sufficient bandwidth to handle podcast downloads and playback. You can also test your podcast on different podcast players to ensure compatibility.

RSS feed issues

RSS feed issues can prevent your podcast from being distributed to popular podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. These issues can be caused by incorrect RSS feed formatting, missing or incorrect tags, or a plugin conflict.

To troubleshoot RSS feed issues, use a tool like Cast Feed Validator to analyze your RSS feed and identify any formatting errors. Ensure that your RSS feed includes all the necessary tags, such as title, description, and artwork. If you are using a podcast plugin, try disabling it to see if it is causing the issue.

Self podcast hosting is easy! Now you're ready to go

Choosing to manage WordPress podcast hosting yourself is remarkably easy, and this tutorial has shown you everything you need to know. We've shown you how to set up WordPress, add the podcast, and then make use of features you can only get if you self host your podcast, including a sortable archives page, and effective email signups.

Just to recap, here are the main steps needed to host your own podcast using WordPress:

1. Set up a WordPress website – with managed hosting and a simple theme.
2. Download the Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin.
3. Upload all your podcast episodes to your website.
4. Download the Posts Table Pro plugin.
5. Customize your searchable podcast library using the table builder.
6. Power up your podcast by submitting it to iTunes right from your website, and monitoring your analytics using Seriously Simple Stats.
7. Automatically email your podcast subscribers with new episodes.

Now you have the equipment to make your podcast and your website can delight listeners.

Please let us know how your self-hosted podcast library is working for you. We can't wait to see the clever things you do with it!

Whether you're starting a wholesale business or adding a B2B area to an existing store, this complete guide covers WooCommerce wholesale pricing - including a plugin comparison and full step-by-step setup tutorial.

WooCommerce is great for creating an ecommerce site, but it doesn't distinguish between retail and wholesale customers. That's no good because B2B buyers have different needs from other customers. As well as needing wholesale pricing and discounts, they're already familiar with your products and want a quicker, easier way to buy.

The problem is: How can a company like yours create a wholesale website without affecting the experience for normal public customers?

Luckily, there's an easy solution - which we'll cover in this complete step-by-step guide on how to create a WooCommerce wholesale website. Keep reading if:

• You're looking to start a wholesale business or expand your existing business and tap into the wholesale market.
• You currently sell wholesale products through manual orders and want to automate this with a wholesale ecommerce store.
• There's already a wholesale ordering plugin on your website, but it doesn't fully meet your needs.

Plugins like WooCommerce Wholesale Pro enable hybrid stores, running retail and wholesale simultaneously from one website. Retail customers see public pricing while wholesale users access private discounted pricing.

This tutorial will take you through the process of creating a wholesale website from scratch. You will learn how to:

By the end, you will have a fully functional WooCommerce wholesale website.

And the best part? You can set it up in 15 minutes, then sit back and let it do all the work for you. It's way faster and way cheaper so you can start selling your wholesale products today!

Your complete guide to creating a WooCommerce wholesale ordering store

This step-by-step guide will show you how to use the WooCommerce Wholesale Pro WordPress plugin to create a wholesale website. We'll cover all the essential features:

• How to create a private wholesale areaDiscover the easy way to restrict access to your WooCommerce wholesale ordering store. You can either create a completely hidden B2B store; or a public retail WooCommerce store with private wholesale area. It comes with everything you need including unlimited wholesale user roles and user registration (with or without moderation). You can also choose which products to show in the public and/or wholesale stores.
• Set wholesale pricing and discountsNearly all WooCommerce wholesale websites need to charge different retail prices and wholesale prices. What's more, many also need to charge different wholesale pricing to different groups of wholesale users. I'll show you how to add 3 different types of WooCommerce wholesale pricing.
• Create user-friendly wholesale layouts and order formsFinally, you'll learn how to list products in an easy-to-use WooCommerce wholesale ordering form. B2B customers don't want to browse through multiple pages or look at big images, so a wholesale quick re-order list is a must.

At the end of this tutorial, you will know how to create a WooCommerce wholesale website with all these amazing features. It's easier to set up than other WooCommerce wholesale plugins or WordPress membership plugins. You'll have everything you need to create a wholesale website today.

This guide is also beginner friendly, which is perfect for anyone learning how to start a wholesale business or sell wholesale products for the first time.

Create a WooCommerce wholesale website in 15 minutes

Here's the complete setup process in brief - if you follow these steps, you can have a working WooCommerce wholesale website in around 15 minutes:

1. Install WooCommerce Wholesale Pro and it automatically creates your wholesale area (Section 2a).
2. Configure wholesale user roles and registration settings (Section 2d).
3. Set your pricing: global discount, category-level, or product-specific rates (Section 3).
4. Control product visibility - hide products from retail customers or wholesale users (Section 2e).
5. Add bulk order forms using the WooCommerce Product Table bundle (Section 4).

Optional extras: tax exemptions, role-based shipping and payment methods (Bonus tips).

1. Set up your basic WooCommerce store

If you haven't already done so, then you need to create a WordPress website with a domain name. You should also install the WooCommerce plugin on it. (If you don't know how, check out this guide on How do I set up a WooCommerce shop?) Add some products to get started. At this stage, all your products will be publicly available and presented in the default layout.

Keep reading to learn how to add a hidden WooCommerce wholesale area.

How wholesale websites work

A wholesale website displays different pricing to different customer groups, showing the same products at different prices based on who is logged in. It uses role-based access control so that the same WooCommerce store serves both retail and wholesale audiences without requiring separate sites. Product visibility, WooCommerce wholesale pricing, shipping methods, and payment options all adjust automatically based on the logged-in user's role.

Choose your WooCommerce wholesale pricing plugin

Several good WooCommerce wholesale plugins exist, each with different technical approaches and feature sets. Choosing the right one depends on your specific B2B requirements. This guide focuses on WooCommerce Wholesale Pro, but the comparison below should help you weigh up your options first.

Plugin	Best for	Setup time	Key differentiator	Pricing model
WooCommerce Wholesale Pro	User-friendly hybrid B2B/B2C stores	15 minutes	Automatic wholesale area creation - no manual configuration	One-time purchase
Wholesale Suite	Flexible modular system	30-60 minutes	Three separate plugins for pricing, order forms, and registration	Free + premium tiers
WholesaleX	Dynamic rule-based pricing	30-45 minutes	Built-in wallet system for wholesale payments	Free + premium
B2BKing	Enterprise B2B features	60+ minutes	VAT validation, quote requests, invoice payments	All-in-one premium
B2B & Wholesale Suite	Official WooCommerce integration	45-60 minutes	Tight integration with the WooCommerce ecosystem	Official extension

WooCommerce Wholesale Pro stands out for a few specific reasons. First, it automatically creates a wholesale user role, a Wholesale Store page, and a Wholesale Login page the moment you activate it - no manual page creation needed. Second, it has built-in role-based shipping and payment restrictions, whereas some competitors require third-party integrations for this. Third, it integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce Product Table for bulk order forms (available as a bundle on the Wholesale Pro sales page).

The rest of this guide covers WooCommerce Wholesale Pro in detail. Most steps apply to similar plugins with minor variations.

2. Create a private WooCommerce wholesale ordering area

Firstly, you need to create a wholesale WooCommerce store which is hidden from public view so that only approved wholesale customers can access it. You might choose to set up a standard online retail WooCommerce store with a separate private wholesale area. Or you can even have a 100% hidden WooCommerce wholesale ordering store that no one else knows exists!

You can do all of this with WooCommerce Wholesale Pro. You'll learn how to use this WooCommerce wholesale plugin to add:

1. Wholesale login page - with or without a registration form for new wholesalers.
2. User roles - create additional wholesale custom user roles.
3. Wholesale products - you can either use the same products in the public and wholesale areas (with special pricing and order forms for wholesale users, of course); or you can have completely different products for retail and wholesale.
4. Menu links - set up the wholesale website navigation.

All these steps are optional, so you can stick with the default options to set up the WooCommerce wholesale area even more quickly.

2a. Install the WooCommerce wholesale plugin

To get started, buy the WooCommerce Wholesale Pro plugin. Install and activate the plugin, then add your license key using the instructions in the confirmation email.

As soon as you do this, the plugin will automatically create a wholesale user role, a Wholesale Store page, and a Wholesale Login page.

Your WooCommerce wholesale website is now 90% set up, and you haven't even done anything yet!

2b. Set up wholesale registration (optional)

Next, log into the WordPress Dashboard and go to WooCommerce → Settings → Wholesale → General. Choose whether or not to allow new users to register for the wholesale store:

If you enable wholesale registration, then:

• The Wholesale Login page will also include a registration form.
• You can choose whether new wholesalers can access the wholesale area immediately, or whether their customer account will be held for moderation by an administrator first.

If you disable wholesale registration, then you can still add wholesalers manually via the WordPress admin.

2c. Edit your wholesale registration emails (optional)

The WooCommerce wholesale plugin comes with a range of emails for each stage of the wholesale registration process:

When you install the wholesale plugin, these emails will be pre-populated with suitable wording. You can easily edit the emails at WooCommerce → Settings → Wholesale → Roles if required.

Once registered, wholesale users will receive the same emails as your normal customers. These are provided by WooCommerce rather than the wholesale plugin.

2d. Add extra wholesale user roles (optional)

The WooCommerce wholesale plugin automatically creates one wholesale user role. If you want to charge different wholesale prices to different wholesale users, then you need to create a separate user role for each group.

You can easily do this at WooCommerce → Settings → Wholesale → Roles:

If you enabled wholesale registration, then new wholesalers will be added to the default wholesale user role. You can then change their user role manually (for example, when you approve their account).

If you add new wholesale users manually via Users → Add New in the WordPress admin, then you can select the appropriate wholesale user role from the 'Roles' dropdown.

