🎭 BIG Live CMS Guide

Internal Documentation: This page shows exactly where every piece of content is managed in WordPress. This page is hidden from search engines and is for internal reference only.

Last Updated: February 16, 2026

📋 Table of Contents

Quick Access Links
Homepage Sections
Performances
Shows
Cities
Performers
Venues
Customizer Settings
Menus
Static Pages
Date Ranges Feature

🔗 Quick Access Links

➕ Add Performance

Create a new ballet production

🎫 Add Show

Add a performance date/city

🌆 Add City

Add a tour location

👯 Add Performer

Add a dancer or artist

🏛️ Add Venue

Add a performance venue

🎨 Customize

Edit footer & SEO settings

📋 Menus

Edit header & footer menus

📄 Add Page

Create a static page

🏠 Homepage Sections

Frontend Section	Managed In WordPress	Notes
Hero Carousel	Performances Edit any Performance → Check "Featured in Hero Carousel"	• Shows performances where "Featured Hero" is checked • Order controlled by "Hero Order" field (0, 1, 2, etc.) • Auto-rotates every 5 seconds
Current Performances	Performances Shows 6 performances with Status = "Current"	• Automatically pulls current performances • Change status to "Past" to remove from homepage
Featured Performers	Performers Edit any Performer → Check "Featured on Homepage"	• Shows 4 performers • Displays role, name, and company
Cities on Tour	Cities + Shows Automatically shows cities with current performances	• Only cities with active shows appear • Performance count is dynamic
Latest News	Posts Posts → Add New	• Shows 3 most recent blog posts • Standard WordPress posts
SEO Content Section	Customizer Appearance → Customize → Home Page SEO Content	• Editable title and HTML content • Good for keyword-rich content

🎭 Performances

Performances → Add New

Standard WordPress Fields

Title: Performance name (e.g., "Christmas Spectacular")
Content: Full description with HTML formatting
Excerpt: Short 2-3 sentence description (used in cards and hero)
Featured Image: Main production photo (1920x1080px recommended)
Performance Status: Select "Current" or "Past" (taxonomy)
Performance Type: Select "Classical" or "Contemporary" (taxonomy)

📦 Performance Details Meta Box

Scroll down below the content editor to find this box:

Duration: performance_duration - e.g., "2 hours 30 minutes"
Trailer URL: performance_trailer_url - YouTube/Vimeo embed URL
Hero Video URL: hero_video_url - MP4 video for hero background (optional)
Creative Team: performance_creative_team - Choreographer, Director, etc.
✅ Featured in Hero Carousel: performance_featured_hero - Check to show on homepage
Hero Order: performance_hero_order - 0 = first, 1 = second, etc.
Featured Performers: performance_performer_ids - Check boxes to link performers

Where It Appears

Homepage hero carousel (if "Featured Hero" is checked)
"Current Performances" section on homepage
/performances archive page
/performances/[slug] individual page

🎫 Shows

Shows → Add New

💡 Tip: Shows are individual performance dates in specific cities. Create the Performance and Cities first, then add Shows.

Standard WordPress Fields

Title: For admin reference only (e.g., "Christmas Spectacular - Sydney - Dec 24")

📦 Show Details Meta Box

Performance: show_performance_id - Select which performance (required)
City: show_city_id - Select which city (required)
Venue: show_venue_id - Link to venue page (optional)
Venue Name: show_venue_name - Manual venue name
Venue Address: show_venue_address - Full address
Start Date & Time: show_start_date - When the show starts (required)
End Date & Time: show_end_date - For multi-day shows (optional)
Ticket URL: show_ticket_url - External ticketing link (required)

Where It Appears

Performance detail pages (schedule section, grouped by city)
City pages (upcoming shows section)
Venue pages (if venue is linked)

🌆 Cities

Cities → Add New

Standard WordPress Fields

Title: City name (e.g., "Sydney")
Content: Description of ballet in this city (optional)
Excerpt: Short description for cards
Featured Image: City landmark photo (used as hero background)

