In fact, it’ll be up and running in just a few minutes. Every website should aim for push notifications to improve the mobile experience and get visitors to come back whenever new content is added.

Today, I will demonstrate how to achieve this with AMP push notifications.

What Are Push Notifications?

Push notifications are the messages you receive on your phone or desktop computer that will tell you about a recent change from a website or app. The goal is to alert visitors that a change has occurred and that they should check back.

The notification can be about anything.

For instance, if you have the PayPal app, you will receive notifications anytime a payment is made or received via PayPal. For websites, you may receive a push notification when they release a new blog post.

In fact, YouTube runs push notifications to show content it thinks you’ll be interested in.

Another possibility is that you can alert visitors when a new product has been added to your store. Or when a new sale has gone live. You can even send custom messages en mass to everyone following your website.

In reality, the uses for push notifications are near endless. But getting them to work right on mobile devices, especially with AMP running, can be a bit of a chore.

How to Add Push Notifications to A WordPress Website

Step 1: Install Push Notifications for WP & AMP

Push Notifications for WP & AMP is a great plugin that makes it easy to add push notifications to a WordPress website. The plugin will send out a push notification to mobile users every time a post is published.

It will not send out a notification when a post is updated, by default, but the option does exist to disable that feature. After all, you don’t want to inundate your followers with messages every time you make a change.

More features are being developed for the plugin, so the uses will only grow in the future. Just remember to make sure you are not spamming visitors.

Let’s start by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for Push Notifications for WP & AMP in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the  Push Notifications for WP & AMP plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

Upon activation, the plugin will ask if you want to receive emails on the latest plugin updates and other information. Feel free to agree or decline, as it will not impact how you use this plugin.

Step 2: Get the API Key

The first thing you need to do is obtain the API key. This will require creating an account, but the process is very quick.

On the left-hand admin panel click on Push Notifications.

You will see a textbox for the API key. Below it, you will find a link to the registration. Click on the “Get the Key” link.

This will open up a new tab in your browser. Here, you must enter a name, email address, and an account password. Click on the “Register” button when you are finished.

You can view the number of subscribers here, as well as send out notifications. However, all of this can be done from your website as well. Click on the Settings tab.

Copy the API key and paste it into the appropriate box in WordPress.

Click on the “Validate” button. The verification process will begin.

Upon completion, the plugin settings will become accessible.

Step 3: Settings

The settings are fairly simple to go through and should only take a minute or so.

The first option is for the notification icon. By default, the plugin will use a bell icon, which is perfectly fine. However, I do recommend using your website’s logo. This helps build brand recognition as they will see it on every notification.

It also helps make your website not look generic.

Below this, you can select if a notification is sent after editing a post or publishing a post. You can check the boxes as you see fit. You can also select the content that will trigger a notification.

By default, it is just posts and pages.

Underneath this, you can enable UTM Tracking. If you are not familiar with what this means, I recommend leaving it off.

Finally, you will see the Notifications section. Here, you can set up a message that will ask visitors if they want to receive notifications. Enter all of the information and click on the “Save Settings” button.

Note: At the bottom, you can send out a custom notification. This is great for special occasions like when a sale pops up in a merch store. You can add the icon, title, link, and custom message. The message is sent out instantly, so there is a lot of flexibility on how it can be utilized.

You can now view the notification request on your website.

Congratulations, on setting up the plugin. At this point, the plugin will run itself. The only thing you need to worry about is visitors enabling notifications.

How Can I Get Visitors to Accept Notifications?

That’s a great question and corporations have spent millions, maybe even billions, trying to figure out the answer. The reality of the situation is that you can’t really do anything to ensure follows, but you can sweeten the deal.

For instance, you could promise visitors exclusive rewards, like discount codes, that are only available via push notification. And occasionally, send them out using the custom notification feature.

This not only helps get more visitors to enable the feature, but can help encourage them to buy something from your site, or an advertised store.

Do Push Notifications Affect SEO?

While it is unknown if push notifications themselves affect SEO, they can influence the factors that do. So indirectly, they can have a huge impact.

By having notifications, visitors are more likely to return to your website. When they do return, that makes Google, or other search engines, think your website is a surfing habit, which builds up your website’s authority.

If you are popular enough, Google will consider your website an excellent source for the information related to it.

It is an indirect relationship, but a relationship nonetheless.

Don’t Spam Your Visitors

The biggest mistake you can make is to spam notifications. If visitors think you are annoying, they will not only unsubscribe to notifications, they will most likely start avoiding your website.

And this doesn’t just affect your website…it affects everyone.

Think about it, if you were willing to subscribe for push notification, and your experience was a constant barrage of spam, how likely are you going to be to do subscribe again? If you are being honest, probably never.

This is a big part of why it is hard to get people to accept notification in the first place, Just about everyone has had a bad experience with them at one point or another.

Have you noticed more engagement from your visitors since adding AMP push notifications? What steps do you take to avoid spamming visitors?

The post How to Add AMP Push Notifications for WordPress Mobile Users appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Offering free books to visitors gets them in the door. Or, at least on the website. And if they’re interested in the free content, there’s a high possibility they’ll buy the books you have for sale. Even through affiliate links and banners.

Why Offer a Free Books Section?

First and foremost, this is a great way to connect your audience with books you love. Whether it is via reviews, comments, or simple chatter and word of mouth, giving your audience links to the books you love connects them with exactly what you are talking about.

This is also a great way to make money on your blog. Once you have connected your Clickbank account (more on that below), you will start to receive a portion of each sale that is made when a website user uses a link you have posted.

Offering free WordPress books on your blog is not difficult if you have the right tool. Today, I am going to show you exactly how to do this using a smooth and intuitive plugin.

Let’s take a look at the plugin in question and see what all it has to offer.

Free Books Section

Free Books Section is a plugin that does exactly what the name suggests. It adds different feeds to books into your website using a series or shortcodes. This works as a simple, yet effective, way for you to monetize any blog related to books, writing, or publishing.

Whether you are an author, book blogger, or publisher, the Free Books Section plugin is an ideal tool to add to your website. The plugin is pretty straightforward. Once it is installed and activated, the plugin will provide a newsfeed list of free books for visitors using Amazon’s Kindle Unlimted program.

When you attach your Clickbank affiliate link, then you become eligible to earn commission every time a visitor purchases the Book Promotion offer from your site. Once your book blog becomes popular enough, this can be a great way to make money.

