Getting Started — Plugixa Recipe

This guide walks you from a clean WordPress install to a published recipe page in under five minutes.

Install

From the WordPress.org plugin directory

1. In wp-admin, go to Plugins → Add New.
2. Search for Plugixa Recipe.
3. Click Install Now, then Activate.

From a ZIP file

1. Download plugixa-recipe.zip from your Plugixa account (for Pro) or WordPress.org (for Free).
2. In wp-admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
3. Choose the ZIP and click Install Now, then Activate.

What happens on activation

When you activate the plugin, the installer:

• Creates 23 database tables with prefix {wpdb_prefix}plugixarecipe_*.
• Seeds 16 cuisines (Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Mexican, Thai, Greek, Spanish, Middle Eastern, Korean, Vietnamese, American, Mediterranean, Brazilian, Moroccan).
• Seeds 8 courses (Appetizer, Starter, Main Course, Side Dish, Dessert, Beverage, Snack, Breakfast).
• Seeds default views (Grid, Slider, Masonry, List).
• Registers custom rewrite rules: /recipe/{id}/{slug}/, /recipe-category/{slug}/, /recipe-cuisine/{slug}/, /recipe-print/{id}/.
• Adds the plugixa_recipe_* capabilities to the administrator role.
• Registers the [plugixarecipe] shortcode, 7 widget shortcodes, and the Gutenberg block.
• Registers the Elementor widget if Elementor is active.

Activation also flushes rewrite rules automatically — no need to visit Settings → Permalinks.

First look

After activation, a new Recipes menu appears in wp-admin (dashicon: dashicons-food):

Menu item	What it does
Dashboard	Stats (totals, top-rated, most-viewed), recent activity, quick actions
Recipes	Create, edit, order, filter (status, category, cuisine, diet flags, featured)
Categories	Group recipes (Breakfast, Dessert, …) with images and ordering
Cuisines	Tag recipes by region (16 pre-seeded, extend as needed)
Reviews	Moderate 5-star reviews, reply as admin
Collections	Public/private collections, cookbooks, meal plans
Shopping Lists	Per-user aggregated shopping lists
Views	Design presets for recipe grids (layout, colors, typography, …)
Shortcodes	Saved shortcode configurations + visual builder
Custom Fields PRO	Define custom fields per recipe
AI Generator PRO	Generate recipes from topic, URL, or document
Import / Export PRO	JSON, CSV, WPRM, WP Recipe Maker
SEO Analyzer PRO	Per-recipe SEO score with actionable checks
Nutrition	Browse and bulk-edit nutrition records
Settings	10-tab global configuration
Account	Your Plugixa license and upgrade link

Publish your first recipe

1 · Create a category (optional but recommended)

Go to Recipes → Categories → Add New.

• Name — a label like “Breakfast” or “Dessert”.
• Slug — auto-filled from the name; this appears in /recipe-category/{slug}/.
• Description — shown on the archive page.
• Image — optional cover image.

Save. You now have an empty category.

2 · Create a recipe

Go to Recipes → Recipes → Add New.

The editor is organised into 8 tabs:

Tab	What to fill in
Basic	Title, slug, description, excerpt, main image, gallery, video URL, status
Tags & Diet	Category, cuisine, course, tags, equipment, 11 diet flags (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, keto, low-carb, nut-free, paleo, sugar-free, halal, kosher)
Time & Servings	Prep time, cook time, rest time, servings, yield amount, difficulty, cost, season
Ingredients	Grouped ingredients (e.g., “For the sauce”): quantity, unit, name, notes, affiliate link
Instructions	Grouped steps with text, per-step image, per-step video, step duration
Nutrition	17 FDA label fields (calories, macros, vitamins, minerals)
Extras	Notes, tips, source & source URL, author name, Featured / Editor’s pick flags
Custom Fields PRO	Any custom fields you’ve defined

Click Save. Set status to published to make it live.

3 · Display recipes on a page

Create a new WordPress page (Pages → Add New), and add the shortcode:

[plugixarecipe]

Or use the Plugixa Recipe Gutenberg block and pick a view/category from the block sidebar. See Blocks.

Publish the page. Visit it on the frontend — your recipes are live.

Each card links to /recipe/{id}/{slug}/, which is rendered with the single recipe template (title, hero image, meta, ingredients, instructions, nutrition label, reviews, share).

What to do next

• Customize the design — see Views.
• Organize with categories & cuisines — see Categories and Cuisines.
• Filter and paginate — see Shortcodes.
• Collect reviews — see Reviews.
• Let users build collections / meal plans — see Collections.
• Generate recipes with AI PRO — see AI Generator.
• Import from another plugin PRO — see Import / Export.

Quick tips

• The plugin ships with reasonable defaults, so [plugixarecipe] on its own produces a usable grid immediately.
• All utility classes are prefixed pxr-* (TailwindCSS prefix pxr), so the plugin never clashes with your theme.
• JSON-LD schema markup is available on Pro — Google starts treating your recipes as rich results right away.
• Want to preview without publishing? Set a recipe’s status to draft and log in as editor to preview.

System requirements

Requirement	Minimum
WordPress	6.0
PHP	8.0
MySQL	5.7 (or MariaDB 10.3)
Browser	Current Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge

The plugin ships prebuilt assets — no Node.js or build step is required on your server.

Uninstalling

Deactivating the plugin leaves your data in place. To remove all data:

1. Plugins → Deactivate Plugixa Recipe.
2. Plugins → Delete.
3. When prompted, the uninstall.php script drops all 23 tables, custom capabilities, and the plugixarecipe_settings option.

Your recipes, categories, cuisines, views, shortcodes, reviews, and settings are dropped. This is irreversible.