Update: The sale for this plugin and template pack is now live at $10 for the first 100 copies and you can purchase using the button below.
ALL GONE at $10, now at $17.
***
Update: I’ve just created this short(ish) video to show you how the plugin works with the Christmas sales page templates.
[mc id=”1078″ type=”video”]WordPress Page Templates Early tour[/mc]
***
I know I’ve been quiet this last week, and that’s because I’ve been working with two of my staff to create something REALLY special.
It’s something that WordPress should have as part of its core, but doesn’t.
And we think what we’ve done is revolutionary.
Bear with me while I explain. Trust me, you’re going to have one of those “aha moments” really soon… 😉
First a bit of background.
One of my hugely popular products can be found at:-
http://www.WPAffiliatePages.com/
The product explains how you can turn any sales page into a WordPress page template, and it’s pretty good (ahem). It took me two years to discover how to do it (by accident) and it will take you just a few minutes to learn how to do it too.
(By the way I’ve dropped the price from $27 to $10 for a few days, so if you don’t already have it, now would be a good time to get it. It says $27 on the sales page, but when you click the order button you’ll see it’s $10 when you get to PayPal.)
From feedback about that product, I realised that what people REALLY wanted was a nice easy way to add pre-done sales pages to WordPress.
i.e. Someone supplies great looking sales pages, and there’s a simple way to add them to WordPress.
And there’s the problem.
You see there’s no simple way of adding page templates to WordPress that interact with it properly. Even my very popular method works outside the WordPress “loop”…
Think about how page templates work now.
You activate a theme, and you find there’s only one page template. Two if you’re lucky.
And even though I’ve been changing that with the Multiple Streams Themes (MST) and adding a variety of page templates to give you more control over the look and feel of your blog – it’s not an ideal way to do it.
Think about it.
You set up great looking and unique pages on your blog, decide to change / update your theme, and suddenly all your pages default back to the one standard page template supplied with the new theme. (The laughable thing is, it happened to me today.)
All that gorgeousness lost in an instant.
Until now…
I’ve had one of my plugin developers and my graphics guru working together to come up with both an end-user PLUGIN and developer/designer methodology for creating “sticky” page templates.
So when you change themes, your custom designed pages remain UNCHANGED.
And here it is, that moment I promised you earlier…
Aha!
Even better is I’m releasing the plugin and methodology for free. 🙂
But… Don’t get the wrong end of the stick and please don’t get confused about what this plugin does. And I’ll explain in a bit more detail.
It allows graphics designers and developers to create specially formatted page templates.
These special page templates then work hand in hand with the plugin which adds easy to use option fields where you can add detail like pre-header, header, autoresponder sign up code etc, just by entering the data into boxes on the page editor.
You then add your body page content as normal using the HTML or visual editor, select one of these special page templates and publish your page.
When you view the page on the front of your blog, it looks completely different to the design on the rest of your blog.
If you decide you don’t like the design or it’s not appropriate for the content, you just select another one and update the page – there’s no need to change any of the content or other fields.
The page on the front of your blog changes appearance when you refresh. 🙂
And because it’s a plugin working outside the active WP theme, it doesn’t matter if you change or update your theme.
Your pages will still look the same as the day you published them.
Ta-daa!
We think it will revolutionise the way that page templates are created using WordPress, and that more people will be inclined to use WordPress as a sales and promotional platform.
Yep, we believe that by doing this we’ve opened up WordPress to a market that’s always been there, but has never had the right tool to do the job.
So when and what am I going to distribute?
Tomorrow, Wednesday 1st December, I’ll be releasing this new plugin together with a 5 pack of sales page templates in jolly old Christmas designs – snowmen, holly, Christmas trees, etc.
All 5 of the designs will be supplied in both standard HTML and the new WP Page Template plugin format.
The plugin is free and always will be, the 5 pack of templates will be $10 for the first 100 buyers – now $17 – and then the price goes up – this is a special subscribers only price. I don’t think it’s a good idea to waste any time hanging around with this one.
Here are 60% original size screenshots of the designs. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
The sale will open tomorrow at 6.00pm GMT (1.00pm EST), and I’ll drop you a line about 3-4 hours beforehand to remind you.
-Frank Haywood
P.S. PLAhh.com members will receive their second months product (December) tomorrow, so also watch out for an announcement about that.
