A step-by-step guide to building a global settings page using Secure Custom Fields (SCF).
What is an options page?
An options page is a custom admin screen where you can store site-wide settings that are not tied to individual posts, pages, or taxonomies. These values are ideal for:
- Contact details (phone, email, address)
- Social media links
- Global theme settings (colors, toggles, logos)
- Custom footer messages
- Business hours
How are these options related to themes?
Options pages let you manage shared values that appear across the theme — without editing code each time a change is needed.
Example: Company Phone Number
Suppose you want to display the company’s phone number in both the header and footer:
- Create an options page named
theme_options. - Add a text field called
phone_number. - Retrieve it in your classic theme like this:
<?php
$phone_number = get_option('phone_number');
echo $phone_number;
?>
This approach works with Classic Themes (non-block themes) where PHP templates are used for rendering.
Prerequisites
- SCF (Secure Custom Fields) installed and activated
- Administrator access to WordPress
- Basic understanding of WordPress admin
You can learn more about WordPress basics here:
1. Access the Admin Panel
- Go to Secure Custom Fields Options Pages in your WordPress admin sidebar.
- Click “Add New” to create your options page.
2. Basic Configuration
Set up the following fields to define the behavior and placement of your options page:
Basic Settings Panel
- Page Title: The title displayed at the top of the options page (e.g.,
Site Settings). - Menu Slug: A unique identifier for the page URL (e.g.,
site-settings). - Parent Page: Choose
No Parentto create a standalone page or select a parent if it should appear as a submenu item. - Advanced Configuration: Enable to access additional options.
Advanced Settings Panel
Visibility
- Menu Title: Label that appears in the WordPress admin menu.
- Menu Icon: Choose an icon from Dashicons or upload a custom SVG or URL.
- Menu Position: Controls the position of the item in the admin sidebar.
- Redirect to Child Page: If enabled, this page redirects to its first child page automatically.
Description
- Description: A short description to help explain the purpose of this options page.
Labels
- Update Button Label: Text shown on the submit button (e.g.,
Update Settings). - Updated Message: Message displayed after saving the options.
Permissions
- Capability: Required capability to view/edit this page (default is
edit_posts).
Data Storage
- Storage Location: Choose whether to store the data in the options table (default) or bind it to a specific post, user, or term.
- Custom Storage: Use a specific post ID (e.g.,
123) or context string (e.g.,user_1). - Autoload Options: Enable to automatically load these values when WordPress initializes — useful for performance.
Click Save to create the options page. Once saved, you can start adding custom fields as needed.
3. Adding Fields
Add fields just like you would for any post type or taxonomy.
Common Fields to Add
company_name— Company name (text)support_email— Support contact email (email)emergency_alert_message— Site-wide notice (textarea)global_logo— Logo image (image upload)
Each of these fields will be accessible from any page or template.
For Developers
Options pages provide a clean way to centralize configuration. In more advanced implementations, you can:
- Register multiple options pages for different sections (e.g., Branding, API Keys)
- Use
get_option()if working outside the SCF context - Integrate with theme customizers or other plugin logic
Secure Custom Fields simplifies this process, but WordPress also offers a native way to register and manage options pages through the Settings API. This allows full control over settings registration, sanitization, and display via code.
👉 Learn more about the WordPress Settings API:
https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/settings/settings-api/