The plugin is very easy to use and set up and comes with a ton of great features. Some of the main ones include:

• Free Books for Visitors
• Content Updated Dynamically
• Select a Preferred Genre
• All Genres Are Supported
• PermaFree and Kindle Unlimited Books
• Geo-Target Visitors
• Earn Commission
• Increase Likes and Shares of Content
• Clean, Responsive Design

The Free Books Section plugin also supports both the US and International Amazon book feeds, so users have access to all of it.

You will be hard-pressed to find a plugin that is easier to set up and use than this one. Let’s get it up and running together so you can start earning some commissions on your book links.

Set Up a Free Books Section

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

In order for you to display a free books section on your website, you first need to install and activate the plugin. You can do this by hopping over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

Once you are on that page, you will notice that there is an available search field. Simply use that field to search for the plugin by name. Once it pops up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Go to the Settings Page

Now that the plugin is installed, you want to access the main settings page. This is where you can set your configurations. To do this, click on Settings > Free Books Section, located in the left side menu area of the dashboard.

You will notice that this is now available as an option to click on because you successfully activated the plugin.

Step 3: Add Clickbank Nickname and Book Genre

At this point, you will be on the main configuration page for the Free Books Section plugin. You can see that the setup is pretty quick and simple.

To configure the plugin, you will need to add your Clickbank Nickname into the relevant field.

You also want to select the genre you want to be displayed on your book’s page. Click on the “Save Changes” button when you are finished to apply the options you chose. If you notice, you can choose to display all genres, which will allow you to show even more free book selections.

Note: If you don’t have a Clickbank account, then go here and get one. It is free and will make you some money. You can also use the plugin without a Clickbank account, you just won’t be eligible to earn a commission. The way it displays and looks will be the exact same either way.

Step 4: Create a New Page

Now that your configurations are in place, you need to create a new page to add the relevant shortcode. To do this, click on Pages > Add New, located on the left side menu area of the dashboard.

Add a page title (whatever you want) and publish it.

Step 5: Add the Shortcode

On the page you just published, you need to add the shortcode [free_books_section]. This brings in all the relevant content that you set up and displays it on the page.

Step 6: View Live Page

The free books section page should be up and running perfectly now. Go ahead and jump over to the live version of the site and see what it looks like.

Note: Your list and section will be based on the dynamic updates that are being pulled from the genre you chose. This list provides a vast number of free eBooks in WordPress.

That’s it! You have successfully added a free books section to your website.

What If I Am an Author and Blogger?

This is a non-issue when using the plugin. You can submit your own books for promotion. Furthermore, if you configure your affiliate link first, you can also earn commission on any sale you make from the site link.

This means that if done correctly, you can make money on multiple sale points of your books. So, that’s more money for you, as well as reducing overall listing costs you may incur when selling on certain platforms.

Final Thoughts

Adding a free books section to your website can be a very good way to connect with your site users. It is also a great opportunity for you to make some extra money from your blog. This is even more important if you have a book blog.

There are several really great ways to make money on blogs. Now that you have a solid plugin and the steps needed to make this work, you can easily add a fully functioning list of free books for your audience to scan through.

I hope this article was able to show you how easy it is to add a free books section to your website.

Have you ever used Clickbank before for any other product affiliate links? What are some other ways you like to make money off your blog?

The post How to Set Up a Free Books Section in WordPress for Visitors appeared first on GreenGeeks.

This is a great way to raise the presentation value of certain content. However, it’s worth pointing out that this isn’t always an improvement. It really depends on the type of website you run. In some cases, it can come off as tacky or inappropriate.

Today, I will demonstrate how to make a pdf flipbook with the DearFlip plugin.

What Can I Use A 3D Flipbook For?

A real 3D flipbook effect is all about presentation, and there is a variety of content they are well suited for.

One of the most common uses for this effect is inside of an informational pamphlet. These are small little booklets that provide fast facts or brief descriptions of services. Using a flipbook format allows you to test how they will look before having to print them.

This could save a lot of money if something looks off.

Some of the other types of content include menus, short instruction manuals, product highlights, service overviews, and much more.

While these are versatile tools, it’s important to keep length in mind. It is intended for short pieces of content. In fact, this plugin only supports up to 6 pages of data, thus, you won’t be able to add 3D effects to a full novel.

How to Flip a PDF with DearFlip

Step 1: Install DearFlip

DearFlip is a WordPress flipbook plugin that is easy to use. It allows you to build customizable flipbooks that you can add to any WordPress post or page via shortcodes. Users can use a mouse to flip through the pages or use the table of contents to skip the desired page.

The plugin is simple to understand; you upload a PDF file and change the various settings to your liking. Yup, that’s it, pretty straightforward. However, do note that you need to create the PDF yourself, this plugin does not offer any tools for actually creating a PDF.

Let’s start by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for DearFlip in the available search box.

Scroll down until you find the DearFlip plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

Step 2: Select A PDF and Thumbnail

The first thing you need to do is actually select a PDF and thumbnail image to use. This is easy enough as you just have to select the files from within WordPress.

Note: If you still need to upload your PDF file, do so now. If your file is too large for WordPress, you will have to increase the file upload limit.

On the left-hand admin panel, click on dFlip Books and select the Add New Book option.

First, select the book source. You can choose between PDF and image files. Most people will choose PDF, but the option is there for those who need it.

Click on the “Select PDF” button and choose which PDF file you want to use from the media library.

Next, click on the “Select Thumb” button. Once again, select the image you want as a thumbnail from the media library.

Step 3: Customize the Layout

Now you need to decide how your flipbook is going to look and behave. There are a variety of settings to go over, so let’s get started.

Before going through the settings, it’s worth mentioning that the plugin lacks a preview feature. Thus, you’re kind of blind when making a lot of these choices. I recommend going through the process to get it created, then you can make changes later on.

Click on the Layout tab.

The first option is to select a 3D or 2D format. These are both flipbooks but the full 3D one is a bit more intricate in effects. Simply choose the one you want.

If you chose the CSS option, you can decide which pages are considered hard. But if not, you can skip this setting.

Next, you can select what the background would look like. You can choose a color or upload your own image. For instance, you could upload an image of a countertop to make it seem like they are reading the flipbook on one.

You can customize the length of the flip duration (how long it takes to flip a page). I recommend making it very fast, animations can be fun to look at, but can get very annoying rather quickly.

The remaining settings are up to personal taste. You can always change these later on once you have an idea of what the flipbook looks like. There is one other settings group I will draw attention to, the autoplay settings.

You can actually choose to automatically enable autoplay or allow visitors to toggle it on or off. This lets the flipbook play itself and is a good option for image flipbooks, but not so great for written ones.

