Claris Clusters v0.9.1

Claris Clusters is a WordPress plugin designed to streamline and organize content for law firms by using Custom Post Types (CPTs) and shared taxonomies. It allows law firms to dynamically manage their content and structure across three primary clusters: Firm, Team, and Practice Areas. These clusters are flexible, allowing for complex content relationships between multiple categories and posts.

1. Main Clusters (CPTs)

  • Firm: Content related to the law firm itself, including sections like About Us, Firm News, Leadership, Careers, and other key information about the firm’s identity and operations.
  • Team: Focused on the law firm’s personnel, including Attorneys and Staff. It can be broken down into sub-categories like Partners, Associates, Paralegals, or Administrative Staff. Each team member can have a detailed profile with related practice areas.
  • Practice Areas: Represents the legal services the firm provides, such as Personal Injury, Criminal Defense, and Estate Planning. Each practice area can be broken into further sub-categories, such as Car Accidents under Personal Injury.

2. Catpillars (Category Pages as Pillar Pages)

  • Category pages, also referred to as catpillars, are used as pillar pages for each cluster. These pages serve as the main landing points for content, organizing related posts and sub-categories within the same cluster.
  • Sub-categories can exist under these catpillars, creating cascading content that reflects the hierarchy of the cluster. For example, under the Team catpillar, you might have sub-categories for Staff and Attorneys, each with further breakdowns into roles like Partners and Associates.

3. Shared Taxonomies

  • Taxonomies (categories) are shared across all Custom Post Types (CPTs), but the specific cluster (Firm, Team, or Practice Areas) determines the main category.
  • Categories from other taxonomies can be assigned to any post within a different cluster.
    • Example: A Team member (like an attorney) can have a primary category under the Team cluster but also be assigned categories from the Practice Areas cluster (e.g., the attorney specializes in Personal Injury).
  • This setup facilitates content interrelationships, making it easier for law firms to showcase connections between their people, services, and achievements.

4. Specialized Templates for Catpillars and Posts

  • Each cluster—Firm, Team, and Practice Areas—includes customized templates for both catpillar pages and individual posts. These templates are tailored to display relevant content for each cluster, ensuring that law firms can present information in a way that aligns with their specific structure and needs..
    • Example: A single Team member post might show the attorney’s bio, experience, and related practice areas.
    • A single Practice Area catpillar could display an overview of the legal service along with Team members who specialize in that area and related news. 

5. Cascading Clusters

  • Sub-categories can cascade within each cluster, allowing for deeper levels of content organization.
    • Example: In the Practice Areas cluster, Personal Injury could cascade down to Car Accidents, and further into more specialized legal services.
  • These cascading categories help maintain a structured hierarchy, making navigation and content relationships more intuitive.

6. URL Structure

  • The structure is designed to be clean and intuitive, with no extra slugs for categories.
  • Each catpillar page (category/pillar page) and single post has a clean URL structure, making it easier for users to navigate and understand the relationship between different sections of the website.

7. Customization and Flexibility

  • Claris Clusters is optimized for use with Avada’s Fusion Builder and supports other popular page builders, allowing law firms not only to easily manage and update their content but also to make layout adjustments, giving them more control over their site's presentation.
  • The flexibility of using shared taxonomies means that content can be dynamically related across clusters, providing a more interconnected, robust site experience.