Plugin(s) for Custom Fields that are 100% custom?

  • opossum123

    (@opossum123)


    15 years, 5 months ago

    Hello,

    I’m looking for a plugin that let me place individual text and HTML code to locations I specify (ex., above or below content area, in left or right sidebar), in the moment I create those pages. Again, it won’t be the same text across the site — rather, it will be unique for each and every page, and I enter the text and HTML whenever I create a page (or I’ll leave it blank on occasion).

    Before going further, the default “Custom Fields” option (where you write or edit a page) is not a fit since it’s going to create an unordered list which is inappropriate for my case.

    Trying the More Fields plugin brought up a few issues, and the Custom Field Template plugin doesn’t seem to work for me, too.

    A search on Google and here in the plugin directory didn’t solve yet.

    Which plugin(s) exist beside the aforementioned that would let me place text (incl. HTML) to certain locations?

    Thanks for your help.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Thread Starter opossum123

    (@opossum123)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    Anyone here with an answer? Would really appreciate it. Thanks.

    Dgold

    (@dgold)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    Hey there. Actually Custom Fields is exactly the feature that you need to use. It’s extremely flexible, and will do what you ask — if you code it right.

    1. First, a custom field can contain ANY content that would be postable (text, a URL, or some HTML code for anything like showing an image). Example of a custom field,
    KEY = Illustration For This Post
    VALUE = november-9-illustration.jpg

    For this, #1, I recommmend the plugin Custom Field Template, but it is NOT required. You can do it with WordPress out of the box.

    2. Second, you can place the output of a custom field anywhere in your theme templates. In my example,
    you can display the jpg that is associated with that post, on the Single Post template (so it will appear on the webpage when someone is viewing that post).

    For this, #2, I recommend the plugin Get Custom Fields, but again, this is not required and you can do it with hand-coding without a plugin if you want.

    3. Third, while it’s true that custom fields output is an unordered list, you can choose to ONLY display 1 item of the list. For example on the single post page for the post “November 9 How My Day Went”, you can display only the custom field value “november-9-illustration.jpg” matching the key “Illustration for this post”.

    4. Fourth, again about unordered lists: using CSS language, you can style an unordered list to appear any way that you wish. It does not have to look like a “list”. It can just be content, in-line, or listed, or just appearing as a single item/element.

    In conclusion: Custom Fields can be used to put any content, anywhere, and the content is associated WITH THAT POST, so it’s individual per-post.

    You can also aggregate the values of 1 key, onto your homepage. For example,
    Here Are All My Illustrations For All My Posts This Year:
    1.jpg
    2.jpg
    3.jpg

    Hope this helps you to unlock the power of the custom fields, the most underrecognized feature of WP, in my opinion

    Thread Starter opossum123

    (@opossum123)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    Thanks for your response.

    I found a solution for the time being which seems to be working OK; it’s described at:

    http://impresslab.com/2008/08/using-custom-fields-in-wordpress/

    Really appreciate it when I can avoid using a plugin for something the core can do. The only downside is that it puts a \ in front of all ” (inside the Value box) once I save the page. In other words, this entry:

    <a href="http://www.domain.com/">Domain</a><span class="something"></span>Anything

    …becomes this once I hit the “Save” button:

    <a href=\"http://www.domain.com/\">Domain</a><span class=\"something\"></span>Anything

    As a result, it doesn’t appear as it should due to all the \ in the page’s source code.

    Once I remove all \ and hit “Save” again the Value box stays without the \ plus that area on the page looks fine.

    Anybody knows why that’s happening and how to prevent it from happening in the first place?

    Dgold

    (@dgold)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    The technique shown on that link is the same as I described. The plugins I mentioned above make it somewhat easier, IMO, but are certainly optional. The plugin Get Custom Fields just simplifies that line of code used to display the custom field content in your theme. You can do it either way.

    What version of WP are you using?

    I think one of the out-dated versions of WP had a problem with adding slashes into Custom Fields. And also deleting them when you would do Edit Post. That’s been fixed in recent upgrades, like 2.6 +

    Thread Starter opossum123

    (@opossum123)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    It’s in the most current official version: 2.6.3 🙁

    Thread Starter opossum123

    (@opossum123)

    15 years, 5 months ago

    Just learned that it does not happen in the current 2.7 Beta version. That gives me hope. 🙂

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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