By default, these are off, but you can turn them on if you wish.

Once you go through everything, click on the “Publish” button.

Step 4: Add the Flipbook to A Post or Page

With the book set up, all that’s left is to actually place it on your website. To do this, we will be using shortcodes. Each flipbook has its own shortcode, and while you can place multiple on a single post or page, you shouldn’t.

This should not have a major impact on page speed. However, adding multiple may definitely slow pages down to a crawl. It also looks a bit silly. I would recommend making them their own post or page, but the choice is yours.

Copy the shortcode that appears after clicking the “Publish” button.

Go to any post or page on your website, add a shortcode block, and paste the shortcode inside.

You can now finally use the preview option to see what it looks like. Odds are, you’re probably going to want to make a few tweaks, so feel free to go back and make those changes. Once you save your changes, your flipbook is ready to go.

Congratulations on creating a 3Dflipbook with the DearFlip plugin.

Make Sure It Fits Your Website

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is adding too many flashy animations or decorations to their website. A WordPress flipbook can easily fall into this category and should be used sparingly to help it have a bigger impact.

Sometimes a flipbook doesn’t fit a website. For instance, if you want your website to be professional, a flipbook isn’t a great choice. That said, it can still be a useful tool to visualize what content would look like if it was in one.

It’s also worth considering that you can still include a normal PDF link alongside the flipbook. This ensures that everyone can view your content the way they want to.

Did you choose a 3D or 2D flipbook? Did you find it annoying that there was no preview option when creating a flipbook?

The post How to Add DearFlip to Create a Flipbook in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

If you have a WordPress website and you want to post available jobs, then the job posting app we are going to talk about today will be right up your alley. This allows you to keep all your employment vacancies directly on your website, even if you do post them in other places.

Why You Should Have an Employment Vacancies Page

There are actually a couple of reasons behind this thinking. First off, you want your site users to be able to view the employment opportunities your company has directly on your website. This keeps them on the site and gets them to interact with the listings and other content that may be available.

That being said, many WordPress jobs listed on-site are also simply listed as part of a growing employment listings page that you may be trying to grow and use to bring extra traffic to your site.

Whatever the reason may be, there is no need to try and build out a jobs page using code and an editor. In this article, I am going to show you how you can list available jobs using a smooth and easy-to-use plugin.

Let’s take a look at this tool and see what all it has to offer.

WP Job Openings

WP Job Openings is a simple, straightforward, yet powerful plugin that allows users to easily build a job listing page for their website. It can be used to drive traffic to your website or used to create in-house job opportunities that users can explore.

Once the plugin is on your site and running, you will have the opportunity to create one of two layout styles: Grid or List. Both are designed to be easy to view, mobile-friendly, and totally customizable.

As a matter of fact, the customize area is where this WordPress employment application plugin really shines. There are actually a ton of great features that are built into the plugin. Some of the highlights include:

• Easy to Setup and Use
• Modern Layout Styles
• Clean Design and Functionality
• Unlimited Job Specs
• Unlimited Filtering Options
• Search Functionality
• AJAX Powered Job Listing and Filtering
• Default Form for Application Submission
• Email Notifications
• Application Listings
• Structured for SEO
• WPML Support
• Developer Friendly
• Works With All Top Plugins and Themes

If you want an easy way to create a job listing page and have access to all the tools needed to do it, then this is the plugin for you. Let’s get it installed and running on your site.

Note: There is a pro version of this plugin available. It provides some extra features and options that may be of interest to you. Feel free to give it a look. The tutorial below is based on the free version of the plugin.

Add an Available Jobs Page to Your Site

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

Before you can add a list or grid of employment vacancies on your website, you first need to install and activate the WP Job Openings plugin. You can do this by clicking over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

You can see that there is an available search field on the top right of the page. Simply search the plugin by name using the field. Once you see it pop up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Go to the Settings Page

After you have installed and activated the plugin, you want to head on over to the main settings page. This is where you can configure all the available options to your liking.

To get there, click on Job Openings > Settings, located on the left side menu area of the dashboard.

Step 3: Configure the WP Job Openings Settings

At this point, you have made it to the main settings page for the plugin. You will see five main tabs that are available to go through and configure. These include:

• General
• Appearance
• Job Specifications
• Form
• Notifications

Let’s go through them together real quick.

General

The “General” tab will have all the common configurations for the plugin. Go ahead and scroll through them all and make selections and choices based on how you want the job posts and page to display and perform on your site.

Appearance

Configure the appearance of both the job listing page and the job detail page from under this tab. There are several options and filters available, so make sure you go through all of them.

Job Specifications

You can add and subtract job specs from here. You can include as many different specs as you want to be made available so have fun with it.

Form

These configurations apply to the built-in form that comes with the plugin. Make your selections based on how you want that form to act.

Notifications

This tab provides the settings for the built-in notification email that is sent when an applicant applies for one of the jobs listed on your site. Lay this out and add appropriate content.

Click the “Save” button when you are done making configurations and you are good to go.

Step 4: Add a New Job Opening

Now that all the proper configurations have been made, you are ready to add a new job opening to your employment page.

Click on the “New Opening” tab link on the left side menu. It is housed under the main Job Openings tab.

This opens up the job editor, and you can add the appropriate information needed for your first listing.

Go ahead and add a title and as much information about the job as you want.

Now, scroll down some and add all the relevant job specs needed for this particular listing. You can even add an excerpt if you want.

Finally, look to the right of the editor. You will see a box that allows you to add an expiration date for the job. If you want to add this, then go ahead.

Click on the publish button to publish the job. It will automatically appear properly on the jobs page according to all the configurations you made from the main settings page.

Step 5: View Your Live Jobs Page

You can now go to the live jobs page and view how it all looks.

Remember, your board will appear differently based on the settings you chose. You also need to add multiple jobs to get the page to really fill out over time.

That’s it! You can continue to add as many open jobs as you want. If you need to make adjustments, then go back to the settings page and change whatever you need to.

Viewing All Applications

The plugin automatically houses all the applications that are submitted to all available open jobs. This means that you can view them at any time and have all that information available whenever you are going over applicants.

Simply click on the “Applications” tab to get there.

You will see all applicants listed here once they start coming in.

Final Thoughts

Having a jobs page on your website is a good idea because you can highlight available positions and opportunities at your company. You can also use it to help bring more traffic to your website, as people will visit just to look at available jobs.

I hope this tutorial was able to show you how easy it is to add employment vacancies to your site. The WP Jobs Opening plugin makes it extremely easy.