I really need this, I have a ton of information, but not the know-how to do everything it takes to get it on line.
Thanks for this,
Carolyn
Many thanks Frank, you’ve just answered the very question I was going to ask you.
Anthony
I emailed you a few days ago about any plugins for sales page templates (fill in the blank type) so is this getting close?
As I suck at sales page writing, I need a simple solution and a template that you fill in the blanks to give a standard sales page look with the necessary “steps” to create a reasonable sales page would be a big bonus.
I use most of your plugins so this will be another for my arsenal.
Thanks
Brian
@Brian:
Hmm…
Sales copywriting is probably the most important skill needed for your online business. I know that doesn’t sound good if you think you suck at it, and I know exactly where you’re coming from.
A few years ago I bought a really expensive “fill in the blanks” product that was suposed to make the job of writing a sales page simpler, but I didn’t find that at all. In fact I found it restrictive, and that’s because without a doubt copywriting is an art form, and every sales page for every product needs to be structured differently.
I don’t think there’s a “one size fits all” solution.
However, there’s definitely a standard layout for a sales page that you can use, and that’s the approach we’ve adopted with this plugin and templates pack.
This is just the first version, and we have lots of plans for updating it to make it a completely indispensable plugin.
-Frank
Well Frank,
I have already bought and am using the WPaffiliate pages method, and I have to say I am still experimenting with it.
I have built html websites with hidden wordpress blogs beneath it. I fill the blog with tons of other peoples articles from article directories on automatic. I am not worried about losing traffic because no one ever gets to read them. I use a re-direct plug-in, so although the pages rank for all sorts of long tailed keyword in Google, everybody gets taken to the front page which is only linked to a few more html pages,. (no links back to the blog). The website linked to my sig is yet another variation I am experimenting with.
I have read you email a couple of times, and have been just sitting here in deep thought for nearly 30 min. If you have done what I think you have done, I am very glad to have a chance to be in the fore front of something I can see becoming very big indeed. It could be one of those “moments”.
I can hardly wait to see how this all pans out.
best wishes
Gareth
@Gareth Hogan:
That’s a really cool way of getting all your traffic where you want it to be. 😉 I guess it works so well because search engines see web pages differently to the way we do and so index the page content rather than get redirected?
If we’ve done what you think we’ve done, and if you’re half as impressed as I am with this template and plugin combo method, then yes you’re here at ground zero and on the cutting edge as far as I see it. And like lots of good ideas, we got here almost by accident and in small steps rather than have the idea go whump in our collective heads.
I’m REALLY excited by this plugin as I absolutely believe it opens up a completely new market for many people who wouldn’t otherwise have realised a market even existed.
Certainly while it’s quiet in this market I intend to really “go for it” as far as page templates go, but we need to get the plugin to the point I mention in the video I’ve added to this post.
The plugin needs to be flexible and support different page template types all in one plugin. At the moment we have two main versions of the plugin with two others we’re using too.
What I want is to get to a single version of the plugin that supports both squeeze pages and sales pages, as they’re presented in quite different formats to the viewer, so need different kinds of option fields.
We’ll get there. And when we do I’ll be introducing some methods of getting the plugin pushed hard to be adopted by as many people as possible. 😉
-Frank
Hey Frank,
Even though I’m on a no-buy hiatus, I simply HAD to get your wpaffiliatepages offer for $10 and have been watching your videos. Great stuff! Can’t wait to get the product in action on one of my blogs.
Thanks for the great price. QUESTION: Is the product I bought the same thing as the plugin you’re introducing tomorrow?
Thanks so much,
Donna
@Donna Maher:
ANSWER: 😉 No it isn’t. The plugin and template pack we’re releasing shortly is a different method of adding pre-done page templates to your WordPress blog.
While WP Affiliate Pages allows you to take just about any kind of web page and addit to your blog, we realised that there’s a real need for people to have it all done a whole lot more simply, and have it all pushed into a plugin for real ease of use.
Eventually, when we get the plugin to the point we want it to be, what we’ll do is release template packs that you can just add to your existing plugin installation and that will work with the templates you already have installed.
That will give you total flexibility to choose an appropriate sales template for the product you’re selling. 🙂
-Frank
Thanks again, Frank. You never cease to excite our marketing passions and go beyond expectations. Looking forward to using this. Merry Christmas!
