Item Types (previously called Post Types ) allow you to define the characteristics of a set of Items/Posts by specifying its usage and enabling certain features for each type.

This allows for forum topics to behave a little differently from blog posts or manual pages. For example, forum topics and manual pages may not accept HTML but blog posts can.

Each type can also have its own set of Item Statuses for monitoring Workflow.

More importantly, item types allow the definition of custom fields for specific item types.

Default Item Types

Below is the list of item types that comes with b2evolution by default:

• Post: This is the recommended type for blog posts and other general content. This is the default type for blog collections. Usage: Post
• Recipe: This type is optimized for displaying cooking recipes by using a custom template recipe and it also makes use of custom fields such as ingredients, and cooking and preparation times. Usage: Post
• Post with Custom Fields: This type contains custom fields for demonstration purposes. Usage: Post
• Child Post: This type is similar to Post but has some additional custom fields. Use of parent ID is enabled, this can be linked to another item and allow access to the custom fields of the parent item. Usage: Post
• Podcast Episode: This is for marking items containing a podcast episode. They will be treated specifically in RSS feeds which embed the podcast content. Usage: Post
• Photo Album: By default, this type is used instead of "Post" by Gallery collections. It is optimized for showing items that primarily contain image attachments for display. Usage: Post
• Manual Page: By default, this type is used instead of "Post" by Manual collections. It is optimized for online manuals written with the Markdown and Quick Links plugins. Usage: Post
• Forum Topic: By default, this type is used instead of "Post" by Forum collections. It is optimized for discussion forums. You typically don’t want users to use HTML in forum posts. Usage: Post
• Bug Report: This is for creating bug reports and it has the appropriate Item Statuses for monitoring its progress. Usage: Post
• Standalone Page: This is for creating pages (as opposed to posts). Pages do not appear in the regular flow of posts on your blog. They have to be specifically called from a menu or a widget in order to be displayed. Usage: Page
• Widget Page: a page that is constructed entirely with widgets, rather than being constructed around a classic structure of title, content, and comments.
• Intro-Front: (v7) items of this type will be shown on the special front page if the current collection is configured to show such a Special Front Page. Usage: Intro-Front
• Intro-Main: items of this type will be shown on the homepage (unless there’s a more "recent" Intro-All post). It doesn’t matter which category this is in. Usage: Intro-Main
• Intro-Cat: items of this type will be shown on your category (or sub-category) pages, depending on which categories you have selected for this intro post. (This is unless there’s a more "recent" Intro-All post). Usage: Intro-Cat
• Intro-Tag: items of this type will be shown on your tag pages, depending on which tags you have assigned to this intro post. (This is unless there’s a more "recent" Intro-All post). Usage: Intro-Tag
• Intro-Sub: items of this type will be shown on the other "sub" pages of your blog. This means: everything but the home page, category pages, and tag pages. For example, it may appear on pages 2, 3, 4, etc (disp_detail = posts-next). It may also appear on pages filtered by author. (This is unless there’s a more "recent" Intro-All post). This is designed to be a "filler" when Intro-All is not appropriate. In most cases, we recommend using Intro-All. Usage: Intro-Sub
• Intro-All: This is designed to be used as a fallback intro for all pages that have no other Intro items. To ensure that it works properly, make sure its publication date is older than your other Intro-* items (or better said: this post should be last in order in your current blog sorting order). Usage: Intro-All
• Content Block: This is for creating snippets of information that will be displayed in various places of the site. Usage: Content Block
• Text Ad: (v7) This is for creating text-only advertisements. Usage: Post
• Sidebar Link: This is for creating a link roll in your sidebar for example. Items with this type will never appear as collection content in the main area or your collection. They will only be displayed by widgets specifically targeting this type of item. Usage: Special
• Advertisement: This is for creating contextual ads in your sidebar for example. Items with the Advertisement type will never appear as collection content in the main area or your collection. They will only be displayed by widgets specifically targeting this type of item. Usage: Special
• Terms & Conditions: this is a special usage for displaying the terms and conditions of use. Usage: Special
• Product: (v7) this type is optimized for displaying information about a product. Usage: Post
• Review: (v7) this type is optimized for displaying reviews. Usage: Post
• Homepage Content Tab: (v7) this is for creating homepage content that will displayed as tabs. Usage: Post

For more information on usage, please read: Item Usage