Have you been trying to build a jobs page manually? How long does it take you to create your job listings?

The post How to Add Employment Vacancies in WordPress with WP Job Openings appeared first on GreenGeeks.

There are a lot of different plugins for WordPress that you can use to build recipes for your site. However, you want to find a recipe plugin for WordPress that gives you all the tools you need in one place. Delicious Recipes does just that, and today I am going to show you how to use it.

Why You Should Use a Recipe Plugin

When you have a food-related website or blog, it is important to be able to present content in a way that attracts readers, keeps them on the site, and keeps them coming back for more. The right recipe plugin for WordPress will help you accomplish this.

Using a tool like this allows you to build and display recipes across your website in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand format. Furthermore, you give your readers a unique way to search and view the amazing recipes that you put out.

No longer will you need to build a random recipe page within the WordPress editor. Instead, you will be able to access tools that allow you to build dynamic recipe pages that are SEO-friendly on your WordPress website.

Let’s take a look at the plugin we are going to use and see what all it has to offer.

Delicious Recipes – WordPress Recipe Plugin

Delicious Recipes – WordPress Recipe Plugin is a very powerful recipe plugin. The plugin allows you to easily build, design, and display advanced recipes right from the comfort of the WordPress admin dashboard.

It has a ton of functionality and, perhaps most importantly, it is SEO-friendly. It is packed full of features and functionality. Once the plugin is activated on your site, you will have access to optimized assets like recipe image and video galleries, unlimited recipe creation, nutrition charts, detailed rich text instructions, printable recipe options, an advanced and powerful search, and much more.

This plugin also works for your website users and allows them to interact. For example, it includes a User Dashboard feature. This feature allows your site users to sign up for your website, browse all recipes with ease, and even save their favorite recipes for easy access.

It is compatible with tons of WordPress themes and also includes all of the following dynamic features as well:

• Custom User Dashboard
• Unlimited Recipes
• SEO Friendly
• Beautiful Recipe Card
• 9 Gutenberg Blocks
• An Advanced Search Option
• Pinterest Rich Pins Support
• Recipe Archive
• Star Rating System
• Customizable Widgets

As you can see, if you want to create food blog recipes, then Delicious Recipes gives you everything you need and more to do so. Let’s get the plugin installed and running together.

Share Recipes on Your WordPress Website

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

In order to start sharing creative recipes that are SEO-friendly, mobile-ready, and fun for your website users, you first need to install and activate the Delicious Recipes plugin. You can do this by hopping on over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

There will be a search field available on the top right of the page. Use this field to search the plugin by name. Once you see it come up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Configure the Initial Plugin Settings

Once activated, the Delicious Recipes will automatically take you to a welcome page. From here you have two options; you can proceed to the dashboard or continue setup options.

In this case, we are going to go ahead and click on the “Proceed To Set Up” button and finish the initial setup and configurations.

When you click on that, a page will come up that allows you to configure the “Appearance Settings.” Configure those how you want.

Click on the “Next Step” button on the lower right and move on when you are ready. This will take you to the “Permalinks Settings” for the Delicious Recipes plugin.

Follow the directions for any permalink updates you need to make.

Now, move on to the last step of this setup process. These will be a couple of additional settings that you can configure to your liking.

Click on the “Finish” button and you are good to go. A congratulations page will be presented to you. From here, we are going to finish configuring the rest of the plugin settings.

Step 3: Finish Configuring the Rest of the Settings

When you go to the dashboard, click on the main “Settings ” tab located on the left side menu area of the dashboard. It will be housed under the main “Recipes” area.

This opens the page where you can fully configure the rest of the plugin settings how you see fit. This will include things like:

• Archives
• Social Sharing
• Reviews
• Nutrition
• Search Settings
• User Dashboard
• Email Templates

Go through the rest of these tab by tab and set the plugin up according to your personal preferences.

Step 4: Click on Add New Recipe Link

Click on the “Add New” tab located on the left side area of the menu.

This opens up the editor where you can create a new recipe in a couple of minutes.

Step 5: Create a Recipe

The editor is now open and you can create your first recipe.

First off, add a title and recipe info in the editor.

Now, scroll down some so we can add the rest of the relevant settings and items needed to complete the recipe.

You will see 5 main tabs that you can add recipe information. They include:

• Recipe Info
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Gallery
• Nutrition
• Notes

Recipe Info

Add relevant recipe info under this tab.

Ingredients

Add all the ingredients that someone would need to cook this food item.

Instructions

Layout all the relevant recipe instructions here. Your audience will be able to follow them in detail, so be specific.

Gallery

Here is where you can add a photo gallery or add videos to your recipe page.

Nutrition

Enter all relevant nutritional information for the recipe under this tab.

Notes

Add any other notes you may think are important for your readers. You can add any type of information you want here.

Now, look to the right of the page and you will see the rest of the options to fill out. You can fill these out according to what you want. You can also easily populate every feature based on items you have already set up over time (more on that below).

Publish the recipe when you are finished and you are all set.

Step 5: View the Live Recipe

Now that the recipe is published, you can go to the front-end of your website and view it live. Go ahead and go give it a look.

Here are a few screenshots of what mine looks like. Remember, the way yours appears might be different based on the configurations you chose at the beginning of this tutorial.

Title Area

Description Information

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition Facts

That’s it! If you need to make any adjustments to the layout, style, or information in the recipe, then update that in the editor and go from there.

Other Recipe Options

The plugin comes with a lot of other options that allow you to pre-build and add terms into different category areas. You will see all of this visible on the left side menu area.

Pre-build and add things like courses, cooking methods, cuisines, tags, and recipe keys. Then, when you add them later during a recipe build, they are already in there and ready.

Final Thoughts

Adding recipes to your website that are dynamic, fun to read, SEO-friendly, and mobile-friendly is not a difficult process if you have the right tools. The Delicious Recipes plugin will give you all the tools you need and more to create beautiful recipes to display on your WordPress website.

Have you ever tried using another recipe plugin? Do you prefer to build recipes manually using the WordPress editor?

The post How to Share Delicious Recipes on Your WordPress Site appeared first on GreenGeeks.

And with everyone stuck at home without access to the gym, creating a unique workout plan for at-home fitness is very popular. However, without a special template, the plan might not look very good to new readers. The competition is fierce in the health & fitness world, so you need the best tools for the job.

Today, I will demonstrate how to use the LSX Health Plan plugin to build all kinds of health-related plans in WordPress.

What Kind of Plans Can I Make?

This plugin can make a variety of plans with clear steps and an amazing format.