2e. Control the visibility of your WooCommerce wholesale products (optional)

By default, all the products in your WooCommerce wholesale store are available to everyone. Public users and normal customers see the standard price for each product, while wholesale users see the correct price for their role.

If you prefer, you can choose whether each category of products is visible to public users or wholesalers only. You can easily do this under Products → Categories:

This lets you sell different products or SKUs to retail and wholesale buyers.

Tip: If you need more advanced visibility options - for example, to restrict products to individual users or specific wholesale user roles - then you can do this by using WooCommerce Wholesale Pro with our other plugin, WooCommerce Protected Categories.

2f. Set up the wholesale website navigation

Finally, you need to structure your wholesale website so that people can easily find their way around. This only takes a minute:

• Link to the wholesale login pageSome WooCommerce wholesale websites add a wholesale login link to their public website, while others keep this private. You can add a link to the 'Wholesale Login' page to your menu or anywhere else on your site (e.g. the footer). Or if you want to hide the fact that you have a wholesale store, then you can send a link to the Wholesale Login page to your distributors (e.g. in the email to new wholesale users). Retail customers will never know there's a hidden wholesale area.
• Edit your navigation menuThe WooCommerce Wholesale Pro plugin cleverly shows and hides your menu links so that each user only sees pages they have access to. Make sure the main menu on your site contains all the required links for both the public and wholesale users. Each one will only see the correct links for them. For example, public visitors or normal customers will see the link to the Wholesale Login page, but they won't see any other links to wholesale-only content. If they log in as a wholesale user, the menu changes to hide public-only links and show the wholesale-only content instead.

3. Set up wholesale pricing and discounts

WooCommerce wholesale pricing allows store owners to offer discounted rates to B2B clients, usually implemented via plugins. It works by creating specific user roles (such as "Wholesale Buyer") and assigning role-based or quantity-tiered pricing to each. Plugins like WooCommerce Wholesale Pro also enable automated tax exemption, minimum order requirements, and wholesale-only product visibility.

When you create a wholesale website with WooCommerce Wholesale Pro, there are 3 ways to set WooCommerce wholesale pricing:

• Global discount: Apply a set percentage discount to all products for wholesale users. Set this at WooCommerce → Settings → Wholesale → Roles. Overridden by category or product-specific pricing when those are set.
• Product/category level: Set custom prices or percentage discounts for specific products or categories. Configure at Products → Categories or edit individual products using the 'Wholesale Price' field. Overrides the global discount; itself overridden by product-specific pricing when both exist.
• Tiered pricing: Offer lower prices based on higher quantities purchased (e.g. buy 50+ units for 20% off). This requires the separate WooCommerce Discount Manager plugin, which works alongside role-based pricing for quantity discounts.

Logged-in wholesale users will see the correct product pricing for their user role. The main price will appear crossed out, and the wholesale price will appear alongside.

If the product is also visible to guest users and non-wholesale user roles, then they will see the standard price as usual. Your WooCommerce wholesale pricing will remain secure and only wholesale users will ever be able to see it.

You can combine the different types of wholesale pricing as required, and the plugin will always show the correct price. For example, if you set a global, category-level, and individual product discount then wholesalers will just see the individual product discount. If there is no product-specific wholesale price then wholesalers will see the category discount, and so on.

How to set wholesale prices on your WooCommerce store

3a. Add a global wholesale price

1. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Wholesale → Roles.
2. Click to edit each wholesale role.
3. Add a whole number in the global discount field. This percentage will be deducted from all products, unless it is overridden by a category or product-specific wholesale price.

3b. Add category wholesale pricing

1. Go to Products → Categories.
2. Either add a new category or edit an existing one.
3. Add a whole number for each wholesale role. This will be deducted as a percentage discount off all the product pages (except for products where you set an exact wholesale price).

On this screen, you can also hide the category from public or wholesale users if required.

3c. Add exact wholesale product prices

1. Go to the main Products list in the WordPress admin and click on the product you want to add an exact wholesale price for.
2. On the 'Edit Product' screen, scroll down to the 'Product Data' section. For simple products, go to the 'General' tab and add an exact price (not a percentage discount) for each wholesale user role. For variable products, go to the 'Variations' tab and enter an exact wholesale price per variation.

3d. Set up tax exemptions for wholesale users

Tax exemptions automatically remove sales tax for wholesale users at checkout. This is common for B2B customers with resale certificates, who shouldn't be charged sales tax on goods they're purchasing for resale.

To enable tax exemptions in WooCommerce Wholesale Pro:

1. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Wholesale → General.
2. Locate the 'Disable Tax' option (this requires tax to be enabled globally in WooCommerce).
3. Check the box to disable tax for wholesale users.
4. Click 'Save Changes'.
5. Retail customers will continue to be charged tax normally.

Tax exemption is a built-in feature of WooCommerce Wholesale Pro, so no separate plugin is needed. You can also configure per-role tax settings for more advanced setups where different wholesale tiers have different tax rules. For more detailed information, see the complete guide to WooCommerce tax exemptions.

For detailed technical documentation on pricing settings, check the WooCommerce Wholesale Pro pricing configuration guide.

4. Create user-friendly wholesale layouts & order forms

So far we've covered how to protect your wholesale area from public users and how to set wholesale pricing. But that's only half the journey to creating a WooCommerce wholesale website.

The other half is the layout of your wholesale area. This is more to do with user experience and growing your wholesale sales rather than functionality.

There's little point having a private wholesalers section if it's clunky and difficult to use, or if it looks identical to your retail shop. You need to ensure that you're offering a visually different experience that's better catered to the needs of wholesalers.

Public ecommerce shops tend to use a standard layout with large product images and basic information. This retail-style layout isn't suitable for most WooCommerce wholesale stores. But strangely, nearly all WooCommerce wholesale plugins neglect this important fact, and leave the wholesale ecommerce area looking the same as the public shop.

To fix the problem, WooCommerce Wholesale Pro is designed to work alongside its sister plugin - WooCommerce Product Table.

WooCommerce Product Table offers a wholesale-friendly order form layout

Products are listed in a responsive, space-saving grid or tabular layout with extra product data and instant purchase options.

A product table wholesale layout provides an easy way for B2B customers to re-order their regular products. Customers see all the information at a glance, select quantities and variations, and can quickly re-order from a single page.

I used another plugin suite to set up the wholesale area and it worked great except the Wholesale Order Form wasn't flexible enough for my client's needs. Wholesale Product Table to the rescue. It was much more flexible and customizable and support answered my questions quickly and was great to work with.

Mad Dog Productions

4a. How to create wholesale product tables

1. Get WooCommerce Product Table. You can buy it on its own, but it's cheapest to buy it as a bundle with WooCommerce Wholesale Pro. (You can do this on the WooCommerce Wholesale Pro sales page.)
2. Install and activate WooCommerce Product Table.
3. Launch the product table builder via Products → Product Table → Add New.
4. On the first page, select the 'Shop pages' option, then on the following page select the 'Wholesale Store' page template to display the product table.
5. On the remaining pages, choose the default settings for your wholesale order forms. You can customize every detail of your tables, from the styling to the table columns, filters, and sort order.
6. Now when wholesale users access your site, they will see the products displayed in the order form layout. Your normal customers will continue seeing your default store layout, unless you create product tables for those page templates too (e.g. the main shop page).

4b. Getting more sales from your wholesale product tables

The WooCommerce wholesale table plugin is incredibly flexible. Here's a summary of the main features to list wholesale products:

• ColumnsThe table can contain various columns. It supports all the main WooCommerce data fields (title, description, categories, product attributes, tags, stock, etc.). You can also add extra product data through custom fields and taxonomies.
• "Add to cart" buttonsBy including add to cart buttons, wholesale customers order online directly from the product table view. Choose whether to include a quantity selector and product variations. You can also create further options using the Product Options plugin. This way, you can create a wholesale order form for easy bulk ordering and quick re-ordering.
• Wholesale enquiry formsYou can replace the add to cart column with wholesale enquiry buttons. By adding buttons or links to the wholesale table, users can click through to a separate page with an enquiry form (created using a WordPress contact form plugin). Alternatively, use WooCommerce Product Table with a Request a Quote plugin.
• Downloadable documentsLots of wholesale websites provide downloadable files with technical product information. This is useful for downloadable promotional materials, specification documents, and similar resources. You can add a column with an icon, button, or text for each product linking to a downloadable PDF or similar.
• Search, sort & filtersUse filters to help wholesale buyers find products quickly and easily.

4c. Use quick view to speed up wholesale ordering

By now, you know how to create a WooCommerce wholesale website order form. But what if you want to show even more information or purchase options, without taking wholesale users to a separate page for each product?

You can do this by adding the WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin. This wholesale quick view plugin lets you add quick view links or buttons to the order form. Trade customers can view extra product information, choose variations, and add to the cart from a quick view lightbox.

Once they have made their selections, they immediately return to the wholesale order form where they can add more products to their order. It's much quicker than buying from a separate product page.

There are lots of ways to tailor the quick view lightbox to your WooCommerce wholesale website. For example:

• Choose whether or not to include images in the quick view popup. Many wholesale websites sell non-visual products, so there's no need to distract buyers with big images.
• Decide whether to include quick view buttons, or just let customers open the lightbox by clicking the product name or image.
• Change the wording of the Quick View button (e.g. to 'Configure Options', 'Read More', or 'Customize Product').
• Choose which information to display in the wholesale lightbox.

5. Test your WooCommerce wholesale website

Now you've set up the WooCommerce wholesale plugin. It's also important to test the experience for both public and wholesale-specific users.

1. Log out and visit the shop as a guest. Can you see the correct products and pricing?
2. Now log in as a wholesale user. Again, can you see the correct products and pricing? Are the menu links intuitive, and can you see the wholesale order form layout (if you're using WooCommerce Product Table)?

