Quick Category News

WordPress plugin designed to simplify content management for less experienced WordPress users by enabling quick creation of posts in selected categories through dedicated menu buttons.

Description

Quick Category News is designed to make WordPress content management more intuitive, especially for users who may find the standard WordPress interface overwhelming. The plugin helps organize content by creating dedicated menu sections for different categories, making it feel like you're publishing directly to specific pages or sections of your website.

Main Goal: The plugin simplifies the workflow for users managing multiple content categories (potentially published on different pages) by providing a clear, category-focused interface. Users can easily create posts for specific categories without navigating through complex menus, giving them confidence that they're publishing content directly to the right section of their site.

The plugin creates a menu structure similar to the standard "Posts" section for each selected category, with options:

• All Posts - displays all posts in the selected category
• Add New - creates a new post with automatically selected category

This approach makes it easier for users to:

• Understand which category they're working with
• Create content for specific sections of their website
• Manage posts organized by category without confusion
• Feel confident they're publishing to the correct location

Requirements

• WordPress 5.0 or newer
• PHP 7.2 or newer
• Manage options permissions (for configuration)
• Edit posts permissions (for creating new posts)

Installation

Method 1: Through WordPress Admin Panel (Recommended)

1. Log in to the WordPress admin panel
2. Go to Plugins → Add New
3. Click Upload Plugin
4. Select the quick-category-news.zip file
5. Click Install Now
6. After installation, click Activate Plugin

Method 2: Manual Installation

1. Extract the quick-category-news.zip file
2. Copy the quick-category-news folder to the wp-content/plugins/ directory
3. Log in to WordPress admin
4. Go to Plugins and find Quick Category News
5. Click Activate

Configuration

1. After activating the plugin, go to Settings → Quick Category News
2. Select the categories for which you want to create quick buttons
3. Click Save Changes
4. Buttons with the names of selected categories will appear in the left admin menu

Usage

For Content Managers

1. Click the category name in the left admin menu (e.g., "News", "Announcements", "Events")
2. The menu will expand showing:
   • All Posts - view all existing posts in this category
   • Add New - create a new post for this category
3. Click Add New or use the "Add New" button next to the page title
4. The plugin automatically:
   • Creates a draft post
   • Assigns it to the selected category
   • Opens the post editor with the category already selected
5. Fill in the content, title, and other post details
6. Publish the post - it will appear in the correct category/section of your website

Benefits for Less Experienced Users

• Clear Organization: Each category has its own menu section, making it easy to find and manage related content
• No Confusion: You always know which category you're working with
• Direct Publishing: Feels like publishing directly to a specific page or section
• Simplified Workflow: No need to remember category names or search through long category lists
• Visual Clarity: The interface clearly shows which section of your website you're managing

Features

• ✅ Quick creation of draft posts with assigned category
• ✅ Configurable list of categories available in the menu
• ✅ Automatic redirect to editor after post creation
• ✅ Automatic category selection in editor (support for classic editor, Gutenberg, and Elementor)
• ✅ Security: permission verification and data validation
• ✅ Support for multiple categories simultaneously
• ✅ Intuitive user interface

Security

The plugin implements the following security mechanisms:

• Nonce verification for all requests (via WordPress Settings API)
• User permission checks (edit_posts, manage_options)
• Validation and sanitization of all input data
• Escaping of all output data
• Protection against unauthorized post creation for inactive categories
• Category existence validation before use

Troubleshooting

Buttons don't appear in the menu

• Check if the plugin is activated
• Make sure you've selected at least one category in settings
• Check if you have permissions to edit posts

Error when creating a post

• Check if you have permissions to create posts
• Make sure the selected category still exists
• Check WordPress error logs

Category is not assigned to the post

• The plugin uses wp_set_post_terms() to assign categories
• If you have other plugins modifying categories, they may interfere
• In such cases, you can manually assign the category in the editor

Support

For issues or questions:

1. Check WordPress error logs
2. Make sure the plugin is updated to the latest version
3. Check compatibility with other plugins

Changelog

1.0.0

• First version of the plugin
• Basic quick post creation functionality
• Settings page for category selection
• Security mechanisms (nonce, validation, sanitization)
• Support for classic editor, Gutenberg, and Elementor
• Automatic category selection in editor
• Menu similar to standard "Posts" section
• Performance optimization (category cache)
• Debug logging only in debug mode

License

GPL2+ (in accordance with WordPress license)

Author

Grisp

Translation Support

The plugin uses the WordPress translation system. Text domain: quick-category-news

Available Translations

• Polish (pl_PL) - Included in the plugin package

Compiling Translation Files

The plugin includes .po files in the languages/ directory. To use translations, you need to compile .po files to .mo format:

1. Using Poedit (recommended):

   • Download and install Poedit
   • Open languages/quick-category-news-pl_PL.po
   • Click "Save" - Poedit will automatically create the .mo file

2. Using command line (if gettext tools are installed):

   msgfmt languages/quick-category-news-pl_PL.po -o languages/quick-category-news-pl_PL.mo

3. Using Loco Translate plugin:

   • Install the Loco Translate plugin
   • It will automatically detect and compile translation files

Creating New Translations

1. Copy languages/quick-category-news.pot (template file)
2. Rename it to quick-category-news-{locale}.po (e.g., quick-category-news-de_DE.po for German)
3. Translate all strings using Poedit or similar tool
4. Compile to .mo format
5. Place both .po and .mo files in the languages/ directory

Translation files are automatically loaded by WordPress when the site language matches the translation locale.