Meal and workout plans are the most common. With this plugin, you can display full recipes for healthy meals and treats. This even includes room for the calories, prep time, and serving sizes. The workout plans include room for videos, instructions, estimated times, equipment, and calorie burn rates.

You can even make detailed plans for the week that even show a progress meter. Every day’s plan allows you to download and print it. And you can even add tips for readers to help make it easier. Like adding berries in your porridge.

Of course, the workouts are not just limited to lifting weights or pushups.

You can use the space for full Yoga courses, aerobics, and other activities that help you stay fit. Thus, regardless of what kind of health and fitness website you are on, this plugin is sure to be a perfect fit.

How to Use the LSX Health Plan Plugin

Step 1: Install LSX Health Plan

The LSX Health Plan plugin was built to be compatible with the LSX theme, but it will work regardless of what theme you are using. The plugin is better thought of as an organizational tool because it allows you to create posts into dedicated sections.

And all of those sections have dedicated categories. There are no fancy tricks either. Everything is done with the WordPress Gutenberg editor, thus, if you’ve written a post before, you already know everything there is to know about the plugin.

Let’s start by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for LSX Health & Fitness Plans in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Find the LSX Health & Fitness Plans plugin, click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

Step 2: Workouts

You can actually set up this plugin in a variety of ways, so feel free to follow the steps in any order. I will begin by going over the Workouts section.

On the left-hand admin panel, click on Workouts and select the All Workouts option.

By default, the plugin generates a wide variety of workouts for you to use. However, you are free to add your own workouts. While this list may seem impressive, none of these actually contain information. They are all blank and require you to fill them in.

And since most fitness blogs put their own spin on things, it’s probably for the best. However, keep in mind that you will have to go through the list and delete the ones you do not use.

You can either edit any of the existing workouts or click on the “Add New” button to create a new workout.

The workouts actually just function as normal WordPress posts. Thus, you will be able to use the Gutenberg editor to build a workout post. As a result, you can add anything you would like to them.

Keep in mind there is a dedicated video section, so you might want to consider adding videos there, but the choice is up to you. The Workout Types is just a category section for workouts.

Step 3: Meals

The next section we will take a look at is Meals. It works very similarly to the Workouts section but has a few more options.

Click on Meals and select the All Means option.

Unlike the Workouts section, there are no meals in this section by default, but you’re not really losing much. Instead, you will have to manually add them. Once again, the meals work just like posts in WordPress.

Thus, you will be using the Gutenberg editor to create them. In this case, the Meal Types is the category section.

The main difference from workouts, though, is that there is also a Recipes option.

Once again, it works just like a post and the Recipe Types is the category section for recipes. It is up to you if you want to use Meals or Recipes. There is no difference between the two other than the name. One may fit your website better than the other. You may also want to use both.

Step 4: Plans

The final section is the Plans. I chose this last because this section should include a link to your workouts and meals. In fact, this is where you can build a full fitness meal planner.

Click on Plans and select the All Plans option.

And yes, you’ve probably guessed it by now, the plans are also created using the Gutenberg editor. However, one important tip is to remember that these should include links to your workouts and meals.

There is also a Tips section that allows you to add posts that focus on tips. For instance, many people struggle when they start a new diet. Giving some helpful tips to keep them on track or minimize how far off track they go can be very useful.

The Plan Types section is simply the category for plans and the Weeks section is another category section for your plans. So, what’s the difference?

There are multiple plans you can create in the health and fitness world and as you know, they are not just for a day. Instead, it takes weeks of dieting and fitness to achieve the results you want. The Weeks section allows you to break up your plans into that weekly format.

Once, you’ve added content into each area of the plugin, it should be fully functional, congratulations.

Video Content Is Your Best Friend

Let’s not kid ourselves, most people nowadays prefer video over written content. While written content still performs well and serves its own function, you should absolutely create video content to go along with your plans.

For instance, film yourself performing the action. Not only does this help people learn some of the better practices when working out, it also adds credibility. Let’s face it, anyone can type a fitness blog, but not many can actually do what they say.

And it can even be another source of revenue!

If you post all of your content on YouTube, you can earn money from potential sponsors or by joining the YouTube Partnership Program. While it won’t be much at first, it may help keep the lights on.

Did you find the LSX Health & Fitness Plans plugin useful? What other tools do you use to manage your fitness blog?

The post How to Set Up LSX Health & Fitness Plans in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

In years past, there were some problems listing events and trying to get them out to your audience on your website. Poorly built portals, bad permalinks, and other publishing issues could really get in the way when it came to building an events section on your site.

However, now there are a few great plugins that can help you with this. One events manager plugin that I am particularly excited about is the one we are going over together below.

Why Post Events on WordPress?

Having an event section on your WordPress site can be both informational and help bring traffic to your site. Even if you only post about certain events, chances are that your site page can become a solid resource for people looking for relevant information on happenings around them.

However, you can really create an amazing event-related WordPress site if you are willing to put a little time in and build a site that is totally dedicated to events. No matter what type of functions you want to focus on, if you use the right events manager in WordPress, then you are going to be well on your way.

Let’s take look at the plugin we are going to use today to build and manage events in WordPress and see all that it has to offer.

Events Manager

Events Manager is a fully-customizable event registration plugin for WordPress. That is to say, not only can you build and manage events on your site, but you can also allow others to submit events and publish them as well. 

The plugin has every setting and configuration imaginable, so you will have all the tools needed to manage and post events on a small or large scale.

Despite all the features and functionality, the Events Manager plugin includes, it will not slow your site down, so publishing and managing events from your WordPress dashboard is as easy as ever.

The features and functionality that are included with this plugin are too many to list at once. However, here are some of the main ones that you gain access to when you install and activate the plugin:

• Easy event registration
• Recurring and multi-day events
• Full bookings management
• Multiple location types
• Multiple tickets
• MultiSite support
• BuddyPress support
• Google Map integration
• Categories
• Tags
• Custom events
• RSS Feeds
• Compatible with other plugins
• Add to Google Calendar button
• Compatible with SEO plugins
• Documentation and tutorials

And again, that is just the tip of the iceberg. If you are looking to build a fully functional event page or event site in WordPress, then the Events Manager plugin is definitely worth a look.

Let’s get the plugin set up together so you can start publishing events.

Note: There is a pro version of this plugin. It provides even more features. If you feel you need this, then go ahead a take a look. The tutorial and setup below are based on the free version of the plugin.

