Creating Our WordPress Snippets Page
We embarked on a challenging yet enlightening mission to set up a streamlined Snippets Page within WordPress. Despite hitting numerous stumbling blocks, our persistence revealed the keys to success. Here, we share our exact steps to create an organized snippet grid with custom post types and taxonomies.
Overview of the Custom Setup
Our goal was to create a Custom Post Type (CPT) named snippet with an accompanying taxonomy called snippet_category. This allowed us to categorize various code snippets efficiently. Once everything was registered and configured, we moved on to refining our display and debugging any issues along the way.
Initial Setup: Creating the Custom Post Type and Taxonomy
Our setup required two main components:
- A Custom Post Type (
snippet
) - A Custom Taxonomy (
snippet_category
)
Registering the Custom Post Type
function register_snippet_post_type() {
$args = array(
'labels' => array(
'name' => 'Snippets',
'singular_name' => 'Snippet',
),
'public' => true,
'has_archive' => true,
'show_in_rest' => true,
'supports' => array('title', 'editor'),
);
register_post_type('snippet', $args);
}
add_action('init', 'register_snippet_post_type');
Registering the Custom Taxonomy
function register_snippet_taxonomy() {
$args = array(
'labels' => array(
'name' => 'Snippet Categories',
'singular_name' => 'Snippet Category',
),
'public' => true,
'hierarchical' => false,
'show_in_rest' => true,
);
register_taxonomy('snippet_category', 'snippet', $args);
}
add_action('init', 'register_snippet_taxonomy');
After adding these, we flushed the permalinks with:
wp rewrite flush
This ensured WordPress recognized our new custom post type and taxonomy.
Debugging WP_Query Issues
We added debug outputs to check what was happening:
echo "<pre>QUERY ARGS: " . print_r($args, true) . "</pre>";
echo "<pre>QUERY RESULTS: " . print_r($query->posts, true) . "</pre>";
This helped us see that:
- The
tax_query
structure was valid - Posts did exist in the database
- WordPress wasn’t returning posts in the expected format
Checking Assigned Taxonomies
To confirm that our snippets were properly assigned to categories:
wp post term list 186 snippet_category --format=table
The results revealed that our categories were assigned correctly, so the problem was how we were querying them.
The Fixes & Lessons Learned
Fixing the Query & Display Logic
We adjusted our WP_Query
to properly retrieve and display snippets:
$args = array(
'post_type' => 'snippet',
'posts_per_page' => -1,
'tax_query' => array(
array(
'taxonomy' => 'snippet_category',
'field' => 'slug',
'terms' => $category->slug,
),
),
);
$query = new WP_Query($args);
Additionally, we ensured that posts always showed content:
$post_content = trim(get_post_field('post_content', get_the_ID()));
echo "<pre><code>" . esc_html($post_content ?: 'No content available.') . "</code></pre>";
Final Steps: Deploying to Production
Checklist Before Pushing Live
✅ Flush cache: wp cache flush
✅ Confirm permalinks work: wp rewrite flush
✅ Check taxonomy assignments: wp term list snippet_category --format=table
✅ Verify snippets appear under their correct category
✅ Ensure empty snippets show “No content available.”
✅ Test on mobile & different browsers
Debugging Time Breakdown
Task | Time Spent |
---|---|
Setting up custom post type & taxonomy | 30 min |
Debugging missing snippets | 2 hours |
Checking taxonomy assignments | 45 min |
Fixing query structure | 1 hour |
Testing final setup | 1.5 hours |
Total time spent: 5 hours 15 minutes
Commands That Worked & Why
Command | Purpose |
wp rewrite flush | Cleared outdated permalinks |
wp post list --post_type=snippet | Verified snippet posts existed |
wp post term list 186 snippet_category | Checked if posts were categorized correctly |
wp cache flush | Cleared cache to see updated changes |
wp term list snippet_category | Listed all snippet categories |
Mistakes We Repeated & Lessons Learned
Mistake | Times Made | Solution |
Forgetting to flush permalinks | 3 | Always run wp rewrite flush after adding taxonomies |
Not checking assigned categories | 2 | Use wp post term list to verify taxonomy assignment |
Incorrect WP_Query structure | 4 | Print query args and debug output |
Not clearing cache before testing | 2 | Run wp cache flush when debugging |
Key Takeaways for Next Time
- Debugging with
print_r()
andvar_dump()
is essential for diagnosing WordPress query issues. - Always flush permalinks after registering a new post type or taxonomy.
- Confirm that posts are assigned to taxonomies before assuming the query is broken.
- WP_Query can be tricky—check query structure before assuming posts don’t exist.
- Use CLI (
wp post term list
,wp cache flush
) to debug efficiently.
Future Enhancements
- Add search & filtering to the Snippets Wall
- Auto-highlight syntax in code blocks
- Allow users to suggest & submit snippets
5-Minute Walkthrough: Setting Up the Snippets Page
Step 1: Register the Snippets Custom Post Type
Add this to your theme’s functions.php
:
function register_snippet_post_type() {
$args = array(
'labels' => array(
'name' => 'Snippets',
'singular_name' => 'Snippet',
),
'public' => true,
'has_archive' => true,
'show_in_rest' => true,
'supports' => array('title', 'editor'),
);
register_post_type('snippet', $args);
}
add_action('init', 'register_snippet_post_type');
(### Step 2: Register the Snippet Category Taxonomy Add this to your theme’s functions.php
:
function register_snippet_taxonomy() {
$args = array(
'labels' => array(
'name' => 'Snippet Categories',
'singular_name' => 'Snippet Category',
),
'public' => true,
'hierarchical' => false,
'show_in_rest' => true,
);
register_taxonomy('snippet_category', 'snippet', $args);
}
add_action('init', 'register_snippet_taxonomy');
Step 3: Flush Permalinks
Run the following command in your WordPress CLI:
wp rewrite flush
Step 4: Verify Everything Works
Check that the custom post type and taxonomy are correctly set up:
wp post list --post_type=snippet
wp term list snippet_category --format=table
Step 5: Create Your First Snippet
Add a snippet post with a category:
wp post create --post_type=snippet --post_title='Example Snippet' --post_status=publish
wp term add snippet_category 'Example Category'
wp post term add $(wp post list --post_type=snippet --format=ids) snippet_category 'Example Category'
Step 6: Check Your Snippet Wall
Visit /snippets/
on your site and confirm that your snippets are displayed correctly!)