Skip to main content

Why [portfolio] grew into a rich element instead of deferring to [posts]

· 2 min read
Jon-Michael Lastimosa
Jon-Michael Lastimosa
Senior Web Developer

The question: [posts post_type="fw-portfolio"] already renders project listings with layouts, card styles and pagination. Should [portfolio] stay a lightweight filter-grid and steer users to [posts], or grow into the full portfolio element?

Context​

The 1.0.13-era design intent was explicitly "grids of projects are the job of the generic posts element". Meanwhile [portfolio] had one layout, no pagination, and a render-then-hide filter. Growing it duplicates some of posts' machinery; deferring keeps one listing engine but pushes portfolio-specific needs into a generic element's options.

Options considered​

  • Defer to [posts] — one engine, but featured-only meta filters, hidden-project exclusion, card-thumbnail preference, lightbox card mode and metro cell sizes would all become portfolio-only options polluting the generic posts UI (which serves every CPT).
  • Grow [portfolio] (chosen) — a portfolio-domain element sharing the extension's render helpers with the archive templates, borrowing proven patterns (AJAX pagination, layout set) from posts rather than its code paths.

Decision​

[portfolio] is the portfolio listing element: grid/masonry/list layouts, real AJAX category filtering (server re-query, deep-linkable), load-more pagination, lightbox card mode, hover and ratio presets — all built on the same shared helpers the archive/taxonomy templates use. [posts post_type="fw-portfolio"] remains available as the generic alternative.

Why​

  • Domain features stay in the domain. Featured-first, hide-from-archive, card thumbnails and lightbox mode read from portfolio meta the generic element rightly knows nothing about.
  • One CSS/markup contract for element AND archive. The archive templates and the element render through the same card/grid helpers, so a site's archive and its builder-placed grids can never drift apart visually.
  • The posts element stays generic. No portfolio-only switches in an options panel used for blogs, docs and every other post type.