How to Share Events in WordPress

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin 

Before you can start sharing events in WordPress, you first need to install and activate the Events Manager plugin. You can do this by jumping over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

Simply use the available search field and search the plugin by name. When you see it pop up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Go to the Settings Page

Now that the plugin is installed and activated, you need to access the main settings page for the plugin. To do this, click on Events > Settings, located on the left menu area of the dashboard.

You can see that this option is now available because you activated the plugin. Don’t be alarmed when you see all the available features. It is simply a matter of going through them and setting them up how you want.

Step 3: Configure the Plugin

At this point, you have reached the main settings page for the plugin. It is more advanced than others, but that is because of the functionality that the Events Manager plugin offers.

There are just a lot of customizations you can make. Before we go through these, just realize that everyone is different and you can create the configuration setup that you want. Remember, you can always come back and make any adjustments needed.

When you land on the main settings page, you will see five different tabs. These include:

• General 
• Pages
• Formatting
• Bookings
• Emails

Let’s run through these together real quick.

General

Under the General tab, you will be able to configure all of the general settings for the plugin. This includes:

• General Options
• Image Sizes
• User Capabilities
• Google Maps
• Event Submission Form
• Performance Optimization
• Styling
• Privacy
• Admin Tools

Simply click on any box to open the dropdown and configure the relevant settings from there.

Pages

Here is where you will be able to configure all of the page settings for the plugin. This will include:

• Permalink Slugs
• Event Pages
• Event List/Archives
• Location Pages
• Location List/Archives
• Event Categories
• Event Tags
• Other Pages

Go through these and configure all the page settings you want.

Formatting

This tab provides you all the formatting options for the plugin. Go through them and set all the formatting how you want. This will include:

• Events
• Search Form
• Date/TimeCalendar
• Locations
• Event Categories
• Event Tags
• RSS
• Maps

Bookings

Configure all the settings for the bookings section of your events under this tab. Available dropdowns include:

• General Options
• Pricing Options
• Customize Feedback Messages
• Booking Form Options
• Ticket Options
• No-User Booking Mode

Emails

Last, but not least, configure all of the available email settings according to how you want them set. Options include:

• Email Settings
• Booking Email Templates
• Registration Email Templates
• Event Submission Templates

Be sure to click on the “Save Changes” button to save all the configurations you have made. That’s it! When you are finished in this section, you are ready to add your first event.

Remember, you can come back to the settings page any time and update any of the configurations.

Step 4: Set Up Event Tags and Categories

There is one last thing before you add your first event. On the left side menu area, you will see links to set up Event Tags and Event Categories. Go ahead and click through those and pre-set some categories and tags so that you have a few to reference when creating your first event.

Note: You do not have to do this, as you can manually add event categories and tags from the event editor.

Step 5: Add Locations

Again, the concept is the same as categories and tags. If you want, go ahead and add some event locations so you have them to easily add when you are creating an event.

Note: Just like categories and tags, you do not have to add these in advance. It is just an option.

Step 6: Add an Event

Click on the “Add Event” tab. This will open the event editor and you can create your first event.

Step 7: Add Event Title and Description 

Go ahead and add an event title and description. Use the editor like you would any other in WordPress. You can add pictures, media, and anything you want.

Step 8: Add When and Where Details

Scroll down some and add the “when” and “where” details for this particular event. The boxes are easy to fill out.

Note: If your location type is “Physical,” then a dropdown box will appear with the option to add a pre-set location, or fill out the location options manually.

Step 9: Add an Event Category and Tags

Scroll down a little more and go ahead and add an event category and any event tags you think are appropriate for your setup.

Step 10: Enable Bookings and Registration If Needed

You will now see a Bookings/Registration box. If you enable this, then a full dropdown will appear with a variety of configurations. Go through these and set them up how you want.

Step 11: Select a Featured Imaged and Publish

Last but not least, select a featured image for your event. When that is done, go ahead and click on the “Publish” button and make your event live.

That’s it! Your event is now live and showing on your site based on the configurations you made on the settings page. Feel free to go check it out and make any adjustments needed.

You can repeat the process above and set up as many events as you want.

Final Thoughts

Having a solid event page or calendar on your site can help bring in traffic and keep people in-the-know. It isn’t difficult to put this together with the right plugin, and the Events Calendar plugin will give you all the tools you need and more.

Have you tried other event plugins? Have you found one you have stuck with or is the process frustrating?

The post How to Use Events Manager to Plan and Share Events in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Using a free virtual tour creator, you can give customers in all sorts of different niches the ability to view things in a 360 panoramic view. This is important because it allows someone to see a property and make a decision right from the comfort of their own home.

Why Use a Virtual Tour Creator?

Virtual tour creators are very popular right now. Furthermore, they can be used in all sorts of industries, and for a number of different things. Are you a real estate agent that needs to show a property? Do you have a hotel and want to give people the ability to tour rooms and the facilities from the comfort of their home? Maybe you run a museum and you are looking to give online tours.

Whatever the case may be, using a 360 panorama WordPress plugin will give you the ability to accomplish this right from your website. In order to accomplish this, you need to have a solid 360 panorama tour plugin enabled on your site. Let’s take a look at the plugin we are going to use today and see all that it has to offer.

WP VR

WP VR allows you to create amazing virtual tours without the use of any high-end equipment. You can do this all on your own from the dashboard of your WordPress website. This allows customers to take a remote tour of your properties from the comfort of their own homes.

Once activated, visitors will be able to navigate a 360 view of your location, switch between the scenes you have built, get information on location, zoom in and out to get a better view, and get an overall idea about how your place may appear if they were there looking at it in real-life.

All you have to do is provide a panoramic image and the WP VR plugin will transfer that into a very realistic virtual tour.

The plugin comes with a ton of built-in features. However, all of these features do not slow your site down, as the plugin remains lightweight. It is also compatible with Gutenberg, Elementor Page Builder, Oxygen, and many other high-end plugins. There is built-in shortcode support as well.

Features

With so much functionality included, it is really hard to know where to start. That being said, here are some of the main features you will enjoy when using WP VR:

• Mobile-First Approach
• Live Previews
• Tour Autoload Feature
• Scene Fade Animation
• 360 Video Support (Through YouTube and Vimeo)
• Auto Rotation and Speed Control
• Rotation, Direction, Pause, and Stop Control
• Zoom In
• Zoom Out
• Fullscreen
• Hotspots
• Multi-Site Support
• Full-Width Tour Tag
• WP User Role Support
• Embed Texts, Videos, Images, GIFs, and Website Links on Hotspots
• Mobile Media Resize Option
• Plugin Rollback Support

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. The WP VR plugin is loaded with goodies and gives you everything you need to build a fantastic 360 panoramic tour on your WordPress website.

