Major Additions - Plugin Pages CMS for vBulletin 3.8

Welcome to the Plugin Pages? CMS Beta page for vBulletin 3.8. This is the start of an exciting new capability for vBulletin forum owners, and we hope that you will be able to participate. We look forward to your feedback and input.

The best way to understand Plugin Pages is to see it. A very generic demo is available at http://pluginpages.com/forum/pages.php. This same demo catalog comes with the distribution kit.

Plugin Pages is a CMS that?s designed to create catalogs. The base catalog type is an Amazon product catalog. This will be followed by a Product Review catalog, a Coupons Catalog, and an Articles Catalog (2011 deliverables). After Plugin Pages goes Gold with the four basic catalog types, more catalog features will be added, including videos, recipes, vehicles, business/website listings, pets and more.

For a more complete overview of Plugin Pages, please see the first post or our website.

Plugin Pages Beta Process

At a minimum, we will visit this thread twice a day, Monday through Friday, to answer questions and provide support. All of the documentation and FAQs are on the PluginPages.com website. When we answer a new question here on vBulletin.org we will add it to the documentation. Please help us manage our workload by reading the FAQ and documentation to see if it answers your questions. If our documentation is unclear or not accurate, please let us know so we can fix it.

On completion of Beta Phase I we will introduce Plugin Pages for vBulletin 4. Our goal is to create a single distribution for vBulletin 3.8.x/4.1.x. We have no plans to support vBulletin 3.6 or 3.7 (good chance it is compatible, but not tested) or vBulletin 4.0.x.

With Beta Phase II we will introduce Article Catalogs for how-to articles. Article Catalogs allow you to publish your community?s best how-to content in an organized fashion to help support product catalog sales. Beta Phase III will introduce the first interactive catalogs for members, including Review Catalogs and Coupon Catalogs.

Requirements

This beta is for vBulletin 3.8.x only. It has not been tested on 3.7.x or 3.6.x, however it may work. We have not tested it. This beta version will not work on 4.x.x and we will not answer question about how to make it work on 4.x.x.

You will need an Amazon AWS account and a developer?s key so that you can access the Amazon catalog API. Don?t bother installing Plugin Pages until you have your AWS account and have the developer key and secret key. The catalog will not work without it.

API access to eBay, Commission Junction and Shopzilla are optional, however, you need access to at least one of the APIs to use the shopping comparison feature in Plugin Pages. We recommend joining all of these affiliate networks.

Google Adsense is also optional. If you don?t have or can?t get Adsense, you may use another ad delivery network.

Installation

The installation process is quick and easy. Upload the distribution files, import the Product XML file, and set permissions on several folders. That?s the install process in a nutshell.

Plugin Pages adds several tables to your database for catalog storage. It does not modify any vBulletin tables or files.

After installation you will need to add your affiliate network API key information and adjust a few setting for your site. We made every effort to make installation easy to get you up and running quickly.

Our demo catalog ships with the distribution kit. We highly recommend loading this catalog before attempting to make your own. It will help you learn and become familiar with all of the features so you can be on your way building your own catalog. If you have an automotive forum, please feel free to use and modify the demo catalog as much as you like.

In this first beta implementation we have added ?meta noindex? to the header area of all templates. We believe this is the right thing to do during the initial shakeout.

Also, we do not automatically add a link to your navigation bar. Once you decide how you want to use the catalog you can add your own link where ever it makes the most sense. We may change this in the future and make it an option.

[reteep]

Originally Posted by Plugin Pete

I'm working on the vB 4.x version now.

Ok great, I'm on board as soon as there's a 4.x version.

[nascartr]

Originally Posted by Plugin Pete

No worries. I'm in the same boat.

I made the system fully compatible with Skimlinks. You can choose to have all links or just some links running through Skimlinks. So, for instance, you can run Amazon links through Skimlinks and run eBay and Commission Junction direct.

Pete

P.S., do you have a NASCAR or diecast related community?

Yeah, I do. We're centered around NASCAR diecast collectors actually. I still don't understand how the Skimlinks integration is supposed to change how the page is totally integrated with amazon, products pages and all into the page being totally integrated with ebay items?

