=== Related Links by Contextly ===
Contributors: rsingel, andrewcgg
Tags: related links, SEO, promotion, related, custom posts, sidebars, similar, recommendations, see also, related stories, evergreen, personalization, popular, trending, video recommendations, product recommendations, curation, A/B testing, optimization
Requires at least: 2.0.2
Tested up to: 4.0.1
Stable tag: trunk
License: GPLv2 or later

Build your audience with content recommendations that are related, trending, evergreen and personalized. Editorial control and machine learning.
== Description ==

[Contextly](http://contextly.com "Contextly") helps you build a loyal audience through content recommendations that keeps readers reading. We do this through a combination of powerful machine learning algorithms and editorial curation.

According to a study by Chartbeat, the most important factor in determining whether a reader will come back to your site is whether they read more than 1 post. If they do, they are likely to return. If they don't, they won't.

Contextly shows off both related and engaging content in responsive modules. Readers in research mode can dive deep; those just browsing can explore widely.

We also boost your SEO by making it dead simple to add links in the body of your post to previous stories.

We can also recommend videos and products. Additionally, you can choose to highlight events, promotions, or an email list with promotional links.


= Features =

* Related Content - Our related content is *actually* related and we rely on much more than just tags and categories. Related content gives your readers an opportunity to dive deeply into a topic.

* Personalized Content - Personalized content is tailored to the interests of an individual reader. As we learn more about a reader's interests, we show them more of the content they like.

* Popular Content - Readers are often interested in your most recent and best content. That is why we make this content available on every page, because every page is the new home page.

* Evergreen Content - Good stories should be read well after they have been showcased on the home page. We identify "oldies but goodies" and resurface them to users. This increases the lifetime value of every story you write.

* Video Recommendations - Our recommendations are not limited to blog posts. We can easily integrate your Youtube channel content. Videos will be displayed where they are most relevant.

* Product Recommendations - Do you sell products? We can integrate products as well. They will be displayed when they are most actionable and relevant. Contact us at info@contextly.com to learn more.

* Editorial Control/Curation - We believe high-quality content is the result of a happy marriage between humans and smart algorithms. Our curation tools allow writers and editors to control what related posts show up on a story. We then use that info to make better recommendations for the entire site.

* Optimization - Contextly creates multiple sets of recommendations for each post. We then automatically test which set of recommendations is best for every single post!

* SEO - The best SEO comes from links in the body of stories linking to previous content. We make it super-easy for writers to add these links without having to leave the post to go search in Google.

* Promotional links - If you have a newsletter or an event you'd like to promote, Contextly makes it dead-simple to include that in the recommendation module. That puts promotions where users will actually see them.

* Responsive Designs - We have 4 sets of designs to choose from, and they all look great on mobile and desktops. You can customize their look and feel with a few clicks, while advanced users can customize the CSS.

* Analytics - We send daily, weekly and monthly analytics reports that let you easily see which of your posts are doing well and how engaging they are.

* A/B Testing - With just a few clicks, you can set up a test to see which display type works best for your site.

* Performance - Contextly does all the hard work on its servers, so we don't hit your database. That means if you get a lot of traffic, Contextly won't bring your site down.

* Custom post types - If you use custom post types, you can choose which ones to show Contextly recommendations on, and which to keep out.




== Installation ==

1. Install using the Wordpress Gallery for the easiest installation or upload the contextly-related-links folder to your `/wp-content/plugins/` directory.
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress.
3. Click on one of our buttons in the Visual Editor or go to Settings- -> Contextly -> Get API Key to get to the set-up wizard. You can then choose your display and get your API key. Save the API key.
4. Contextly will automatically display related and interesting content suggestions. Advanced options can be found under Settings -> Contextly -> Settings —> Big Settings Button

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= What will be displayed if I don't choose related posts? =

We've got your back. We'll automatically show related and interesting stories on all posts.

But, we also value editorial wisdom and control, so we make choosing related posts and adding links in the body of the story as easy as possible.

= Will Contextly slow down my site? =

No. Our service works outside of WordPress so we don't slow down your database or your page loads. Many related posts plugins use your database and can crash your site if you get substantial traffic.

We also wait to load the sidebars and the after-post modules until the rest of your site loads, using asynchronous JavaScript. And, if for some unforeseen reasons Contextly temporarily stops working -- say if zombies destroy our servers -- your site will still load quickly.

= How do I use Contextly to promote my event, email list, product, etc? =

Go to Settings -> Contextly -> Settings —> Big Settings Button. Then look for Promo Links. Give us a title and an url of what you want to promote and we'll add it to the section you choose.

= I just installed Contextly and I don't see related posts, just interesting ones. Where are they? =

It takes us a bit of time to learn and spider a site. Please give us an hour or two and if you still don’t see related stories, email us at info@contextly.com

= Can I modify the way the content recommendations are displayed on my site? =

Yes. Our service makes it possible to make many changes with a simple point-and-click interface. For those who want more control, you can create your own custom CSS stylesheet or make CSS changes in the settings panel.

= Will I be able to see how well Contextly is doing? =

Yes. You will get a daily email with statistics about your traffic and related links. Contextly links will also show up in Google Analytics and other traffic measurement software.

You can also see what's happening in Google Analytics. We use Events to track clicks. Go to Content -> Events and look for Contextly Sidebar and Contextly Widget. You can dive deep into this.

= How does the Custom Tab work? =

You give us an RSS feed of stuff you want us to show off. This can be a feed of your YouTube videos, a category on your site you like, a set of products, etc.

If you just want to choose some items, copy and paste your main RSS feed into the Custom box. Then go to Promo Links and add links you want us to show off and choose the Custom section. Be creative, but there's one limitation: you can't sell this spot to advertisers unless you arrange that with us first. That's because there are certain safeguards against fraud that need to be in place for online ads. Putting external ads in that section without permission is grounds for termination of service.


