TMS Path Builder

The Path Builder is the control you use to tell a TMS Dynamic Field block **what data to display**. It’s a step-by-step selector that builds a dot-separated “path” — a recipe for navigating from a post to the exact piece of data you want.

Think of it like a file path (`folder/subfolder/file.txt`) but for WordPress data: you start at a post, drill into its taxonomy terms, then pick a property of each term. No code required.

Where you’ll find it

The Path Builder appears in any TMS block that can pull dynamic data:

| Block | When it appears |
|—|—|
| **[Dynamic Field](dynamic-field.md)** | Always — this block’s entire purpose is dynamic content. The Path Builder is in the **Settings** tab. |
| **[Heading](heading.md)** | When the **”Use dynamic content”** toggle is turned on in the Settings tab. |
| **[Paragraph](paragraph.md)** | When the **”Use dynamic content”** toggle is turned on in the Settings tab. |
| **[Img](img.md)** | When the **Source** dropdown is set to “Dynamic” (for the image URL). A second, simpler Path Builder also appears when the **Alt** dropdown is set to “Dynamic” (for alt text). |

In the Dynamic Field block, the Path Builder can also appear a second and third time for sub-paths — when the item type is URL/Link, you can set the **href source** to “URL from a different field” (a separate path for link targets) and the **link label** to “Dynamic” (a separate path for link text).

How it works

Step by step

You build a path by adding **steps**. Each step is a pair of dropdowns:

1. **Step type** (left dropdown) — what kind of data source are you navigating into?
2. **Value** (right dropdown) — which specific thing from that source?

The available values in the second dropdown change based on what you picked in the first, and also based on *what came before* in the path. For example, if a previous step was “Taxonomy terms → category,” a later “Term property” step will show category-specific properties like name, slug, and archive URL.

> **Tip:** The right dropdown is **context-aware**. After an Author step, a “User property” step shows `display_name`, `email`, `url`, etc. After a Taxonomy terms step, a “Term property” step shows `name`, `slug`, `archive`, etc.

The path string

As you build steps, the path builder automatically generates a compact string representation like `terms:category.term:name`. This is the internal format the block uses to resolve data. You’ll see it in the debug info panel and in presets.

The format is: `stepType:value` for each step, joined by dots. Steps without a value (like `author` or `comments`) just use the type name.

Step types reference

Post property

Taxonomy terms

Grabs all terms of a specific taxonomy assigned to the post. This is a **multi-value** step — it returns all matching terms, not just one.

You pick the taxonomy: `category`, `post_tag`, or any custom taxonomy registered on your site.

After this step, you’ll usually add a **Term property** step to choose what to display about each term (name, archive link, etc.).

**Example:** `terms:category.term:name` → displays all category names.

Term property

Author

Switches context to the post’s author. After this step, you’ll add a **User property** step to pick what to display.

**Example:** `author.user:display_name` → the author’s display name.

User property

Comments count

Returns the number of approved comments on the post. No value to pick — just add this step.

**Example:** `comments` → displays `5` (or whatever the count is).

> **Tip:** Use the **Comments text** settings (singular/plural labels) in the Dynamic Field block to show “5 replies” instead of just “5”.

Meta field

Accesses a custom field (post meta / ACF field). Enter the field key or name manually. Works with text, URLs, image IDs, and multi-value fields.

**Example:** `meta:subtitle` → displays the value of the `subtitle` custom field.

Link (URL)

Parent term

Navigates to the *parent* of the current term in context. Only available when a previous step established a term context (after `terms`). After this step, you can add a **Term property** step.

**Example:** `terms:category.parent.term:name` → displays the parent category name of each assigned category.

Using presets

Path resolution: how data flows

Here’s what happens step by step when the block resolves a path at runtime:

“`
Path: terms:category.term:name

Step 1 — “terms:category”
→ Get all categories assigned to this post
→ Result: [Term “Tutorials”, Term “WordPress”, Term “Plugins”]

Step 2 — “term:name”
→ For each term from Step 1, get its name
→ Result: [“Tutorials”, “WordPress”, “Plugins”]
“`

“`
Path: author.user:display_name

Step 1 — “author”
→ Get the post’s author
→ Result: User object (ID 42)

Step 2 — “user:display_name”
→ Get the display_name property of that user
→ Result: “André Moreira”
“`

“`
Path: terms:category.parent.term:name

Step 1 — “terms:category”
→ Get all categories assigned to this post
→ Result: [Term “Plugins”]

Step 2 — “parent”
→ For each term, get its parent term
→ Result: [Term “Development”]

Step 3 — “term:name”
→ Get the name of each parent term
→ Result: [“Development”]
“`

Multi-value vs single-value

Example HTML output

Here’s what a TMS Block might look like on the front end after you configure it:

```html
<section
  id="features"
  class="tmsblocks-generic-block tmsblocks-generic-block-abc123 features-section"
  aria-label="Product features section"
  role="region"
  data-theme="light"
>
  <h2>What You Get</h2>
  <p>Every plan includes all of the core features…</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Unlimited projects</li>
    <li>Priority support</li>
    <li>Advanced reporting</li>
  </ul>
</section>
```

And here is the corresponding inline CSS that the block generates automatically:

```css
body .tmsblocks-generic-block-abc123 {
  margin-top: 40px;
  margin-bottom: 40px;
  padding: 32px;
  background-color: #f5f5f5;
  border-radius: 8px;
}

@media (hover: hover) and (pointer: fine) {
  body .tmsblocks-generic-block-abc123:hover {
    background-color: #e8e8e8;
  }
}

@media (max-width: 767px) {
  body .tmsblocks-generic-block-abc123 {
    margin-top: 20px;
    margin-bottom: 20px;
    padding: 16px;
  }
}
```

**Note:** The `abc123` in the class name is a unique ID that the block generates automatically. Every TMS Block on your page gets its own unique class so that styles don’t leak between blocks.

Tips

– **Start from presets.** The preset dropdown covers 90% of common use cases. Build from there rather than starting empty.
– **Add steps one at a time.** The right dropdown adapts to what came before — you can’t pick “Term property” unless a `terms` or `parent` step precedes it.
– **Use the preview.** The preview area below the Path Builder shows live-resolved data so you can confirm the path is correct before publishing.
– **The path string is debuggable.** If something isn’t resolving, check the path string in the Component Debug panel. It shows exactly what steps the block is trying to resolve.
– **Multi-value fields need separators.** If your taxonomy or meta field returns multiple items, make sure the **Separator** setting isn’t empty (or the values will run together).
– **href paths have their own builder.** When using “URL from a different field,” the href Path Builder works exactly the same way — build a separate path for the link targets.
– **Context is inherited.** The Path Builder respects Post Context and Query Loop context automatically. Inside a Query Loop, `post:title` shows each loop item’s title, not the page’s title.