Overview
Web plugins allow you to automatically and easily display supplier-provided content such as rotating offers, videos, lead capture forms, product showcases, and downloads including white papers and case studies. Syndicated content adjusts automatically based on data about current website visitors.
In this article, we explain all the steps associated with using web plugins in your partner portal.
Before You Begin
Before you begin using web plugins in the portal, check out these articles for an overview of the features and benefits offered:
Contents
Click + to expand each section.
Activate Web Plugins
Web plugins can be run stand-alone or as part of a campaign. Most web plugins that you use will be pre-packaged in a campaign by your supplier. In a campaign, your suppliers will provide you with plugins that compliment other marketing activities like emails and social posts. To make these plugins visible to your website viewers, you must launch them from the portal and embed the code into your website.
Activate Plugins Already Associated with Campaigns
When a plugin is already associated with a campaign that you have activated, you must complete a few set-up steps before you can launch the plugin on your site.
To activate a plugin that is already associated with a campaign, follow these steps:
- Navigate to Campaigns > My Campaigns.
- Click the name of the campaign that contains the web plugin you want to activate.
- Under Web Plugins, click the name of the plugin you want to activate.
- Find the alerts box at the top of the page. Click Review next to each task that needs to be completed, or click Edit to open the full set-up menu.
- In the Settings tab, change the name of the plugin and select the email address or SMS number that will receive notifications about this plugin. Click Save & Next when you are done.
- In the Personalization tab, change any visual or textual elements that your supplier has made available, such as headers and images. Click View to see a preview of what will appear on your website. Click Apply when you are satisfied with changes. Click Save & Next to move on to the next step.
- In the Publish tab, review the web plugin with the changes you've made. Go to these fields to access code or a link to the plugin for sharing:
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Embed Code - code that you can embed into your website code.
For information on how to embed your plugin, see the Embed Web Plugins section of this article.
- Standalone URL [If enabled by your supplier] - a URL to the plugin.
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When setup is complete and you add the code to your website, the plugin is active.
Activate Standalone Plugins
If you need a web plugin, but one is not included in the campaign you are using, you can browse and activate plugins individually. These plugins can be run stand-alone, or you can add them to campaigns to help organize analysis data.
- Navigate to Web Plugins > Browse Web Plugins. In this view, you can find all the plugins your supplier has published to you. Review the thumbnail and read the plugin description on this page.
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Click Activate on the plugin you want to use. This moves the plugin to the My Web Plugins menu and opens the activity details view for this plugin.
- Find the alerts box at the top of the page. Click Review next to each task that needs to be completed, or click Edit to open the full set-up menu.
- In the Settings tab, change the name of the plugin and select the email address that will receive notifications about this plugin. Click Save & Next when you are done.
- In the Personalization tab, change any visual or textual elements that your supplier has made available, such as headers and images. Click View to see a preview of what will appear on your website. Click Apply when you are satisfied with changes. Click Save & Next to move on to the next step.
- In the Publish tab, review the web plugin with the changes you've made. Go to these fields to access code or a link to the plugin for sharing:
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Embed Code - code that you can embed into your website code.
For information on how to embed your plugin, see the Embed Web Plugins section of this article.
- Standalone URL [If enabled by your supplier] - a URL to the plugin.
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Add Web Plugins to an Existing Campaign
After you’ve launched a campaign, your supplier may provide you with a plugin to add to that campaign.
To add a new web plugin to an existing campaign, follow these steps:
- Navigate to Campaigns > My Campaigns.
- Click the name of the campaign you want to add a plugin to. This opens the campaign details view for this campaign.
- Click Add Activity.
- From the drop-down, select Web Plugin. This displays a list of available web plugins.
- Next to the plugin you want to add, click Activate. This adds the plugin to your campaign and opens the activity details view for the plugin.
- Complete all settings and setup for the plugin.
Personalize Web Plugins
Web plugins are automatically personalized with your default company profile information. With the majority of web plugins, you can edit, revise, and personalize rotating offers, videos, lead capture forms, and downloads with your business information as well as other preferences. Personalization options are not available with all plugins. Once you have personalized your web plugin, you can view how the plugin appears to your website/page visitors. It's best to review all personalization before publishing. When you personalize a web plugin, changes are made to all the content associated with the plugin.
To personalize your web plugin, follow these steps:
- Once you have activated the web plugin, navigate to Web Plugins > My Web Plugins.