[Plugin Pete]

Originally Posted by nascartr

Yeah, I do. We're centered around NASCAR diecast collectors actually. I still don't understand how the Skimlinks integration is supposed to change how the page is totally integrated with amazon, products pages and all into the page being totally integrated with ebay items?

Thanks. Let me see if I can do a better job explaining.

Plugin Pages uses the Amazon API to let you rapidly build product catalogs. From these catalog pages, the program does a "fuzzy search" on eBay and other affiliate networks to find the same or related items for shopping comparison. If the Amazon product titles are good it does a great job finding the same item on eBay.

When the program finds a matching eBay item within a set criteria it displays two buttons on the information box. One button goes to Amazon and the other goes to eBay ("I'm Feeling Lucky" button).

Another way Plugin Pages highlights eBay is by searching eBay when a visitor clicks on a tag link. There are two "Super Tags" on items pages. One is brand and the other is category. If you do a good job defining brands and categories, you end up with a ton of great eBay product pages.

Plugin Pages uses the Skimlinks API to rewrite Amazon URLs so they are monetized through Skimlinks. The Amazon links get tagged with Skimlinks' Amazon Associate ID and they credit you with 75% of the opportunity. Skimlinks pays you instead of Amazon. If you live in New York, California, Illinios or one of the other few states that is trying to impose sales tax collection on Internet merchants, its a good way to get around the problem until it all gets sorted.

I am working on using the Skimlinks catalog as an alternative to Amazon. That said, I did a quick look at diecast merchants on Commission Junction and Google, and few pay as well as Amazon.

If you'd like my assistance building a catalog for your site, please let me know. I was amazed at how big diecast is on eBay and Amazon, NASCAR in particular.

[Alfa1]

Tagged! I assume there will be a branding free version?

Will there be any way for users to post reviews and comments? Will it be possible to include those comments in the new posts function? That would greatly increase sales.

Do you take any % of affiliate commission?

[Plugin Pete]

Originally Posted by Alfa1

Tagged! I assume there will be a branding free version?

Will there be any way for users to post reviews and comments? Will it be possible to include those comments in the new posts function? That would greatly increase sales.

Do you take any % of affiliate commission?

Hi Alfa1,

The branding free version is built in. It's an option in the CP. It's based on the level of the shared opportunity.

Regarding reviews, yes, I am actively working on the "Reviews Catalog" now. The Reviews Catalog creates a whole new catalog structure for reviews that becomes tightly linked to the product pages. That way people searching for product reciews will find a page that's structured as a review. Where possible, pages are formatted with microdata markup for Google Rich Snippets.

I'm not using forum/thread/comment tables to store catalog data, so it will not be possible to list new reviews along with new posts/threads. However, I will be creating a module for vBadvanced, so you will be able to have new reviews on the home page.

Pete

[Alfa1]

That module can then also be placed in the sidebar. This all looks great.

But am I understanding it correctly that it is not possible to buy a gold version of this addon and that the only option is to share 15-25% of the affiliate commission? That would be very expensive for active big boards. No matter how great the software is.

[Plugin Pete]

Originally Posted by Alfa1

That module can then also be placed in the sidebar. This all looks great.

But am I understanding it correctly that it is not possible to buy a gold version of this addon and that the only option is to share 15-25% of the affiliate commission? That would be very expensive for active big boards. No matter how great the software is.

The "Pro" version will be available after this puppy gets through beta. It will include four catalog types:

- Products
- Coupons
- Reviews
- Articles

For now I'm keeping it simple. While in Beta all links are passed through with your affiliate IDs. That's an even trade for putting up with limited functionality and whatever bugs crop up.

[Alfa1]

Will the Pro-version allow me to use my own affiliateids, without sharing commission?

[Plugin Pete]

Originally Posted by Alfa1

Will the Pro-version allow me to use my own affiliateids, without sharing commission?

Yes, that's the plan.

[Alfa1]

Thanks! I assume I can buy it at some point? Or is it subscription based?