Title: Zone Manager (Zoninator)
Author: Automattic
Published: April 8, 2011
Last modified: October 2, 2025
---
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This plugin **hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress**.
It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when
used with more recent versions of WordPress.
# Zone Manager (Zoninator)
By [Automattic](https://profiles.wordpress.org/automattic/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/zoninator.0.10.2.zip)
* [Details](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/zoninator/#description)
* [Reviews](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/zoninator/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/zoninator/#installation)
* [Development](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/zoninator/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zoninator/)
## Description
This plugin is designed to help you curate your content. It lets you assign and
order stories within zones that you create, edit, and delete, and display those
groupings of related stories on your site.
This plugin was originally built by [Mohammad Jangda](http://digitalize.ca) in conjunction
with [William Davis](http://wpdavis.com/) and the [Bangor Daily News](http://www.bangordailynews.com/).
### Features
* Add, edit, and delete zones.
* Add and remove posts (or any custom post type) to or from zones.
* Order posts in any given zone.
* Limit capabilities on who can add, edit, and delete zones vs add content to zones.
* Locking mechanism, so only one user can edit a zone at a time (to avoid conflicts).
* Idle control, so people can’t keep the zone locked.
### Function Reference
Get an array of all zones:
```
z_get_zones()
```
Get a single zone, accepts either ID or slug:
```
z_get_zone( $zone )
```
Get an array of ordered posts in a given zone, accepts either ID or slug:
```
z_get_posts_in_zone( $zone )
```
Get a WP_Query object for a given zone, accepts either ID or slug:
```
z_get_zone_query( $zone );
```
More functions listed in `functions.php`.
## Screenshots
* [[
* Create and manage your zones and content through a fairly intuitive and familiar
interface.
* [[
* Zone editing
* [[
* Use the Zone Posts widget in the widgets area.
* [[
* Output of the zone posts widgets.
## Installation
1. Unzip contents and upload to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
3. Go to Dashboard > Zones to create and manage your zones, and easily search for
and add existing posts.
4. Use the plugin’s handy API functions to add zones to your theme that retrieve and
display your content. Or, for those who are a bit code-averse, go to Appearance-
Widgets and add Zone Posts widgets to display your zone posts in your sidebar or
footer. The widget will pull the posts from the chosen zone.
### Usage examples
You can work with a zone’s posts either as an array or a WP_Query object.
**WP_Query**
```
$zone_query = z_get_zone_query( 'homepage' );
if ( $zone_query->have_posts() ) :
while ( $zone_query->have_posts() ) : $zone_query->the_post();
echo '' . get_the_title() . '';
endwhile;
endif;
wp_reset_query();
```
**Posts Array**
```
$zone_posts = z_get_posts_in_zone( 'homepage' );
foreach ( $zone_posts as $zone_post ) :
echo '' . get_the_title( $zone_post->ID ) . '';
endforeach;
```
## FAQ
### How do I disable the locking feature?
You can use a filter:
```
add_filter( 'zoninator_zone_max_lock_period', 'z_disable_zoninator_locks' );
```
### How do I change the locking feature settings?
Filter the following and change according to your needs:
* Number of seconds a lock is valid for, default `30`: `zoninator_zone_lock_period`
* Max idle time in seconds: `zoninator_zone_max_lock_period`
## Reviews
### [Reliable and scalable](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/reliable-and-scalable/)
[cjaimet](https://profiles.wordpress.org/cjaimet/) October 19, 2018
We have been using this plugin for five years on 20 major news sites and it is integral
to our daily work.
### [Good!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/good-1606/)
[1](https://profiles.wordpress.org/f4tal1st/) September 3, 2016
I have a idea for my blog, where some topic divided to few different posts ans user
can freely navigate between different parts of it. This plugin helped me a lot!
Thanks developer!
[ Read all 3 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zoninator/reviews/)
## Contributors & Developers
“Zone Manager (Zoninator)” is open source software. The following people have contributed
to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ Automattic ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/automattic/)
* [ Mohammad Jangda ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/batmoo/)
* [ WordPress VIP ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpcomvip/)
* [ pkevan ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/pkevan/)
* [ Bradford Campeau-Laurion ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/potatomaster/)
* [ Jeff Bowen ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jblz/)
* [ nickdaugherty ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/nickdaugherty/)
* [ Josh Betz ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/betzster/)
* [ Gary Jones ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/garyj/)
“Zone Manager (Zoninator)” has been translated into 2 locales. Thank you to [the translators](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/zoninator/contributors)
for their contributions.
[Translate “Zone Manager (Zoninator)” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/zoninator)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/zoninator/), check
out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/zoninator/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/zoninator/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/zoninator/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
Please visit the [changelog](https://github.com/automattic/zoninator/blob/trunk/CHANGELOG.md).
## Meta
* Version **0.10.2**
* Last updated **6 months ago**
* Active installations **2,000+**
* WordPress version ** 5.9 or higher **
* Tested up to **6.6.5**
* PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
* Languages
* [Croatian](https://hr.wordpress.org/plugins/zoninator/), [English (UK)](https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/zoninator/),
and [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/zoninator/).
* [Translate into your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/zoninator)
* Tags
* [order](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/order/)[post list](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/post-list/)
[post order](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/post-order/)[posts](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/posts/)
[zones](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/zones/)
* [Advanced View](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/zoninator/advanced/)
## Ratings
5 out of 5 stars.
* [ 3 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zoninator/reviews/?filter=5)
* [ 0 4-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zoninator/reviews/?filter=4)
* [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zoninator/reviews/?filter=3)
* [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zoninator/reviews/?filter=2)
* [ 0 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zoninator/reviews/?filter=1)
[Add my review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zoninator/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zoninator/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ Automattic ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/automattic/)
* [ Mohammad Jangda ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/batmoo/)
* [ WordPress VIP ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpcomvip/)
* [ pkevan ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/pkevan/)
* [ Bradford Campeau-Laurion ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/potatomaster/)
* [ Jeff Bowen ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jblz/)
* [ nickdaugherty ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/nickdaugherty/)
* [ Josh Betz ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/betzster/)
* [ Gary Jones ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/garyj/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/zoninator/)