Go back to the plugin settings and continue tweaking your wholesale website until it's perfect.

6. Add wholesale users to your WooCommerce store

Once you've finished testing the WooCommerce wholesale plugin, it's time to start adding wholesale users.

If you have enabled wholesale registration, then people can register for an account on the Wholesale Login page. You might also want to add wholesale users yourself. There are a few ways to do this:

• Add wholesale users manuallyCreate a user account (Users → Add New) in the WordPress Dashboard for each wholesale user. Assign them to one of your wholesale roles.
• Convert existing customers to wholesaleIf you want to convert an existing customer to wholesale, then you can easily do this by editing their account and choosing a wholesale user role from the 'Roles' dropdown.
• Bulk import themIf you're migrating from another B2B plugin or ecommerce system and have a lot of wholesale users to import, then we have provided instructions on how to do this.

Whichever method you use to add them, your B2B ecommerce users can log into their account and access the private WooCommerce wholesale area. Guests and other user roles will never know it exists!

Bonus tips

Hide prices from non-wholesale users

Perhaps you have a wholesale-only store where you want the public to be able to browse the products, but not see the wholesale pricing. You can do this by enabling the 'Hide Prices Until Login' feature in WooCommerce Wholesale Pro.

This will hide the prices and add to cart buttons from logged out users. When non-wholesalers visit your store, they can browse products as usual, but the prices and purchase options will remain hidden.

Add wholesale-only payment methods

As we discussed earlier, wholesale buyers often have fundamentally different needs from normal retail customers. After all, wholesalers are regular customers who are buying in bulk, rather than browsing for their own personal use.

As a result, many WooCommerce wholesale websites need to offer different payment methods for each type of user. For example:

• Imagine that you want to offer PayPal to retail customers but not wholesale buyers due to the high PayPal fees.
• Maybe you want wholesale customers to pay by invoice or bank transfer/BACS, while requiring instant online payment from regular customers.

The solution is to use the role-based payments feature in WooCommerce Wholesale Pro:

1. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Payments.
2. First, make sure you have added all the payment methods that you will be offering, such as PayPal, credit card, invoice, etc.
3. Next, find the 'Payment Roles' page.
4. For each payment method on your store, select which user role(s) it will be available to.

Once you've done that, guests and normal customers will only see the payment gateways available to their role. Similarly, wholesale buyers will only see the payment methods for their role.

Create wholesale-only shipping methods

Shipping products to wholesale customers can be very different to shipping retail orders. That's because wholesale orders tend to be in bulk and involve much larger quantities. As a result, you may want to offer different shipping methods and costs to each type of customer.

For example:

• Lots of online shops offer flat rate shipping costs or free shipping to retail customers. In contrast, they're more likely to cover their costs by offering weight-based shipping to wholesale buyers using a plugin like YITH Product Shipping.
• In addition, some WooCommerce wholesale websites offer free shipping to their highest tier of wholesale users. This might be buyers with the highest historical sales, as offering free shipping is a way to reward them for their loyalty.

You can do this using the role-based shipping methods feature in WooCommerce Wholesale Pro:

1. In the WordPress Dashboard, go to WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping.
2. Add all the different shipping methods and costs that you require for each shipping zone.
3. Now go to the 'Shipping Roles' tab within the same section.
4. Use the options on the page to choose which shipping methods will be available to each user role. Select different shipping methods for retail and wholesale customers.

Or if you don't want to worry about shipping to wholesale users, consider a dropshipping arrangement where a third party handles order fulfilment.

Ready to create a wholesale website in less than 15 minutes?

If you've been wondering "How long does it take to create a wholesale website?" then I hope this tutorial has given you the answer.

WooCommerce Wholesale Pro is a plug-and-play solution to help store owners and developers create a professional wholesale area in minutes. It's the best WooCommerce B2B plugin for online store owners that want to sell to different types of customers.

No technical knowledge is needed. Just follow the instructions in this tutorial, and you'll be up and running in no time.

Get the WooCommerce B2B plugin here, and start taking wholesale orders TODAY 🚀

FAQ

1. What is a wholesale website?

A wholesale website is an online shop in which part or all of the ecommerce area is restricted to B2B (business-to-business) buyers. These buyers are typically resellers of your products. They need to buy the products at discounted trade prices so that they can mark them up when selling them to their own customers.

A wholesale ecommerce website may also have a public shop for retail customers. These public customers cannot see wholesale prices.

2. Why create a wholesale website?

You should create a wholesale website if you want resellers to be able to purchase at trade prices. Of course, you can avoid this by taking wholesale orders manually over the phone. However, it's far more efficient to let them do it themselves on your website.

This will help to grow the wholesale side of your business because it is more convenient for buyers, as well as freeing you up for more important tasks. A wholesale website can be tailored specifically to the needs of wholesale buyers, without affecting the public-facing shop. This helps to build loyalty to your brand and ensure that they continue selling your products for many years.

3. Can I showcase my offerings to both wholesale and retail customers?

Absolutely. When you use WooCommerce Wholesale Pro to create a wholesale website, you can sell the same products to different customers at different prices. Each customer sees the correct pricing for their role, so there's no duplication.

If you're looking to create a food delivery or takeaway service for your restaurant, WooCommerce for restaurants is a great solution. With a WordPress food delivery plugin, setting up an online ordering system on your website is easy. Keep reading to learn how to create a seamless online ordering experience.

In this tutorial, you'll discover how to create a restaurant ordering system using WooCommerce for restaurants. Restaurants can greatly benefit from having an online food ordering system because:

Whether you're a seasoned WooCommerce user or just starting out, I'll show you how to set up a restaurant ordering system step by step. By the end, you will have a fully functional WooCommerce food ordering system. It will allow customers to place their orders, select pickup or delivery options, and make payments securely.

And the best part?

Your WooCommerce for restaurants ordering system will be 100% yours. You own your data, and you get to keep 100% of your profits.

Sound good? Let’s get started!

Why a WooCommerce for restaurants plugin is the best (and cheapest) way to take food orders online

Before we dive into the tutorial, let's look at why a WooCommerce food plugin for restaurants is the best option for taking food orders.

Many restaurants use hosted third-party services like Just Eat, Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Grubhub. By listing your restaurant with these platforms, you have access to a huge market of potential online food delivery customers. However, it’s not ideal for everyone.

Here's why:

• No hidden charges - Hosted platforms take a big cut of the revenue from your online restaurant orders. For example, Just Eat takes 14% at the time of writing. Whilst they have a massive user base, you're competing with other restaurants on the same platform. It's easy for your restaurant to get lost.
• Huge range of plugins available for site customization - With hosted platforms, you have no control over the functionality of your online restaurant ordering system. In contrast, you can infinitely customize a WooCommerce restaurant ordering system. Do this by installing themes, plugins, or even writing your own custom code.
• Scalability of WooCommerce - As the world's leading ecommerce system, you can use WooCommerce to run restaurant ordering systems containing hundreds, thousands or even millions of items.
• SEO capabilities - Since restaurant ordering will take place on your own WooCommerce store, you have full control over its marketing. You can build the authority of your restaurants' domain name over time, creating a valuable assets for your business.
• Better checkout experience - The WooCommerce checkout is optimized for conversions and you can customize it further using plugins. For example, you can allow customers to choose a delivery or collection time slot, or let customers check out in a popup.
• Payment flexibility - WooCommerce integrates with every payment gateway you can think of - PayPal, credit card, cash, etc. You're not restricted to the ones provided by a specific platform.
• You own your data - As with any hosted system, closed platforms have full control over your customer data. With WooCommerce, you own it.
• Advanced tracking and analytics - As the site owner, you have full access to your data. WooCommerce contains useful sales reports and you can enhance this by adding plugins.

What you'll learn

If you’re looking for a low-cost Just Eat alternative without the fees, this tutorial will teach how you to create a bespoke online food ordering system.

We'll do it using a WordPress food delivery plugin. This means that you don't have to worry about the problems of affiliating to a third-party platform. In addition, having a WooCommerce for restaurants food ordering system on your main restaurant website looks more professional. It encourages customers to spend more time on your site, building loyalty.

What will my WooCommerce for restaurants ordering system cost?

There are financial advantages to getting a WordPress site for your restaurant. Almost all of the costs are fixed one-off, upfront fees. As a result, rather than losing a percentage of every sale, the benefit improves with every order you receive. You start saving money almost immediately.

These are the costs of building the food ordering website described in this tutorial:

• WordPress content management system – free of charge.
• WooCommerce plugin – free of charge.
• WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering plugin.
• WordPress theme – free of charge (you could buy a premium WooCommerce restaurant theme for ~$65, but this tutorial will show you how to add the best online ordering for restaurants website using a free theme).
• Ongoing web hosting – web hosting comes at all different price points to suit any size of business. We recommend Kinsta's premium WordPress hosting. This is ideal for an ecommerce website with an online restaurant ordering system. For lower budgets, SiteGround is also good.
• Payment processor fees – if offer online payment methods (which isn’t essential) then your payment gateway will take a percentage of the fees. This is normally a few percent - much cheaper than Just Eat’s 14%.

As you can see, setting up a WordPress food delivery system plugin yourself is far cheaper than using a third-party platform such as Just Eat.

Still not convinced? Let me show you how simple it is to set up a WooCommerce for restaurants ordering system.

Should I create a DIY WordPress food delivery website, or hire a developer?

Below, I'm going to tell you how to create a WooCommerce for restaurants ordering website using a simple WordPress food delivery plugin. This is a great option and you don't need any technical know-how.

If you'd rather have someone else set up the website for you, just forward this tutorial to any WordPress developer.

To build your own WooCommerce for restaurant order system, keep reading and I'll show you how.