Let’s get the plugin installed and running together.

Note: WP VR does have a pro version that offers even more. If you feel this is something you need for your tours, go ahead and give it a look. The rest of the tutorial below is based on the free version of the plugin.

Use WP VR to Add Virtual Tours

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

In order to start using the WP VR plugin, you first need to install and activate it. You can do this by jumping over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard of your site.

Simply use the search field and enter the plugin by name. When it pops up, go ahead and install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Access the Get Started Page

Now that the plugin has been installed and activated, you want to head on over to the Get Started page and configure the plugin settings. To get there, click on WP VR > Get Started, located on the left side menu area of the dashboard.

You can see that this is now an available option because you activated the plugin.

Step 3: Configure the Plugin Settings

At this point, you should be on the main settings page for the WP VR plugin. You will see there are four main tabs. These include:

• Info
• Video Tutorials
• Free vs Pro
• Settings

Let’s go over these together real quick.

Info

This tab simply provides a lot of info about the plugin. It also provides links to support and other documentation.

Video Tutorials

Use this tab to access a number of video tutorials if you need them for troubleshooting.

Free vs Pro

As you can imagine, this tab gives information on the differences between the free and pro versions of WP VR.

Settings

This is where you will actually configure some important settings for the plugin. Go ahead and enable or disable what you want and make the rest of your selections according to what you would like.

Step 4: Click on the “Add New Tour” Tab

Now that all your settings are in place, it is time to add a virtual tour. Click on the “Add New Tour” tab, located under the main WP VR tab on the left side menu in the dashboard.

Step 5: Add a Tour Name

At the top of the WP VR editor, you will see a place to enter a tour name. Go ahead and add a tour name.

Under that, you will see an area titled “Tour Preview.” This area gives you a preview of the tour you are building so you know what it looks like before you publish it while adding the shortcode to a page.

Step 6: Add General Options and Settings

Scroll down some to the “Setup” area of the editor. Go ahead and upload an image and set all the other basic settings how you would like.

Note: You can see that the advanced controls and control buttons options are grayed out unless you have the pro version of the plugin.

Step 7: Add Scenes

Click on the “Scenes” box and add scenes if needed.

Step 8: Add Hotspots

If you need to add a hotspot or multiple hotspots, you can do that under this box.

Step 9: Enable or Disable Video

Last but not least in the setup, you can enable or disable video functionality. Go ahead and make your choice. When you are finished, click on the “Publish” button to make the tour live.

Step 10: Add the Shortcode to a Post or Page

Once the tour is published, WP VR provides you with a shortcode for that tour. Simply copy and paste that shortcode into the post or page you want it to display on.

That’s it, you can create as many tours as you want and publish them all-around your website.

Who Should Use WP VR?

Remember, this isn’t just for real estate agents. As mentioned above, it can be used in many different industries. Some of these include:

• Real Estate
• Educational Institutes
• Hotels and Resorts
• Restaurants
• Travel and Tourism
• Museums
• Art Galleries
• Showrooms and Stores
• Bars and Pubs

Give it a try and see how you like it. Your potential and existing customers and clients will thank you.

Final Thoughts

Adding virtual tours on your WordPress website is a great way to allow customers to see properties and get questions answered, all from the comfort of their own home. 

Adding the type of functionality to your site does not have to be difficult. If you have a plugin like WP VR, then the process is pretty simple and straightforward.

I hope this tutorial was able to show you how easy it actually is to create and publish beautiful 360-degree panoramic tours on your website.

Have you ever accomplished this with high-end equipment? Have you found it too difficult and time-consuming?

The post How to Add a Virtual Tour in WordPress with WP VR appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Polls can be used in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular is to gauge visitor interest in a variety of topics. And luckily, they are really easy to set up because there are so many plugins to choose from.

Today, I will demonstrate how to set up polls with the Democracy Poll plugin.

How Polls Help Websites

A visitor poll is a terrific tool to collect information from visitors in a very engaging way. Not only can you see the information, but others can as well, which makes them exciting.

For example, you can run a television or streaming service popularity poll to find out which character is your reader’s favorite. This can help you gear content towards the most popular character to get more views and it also gives the community a place to share their thoughts.

It’s a win-win situation.

Of course, polls aren’t just about fun and games. You can ask more serious questions like how was their experience on your website or at a physical location. It’s also a good way to collect feedback on design changes, like WordPress themes.

This information is vital to ensuring the best visitor/customer experience possible.

How to Use Democracy Poll in WordPress

Step 1: Install Democracy Poll

The Democracy Poll plugin makes adding a survey in WordPress quick and easy. It allows you to present a question to visitors and have them answer. The results are then viewable to both the developer and visitors.

One of the coolest features the plugin offers is its ability to allow visitors to add their own answers to a poll. This is particularly useful when you present your community with a question like “Who is your favorite character in South Park?”

The plugin is very simple to use, so let’s get right into it.

Click on Plugins and select the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for Democracy Poll in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the Democracy Poll plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

Step 2: Configure the Settings

Before you create any polls, it’s important to take a moment and configure the settings. These include a variety of choices with the most important one being who can vote. You can open it up to anyone who stumbles upon your website or keep it restricted to registered members.

This can be changed at any time, which is ideal because you will likely want to collect information from both groups.

On the left-hand admin panel, click on Settings and select the Democracy Poll option.

Everything related to this plugin, including poll creation, is located in this area. It is broken up into several tabs. For this step, click on the Settings tab.

There are quite a few settings to configure, and I highly recommend going through each one. The plugin does a great job at explaining what each does by including a short description underneath the options.

Most importantly, in the Global Polls options section, you will find all of the choices that relate to the polls including who can vote and how poll results are displayed.

Once you have gone through all of the settings, click on the “Save Options” button at the bottom.

There are also theme settings that can be used to alter the appearance of polls to make them match your theme’s presentation.

Step 3: Create A Poll

Now it’s time to create a poll, which is really easy to do. The plugin allows you to create an unlimited number of polls, and you can view the results at any time.

Click on the “Add new poll” tab.

Simply add the question into the question text box and answers into the answer text box. Additional text boxes for answers are added whenever you fill-up the available ones. Thus, there is no limit on the number of answers you can add.

Underneath the answers, you will find a small checkbox that will allow visitors to add their own answers. You may check it or leave it unchecked.

You will then find some additional options specific to the poll. These include things like visitors being able to select multiple answers, the date at which the poll will close, allow visitors to revote if they change their mind or made a mistake, allow visitors to see the results, and more.

