So many people have asked me if there is a plugin which will allow them to pop affiliate feed content into the Wordpress format, and now I’m able to say… “Why Yes, there is a plugin that will do that!”
An old internet friend of mine, Jason Hulott, has just developed an excellent paid plugin (there’s a free trial version too) that will make bulk posting into Wordpress a breeze. He’s developed an easy peasy interface that makes uploading content based around a feed, and creating bulk time delayed posting a breeze.
I think this plugin could be very powerful if used in the right way (i.e. alongside unique content placed within the feed). Here’s a few details about what looks to potentially be a really powerful affiliate tool.
CSV Import - A Wordpress Plugin For Affiliate Marketers!
Features:-
- Imports large CSV files of up to 10,000 records to be posted immediately or on a time delayed basis.
- Assign posts to different categories. If the category doesn’t exist, the plugin will create it.
- Post to multiple categories.
- Add custom fields.
- Supports addition of video content and images.
- Incredibly easy to use.
Having had a look at the plugin, it couldn’t be more simple to use. If you have basic Excel and HTML tagging skills you should be able to easily alter a merchants data feed and use it to populate some posts. The plugin runs on a very basic feed format. Once you have uploaded the plugin, You simply need to create 5 columns within the spreadsheet: -
Then simply browse for and upload your file in Wordpress, and click submit.
Seems pretty easy to use to me!
A Plea From The Author - Do No Evil With My Plugin
Jason is a very ethical and thoughtful chap. He wants me to make it clear if you’re a spammer - please don’t buy this. Your scurrilous activities will break his affiliate heart. He very nearly didn’t release this plugin into the public domain for fear of what lazy spammers might do with it. He has written a very detailed “Ethical Usage Guide” to go along with this plugin. It’s 2,500 words packed full of hints and tips about how you can use the plugin to create easy, unique, useful content.
In his words,
You could just find some datafeeds and upload them and make huge sites of just product data. Now this is a quick way to build a big website but it won’t rank, it won’t get read and more importantly it won’t make you any money.
Couldn’t have put it better myself!
Further Information: -
- You can get detailed information and buy this fully supported plugin for $99 from Jason’s website.
- Want to try before you buy? Jason has an older and more clunky version of this plugin available to download for free here. A word of warning though, it is problematic in that the date field is a nightmare to operate. It also does not have all the features of the paid plugin. It may be buggy as it lacks the polish of the final version (so don’t base your judgement of the paid product on it), but it will probably give you an idea of how it all works.
- Finally, the link to the plugin page above is an affiliate link. Plain old link here if you can’t stand giving other affiliates commission on things
July 10th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Nice find Kirsty. Will there be an issue with duplicate content? I suppose I’m trying to find the downside to this plugin as it sounds superb!
July 10th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Interesting question Mark. I’d think so long as you had the site set up to prevent indexing of duplicate content and were sensible about not publishing too much in multiple categories you should be right.
I think it’s like anything, use it sensibly and analyse the consequences of what you’re doing!
July 10th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Ok. Ordered, downloaded and ready to go!
I think that’s a fair comment and to be fair, that is what Jason says on his site too.
Are you using it yourself? If so, would you mind sharing (publicly or privately) some examples?
One more question please. My experiences of CSV Feeds to-date has consisted of traditional product feeds. Jason seems to be referring to feeds that contain true content, articles etc. Do you happen to know any merchants that have feeds like this? I’d appreciate a quick heads up to enable me to use one as an example before I go looking for the relevant feeds for my sites.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Looks a nice plug… glad you posted this
Have to say I think its a bit pricey considering you see custom scripts for CSV import written for $30 - $40.
Don’t think he needs to worry about spammers stumping up $99… not with OS stuff like wp-omatic freely available
That said, I can think of a couple of people who would be interested in this so will forward details…
July 10th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Isn’t Wordpress supposed to be open source and covered by the GPL? How on earth are people getting away with charging for plugins?
July 10th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
There has been a plugin (paid) for awhile that’ll allow you to import from a csv.
http://www.wordpressdatafeedimport.com/
Will take a look at the new plugin but the ‘old’ plugin allows for a little more automated customisation to try and avoid any duplicate content issues.
July 10th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
There’s another way of looking at this. If I were to commission a company to do some work for me that saved me hours and hours of work, then I’d pay them. If they happen to have created a tool that saves them hours and hours of work too, then they will increase their margin on that contract.
To commercialise that tool further, they happen to sell it.
July 10th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Yes I agree with you. However, the point is, Wordpress is an open source project, and selling plugins that are derivative works of Wordpress goes against the spirit of sharing for free that is at the heart of open source.
I am an active member of the Drupal community, and it is unheard of to sell a Drupal module (equivilant to a Wordpress plugin). Even if one did, there is nothing stopping the buyer from giving it away to everyone else for free, since any derived work is covered by the same GPL as Drupal. Perhaps Wordpress works differently? Who knows.
July 10th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Kirsty,
I have been meaning to THANK YOU for some time now for this blog and for all of the fantastic information you put on it. It is refreshing to see that there are still people out there that are unselfish and give out wisdom, information and inspriration, without expecting something in return. I look forward to all of your posts. Best wishes to you and your fiancee!
Cheers!
Debbie
July 10th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
@ blair, I don’t really mind paying a bit for a plugin (or for a premium theme) if it is going to be fully supported. As I’m not that technical I value the service / help I get for paying a little for something. Particularly if it has functionality I can’t get elsewhere. Hand on heart, I’ve only ever bought one paid plugin for the last reason I mentioned, it was $30 and worth every single penny!
@ Mark, You’ll be able to customise a merchant feed to go in there. Just change the header names. Drop me a line via my contact form if you’re confused. Also, Jason is a very responsive sort of guy. I’m sure he’ll see you right.
@ Debbie, Why thankyou I always really appreciate it when people pop up just to say “thanks”. I hope you enjoy the blog for some time to come!
July 11th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Nice one, Kirsty (and Jason, of course), this should come in very handy.