@Derek Taylor:
Well thank you. If you’ve watched the video since you posted this comment, then I’m sure you can hear the excitement in my voice when I explain how it works and where we’re going with the plugin. 🙂
I *hope* this plugin will be taken up by a lot of developer/designer types and we all see plenty of third party templates that use the same method.
We’ll all benefit and that would just be great!
-Frank
G’day Frank,
Plugin sounds interesting and I am sure it will have advantages.
The page samples look good.
Also Thanks for heads up on PLAHH updates I was starting to wonder.
100 points to you Frank for the Sript Manager Plugin Is most definitely now my Number 1 plugin.
I just finished a job for the local Doctors surgery and this one plugin made life so easy for allowing certain scripts to run on an internal/external network blog sytem did not hiccup once and handled Medical scripts and softwares no worries.
And I was expecting nightmares no way with this plugin so simple yet so powerful.
Have a nice 1 and I will be back tommorrow.
Regards Rob P.
@Rob Paris:
Ohh, thanks for that. I think the Script Manager really is one of those unassuming little plugins that is just incredibly useful once you start using it.
I don’t know how I’d get on without it now, and I’m glad it’s made your life easier too. 🙂
-Frank
Greetings Frank,
I just watched the video, and the plugin-template combo idea is truly exciting. From what you said previously about the template, where you mentioned the pre-headline, or strapline (that’s newspaper speak), I had wondered if you were going to include a sub-heading, and you have.
I also particularly like the idea of moving the components around. But is there any provision for duplicating certain functions if, say, you’re writing a long-form sales letter with perhaps, testimonial boxes, images or some other features interspersed with text.
More text boxes might be needed, so will there be provision for creating them?
Anthony
@Anthony Harris:
I *knew* someone was going to ask for that. 😉
Right now I’m not sure of the best way that we can do it flexibly for you, but what I am sure of is that it’s certainly a challenge worth taking.
What might work is if we define some option types and then provide a method of selecting them and linking them to short code tags you can create as you go.
Or maybe we put a + button next to each of the main options which creates a new one when you click on it and automatically assigns a short code tag to it. You then just fill in the boxes and copy the supplied short code tag to your copy where you want the option type to appear.
That last one would probably work quite well and give you lots of flexibility.
But then maybe we’ll come up with something even better while we’re examining it. Who knows? 😉
-Frank
How do we pick up just the free plugin and methodology?
@Nate:
I’ll be releasing the final plugin through its own site hopefully between now and Christmas. The current version should be considered a pre-release and I’d like to see a few changes to it (mentioned in the video) before I officially release it on the world. 😉
-Frank
Well Frank! You have certainly amazed me with this amazing concept and i congratulate your team and yourself on delivering something that has been much needed in wordpress.
When you said Cool, i think you should have said AAAAAmmmaaaazzzzinglllly Cooooooooool.
Thank you once again for delivering an amazing product at a price that all pocket can afford.
Just Brilliant.
Vince
@Vince Andrews:
Lol! Why thank you Vince.
If you looked through my product ideas file, you’d laugh at the number of times the same idea comes up in different ways, none of which were ultimately practical.
I *think* we’ve got it cracked this time though. My finger are crossed that when I officially release the designer/developer version that it’s actually taken up by some of the better designers out there, because if it is we’ll all benefit. 😉
-Frank
Dear Frank,
Ya nailed me twice in less than 24 hours but these products are definitely exciting and useful enough to break my ‘no-buy hiatus’ twice in a row. Thank you for the great pricing & both of these terrific WP items! 🙂
One thing, though, the wpaffiliate offers an affiliate program but no matter how many times I tried, I could NOT get the info upon clicking the “Submit” button and I really do think this is worth promoting! Maybe it’s broken? Thought you’d want to check on it. 🙂
Have a terrific evening!
Donna
@Donna Maher:
I agree, and thank you for buying. 🙂
I’ve just tried the affiliate sign up page, and it worked for me – it actually told me I was already subscribed – and I’ve had some other people sign up as affiliates in the last couple of days too. I wonder if it’s a local problem?
Are you running anything like Norton Internet Security or noscript? Try disabling them and see if it works.
-Frank
I just bought the xmas salespage thing and it doesnt work on my blog using dailypress theme and wp version 3.0.2
I watched the video twice
@Willard Solomon:
Ah! That’s what we need to hear. Nip along to http://support.plugingreat.com/ and raise a ticket and Edesa will take a look for you.
