Getting Started

After activating the plugin, click Perspectives in your admin menu. It has five tabs:

• Backend: a folder-style view of your admin menu.
• Frontend: a drag-and-drop tree of your site’s pages, posts and links.
• Shortcode: designs the sitemap your visitors see.
• Settings: menu title, post types, access and more.

The Frontend and Backend tabs can be opened by any role you allow in Settings (see below). The Shortcode and Settings tabs are for administrators only.

Settings Tab

Navigate to Perspectives > Settings. Press Ctrl+S (or Cmd+S) to save on this tab.

Interface

• Menu Title: What shows in the left admin menu.
• Menu Icon: Any Dashicon. A live preview shows the result.
• Page Title: The name shown at the top of the plugin pages.
• Page Logo: Replace the logo on the plugin pages. Preferred size is 100×100 pixels. Accepted formats: jpg, jpeg, png, webp.

If Admin Help Docs is also active, Site Perspectives inherits its color scheme.

Frontend Tree

• Post Types to Include: Choose which content types can be added to the Frontend tree. Items already in the tree stay, even if their type is unchecked.

Automatic Updates

• Add Newly Published Content: Choose the post types that are added to the tree automatically the first time they are published. Pages go under their parent if it is already in the tree, otherwise to the end of the main list. Pages flagged as utility go to the Utility list. Trashed or deleted items are removed from the tree, and their children move up a level.
• New items start hidden from the shortcode: Automatically added items show on the Frontend tab but stay off the shortcode until you uncheck Hide from Shortcode.

Utility Pages

• Enable Utility Page Flags: Turns on the Utility column, Quick Edit checkbox, bulk actions and views on the Pages list (see Utility Pages below).

Access

• Roles That Can View: Can open the Frontend and Backend tabs but not change anything. Administrators always have full access, and anyone who can edit can also view.
• Roles That Can Edit: Can edit the Frontend tree and the Backend layout. The Shortcode, SEO and Settings tabs are always administrators only.

Advanced

• Remove All Plugin Data on Uninstall: Deletes all Site Perspectives settings, the saved tree, the backend layout and cached sitemaps permanently when the plugin is deleted.
• Upload/Download Settings: Export everything Site Perspectives stores as a JSON file for backup. Items in the tree are matched by post ID, so imports are intended for the same site. Importing overwrites your current settings.
• Reset Settings: Resets every Site Perspectives option to its default. Your posts and pages are never touched.

Backend Tab

Navigate to Perspectives > Backend.

Shows your WordPress admin menu as an expandable folder tree. In Edit Mode, drag items to reorder them, rename them with the Label field, hide items you don’t use, and add your own custom links to the menu.

• Hide from this view: Hides an item from this layout only.
• Add Custom Link: Enter the Link Text and a URL, then click Add to Tree. Custom links can be removed again later.
• Reset Layout: Returns the layout to match the live admin menu. Your custom order, names and links will be removed.

Note — reordering, renaming and hiding only change this view, never the real admin menu. Menu items added by plugins later appear automatically.

Frontend Tab

Navigate to Perspectives > Frontend.

The first time you open this tab, the tree is built automatically from your primary menu. Click Edit, arrange it however you like, then Save to keep your layout.

Editing the Tree

• Drag and drop: Use the handle on the left of any item to move it. Drop an item onto another to make it a child.
• Add Items: In Edit mode, the Add Items box lists each content type you enabled in Settings. Search, check the items you want, then click Add to Tree. Use Load more to see additional results.
• Custom Link: Add any link by entering the Link Text and a URL. Custom links are good for pages that aren’t part of WordPress.
• Edit panel: Click the arrow on any item to open its details:
  • Title: Rename the item for the tree without changing the real page title. Leave it blank to use the original.
  • URL: Custom links only.
  • Icon: Choose any Dashicon.
  • Color: Pick a color for that item.
  • Hide from Shortcode: Keeps the item in the admin tree but removes it from the visitor sitemap. Hiding a parent also hides its children.
  • Remove: Takes the item out of the tree. It does not delete the page.
• Utility Pages: Pages that aren’t part of your main navigation, such as login and privacy policy, live in their own box below the tree. You can drag items between it and the main tree.
• Click Save when you’re done, or Cancel to discard your changes. You will see a warning if you try to leave with unsaved changes.

