Simple Primary Category for WordPress

The good stuff

It’s lightweight, which is nice. No bloat, no dashboard clutter. Just go to any post, and there’s a little checkbox at the bottom of the category list. You check the one you want as primary, save the post, and boom - done. I tested it on a custom post type for case studies, and it worked instantly. No extra setup. The shortcode for pulling posts by their primary category? That’s a lifesaver. I used it to build a sidebar widget showing only posts with a specific primary category. Took five minutes. It just works.

I compared it to Top Level Categories, which has more features but feels like overkill. This plugin doesn’t try to do everything. And honestly, that’s its strength. If you’re not into dev tools or complex settings, you’ll appreciate that. The action hook mentioned in the description lets you pull the primary category in themes too - useful if you're building something custom.

The not-so-good

It’s pretty barebones. There’s no way to set a default primary category, which would’ve been helpful. Also, no admin column showing which post has a primary category assigned. That means you’re relying on memory or checking each post individually. Not a dealbreaker, but it’d be nice.

And yeah, the developer is unknown, and it’s not on the official repo. That’s a small red flag if you’re paranoid about security. But I’ve used it on three different sites without issues. Still, if you’re running a high-traffic site and need audit trails, you might want something more official.

Bottom line

If you’re managing content in WordPress and need a clear primary category without the noise, Simple Primary Category for WordPress is solid. It’s free, simple, and gets the job done. If you’re tired of guessing which category “counts” for your posts, give it a try. It’s not flashy, but it’s reliable. Download it - you’ll probably use it every time you edit a post.