Views and Layouts
A View is one saved record: a data source, the settings that say where and for whom it shows, and one or more layouts. Each layout presents the View’s data in its own way and appears as a tab wherever the View is shown.
The Views screen
Views lists every saved View with its name, the number of layouts, the layout types it uses and its status, Active or Disabled. Search filters the list and, with the page, is part of the address; Edit opens a View and the delete action removes it after you confirm. Deleting a View is permanent and removes every layout in it.
Create View, here or on View’s Start screen, asks for a name; before the first View, the screen says there are no Views yet and offers the same button. A new View reads the Posts post type and starts with one Table layout; add the other layouts you need in the editor.
The View editor
The editor has three parts:
- The preview in the center renders the selected layout with live data, with the View’s layouts as tabs along its top once it has more than one, and says so when the View’s conditions hide it from you. It shows the current, unsaved state, so every change appears as you make it.
- The inspector on the right has the same layout tabs. Its + button adds a layout, and below the tabs it shows the selected layout’s settings.
- The toolbar starts with the settings button, which switches the inspector to View settings: the data source, placement, shortcode and conditions that belong to the whole View. View Settings describes them. Delete View beside it removes the View and every layout in it after you confirm, and returns to the Views list.
Save stores the View and Discard returns it to its saved state; both stay disabled until you change something. Until then your changes stay in the editor’s tab, also when you switch to another screen and come back, and closing or reloading the page asks first. On a narrow screen the inspector opens over the preview from Show settings.
Layout settings
Every layout’s inspector has these sections:
- General: arrows to move the layout left or right among the tabs, its Name, shown on its tab, and its Type.
- Data: filters that decide which rows the layout includes, explained in Data Filtering. A Default post screen layout has none.
- The sections of its type, described on the Table, Kanban, Feedback and Charts pages.
- Conditions: who sees the layout’s tab; see Conditions.
- Delete: Delete layout asks first, then removes the layout when you next save the View; until then Discard brings it back.
Layout types
| Type | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Table | Rows and columns with search, filters, sorting, paging, export and inline editing |
| Kanban | Cards in columns, one per term of a taxonomy or one per value of a column |
| Feedback | A list of items with status, category, upvotes and comments |
| Charts | A dashboard of chart and number cards computed from the rows |
| Default post screen | WordPress’s own post list, as a tab beside the others |
A Default post screen layout matters only on the post list screen that a View replaces: selecting its tab there shows WordPress’s standard list table, with its bulk actions and filters. The editor’s preview shows a placeholder for it, and admin pages and embeds leave it out.
A table loads one page of rows at a time. Kanban, Feedback and Charts layouts load every row that matches their filters, 500 at a time, so give a large source a filter before you show it on a board.
Several Views for one post type
A View of a post type replaces that post type’s list in wp-admin. When several Views read the same post type, the most recently created one that is not disabled replaces it; when that View’s own conditions do not match the user, WordPress shows its standard list. Every View stays available on admin pages and through its shortcode, whichever replaces the list.