ShopThePost Documentation
Build, publish and manage your shoppable feed.
Official documentation for ShopThePost Free and ShopThePost Pro by CreateFor.Me. Learn how to create shoppable photos, videos and carousels, tag WooCommerce or affiliate products, display custom feeds, connect Instagram and TikTok with Pro, review analytics and manage your ShopThePost installation.
Getting started
What is ShopThePost?
ShopThePost turns WordPress photos, videos and carousels into interactive shoppable content. You upload media, position product tags on the content, connect those tags to WooCommerce products or external / affiliate links and display the resulting feed with a shortcode.
ShopThePost is designed for creators, blogs, affiliate websites, WooCommerce stores, fashion sites, beauty websites, recommendation blogs and other commercial WordPress websites.
Upload media → tag products → assign categories if needed → publish → place a ShopThePost shortcode on your WordPress page.
Compatibility
System requirements
- WordPress 6.0 or newer.
- PHP 7.4 or newer.
- WooCommerce is required only when you want to search for and tag WooCommerce products.
- Affiliate and external product links can be used independently of WooCommerce.
- A supported professional Instagram account is required for Instagram Sync.
- A supported TikTok account is required for TikTok Sync.
Keep WordPress and your plugins backed up and updated. If you use aggressive JavaScript optimization, hosting cache or CDN cache, clear those caches after installing or updating ShopThePost.
Plans
ShopThePost Free vs Pro
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 forever | $8.99 / month |
| New shoppable posts | 15 per calendar month | Unlimited |
| Unused monthly allowance | Does not roll over | Not applicable |
| Existing published posts | Stay published forever | Yes |
| Edit existing posts | Yes | Yes |
| Categories | Up to 2 | Unlimited |
| Product tags | Up to 2 total per post | Unlimited |
| Photo posts | Yes | Yes |
| Video posts | Yes | Yes |
| Carousel posts | Yes | Yes |
| Images per Free post | Up to 3 | Expanded Pro carousels |
| Videos per Free post | Up to 1 | Expanded Pro carousels |
| Mixed carousel | Up to 3 images + 1 video | Expanded mixed carousels |
| WooCommerce products | Yes | Yes |
| Affiliate / external products | Yes | Yes |
| Video cover frame | Yes | Yes |
| Instagram Sync | — | Yes |
| TikTok Sync | — | Yes |
| Import recent social posts | — | Latest 3 / 6 / 9 |
| Automatic social checks | — | Every 1 / 6 / 24 hours |
| Custom colors | Fixed styling | Yes |
| CreateFor.Me branding | Required | Can be removed |
| Popup branding | Required | Can be removed |
| Analytics | — | Weekly + monthly |
| Post views | — | Yes |
| Product / link views & taps | — | Yes |
| Role-based access | — | Yes |
| Freemius Pro licensing | — | Yes |
| Automatic Pro updates | — | Yes |
The Free edition allows 15 new shoppable posts per calendar month. Unused allowance expires at the end of the month and does not accumulate. Existing published posts remain live and editable.
Installation
Install ShopThePost
Download
Download the ShopThePost ZIP package. Keep the plugin zipped.
Upload
In WordPress go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin and select the ZIP file.
Activate
Click Install Now and then Activate Plugin. ShopThePost becomes available in WordPress Admin.
Pro license
For Pro, complete Freemius license activation before using premium features.
Moving from Free to Pro
Your existing ShopThePost posts and plugin content are intended to remain available when upgrading from Free to Pro.
You do not need to recreate your ShopThePost feed when upgrading simply because you are switching from Free to Pro.
Creating content
Create your first shoppable post
- Open ShopThePost in WordPress Admin.
- Create a new shoppable post.
- Add a title that helps you identify the post.
- Add a photo, video or carousel.
- Select the media item you want to tag.
- Connect each tag to a WooCommerce product or an affiliate / external product.
- Optionally assign a ShopThePost category.
- Publish the post.
- Add the desired ShopThePost shortcode to your WordPress page.
Media
Images, videos and carousels
ShopThePost supports image and video content. A post may contain a single media item or multiple media items arranged as a carousel.
Free media limits
- Up to 3 images per post / carousel.
- Up to 1 video per post / carousel.
