Settings
The plugin has a settings page found under the Administrative Settings section, this is where the author can modify the behaviour of all the links embedded in their site.
Note any changes here will affect all existing links that do not explicitly set these options via the shortcode content. These options can be viewed as the ‘default’ behaviour any of which can be overridden locally by adding the appropriate parameter to the shortcode.
Link Text
If you do not specify the ‘text’ argument in your [amazon] shortcode, then this text will be used by default. This option is equivalent to the ‘text’ shortcode argument, and the %TEXT% keyword in the template.
Image Class
Allows the author to change the default class used when the plugin inserts a thumbnail or image into a post. This option is equivalent to the ‘image_class’ shortcode argument, and the %IMAGE_CLASS% keyword in the template.
Wishlist Template
This is the default template used by the plugin when it auto generates a list of products using the wishlist facility. This option can be overridden in the shortcode by specifying a valid template using the ‘template’ argument.
Wishlist Length
This is the maximum number of items to display in a wishlist. This option can be overridden in the shortcode by specifying the ‘wishlist_items’ argument.
Note: Amazon only returns a maximum of 5, for the ‘Similar’ type of list.
Wishlist Type
This sets the default type of wishlist to generate. A wishlist of type ‘Similar’ will show items similar to the ones found in the content. A wishlist of type ‘Random’ will show a random selection of the ones found. A wishlist of type ‘Multi’ simply lists the items in the order they were found. This option can be overridden in the shortcode by specifying the ‘wishlist_type’ argument.
Multinational Link
If this option is selected then the plugin will enable a small popup menu of country specific links whenever the user’s mouse rolls over the Amazon link, enabling them to select the site they feel is most appropriate.
Localise Amazon Link
If this option is selected and the ip2nation database has been installed then the plugin will attempt to use the most appropriate Amazon site when creating the link, currently supports www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.es, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.it and www.amazon.jp.
Create Search Links
If localisation or the Multinational popup are enabled then the plugin will create links to Amazon sites other than your default locale. Sometimes these links either do not work – for example that exact product ASIN is not available in that country. Or is not suitable – for example it is an incorrect region DVD or a book in the wrong language.
Selecting this option will force the plugin to generate links to non-local Amazon sites that search for your product rather than an exact ASIN link. The exact terms of the search are determined by the next option.
This option can be overridden in the shortcode by specifying the ‘search_link=1′ or ‘search_link=0′ argument.
Default Search String
If the ‘Create Search Links’ option is enabled then this string determines what keywords are used to create the search link. Any of the keywords used in the Templates can be used to generate the term, for example the keyword ‘%ARTIST%’ will be expanded by the plugin to the Author/Artist/Director of the linked item.
This option can be overridden in the shortcode by specifying the ‘search_text=Specific Search String’ argument.
Live Data
If this option is enabled then the plugin will attempt to retrieve up to date (and localised) information on the product when generating the product link. For this to work the AWS Access keys in the global settings must be configured with valid keys. If not enabled then the plugin will only use the information included in the shortcode. This option can be overridden in the shortcode by specifying the ‘live=1′ or ‘live=0′ argument.
Note this option also changes the behaviour of the Amazon Search Tool. When the tool is used to insert shortcodes into the post it will automatically prefill the keywords needed for the selected template. It will only do this if live data is not enabled.
New Window Link
If this option is enabled then when generating links, the plugin will ensure that if they are clicked on it will open it in a new browser window. This option is equivalent to the ‘new_window=1′ shortcode argument.
Default Country
If localisation is not enabled, or has failed for some reason, then this is the default Amazon site to use for the link.
AWS Public Key
There are a number of features of the plugin that require access to Amazon Web Services (AWS). These include the generation of live data when displaying the links, providing a product search facility on the post/page edit admin screen, and the ability to generate product wishlists & reccomendations.
If you wish to use any of these features then you must have the appropriate AWS Access IDs and enter them in these two settings. To get these keys simply register with the Amazon Web Service site and this will provide you with the appropriate strings.
AWS Private Key
See above.
Debug
If you are having problems with the plugin and need to contact me, it may be helpful if you could enable this option briefly. It causes the plugin to put extra hidden output in your sites pages that are displaying amazon links, which I can use to diagnose any problems.
It is not recommended that this option is enabled for any length of time as it will show your AWS access keys in the page html source.
Associate IDs & Channels
The author must enter their Amazon Associate IDs for any countries they have an ID for in this section. This will ensure their Associate account is credited with any sales made through the links.
Shortcode
The main arguments available when creating a shortcode are listed below, enter each argument separated by a ‘&’. It is also possible to override settings on the global options page, or elements used in the product templates:
text
The text used to generate the amazon link, Enter any plain string e.g. ‘text=My Text’.
image_class
The css class used when displaying the image in the post.
asin
The unique Amazon product ID or IDs, of the form ’1405235675,1234567890′. Enter as ‘asin=1405235675,1234567890′.
chan
It is possible to manually select which set of tracking IDs the link uses by specifying the ‘chan=channel_id’ option. This will override the user specific affiliate ids.
cat
When creating a wishlist you must specify the post category(s) through which to search for other Amazon links. Enter as ‘cat=4,7′. Alternatively enter ‘cat=local’ to search the content on the current page.
last
When creating a wishlist you can specify how many posts to search through for Amazon links. Enter as ‘last=30′.
localise
Overides the ‘Localise Amazon Link’ setting. 0 to force the default country, 1 to force localisation.
multi_cc
Overides the ‘Multinational Link’ setting. 0 to disable the popup, 1 to enable the popup.
search_link
Overrides the ‘Create Search Links’ setting. 0 to force direct links by ASIN, 1 to force search based links.
search_text
Overrides the ‘Default Search String’ setting. A more specific search string can be used to generate the links.
default_cc
Overrides the ‘Default Country’ setting. Must be one of ‘uk’, ‘us’, ‘ca’, ‘cn’, ‘de’, ‘es’, ‘fr’, ‘it’ or ‘jp’.
pub_key
Overides the ‘AWS Public Key’ setting.
priv_key
Overides the ‘AWS Private Key’ setting.