Happy Valentine’s Day! Here at <em>press, we’re excited for any excuse to indulge in our favorite treats (ice cream for us both, with extra hot fudge, of course). We haven’t quite figured out a way to send ice cream to each of you, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t cook up an extra special treat on this day of all things romance (you know we love ya!). Today, we’re excited to introduce our brand new plugins — along with some BIG news.
So, what’s a plugin?
If you’re new to WordPress, you might be wondering — what is a plugin, exactly? Think of plugins like apps for your WordPress blog. They’re small programs or applications that each perform separate functions or tasks. Just as with smart phones, there are many companies and developers globally creating plugins for WordPress sites everyday. Many plugins are free, many are paid, and many have versions of both.
At <em>press, we believe in giving you everything you want, and nothing you don’t. That means our themes won’t arrive bloated with a ton of features you don’t want — instead, use our plugins to add the features and functionality that matter to you most.
The Big News:
We won’t bury the lede: Our new plugins
work with any self-hosted WordPress.org theme!
We launched <em>press because we want to make a custom WordPress blog accessible for everyone. Now, with our new plugins, you gain access to additional features and functionality that add next-level customizations to your site—whether you’re running an <em>press theme, or not. We’ve done extensive testing of our plugins across many themes to ensure that they look and work their best no matter how you use them. And if you’re looking for a designer touch, our new plugins work beautifully with any of our themes, for perfectly styled templates!
Introducing: Our New Plugins
Our new plugins were born from some of our most requested features, both from our custom, studio clients, and from our <em>press family of bloggers currently using our themes and plugins. We hope they help you make your blog feel extra custom! Check them out:
Shop the Post
Our first ever (and bestselling!) plugin has now been updated for compatibility with any theme! Use Shop the Post to add a shopping widget from your affiliate program to the Home Page and Archives pages of your blog. This allows users to easily shop via the widget without having to click into your post to see it. Our plugin also allows you to customize the title of the section, so instead of “Shop the Post” you could title it “Shop the Sale” or “More Boots Under $50” — the options are endless!
What we love: Shop the Post is compatible with any shortcode or HTML code, including rewardStyle and ShopStyle. Code savvy users can also use the Widget Code box to write text and embed links!
Boutiques
Power up your affiliate sales with our Boutiques plugin, which comes with two special page templates for your dedicated shop page (e.g., yourblogname.com/shop). Boutiques allows for easy integration of multiple rewardStyle or ShopStyle boutique widgets. Easily assign tabs for each boutique, so that users can shop up to 5 different widgets, all on the same page.
What we love: The Boutiques plugin features multiple layouts, so you can choose whether to showcase a LiketoKnow.it or ShopStyle Collection feed, a retailer link list, or both! You can also forgo both, and simply feature up to 5 boutique widgets, with corresponding menu tabs. See it in action here (simply hover over the BOUTIQUES PLUGIN link in the navigation to explore what Boutiques can do).
Grid
Display your content in a whole new light. Our Grid plugin allows you to apply a 3-column grid layout to select category archives pages, perfect for creating a beautiful, easy-to-scan layouts for your readers. The best part? Incorporate menu filters to your archive pages! Simply select your Grid categories, then let the plugin do the rest. Grid automatically features any sub-categories associated with your selected categories at the top of the page, as a menu. Users can drill down into specific types of content with ease!
What we love: We love seeing users apply Grid to content-rich categories like Recipes, DIYs and Outfits. Use sub-categories of each (think: “Desserts,” “Home Decor DIYs,” or “Date Night Outfits”) to help users filter out the content that matters to them most.
Bonus points: Grid pairs perfectly with our Shop the Post plugin! Shop the Post widgets display as a fun, interactive flyout over your featured image on hover, and moves below your featured image on mobile for easy access. See it in action here.
Newsletter Pop Up
Get readers to subscribe with a simple pop-up window. With our Newsletter Pop Up, customize your pop-up’s colors, change the pop-up’s title and description, and even add a photo. Our customization settings allow you to add an opaque page overlay or background image, too! We know there are a lot of options out there for pop-up plugins, so we kept ours simple, beautiful, and easy to customize.
What we love: No repetitive, annoying pop-ups here! Newsletter Pop Up only displays when readers exit your site, and you control how often it displays — without the confusing configuration options. Plus, add a link to your menu to trigger the pop-up on click! See it in action by clicking on the Pop Up Plugin link in the top left, here.
Which plugin are you most excited about? Are there any other plugins you’d love to see us launch in the future? Tell us in the comments below! And, don’t forget to share the love with your fellow WordPress blog friends. They’re sure to love our new plugins too.
With love,