- A mixed Free carousel may contain up to 3 images and 1 video.
Pro media
Pro supports expanded photo, video and mixed carousel workflows and removes the core Free publishing restrictions.
Video
Choose a video cover frame
For manually uploaded video, use the available video-cover controls to choose an appropriate frame for the visual feed thumbnail.
When a visitor opens a supported ShopThePost video post, the video can be displayed in the ShopThePost popup.
Product tagging is handled through the ShopThePost editing interface. Add products through ShopThePost rather than through the video’s native playback controls.
Products
Product tagging
Product tags connect visual ShopThePost content with either a WooCommerce product or an affiliate / external destination.
WooCommerce products
Use ShopThePost’s product search to locate a WooCommerce product and connect it to the shoppable post.
Affiliate or external products
External products may contain a product name, destination URL, optional price or note and optional product image.
ShopThePost Free allows up to 2 tagged products total for the complete post. This is not a per-slide allowance. ShopThePost Pro removes the product-tag limit.
Organization
Categories
Categories let you organize shoppable posts and create targeted feeds such as Beauty, Fashion, Gift Guides or Room Inspiration.
ShopThePost Free supports up to 2 categories. ShopThePost Pro supports unlimited categories.
Category shortcodes use the category slug, not necessarily the visible category name.
Display
Shortcode reference
ShopThePost can display the complete feed, specific categories, exact posts or social-source feeds through WordPress shortcodes.
Show the complete feed
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Instagram posts only Pro
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Made with love CreateFor.Me
TikTok posts only Pro
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Manual posts only
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Instagram + TikTok only Pro
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Show one category
No shoppable posts to show yet.
Combine categories
No shoppable posts to show yet.
Multiple categories use OR logic.
Show exact posts
No shoppable posts to show yet.
Change desktop columns
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Limit the feed
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Combine options
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Show all published posts
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Supported legacy aliases
No shoppable posts to show yet.
No shoppable posts to show yet.
Page builders
Elementor, Gutenberg and WordPress pages
Elementor
Add Elementor’s Shortcode widget where you want the feed and paste the desired ShopThePost shortcode.
Block Editor / Gutenberg
Add a Shortcode block and paste the desired ShopThePost shortcode.
Other WordPress builders
ShopThePost can generally be added through any shortcode-compatible WordPress content area. Exact placement depends on your WordPress theme or builder.
Social Sync · Pro
Instagram Sync Pro
ShopThePost Pro can connect to a supported Instagram professional account and bring authorized Instagram content into WordPress.
Supported workflow
- Connect your Instagram account.
- Import Instagram photo posts.
- Import Instagram carousel posts.
- Preserve the carousel slides supplied through the Instagram integration.
- Import supported Instagram videos and Reel content.
- Keep imported content available in the ShopThePost feed even before products are tagged.
- Add WooCommerce products afterward.
- Add affiliate or external links afterward.
All imported carousel media can remain visible even when individual carousel slides have no product tags.
The exact video asset available for a Reel depends on what Instagram makes available through its authorized API response.
Social Sync · Pro
TikTok Sync Pro
ShopThePost Pro lets the WordPress administrator connect their own TikTok account and bring public TikTok content into ShopThePost.
- Secure TikTok account connection.
- Import public TikTok videos.
- Preserve TikTok chronological order.
- Display TikTok content in the ShopThePost feed.
- Add WooCommerce products to imported TikToks.
- Add affiliate or external product links.
- Edit product tags without losing the imported TikTok media.
- Disconnect TikTok when desired.
ShopThePost uses TikTok access to identify the connected account and retrieve authorized public content. It does not publish, edit or delete content on the connected TikTok account.
Automation · Pro
Import recent content and check automatically.
Import latest 3
Quickly bring the latest three supported posts from the connected social account.
Import latest 6
Import a larger batch when setting up your social feed.
Import latest 9
Build a fuller starting feed from your recent social content.
Automatic checking
Configure automatic checks every 1 hour, 6 hours or 24 hours.
Social Sync is designed to reduce the need to manually recreate the same social content in WordPress. Connect the supported account, import the content and add product tags when you are ready.
Pro customization
Customize the feed Pro
Open ShopThePost → Settings & Shortcodes. Pro provides controls for the visual presentation of the ShopThePost feed.
