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Overview

Visual Portfolio includes a custom post type called portfolio for organizing and displaying portfolio items. This post type provides a dedicated content structure for showcasing your work, projects, or products.
The Portfolio post type is registered in Visual_Portfolio_Custom_Post_Type class at classes/class-custom-post-type.php:15

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Registration

The Portfolio post type is registered during WordPress initialization: 
// Located in: classes/class-custom-post-type.php:39
public function __construct() {
    // Custom post types
    // Priority < 10 for compatibility with 'post-terms' block
    add_action( 'init', array( $this, 'add_custom_post_type' ), 9 );
    
    // Custom post roles
    add_action( 'init', array( $this, 'add_role_caps' ) );
}

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Enabling/Disabling

The Portfolio post type can be toggled in settings: 
// Located in: classes/class-settings.php:267
array(
    'name'    => 'register_portfolio_post_type',
    'label'   => esc_html__( 'Register Portfolio Post Type', 'visual-portfolio' ),
    'desc'    => esc_html__( 'Add custom post type `portfolio` to showcase your works.', 'visual-portfolio' ),
    'type'    => 'toggle',
    'default' => 'on',
)
1

Navigate to Settings

Go to Visual Portfolio > Settings in the WordPress admin
2

General Tab

Find the “Register Portfolio Post Type” option
3

Toggle Setting

Enable or disable as needed (requires permalink flush)

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Post Type Features

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Supported Features

The Portfolio post type supports:
  • Title and editor
  • Featured images
  • Excerpts
  • Custom fields
  • Taxonomies (categories and tags)
  • Gutenberg editor
  • Thumbnail preview in admin

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Custom Taxonomies

Portfolio Categories: 
'portfolio_category' => array(
    'hierarchical' => true,
    'label'        => __( 'Portfolio Categories', 'visual-portfolio' ),
    'rewrite'      => array( 'slug' => 'portfolio-category' ),
)
Portfolio Tags: 
'portfolio_tag' => array(
    'hierarchical' => false,
    'label'        => __( 'Portfolio Tags', 'visual-portfolio' ),
    'rewrite'      => array( 'slug' => 'portfolio-tag' ),
)

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Admin Interface

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Menu Integration

// Located in: classes/class-custom-post-type.php:98
public static function get_menu_slug() {
    return self::portfolio_post_type_is_registered() 
        ? 'edit.php?post_type=portfolio' 
        : 'visual-portfolio-settings';
}

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Admin Columns

The admin list includes custom columns: 
// Located in: classes/class-custom-post-type.php:49
add_filter( 'manage_portfolio_posts_columns', array( $this, 'add_portfolio_img_column' ) );
add_filter( 'manage_portfolio_posts_custom_column', array( $this, 'manage_portfolio_img_column' ), 10, 2 );
Custom Columns:
  • Featured Image Thumbnail
  • Portfolio Categories
  • Portfolio Tags
  • Date

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Filtering by Taxonomies

// Located in: classes/class-custom-post-type.php:40
add_action( 'restrict_manage_posts', array( $this, 'filter_custom_post_by_taxonomies' ), 10 );
Adds dropdown filters for categories and tags in the admin list.

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Visual Portfolio Lists

The plugin also registers a vp_lists post type for storing saved portfolio configurations: 
'vp_lists' => array(
    'public'       => false,
    'show_ui'      => true,
    'show_in_menu' => true,
    'supports'     => array( 'title', 'editor', 'revisions' ),
)

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Saved Layouts

The vp_lists post type stores portfolio block configurations, allowing you to create reusable portfolio layouts.
Admin Features:
  • Shortcode column showing usage code
  • Block ID for referencing
  • Filter by layout type
  • Template selector
// Located in: classes/class-custom-post-type.php:56
add_filter( 'manage_vp_lists_posts_columns', array( $this, 'add_vp_lists_custom_columns' ) );
add_action( 'manage_vp_lists_posts_custom_column', array( $this, 'manage_vp_lists_custom_columns' ), 10, 2 );

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Capabilities

Custom capabilities for the Portfolio post type: 
// Located in: classes/class-custom-post-type.php:43
public function add_role_caps() {
    $capabilities = array(
        'edit_portfolio',
        'read_portfolio',
        'delete_portfolio',
        'edit_portfolios',
        'edit_others_portfolios',
        'publish_portfolios',
        'read_private_portfolios',
        'delete_portfolios',
        'delete_private_portfolios',
        'delete_published_portfolios',
        'delete_others_portfolios',
        'edit_private_portfolios',
        'edit_published_portfolios',
    );
    
