November 27, 2019

Goldstar Plugin

Easily display Goldstar's 10,000+ live entertainment offers and promotions with this simple, easy-to-configure plugin.

VERSION 2.1 RELEASE – NOVEMBER 2019

The official Goldstar WordPress plugin provides your site visitors with great value and selection on live entertainment tickets in their city. Goldstar.com is the first place people go to find something great to do and it’s free and easy to use.

Goldstar event listings are attractive and regularly updated content for your blog, and you’ll earn money through Goldstar free member sign-ups or ticket sales.

This plugin requires a valid Goldstar Affiliate API key and Affiliate ID, issued by Goldstar once you have registered and been accepted into the Goldstar Affiliate Program.

Features

Goldstar Event Listings

List all Goldstar events by territory and of filter them by choosing from 25+ different categories.

Single Event card

List any single event in any post or page.

Widgets

Featured Events select up to 5 separate events to list.
Category choose a category (Family, Holiday, Summer Fun, etc) for an automatically rotating list of events
Single Event post a single event in a Widget

Add the Goldstar Plugin

Install the Goldstar plugin.
Obtain a valid Affiliate API key, if needed please contact the Goldstar Affiliate Program.
After installing the plugin, click on the “Settings” link to configure the Goldstar plugin.
- Enter the API key, provided by Goldstar this is a long alphanumeric text string.
- Leave the Title and Body Text areas blank on this page.
Under “Display Settings” you can select the sort order for the offer list.
Select a Territory ID from the list link and then enter that ID number into the Territory ID field. Territories correspond to the cities served by Goldstar.
Click “Save Changes.”
Once your changes are saved, create a “New Page”. Add a title like “Half Price Tickets” or “Discount Tickets”.
Add the following shortcode to the new page: [goldstar-plugin hour=1 territory_id=#]. Replace “#” with the appropriate territory ID number
You may create as many additional territories as you wish by adding the shortcode. You have access to all Goldstar territories. Set up separate pages and add the shortcode: [goldstar-plugin hour=1 territory_id=#]. Replace “#” with the appropriate territory ID number.

Add a Single Event card to any post or page

Create a new post or page
Add the shortcode: [goldstar-single-event id=#]
*Replace “#” with the Event ID, find the ID’s under ‘Featured Events’ in the Goldstar Settings page.

* Optional: choose from 3 different card styles by adding the ‘style’ parameter to the shortcode:
style=1 (default)
style=2 (condensed)
style=3 (default, text link)

Add the Featured Offers Widget

In the main Goldstar plugin settings page enter the slug of the page you want to add to the main Goldstar plugin. IMPORTANT: If the slug you enter for the widget does not match the slug of the page you have added the main Goldstar plugin to the widget will NOT display. For more information about slugs, you may wish to visit this page: https://codex.wordpress.org/Glossary#Slug
From the main Goldstar plugin Settings, select “Featured Events” tab to select the specific event offers you would like to feature in the widget. This tab is located at the top of form next to the “Configuration” tab just above the “Add New Post” field.
Next, select Appearance > Widget from the left column and then drag the “Goldstar Teaser” widget to main sidebar position you prefer. Once positioned click to open the widget’s display settings. You should enter a maximum number of offers to be featured (between 1 and 15). You may also select various font size and color attributes to customize the widget’s appearance.
Once you have completed the widget’s display settings click “Save”. Please note that the widget will only display those offers that have been manually selected and will not auto fill offers. Once all currently selected offers have expired, if no other offers have since been selected, the widget will automatically be suppressed from view.

Add the Category Widget

Go to Appearance > Widget
Drag the “Goldstar Category” widget to the sidebar position you prefer.
Once positioned click to open the widget’s display settings.
Choose a Category from the drop-down menu
*_Categories available are listed in the Goldstar Plugin settings_
Select various font size and color attributes to customize the widget’s appearance.

Add the Single Event Widget

Go to Appearance > Widget
Drag the “Goldstar Single Event” widget to the sidebar position you prefer.
Once positioned click to open the widget’s display settings.
Add an Event ID
*_Event ID’s are listed in the “Featured Events” tab of the Goldstar Plugin settings_
Select various font size and color attributes to customize the widget’s appearance.

Screenshots

Goldstar Plugin display example Desktop
Goldstar Plugin display example Mobile
Goldstar Single Event card embed
Admin affiliate ID and API key settings
Admin plugin Column and Event Card design
Admin plugin display settings
Featured Offer Widget example
Single Event Widget example
Event Category Widget example
Admin featured offer widget configuration settings
Admin featured offer widget Featured Events list
Admin featured offer widget display settings

FAQ

Where can I find the installation instructions?

The installation instructions can be found in the “readme.txt” file once you have downloaded the plugin zip file.

Do I need an API key?

Yes. After installing the plugin contact Goldstar to obtain a valid API key, Goldstar Affiliate Program.

What are the requirements?

You need WordPress 4.7 or higher to run the Goldstar plugin.
Valid Affiliate account and API key, sign up to the Goldstar Affiliate Program

Changelog

2.1.1

Fixed layout bugs
Ensure missing files are included

2.1

NEW single Event listings embed – add the shortcode to any post or page.
NEW More Event Widgets! List events using 2 new widgets: Single event and Event Category. Now you have more options to regularly update on your site with Event listings without additional manual effort.

2.0.1

Standardized event image sizes
Fixed card style settings that did not persist on pagination
Fixed layout bugs

2.0

Updated Goldstar Plugin UI
New “Powered by Goldstar” badge
New Event Card design – Goldstar Event card style, larger event image, and more event details. Choose from 3 different Card styles in the settings.
Goldstar Plugin column options, choose from single or double style
Goldstar Plugin configuration can now be found in the Admin menu under “Settings”

1.5.5

Tested to WordPress version 5.2.2

1.5.4

Version testing release

1.5.3

Modified event image path

1.5.2

Changed Readme text file instructions. No longer necessary to enter Affiliate ID number in config form

1.5.1

Territory slug fix

1.5

Add territory slug to the end of the “Check Availability” button URL

1.4.5

Modifications to support new XML field.

1.4.4

Add a new “Popularity” sort order that will display the events EXACTLY as they appear in the feed.

1.4.3

$category_link and $territory_link changed to “https”

1.4.2

Fixed https compatibility issue

1.4.1

Readme file updates, modified screenshot

1.4

Design modifications, new featured offer “teaser” widget

1.3.6

Consolidated js files, modified default image size, modified container size

1.3.5

Default image size modification

1.3.4

Integrate Goldstar API’s image
Move xml file to wp-content/uploads/goldstar-xml folder

1.3.3

CSS compatibility fixes

1.3.2

Readme file updates, bug fixes

1.3.1

Bug fixes and adds two new js files

1.3

Update plugin’s css to run compatible with most of themes

1.2.2

Category filtering fix

1.2.1

Search bar icon wrapping fix.
Search bar spacing fix.
Constraining of offer image size fix

1.2

All category check box fields are now pre-selected.
Additional error messages added

1.1

Readme file updates

1.0

Provides list of discount offers with affiliate ID tracking
Provides date, location and price search filters
Provides links directly to Goldstar’s ticket purchasing page