How to create a WooCommerce for restaurant ordering website

In this video tutorial, you can watch me create a restaurant online food ordering system. Build yours alongside me, or read the written tutorial below.

The following tutorial covers every step of setting up a WooCommerce restaurant website:

1. Create a WordPress websiteWordPress is the world's web building platform. It powers your overall website and makes it easy to add pages and edit content.
2. Install WooCommerceWooCommerce is the world’s top e-commerce platform, powering over 41% of online stores. We'll use WooCommerce to add products and categories and take payments online (including PayPal and credit card). We'll also use it to add delivery and collection.
3. Install WooCommerce Restaurant OrderingThis plugin converts your WooCommerce store into a fully-fledged food ordering system. It displays your products in a user-friendly one-page restaurant ordering system. That way, customers can browse, pick, and customize their orders. It also lets you set opening times and prevent ordering when you're closed.
4. Add options to your food productsI'll show you 2 easy ways to add extra options for your food items, such as size choices or selling pizza toppings.
5. Delivery and collectionWe'll discover how to add a range of delivery and collection options.
6. Bonus tipsFinally, I'll share some extra tips on perfecting your WooCommerce restaurant ordering system. This includes accepting tips online to increase your average order value; selling discounted meal deals; and online ordering for multiple restaurant chains.

1. Create a WordPress website

This tutorial assumes that you already have a WordPress website for your restaurant. If not, there are loads of online resources to help you get started with WordPress.

Since this tutorial is aimed at non-coders, I recommend using a WooCommerce-ready theme for the design of your website. The screenshots in this article were all created using Storefront. This is a high-quality, free WP theme from the makers of WooCommerce. If you prefer, then you can use a WooCommerce restaurant theme such as Delicio.

2. Install and set up WooCommerce

Once you’ve got a WP website with a WooCommerce-ready theme installed, it's time to install WooCommerce. This will be the core of your online restaurant food ordering system and the basis for installing your WordPress food delivery system plugin. It provides behind-the-scenes e-commerce features such as the shopping cart, checkout, and online payments.

However, we won’t be using Woo to display your food menu items. You’ll need WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering for that, which we’ll cover in Step 3.

2a. How to install WooCommerce

1. Log into the WordPress dashboard for your website.
2. Go to Plugins → Add New.
3. Search for 'WooCommerce', and install and activate the plugin.
4. A button will appear towards the top of the WordPress admin prompting you to enter the WooCommerce setup wizard. Go through the wizard and enter your currency, tax details, etc. (Ignore shipping as we'll do this in step 5). Tell the wizard to create the basic pages needed for WooCommerce such as Shop, Cart, and Checkout.
5. In the payment options section of the setup wizard, choose 'PayPal Payments Standard' and enter your PayPal email address. This is the quickest way to get started and you can always set up other payment options later. If you don’t want to take online payments, select 'Cash on delivery' and your restaurant staff or delivery drivers can take payment instead. To take credit/debit card payments without PayPal, then select 'Stripe' and follow the onscreen instructions.

2b. Create product categories for your restaurant menu

Most restaurant menus are divided into sections: Starters, Pizza, Salads, Desserts, Drinks, and so on. You need to create a separate WooCommerce product category for each section of your restaurant menu:

1. Look at how your food delivery menu is structured and write a list of categories.
2. In the WordPress admin, go to Products → Categories.
3. In the 'Add New Product Category' section on the left, create a category for each section on your online menu. Add a Name and Slug, plus a description if you want to display some introductory text for the category on the food order form.
4. Click the blue 'Add New Product Category' button.

The WooCommerce product categories you’ve just created for your menu will appear in a list on the right-hand side of the page.

2c. Add each dish or meal as a WooCommerce product

Next, add each food from your restaurant menu as a WooCommerce product.

In the WordPress admin, go to Products → Add New. Add the information highlighted in the screenshot below:

1. Title – The name of the dish to appear in the online restaurant ordering system.
2. Long Description (optional) – This can appear in the lightbox popup for each food (if you enable lightboxes in step 3). It's ideal for listing allergens and nutritional information.
3. Product Data – Choose a product type. If your restaurant only offers 1 version of the dish then choose 'Simple Product' and add the price. If you offer choices (e.g. Small, Medium, and Large), choose 'Variable Product' and add the remaining information in step 4.
4. Product Short Description (optional) – Use this to display extra information about the meal. This can appear on your one-page restaurant order form. It's a good place to list nutritional symbols, such as "GF, VG" for a dish that is Gluten Free and Vegan.
5. Product Categories – Tick the menu category that the food should appear in. (WooCommerce lets you select multiple categories but most online restaurant ordering systems would have 1 category for each food, just like a printed menu.)
6. Product Image (optional) – Click 'Add Featured Image' and upload a picture of the food. Restaurant food photography is a skill and it’s worth getting this done professionally. If your online restaurant order form will have small images then keep the file sizes small.
7. Publish – Click the blue 'Publish' button.

3. Install WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering

By now you've set up WooCommerce, added your dishes and structured them into the sections on your restaurant menu. Next, it's time to create a one-page food order form so that hungry customers can quickly build their meals and order online.

We'll do this using the powerful WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering plugin. WooCommerce provides its own layouts but they're not suitable for an online food ordering system. As a WordPress food delivery plugin, WooCommerce for Restaurant Ordering lists your menu in a one-page order form which is perfect for food ordering.

3a. Install WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering

1. Buy the WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering plugin.
2. Download the plugin files and copy your license key from the order confirmation page or email.
3. In the WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload.
4. Upload the zip file for WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering and activate the plugin.
5. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Restaurant and enter your license key. Here, you can also choose the default settings for your restaurant food order forms. Use these to configure the order forms. Also add opening times so that people can only order food while you're open.

3b. View your restaurant ordering page

When you activated WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering, the plugin automatically created a one-page food ordering system for you. This lists all your food products, divided by category.

Find the page under the Pages section of the WordPress admin, and see how it looks!

Next, you need an easy way for customers to review and complete their restaurant orders. The best way to do this is to install the WooCommerce Fast Cart plugin. This adds a floating cart popup so that customers can make changes, enter their details and check out without leaving the page. It's really flexible and you can choose whether to open the popup automatically as soon as customers add foods to their order or to display a clickable floating cart icon instead. 

2c. Create more food order forms (optional)

So far, you've learned how to use the default restaurant ordering page, which lists all your foods by category. If you need more flexibility, then you can also create food order forms individually.

You can do this by adding a [restaurant_ordering] shortcode anywhere on your site. Use the shortcode options to choose which categories to include, and customize the settings. This might be useful if:

• You're listing foods on more than one page of your website, for example with one page per category.
• You'd like to use different settings for each food order form, such as showing images or descriptions for some categories and not others.

4. Add options to your food products

If you only offer 1 version of each dish, you can ignore this section. If you want to give customers a choice – for example to choose a size or select pizza toppings – then you need product variations or add-ons.

Variable products are built into WooCommerce. You can list each type of variation as a dropdown list alongside each product in your online restaurant ordering system. Customers can select 1 variation from each list.

If you want customers to be able to make multiple selections, then you need add-ons instead. You can add more flexible options with the WooCommerce Product Options plugin. It works perfectly with WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering plugin we're using for the food order system. You can use it to add checkboxes, radio buttons, multi-select dropdowns, text input fields where the customer can type a special message, and more. For example, a WooCommerce pizza restaurant will need Product Options so that customers can order as many extra toppings as they like.

Next, I'll show you how to add both types of extra product options. You can use them separately or together in your WooCommerce restaurant ordering system.

Adding product variations

1. Select 'Variable product' in the 'Product Data' section of the 'Add/Edit Product' page.
2. Go to the 'Attributes' tab, add the product information that customers will be choosing between, and tick 'Used for variations'.
   

   

3. Go to the 'Variations' tab.
4. Either select 'Create variations from all attributes' from the dropdown, or add each variation individually and click 'Go'.
5. Click the little triangle arrow that appears when you hover over a variation and add the variation price and any other information.

   

6. Finally, click 'Save changes'. When customers click on food in the restaurant order form, they can choose the variations from a lightbox before adding it to the cart.

How to create Product Add-Ons

1. Buy, install, and activate the WooCommerce Product Options plugin.
2. Go to Products → Product Options in the WordPress admin.
3. Add as many options as you like, structured into groups.
4. When customers click on a food product in your WooCommerce restaurant order form, the add-ons will appear for them to select in a lightbox.

5. Set up delivery, collection and delivery time slots

WooCommerce offers lots of delivery options, which are perfect for restaurants. The free WooCommerce plugin lets you set up delivery areas and delivery or collection options. You can also use an additional plugin to let customers choose a specific delivery time or collection slot.

5a. Delivery areas and options

You can find these in the WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping section of the WordPress admin.

Here are some suggested shipping options that are useful for online restaurant ordering:

• Shipping zonesCreate one or more shipping zones for your different delivery areas. For example, if you offer free shipping for certain zip codes and charge for delivery in other areas, then set up 2 shipping zones. If you also offer collection, add a third shipping zone so that people can 'click and collect' wherever they live.
• Shipping optionsAdd one or more delivery options for each shipping zone. For example, your 'Local Delivery Area' shipping zone might have a 'Free Delivery' option for orders over $20, a $5 'Flat Rate' option for lower value orders, and a 'Local Pickup' option for customers wishing to collect their takeout meal.

Let customers check the delivery area before they start ordering

To make your online restaurant ordering system more user-friendly, I recommend adding details of your delivery area elsewhere on your site. Here are some ideas on how you can do this:

• Add a 'Delivery Area' page to your restaurant website.
• If your website has a sidebar (right or left column), add a widget about your restaurant's delivery area. Or even better, add a custom Google map showing your online food delivery area.
• Install the Woo Delivery Area Pro plugin so that customers can check they're in your delivery area before they start building their meal.

