[Closed] Single character slug for custom post type

[Author]

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[przemyslawK-4]

Hi,

This ticket relates to the previous ticket, which I did not have time to answer: https://toolset.com/forums/topic/complicated-site-structure-with-combined-categories-and-subcategories/

Unfortunately, I am unable to use some of the single letters in the CPT slug (such as the letter “/p/” or “/m/”). Other letters, such as the letter “/l/” or “/u/” could be used without a problem.

It seems to me that the problem is that at the very beginning of the creation of the site I created a CPT with the aforementioned letters, and then removed them. Perhaps the issue is that somewhere in the database this continues to be stored and is not properly removed by Toolset?

Your help is appreciated! Thank you.

[Christopher Amirian]

Hi,

To test this I created a new installation of WordPress and Toolset and specifically tested for P and M. ANd the same thing happened. I have got this error:

You cannot use this slug because it is already used or a reserved word. Please choose a different slug.

As the error suggests the "p" keyword is reserved. I tested by adding the custom post type via code with code.

It created the post type, but adding the content did not work and led to 404 page.

So it seems there is a WordPress native restriction regarding at least the "p" character there.

You can check what I have done in this installation:

hidden link

Thanks.

[przemyslawK-4]

Hi Chrisopher,

Can you point me to a solution for how, in the case of Toolset, I can bypass this restriction by using the rewrite->slug parameter?

'rewrite' => array(
'slug' => 'k',
'with_front' => false,
'pages' => false,
'feeds' => false,
);

Thank you!

[Christopher Amirian]

Hi,

The issue you're encountering is related to WordPress's reserved terms and core functionality. Certain single-character slugs like /p/ and /m/ are reserved or used internally by WordPress, which makes them unavailable for custom post types or other purposes. Even if the CPT creation succeeds, conflicts can arise in permalinks or query handling, leading to 404 errors.

I don't think there will be a robust way to bypass such restriction as you will encounter issues along the way and we can not guarantee a smooth working solution.

A typical rewrite solution would be like this:

function register_custom_post_type_with_reserved_slug() {
    register_post_type('custom_slug_p', array(
        'labels' => array(
            'name' => 'Custom Slug P',
            'singular_name' => 'Custom Slug P'
        ),
        'public' => true,
        'has_archive' => true,
        'rewrite' => array(
            'slug' => 'p', // Use the reserved slug
            'with_front' => false,
            'pages' => false,
            'feeds' => false,
        ),
        'supports' => array('title', 'editor', 'thumbnail'),
    ));
}
add_action('init', 'register_custom_post_type_with_reserved_slug');

But I am almost sure you will encounter conflicts along the way so I do recommend to avoid using such scenarios.

Thanks.