'Net Features : plugin

Inspire Engagement with Pinboard Plugin

Allison Howen — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:05:00 GMT

Not only has the popularity of Pinterest taken the Internet by storm, but now, the layout of the pinboarding platform is influencing the design of many sites on the Web as well.

In fact, eBay recently latched onto the Pinterest-style arrangement of image tiles for its recent site redesign. And now a new plugin from real-time Web platform provider Echo allows digital marketers and developers to also take advantage of this increasingly popular layout.

The pinboard visualization plugin enables developers and digital marketers to display any type of real-time content in a pinboard style view. The plugin works with Echo StreamServer, which is a real-time activity database that captures and stores millions of updates per second. Then, the database serves this content up in real-time, and enables full customization and personalization of the items in each stream.

“Echo believes that the web is rapidly becoming real-time and social,” said Khris Loux, CEO of Echo. “Our products are designed to support this transition by giving developers and digital marketers the tools they need to employ a new method of social story telling.”

The types of information that can be displayed with the pinboard plugin range from social content such as tweets, YouTube videos, Facebook posts and Spotify tracks to traditional content like photos and store merchandise. Additionally, the plugin allows visitors to comment, like and reply to items from directly within each stream. Currently, the plugin is being leveraged as the primary content display mechanism for Interscope Geffen A&M’s new website.

“We have blended real-time social activity about our artists and brands with traditional content like partner and store merchandise,” said Lee Hammond, VP of Digital for Interscope Geffen A&M. “Every piece of content is displayed in the same real-time, visual format, driving deeper engagement with our fans.”

Social Plugins Keep Consumers Connected

Allison Howen — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:05:00 GMT

For merchants, keeping consumers connected to their brand on the ’Net is a top priority, which is why e-commerce solutions provider Demandware has launched some new social plugins that aim to make this a much easier task.

The new social plugins help accelerate the integration of an e-commerce site with two of the Webs most popular social networks – Facebook and Google+. This is because the integrations allow merchants to leverage the capabilities of Facebook Open Graph, Facebook Check-In and the Google +1 button as part of their e-commerce strategy. Learn more about the new capabilities below:

• Facebook Open Graph – Retailers can leverage this plugin to enable social action buttons on product pages, such as “Want”, “Own” or “Purchased”. Additionally, this plugin allows retailers to maintain control over brand expressions , more seamlessly integrate into Facebook search and target advertising to Facebook members.

• Facebook Check-In – Retailers integrating Facebook Check-Ins with their sites can create personalized and engaging cross-channel experiences for consumers both in-stores and online. This plugin enables retailers to customize check-in experiences, as well as use check-ins in combination with loyalty or reward programs.

• The Google +1 Button – This plugin allows retailers to add the Google +1 button to their product detail pages. When a consumer clicks the +1 button, members of his or her circles will see the recommendation in their Google search results, which gives the retailer free word-of-mouth advertising while also improving the retailer's overall SEO.

"Facebook and Google+ are becoming ever more important components of a retailer's social commerce strategy, but many are still trying to figure out how to best leverage and tap into its millions of members," said Jamus Driscoll, senior vice president of marketing at Demandware. "These innovations from Demandware Labs provide our clients with easy access to the tools that will help them reach consumers on their social networks, creating a foundation for ongoing social commerce growth."

New Microdata Plugin for WordPress

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:20:00 GMT

The introduction of Microdata has provided a big boost for those search marketers that have managed the implimentation. Fortunately for WordPress users, the often complicated process just became easier with the release of the MicroData for WordPress, a plugin from Internet marketing company Optimum7.

The first version of the MicroData plugin is available for download from WordPress. Users can select from six default schemas including event, person, organization, review, place and product. While in the future the plugin could provide additional support for other microdata elements (perhaps the rel-author tag) the plugin is enough to at least get those responsible for search engine optimziation started on the process.

“The implications of using MicroData for search engine optimization are clear; without it, you are not going to be as visible or as easy to crawl as the other sites that are using it. This is a must-use format, especially as it becomes more difficult to rank high in search engine results pages,” said Duran Inci, COO of Optimum7.

Import Photos to MS Office with iStockPhoto Plugin

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:57:00 GMT

Say goodbye to clip art forever. Online stock image marketplace iStockphoto has made available a free plug-in for Microsoft Office users.

The plugin providers users access to iStockPhoto images from within PowerPoint and Word, where they can select, preview, purchase and insert images directly into their documents. Users will need an iStock account and buy credits to purchase images, but those with accounts can make purchases using their existing credits without leaving the running PowerPoint or Word program.

“iStockphoto has been a valued image provider on the Microsoft Office web site for several years,” said Sharon Meramore, the downloadable content manager for the Office website. “We’re excited that iStock now exposes its whole collection through the user interface of Word and PowerPoint, making it easier and faster for our customers to create more compelling documents.”

Essential Wordpress Plugin: Add To Facebook

Mike Phillips — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Plenty of plugins are out there to help readers share your blog content, but perhaps the new Add To Facebook plugin for Wordpress is the most significant. For starters, consider Facebook's more than 250 million users.

The plugin is extremely easy to add if you are using one of the latest versions of Wordpress. Simply download the zip file and upload it through your Wordpress administration panel. You can then choose your settings for the plugin under your Wordpress "Settings" section - either a text-only link or a small image and text link, and whether to add the link to every post.

Of course, other plugins like ShareThis can do the job of getting content on Facebook - as well as plenty of other social media sites. But for many users, simply seeing the Facebook name and icon can provoke quick sharing with the world's largest social networking site while a ShareThis (or similar) widget can appear to involve more work from a user perspective. So, why not use both? It seems to work just fine, although you might need a few tweaks to get each plugin to exist side-by-side.

Stay up to date on the latest Internet trends:
Request a professional subscription to Website Magazine,
the most popular print publication on Web success.

Wordpress in the PeoplePond

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:15:00 GMT

PeoplePond, a service which specializes in providing search engine optimized (SEO) profiles and online identity verification services for individuals, announced a PeoplePond WordPress plugin is now available. If you think it a pain to manage the personal or team profile information you feature on your Wordpress blog - this one's for you.

The plugin delivers an 'About Me' biography, image and links to the individual's social media websites directly from their PeoplePond account and uses the information to build an continually updated 'About' page. Post-install, the plugin will reflect the latest information from the assigned PeoplePond profile, allowing users to keep several websites current, while only making the change on one PeoplePond profile. Sounds simple enough.

The PeoplePond WordPress Plugin can be downloaded for free. Test it out and let us know what you think by commenting below!

What's One Great Idea Worth?
Upgrade to a professional-level membership from Website Magazine and find out!