Here’s something I reckon people will find useful; a quick post and plugin (of sorts) to help you integrate an Amazon aStore into a WordPress website.
This is something I myself had to search for not long back and although I was able to find some good explanations, I thought I could go one better and provide the file you need to add specifically – the Amazon aStore WordPress page template
Download Amazon aStore page template
- aStore.zip v1
Installation
- Download the Amazon aStore WordPress page template
- Upload the page to your site (inside the specific themes folder)
- Configure your aStore and when you are given the choice of how to display your store, select ‘Inline Frame’.
- Copy the code that Amazon provides.
- Log-in to your WordPress website and go to ‘Design’ and then ‘Theme Editor’
- Select the aStore page template (aStore_page.php)
- Paste your aStore code over the top of the default code that’s there, which is for my store
- Make sure you update the file so it saves properly.
- Now go back to your control panel and click ‘Write’ and select ‘Page’.
- Give your page a title such as Store or Shop or whatever.
- Scroll down to the bottom where you can select a page template from the dropdown and select aStore Page.
- Publish that page.
- Now when you visit that page your aStore should display.
Configuration
The aStore by default will create a really long page, meaning you have to scroll down for ages until your footer becomes visible. However, you can easily configure the height and width of your aStore simply by going back to the Theme Editor and editing this line of code in the aStore_page file:
width=”100%” height=”2000″
Possible Problem
The file I’ve supplied doesn’t call for the sidebar. The reason for this is that the aStore takes up so much room within a theme, that there often isn’t the space for it. My sites all have navigation across the top so it isn’t a problem but if your primary navigation is in a left or right sidebar, you’ll have to do some more editing I’m afraid. Remember though, Amazon does provide an option to add a link back to your homepage within your aStore so this can be of great help, if not a perfect solution.
aStore Page Example
I’ve now done about 3 or 4 of these aStores, all pretty much following this format. To see an example of one in action, click here.
About Thomas
Thank you for this template. It was a great help.
You can see it in action on my website http://www.vtechtoys.net
No problem, glad you got some good use out of it.
I see you’re starting a really niche website there, which is good to see. Think you’ve got the basics right to do very well.
Good luck to you!
First of all, thank you for this method of adding an aStore to a WordPress Blog.
As easy as it sounds, especially with your aStore zip, I am still having a problem. I am using WP 2.7 hosted with HostGator.
My problem is this; after following your outlined steps and get to this part – “Scroll down to the bottom where you can select a page template from the dropdown and select aStore Page.
Publish that page.
Now when you visit that page your aStore should display.”
I can’t find anywhere that offers a page template selection in order to choose the aStore page. Can you tell me how to do this on WP 2.7?
Thanks
Hi Carl,
Glad you’re getting some use out of my little tutorial.
WordPress 2.7 has moved things around a little. This tutorial was designed with 2.6 in mind.
Anyway, Log-in and navigate to add new page.
Then on the right of the page, there should be a silver bar that says ‘Attributes’.
Click on that and it will reveal two drop-down menus. One will be ‘Parent’ and the other will be ‘Template’.
Click on the template menu and your aStore template should be there. Select it and publish.
That should work.
Thanks Thomas; I will let you know how I make out a.s.a.p.
Right now I am trying to clean up after being hacked. I’ve read about the chance of a WP blog being hacked and the experiences of those to whom this has happened.
Well, add my name to the list of “hackee’s.”
That’s interesting Carl (if not a little unfortunate). I’ve never been ‘hacked’ on any of my WordPress sites, yet.
Let me know more about what happened. Might make a good blog post to warn more people about it.
Had a look at your site as well. Looks very interesting and you’re certainly niche so that bodes well for future success. I did a degree in Film Studies so I shall bookmark it for future reading!
Hi Thomas,
I have held up on the aStore installation for just a short while. In the meantime, I am working on having a redesign to give the site more eye appeal, and to change the way some things work (and also increasing WP security).
As you have seen, there is very little content at the moment and I don’t want to add any more (I have written enough posts for the next two years) until the changes are made and I am comfortable with a new look and some added security.
Regarding my hacking incident – This was the file that was hacked and defaced; public_html/wp-content/themes/index.php.
This file access was achieved by getting into my WP-Admin section. I had used the usual User Name: admin, and what I thought was a pretty strong password. I was wrong.
The User Name: admin was removed from the wp_users table and I was unable to get in. Trying to do so only froze me on the WP Admin page and presented me with a prompt that read – Ha, Ha, you can’t get in!
Using a keyword to Google my site and clicking on the result presented me with a black background page with the following written on it:
This site was hacked by
Black 3Y3D
Absolute Hacker
A Muslim Hacker
Your Security = 0
There was also a Yahoo e-mail address that was bogus (no surprise).
I would encourage any of your readers to consider using this plugin http://w-shadow.com/blog/2008/07/24/change-admin-username-in-wordpress/ or at the very least, this password generator https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm.
For those interested; HostGator security was very, very helpful and responsive.
As soon as I get things sorted out I will post here with the results.
Carl, that’s so unlucky.
Well, I’ll dedicate a post to talking about being hacked and give you a link so at least you get something out of the ordeal!
Any other help you need, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
I appreciate the link offer Thomas, but please wait until there is something of value at the end of the link.
I will let you know when; if that is o.k. with you?
Thanks again, I will be back soon with the results of my aStore integration.
Having studied Film, I hope you will enjoy what I have to offer. The site will include all original content and cover the first 4 significant decades of motion picture history (in my opinion anyway) and the top films of each decade (also my opinion); approx. 650 in total, with considerable video, and additional related news items for each decade along with information on the most prominent stars and directors of these eras.
