How to Create Custom Post Types

This is super helpful if you want to have dynamic content on your site. Common examples are: podcast episodes, course modules, portfolio projects… basically anything where you want multiple pages to have the same structure/design but the content changes. In these cases dynamic setup saves you so much time and energy once it’s in place, and it keeps things consistent across your site.

Dynamic content really becomes worth it if you have (or know you’ll eventually have) more than 10 pages that use the exact same layout. If it’s just a few, sure, you can totally duplicate them and swap out the content manually. But once you start getting into that 10+ range, you’re wasting time editing each layout by hand when there’s a much better (and honestly, more professional) way to do it.

What You Need to Know:

• You’ll need the Advanced Showit subscription to be able to use WordPress plugins (necessary for this)
• I recommend following the tutorials I’ve linked below closely. Don’t skip ANY steps, even the small ones. It’s not difficult, but missing a tiny detail can cause issues later.
• You’ll want to block out around 1–2 hours to get this set up.

Step 1: Understand How WordPress Custom Post Types Work

Watch this video:

Main points:

• WordPress Custom Post Types let you update content without touching your Showit design. You can fully manage this content in WordPress.
• A Custom Post Type is a separate content type in WordPress that’s not a blog post.
• Usage examples: Team Members; Podcast Episodes; Case Studies; Testimonials
• Why not just use blog posts? Blog categories are a workaround and doesn’t allow you to customize the the design (i.e. it will still look the same like a blog post).
• Custom post type allows you to have a completely different design than blog

Step 2: Install the Right Plugin and Create Your Custom Post Type

Watch this video and follow the instructions carefully:

Main points:

• You’ll need a plugin called: Custom Post Type UI (CPT UI) (by WebDevStudios — 1M+ active installs)
• Follow the tutorial above closely to fill out everything correctly and create your new CPT

Step 3: Connect Your Custom Post Type to Your Showit Template

Now it’s time to use the template add-on pages you got and link them to your custom post type. If you grabbed something like our Velvet Rage Podcast Add-on, then you already have all the pages you need built in blog template format, so there’s no need to design anything new. All you need to do here is focus on connecting everything the right way. I’d also suggest checking the specific template instructions again during this step, it’ll make things easier.

Step 4: Connect Your Custom Post Type to Your Showit Template

This is the final step: connecting the single page (like an individual podcast episode). You don’t need to design anything new here, so just watch the tutorial and follow along with the template instructions to make sure everything connects correctly on the dynamic page side.