--- title: "How to Create a Custom Post Grid Layout with Dynamic CPTs in Elementor?" url: https://theplusaddons.com/docs/create-a-custom-post-grid-layout-with-dynamic-cpts-in-elementor/ date: 2023-07-06 modified: 2026-09-14 lang: en author: "Aditya Sharma" description: "Books, properties, recipes, case studies — anything you have registered as a custom post type can go into the same magazine layouts you use for blog posts. The Post Type..." image: https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/How-to-Create-a-Custom-Post-Grid-Layout-With-Dynamic-Cpts-in-Elementor_-1024x536.jpg word_count: 644 --- # How to Create a Custom Post Grid Layout with Dynamic CPTs in Elementor? ## - Utilizes the Dynamic Smart Showcase widget from The Plus Addons for Elementor to display custom post types in a grid layout. - Requires installation and activation of The Plus Addons for Elementor to access the Dynamic Smart Showcase widget features. - Employs Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) to create a custom post type, such as 'Books', for use with the grid layout. Books, properties, recipes, case studies — anything you have registered as a custom post type can go into the same magazine layouts you use for blog posts. The **Post Type** dropdown in the **Dynamic Smart Showcase** widget from The Plus Addons for Elementor lists every post type on your site, so no extra setup is needed beyond having the content. *To check the complete feature overview documentation of The Plus Addons for Elementor Dynamic Smart Showcase widget, [click here](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/dynamic-smart-showcase-widget-settings-overview/).* ***Requirement - This widget is a part of The Plus Addons for Elementor Pro, make sure it's installed & activated to enjoy all its powers.*** [LIVE WIDGET LINK](https://theplusaddons.com/elementor-listing/?utm_source=tpae&utm_medium=docs&utm_campaign=text#dynamic-listing-wgts) ## Before You Start - **Edition:** **Pro** — Dynamic Smart Showcase is only in The Plus Addons for Elementor Pro. With the Pro plugin switched off the widget is not in the editor at all, and a page that already uses it shows nothing where the widget was.- **Widget to enable:** Dynamic Smart Showcase, switched on under **The Plus Addons > Widgets**.- **You need a custom post type:** registered as public with *show_ui* on, or it will not appear in the **Post Type** dropdown.- **Raise the post count:** **Maximum Posts Display** in **Content Source** defaults to **1**, so a freshly dropped widget shows a single post. Set it to the number you want, or to **-1** for every matching post. ## How to List a Custom Post Type - Publish a few entries in your custom post type, with featured images.- Drag the **Dynamic Smart Showcase** widget onto your page.- In **Layout**, choose **Magazine Slider** for a carousel or **Magazine Filter** for a grid.- Open the **Post Type** dropdown and pick your custom post type. In the example below it is **Books**.- Open **Content Source** and raise **Maximum Posts Display** from **1**. ![Post Type dropdown in the Layout section set to Books, with the book entries on the canvas](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/smartshowcase-post-type-cpt.webp) ## The Result The custom posts fill the layout exactly as blog posts would, with their featured images, titles and excerpts: ![Front-end grid of entries from the Books custom post type, each with its featured image, title and excerpt](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/smartshowcase-result-cpt.webp) ## Narrowing It Down by Taxonomy As soon as **Post Type** is set to anything other than **Posts**, the **Content Source** section swaps **Select Category** for two fields: - **Taxonomies** — the taxonomy to filter by. The dropdown lists the taxonomy names as they are registered, so a taxonomy labelled “Book Authors” appears as `book_author`.- **Taxonomies Slug** — the term slugs to keep, comma separated. Leave **Taxonomies Slug** empty to show the whole post type. ## How It Behaves - A post type only appears in the dropdown if it was registered as public with an admin screen. Post types registered for internal use are not listed.- **Pages** is in the list too, including pages other plugins add such as the WooCommerce cart and account pages.- **Include Post(s)**, **Exclude Post(s)**, **Offset Posts**, **Order By** and **Order** all work the same way for a custom post type as they do for blog posts.- When the post type has no published entries the widget prints *Posts not found*. ## Limitations - **Select Category** and **Select Tags** read the built-in post categories and tags. For a custom post type, use **Taxonomies** and **Taxonomies Slug** instead.- The **Taxonomies** dropdown shows registered taxonomy names, not their human-readable labels, so you need to know the slug of your taxonomy.- **Display Image Size** and **Image Resolution** are ignored; the full-size featured image is always used. ## Troubleshooting ### My custom post type is not in the dropdown It has to be registered as public and with an admin screen. If you created it with a plugin, check that its “public” and “show in UI” options are on. ### Entries show but with grey cards The custom post type needs featured-image support and each entry needs a featured image set. ### Only one entry shows Raise **Maximum Posts Display** in **Content Source**; it defaults to **1**. ## Related Docs - [Dynamic Smart Showcase Widget Settings Overview](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/dynamic-smart-showcase-widget-settings-overview/)- [How to Show Custom Posts Based on Custom Taxonomy in Custom Post Grid Layout?](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/show-custom-posts-based-on-custom-taxonomy-in-custom-post-grid-layout/)- [How to Add a Category Wise Filter in Custom Post Grid Layout in Elementor?](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/add-category-wise-filter-in-custom-post-grid-layout-in-elementor/)- [How to Create a Custom Post Grid Layout Slider in Elementor?](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/create-a-custom-post-grid-layout-slider-in-elementor/)