Tabify Edit Screen

Description

When you’ve got lots of post meta-boxes, your post edit screen can become difficult to search. Make your post edit screen easier to navigate and manage by creating a set of tabs, with the Tabify Edit Screen plugin. And manage it all from the WordPress back-end!

There are still lots of things changing in the code base. There are some hooks you can use but they can change from implementation till 1.0. I will always try to maintain backwards-compatible but till 1.0 I can’t be sure for that.

Screenshots

Installation

1. Upload the folder tabify-edit-screen to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
3. Go to the Settings -> Tabify edit screen to enable tabs for a specific post type

FAQ

Can you define metaboxes that will always be visible?

At this moment the title and submit box are always visible. You can change this by using the following filters:
* tabify_default_metaboxes – $defaults, $id, $type
* tabify_default_metaboxes_$type – $defaults, $id

The $id is for example the post type name when $type is posttypes.

Can I place the tabs under the title input field?

Yes, you can use the filter ‘tabify_tab_location’ and passing the value ‘after_title’ to it.
You can also check on the second argument what the location is. Now always ‘posttype’

Does it work with all plugins?

Since version 0.9.0 it should work for almost all plugins. Unless they do extra checks it should work.
Before there was a filter ‘tabify_plugin_support’ which still exists but shouldn’t be used anymore.

What happen with new metaboxes?

At this moment new metaboxes are places on the last tab. You can go to the settings screen to reorder the metabox. You can change which tab it should go like with meta boxes that don’t show up like Types or WordPress SEO. You do this with the filter ‘tabify_unattached_metaboxes_index’.

Reviews

Good Concept, but very buggy

anonmeimei August 18, 2021

The plugin hasn’t been updated since WP 5.6.4, and I’m on Wordpress 5.8.

Still works great in December 2020

nadinenb December 10, 2020

The setup process is not as straight-forward as the “FAQ” of the plugin instructs… Once under “Settings > Tabify Edit Screen”, you have to 1) scroll all the way down (which can take a minute if you have a custom field packed theme) 2) hit “create new tab” 3) click on “choose title” to rename the tab (i.e: “SEO”) 4) scroll up and down to pick the custom field of your choice (i.e: “SEO” field) and then position it where your newly created tab is; 5) repeat all the above for each post type on your website (in my case: posts, pages, media, blocks, post types, *each* custom post type, taxonomies, templates, grid builder, field groups). Though the setup was a bit confusing and time consuming, I do believe I’ll have great use of this plugin, as I can make the UI of the edit pages more intuitive and fitting for how I want to navigate a WordPress website. My security plugins are sending me repeat warnings about this plugin as it has not been updated in 4 years which is indeed concerning from a code security point of view. As soon as the plugin gets a fresh update, I’ll give it a 5-star rating as it is what it deserves. EDIT: I see that the plugin is intentionally designed to maintain backward-compatibility with older versions of WordPress, so I guess this is why it has not been patched up to this day. I’m fine with that, so raising my review to 5-star.

Answer to my prayers

bdombro May 7, 2018

This plugin is hot sauce. For websites with lots of custom fields and metaboxes, this is a game-changer for UX.

Perfect for organising lots of fields

Rogier Lankhorst November 29, 2016 1 reply

If you have really a lot of custom meta boxes in your post type, this plugin is perfect to organise it. Looks great, and easily integrated.

Great plugin!

John Garvin September 3, 2016 1 reply

Really excellent plugin. Would be even more amazing if it had the ability to export/import settings. Currently it seems to require duplicating efforts for each site. Unless I’m missing something. Otherwise it fills a much needed role.

utterly fantastic

Glenn September 3, 2016

on my first try at this one i didn’t notice the ADD NEW TAB at the very bottom of the page (poor placement for new people) and didn’t give this plugin much more thought. on my second try just now i noticecd the NEW TAB button and realized how this thing works. for those who spend a lot of time in WordPress, especially with a theme that has really long Page Editor functions, this plugin is a Godsend. get all those page boxes that are way way down at the bottom of the editor moved to a new tab right there at the top. FANTASTIC. good job, author.

Contributors & Developers

Changelog

1.0.0 ( 2021-02-28 )

• Fixed PHP and WordPress warnings
• Arguments for filter tabify_default_metaboxes changed
• Deprecated filter tabify_default_metaboxes_$post_type
• Improved detection layer a bit. It’s still not perfect and will be addressed in 1.1.0
• Action tabify_settings got changed

0.9.7 ( 2016-12-20 )

• Fix on/off switch.

0.9.6 ( 2016-11-21 )

• Added on/off switch.
• Prevent empty tabs from showing.
• Make the filter ‘tabify_tab_posttype_tabs’ works. Reported by junander.
• Removed unused code.
• Started cleanup for version 1.0.0
• Compatibility check with WordPress 4.7

0.9.5 ( 2016-03-03 )

• Only load features once. Caused when plugins set a new current_screen.

0.9.4 ( 2016-02-28 )

• Rewrite of smart meta box detection to use Javascript instead.
• Clear Detection cache on needed moments.
• Increase caching time for smart detection to a week.
• Disabled plugin support which accidentally got enabled in 0.9.3
• Ability to enable/disable the post types tabs through the filter ‘tabify_tab_posttype_show’
• Fix notices on WooCommerce install screen
• Check if metaboxes got removed to prevent notices
• Remove action ‘tabify_tabs’ due to same filter.