- Select the web plugin by clicking the hyperlinked name. This opens the activity details view for this plugin.
- Click Edit and open the Personalization tab, or click Review in the alerts box.
- On the Personalization tab you can do the following:
- Select the tab to personalize. Options might include Landing, Asset Form and Asset Confirmation.
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Edit any fields inside of dotted-line boxes. Areas that can be edited vary by partner. Here are a few examples: Logo, Value Proposition, Company Name, Company Address, Company Phone Number, and Company Website URL.
How to update a banner’s Call-To-Action (if applicable): Your supplier may make the Call-To-Action link on a banner or microsite editable so that you can include a link or file that it is specific to your business. The field name is usually “Banner Asset Override,” but may vary depending on your supplier’s setup. In this field, you can either paste a URL or upload a file.
Notes:
- This field may be located on the Landing or Asset Confirmation tab, depending on whether the setup of the banner.
- In many cases, the supplier will include a default URL, and you may use this field to override the default and replace it with your desired link.
- Here is an example of the Banner Asset Override field on the Asset Confirmation tab of a banner in the partner portal:
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Edit or add items in the Properties box such as custom CSS, colors, social accounts, social account URL, Terms of Use statements, Privacy Statement, button colors, and data privacy policy are examples that you may find here. These options vary based on need and supplier granted access.
If you are personalizing a banner, make sure you select which Banner Size you would like to embed onto your website.
- Personalize all of your pages. You will see the pages just above the layout for the plugin.
- Click Apply for each page to see the changes in the preview window.
- Click Publish & Next.
- Once you have finished personalizing, click View to see your plugin as it will appear on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop. This gives you the opportunity to view the personalized plugin and detect any errors. You are asked to publish the new version of the plugin before viewing it. Click Publish to proceed.
Embed Web Plugins
You can generate code for a web plugin, which will allow you to place it in your website.
Retrieve the Embed Code
The embed code is only available if the required configuration steps are complete. If the embed code is not available, configure the web plugin using the instructions in the Activate Web Plugins section of this article.
Navigate to Web Plugins > My Web Plugins and click on the plugin you want to embed, to open it.
You can access the Embed option in two ways:
- Click the Embed button in the details view.
- Click Edit, and go to the Publish tab. Open the Embed Code section in the right-hand sidebar.
If you are the website administrator, you can choose from these options - use Copy to Clipboard to pick up whichever URL or code you want to use:
- Simple Embed - If you've already installed the platform Analytics web code in the footer of your website, you can use the simple embed code.
- Basic Javascript - If you have not installed the platform Analytics web code onto your website, choose this option. For more information about installing the analytics code, see Platform Analytics for your Portal.
- Click Advanced Options to include the web plugin on a server.
- Select a server-side language that is supported by your server, JSP, ASP, PHP, or ColdFusion.
- Copy and paste the code on your server.
If you are not comfortable working with the code, or you're not the website administrator, click Email Embed Instructions to send instructions to your website administrator.
Place the Web Plugin on Your Website
Now that you've activated and personalized your plugin and retrieved your embed code, decide where to place the code. Placement of the syndicated content varies based on your website and plugin. Typically, plugins take the form of widgets or showcases.
For guidance on placing a web plugin on your site, see Best Practice: Syndicated Content Placement on Your Website.
Get a URL for a Web Plugin
You may want to link a website plugin from your marketing content - for example, from an email, a digital asset such as a PDF, or a social post.
To retrieve the URL to the plugin:
- Navigate to Web Plugins > My Web Plugins and click on the plugin you want to embed, to open it.
- Click Edit, and navigate to the Publish tab. Go to the Standalone URL field.
- Click Copy to Clipboard.
Note
The Standalone URL option is enabled by your supplier. It may not be available in your view.
View Recent Activity for a Web Plugin
In Recent Activity, you can view the companies and even contacts who've interacted with your web plugin.
- Navigate to Web Plugins > My Web Plugins.
- Click the name of the plugin you'd like to review.
- In the left sidebar, click Recent Activity. If the tab is not available, you may need to personalize and activate your web plugin.
In the Recent Activity > All Events drop-down, select an activity such as web views, web clicks, form submissions, or conversions. The results for activities for the last 30 days will display.
Click Export All to export activity data for this plugin. Schedule a regular delivery of the report, or choose Send Now to do it immediately, then click Send Email. The information is posted to My Downloads, and an email confirmation of the delivery is sent to you.
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