5b. Delivery time slots

Some restaurants like to deliver their online orders as soon as they're ready. Others let customers order in advance and choose a specific time slot. As a restaurant, you might want to take up to 5 online food orders in each half-hour period, and make sure they order at least 15 minutes in advance of their time slot. You can do this with the WooCommerce Opening Hours & Chosen Times plugin.

This excellent plugin lets customers choose a delivery date and time slot, subject to your restaurant's opening hours and capacity. You can restrict the number of bookings per time slot. You can specify how long customers must place their orders before their time slot, giving the kitchen plenty of time to prepare the meal.

6. Bonus tips

Before we finish, I'll share some more top tips for perfecting your WooCommerce restaurant ordering system. You'll learn how to accept tips online, sell meal deals, and more. If you operate a chain of restaurants, then you'll also learn how to adapt this tutorial to set up the best online ordering for restaurants for multiple sites.

Encourage customers to leave a tip

All over the world, restaurant customers expect to leave a tip. Don't miss out just because you're selling online! You can add tipping to your WooCommerce restaurant website using the WooCommerce Donation Or Tip On Cart And Checkout plugin.

This handy plugin adds a 'Tip' field to the WooCommerce checkout page. Customers can enter the value of their tip, significantly increasing your average order value.

Most restaurant customers add a tip of 10-15% of the total order value, depending on your country. Use the plugin to set a default tip as a percentage of the order value. To encourage bigger tips, set the default tip at the upper end of the usual amount in your country. Customers can then override the suggested tip as required.

Manage your delivery drivers

Most WooCommerce restaurant ordering systems use local drivers to deliver the orders.

You can manage your delivery drivers outside of the website. Alternatively, you can save time with the free Delivery Drivers for WooCommerce plugin. This WordPress plugin automates many of the manual tasks, connecting your drivers with your online systems and the customer.

Sell restaurant meal deals

Lots of WooCommerce for restaurants websites provide special offers and meal deals. These are fantastic incentives to encourage customers to buy more.

Use WooCommerce for restaurants ordering with the Quantity Manager plugin to control how many items customers can buy from each category. For example, you might sell a meal deal for two people where they can buy 2 starters, 2 mains, and spend up to $15 on side dishes.

You can also use the official WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing plugin to create restaurant deals and special offers. For example, you can create buy one get one free (BOGOF) meal deals, or buy one pizza and get 50% off your second one. These deals can be global or specific to a category, so you can offer deals on pizzas or sandwiches while keeping the side dishes and desserts at full price, and so on.

Mobile ordering for restaurants

WooCommerce doesn't come with a mobile app for customers to order via their smartphones. However, most WordPress themes are fully responsive, which means they're mobile-friendly and look great on any device.

This means that your customers can view your foods and order from your restaurant online using their device of choice - no need to worry about setting up a separate mobile app!

Managing orders in your WooCommerce for restaurants' food ordering system

There are many ways to manage the online food orders that your restaurant receives in WooCommerce:

Email notification of new restaurant orders

When you receive an order, you will receive an email notification from WooCommerce. Your kitchen staff can monitor this email address and be notified as soon as an order arrives.

If you have a busy restaurant with many online orders, then keep the WordPress admin open on your screen during your restaurant opening hours. Train your staff to refresh the WooCommerce → Orders page regularly so they can take action as soon as a food delivery order is received.

WooCommerce for restaurants mobile app

The official WooCommerce iOS mobile app lets you view and manage restaurant orders from any Apple iPhone or iPad. It's often more convenient for restaurant owners and staff to use mobiles or tablets than desktop computers.

Auto-print new food orders to the kitchen

You can integrate your WooCommerce for restaurants' food ordering system with a GPRS printer. This will automatically print new online restaurant orders as soon as they're received. We recommend the WooCommerce Automatic Order Printing plugin.

Receive an alert when you receive a WooCommerce for restaurants order

Use YITH WooCommerce Desktop Notifications to automatically play a sound alert on your desktop computer, laptop, or tablet whenever you receive a new order.

If you'd rather receive a text when you receive a new order from your WooCommerce for restaurant website, try the SMS Alert Order Notifications plugin. You can also use the Twilio SMS Notifications plugin to send the customer a text when their order is ready.

WooCommerce can be integrated with many external systems. If you're using a specific system to manage your restaurant orders, look up how this can be integrated with WooCommerce.

Think creatively and you'll be surprised how easy it is to integrate your WooCommerce for restaurant ordering system with your existing kitchen processes.

Online ordering for multiple restaurants

So far, we've talked about creating a WooCommerce restaurant ordering system for a single location, using a WordPress food delivery plugin. With a couple of tweaks, you can extend this to take orders for multiple restaurants or entire restaurant chains. There are 2 ways to achieve this:

Method 1 – WordPress multisite, with a separate site for each restaurant

You may want to keep your WooCommerce for restaurants really separate, with unique content for each one (e.g. a different homepage, about page and contact us). If so, you can use WordPress multisite to create a separate sub-site for each restaurant in the chain. This is better than having completely separate websites because you get the best of both worlds: a single WordPress food delivery plugin installation with shared hosting and maintenance costs; with unique content for each restaurant.

WooCommerce for restaurant ordering will be active on each site. However, each site will have its own set of products and order notification settings, avoiding any crossover.

WPBeginner has an excellent article on How to install and set up WordPress Multisite Network. This is compatible with all the steps in the above tutorial.

Method 2 – Single website, with separate categories & order notifications for each restaurant

A simpler option is to take orders for each restaurant from your main WordPress website. There are two ways you can do this:

• Create separate product categories for each restaurant. On the online food ordering system page for each restaurant, use WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering to list products from the appropriate categories.
• Alternatively, use either the official Product Vendors add-on or the Dokan Multivendor plugin to add products from multiple vendors (treat each restaurant as a separate vendor). Each vendor has their own product categories. Enable the 'Category pages' option in WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering and the beautiful food order form layout will be used for each vendor's products.

Whichever method you choose, you can use the WooCommerce Multiple Email Recipients Notifications plugin to send order notifications to a different email address depending on which category the customer has ordered from. This lets you ensure that the new order emails are sent to the correct restaurant. As a result, your entire WooCommerce restaurant online  food ordering system remains on a single website - while taking orders from multiple restaurants.

Case study: Online Ordering for Ciao Italia

Ciao Italia is an Italian restaurant in the US that started offering curbside pickup to its customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. They use our WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering plugin to let customers place their orders online from home.

The restaurant displays its entire menu (including food, beverages, and a gift card) on a one-page order form. It does this by sorting the food items under different categories and displaying all of the categories on the menu page. Customers can simply click the (+) icon to add food items to the cart. When a customer adds an item to their cart, they see additional purchasing options in a lightbox.

For example, you can use the lightbox to choose the quantity of food or beverages. If you're buying a gift card, then you can choose the value in any denomination. (Tip: They sell gift cards using the 'Customer Defined Price' option in the Product Add-Ons plugin.)

The one-page food order form makes it quick and easy for customers to place their orders and proceed to the checkout page.

Adam Tracksler from Bryce Creative developed the website. He was delighted with WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering:

In today’s environment of having to act nimbly for clients, the WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering plugin is the perfect solution for getting a website running quickly. We were able to launch on day one with the help of this plugin. It took all the heavy lifting out of the equation and let us focus on design. If you are debating whether or not this is the solution for getting a restaurant going — look no further, this is the plugin you want. The support is also top-notch!

Adam TrackslerBryce Creative

Want to set up online ordering for your restaurant in 15 minutes?

And there you have it! If you follow all the steps in this tutorial then you can create a complete online food ordering system with an easy-to-use WordPress food delivery plugin.

You've learned how to install and set up the WooCommerce platform to handle all of your menu's food products. You've also seen how you can use the WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering plugin to create customizable food order forms. Customers can choose their selections from each customer, and then place their order and pay online.

By using a WordPress food delivery plugin and WooCommerce as an alternative to Just Eat or other systems, your restaurant can save many thousands of dollars or pounds. It's easy to set up, easy to manage and will look really professional.

Get WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering here, and start selling food online TODAY →

If you're looking for a WordPress eBook plugin, you've come to the right place. This is the complete guide to listing and selling digital eBooks in WordPress. I'll show you how to choose the right WordPress eBook plugin for your site - whether you want an eBook library plugin with downloadable PDF's, or an eBook store plugin with e-commerce.

In this article, I'll teach you about 3 methods for creating a WordPress digital eBook library. Each method uses one of our table-based WordPress eBook plugins, and I'll recommend the best plugin for your needs. The plugins are ideal for creating a WordPress eBook library (like Scribd) or eBook store. The eBooks are listed in a searchable, sortable table layout with filters.

Jump straight to the instructions for the method you need:

1. Method 1 - Create an eBook library with downloadable or embedded books
   This is a non-ecommerce option, as people can read eBooks online or download the eBooks. You can add any eBook file type, such as PDF, EPUB, MOBI or Kindle. People can then add them to their e-readers (like Kindle or NOOK) or smartphone (Apple or Android device). It's suitable for lists of free eBooks, or eBook membership sites (i.e. an ebook subscription service) where you sell subscriptions giving access to your downloadable WordPress eBook library.
2. Methods 2 and 3 - Build an e-commerce eBook library
   This is a full e-commerce option, where people can view your eBooks in a searchable table and purchase each one individually. They will then receive a protected eBook download link that they can add to their library e.g. in Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble NOOK ebook readers. You can choose between two popular WordPress eBook store plugins: WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.
3. Perfecting your eBook library
   Whichever method you follow, use this section to add the finishing touches that will make your eBook digital library a success. I'll show you how to create filters to make your eBooks easier to find, plus extras such as adding embedded audio players or flipbooks to a WordPress audiobook library. You'll even learn how to create a private members-only ebook library that is hidden from public view.

