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Free Plugin by Yoren Chang v0.9.2

Categories Metabox Enhanced

Replace the checkboxes with radio buttons or a select drop-down in the built-in Categories metabox and the Block Editor sidebar panel.

Categories Metabox Enhanced

The facts

Rating
4.9★ from 16
Active installs
1k+
Price
Free
Last updated
25 Jun 2026
Added
Sep 2014
Requires WP
5.5
Tested up to
WP 7.0.4
Downloads
19,379

Our analysis

AI-assisted

Categories Metabox Enhanced is a WordPress plugin that modifies the default Categories metabox by replacing checkboxes with a single term user interface, such as radio buttons or a select drop-down. It allows you to configure different hierarchical taxonomies independently and customise the metabox settings, including title, position, and whether term selection is required.

This plugin is suitable for users who need a more streamlined way to manage categories and hierarchical taxonomies in their WordPress site, particularly those who prefer using the Classic Editor or Block Editor. It is designed for users who want to enforce single-term selection across various editing interfaces.

Best for: This plugin suits WordPress users managing categories and taxonomies who prefer a simplified selection interface.

What it does well

  • Replaces checkboxes with radio buttons or select drop-downs
  • Customisable settings for each hierarchical taxonomy
  • Enforces single-term selection across multiple editing methods
  • Compatible with both Classic Editor and Block Editor
  • Free to use from the WordPress.org directory

Where it falls short

  • Limited information on compatibility with future WordPress versions
  • No details on support or documentation

Verdict

Categories Metabox Enhanced provides a useful modification for category management in WordPress, especially for those looking for a more efficient user interface. However, users should consider the limited information on future compatibility.

From the developer

Yoren Chang's own description of Categories Metabox Enhanced, lightly tidied.

Try it live in your browserlaunch the WordPress Playground demo. Boots a WordPress instance with this plugin active, the Category taxonomy pre-configured as radio buttons, and seeded posts you can edit in the Block Editor or run through Quick Edit / Bulk Edit immediately.

Thanks to Taxonomy_Single_Term, a library created by WebDevStudios, it made my work much easier on creating this plugin.

With Categories Metabox Enhanced, you can:

  • Change the built-in Categories metabox/panel to a single term UI, which means replacing the checkboxes with radio buttons or a select drop-down.
  • Apply the single term UI to other hierarchical taxonomies from the plugin’s Settings page.
  • Configure each hierarchical taxonomy independently — the same install can keep one taxonomy as checkboxes while another is forced to radio.
  • Customize the single term UI by setting these options:
    • Option type (checkbox, radio, or select).
    • Priority and position (context) of the metabox placement. Classic editor only.
    • Title of the metabox / Block Editor panel.
    • Whether child-terms should be indented.
    • Whether adding new terms from the metabox is enabled.
    • Whether a term selection is required (Force selection). When on, the classic metabox hides the “None” option, the Block Editor sidebar drops the “— Select —” entry once a term is chosen, and an empty save is substituted with a default term server-side so REST and programmatic callers can’t bypass it.

    The single-term invariant is enforced everywhere posts can be saved: the Classic Editor metabox, the Block Editor sidebar panel, Quick Edit, Bulk Edit, the REST API, WP-CLI, and any code that calls wp_set_object_terms() directly. The classic-editor and Block Editor surfaces enforce in the UI; everything else is enforced on the server via the set_object_terms action, which coerces multi-term submissions to the last term and substitutes the default term on empty submissions when Force selection is on.

    The substituted default term resolves in this order: the default_<taxonomy> option (e.g. default_category) → the default_term_<taxonomy> option populated by register_taxonomy() default_term arg (WP 5.5+) → the first term ordered by name. Override per taxonomy with the of_cme_force_selection_default_term filter.

    The Block Editor sidebar panel is rendered for taxonomies registered with show_in_rest = true. Hierarchical taxonomies that opt out of REST fall back to the Classic Editor metabox path.

    Read the full description on the official page →

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