In todays blog post, I’m continuing in the same vein as last week with WordPress plugin reviews. This week I’m comparing two Custom Post Type creators: CMS Press and Custom Post Types UI. I’m sure there’s many out there, but these are the only two I’ve seen around and actually witnessed people using – aside from the standard functions.php method.
CMS Press
Set up: 8/10
Options: 6/10
I think CMS Press is probably the more friendly of the two, in terms of ease of use and helpful hints. After install, it adds a new block to the side navigation, called CMS Press. Within this you can add and edit both your post types and taxonomies.
To add a new custom post type (called content types, within the plugin), you can just click “Add New Content Type” and then follow the simple instructions. There aren’t any advanced options, labelling or otherwise, which is nice for new users who just want to get straight down to it, for now. There’s also a good amount of explanation by a lot of the fields, which is written in a clear and understandable way.
However, it’s the lack of options that bugs me – I like to make sure my labels all make sense in every form, but I can’t do that here. I also can’t decide where in the side menu I want it to appear, or change the icon. These are fairly small details however, and don’t have a detrimental effect on the plugin (in my opinion), that being said, I’d rather use…
Custom Post Types UI
Set up: 9/10
Options: 9/10
Custom Post Types UI, on the other hand, initially looks much more simple once you’ve installed and clicked “Add New” (it once again adds a new block to the side nav). In this case, both Taxonomies and Post Types are handled from the the same Add New page. No real benefits or negative impacts from this, but it is one less link in the side nav!
Initially, all users have to worry about is the bare-bone basics, but you then have the option to delve a bit deeper by clicking either Advanced Label Options or Advanced Options.
Advanced Label Options solves my earlier gripe of not being able to amend each label for each situation (from trash to plurals) – however there’s not an image option, so I’m afraid there’s no 10/10 there.
The Advanced Options show much of what appears by default to CMS Press, but with a few added bonuses, such as being able to change the menu position. However explanations of what to do with all the different options are somewhat lacking. There are little “?” , but when clicked they’ve never done anything (for me, anyway).
I think, as a general rule, I prefer Custom Post Type UI, or doing it myself – but I’m open to a third plugin if there are any more favourites out there,
Thanks for reading todays post on the Creare Web Design Blog, dont’ forget to check back on Friday for our latest video blog with James and Nick!
