Show Custom Taxonomy Panel in the Gutenberg Editor

By default, a custom taxonomy panel is not added to the Gutenberg editor. That means authors are not able to select terms in the editor. That’s a problem. In this quick tip, let me show you how to turn on the feature. [It’s pretty easy.]

Gutenberg uses the REST API. When you register a custom taxonomy, by default, the taxonomy is not shown in the REST API. I’ll show you in the video below.

Let’s walk through it together.

The Code

Here is a link to the Books plugin gist if you want to work along with me.

In the configuration arguments where you register the custom taxonomy, add the following configuration parameter:

'show_in_rest' => true, // Needed for tax to appear in Gutenberg editor

For example, let’s say you are registering a Genre taxonomy. The registration arguments for this custom taxonomy might be:

$labels = [
	// left out for brevity.	
];

// Configuration parameters for the Genre taxonomy.
$args = [
	'hierarchical'      => true,
	'labels'            => $labels,
	'show_ui'           => true,
	'show_admin_column' => true,
	'show_in_rest'      => true, // Needed for tax to appear in Gutenberg editor.
	'query_var'         => true,
	'rewrite'           => [ 'slug' => 'genre' ],
];

register_taxonomy( 'genre', [ 'book' ], $args );

Go Deeper

Want to go deeper into custom taxonomies? Check out these resources:

• WordPress Custom Taxonomy Basics
• Developer’s Guide to Differentiating WordPress Content Taxonomies and Terms
• register_taxonomyin WordPress Codex
• WordPress Built-in and Custom Taxonomies and Terms Series

Need Help Showing the Custom Post Type in the Gutenberg Editor?

How to Enable the Gutenberg Editor for a Custom Post Type

By default, a WordPress custom post type does not use the Gutenberg editor. Why? In this quick tip, Tonya walks you through the why and shows you how to enable the Gutenberg editor for your custom post types. Don't worry. It's literally one configuration parameter.

Learn more