Note: You can extend polls by changing the end date at any time. This is perfect if you don’t get many participants.

Most importantly, you must check the “Activate this poll” for the poll to work.

Once you are happy with the poll, click on the “Add Poll” button.

The poll is now created and available for use, now it’s time to add it to the website.

Step 4: Display Poll

This plugin utilizes shortcodes to display polls in WordPress.

You can find your poll shortcode by clicking on the Polls List tab. They will be located underneath the question when you hover your mouse over it.

Note: The Poll shortcode is also displayed after clicking on the “Add New” button in the previous step.

Copy the shortcode and paste it into a shortcode block on any post or page in WordPress. You can also add it to a text widget if you want the poll to appear in a sidebar.

Regardless of where you add it, the poll will now be visible on your website.

If you plan on adding polls regularly, you may want to consider creating a survey page in WordPress. This can house all of your polls and other user inquiries. Of course, you could also add them directly into posts that they are relevant for.

Congratulations on using the Democracy Poll plugin to add polls in WordPress.

Engage Your Community

Polls are a fun activity to see what your community thinks about a certain topic and allows you to gauge interest in certain content. It is also a great way to engage with the community, after all, you are using what they tell you to shape the content you create.

Thus, I highly recommend mentioning the results of the popularity poll in content.

For example, if you ran a character popularity poll, create a follow-up post about that character and mention that it is based on the results from the community. This will encourage more users to vote that did not and may help new visitors discover your polls.

Keep in mind the “losers” of these polls are also excellent options for content if you are creative. For example., you could take the least popular character and explain why said character is not popular or why they are easy to hate.

This is content visitors love to read, so no matter what the results are, the information is useful.

What kind of WordPress polls do you plan on creating for your website? How often do you plan to release new polls?

The post How to Get Answers from Visitors with Democracy Poll in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

A WordPress food tracker allows someone to use your website to put together meal plans, track goals, and create a diet that works for them. This is an important part of any health and fitness program.

What is a Meal Tracker?

A meal tracker (often called a food tracker or food diary) is something that helps you build meals and track food and drink items that you consume daily. A really good daily diet tracker will help you understand your eating habits and apply better practices to everyday life. 

By using a meal tracker, you can see everything you eat, when you eat it, how much you take in, and use the results to improve your health. You can even go over them with your doctor. Providing these types of items and information to your doctor can really help them build a better fitness program for you in the long run.

There are a lot of different meal trackers out there. Today, I am going to show you how to get one up and running on your WordPress site so that your users can have access to it.

Let’s take a look at the plugin we are going to use today and see all that it has to offer.

Meal Tracker

Meal Tracker is a smooth plugin that will allow your site users to track their meal and calorie intake directly from your website. You can set certain calorie targets, or let your users set them on their own.

The plugin comes with some pretty good functionality. It is also lightweight, so it will not slow your website down. Some of the main features of this meal tracker for WordPress include:

• Users can log meal and calorie intake
• Visual graph to show users percentage of daily allowance used
• Add all meals and snacks throughout the day
• View total calorie intake for the entire day
• Each user can have their own meal collection
• Users can create and edit al their meals

The Meal Tracker plugin gives you everything you need to create a solid food planning option on your site. Let’s get the plugin installed and running together.

Note: There is a premium version of this plugin. It does unlock quite a bit of functionality, and it might be something to look into. If you think this is something you might be interested in, then feel free to check it out. The tutorial below is based on the free version of the plugin.

How to Add a Meal Tracker to WordPress

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin 

In order to add a daily diet tracker to your WordPress website, you first need to install and activate the plugin. You can easily do this by heading over to the Plugins page of the WordPress admin dashboard.

Simply use the search field to search the plugin by name and when it pops up and install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Access the Setup Wizard

This particular plugin comes with a setup wizard. It is a good idea to access that area first before going to the settings page. 

Click on Meal Tracker > Setup Wizard, located on the left menu area of the dashboard.

You can see that this is now an available option after you activated the plugin for use.

Step 3: Go Through the Setup Wizard Information

Once on the setup wizard page, you will see that there are 4 tabs available to go through. These include:

• Introduction
• Setup
• Admin Interface
• Customizations

Introduction

The introduction tab simply has information in it about the meal tracker and a welcome message for you.

Setup

The setup tab gives information on shortcodes and how to use them in regards to the plugin.

Admin Interface

This section talks about how to access and view all the user data that builds up over time. 

Customizations

If you are looking for specific customizations to add to the meal tracker, then this is the place to get in touch with the developers of it and see what they offer.

Step 4: Go Configure the Plugin

At this point, you can head over to the settings page for the plugin and configure it how you want. Once there, you will see four main tabs.

Go through these and configure the settings how you see fit. These tabs include:

• General
• Calorie Allowance
• External Sources
• Display

Note: You will see a lot of grayed out items throughout the configurations. These are only available in the premium version of the plugin. 

General

These are the general settings for the plugin. Go through them and set them all how you want for your website.

Calorie Allowance

Set the calorie allowance options how you would like them. If you have the free version, then your only option is to allow or disallow user-specified calorie allowances.

External Sources

The Meal Tracker plugin allows you to attach some external sources to it for more options. This is where you can do that if you choose to do so.

Display

Select the display options you want to show from this area.

Step 5: Add the Shortcode to Any Page 

All that is left to do is to add the relevant shortcode to the page you want the meal tracker to display on. The built-in shortcode is [meal-tracker]. Copy and paste that into any page and click on the “Update” or “Publish” button.

Step 6: View the Tracker Live

At this point, the tracker is live on the page you published it on. From here, you can view the tracker in action on your site.

Remember, your meal tracker will look different based on the option you chose during the configuration process. 

That’s it! You are now running a fully functioning meal tracker on your website.

Other Options

The Meal Tracker plugin has some other areas you can visit as well. You will find them under the main Meal Tracker tab on the left side of the dashboard.

These include areas like Meal Collection and User Data. You can view these at any point to see all that is happening over time.

Note: These areas will fill over time based on users and the data that they put into the meal tracker on your site.

Final Thoughts

If you have a health and fitness website and have been looking at different ways to add user functionality, then the Meal Tracker plugin for WordPress may be exactly what you are looking for.

I hope this tutorial was able to show you how easy it is to get a meal tracker up and running on a WordPress website. As long as you have the right plugin and the instructions, then implementing it should not be a difficult task at all.

Have you tried building a food tracker for your site on your own? Is there another plugin that you prefer using?

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