Melbourne, Australia -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/21/2013 -- A new LinkedIn Groups WordPress plugin allows website owners to show their group information from LinkedIn directly on their WordPress website. As LinkedIn’s popularity grows at a phenomenal rate, group owners can now promote, grow, and manage their group on a channel other than LinkedIn – their own websites.
The plugin, named LinkedIn Groups for WordPress, uses simple short codes to display information about groups on a page or post, and a customized drag and drop widget to show information in any sidebar areas on a website.
The type of information that can be displayed is:
- LinkedIn group name, logo, and description
- Number of members
- Group discussions (recent and/or popular)
- A Join button where visitors to the site can join the group and choose their group options
- A comment button underneath each discussion so site visitors can comment directly
The WordPress site administrator can choose how many discussions and comments should be displayed on the page or in the widget, and whether to just show group name, logo, and description without discussions.
The only information that can be displayed from closed/private LinkedIn groups is the group name, logo, description, and number of members, as this is publicly available information. No group discussions or comments can be shown for private groups, in line with LinkedIn’s privacy guidelines.
The plugin was developed by Australian WordPress enthusiast Damien Elsing, who hired a developer to work on the project. The LinkedIn Groups API has been around since mid-2011, but surprisingly few developers have taken advantage of the API’s capabilities in WordPress, the world’s most popular web content management platform. The plugin is already being used on the sites of some large organizations, although Elsing won’t say which ones for privacy reasons. “We had a ‘coming soon’ form up on our website in the weeks leading up to the plugin’s launch. I was amazed how many people signed up for early notification, the domains they were signing up from, and how many then went on to purchase the plugin.”
Now Elsing plans to reinvest proceeds from sales into supporting the plugin via updates and the dedicated support forums at the plugin website. “We made development costs back in the first week. Now our aim is to make this plugin the best it can be, and to support our users with any issues they might have as a result of bugs or server problems.”
The plugin retails for $39 for a single site license, and $97 for a multisite license. For more information visit http://www.linkedingroupsforwp.com/.
About LinkedIn Groups for WordPress
LinkedIn Groups for WordPress is a software product that helps LinkedIn Group members and owners promote their group on their own websites. The group information can be displayed on self-hosted WordPress websites using short codes and widgets to choose which group’s information to display and what to show.
Media Contact
Damien Elsing
info@linkedingroupsforwp.com
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
http://www.linkedingroupsforwp.com/