- Custom feed background color.
- Custom title color.
- Custom product pin color.
- Custom button color.
- Default feed columns.
- Default number of displayed posts.
- Remove CreateFor.Me branding.
CreateFor.Me branding is required in the Free edition. Pro allows the site owner to remove it.
Pro analytics
Understand what gets attention Pro
ShopThePost Pro includes aggregate analytics designed to help you understand how visitors interact with your shoppable content.
Post opens
Counts recorded ShopThePost post-open events.
Product views
Counts recorded views of tagged products or links.
Product taps
Counts recorded taps on product destination links.
Weekly + monthly
Review recent performance through weekly and monthly reporting windows.
ShopThePost analytics are designed around aggregate interaction counters rather than visitor profiles.
Access control
Choose who can manage ShopThePost Pro
Administrators can choose which WordPress roles may access ShopThePost management functionality.
Administrator access remains protected and should only be granted to trusted users.
Grant ShopThePost access only to roles that genuinely need to create or manage shoppable content.
Pro licensing
License activation & updates Pro
ShopThePost Pro is currently priced at $8.99 per month.
ShopThePost Pro uses Freemius for license activation and Pro update delivery.
Recover your Pro download
If you need to recover access to your ShopThePost Pro download, use the Freemius license recovery option.
Troubleshooting
Common checks
The feed is not appearing
- Confirm the ShopThePost post is published.
- Check the shortcode spelling.
- Check category slugs and post IDs.
-
Temporarily test the basic
- Clear WordPress, hosting, CDN and page-builder caches.
WooCommerce product search is not returning a product
Confirm WooCommerce is active and the current WordPress user has permission to access the relevant product.
Video problems
Confirm manually uploaded video exists in the WordPress Media Library and is recognized by WordPress as video media.
Instagram or TikTok Sync problems
- Confirm the social account is still connected.
- Confirm the required social authorization has not been revoked.
- Run the manual Sync / Import latest action.
- Check the latest sync message in ShopThePost.
- Clear cache if imported content exists but the frontend is still showing an older feed.
Pro settings will not save
Confirm the ShopThePost Pro license is active.
After an update
Clear optimization and minification caches before diagnosing a frontend display or JavaScript issue.
Security & privacy
How ShopThePost handles data
- Administrative save operations use WordPress permission and security checks.
- External destination URLs are sanitized.
- Pro analytics use aggregate counters rather than visitor profiles.
- Social account connections are authorized by the account owner.
- Instagram and TikTok are independent connections.
- Social connection credentials are handled through the CreateFor.Me connection service rather than being exposed publicly in the ShopThePost frontend.
- Free includes permanent CreateFor.Me branding under the feed and in the ShopThePost popup.
- Pro allows CreateFor.Me branding to be removed.
Social account disconnection
Disconnecting a social account stops future synchronization through that connection. Content already imported into WordPress may remain available until the WordPress site owner removes it.
Support
Need help?
Send enough detail to reproduce the issue.
For faster troubleshooting, include your ShopThePost edition and version, WordPress version, what you expected to happen, what actually happened, the shortcode involved if relevant and a screenshot of the problem.
Never send passwords, access tokens, App Secrets or private license credentials.
ShopThePost legal documents
ShopThePost Documentation
Build, publish and manage your shoppable feed.
Official documentation for ShopThePost Free and ShopThePost Pro by CreateFor.Me. Installation, media, product tagging, shortcodes, Pro customization, analytics, permissions, licensing and troubleshooting.
Getting started
What is ShopThePost?
ShopThePost turns WordPress photos, videos and carousels into interactive shoppable content. You upload media, position product tags on it, connect those tags to WooCommerce products or external/affiliate links, and publish the resulting feed with a shortcode.
The plugin is designed for creator sites, blogs, affiliate sites, WooCommerce stores and other commercial WordPress websites.
Upload media → tag products → assign categories if needed → publish → place the ShopThePost shortcode on your page.
Compatibility
System requirements
- WordPress 6.0 or newer.
- PHP 7.4 or newer.
- WooCommerce is required only when you want to search for and tag WooCommerce products. External and affiliate links can be used independently.