Just a thought though – did you unzip it all first? And then FTP it up to your plugins directory? You can’t just use the built in WP zip uploader as there’s other stuff in there such as the HTML only versions too.
Using the WP zip uploader will almost certainly result in a broken installation.
-Frank
@Frank Haywood: I have noscript disabled, I tried in FF and IE and still get no response in my inbox. Very frustrating. I really WANT to promote that awesome script. When you get some time (I know you’re super-busy right now) could you manually send me the info and add me? I know it’s a PITA but it will be much appreciated. Thanks so much! Donna
Are we allowed to re-distribute the plugin (not your templates)?
If I buy and design some templates I’d like to be able to sell them, but I won’t have a market if you haven’t released the plugin to the public.
@Lee:
Absolutely yes.
Hopefully in a few days we’ll have a better version of the plugin, and I would think that in a couple of weeks or so we’ll have a really good version available that at least works with squeeze pages and sales pages.
We should also have some developer/designer documentation online too.
I don’t think it’s that hard to convert static HTML to templates that work with the plugin if you can hack a bit of PHP and copy a standard default format we supply for doing the job.
I’m not a PHP coder, but I like to think that once I’ve been shown how to do it, then I reckon I could do the conversions myself.
We’ll see. 😉
I’m a bit snowed trying to get the PLAhh.com membership stuff out tonight, as there’s a couple of things I want to change, but I’ll set up a new site just for the plugin by Monday.
-Frank
Hi Frank – Looks like another great product!
I’m a little confused about the offer however. At this point I really don’t think I will be able to use the Christmas templates (you’re right – they are very attractive) but I don’t see where you can get the plugin separately. I think the $10 is more than reasonable even if I don’t use the templates if that’s what I need to do but it said the the plugin was free? Does that just mean with purchase of the templates?
Also I see you said that you would be offering more template pks to use with the plugin and expected that other developers would be to. I hope this is not a stupid question but since I am not a programmer I don’t know: Can you use other templates with the plugin or do they have to especially coded to be compatible with the plugin?
Have a great holiday!
@Marcia:
Thank you. 🙂
Let’s clear the confusion then. The pack you’ll purchase comes with regular HTML versions of the templates, which you’d expect. We’ve also included a special version of the plugin with specially coded versions of the templates to work with the plugin embedded *inside* the plugin.
You just FTP it up to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory and then activate it, and you’ll see a new block on the top right of your standard page editor when you create or amend a page.
And as I’ve *just* said to Lee (you must have been typing at the same time as me), I like to think that I know enough about HTML plus a little bit of “figure-it-out” sense to work out how to adapt a standard HTML template to work with the plugin by copying how one of them’s been done by my graphics guy or developer gal.
I don’t know that for sure yet, but I’m 90% confident I could do it even though I’m not a PHP developer. 😉
If *I* can do it, then I can do some videos showing *other people* how to do it, and that’s how the ball starts rolling.
So once you know how, you could get out those old HTML templates you have PLR to, dust them off and convert and sell them as packs to go with the plugin. 😉
-Frank
G’day Frank – from Australia
As usual – a plugin I can’t pass up!
My only suggestion is forget the shortcode for the page options – go for widgets
Hope that helps.
Dave
@David Foard:
G’day. 🙂
Widgets would be perfect. Or some other javascripty AJAXy thingummy. But I have a feeling that the shortcodes are going to be the first stop as I think it will be easiest to implement.
Still, I really like the idea of being able to drag and drop *something* around the page to present the content in a different order.
Hmm…
Maybe an icon graphic generated “on the fly” to represent new page options as you create them, and a drop-down in the editor to initially add the icon, which can then be dragged around the content.
You know what? That would probably work. 😉
Okay then. That sounds like a plan.
First stop flexible short code tags, next stop auto-generated draggable icons.
Thanks Dave. 🙂
-Frank
I am interested in Christmas Sales Page Plugin, but can not buy because paypal button does not work.Thanks Vlada
@Vlada:
Try disabling any software like Norton Internet Security, and then refreshing the page. NIS is renowned for causing problems like this.
-Frank
Hi there Frank, hope you are keeping well.
Thanks for another great plugin/product. I’m about to make a purchase as I’ve been away for a few weeks.
