Once ChroniclePress is installed, take a moment to get familiar with what’s been added to your site. You don’t need to do anything yet; this page just helps you understand where everything lives.
Your new menu items #
Look at the left-hand menu in your WordPress admin. You will see a new menu item titled “ChroniclePress“. Under this menu item, you’ll see three new sections:
People — This is where you create and manage entries for historical individuals. Click it to see your list of people (empty for now), and click Add New Person to create your first entry.
Places — This is where you manage entries for locations of any kind — towns, counties, buildings, regions. Click Add New Place to get started.
Sources — This is where you log the documents, records, and references behind your research. Click Add New Source to create your first citation.
Each section works just like WordPress posts — you have a list view of all your entries, and you can click any entry to edit it.
The ChroniclePress menu #
Under the ChroniclePress menu item, you’ll also find plugin-wide settings and Locations and Repositories taxonomy management. For now, you can leave it as-is — the defaults work well for most sites.
A note on Locations #
ChroniclePress includes a built-in Locations system that you’ll use when adding birthplaces, death locations, or the location of a place entry. It comes pre-loaded with the United States and all fifty states, and you can add more locations (counties, cities, towns) directly from the edit screen as you need them. You don’t need to set anything up ahead of time.
Where to start #
The most natural starting point is whichever type of content you have the most of. Most users begin with People, since people tend to connect to both places and sources naturally. But there’s no wrong order — start wherever feels most comfortable.
Page 4: Adding a Person #
Creating a person entry in ChroniclePress works a lot like writing a blog post. You give them a name, fill in some details, and save. Here’s how to do it.
Create a new person #
In your WordPress admin menu, click People, then click Add New Person at the top of the page.
The editing screen opens. At the very top, you’ll see a large text field that says Add title — this is where you type the person’s name. Use the name as you’d want it to appear on your site (for example, John Thomas Hargrove or Mary E. Sullivan).
The main content area #
Below the title, you’ll find the standard WordPress content editor. This is optional, but it’s a great place to write a biography or a few paragraphs about who this person was, what they’re known for, or how they connect to your broader research. Think of it as the “story” section of their entry.
Vital Records #
Scroll down past the editor and you’ll find the Vital Records panel. This is where you record the core biographical facts:
Date of Birth and Date of Death — Type these in any format you’re comfortable with. ChroniclePress doesn’t enforce a specific date format, so you can write 12 March 1847, March 1847, circa 1847, or unknown — whatever your research supports.
Place of Birth and Place of Death — Click the location field to open the location picker. You can browse by country → state → county → city, or type to search. If the location you need isn’t listed yet, you can add it right from the picker without leaving the page. See [Using the Location Picker] for a full walkthrough.
Identity & Background #
The next panel covers additional details about the person:
Alternate Names — If this person went by other names (a married name, a nickname, an anglicised spelling), enter them here separated by commas. This helps with search and cross-referencing.
Occupation — Their primary occupation or trade.
Nationality — Their nationality or country of origin.
None of these fields are required. Fill in what you know and leave the rest blank — you can always come back and add more later.
Featured Image #
In the right-hand sidebar, you’ll see Featured Image. If you have a photograph or portrait of this person, add it here. It will appear on their entry page and in any Featured Cards you create for them.
Saving your work #
When you’re ready, click the blue Publish button in the top-right corner to make the entry live on your site, or click Save Draft to save your work and come back to it later.
Don’t worry about getting everything perfect the first time. You can edit a person entry as many times as you like, and there’s no limit to how many people you can add.
Connecting this person to places and sources #
Once you’ve saved a person entry, you can link them to related places and sources using the Connections panel. This is covered in detail in [Connecting People, Places, and Sources].