Keep WordPress and your plugins backed up and updated. If you use aggressive JavaScript optimization or caching, clear those caches after installing or updating ShopThePost.
Plans
ShopThePost Free vs Pro
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Shoppable posts | Up to 6 | Unlimited |
| Categories | Up to 2 | Unlimited |
| Product tags | Up to 3 per media slide | Unlimited per media slide |
| Images | Up to 5 per post | Photo & mixed carousels |
| Videos | Up to 3 per post | Video & mixed carousels |
| Mixed carousel | Up to 5 images + 3 videos | Supported |
| WooCommerce products | Yes | Yes |
| Affiliate / external products | Yes | Yes |
| Selectable video cover frame | Yes | Yes |
| Custom colors | Fixed styling | Yes |
| CreateFor.Me branding | Required | Optional, on by default |
| Analytics | — | 7 / 30 day aggregate analytics |
| Role-based access | — | Yes |
Installation
Install ShopThePost
Download
Download the ShopThePost ZIP package. Keep the plugin zipped.
Upload
In WordPress go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin and select the ZIP.
Activate
Click Install Now, then Activate Plugin. ShopThePost becomes available in WordPress Admin.
Pro license
For Pro, complete Freemius license activation before using premium features.
Moving from Free to Pro
ShopThePost Pro contains Freemius-aware handling for the Free/Pro transition. Your ShopThePost content and settings are intentionally preserved rather than deleted during uninstall cleanup.
Creating content
Create your first shoppable post
- Open ShopThePost in WordPress Admin and create a new shoppable post.
- Add a title that helps you identify the post in WordPress.
- Add a photo, video or carousel.
- Select a media slide and place product tags on that slide.
- Connect each tag to a WooCommerce product or an external/affiliate product.
- Optionally assign a ShopThePost category.
- Publish the post.
- Add a ShopThePost shortcode to the page where the feed should appear.
Media
Images, videos and carousels
ShopThePost accepts WordPress media attachments that resolve to an image or video MIME type. A post may contain a single media item or a carousel.
Free media limits
- Up to 5 images per post.
- Up to 3 videos per post.
- A mixed carousel may contain up to 5 images and 3 videos.
Pro supports photo, video and mixed carousels. The current Pro documentation supplied with the plugin does not state a specific unlimited media-slide count, so this documentation does not claim one.
Video
Choose a video cover frame
In the editor, scrub through the uploaded video until the frame you want is visible, then use the video-cover control to select the current frame as the feed cover.
When a visitor opens the ShopThePost popup for a video, the video is designed to autoplay in the popup.
Product tagging is handled by the ShopThePost editing interface. Select the relevant media slide and place tags through the tagging layer rather than relying on the video’s native playback controls.
Products
Product tagging
A product tag is an interactive marker associated with one media slide. Tags can connect to either a WooCommerce product or an external/affiliate product.
WooCommerce products
Use ShopThePost’s live product search to find a WooCommerce product and attach it to the tag. Product search is protected by WordPress permissions and a security nonce.
Affiliate or external products
External products can include a product name, HTTP/HTTPS URL, optional price or note, and optional thumbnail URL. External destination URLs are sanitized by the plugin.
ShopThePost Free allows up to 3 tagged products on each photo or video slide. ShopThePost Pro removes the product-tag limit per media slide.
Organization
Categories
Categories let you organize shoppable posts and create targeted feeds, such as Beauty, Fashion, Gift Guides or Room Inspiration.
ShopThePost Free supports up to 2 categories. ShopThePost Pro supports unlimited categories.
Category shortcodes use the category slug, not necessarily the visible category name.
Display
Shortcode reference
ShopThePost lists its available shortcodes in WordPress under ShopThePost → Settings & Shortcodes.
Show the feed
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Show one category
No shoppable posts to show yet.
Combine categories
No shoppable posts to show yet.
Multiple categories use OR logic.
Show exact posts
No shoppable posts to show yet.
Change desktop columns
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Pro settings allow 2–6 default desktop columns. Mobile adjusts automatically.
Limit the feed
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Combine options
No shoppable posts to show yet.
Show all posts in Pro
Made with love CreateFor.Me
Supported aliases
Made with love CreateFor.Me
No shoppable posts to show yet.
