Where Did They Go From Here?

by Yan Susanto on September 2, 2008

Have you ever wondered where do your readers go after reading a particular post? Would you like to know what other articles within your page that might have caught their interest?

In the spirit of sharing, today I’d like to introduce to you a plugin – I’m not too sure if it is the first of its kind but it certainly caught my attention – aptly named Where Did They Go From Here?

What it does is that if there are related links within a page for your readers to explore further, it will detect when the link is clicked and automatically show a list of recently-viewed (recently-clicked) pages or posts. Basically it tells you what grabs the attention of your readers.

You can see it in action here right after this article under the heading of “Readers who viewed this page, also viewed:“

Installation

  1. Installation is super easy, just download, unzip, upload and activate.
  2. The plugin should automatically add the list to the bottom of every single page right before the comment form.

What If You Want It Anywhere Else…

Frankly speaking, the installation guide on the plugin page could have been made better. Fact is I had to dig into the comment section to search for users’ suggestions on the “how-to”.

Here’s what you could possibly do..

  1. Comment out add_action(’comment_form’,’show_where_they_go’); found at the end of the plugin code and
  2. Add this function call to your single.php file anywhere you want it, preferably right after the post.

Post-Installation

  1. On your footer.php, make sure that it has the following line right before the close of the body and html tags.
  2. Change the variable to show how many links you want to display $maxLinks = 5; where the default is 5
  3. You will see a N/A sign when there is nothing clicked
  4. Compatible with WP 2.6

Download Where Did They Go From Here? v1.4

My Thought

Though it doesn’t tell me who is visiting what, this nifty plugin is a nice complement to my list of related posts. Not only it’s a good way to promote other interesting pages on my site, I could track and study the behavior of my readers. Besides, it works well with most of the related posts plugins.

Let me know what you think?

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Tagged as: Plugins

{ 60 comments }

Missy September 5, 2008 at 11:13 pm

I’m with Susan, can’t there be more consolidation between plugins, i mean too many and they threaten to slow down our blogs.

I have so many already, but keep coming across cool ones, such as the one you point out.

What’s a WP blogger to do?

Missy’s last blog post..Site Flipping Community SiteRev5, Gives Good Promo

Emz September 6, 2008 at 12:10 am

@Missy – I’m not sure if having too many plugins results in slowing down blogs. So many other factors come into play which could cause the slowness: the server connection, the users ISP, too many images etc.

Having “too” many plugins shouldn’t really be an issue as they’re designed to coincide with the WP structure and most of them are coded to a minimum and don’t require much resources.

Emz’s last blog post..Top Commenters – Are you on top?

Emz September 6, 2008 at 12:11 am

@Yan Shall Blog – By the way Yan, I love this feature to reply to someone elses comment and the way it places a link in the comment box to that particular comment. Is that a plugin too? :)

Emz’s last blog post..Top Commenters – Are you on top?

Rarst September 6, 2008 at 12:41 am

Originally Posted By Emz@Missy – I’m not sure if having too many plugins results in slowing down blogs. So many other factors come into play which could cause the slowness: the server connection, the users ISP, too many images etc.

Depends on specific plugin. Something that simply inserts bit of code into page may not be performance eater.

But some plugins make queries to SQL. And if plugin has to do that for each page load… And if there are few such plugins… It may add up to considerable slowdown.

But main trouble is probably javascript. Sometimes people stuff way too much of it into blog. Like every widget in existence and five different tracking scripts on top.

Rarst’s last blog post..Blog critique project at BloggingTips.com

Yan Shall Blog September 6, 2008 at 12:41 am

@Missy – Well, well, well…I just love fiddling with plugins. Putting one and taking out the other and those that works really good for me have their permanent place on my blog.

What does a WP blogger do?

@Emz – Yes, Emma. It’s a plugin called ‘Comment Remix’ though I would prefer to use ‘Brian Treaded Comments’ but somehow I couldn’t manage to get it right here.

BlogSavvy September 25, 2008 at 1:06 am

Thanks for the info, as this plugin “brian treaded comments are certainly a valuable resource.

BlogSavvy´s lastest post..Crazy Day at BlogWorld

Domain Structure September 6, 2008 at 6:40 am

@Missy – Decide what is absolutely needed and get rid of the one’s that are not.

Plug-in’s may be “cool” but not all are necessary to make your blog a successful one.

Domain Structure’s last blog post..Coupon Code For A .99 Cent .com Domain From GoDaddy

kouji September 11, 2008 at 5:59 pm

@Domain Structure – you’re right, of course. there’s no question regarding the benefits of moving. perhaps when my bar exam is over.

kouji’s last blog post..haiku poem: conversation

kouji September 11, 2008 at 6:00 pm

@Yan Shall Blog – not even surprised. :O it’s pretty apparent that there’re quite a lot of things blogger can’t quite do. again, perhaps when i have a bit more time, i’ll pull the trigger.

kouji’s last blog post..haiku poem: conversation

Work At Home Ideas October 7, 2008 at 9:39 pm

Hi Yan,
I just installed this plugin but somehow it’s not working on my blog. It shows “Readers who viewed this page, also viewed:
“N/A”. I checked the plugin owner’s forum and he says it’s normal and just click one of my inside pages links and that should solve the problem. Well I’ve been clicking many of my inside links but nothing is showing up. Any suggestions.

Peter

Work At Home Ideas´s lastest post..Link Love-Links Round Up No.7

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