New feature: Dynamic Posts!
I’m glad to inform you that we have implemented a new feature that might be useful.
In the Products Module, once you have selected the products you want to promote and has selected the Create-A-Post option in the bulk-actions list, you will be asked about the POST STYLE that you want to create.
A POST STYLE can be either STATIC or DYNAMIC.
A static post is a standard post: The details of all selected product will be saved with the posts as any other information you add to your posts.
A Dynamic post is a post that has a pointer to the actual product. It means that the product details and layout does not reside in the post but in the template used to display it and the wpCJ database.
What are the benefits? Well, that you can change the way the all products looks and the information it shows, automatically -for all the posts that uses a given template- AT ONCE. Furthermore, if you use the new pseudo-code [CHOOSE:option 1|option 2|...|option n] in your templates, you can make the content of every post to looks different everytime it is shown. It’s a little funny feature but… It’s up to you to use it or not… It would be great for bots though.
For instance, we have added around 100 products to our demo site, all of them are Dynamic posts. If I need to make a little change in them, I would just need to change the template. If it were a static post, I would need to make 100 changes.
We have also launched a site about Night Vision Lenses with around 1300 product-related posts. All statics.
What are the cons of a Dynamic post? If any process in WordPress (another plugin, for instance) needs the details of a given product, it won’t be able to read it from the posts. For instance, the frontpage of the the Night Vision site mentioned above, search inside the posts and use the first image it encounters as the thumbnail shown in the homepage. If it were dynamic posts, it couldn’t be possible.
So, the decision is in your hands:
- Would you need to have a way to change a lot of posts quickly?
- Or Do you need the product details available for everyone at anytime?
You have the last word…
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