No shoppable posts to show yet.
Page builders
Elementor, Gutenberg and WordPress pages
Elementor
Add Elementor’s Shortcode widget where you want the feed, then paste the desired ShopThePost shortcode into the widget.
Block Editor / Gutenberg
Add a Shortcode block and paste the ShopThePost shortcode into it.
Pages and posts
Any shortcode-compatible WordPress content area can display the feed. The exact placement options depend on your theme or page builder.
Pro customization
Customize the feed Pro
Open ShopThePost → Settings & Shortcodes. Pro provides controls for:
- Feed background color
- Title color
- Product pin color
- Button color
- CreateFor.Me branding
- Default desktop columns
- Default number of posts to show
CreateFor.Me branding is enabled by default in Pro but can be disabled. In Free, the branding remains visible.
Pro analytics
Understand what gets attention Pro
ShopThePost Pro includes aggregate analytics with two reporting windows: Last 7 days and Last 30 days.
Post opens
Counts recorded ShopThePost post-open events.
Product views
Counts recorded views of tagged products or links.
Product taps
Counts recorded taps on tagged product destinations.
Product detail
The analytics table can report the product/link, associated post, views and taps.
ShopThePost analytics store aggregate counters. The plugin does not store visitor IP addresses, cookies, geolocation or personal identifiers for its analytics.
Analytics can be disabled from Pro settings.
Access control
Choose who can manage ShopThePost Pro
Administrators can select WordPress roles that may manage ShopThePost. Allowed roles can work with shoppable content, categories, plugin settings and analytics according to the plugin’s ShopThePost capability.
Only a WordPress administrator can change the role-access policy, and administrator access cannot be removed through the ShopThePost role selector.
Grant ShopThePost access only to roles that genuinely need to create or manage shoppable content.
Pro licensing
License activation & updates Pro
ShopThePost Pro uses Freemius for license activation and its Pro update infrastructure. Premium settings cannot be saved without a valid Pro license.
Recover your Pro download
If you need to recover access to your ShopThePost Pro download, use the license recovery option linked from the CreateFor.Me account menu.
Troubleshooting
Common checks
The feed is not appearing
- Confirm the ShopThePost post is published.
- Check the shortcode spelling and category slug or post IDs.
- Temporarily remove restrictive shortcode filters such as IDs/categories to test the base
- Clear WordPress, hosting, CDN and page-builder caches.
WooCommerce product search is not returning a product
Confirm WooCommerce is active and the current WordPress user has the permissions required to access the product. Private products are only returned to users who can read private products.
Video problems
Confirm the selected file exists in the WordPress Media Library and is recognized by WordPress as video media. For the feed thumbnail, select a video cover frame in the ShopThePost editor.
Pro settings will not save
Confirm the ShopThePost Pro license is active. The plugin intentionally prevents Pro settings from being saved without a valid license.
After an update
Clear optimization/minification caches before diagnosing a frontend display or JavaScript problem.
Security & privacy
How ShopThePost handles data
- Administrative save operations use WordPress permission and security checks.
- ShopThePost media must resolve to WordPress image/video attachments.
- Affiliate/external URLs are restricted to HTTP/HTTPS and sanitized.
- Pro product-search requests require the ShopThePost capability and an active license.
- Pro analytics reject identified cross-origin requests from another host.
- Pro analytics store aggregate counters rather than visitor profiles.
- No visitor IP, cookie, geolocation or user identifier is stored by ShopThePost analytics.
- Freemius secret keys are not included in the distributed Pro plugin package.
Uninstall behavior
ShopThePost Pro’s uninstall cleanup is intentionally non-destructive: ShopThePost posts, settings and aggregate analytics remain. Plugin-specific role capabilities and the replaceable public analytics token are removed.
Support
Need help?
Send enough detail to reproduce the issue.
For faster troubleshooting, include your ShopThePost edition/version, WordPress version, what you expected to happen, what actually happened, the shortcode involved if relevant, and a screenshot of the issue. Never send passwords or secret license credentials.
Legal documents
Keep the legal agreements supplied through your Freemius product setup separate from technical documentation. Link your published Privacy Policy, Refund Policy and End User License Agreement here once their final public URLs are confirmed.