I’m an old guy (61, but still 12 between my ears) and hope to get this information in front of those a generation or two after me. If they truly love movies they will appreciate them even more with a little knowledge of their history.
While I didn’t live in all of these decades myself, it didn’t take long after viewing and reading about many of these films that I began to develop a passion for the films of this time.
Well, I will get off my movie history soapbox now and stop rambling.
Talk to you soon!
Thanks so much for the code. I have been looking for this for a while.
You deserve a pat on the back dude, well done
may god peace success and happiness be with you.
@ Ken – No problem my friend. I’d been looking for the code for ages as well, which is why I ended up doing it myself in the end. I hope you get some good use out of it.
@ Mark – Glad to see you used the code to create an excellent store. I picked up some tips on how to train my unruly Labrador so thanks to you!
Very cool – thanks for the template code. I see this works on the fact that it is an iframe – any way to get this or another plugin to create actual pages on a blog?
The benefits to doing this would be great, from having a ton more pages to spider to having a constantly updating RSS feed…
Hi Jonathan,
Glad you could make some use of the template.
If I had the time or technical know-how to do more advanced developing I certainly would.
Given how many people have got in touch to say this helped them out, maybe I should look into doing something else.
Hi Thomas,
I would like to say, “Thank you very much for this very helpful tutorial!” I’m so glad you took the time to create it. I put it to use on my website, http://www.ps3gameshop.com and a couple of other sites.
I was wondering if you have any experience in doing the same thing for an Ebay widget?? I am trying to put an Ebay widget on one of my pages and it doesn’t fit and I don’t have a clue about changing codes or anything of the sort. The width of the widget, i do know is 570 and all but a little bit fits on my page. Could I just change some numbers in my template or something like that?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks again!!
Hey, Thanks for your easy step by step tutorial. It was easy and got my astore up and going in a breeze.
Just wanted to let you know how helpful this post and zip file was for me. I had messed around for several hours trying to manipulate the php file for my store with no success. With your zip file and instructions I was able to set my store up in just about five minutes flat! This post is very much appreciated! This is a stumble upon bookmark for sure for me.
YOU ABSOLUTELY ROCK!! As with the previous comment, I was also having trouble with my Astore because it kept wanting to show the sidebar, which of course as you pointed out, the store takes up a lot of room on the page, so as a result, my store was being cut off. BUT, with your clever little php page here, I was able to get my store to show properly
Thanks so MUCH!!!
Worked like a champ. Thanks for the help!
Thomas thanks a great deal.. I’ve been looking for a solution to the widgets preventing my astore from showing in full.. Thanks soo much for taking the time solve this problem..Its much appreciated
Hiya David,
Glad it helped you out.
Nice site. I’ll be sure to give a shout if I ever think about getting a box turtle.
Hi Thomas,
I’m using this on my site and its the best I’ve seen so far.
Thank you for your instructions as well. I do have one question however…
This may not be in your area, but do you know if there are any SEO issues using this plugin? Specifically for duplicate content and therfore being penalised bu Google?
The plugin actually takes reviews from amazon and replicates them identically on my site. But the aStore page I have on my site has a URL that only reads as ‘www.example.com/store’. So without the ability to index a specific URL I would think that it should be fine.
Could you please let me know your thoughts on this?
Many thanks.
Hi Zac,
This forum topic answers a lot of your concerns:
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1713795
I think the bottom line is pretty much, if you embed the store into your site and have lots of other relevant content on the site i.e. quality pages that you’ve created yourself, then it shouldn’t be an issue.
Obviously if your whole site is basically just the aStore, you’ll struggle whatever you do because it’s of no value to Google at all.
Duplicate content isn’t the issue, it’s the overall quality of your website.
Hope this helps you out in someway.
All the best,
Thomas
Thanks Thomas!
Those were my exact thoughts as well.
Indeed your plugin is embedded into my site, as well as it having other original content that I’ve written, so it should be fine.
Just one other thing…
The plugin grabs as many reviews as it can from amazon that will possibly fit onto my site’s astore page. It tends just to cut of the last review at some random place when it reaches the bottom of the page.
Is there a way to edit the number of reviews that apply to, say, just 2 or 3 reviews, to make it look cleaner? Or even some way of editing the code so that no reviews are captured at all?
Many thanks
Hi Thomas,
Thanks for this great resource. I’m a little disappointed with Amazon’s seemingly limited customizing options for their aStore. I recently upgraded a client’s website to run off a WordPress script and came across your site as I was searching for better options for installing an aStore into WordPress. Even the Amazon default setting of a 90% width can cut information off. Has anyone found a solution for the height so that it fits the actual content? I’ve manually reduced the height, but also found on search categories or pages that it will cut off and had to increase the height back up again.
Here’s a link to the install I did on a WordPress 3.0 script based on the default Twenty Ten theme (the site is still under re-development and will be receiving new content and possibly a few other changes).
http://www.kosracing.com/kos-racing-online-store/
Thanks,
Kevin
Hi
Thanks for this great information. A quick google i found you site and with in 5 minutes i have my astore integrated into my WP site
Just to add my thoughts. My site has duplicate content. But with original content as well. With time As I “market” each page on line building backlinks Ill rewrite manually each page.
This way i get a full blown site up that will naturally get some traffic even when on page 3 (yep im getting hits on keywords that are ranged page 3 and making sales!) and with time ill improve page rankings for each specifc item.
The Astore is only one ruote for visitors to leave my site
Once again thanks
Steve Wyman