Frank a couple of questions really.
1. Can we use this plugin and template pack with the BigEd plugin?
2. If one purchases this version of the plugin, do we get the updated version that you mentioned, when it’s ready, or do we have to pay for another version?
3. Can we edit any files to say change the color of the “Comment Box/ Testimonial Box” or the “Guarantee Certificate” graphic to one of our own?
I think that’s all for now.
Take care.
Val
@Valda:
Hi Val,
Great questions. 🙂
#1 – Yes, absolutely! I didn’t mention it but that’s exactly what we’ve talked about at this end, and it makes a dynamite combination.
#2 – Yes, the plugin itself is always going to be free (the graphics templates are what you’re purchasing), and when we upgrade the plugin we’ll upgrade the templates too if necessary. Eventually we want to get to a stable format for the plugin and templates, it’s a little bit “up in the air” at the moment.
#3 – Yes, with a little care (and I know you’re careful) you can edit the graphics to your own requirements. When we’ve stabilised the plugin and template format, we’ll put together some docs to show you how to convert your own designs into the template format. I know once you have that there’ll be no stopping you. 😉
-Frank
Today in Austria we have a problem with the entrance on paypal .. Sory.
Please leave a copy for me.
Best regards, Vlada
@Vlada:
I won’t end this sale until at least when I wake up tomorrow morning, so hopefully you should be okay. 😉
-Frank
@Frank Haywood: I bought .. finally .. thanks Vlada
@Vlada:
“#1 – Yes, absolutely! I didn’t mention it but that’s exactly what we’ve talked about at this end, and it makes a dynamite combination.”
What is the “BigEd” plugin?
I tried Googling it, and the only relevant thing that shows up is it’s mention in this thread.
@Lee:
Most of the plugins in use on this site are my own (with a few exceptions) and will all eventually be formally released at PluginGreat.com. But I’ve spent the last few months releasing them in nickel sales and other special offers, Big Ed is one of them.
It increases the capabilities of the TinyMCE editor, and also adds some special graphical tools for us marketers in the form of seperators, johnson boxes and pretty bullets. You might have seen me use them on this blog from time to time in some of my posts.
I ran a nickel sales for it a couple of months ago, and the sale is still live and currently at $15.22 – when I properly release it with an affiliate scheme (!!!), then I think the right price point for it is $27, and I’ll probably have added some more features by then.
You can find out more, and see it in action here, and there’s a link to the nickel sale page too.
http://www.frankhaywood.com/big-ed-an-introduction/
-Frank
Hey, Frank,
many THX, looks great!
BUTwhy you not propose something similar especially for a mobile website as well – because personally myself am completely owervhelmed with commands just for mobile alone…-last four month i work exclusively on mobile websites…:-)
greets from other side of La Manche…:-D
@lgarinx:
I’ve just dropped you a line, what did you have in mind, and do you have any pointers? I’m sure we can do some mobile stuff if you show us examples of what you want.
-Frank
Needs a “Bonus” box or two (or, Additional Product box)
I tried using the “Comment/Testimonial” box to list the Bonus, but can’t get rid of the little white-frame for a photo. I tried using a 2x2pix transparent png, but apparenly it’s hard coded to surround any graphic with a white border.
This is not a complaint, it’s a suggestion.
I’m enjoying using this. It could get a lot of “lazy” marketers off my , er– “their” butts.
@Lee:
Lol!
Okay, I’ll ask my graphics guru to add in some extra bits and pieces in future designs and get him to take a quick look at adding bonus boxes in these too.
As for the white border around the photos, it will be editable in the CSS file for that template. Umm… designers being designers, I think that when they do things like that they expect you to use what they’ve come up with. 😉
-Frank
“As for the white border around the photos, it will be editable in the CSS file for that template.”
Ahhh… Tnanks.
I’ve already been playing with the CSS, just didn’t realize that was in there.
Hi Frank,
Alexandra L here ! 😀
You can’t imagine how impressed I am with the improvements you made… wow !
I just asked for blank images… and voilà , a set of new features !
Great job guys… many many thanks ! 🙂
Have a nice evening, all the best,
Alexandra
@Alexandra:
🙂
Your simple request got me thinking about how we could do it better, and I put out the suggestion to my staff and they did it. I’ll pass on your thanks.
-Frank