With the increase of Chitika eMiniMals’ popularity, especially after Darren Rowse from ProBlogger.Net reviewed it, I think it’s time to throw a Wordpress plugin for Chitika. So here it is, [CA] Chitika, a Wordpress plugin to automatically add Chitika’s eMiniMalls code on your post

How It Works

Since the plugin is still in the early stage, I only focus on how to make it works. To add the Chitika’s code on your post, you simply use this tag:

<!--chitika(width,height)-->

so for example, if you want to display the banner layout (468 x 60), you’ll write:

<!--chitika(468,60)-->

The plugin will automatically substitute the tag with the corresponding Chitika eMiniMalls ad code. Note that you can only use the supported ad layout dimension.

Plugin also supports the targetted query/keyword (ch_query code). It can be based on four variables: tag parameter, custom field, post title, and default query. Even you can let Chitika decide the best keyword for your post, it’s not recommended if you’re using AdSense, since it againsts the AdSense TOS (contextual ads). More about targetting query/keyword on the Usage section below.

No admin interface yet, but I might add it in the future.

Requirement

Since this is a WordPress plugin, of course you need WordPress Currently tested under version 1.5.2. The plugin doesn’t use any Wordpress built-in functions, so it should work with other version as well.

Installation

1-Click Install: available using Wordpress Plugin Manager. Click here for the entry on the database.

Manual Install:

• Download the latest version.
• Extract the file.
• Modify the variable (see Usage section).
• Upload ca_chitika.php into your Plugins directory
• Activate the plugin from admin panel.

Live Demo / Screenshot

Check my post here. Or see below for the screenshot of the post.

Usage

First, change the $chitika_client on the plugin file (ca_chitika.php) with your Chitika’s user id.

As I already mention above, the basic usage is, if you want to display Chitika’s ad, you have to add the following tag inside your post.

<!--chitika(width,height)-->

so for example, if you want to display the banner layout (468 x 60), you’ll write:

<!--chitika(468,60)-->

Now, to target the query/keyword:

1. Direct Tag Parameter.
   This is the highest priority. If the plugin found the keyword parameter, it will automatically use it and ignore the other setting. Simply add the query/keyword list as the third parameter on the Chitika’s tag. To enter multiple keyword (the plugin will randomly choose one of them), separate it with comma.
   For example:
   • Single query/keyword.

     <!--chitika(468,60,"digital camera")-->

   • Multiple query/keyword.

     <!--chitika(468,60,"digital camera,mobile phone,computer")-->

2. Custom Field.
   To use it, first change the value of $chitika_base on the plugin file (ca_chitika.php) to “tags”. Then on your post, add a custom field named Chitika and enter the value of the targetted query you want. To enter multiple query (the plugin will randomly choose one of them), separate it with comma.
3. Post Title
   Using your post title is the easiest way since you don’t have to think about the query yourself. And if your title already contain at least one targetted keyword, Chitika will use it and ignore the rest of the non-targetted keyword.
   To use it, you only need to change the value of $chitika_base on the plugin file (ca_chitika.php) to “title”.
4. Default Query/Keyword
   The default query/keyword will be used if: (1) you ask for it, (2) the custom field is empty, or (3) the post title is empty (which is almost impossible).
   To use it, change the value of $chitika_query on the plugin file (ca_chitika.php) with the value of the targetted query you want. To enter multiple query (the plugin will randomly choose one of them), separate it with comma. If you want to force the plugin to always use the default query, change the value of $chitika_base to an empty string “”.

Starting from v0.3, additional parameter has been added, nosearch.

<!-chitika(widht, height, keyword, nosearch)-->

nosearch parameter is used to hide or show Chitika’s Search tab. By default, nosearch is set to 1 (true). Since most of you are using Google AdSense together with Chitika, this is to comply with AdSense for Search TOS. If you’re not using AdSense for Search, use 0 (false) to display Chitika’s Search tab.

Tips/Tricks

• Display Chitika eMiniMalls ad on your theme using the plugin.
  If you want to use the plugin to display Chitika’s ad code on your WP theme, you can use the following PHP code:

  <?php chitika(width, height, keyword list); ?>

  For example:

  <?php chitika(468, 60, "notebook"); ?>

  will display a 468×60 Chitika’s ad with “notebook” as the keyword. You can ignore the keyword list parameter as well, and it will automatically use the default setting on the plugin file.

• Display Chitika eMiniMalls ad code on your theme using the plugin with target keyword based on your post category.
  Using the same technique as I did with Amazon’s Recommended Link query, you can also targetted the Chitika’s ad keyword based on your post category. Here’s the code:

  <?php chitika(468, 60, single_cat_title()); ?>

To Do

Future plan:

• Admin interface
• Quicktags button (done in v0.2)

Version History

v0.3 - October 11th, 2005

• Add nosearch parameter to comply with AdSense TOS
• Fix random keyword algorithm

v0.2 - October 3rd, 2005

• Add direct keyword targetting on the tag
• Add Quick Tags button

v0.1 - October 3rd, 2005

• Initial release