0.9.3 ( 2016-02-18 )

• Fix undefined notice on settings page. Props Juliette Reinders Folmer
• Fix typo in detection transient name. Props Juliette Reinders Folmer
• Fix vertical tabs on setting page display next to each other in WordPress 4.4
• Added back plugin support with filter ‘tabify_plugin_support’

0.9.2 ( 2015-11-14 )

• Decrease timeout for smart meta box detection requests
• Disable smart meta box detection after 3 failures at the same time
• Stop all other requests after 3 failures

0.9.1 ( 2015-11-14 )

• Fix issue with older WordPress version
• Expire detection transient after 24 hours

0.9.0 ( 2015-11-14 )

• Add ability to set permission based on user role per tab. Sponsored by NW Consulting
• Added smart meta box detection
• Removed the filter ‘tabify_plugin_support’
• New filter ‘tabify_tabs_tab_title’ which can be used to translate the tab title
• Code clean ups
• Updated readme info with new donate link
• Tested up to WordPress 4.4

0.8.3 ( 2015-07-27 )

• Fix editor after switching tabs
• Loading minified files

0.8.2 ( 2014-07-27 )

• Make the settings UI responsive and made some other little UI improvements.
• Additional plugin support for WordPress SEO

0.8.1 ( 2014-03-26 )

• Allow some HTML in the tab title.
• Fix border issue on the pos type selection in the settings page

0.8.0 ( 2013-12-25 )

• Fix 3.8 styling

0.7.1 ( 2013-09-26 )

• Fix possible issues with meta boxes showing on every tab
• Add textdomain to the right places
• Fix (strict) notices in code

0.7.0 ( 2013-06-14 )

• When submit box isn’t always showed then do show a submit button in the tabs
• Only hide metaboxes when there is javascript support
• Change some styling when MP6 is been used
• Add extra span around meta box titles in the settings page to look better in MP6
• Add support for WPML

0.6.0 ( 2013-02-24 )

• Complete rewrite of settings screen. Most of HTML is now in the base class
• All unattached metaboxes will be moved to the last tab
• Fix setting current tab when editing a post
• Added some extra string escaping

• Specify screen icon

• Added French translation by Jean-Christophe Brebion

• Updated Dutch translation

0.5.3 ( 2013-01-07 )

• Fix issue that meta boxes are unchecked in screen options

0.5.2 ( 2012-12-31 )

• Default tabs was broken

0.5.1 ( 2012-12-31 )

• Move tabs to top again. That is the default state

0.5.0 ( 2012-12-31 )

• Improved deleting a tab from the setting screen
• Fix bugs caused when deleting a tab and moving metaboxes to different tabs
• Make CSS more explicit so that plugins like ACF don’t show up on first load. (Thanks elliotcondon)
• Ability to place the tabs under the title input field with the filter ‘tabify_tab_location’ and passing ‘after_title’
• Add body class for tab location
• Fix update settings and adding slashes to the title
• Removing several referenced hooks
• Fix some notices on edge cases

• Fix javascript error on settings page

• Also created a repository for a forked Types that works with this plugin: https://github.com/markoheijnen/types/tree/use-hook-add_meta_boxes

0.4.1 ( 2012-11-9 )

• Fix javascript code so you are now able to create new tabs again

0.4.0 ( 2012-11-9 )

• Complete fresh new UI for the settings screen
• Fix possible bug for not showing author metabox in the settings screen
• Fix notice on edit screen when no items where inside a tab
• Fix issue that not all post types are showing
• Now able to hide a metabox as an user and that the plugin will listen to that. Thank Elles for nagging me about to fix that ??
• Ability to remove plugin support and isn’t on by default anymore. Can be enabled with the filter “tabify_plugin_support”
• Added plugin support for Members and WordPress SEO. (Thanks sc0ttkclark for his help )

• Added Dutch translation

• Ability to modify tabs through the filter tabify_tabs

• Ability to add more tab support like post types with the filter ‘tabify-edit-screen-settings-tabs’
• Ability to add more options with the action ‘tabify-settings-posttype’ and filter ‘tabify-settings-update’

0.3.0 ( 2012-4-7 )

• Add support for the plugin “Types”
• Removed the filter tabify_default_metaboxes_$posttype and changed it for the action tabify_add_meta_boxes
• Improved the way to delete a tab by showing a remove link ( Javascript only )
• Make the tab title translatable with tabify-edit-screen-tab as domain
• The text in javascript is now also translatable
• Removed duplicated code

0.2.0 ( 2012-4-6 )

• Added security checks on the setting screen
• Create a new tab now also works on all post types
• When you save the changes you go back to the selected tab. This also work for the edit screens
• Setting page works when javascript isn’t supported
• You can now delete a tab when all the metaboxes are removed and the title is empty. Will be improved in later version
• New metaboxes will always be showed in the setting page
• The setting page now can be changed from a touch device
• Fix issue where you couldn’t move metaboxes in a new created tab

0.1.0 ( 2012-4-2 )

• First version to show people the possibilities