In this article, we will cover some of the more advanced features that can be used with WordPress to further develop your website. Custom Fields is something like an upgrade to your existing Gutenberg Editor and provides you with a better system with which you can manage your content. It gives you a better perspective than just being your regular blogging platform.
What does Custom Fields offer to WordPress?
Custom Fields in WordPress allows you to add additional functionality for your pages and content. For example, if you are looking to sell products through the site, you can add different characteristics like how much they cost, if it’s furniture, how much it weighs, and much more.
Another example is having a website for different events and gatherings. If you wish to notify your visitors of an upcoming party, then you can add Custom Fields and a specific plugin related to Calendar Events to link and show the location and time.
Additionally, you can use other minor features such as custom pages, forms or even Gutenberg blocks.
Built-in Custom Fields for WordPress
An important topic to touch on is that WordPress itself offers some kind of custom fields that are integrated without the need of an additional plugin.
To enable them, you need to start by selecting New (1) and from there an example Page (2):
From there, you need to select the Three Dots (1) which will show you the different options on the Gutenberg Editor. You need to select Preferences (2):
There will be a pop-up bar with the option to enable Custom Fields (1) and select Show and Reload Page (2):
Once that is done, you officially have enabled the Custom Fields that WordPress has to offer. You can now create new ones using different Names and Values:
That being said, if you are just starting out, the functional WordPress Custom Fields are not easy to understand and can be difficult at first if you do not read how to properly use them. An alternative to that is different plugins that you can use and their role is to make everything more user-friendly and add additional features.
When to use Custom Fields in WordPress
The next topic would be when and how to properly utilize Custom Fields. It is important to note that everything connected to WordPress offers something specific to your individual needs. That being said, you need to distinguish and know when to use those features instead of just going with them without any real direction or goal.
To further give insight on the examples from the beginning of the article, one way to put it is automatically creating blocks of information that help you create quicker. For example, creating a Custom Field that links through an Event Calendar plugin. That way, when you make a page, every time you will have the field integrated and you can simply choose the date/location and time without the need to type it in plain text.
Another thing to note is that if you integrate Custom Fields throughout your website, it will provide a more user-friendly experience, where they know what they get on each page, as far as structure and content.
The last thing to mention is sustainability. If you wish to change a certain Custom Field and how it displays the information, you simply need to do it on one page, all the others that have the same one integrated will automatically add the new information as well. That being said, you do not need to manually go through every page and update the same Custom Field every time you want to make a change.
More information on how to assign custom fields can be read here.
That’s it! We covered all the basic information on using Custom Fields in WordPress. If you have any questions on the topic, do not hesitate to contact our support on LiveChat or Ticket 24/7.
