Title: Shadow Terms
Author: Happy Prime
Published: <strong>November 28, 2022</strong>
Last modified: February 10, 2026

---

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# Shadow Terms

 By [Happy Prime](https://profiles.wordpress.org/happyprime/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/shadow-terms.1.2.3.zip)

 * [Details](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/shadow-terms/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/shadow-terms/#reviews)
 * [Development](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/shadow-terms/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shadow-terms/)

## Description

Shadow Terms registers custom (shadow) taxonomies for supported post types. These
taxonomies can be used to associate related content from a variety of post types.

When a new post of a supported post type is created, a term mirroring that post 
is also created. When editing another post type that supports this taxonomy, this
term can be assigned to associate the posts.

Shadow Terms does not register support for itself on any post types by default. 
Custom code must be added to a plugin or theme.

Support can be added to a custom post type with code like:

    ```
    <?php
    // Register the organization post type normally.
    register_post_type( 'organization', $args );

    // Add support for Shadow Terms to the organization post type.
    add_post_type_support(
        'organization',
        'shadow-terms',
        array(
            // Add post types that support the organization_connect taxonomy.
            'person',
            'press-release',
        )
    );
    ```

With the example above, whenever an `organization` is created, a term with the same
name will be created under the `organization_connect` taxonomy. When a person or
press release is edited, that term will be available for assignment through standard
WordPress taxonomy interfaces.

Code can then be written to query and display all people or press releases related
to an organization.

## Reviews

![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b386c3be63ad40515532f06f0a3f8fc3c5a9c760da75708f03eff64f35cd66d4?
s=60&d=retro&r=g)

### 󠀁[Great work](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-work-1156/)󠁿

 [shawfactor](https://profiles.wordpress.org/shawfactor/) June 24, 2025

These types of plugins are essential for working around the shortcomings of WordPress
and at the same time sticking to standards, thankyou all

 [ Read all 1 review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shadow-terms/reviews/)

## Contributors & Developers

“Shadow Terms” is open source software. The following people have contributed to
this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ Happy Prime ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/happyprime/)
 *   [ Jeremy Felt ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremyfelt/)
 *   [ slocker ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/slocker/)
 *   [ philcable ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/philcable/)
 *   [ webelaine ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpgirl369/)

[Translate “Shadow Terms” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/shadow-terms)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/shadow-terms/), check
out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/shadow-terms/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/shadow-terms/) by
[RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/shadow-terms/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

### 1.2.3

 * In a case where a published post is missing its associated shadow term, create
   one on post update.
 * Bail early on direct access to plugin files.
 * Confirm WordPress 6.9 support.
 * Update development dependencies.

### 1.2.2

 * No functional changes.
 * Bump phpstan to level 7.
 * Update development dependencies.
 * Confirm WordPress 6.8 support.

### 1.2.1

 * No functional changes.
 * Exclude phpstan config from distribution.
 * Update development dependencies.
 * Confirm WordPress 6.6 support.

### 1.2.0

 * Do not show “Add New” term option for shadow taxonomies, which are automatically
   managed. Thanks [@s3rgiosan](https://profiles.wordpress.org/s3rgiosan/)!
 * Do not show shadow terms in REST API to unauthenticated users if their original
   post type is not publicly available via REST endpoint.

### 1.1.0

 * Add filtering to shadow taxonomy taxonomy arguments.
 * Update development tooling.

### 1.0.1

 * Fix: Ensure term and post slugs sync properly on post update.

### 1.0.0

Initial release.

## Meta

 *  Version **1.2.3**
 *  Last updated **2 months ago**
 *  Active installations **10+**
 *  WordPress version ** 5.9 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **6.9.4**
 *  PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
 *  Language
 * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/shadow-terms/)
 * Tags
 * [content](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/content/)[related](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/related/)
   [terms](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/terms/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/shadow-terms/advanced/)

## Ratings

 5 out of 5 stars.

 *  [  1 5-star review     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shadow-terms/reviews/?filter=5)
 *  [  0 4-star reviews     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shadow-terms/reviews/?filter=4)
 *  [  0 3-star reviews     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shadow-terms/reviews/?filter=3)
 *  [  0 2-star reviews     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shadow-terms/reviews/?filter=2)
 *  [  0 1-star reviews     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shadow-terms/reviews/?filter=1)

[Add my review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shadow-terms/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shadow-terms/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ Happy Prime ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/happyprime/)
 *   [ Jeremy Felt ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeremyfelt/)
 *   [ slocker ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/slocker/)
 *   [ philcable ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/philcable/)
 *   [ webelaine ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpgirl369/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shadow-terms/)