PDS Post Tables

Display and edit WordPress posts in Excel-like tables with customizable columns and conditional formatting.

Features

• Excel-like Interface: Powered by Tabulator for a familiar spreadsheet experience
• Inline Editing: Click any cell to edit - changes save automatically via AJAX
• Multiple Field Sources: Works with core post fields, ACF fields, custom meta, and taxonomies
• Column Configuration: Drag-and-drop column ordering, custom labels, toggle edit/sort/filter per column
• Conditional Formatting: Cell and row-level formatting rules with layered styles
• Column Defaults: Set alignment, width, date/number formats, and default colors per column
• Frontend Formatting Toolbar: Excel-like formatting from the frontend (for logged-in users with edit permissions)
• Shortcode Output: Embed tables anywhere with [pds_table id="123"]
• CSV Export: One-click export of table data

Installation

1. Upload the pds-post-tables folder to /wp-content/plugins/
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
3. Navigate to Post Tables in the admin menu

Creating a Table

1. Go to Post Tables > Add New
2. Give your table a name
3. Select the Post Type to display (Posts, Pages, or any custom post type)
4. Add columns using the Add Column button:
   • Select a field from the dropdown (grouped by Post Fields, ACF, Meta, Taxonomies)
   • Set a custom label
   • Toggle Edit, Sort, and Filter options
   • Drag to reorder columns
5. Configure Column Formatting Defaults (optional):
   • Text alignment
   • Column width
   • Date/number formats
   • Default background/text colors
6. Add Conditional Formatting Rules (optional):
   • Cell rules: Format specific column cells based on their value
   • Row rules: Format entire rows based on any field value
   • Rules are layered - multiple matching rules stack their styles
7. Adjust Table Settings in the sidebar:
   • Pagination
   • Rows per page
   • Row height
   • CSV export toggle
8. Publish the table

Data Filters

Pre-filter which posts appear in the table by setting conditions in the Data Filters section:

Adding Filters

1. Click + Add Filter
2. Select a field to filter by (Post Fields, ACF, Meta, or Taxonomies)
3. Choose an operator:
   • Equals / Not Equals: Exact match
   • Contains / Does Not Contain: Partial text match
   • Starts With / Ends With: Text prefix/suffix match
   • Greater Than / Less Than: Numeric or date comparison
   • Greater Than or Equal / Less Than or Equal: Inclusive comparison
   • Is Empty / Is Not Empty: Check for blank values
   • In List / Not In List: Match against comma-separated values
4. Enter the comparison value

Filter Logic

• All conditions (AND): Posts must match ALL filters
• Any condition (OR): Posts must match AT LEAST ONE filter

Examples

• Show only published posts: post_status equals publish
• Show posts from 2024: post_date greater than or equal 2024-01-01
• Show posts in specific categories: category in news, updates, announcements
• Show posts with a specific ACF value: project_status equals active
• Exclude drafts: post_status not equals draft

Frontend Formatting Toolbar

When logged-in users with edit permissions view a table, they see a formatting toolbar above the table:

Selection

• Click a cell: Select that cell for formatting
• Click row number: Select the entire row for formatting
• Click a column header: Select the entire column for formatting
• Click outside table: Deselect current selection

Editing

• Double-click a cell: Edit the cell value (for editable columns)
• Enter: Save edit
• Escape: Cancel edit

Formatting Options

• Background Color: Set background color for selection
• Text Color: Set text color for selection
• Bold: Toggle bold text for selection
• Clear: Remove custom formatting from selection

Formatting Hierarchy (layered, each level overrides the previous):

1. Column defaults (set in admin)
2. Conditional formatting rules (set in admin)
3. Custom column formats (set via frontend toolbar)
4. Custom row formats (set via frontend toolbar)
5. Custom cell formats (set via frontend toolbar)

Using the Shortcode

Basic usage:

[pds_table id="123"]

With custom row limit:

[pds_table id="123" limit="10"]

With custom CSS class:

[pds_table id="123" class="my-custom-table"]

Field Type Support

Field Type	Display	Inline Editor
Text	Plain text	Text input
Number	Formatted number	Number input
Date	Formatted date	Date picker
Boolean	✓ / ✗	Checkbox toggle
Select/Dropdown	Label from options	Dropdown list

Conditional Formatting

Operators

• equals / not equals
• contains / not contains
• greater than / less than
• is empty / is not empty
• is checked / is not checked (for booleans)

Special Tokens

• {{TODAY}} - Current date (for date comparisons)

Examples

Highlight completed items green:

• Scope: Cell
• Column: Status
• When: equals "Complete"
• Style: Background #d4edda, Text #155724

Highlight overdue rows red:

• Scope: Row
• When: Due Date is less than {{TODAY}}
• Style: Background #f8d7da, Text #721c24

REST API Endpoints

The plugin exposes REST API endpoints under /wp-json/pds-tables/v1/:

• GET /tables/{id}/data - Fetch table data with pagination/sorting/filtering
• POST /tables/{id}/data - Update a cell value
• GET /tables/{id}/config - Get table configuration
• GET /fields/{post_type} - Get available fields for a post type

Requirements

• WordPress 5.0+
• PHP 7.4+
• ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) - optional, for ACF field support

Changelog

1.0.0

• Initial release

License

GPL v2 or later