Choosing a WordPress eBook plugin

Our WordPress eBook plugins are ideal because you can list lots of digital books on each page. Users don't have to waste time scrolling through multiple pages. You can even include extra data about each eBook such as the author, blurb, image, publisher, year - whatever you like! This also improves search engine rankings in Google.

Your users can quickly search, sort and filter the list to find an eBook they're interested in. They can then either click to download a WordPress eBook PDF or other format such as EPUB or MOBI (depending on the device they're using such as a Kindle, NOOK, or an Apple/Android device like an iPad or iPhone). Or if you're using an e-commerce plugin, then they can add eBooks to the cart directly from the table of eBooks.

I'll recommend a suitable WordPress eBook plugin in the relevant sections of this tutorial. Read about the method you're interested in, and I'll tell you how to set it up and which WordPress eBook store plugins to use.

Let's get started!

What can you sell with a WordPress or WooCommerce eBook plugin?

People use the term 'eBook' to mean lots of different things. In a nutshell, an e-book refers to any book or other document that you download and read electronically, or read online. It doesn't refer to printed books, or web content that you read directly on a website.

This includes:

• Type of book - fiction or non-fiction, science fiction, storybook, thrillers, textbooks.
• Any non-fiction genre - autobiographies, biographies, creative writing, history, journalism, law, memoirs, philosophy, religion, self-help.
• Reference books - user manuals and handbooks, DIY books, travel guides, recipe books.
• Academic publications - commentary, critiques, downloadable essays, reports, scientific papers, white papers.
• Other ebook formats - music manuscripts, poetry, songbooks.

It's a diverse list, but what they all have in common is that they are downloadable and read on a computer, table or smartphone. That's what makes them an eBook.

Now we know what we're talking about, let's dive right in and learn how to create a WordPress eBook library like Scribd.

Method 1 - Create a WordPress eBook library with downloadable eBooks

Method 1 is about creating a digital library of eBooks similar to Scribd. It uses our Document Library Pro plugin to create a searchable, filterable table listing your eBooks.

This method is ideal if you want to create a WordPress eBook library with downloadable eBook links. Users can find a digital book and click to download it as an eBook PDF or whatever format you decide to use. It's suitable for free digital eBook libraries, and WordPress membership sites where people are given access to a protected eBook library e.g. ebooks with DRM.

Method 1 is NOT suitable if you want to sell each eBook individually - you'll need a WordPress eBook store plugin as well as an e-commerce plugin for that. If this is what you need then jump to Method 2 instead.

Method 1 has two straightforward steps:

1. Add your eBooks to WordPress
2. Use the WordPress eBook plugin to list eBooks in a table

Step 1 - Add your eBooks to WordPress

First, install Document Library Pro and use it to add your eBooks to WordPress. This is really easy because the plugin creates a dedicated 'Documents' section to the WordPress admin. In your case, 'Documents' are actually 'eBooks'!

Add each eBook as a separate 'Document':

1. Go to the Documents → Add New page.
2. Use the 'Document Links' section to upload the eBook. Alternatively, if it's hosted elsewhere (e.g. on Amazon Kindle), then you can add the URL here. Either way, users can click on a button in the eBook library to access the eBook.
3. Add the information that you want to display about each eBook:
   • Title - add the eBook title.
   • Categories and tags - add any categories or tags that will let people sort and filter the eBook in the digital library.
   • Featured Image - upload an image, if you're planning to include these in the WordPress eBook library. This will probably be an image of the eBook front cover or author, similar to how ebook retailers like Amazon (United States) or Kobo (Canada) do it.
   • Excerpt - Use this to add the eBook's blurb or description. The WordPress eBook plugin can include this as a column in the table.
   • Content - Use this to add any extra information that you want to display in the eBook library. In the bonus section later in this tutorial, I'll also show you how to embed eBooks directly into the content field so that people can read them online.

Adding eBooks in bulk

If you have too many eBooks to add manually, that's fine. Document Library Pro provides several ways to import eBooks in bulk.

Create any extra fields for your eBook library

If you need to include any additional fields in your eBook then you can do this by creating custom fields and taxonomies. As a general rule, use custom fields for storing unique data about each eBook such as ISBN number or barcode. Use taxonomies for filterable data such as topic, publisher, year or author. For example, you might create a taxonomy that marks bestsellers or ebooks with DRM. This way, customers can easily sort them by new releases, popular ebooks, or DRM-free ebooks.

Once you've created the extra fields for your eBook post type, you can add the data for each eBook. You can list all these extra fields in the digital library using the WordPress eBook plugin - which brings us to Step 2...

Step 2 - Use the WordPress eBook plugin to list eBooks in a table

By now, you've added your eBooks to WordPress. Great! Now comes the fun part - it's time to create your WordPress eBook library similar to the Kindle store.

Navigate to the 'Pages' area in the WordPress admin and find a page named 'Document Library'. Change the name and permalink to something related to eBooks, such as 'eBook Library'.

Next, view the page and you'll see the first draft of your WordPress eBook library.

It looks pretty good straight out of the box, and you can use the plugin settings page to fine-tune it as needed. For example, you can change how the download links work, and which columns appear in the table.

If you've structured the eBook library into categories, then you can also enable the 'Folders' option. This will list each eBook category separately. Users can click on a category name (i.e. a folder) to view the eBooks from that category.

That's everything you need for a professional-looking WordPress eBook library. If you want to make any further changes to it, skip to the section on Perfecting your eBook Library.

Sell membership access or add ebook subscription service to your WordPress eBook library

So far, I've shown you how to create a table of eBooks that is available for everyone to access. If you don't want this, then there are a few WordPress plugins to protect your eBook library and restrict it from public view. Here are 3 suggestions of how you can achieve this.

Hide the eBook library with Password Protected Categories

Our WordPress Password Protected Categories plugin lets you put all your eBooks in a category and password protect that category. This will password protect your eBook digital library so that only people with the password can access it.

Use Groups to restrict access to authorized users only

The free Groups WordPress plugin is an easy-to-use free WordPress membership plugin. It offers an easy way to create 'hidden' areas of your website that only logged in users with access to the appropriate 'Group' can access.

This method is useful to making a WordPress eBook library available to pre-approved people only similar to Kindle Unlimited. For example, you might want to make it available to members of your organization, employees, or book club. Each person needs to have a user account on your WordPress website. You need to give each person access to the eBook Library Group manually. (If you want to sell access to the eBook library then you can still use the Groups plugin - but you'll also need some extra plugins which I'll cover in the next section.)

Install the Groups plugin, create your eBook library as described above, and create a Group called 'eBook Library' or similar. Go to to the eBook library page with the product table and restrict it to members of the eBook Library Group.

To give people access to the eBook library, you need to add them as users in WordPress (Users → Add New). Select the eBook Library Group from the dropdown on the Add/Edit User page. When they log into their account, they will be able to access the protected eBook library.

Use the Groups plugin documentation to make further changes. For example, you can create a message that will appear when unauthorized users try to access the hidden eBook library.

Sell subscriptions to your WordPress eBook library

You can sell access to the eBook library using the WooCommerce plugin with the Groups for WooCommerce add-on - plus Subscriptions if you want to take regular payments. This builds on the 'Groups' method in the previous section by integrating the hidden eBook library with the world leading e-commerce plugin and the ability for people to subscribe online.

Some tips on which combination of plugins to use:

• If you want people to make a one-off payment to your eBook library then you can do this using Groups, WooCommerce and Groups for WooCommerce. Sell access to the eBook Library Group as a product in WooCommerce, so that people can buy it on your website.
• If you want people to make an ongoing subscription to the digital eBook library, then you'll also need the Subscriptions plugin. You still need to sell access to the eBook Library Group using WooCommerce, but buying this product will sign people up to an ongoing subscription.  This is similar to the Kindle Unlimited implementation. Payment will be taken regularly (e.g. using PayPal or Stripe) so that the customer can continue accessing the eBook library. If they ever cancel the subscription then their access to the Group will be revoked.

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Method 2 - Build an e-commerce eBook library

Method 1 showed you how to create a downloadable eBook library - either public, or restricted to specific people. In Method 2, I'll tell you about WordPress eBook plugins for selling eBooks individually. With these plugins, people can view a table listing all your eBooks. They can then choose to buy specific eBooks from the list. This is a full e-commerce solution - customers can pay for their eBooks online and receive the downloadable eBooks via a secure link.

There are 2 free WordPress e-commerce plugins that are ideal for selling eBooks:

• Easy Digital Downloads - EDD is famous for selling digital products such as eBooks. Coupled with a table-based plugin for displaying your eBooks, it's the perfect way to create an e-commerce eBook library.
• WooCommerce - Powering over 41% of all online shops, you can use WooCommerce to sell anything online - including eBooks. Like Easy Digital Downloads, the default WooCommerce store layouts aren't really suitable for eBooks. However, you can use it with a table-based WordPress eBook store plugin to create the perfect layout, complete with Buy buttons.
• You can also use other e-commerce plugins such as WP ecommerce. I haven't featured them all in this article, but they all work with Posts Table Pro for listing your eBooks.

I'll tell you how to create a WordPress eBook library using both of these e-commerce plugins. The method is slightly different for each, so we'll start with Easy Digital Downloads and then move on to WooCommerce.

Create an Easy Digital Downloads eBook store

Easy Digital Downloads works perfectly with our Posts Table Pro plugin - use them together to build a fantastic eBook store. Your eBooks will be listed in a table layout with buy buttons.

