Only out for a about a week at the point, the already popular Pay with a Like plugin from WPMU DEV is already seeing updates and new features. Pay with a Like allows you to reveal content only after a user has “liked” it at one of the web’s top four social media services: Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
Here’s a quick overview of what’s new in the latest release:
- Basic statistics added
- Possibility to have a custom css file outside the plugin directory added
- Support for unlimited protected content on a single page
- wpmudev_wpal function to be used for custom post type templates added
- Deprecated message for PHP5.3 fixed
- Embedded scripts are moved to the footer for W3C and better performance and problems with some themes
- Improvement of UI in post editor and settings page
- Fixed setcookie issue when zero or empty value is entered
Basic Statistics
You will now find a Basic Statistics section near the bottom of your settings page for the plugin. This section will tell you …
- How many total “likes” you have (this includes Facebook Likes, Google Plus Ones, Linkedin “Ins,” and Tweets)
- The number of “likes” from the four different services (Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn, and Twitter)
- The top “most liked” posts
And here’s what it looks like:
Add a CSS File Outside the Plugin Directory
Another important feature in this release is the ability to add a custom CSS file outside of the plugin’s directory. This allows you to add styles that won’t be overwritten when the plugin is updated.
(Note: If you’re a WPMU DEV member, then you know that many plugins see constant updates and new features. Therefore, if you would like to add your own styles to this plugin, make sure you take advantage of this option.)
There are instructions for what you need to do in order to add your own custom stylesheet at the very bottom of the plugin’s setting page.
You can check out more about the Pay with a Like plugin and download it on its homepage.
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Why would you have it so the custom CSS file is in an uneditable location, rather than in the theme location, so it can be edited with the Theme Editor?
Lance – I think the idea is to make it so it won’t be overwritten by plugin updates. I’m not a programmer, and so I can’t say for sure, but I don’t know if there’s a way to keep it in the plugin folder AND make it safe from updates. Maybe a separate CSS folder can be included, but I don’t know if that would show up in the plugin editor section. I’ll ask the developers.
Hi Joseph,
Thanks for your reply. I wasn’t suggesting putting it in the plugin folder–I suggested the *theme* location/editor, where all the other stylesheets and appearance-related files are. That wouldn’t be affected by plugin upgrades.
True, if the stylesheet is in the theme, then it won’t be affected by plugin upgrades. Unfortunately, some themes – like twentyeleven theme – can be updated, so putting the stylesheet in the theme directory may nuke your custom css.
Actually, I’m pretty sure that if it was a separate CSS file, upgrading the theme wouldn’t touch it. Theme upgrades don’t nuke all files, right? I assume they just update/overwrite some of their own files.
I spoke the the developers, and it seems the ability to edit in the back end is coming soon. In fact, the ability to do that is already included in the plugin (but not yet in a public way). They are waiting for the final release of WP 3.4 to make sure there are no issues.
Great Joseph – thanks for the follow-through!
Hi Joseph,
Thank’s for good article.This is something like what I have been looking for in order to push the social..
But I am not sure if my visitors will appreciate this.. I personally do not click on share or like buttons when they are required to access the content. I simply leave the page, and directly unfollow the creator of that content…
Max – I understand that sentiment. You need to know your audience, of course.