Display Options

Display Options only change what you see on this tab and in the Shortcode preview.

• Layout: Switch between Vertical and Horizontal (org chart) views. The tab remembers your choice.
• Data to show: Choose which details show on each item: Path, View Page, Full URL, Slug, Post Type, Status, ID, Author, Published, Last Modified, Template, Categories, Tags, Other Taxonomies, Parent and Menu Order.
• Collapsed / Expanded: Choose which details show on the card itself and which only show when you open it. Use Collapse All and Expand All to open or close every card.
• Custom Meta: Click Add Custom Meta to show any custom field. Enter the meta key, an optional label, and choose whether it shows collapsed, expanded, or both.
• Home title: In Horizontal view, the box at the top shows your front page title. Click it in Edit mode to rename it.
• Filter: Use the filter field to find an item by title or path.

Shortcode Tab

Navigate to Perspectives > Shortcode.

Place this shortcode on any page, post or widget to show a styled sitemap to your visitors:

[site_perspectives]

It shows the tree from the Frontend tab, so any changes you make there appear automatically. Drafts, private pages, password-protected pages and anything marked Hide from Shortcode are never shown.

The Live Preview on the right updates as you change settings. Use the Desktop, Tablet and Mobile buttons to preview different widths. Click Save when you’re happy with the result.

Theme and Colors

• Theme: Choose Classic, Corporate, Sunrise, Ocean, Forest, Slate, Monochrome, or Same as Frontend Tab. Every theme except Same as Frontend Tab uses one accent color for every card. Same as Frontend Tab uses the colors you chose for each item.
• Custom: Changing any color picker switches the theme to Custom. The colors are:
  • Card Background and Card Border
  • Heading Text: Item titles that aren’t links.
  • Body Text: The data shown under each item, such as path and post type.
  • Link and Link Hover
  • Accent and Connector Lines: The card edge and the lines between items.
  • Icon Color

Layout

• Layout: Vertical tree, Horizontal tree, or Card grid.
  • Vertical tree: Children are indented beneath their parent with connector lines.
  • Horizontal tree: An org chart with your home page on top and the top-level items across. Scroll sideways when there are more items than fit.
  • Card grid: Every item appears as its own card, sorted alphabetically, with no connector lines. Utility pages are included in the same list.
• Spacing: Comfortable or Compact.
• Corner Radius: Slide to round the corners of cards.
• Show icons, Open links in a new tab and Include utility pages: Check or uncheck as needed.
• Utility Pages Heading: The title above the utility list. Leave it blank for no heading.

Using a Different Layout on One Page

If you use the shortcode more than once, add the layout attribute to override the saved layout for that one. Options are tree, horizontal and cards:

[site_perspectives layout="cards"]
[site_perspectives layout="horizontal"]

Data to Show

Check the details you want visitors to see under each item, such as path, post type or published date.

Custom Meta: Click Add Custom Meta to show a custom field value under each item.

• Meta key: The key of the custom field.
• Label: Shown before the value with a colon, such as “Subtitle: Welcome.” Leave it blank to show only the value.
• Meta keys that start with an underscore are protected and are never shown to visitors. A warning appears if you enter one. Developers can allow specific keys with a filter (see Developer Hooks).
• Only items that are pages, posts or other content have meta. Custom links have none.

Utility Pages

Utility pages are pages like login, privacy policy and thank-you pages that you simply want to hide from the Pages admin list table so they don’t clutter it when you’re trying to search pages you regularly update.

1. Go to Perspectives > Settings and check Enable Utility Page Flags.
2. On the Pages list, mark pages as utility using the Utility checkbox in Quick Edit, or select several pages and choose a Utility bulk action.
3. A Utility column shows which pages are flagged.

The Pages list also gets Utility and Non-Utility views with counts, next to All, Mine, Published, Drafts and Trash. The plugin remembers the last view you used and opens it next time. The Utility column is hidden while you are on the Utility or Non-Utility views.