Hi there! If you’re reading this, you probably want to know how to do various things with the Author Showcase WordPress plugin. This manual will instruct you on how to use the various shortcode options that come with the plugin. The best way to figure out which one is best for you is to try them all!
The Default
First of all, the basic AS shortcode only needs a comma-separated list of Book IDs. It looks like this:
[[btbe_display books="1,2,3"]]
The List format is used as the default. The list includes the short blurb, and a list of text links to where you can buy each book. If you’ve specified a page for a book, there will be a button underneath the cover that says ‘Find out more’ and link to it.
The list of links can be modified so that it uses the icons you specified instead of the text. The icons will be displayed with a height and width equal to the show_icons size. Make sure the icons you upload are big enough!
Here’s the code to use:
[[btbe_display books="1,2,3" show_icons="64"]]
The Columns Format
Columns are a good choice if you want to display a small series, like a trilogy. It will display the blurb, a Find out more link (if the page is specified) and a list of buy links.
[[btbe_display books="1,2,3" type="columns"]]
Again, it’ll default to text links, but you can give it a show_icons value to get icons instead.
[[btbe_display books="1,2,3" type="columns" show_icons="64"]]
The Grid Format
The Grid is similar to the Widget display. It’s best used for a large number of books that you need to arrange all together, like a large series for which the Columns format shows too much infomation. It displays the covers, and a Find out more link, and the buy links are hidden behind the cover by default. (Like the Widget, the Grid icons are set to 32x32px.)
[[btbe_display books="1,2,3" type="grid"]]
The number of books per row defaults to 4, but you can override this setting:
[[btbe_display books="1,2,3" type="grid" per_row="3"]]
You can also specify that the slideout menu that shows the buy links should be disabled, and the icons will appear below the cover.
[[btbe_display books="1,2,3" type="grid" per_row="3" icons_visible="true"]]
The Single Format
This format should be used on the individual book pages. It uses the long blurb, the subtitle and series title (if available) and the author name. If you add the API key for Goodreads – which you can get here – and the book’s ISBN, the plugin will pull in reviews from Goodreads. If you add your Amazon affiliate information and API keys, and the book’s ASIN, the plugin will pull in reviews from Amazon.
It can display more than one book per page if you add multiple shortcodes, but I really recommend that you keep it to one book. It will not accept a comma-separated list of book IDs. It will only display the first book.
[[btbe_display books="1" type="single"]]
Like the List and Columns, it also defaults to text for the buy links, and you can change this by giving a show_icons value.
[[btbe_display books="1" type="single" show_icons="64"]]
Other Options
For any of the multiple book display types (Grid, Columns, List) you can specify a series instead of individual Book IDs. All you need to do is give the shortcode a Book ID of any book in the series, and it’ll find the rest and sort them by the date they were added to the Book List.
[[btbe_display series="5" type="columns"]]
Icons only
If you have something custom you want to do with one of your books, you can also add a list of the buy links in icon format to the page. Nothing else will be included – no title, no blurb, no cover – just the buy links, in a nicely formatted list of 64x64px icons.
This will not accept a comma-separated list of book IDs. It will only display the links from the first book ID.
[[btbe_display books="1" type="icons_only"]]
Links only
Similar to the ‘Icons only’ mode, you can add a list of buy links in text form, as they appear below the Grid view.
Again, this will not accept a comma-separated list of book IDs. It will only display the links from the first book ID.
[[btbe_display books="1" type="links_only"]]
I hope this has been useful to you! Please use my contact form if you’d like to submit feedback or feature suggestions for the Author Showcase plugin.