📦 City Details Meta Box (Sidebar)

Country: city_country - e.g., "Australia"

Where It Appears

"Cities on Tour" section on homepage (only if has current shows)
/cities archive page
/cities/[slug] individual page with shows

👯 Performers

Performers → Add New

Standard WordPress Fields

Title: Performer name (e.g., "Juliette Pierce")
Content: Biography
Featured Image: Professional headshot (800x1000px recommended)

📦 Performer Details Meta Box

Role: performer_role - e.g., "Principal Dancer", "Soloist"
Company: performer_company - e.g., "Queensland Ballet"
Training & Background: performer_training - Additional info
✅ Featured on Homepage: performer_featured - Check to show on homepage

Where It Appears

"Featured Performers" section on homepage (if featured)
/performers archive page
/performers/[slug] individual page
Performance pages (when linked via performance meta)

🏛️ Venues

Venues → Add New

Standard WordPress Fields

Title: Venue name (e.g., "Sydney Opera House")
Content: Venue description and history
Featured Image: Venue photo

📦 Venue Details Meta Box

Address: venue_address - Full venue address
City: venue_city_id - Link to city page
Capacity: venue_capacity - Number of seats
Website: venue_website - Venue website URL

Where It Appears

/venues/[slug] individual page
Linked from show schedules (when venue is set)
Good for SEO: "[Venue Name] Ballet" keywords

🎨 Customizer Settings

Appearance → Customize

Home Page SEO Content

SEO Section Title: biglive_home_seo_title - Heading for bottom section
SEO Content: biglive_home_seo_content - HTML content (can use <p>, <h3>, etc.)

Footer Settings

Footer Tagline: biglive_footer_tagline - Text under "BIG Live" logo
Newsletter Description: biglive_footer_newsletter_desc - Text above signup
Instagram URL: biglive_social_instagram - Your Instagram profile
Facebook URL: biglive_social_facebook - Your Facebook page
YouTube URL: biglive_social_youtube - Your YouTube channel
Twitter/X URL: biglive_social_twitter - Your Twitter/X profile

💡 Tip: Social icons only appear in the footer if URLs are set. Leave blank to hide.

📋 Menus

Appearance → Menus

Menu Location	Where It Appears	Recommended Pages
Primary Menu	Main header navigation	• Performances • Performers • Cities • News • About
Footer Menu	Footer "Explore" section	• Performances • Performers • Cities • News • About

📄 Static Pages

Pages → Add New

Recommended Pages to Create

About: Company information and history
Contact: Contact form and information
Privacy Policy: Privacy information (required by law)
Terms: Terms of service

📦 Timeline Items (About Us Page)

For the About Us page, you can add a timeline component:

Timeline Items: about_timeline_items - Meta box below content editor
Click "+ Add Timeline Item" to add milestones
Each item needs: Year, Title, and Description
Timeline appears automatically on pages with slug "about-us"

💡 Tip: Pages use the standard page template. Add title, content, and optional featured image. Timeline only appears on About Us page.

📅 Date Ranges Feature

✅ New Feature: Shows are now automatically grouped by city with date ranges displayed instead of individual show dates.

How It Works

Automatic Grouping: When you create multiple shows for the same performance in the same city, they're automatically grouped
Date Range Display: Shows appear as "Sydney: March 1-28, 2026" instead of listing each individual show
Homepage Hero: "Next Performance" now shows the earliest upcoming show across ALL performances (dynamic)
Performance Pages: Schedule section groups shows by city with date ranges

What You Need to Do

Nothing! The system automatically calculates date ranges from your shows
Just create shows as normal - the frontend will display them grouped by city
Make sure each show has a show_start_date set (required)
Optionally set show_end_date for multi-day shows

✅ Everything is Editable! All content on the website can be managed through WordPress. No code changes needed for day-to-day content updates.

Last Updated: February 16, 2026 9:03 AM
This page is hidden from search engines (noindex, nofollow)