== Screenshots ==

1. Here's how the Contextly related stories Blocks section looks underneath a published story.
2. Here's a sidebar created in seconds using the plugin.
3. Here's what the interface for choosing stories looks like.
4. Here's what the preview looks like inside the post editor.
5. Here's a sample of what the analytics e-mails look like.


== Changelog ==

= 1.3.7 =

- Fixed an issue where sidebars displayed intermittently for some sites


= 1.3.6 =

- Moved video and branding CSS into our CDN
- Reconfigured the cookie setting code to reduce conflicts with other plugins
- Improved error logging


= 1.3.5 =

- Improved and larger display for Video recommendations


= 1.3.4 =

- Bug fix to make sure images are always served from https for sites using HTTPS
- New video icon in CSS
- Minor video overlay fix
- JavaScript for display now loading from our CDN
- Minor bug fixes for Settings panel login


= 1.3.2 =

- Fixed a bug in displaying videos in the overlay


= 1.3.1 =

- Updated some Settings dialogs and how new users are instructed to get an API key
- Moved a JavaScript bundling call out of the plugin onto our servers
- Minor technical tweaks


= 1.2.3 =

- Fixed an issue where non-admins could be blocked from using the Contextly editor buttons
- Fixed a bug where prompts to choose related posts before publishing couldn't be turned off


= 1.2.2 =

- Brand new editor interface
- Better detection of featured images
- Better communication of updated and deleted posts
- CSS fixes for displays
- New video player
- Added minor bug fixes in CSS and JS to help with displays


= 1.2 =

- Brand new editor interface
- Better detection of featured images
- Better communication of updated and deleted posts
- CSS fixes for displays
- New video player
- Minor fixes


= 1.1.2 =

- Fix for bug where apostrophes in tags or categories prevented recommendations from displaying
- Small CSS updates to handle edge cases


= 1.1.1 =

- Fixed a bug where pots with quote marks in the title would not have a recommendation display


= 1.1 =

- Better display support for sites with wide text columns
- Removed the Chrome tabbed display option as the tabs were never almost never clicked and the information density was low.
- Improved ease of adjusting the placement of the main recommendation module. It's now controlled by a shortcode rather than CSS elements: [contextly_main_module]
- Reduced reliance on a WP API to learn story metadata
- Improved the way Contextly detects featured images for a post
- More reliable detection of deleted/trashed posts
- New CSS/HTML for displays to make them easier to customize
- Entirely new recommendation system


= 1.0.97 =

- Updated to include cookies to better track recommendation performance
- Post-story module now movable via shortcode
- Minor display bug fixes


= 1.0.96 =

- Minor display bug fixes


= 1.0.95 =

- Added SEO support. Search Engines can now see and spider the related results. This boosts SEO.
- Minor display bug fixes
- Made the "nudge" to add related links off by default


= 1.0.93 =

- Minor performance tweaks.
- CSS optimization.


= 1.0.91 =

- General performance optimizations
- Ability to turn off pre-publication notification
- CSS optimization.
- Improvements to the JavaScript and CSS for display options, including tweaks for mobile devices


= 1.0.88 =

- Added Auto-Sidebars. If you turn on this option, a sidebar shortcode will be inserted into every new post when you first create it. You can control the content or you can leave it to our related algorithms
- Improvements to the JavaScript and CSS for display options, including tweaks for mobile devices


= 1.0.87 =

- Namespace changes to CSS.
- Changes to make install and activation easier.
- Minor performance tweaks.


= 1.0.86 =

- Minor performance tweaks.


= 1.0.85 =

- Added support for showing Contextly content on Custom Post types. Checkboxes to add/remove post types are in the Contextly Settings Advanced Tab.
- Added Support for 4 responsive designs (Chrome, Blocks, Blocks - Overylay, Float).
- Added design customization for sidebars (Point&Click & custom CSS).
- Added automatic Related Links for stories without chosen links.
- Added responsive sidebars.
- New Single Link and Sidebar Icons in the Visual Editor.
- Added a related links/sidebar reminder before publishing or updating.
- Moved Related Links master button out of Visual Editor. It's now above the Publish button.
- Related Links preview now shows up underneath a post in the editor, instead of in the right sidebar.
- Added optional custom third row based off RSS, including YouTube RSS.
- Added support for pop-over video playback of YouTube links.
- Javascript performance fixes.
- Plugin performance tweaks.
- Secure, direct login to Contextly settings panel from Wordpress (no Twitter credentials needed).
- Google Analytics data now shows up in Events under Content, not via UTM codes. This provides cleaner and more detailed statistics.
- Sidebar links now used to help populate related links by default.
- New, cleaner branding pop-up with privacy policy link.


= 1.0.76 =

- Completely new API
- Ability to add Sidebars into the body of posts
- Support for showing links and sidebars on posts, pages or both
- Option to turn off Contextly content on per page/post basis

= 1.0.67 =

- Core JavaScript files now called over HTTPS
- Changed jQuery check to use built-in Wordpress function.

= 1.0.63 =

- Made a small change to be compatible with sites using Cloudflare

= 1.0.62 =

- Added an easier way to get to the settings page and cleaned up the WP settings page

= 1.0.61 =

- Added a setting in WP to allow sites to place the related links widget in spots other than at the very end of a post
- Small technical changes to better work with Wordpress API




== About Contextly ==

Contextly builds tools that are good for publications, writers and readers. [Contextly](http://contextly.com "Contextly") was founded by veteran online journalist Ryan Singel, a writer and editor for Wired. Our clients include Wired, Cult of Mac, Make Magazine and other great publications. If you have questions, please write us at info@contextly.com.

