WordPress Integration

The DailyStory WordPress integration is simple to set up and easy to use. The integration makes use of the DailyStory plugin for WordPress. Just install the plugin and connect your DailyStory account, and you'll be ready to use the integration.

What does the WordPress plugin do

The DailyStory WordPress plugin adds DailyStory visitor tracking and your popups to your WordPress website and enables the DailyStory WordPress shortcodes. On a site running WooCommerce, it also sends checkouts and orders to DailyStory to start store automations, and tracks store activity such as product views and cart changes. It can also add each post's featured image to your RSS feed.

Using DailyStory's drag-and-drop web form builder tool, you can create no-code web forms to capture customers' data and easily drop them into any WordPress page, post or even directly through PHP.

DailyStory Shortcode Quick Reference

Support for Redirect URL

In addition to including the id of the web form, which is required, you can also optionally include a redirect_url. For example:

[ds-webform id="4AU3" redirect_url="https://www.dailystory.com/pricing"]

This shortcode loads a form with an ID of 4AU3. When the form is successfully submitted, it redirects the browser to https://www.dailystory.com/pricing.

The ability to set a redirect_url is useful if you want to gate lead magnets without requiring the creation of a form for each lead magnet. A single form is used and when submitted redirects to the specified resource.

The webform shortcode, [ds-webform id="#"], enables you to use DailyStory Web Forms in your WordPress pages and posts.

Let's look at an example of how the [ds-webform id="#"] shortcode is used.

1. Get the Web Form Unique Id

First, you'll need to create or edit a Web Form in DailyStory and get the Web Form's unique id:

2. Create a Page in WordPress

Next, create or edit a WordPress page or post and add [ds-webform id="#"] where # is the ID of your web form. Using the unique web form ID value from Step 1, this would be:

[ds-webform id="a2vmy"]

3. Publish the WordPress Page

Next, publish the page or post, and view it in your browser.

When WordPress receives the request, it will see the shortcode [ds-webform id="a2vmy"]. It will route that request to the DailyStory plugin to process. The plugin will make an API call to DailyStory, fetch the appropriate form, progressively render its layout, add JavaScript for validation, add stylesheets and optionally render a Google reCAPTCHA.

When your request completes, you won't see [ds-webform id="a2vmy"] (unless there was a problem), but you will instead see the HTML form that you designed on DailyStory.

Submissions to that form are posted to DailyStory, and new content is accessible in your lead queue associated with the campaign for that Web Form.

Example Use of Shortcode

DailyStory's Contact Us page makes use of a DailyStory web form. Here is the rendered page:

WooCommerce store activity tracking

If WooCommerce is installed on your WordPress site, the plugin detects it and begins sending store activity to DailyStory. This works alongside the WooCommerce integration: the integration syncs customers and orders from your store, while the plugin sends checkouts and orders as they happen and captures what shoppers do on the storefront.

Store automations

When your DailyStory account is connected, your store's server sends checkouts and orders to DailyStory as they happen. They start DailyStory's built-in automation triggers:

• When cart abandoned — when a shopper starts checkout, including guests who have only typed their email.
• When cart is purchased — when an order is placed (processing, or on-hold, such as a bank transfer awaiting payment).
• When order is shipped — when an order is marked completed.
• When payment is declined — when a payment fails.

Each trigger starts once per order. Because the events come from your server, ad blockers and closed browser tabs don't lose them. Cancelled and refunded orders are sent as the custom events woocommerce_order_cancelled and woocommerce_order_refunded.

To send abandoned cart emails that show each shopper their own cart, see the Woo Products email widget.

Storefront activity

The plugin also sends:

• Product views (woocommerce_product_viewed) — the product, price and categories a shopper looked at, for browse abandonment automations.
• Add to cart (woocommerce_added_to_cart) — the product and quantity added.
• Cart changes (woocommerce_cart_updated) — the cart's items and value, sent when the cart changes.
• Order conversions — completed orders are recorded as a conversion with the order value and the buyer's email and phone, so revenue, including guest purchases, is attributed to the marketing that produced it through conversion funnels.

Use these events in segments and custom automations, such as "viewed a product twice but didn't buy".

Turning store tracking on or off

Store tracking is enabled automatically when WooCommerce is detected. To change it, go to Settings > DailyStory in your WordPress admin and use the Store tracking checkbox in the WooCommerce section. The section only appears when WooCommerce is active.

Identifying signed-in visitors

When a visitor is signed in to your WordPress site, the plugin tells DailyStory who they are, so their activity is attached to their existing contact record rather than to an anonymous session. On a WooCommerce site this means a customer's browsing and cart activity is tied to the same contact the order sync updates.

If you need to prevent this, a developer can return an empty array from the dailystory_identify_visitor filter in your theme or a site plugin.

Featured images in your RSS feed

The plugin can add each post's featured image to your site's RSS feed, so the RSS widget and When RSS is updated newsletters show your post images instead of a placeholder. When it is on, each post's featured image appears at the top of its feed item, unless the item already shows it.

To turn it on or off, tick Add each post's featured image to your RSS feed under Settings > DailyStory. It is on for new installs, and off for sites upgrading from an earlier version until you tick it.

Your WordPress site's feed is at https://example.com/feed/, and each category has its own feed at https://example.com/category/<name>/feed/.

Developer filters

Developers can change the plugin's behavior with these filters in your theme or a site plugin:

Where the beacon is placed

The plugin adds the DailyStory beacon to the head section of every page, which is where we recommend it is placed. Loading it early means popups, Magic Forms and store activity tracking are ready before a visitor has a chance to navigate away. You do not need to add the beacon yourself when the plugin is installed.