    // Assign to Administrator and Editor roles
}

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Archive Page Setup

Configure a custom archive page for portfolio items: 
// Located in: classes/class-settings.php:274
array(
    'name'  => 'portfolio_archive_page',
    'label' => esc_html__( 'Archive Page', 'visual-portfolio' ),
    'desc'  => esc_html__( 'Base page of your portfolio, where will be placed your works archive.', 'visual-portfolio' ),
    'type'  => 'select',
    'options' => self::get_pages_list(),
    'sanitize_callback' => array( 'Visual_Portfolio_Archive_Mapping', 'save_archive_page_option' ),
)

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Archive Mapping

The Archive Mapping feature automatically creates portfolio layouts for archive pages: 
// Located in: classes/class-archive-mapping.php
class Visual_Portfolio_Archive_Mapping {
    /**
     * Check if archive mapping is active
     */
    $is_archive_query = 
        'post-based' === $options['content_source'] &&
        'current_query' === $options['posts_source'];
}
Changing the archive page or toggling the Portfolio post type requires flushing permalinks. This is handled automatically via the defer_flush_rewrite_rules() method.

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Gutenberg Integration

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Forced Gutenberg Editor

Portfolio post type always uses Gutenberg: 
// Located in: classes/class-custom-post-type.php:64
add_action( 'classic_editor_enabled_editors_for_post_type', 
    array( $this, 'vp_lists_classic_plugin_force_gutenberg' ), 150, 2 );

add_action( 'use_block_editor_for_post_type', 
    array( $this, 'vp_lists_classic_plugin_force_gutenberg_2' ), 150, 2 );
This ensures compatibility even when Classic Editor plugin is active.

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Allowed Blocks

The vp_lists post type restricts available blocks: 
// Located in: classes/class-custom-post-type.php:62
add_filter( 'allowed_block_types_all', 
    array( $this, 'vp_lists_allowed_block_types_all' ), 10, 2 );

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Custom Meta Fields

Portfolio settings are stored as post meta: 
// Located in: classes/class-custom-post-meta.php
class Visual_Portfolio_Custom_Post_Meta {
    /**
     * Meta key for portfolio settings
     */
    const META_KEY = 'vp_settings';
    
    /**
     * Get portfolio settings
     */
    $settings = get_post_meta( $post_id, self::META_KEY, true );
}

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Template Hierarchy

WordPress template files for Portfolio post type: 
single-portfolio.php      → Single portfolio item
archive-portfolio.php     → Portfolio archive
taxonomy-portfolio_category.php → Category archive
taxonomy-portfolio_tag.php     → Tag archive
Theme developers can override these templates in their theme directory.

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REST API Support

Portfolio post type is exposed via REST API: 
'show_in_rest' => true,
'rest_base'    => 'portfolio',
Endpoints:
  • GET /wp-json/wp/v2/portfolio - List portfolio items
  • GET /wp-json/wp/v2/portfolio/{id} - Get single item
  • POST /wp-json/wp/v2/portfolio - Create new item
  • PUT /wp-json/wp/v2/portfolio/{id} - Update item
  • DELETE /wp-json/wp/v2/portfolio/{id} - Delete item

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Sitemap Integration

Portfolio items are included in XML sitemaps: 
// Located in: classes/class-sitemap.php
class Visual_Portfolio_Sitemap {
    public function __construct() {
        add_filter( 'wp_sitemaps_post_types', array( $this, 'add_to_sitemap' ) );
    }
}

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SEO Optimization

Built-in SEO support for portfolio items: 
// Located in: classes/class-seo-optimization.php
class Visual_Portfolio_SEO_Optimization {
    /**
     * Add schema markup for portfolio items
     */
    public function add_schema_markup( $post ) {
        // Adds structured data for better SEO
    }
}

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Admin Bar Menu

Quick access to portfolio items from the admin bar: 
// Located in: classes/class-custom-post-type.php:77
add_action( 'wp_before_admin_bar_render', 
    array( $this, 'wp_before_admin_bar_render' ) );
Shows dropdown with portfolios available on the current page.

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Migration Support

When updating from older versions: 
// Located in: classes/class-migration.php
class Visual_Portfolio_Migration {
    /**
     * Run migrations for Portfolio post type changes
     */
    public function maybe_migrate() {
        // Handles data structure updates
    }
}

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Related Classes

  • Visual_Portfolio_Custom_Post_Type - Post type registration (classes/class-custom-post-type.php)
  • Visual_Portfolio_Custom_Post_Meta - Meta fields handling (classes/class-custom-post-meta.php)
  • Visual_Portfolio_Archive_Mapping - Archive page integration (classes/class-archive-mapping.php)
  • Visual_Portfolio_Sitemap - Sitemap integration (classes/class-sitemap.php)

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See Also

Content Sources

Using Portfolio items as a content source

Archive Mapping

Configure portfolio archives

Custom Post Meta

Working with portfolio meta data

REST API

Access portfolio items via API

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