Meta in Customizer

Hi there,

Have you looked into our Hook Element?: https://docs.generatepress.com/article/hooks-element-overview/

That way you can add anything into the after_entry_title hook, and use the Display Rules to display it wherever you like.

It's actually much more powerful than that example.

Let me know :)

This does require coding. It would be significantly more user friendly to add the options inside Customizer like Astra and Genesis Themes. Not all people are coders. Small mom and pop shop - would be able to figure out the settings in Astra & Genesis, not by coding. There one one theme before called Thesis, it died exactly because of this - the developer was thinking that every user of the theme is developer, coder or geek.

The screenshot you shared looks like it has a couple of textareas which you can add your content into (including shortcodes). The Hook Element is identical, it just allows you to place it wherever you like (including the meta area). The need to code is identical in both scenarios (both are textareas, both accept shortcodes).

I suppose we don't have those shortcodes by default (post author, date, etc..), but we're happy to help with those if needed.

I definitely don't think everyone can/wants to code - that's why we've included so many options in the theme. We try really hard to find the line between too few and too many options - the more options we add, the slower the theme will get.

We're actually working on a really cool post meta system that will make it easier to manage your post meta - hopefully it will be ready for GPP 1.10.

Let me know if you need more info :)

I did understood that that code would place things and where that is.

But I cannot understand how can I insert that:

Published by [post_author_link]
<br>
Updated [post_modified_date format="F j, Y"] at [post_modified_time format="g:i A"]

Regular people don't know what <div> is at all.

Where is that code from?

I agree it could be easier - the new system we're working on is really exciting :)

These were the shortcodes from Genesis. I don’t know what code exactly I should type to achieve the same thing.

Are those the specific shortcodes you need, or do you need other ones as well? I should be able to help you build them if I know exactly what you need.

Let me know :)

Well I guess you could see what the shortcodes represent.

My final goal is to display that data for the viewers, I think you could see what each of the shortcodes and formats represent.

Will it be throw shortcodes, will it be throw other type of coding, I don't know, but that is the final wish to display for the users.

I am not a coder, I cannot achieve that, even if I read the documentation, I don't know what type of code should I put in the hook. I guess many other non-coders wouldn't be able to do that as well. You should expect that the theme should be used by non-coders as well and they would be the majority of users.

Same with Linux, hence why Linux has so little desktop %, it is not used just by people typing commands, people want human-friendly, user-friendly interface to customize.

I know you are a developer and that the theme is more geeky than the regular, however if you want to increase the user-base, you need to make a more non-coder-friendly approach to customization.

Hi there,

when it comes to the level of customization that our different users require it is impossible to avoid using code. Adding more and more options to the customizer not only adds bloat to the theme but can also reduce flexibility. Lots of themes provide choices they think you would need, and do things like incorporating shortcodes, this however limits user choice. And we have seen a hell of a lot custom design requests and helped implement them where other themes would tell users to find a developer.

In regards to Meta, your suggestion is great - development has already begun on a new Meta feature that will completely surpass the example you provided both in terms of non-coder usability and flexibility.

We love receiving user suggestions especially on a hot topic such as this. Just searching the forum you will find dozens of very unique requests in this area. Hence why we spent a long time designing a solution that is almost as flexible as using code.

If in the meantime you need help designing your meta, then if you have an example we can help implement that.

I am totally against bloat, that is why I am looking at your theme as an alternative and bought it. However metadata is very important. That’s why themes likes As**a which is competing in the same space has that in the Customizer.

If you go to the other extreme people have to install plugins and that goes against the core idea of less bloat. One example is the header and footer code for analytics and things like that. One has to install a plugin to have that, correct me if I am wrong.

Some with breadcrumbs, they should be part of the theme. Otherwise these extra plugins add extra bloat.

These are critical functionalities.

Do you plan to release a beta version soon or do you know what code I can use in the current theme to archive what I wrote there?

I actually built a post meta system in the Customizer for 1.9 but scrapped it - it was nice, but wasn't as flexible as I wanted it to be. We're working on a way better system which I hope to release in 1.10. I can't say much about it right now, but it's halfway built, so it shouldn't be too far off.

From what I see the current version is 1.8.3, so 1.10 should be months away, right?

I do a redesign and I need it in the moment, but that thing bugs me.

Is there a code that I can replicate to do that in the hook?

That's correct.

More than happy to help with some code for now. Do you have an example of what you're trying to accomplish, exactly? That way I can write the code and you can plug it in right away.

Is this the exact layout/data you want?: https://generatepress.com/forums/topic/meta-in-customizer/#post-1044779

Let me know :)

Yes that’s what I try to accomplish. I can also give you a result example.

Also an idea a bit more off topic. For a site template. There are people now liking a lot something like Medium - super clean, no sidebars. If you can make the most minimalist template - white, dark text with nothing else, people will like it. Also it would be your fastest template.