People can read about the eBooks in the table, and add as many as they like to the cart. They can then click through to the Easy Digital Downloads checkout and pay online. Once the order is complete, Easy Digital Downloads will send them a secure link to download the eBook in whatever format you've uploaded (PDF, EPUB, MOBI etc.).

How to set it up

1. First install the free Easy Digital Downloads plugin. Use the official documentation to set up payment methods, taxes and more.
2. Add each eBook as a separate downloadable product via Downloads → Add New.
3. Next, create a new page (Pages → Add New) which you'll use as your main eBook store page.
4. Finally, follow the steps in our other tutorial about how to create Easy Digital Downloads table layouts. This covers everything you need to know to create an amazing eBook store layout using Posts Table Pro. You can create a single table listing all your eBooks, or multiple tables listing eBooks from different categories. There are over 50 options, so go through the tutorial and create the perfect eBook store.

Easy Digital Downloads tip: If you're selling eBooks then you must charge European VAT to customers in the EU. You can easily do this with the Easy Digital Downloads EU VAT plugin.

Build a WooCommerce eBook store

As a WordPress website owner, another way to sell ebooks is through WooCommerce. You can use the WooCommerce plugin to create an ebook subscription site or ebook store. Paired with the right WooCommerce ebook plugin, this e-commerce plugin is perfect for selling digital products (or digital downloads) like ebooks.

 

To display the eBooks in a searchable, you'll need our WooCommerce Product Table plugin.

The way it works is that you'll add each eBook as a separate WooCommerce product. You'll then use the WooCommerce Product Table to list the eBooks in a searchable table with filters. As with the Easy Digital Downloads eBook store plugin, you can list all your eBooks in a single table or create separate tables for each category. Either way, it's easy for customers to find your eBooks, pay online, and receive a secure download link via email.

See it in action on our WooCommerce eBook plugin demo page.

How to set it up

1. First install the free WooCommerce plugin. Use the WooCommerce setup wizard and documentation to set up your standard store pages, tax settings, payment gateways (e.g. PayPal and/or Stripe for credit and debit card payments), etc.
2. Next, add each eBook as a product (Products → Add New). Choose the 'Downloadable' product type in the Product Data section of the page. This will open up some extra options for you to add the downloadable eBook file(s) in whichever format you choose. This might be PDF, MOBI, EPUB or similar.
3. Finally, create a new page (Pages → Add New) which will be used for your eBook store. Use the WooCommerce Product Table knowledge base to list your eBooks in a table layout with all the information you want to display. It's really flexible and you can even store extra data about your eBooks using product attributes, custom fields and taxonomies. If you want to offer different price options then you can use variable products for this. Each price option will appear as a variation dropdown list next the add to cart button.

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Perfecting your eBook library

Whichever of the above WordPress eBook plugins you use, don't forget to add the finishing touches.

Adding filters to the eBook library

The most important extra features that you need to add are filters. You can add filter dropdowns above the eBook library for various options including categories, tags and any custom taxonomy.

If you're using WooCommerce Product Table then you can also add attribute/variation filters above the table, and filter sidebar widgets. All of these will increase your eBook sales by making them easier for people.

Embed eBooks to read online

So far, we've assumed that people will download the eBooks to their computer. Perhaps you don't want this - or perhaps you want to provide an online preview of the eBook before people download the eBook.

When you add the eBook - either as a document or an e-commerce plugin, depending on which method in this tutorial you've used - you need to embed it in the main content field/description.

There are lots of service that let you embed eBooks into WordPress, and they will all work with the plugins in this tutorial. For example:

• Use the free Google Drive Embedder plugin to embed the eBook from Google Drive.
• Use a flipbook plugin such as FlipSnack to embed a page turning flipbook.
• Or use the free PDF Embedder plugin to embed a PDF in WordPress.

Either way, people will be able to view the eBook and read it online. However, they won't be able to download it unless you have separately provided a download link.

Add embedded audio and video players

If you're selling audio books or have a promotional video, then you can embed media players directly into the main eBook library page. For example, you might be creating a WordPress audio book library and want to include MP3 players for your audio books.

To do this, add an embedded audio or video player directly into any of the text fields in your eBook library (such as the main content area or a custom field).

Go to the plugin settings page and tick the 'Shortcodes' option. This tells the WordPress eBook library plugin to render the embedded media player properly, instead of just as plain text.

Next, your visitors will be able to listen to audio tracks or watch video directly from the main eBook library page.

Add quick view buttons

Add buttons to show extra images, the blurb, and more in a quick view lightbox.

If you're building a WooCommerce eBook store, then you can enhance your book lists with the WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin. This handy plugin adds 'quick view' buttons (which you can rename to anything you like) to your eBook library pages. Customers click these buttons to view more information about your eBooks in a lightbox, without having to visit the single product page.

Here are some examples of how you can use quick view to improve your WooCommerce eBook library:

• Upload multiple images to the product gallery, and display these in the quick view lightbox. Use the images to preview different pages from your eBook, just like Amazon's 'Look inside' feature or Kobo's 'Preview Now' feature.
• Add the blurb from the back of your eBook to the product short description, and display this in the quick view.
• Sell product variations (e.g. different eBook file formats or printed book options) in the quick view.

The perfect WordPress or WooCommerce ebook library

These WordPress eBook plugins come with over 50 options for changing how the eBooks are listed in the library. Choose whichever plugin best meets your needs:

• Use Document Library Pro to create a non-ecommerce eBook library where people can view and download eBooks, but not make purchases.
• Use Posts Table Pro if you're using Easy Digital Downloads to sell eBooks.
• Or use WooCommerce Product Table if you're using WooCommerce to sell eBooks.

Think about which eBook plugin will help you list your eBooks even more effectively. Spend some time experimenting to find the right combination of options, and make your WordPress eBook library a big success.

WooCommerce comes with various fields for storing product data. There's the product name, long and short description, price, images, stock, weight, dimensions, etc. But what happens if you want to store and display extra product data, such as WooCommerce custom taxonomies?

In this article, I walk you through creating WooCommerce custom taxonomies for products. We'll look at the difference between WooCommerce custom fields and taxonomies. Also, we'll consider the different types of product data. You will also learn how to add custom taxonomies to store extra information about WooCommerce products.

At the end of this guide, you will have mastered how to:

And remember, you can do all this without writing a single line of code!

Ready to start displaying products with custom fields & taxonomies? But before we dive in, let's quickly examine how to create and display a WooCommerce custom product taxonomy.

What is product taxonomy?

A product taxonomy is a means of structuring products into different groups and subgroups based on their features, attributes, and characteristics. It enables customers to find the products they want without wasting time. It also helps you as a seller organise your products, which makes it easier to manage your inventory, sales and marketing effort.

The categorization can be based on size, colour, style, materials, target market, price range, or anything else.

What is a WooCommerce custom taxonomy?

In WooCommerce, a custom taxonomy organizes and classifies products to show advanced custom fields beyond the standard product categories and tags. It allows you to group products based on specific product attributes using hierarchical or non-hierarchical groupings.

To create a custom taxonomy in WooCommerce programmatically, you might have to use a new set of labels. Besides, you'll have to register the taxonomy with the WordPress core and associate the taxonomy you wish to classify.

An easier option is to create a WooCommerce taxonomy using a WordPress plugin. You can use a plugin to create custom taxonomies such as brands, sizes, seasons, materials, and other relevant product data. Keep reading to discover the best WooCommerce taxonomy plugins for creating, displaying, and filtering taxonomies.

What are the benefits of using WooCommerce custom taxonomies?

Using WooCommerce custom taxonomies provides many benefits. These include better product organization, enhanced filtering, improved navigation, flexibility, and higher visibility. Integrating relevant keywords in your custom taxonomy terms enables more laser-focused product pages for better SEO.

What's the difference between WooCommerce custom fields and taxonomies?

We usually use the phrases 'custom fields' and 'custom taxonomies' in relation to WooCommerce product data. However, many people don't know exactly what they are and their differences. WooCommerce custom fields are used to store arbitrary, one-off information about a product. On the other hand, custom taxonomy is used for grouping things together. This reflects in the way you add custom fields and custom taxonomies for products in the WordPress admin:

Custom fields appear in the main column of the Add/Edit Product screen. This is where you add other unique product data such as title, description, price, etc.

In contrast, custom taxonomies appear in the right-hand column under the product categories and tags. Each WooCommerce taxonomy term should be selected for multiple products like categories and tags.

When should I use custom fields & when should I use a WooCommerce taxonomy?

Once you understand the difference between a WooCommerce custom field and taxonomy, it becomes more obvious when to use each one.

As a rule of thumb, you can decide between custom fields and taxonomies by asking: "Is the data I am adding unique to each product, or does it apply to multiple products?" If the data is unique for each WooCommerce product, you need a custom field. However, if you want to select the same value for several products and use it to group them together (e.g., via a product filter), then you need a WooCommerce taxonomy.

Here are some examples to help you choose:

• WooCommerce clothes store displaying the color of each product. If you're selling clothes in WooCommerce, you'll probably want customers to be able to find products by color. You'll have multiple products of each color. By creating a WooCommerce custom taxonomy called 'Colour', customers can filter the list of products to find the color they like. This wouldn't be possible with a custom field.
• WooCommerce second-hand site storing 'condition' information about their used products. If you're selling used goods like eBay, you'll need a field to store details of any damage, etc. The description of each item's condition will be unique to that product, so you should create a WooCommerce custom field.
• WooCommerce product directory with a large product database. WooCommerce directory-style websites with large numbers of products often list extra product data within the directory listings view. For example, a book directory might include data for author, publisher, and year.

Use custom fields and taxonomies together

To use the 2nd example above, a store selling used goods might want a WooCommerce taxonomy called 'Condition' AND a custom field called 'Condition Description'. The 'Condition' taxonomy would include the terms "New," "As New," and "Used," which apply to multiple products.

