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Post Kinds for IndieWeb in Block Themes documentation

Post Kinds for IndieWeb in Block Themes

Post Kinds for IndieWeb in Block Themes lets you track what you listen to, watch, read, play, and experience — all from your own WordPress site, with full block editor support and IndieWeb microformats. These docs help you install the plugin, set it up, and log your first activity.

What the plugin does

Section titled “What the plugin does”

The plugin adds a “post kind” system to your posts. A post kind is a label that describes what a post is — a note, a check-in, a song you listened to, a movie you watched — rather than what it’s about. The idea comes from the IndieWeb movement, where people publish this kind of activity on their own site instead of (or in addition to) social networks and tracking apps.

As of version 1.0.0, the plugin provides:

  • A kind taxonomy with 24 kinds you can assign to posts, each with its own archive page (for example /kind/listen/).
  • 25 custom blocks — card blocks for most kinds, utility blocks like Star Rating and Media Lookup, and server-rendered blocks (Now Playing, Media Stats, Recent Kinds).
  • Media lookup from the editor: search music, movies, TV, books, podcasts, games, and venues through services like MusicBrainz, TMDB, Open Library, and Foursquare.
  • Imports and scrobbling: bulk-import your history from services like Last.fm, Trakt, and Readwise, and receive automatic posts via webhooks from Plex, Jellyfin, Trakt, and ListenBrainz.
  • microformats2 markup on the front end, so other IndieWeb sites and tools can read your posts as structured data.
  • Syndication (POSSE) options — post on your own site first, then optionally send a copy to services like Last.fm, Trakt, or Foursquare.
  • Micropub support through the separate Micropub plugin, converting incoming app posts into the right card block and kind.

Who it’s for

Section titled “Who it’s for”
  • IndieWeb users who want to own their listening, watching, reading, and check-in history.
  • Bloggers migrating from the classic Post Kinds plugin to the block editor.
  • Anyone who wants a personal media log (books, movies, games, music) on WordPress.

Before you install

Section titled “Before you install”
  • WordPress 7.0 or later — an unusually high minimum; the plugin checks on activation and shows a notice instead of running on older versions.
  • PHP 8.2 or later, with the same activation check.
  • The block editor — with the Classic Editor you can still assign kinds, but without the card blocks.
  • No classic Post Kinds plugin — both use the same kind taxonomy, so this plugin refuses to initialize while indieweb-post-kinds is active.

Installation covers requirements, install methods, and conflicts in full.

Is it on WordPress.org?

Section titled “Is it on WordPress.org?”

Not yet. Post Kinds for IndieWeb in Block Themes is not available in the WordPress.org plugin directory — you install it from a release ZIP on GitHub. Playground preview lets you try it in your browser first without installing anything.

Get started

Section titled “Get started”
  1. Installation — requirements, install methods, and plugin conflicts.
  2. Getting started — your first post kind after activation.
  3. Settings — every option under the Reactions admin menu.

Get help

Section titled “Get help”

Source code

Section titled “Source code”

The plugin is developed in the open at github.com/courtneyr-dev/post-kinds-for-indieweb. Developer documentation (design tokens, plugin map, specs) lives in the repository, separate from these user docs.