Hierarchy
NOTE: If you’re looking for something more user-focused, take a look at OrganizeWP which is complete rethinking of Hierarchy!
Consider an alternative
Hierarchy shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 4.7/5 and was last updated 5 years ago, and scores 36/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (100+ active installs)
- No update in 4 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 5.9 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Hierarchy stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| cpt | >100 |
| custom post types | >100 |
| hierarchy | >100 |
| pages | >100 |
| url | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 from 13 reviews
About Hierarchy
From the official readme · v1.0.5.1Description
NOTE: If you’re looking for something more user-focused, take a look at OrganizeWP which is complete rethinking of Hierarchy!
Custom Post Types (sometimes) need context, Hierarchy allows you to rework your content management workflow by essentially moving Custom Post Type admin menus into your Pages list. What this does is mimic the navigation you’ve set up on your site by placing Custom Post Type edit links amongst your Pages where they belong.
» Check out the screenshots to see Hierarchy in action
Hierarchy removes unnecessary entries from the Admin Menu and instead injects theme where appropriate amongst your Pages, grouping everything under a single ‘Content’ Admin Menu entry.
Custom Post Types NEED context
Custom Post Types are great, but the editing workflow can be improved. Adding a Custom Post Type likely results in another WordPress admin sidebar menu, abstracting the management of that content from the main organization of your site, Pages. Hierarchy intelligently extends your Pages menu by including your Custom Post Type admin links within the Page structure, allowing for a much more natural workflow when managing your content.
Examples
Chances are you’ve customized your Front page displays setting to display a static page instead of your latest blog posts. Now you’ve got a sidebar link to manage your Posts and a WordPress Page called “Blog” that sites in your list of Pages doing absolutely nothing. Hierarchy remedies both problems by converting the “Blog” page link to be one that lists your Posts. It also hides the Posts sidebar entry (if you want it to).
It’s also likely that you’re utilizing Custom Post Types to power sections of your website, but it’s awkward to manage the content of an internal section of your website using the main WordPress admin sidebar links to your Custom Post Type. Hierarchy will allow you to hide those sidebar links and instead nest them amongst your Pages, providing contextual links to manage the content of your Custom Post Types.
More information
If you’d like a lot more information on the implementation and workflow changes, check out the screenshots and please see the introduction and the follow-up for 1.0.
Installation
- Download the plugin and extract the files
- Upload
hierarchyto your/wp-content/plugins/directory - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
Frequently asked questions
How to I set up a Custom Post Type as a child?
This relationship is established by the rewrite parameter you used in your call to register_post_type() — it should use your desired parent as a base. For example: You have a WordPress page with the slug of about and you have a CPT for Team. Simply set the rewrite parameter for your Team CPT to be about/team and Hierarchy will include Team as a child of About.
Changelog
1.0.5.1
- Fixes PHP Warning
- Tested up to WordPress 5.2.3
1.0.5
- Tested up to WordPress 4.9
1.0.4
- Taxonomies are no longer contingent
publicbeing true - Updated WP_List_Table compat with WordPress 4.4
- Added pt-BR translation, props brenoalvs
1.0.3
- Replaced ‘Add New Page’ button with a ‘Shortcuts’ button allowing for rapid access to post types and taxonomies
- Capability checks before outputting links (clicking links without capabilities results in a permission denied screen)
- New filter
hierarchy_settings_capabilityto control who can see the Hierarchy settings - Improved l18n
1.0.2
- Fixed an issue where pagination wasn’t displaying properly
- Fixed an issue where standalone (e.g. not ‘child’) CPT entries were not properly output
1.0.1
- Fixed a false positive that would incorrectly output post type entries
- Clean up .org repo (deploy script didn’t remove legacy files)
Screenshots
For developers
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Best Hierarchy alternatives
All cpt plugins →
FAQ
Hierarchy: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 2, 2026
Is Hierarchy free?
Yes. Hierarchy is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Hierarchy safe to use in 2026?
Hierarchy shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 4.7/5 and was last updated 5 years ago, and scores 36/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Hierarchy?
Hierarchy is active on 100+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 14,950 times since it launched in January 2012. It was downloaded 81 times in the last 30 days.
Does Hierarchy work with WordPress 7.1?
Hierarchy is officially tested up to WordPress 5.9.0, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Hierarchy last updated?
The latest version, 1.0.5.1, was released on February 10, 2022 (5 years ago).
Who makes Hierarchy?
Hierarchy is developed and maintained by Jon Christopher.
What are the best alternatives to Hierarchy?
The most popular alternatives to Hierarchy are MAS Static Content (10K+ installs), Post Types Unlimited (10K+ installs) and Sticky Posts – Switch (6K+ installs).
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