You could create product filters so customers can narrow their search based on the overall condition. The 'Condition Description' custom field would provide unique information about the exact condition of the product and any damage.

Related: How to create and show WooCommerce custom fields.

Video tutorial - WooCommerce custom fields & taxonomies

In this video tutorial, you can watch us create WooCommerce taxonomies and custom fields and display them on a WordPress website. There are also full written instructions below:

How to create a WooCommerce custom taxonomy

Easy Post Types and Fields is the best plugin for creating a custom taxonomy for WooCommerce products. It's 100% free and has everything you need to add extra taxonomies to your store.

WooCommerce products are custom post types in WordPress. That's why you need a plugin which lets you add taxonomies to a WordPress post type.

Other plugins like Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) let you create custom fields but not taxonomies. Easy Post Types and Fields lets you do both.

Next, I'll show you how to create WooCommerce custom taxonomies with the free Easy Post Types plugin. After that, you'll learn how to display them on the front end, and how to let customers filter by taxonomy.

Setup instructions

Here's how to use Easy Post Types as a WooCommerce custom taxonomy plugin:

1. 1. Go to Plugins → Add New in the WordPress admin and search for 'Easy Post Types and Fields'.
   2. Install and activate the plugin by Barn2. Skip through the setup wizard because you don't need to create a new post type.
   3. Go to the 'Post Types' section on the left of the WordPress admin and click on the 'Existing Post Types' tab.
   4. Find the 'Products' post type and click on the Taxonomies button for it.
   5. Now set up your WooCommerce custom taxonomy:
      1. Add the Taxonomy Slug (ideally 1 word, lowercase).
      2. Add a plural and singular name (label). This will only appear in the WordPress admin.
      3. Choose whether or not you want the custom taxonomy to be hierarchical. Hierarchical taxonomies are like product categories, where you can create multi-level nested structures with parent and child categories. Non-hierarchical taxonomies are like tags, which are flat and can't be structured.
      4. Click to add the taxonomy to WooCommerce.

Now go to the Edit Product page, and you'll see the custom taxonomy on the right-hand side, under the categories and tags. Add one or more taxonomy terms for each product, just like standard product tags.

You'll also see a section for managing your new WooCommerce taxonomy under the 'Products' section of the WordPress admin. For example, if you created a taxonomy called 'Brand' then a 'Brands' link will appear there.

Related: The ultimate guide to WooCommerce Brands. 

Displaying WooCommerce custom taxonomies on the front end

Editing the template files for your products' taxonomy archive pages is ideally the only way to display custom taxonomies for WooCommerce products. However, this involves a bit of coding knowledge.

But the good news is that there's a handy WordPress plugin to list products in a table and extra data, such as WooCommerce custom taxonomies. It's an ideal way to display products with extra information, as everything is presented in a structured tabular format. You can add product tables to any WordPress page, your main WooCommerce shop or product category pages, or even a single product page.

The WooCommerce Product Table WordPress plugin is one of the best for displaying custom taxonomies. This is because it supports all the usual WooCommerce product data, plus custom fields and custom taxonomies. Each item of product data is listed as a separate column in the table.

Customers can search or sort the table by any product custom taxonomy term. They can also filter by taxonomy via handy dropdown lists above the table. The WordPress plugin allows you to create WooCommerce tables with only products as a specific taxonomy term.

Comparatively, this is much easier than modifying your WooCommerce template files. Moreover, you get all the other benefits from product table layouts, such as improved conversion rates.

How to create product tables with WooCommerce custom taxonomies

Setting up a WooCommerce Product Table with all the extra product data is easy:

1. Get WooCommerce Product Table. Download the WordPress plugin using the link on the order confirmation page and email.
2. In the WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New. Upload the plugin files, and install and activate the plugin.
3. Navigate to Products → Product Tables and set up your first table.

Below, I'll tell you which settings to choose to display WooCommerce custom taxonomies in different ways.

Display custom taxonomies on the WooCommerce shop page or product category archive

The first page of the product table builder lets you choose which method you'll use to add the table. Select the "Display on a shop page (e.g. main storefront, category page, etc.)" option.

On the following page, choose which templates to display the custom taxonomies table on.

Use the 'Columns' page of the table builder to choose what product data to display. All the custom taxonomies for the 'Products' post type in your store will appear in the list of columns. Select as many as you need, and use the pencil icon to rename the column heading.

This will add the product table to your main shop page and whichever other template pages you selected. The list of products will include the WooCommerce custom taxonomies.

How to list products with WooCommerce taxonomies on a standard page

Alternatively, you can add product tables to normal WordPress pages with custom taxonomy columns. This will look similar to the screenshot above, but won't affect your main shop pages.

The instructions for this are mostly the same as above. However, you should select "Add to a page using a block or shortcode" at the start of the table builder.

On the following page, either leave it set to "All products" or select which products you wish to list in the table.

The final page of the table builder will provide a shortcode for adding the table to a page. Either insert this onto the page, or add a 'Product Table' Gutenberg block and select the table you just created.

The page will then display a product table complete with columns for the WooCommerce custom taxonomies.

How to show WooCommerce custom taxonomies on the single product page

You can also use the shortcode method described above to show custom taxonomies on the single product page. However, you need to do it a bit differently because we only want to show one product in each table.

This time, use the 'Select products' page of the table builder to select which individual product you'll be displaying the WooCommerce custom taxonomies on.

On the 'Columns' page of the table builder, add custom taxonomy columns and don't bother with other columns like 'Name'. That's because this information is already present on the single product page.

You can then paste the table's shortcode onto the single product page, for example in the short description field. This will display the WooCommerce custom taxonomies for the selected product. In this screenshot, there are columns for a custom field called 'size', a custom taxonomy called 'fabric', and a stock column. I have hidden elements such as the search box which aren't needed on the single product page (you can do this at Products → Product Tables → Settings).

List WooCommerce products with a specific custom taxonomy term

By default, your WooCommerce product tables will list all the products in a table. This is perfect if you plan to have a single table listing your entire WooCommerce inventory.

However, you can also create product tables listing products from a specific category, tag, custom field, or WooCommerce custom taxonomy term.

To do this, use the 'Select products' page of the table builder to select which taxonomy terms you want to display the products for. When you enable the 'Select specific products' option, the list will automatically include all the custom taxonomies for the 'Products' post type on your store. Select a taxonomy (e.g. Brand in the screenshot below) and then which term(s) you wish to display the products for ('Woo' or 'Ninja' in my example).

Let customers filter by WooCommerce taxonomy

So far, we've talked about how to display WooCommerce custom taxonomies on your website. In addition to this, your customers can benefit from being able to filter the list of products by taxonomy. Product filter by custom taxonomy allows customers to easily find whatever product they're looking for.

There are two ways to add taxonomy filters, depending on whether or not you're already using WooCommerce Product Table to display your taxonomies.

Use WooCommerce Product Table to add taxonomy filter dropdowns

WooCommerce Product Table comes with taxonomy filters which you can display as dropdown lists above the list of products. You can add a separate filter for each custom taxonomy (plus other data such as attributes, variations, categories and tags - instructions here). Customers choose a taxonomy term from the dropdown and use it to filter the list of products.

You can create WooCommerce product filter by custom taxonomy in the table builder. Your WooCommerce custom taxonomies will appear in the list of available filters. Add as many as you like. 

Add advanced WooCommerce taxonomy filters with the Product Filter plugin

For more advanced and flexible custom taxonomy filters, you can use the WooCommerce Product Filters plugin. This comes with many taxonomy filters, including checkboxes, radio buttons, clickable images, range sliders, and much more.

The WooCommerce Product Filters plugin offers a wide range of customization options for displaying taxonomy filters. You can choose from different styles such as checkboxes, dropdowns, images, image labels, or even color swatches. This means that you can create a taxonomy filter that matches your store's design and makes it easy for customers to find the products they are looking for.

For example, if you have a clothing store and want to allow customers to filter products by color, you could use color swatches as the taxonomy filter. This way, customers can easily click on the color swatch they want and see all the products available in that color.

Alternatively, if you have a store that sells products of different sizes, you could use a dropdown menu as the taxonomy filter. This would allow customers to select their preferred size and see all the products available in that size.

Add and edit custom taxonomies for products in bulk

Finally, let's talk about what happens if you want to add lots of taxonomies to your products. It can be a pain to add and remove them from each taxonomy individually, but you can save time by using the Setary app.

Setary is a bulk product editor for WooCommerce. It lets you edit any type of product data, including - you guessed it - custom taxonomies. You can either do this from a WooCommerce spreadsheet interface, or by filtering to select certain products and bulk-applying the taxonomies to them. Either way, it's a huge time-saver if you need to add or remove taxonomies in bulk.

If you've used a separate plugin to add your taxonomies then you need to enable in Setary. To do this, go to WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced → Setary and select the plugin that you used to add the custom taxonomies to WooCommerce:

You can then select the taxonomies to include as columns in Setary's spreadsheet editor:

Take control over your WooCommerce product taxonomies

In this article, we have covered the best plugins for adding and displaying product taxonomies in your WooCommerce store:

• The free Easy Post Types and Fields plugin makes it easy to add custom taxonomies to your WooCommerce products.
• WooCommerce Product Table displays taxonomies on the front end of your website. You can do this on the single product page, your main shop pages, individual product pages, and list products by taxonomy.
• The WooCommerce Product Filters plugin adds advanced filters so that customers can find products based on their taxonomy terms.
• Setary App lets you add and remove custom taxonomies from WooCommerce products in bulk, saving hours of manual work.

Armed with these tools, you can add a wide range of custom data to your products and take your store to new levels of success. Mix and match the plugins to get the full benefits of WooCommerce custom taxonomies in your store. The possibilities are endless!