Another enhancement for the next release – an admin settings page.
(A global slot message is one that appears in a random position in every (qualifying) grid. A qualifying grid is one that has four or more products in it AND doesn’t have its own slot message set up in its shortcode.)
This is for global defaults – those that apply to every grid that doesn’t override them with options set in their shortcode.
You can now set your associate/referral id here. Once set here, you no longer need to put yours into each post’s shortcode. Though saying that, the shortcode builder still needs it and must include it in its generated code (for backwards comaptibility reasons).
Best of all, this new settings screen let’s you set your global slot message in real time!
So basically, it broadcasts your new marketing message in real time right across your site. It’s so easy to do, you might have one in the morning, a different one in the afternoon and one for the evening!
We wanted to add a really effective way of using a slot message globally. By that, we mean that any product grid created by NiftyGridZPro should automatically use this global slot message.
Remember, a slot message is an image (optionally linked to a destination) that is displayed randomly in a product grid, temporarily replacing what was in that position already.
We’ve managed that now by setting the feature on by default – with default slot message settings all set up for the Happy Halloween one you see across the site. Like here amongst the cute puppies 🙂
(Edited later to add: It was too early for that message, so it’s now a flapping bats teaser …and now it’s about the V3 release of NiftyGridZPro!)
With a default of it being switched on, you’ll need to remember to switch it off on any grids where you don’t want it. Note that it won’t be shown on any grids with fewer than four items.
The great thing about this approach is that when it’s time for a different marketing message, for example in the run up to Christmas, we only need to change the defaults. Then, bam, it’s suddenly spread across the entire site.
And to switch the global slot message off entirely, it’s just a case of changing the default for the feature to off.
So changing the defaults via the admin settings panel is the solution to setting a global marketing message in one simple step.
Cool 🙂
As usual, here’s the shortcode used for the grid – note that there’s no mention of a slot message as that’s all done via the default options already set.
In the next version there’s a new option for controlling the titling of products displayed in your grid. This one lets you include only product names in titles, like shown here.
It makes for a much cleaner design – useful only when your grid is showing a mix of products.
The default is that this option is switched off. To switch it on use use_only_product_names_in_titles=1
Note that presently, it only works 100% for Zazzle-added product type names. Where a designer has added a product name, the plugin uses the last two words of the designer’s title. That seems to work 99.99% of the time.
It won’t work when a designer uses a product name in the middle of their title AND Zazzle’s system spotted that and so didn’t add a product type name. In this rare-ish case, the last two words are still used – so it’s a bit pot luck.