---
title: WP Delicious – Meal Planner
description: "The **Meal Planner Add-on** for **WP Delicious** allows you to create and display weekly meal plans for your website visitors. It helps organize recipes into different meal categories such as Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, and provides an easy way for…"
url: "https://wpdelicious.com/docs/meal-planner/"
updated: "2025-04-08"
category: "WP Delicious Add-Ons"
---

# WP Delicious – Meal Planner

The **Meal Planner Add-on** for **WP Delicious** allows you to create and display weekly meal plans for your website visitors. It helps organize recipes into different meal categories such as Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, and provides an easy way for users to view, print, and prepare recipes for the entire week.

## Installation & Activation

To start using the Meal Planner Add-on, follow these steps:

1. **Purchase the Add-on** from [our website](https://wpdelicious.com/add-ons/meal-planner/).
2. **Install the Add-on**:
   - Go to **Dashboard > Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin**.
   - Upload the **Meal Planner ZIP** file and install it.
   - Click **Activate** once installed.
3. **Activate the License**:
   - Navigate to **Dashboard > WP Delicious > Settings > License**.
   - Enter your license key and click **Activate License**.

![](https://wpdelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/License-Activation-1024x667.png)

**⚠️ Important:** You must activate your license to access and use the Meal Plans post type.

## Configuring Meal Planner Settings

You can customize the Meal Planner from:

**Dashboard > WP Delicious > Settings > Addons > Meal Planner**

The available settings in Meal Planner Settings are:

### Meal Categories

- **Default Categories:** Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner are available by default.
- You can:
  - **Add new custom categories** (e.g., Snacks, Brunch).
  - **Disable** any default categories you don't need.
  - **Assign icons** to each categories for visual appeal.

### Week Start Day

- Choose the starting day for the week in the meal planner.
- Options include: Monday, Tuesday, ..., Sunday.
- This determines the first column on the frontend meal planner.

![](https://wpdelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Meal-Plan-Settings-1024x625.png)

## Creating a Meal Plan

Once the plugin is installed and the license is activated, a new menu item `Meal Plans` will appear under **Dashboard > WP Delicious**.

To create your first Meal Plan:

1. Go to **Dashboard > WP Delicious > Meal Plans**.
2. Click on **Add New Meal Plan**.
3. You will be redirected to the Meal Plan editor.
4. In the editor, use the search feature to select recipes created using the WP Delicious plugin.
5. Organize them by day and course (e.g., Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner).
6. Click **Publish** when you're done.

![](https://wpdelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/meal-plan-editor-588x1024.png)

## Displaying Meal Plans on the Frontend

Once published, each Meal Plan generates a unique shortcode.

- Copy the **shortcode** from the post editor after publishing.

```
[dr_meal_planner id="1020" nutrition="show" shopping_list="hide"]
```

- Paste the shortcode into any **page** or **post** where you want the Meal Plan to be visible.

## Frontend Display

Once the shortcode is added to a page, visitors can:

- Print the **weekly ingredient list** to help them shop and prep.
- View the full **weekly meal plan**.
- Click on any recipe to open the **full recipe post**.
- See meals categorized by created meal categories (e.g., Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner).

![](https://wpdelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Front-end-Meal-Plan-506x1024.png)