Post Header Integration

This guide details how to programmatically populate the visual "Header" section of pix-article posts (and standard posts), which corresponds to the visual layer commonly referred to as the "Layer 2" or "Hero Section".

Field Mapping

The visual elements map to standard WordPress core fields:

Visual Element	WordPress Field	Database Column	Function
1. Category	Taxonomy Term	wp_term_relationships	wp_set_object_terms()
2. Post Title	Post Title	post_title	wp_insert_post() / wp_update_post()
3. Excerpt	Post Excerpt	post_excerpt	wp_insert_post() / wp_update_post()
4. Published Date	Post Date	post_date	wp_insert_post() / wp_update_post()
5. Featured Image	Featured Image	_thumbnail_id (meta)	set_post_thumbnail()

Programmatic Implementation

1. Creating/Updating the Post Object

The Title, Excerpt, and Date are set directly on the post object.

$post_data = array(
    'ID'           => $existing_post_id, // include only if updating
    'post_title'   => 'Layer 2: Noumenal Notes', // [2] Post Title
    'post_excerpt' => 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...', // [3] Excerpt
    'post_date'    => '2022-04-12 12:00:00', // [4] Published Date (Y-m-d H:i:s)
    'post_status'  => 'publish',
    'post_type'    => 'pix-article', // Custom Post Type
);

// Insert or Update
$post_id = wp_insert_post($post_data);

2. Setting the Category

The "pill" at the top (e.g., "GRPS protection") is a Taxonomy Term.

• Taxonomy: Usually category (Standard) or pix-portfolio-cat depending on theme config.
• Function: wp_set_object_terms

// Define the Category Name or ID
$category_name = 'GRPS protection'; // [1] Category
$taxonomy_slug = 'category'; // Check if 'pix-article' uses a custom taxonomy

// Resolve Term ID (create if doesn't exist)
$term_info = term_exists($category_name, $taxonomy_slug);
if (!$term_info) {
    $term_info = wp_insert_term($category_name, $taxonomy_slug);
}
$term_id = is_array($term_info) ? $term_info['term_id'] : $term_info;

// Assign to Post
wp_set_object_terms($post_id, array($term_id), $taxonomy_slug);

3. Setting the Featured Image

The background image (Hero Image) is the standard Featured Image.

$image_url = 'https://example.com/path/to/image.jpg'; // [5] Featured Image Source
$upload_dir = wp_upload_dir();
$image_data = file_get_contents($image_url);
$filename = basename($image_url);

if(wp_mkdir_p($upload_dir['path'])) {
    $file = $upload_dir['path'] . '/' . $filename;
} else {
    $file = $upload_dir['basedir'] . '/' . $filename;
}

file_put_contents($file, $image_data);

$wp_filetype = wp_check_filetype($filename, null );
$attachment = array(
    'post_mime_type' => $wp_filetype['type'],
    'post_title'     => sanitize_file_name($filename),
    'post_content'   => '',
    'post_status'    => 'inherit'
);

$attach_id = wp_insert_attachment($attachment, $file, $post_id);
require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/image.php');
$attach_data = wp_generate_attachment_metadata($attach_id, $file);
wp_update_attachment_metadata($attach_id, $attach_data);

// Set as Featured Image
set_post_thumbnail($post_id, $attach_id);

Troubleshooting

• Category Not Showing?: If the "GRPS protection" pill doesn't appear, verify the Taxonomy Slug. Some themes treat pix-article as part of a portfolio logic and use pix-portfolio-cat or pix-service-cat. Check the URL of the category page in the admin panel (e.g., /wp-admin/edit-tags.php?taxonomy=pix-portfolio-cat).
• Excerpt Not Showing?: Ensure the theme's header.php or bg_image.php template hasn't been modified to exclude the excerpt for this post type.