manifest / content / prc-homepages

PRC Homepages

A custom content type for managing dynamic website homepages with native WordPress scheduling and preview capabilities. Enables editors to create, schedule, and preview homepage versions with full revision history, ensuring seamless content transitions. Perfect for organizations that need to coordinate homepage updates or maintain multiple versions

by Seth Rubenstein · github.com/pewresearch/prc-homepages · website

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Install

No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:

wp plugin install https://github.com/pewresearch/prc-homepages/archive/refs/heads/trunk.zip

Readme

PRC Homepages

Canonical docs: docs/plugins/prc-homepages/

Manages the Pew Research Center homepage through a custom homepage post type, enabling editors to draft, schedule, and version-control the front page without touching the block theme template. The most recently published homepage post is rendered on the front page via the prc-platform/latest-homepage block.

What it does

Registers the homepage custom post type with full block editor, revision, custom fields, and thumbnail support
Provides the prc-platform/latest-homepage block, which renders the content of the most recently published homepage post on the frontend; in the editor it uses InnerBlocksAsSyncedContent so the homepage layout is editable in-place inside the block theme template
Exposes inspector controls in the block editor for creating a new draft homepage and for switching the editor preview to any existing homepage
Captures a 1200×1200 screenshot of the singular /homepage/{slug}/ URL on publish (and on published updates) and stores it as the featured image for the All Homepages DataView grid
Replaces the generic "Edit Page" admin bar item with "Edit Homepage" when a logged-in user is viewing the front page
Registers a custom RSS feed at /feed/homepage that enumerates all prc-block/story-item post IDs found in the latest published homepage, cached in transients for 1 hour and flushed on save

Key files

File	Purpose
`prc-homepages.php`	Plugin entry point; defines constants, registers activation/deactivation hooks, boots `Plugin`
`includes/class-plugin.php`	Bootstrap. Instantiates `Content_Type`, `Feed`, `Admin_Dataview_Lists`, and `Featured_Image_Capture`, and registers the `prc-platform/latest-homepage` block
`includes/class-content-type.php`	Registers the `homepage` CPT, permalink filter, admin bar item, and post-publish pipeline opt-in
`includes/class-feed.php`	Generates and caches the `/feed/homepage` RSS feed; extracts story post IDs by recursively walking parsed blocks
`includes/utils.php`	Global helpers: `get_latest_homepage_id()`, `get_latest_homepage_title()`, `get_latest_homepage_permalink()`
`includes/class-featured-image-capture.php`	On publish, screenshots the singular homepage URL via Firebase and sets the featured image
`src/block.json`	Metadata for `prc-platform/latest-homepage`
`src/edit.jsx`	Block editor component; fetches the latest homepage via `useEntityRecords` and renders it with `InnerBlocksAsSyncedContent`
`src/controls.jsx`	Inspector panel wiring up the preview and create modals
`src/preview-selection-modal.jsx`	Modal to switch the editor preview to any existing homepage post
`src/create-new-homepage-modal.jsx`	Modal to create a new draft homepage (pre-seeded with the default grid layout)
`src/constants.js`	`POST_TYPE`, `POST_TYPE_LABEL`, and `DEFAULT_CONTENT` (the default block template serialized as block markup)
`tests/prc-homepages/e2e/create-homepage-post.spec.ts`	Playwright e2e test for homepage creation
`tests/prc-homepages/phpunit/test-featured-image-capture.php`	Capture URL, schedule, hash, and thumbnail-support guards

Filters / hooks

Hook	Type	Direction	Description
`init`	Action	Registers	Registers the `homepage` post type
`init`	Action	Registers	Registers the `prc-platform/latest-homepage` block via `register_block_type`
`init`	Action	Registers	Registers the custom `/feed/homepage` feed endpoint via `add_feed`
`post_link`	Filter	Registered	Intended to rewrite published homepage permalinks to `home_url()`. WordPress only runs `post_link` for the `post` type, so `get_permalink()` for `homepage` still returns `/homepage/{slug}/`. Do not move this to `post_type_link`; featured-image capture depends on the singular URL.
`prc_platform_post_publish_pipeline_post_types`	Filter	Modifies	`Content_Type` adds `homepage` so publish and update enter the pipeline
`prc_platform_async_on_publish`	Action	Listener	`Featured_Image_Capture` enqueues a screenshot job after publish
`prc_platform_async_on_update`	Action	Listener	Same job after an already-published homepage is updated
`prc_homepages_capture_featured_image`	Action	Listener	Action Scheduler callback: Firebase `screenshotElement` (1200×1200 viewport) → sideload PNG → `set_post_thumbnail`
`admin_bar_menu`	Action	Modifies	Swaps the default "Edit Page" node for "Edit Homepage" when on the front page
`save_post_homepage`	Action	Listener	Flushes the `prc_homepage_feed_content` and `prc_homepage_story_ids` transients

Architecture notes

How the front page is served

The block theme's front-page template contains a single prc-platform/latest-homepage block. On the frontend, its render_callback runs a WP_Query for the most recently published homepage post, pipes its post_content through apply_filters('the_content', ...), and returns the result. No page is set as the WordPress "front page" in Settings — the template + block combination owns that responsibility entirely.

Scheduling a new homepage

Create a homepage post in the block editor, build the layout, then schedule it for a future publish date. Once WordPress publishes it, the render callback will automatically return its content because it always queries by orderby=date DESC limit=1 post_status=publish.

Default block template

When creating a homepage (either through the admin or via the "Create New Draft" modal in the block editor), the post is seeded with a 3-column prc-block/grid-controller layout containing five prc-block/story-item blocks. The serialized block markup lives in src/constants.js as DEFAULT_CONTENT and the PHP equivalent is defined in Content_Type::get_template().

Feed caching

The /feed/homepage endpoint caches its output in two transients:

Transient key	Contents	TTL
`prc_homepage_feed_content`	Full rendered RSS XML string	1 hour
`prc_homepage_story_ids`	Array of post IDs from `prc-block/story-item` blocks	1 hour

Both are deleted on save_post_homepage. The feed is generated only once per hour unless a homepage is saved.

Featured image screenshot

Publishing a homepage post enqueues prc_homepages_capture_featured_image from the post-publish pipeline async tier (prc_platform_async_on_publish / prc_platform_async_on_update). The job asks Firebase screenshotElement for a 1200×1200 viewport PNG of that post's singular /homepage/{slug}/ URL, sideloads it, and sets it as the featured image. Published updates recapture when the content hash changes. Drafts are not captured. The job refuses home_url() so historical rows never get the live front page.

The CPT registers thumbnail support so All Homepages can show the image in the DataView grid media cell.

Dependencies

prc-platform-core (required plugin)
@prc/components — InnerBlocksAsSyncedContent, EntityPatternModal, EntityCreateNewModal (editor only)

Build

npm run build -w @prc/homepages

Read the full README on GitHub →