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1. mikeormsby
   Member
   Apr 10, 2012, 3:05 PM

   Dear Clever Persons,

   I have been trying for several hours to install two widgets on my blog (Goodreads & Amazon Associates). Very frustrating.

   For example, every time i enter and 'save' my Goodreads 'numeric ID', it vanishes from the sidebar on my WordPress (dashboard > appearances > widgets) page. Also, although the Goodreads box appears on my WordPress blog page proper (http://www.mikeormsby.net), it contains no books, even though there should be 3 titles. Weird.

   As regards the Amazon Associates widget, likewise, this does not work either, no matter how many times I try different ways to install it. My sidebar is instead filled with the Amazon code. Lines and lines of it. So much for Amazon's breezy advice about ti being 'easy to install'.

   Please advise, if you can. But don't say: 'Just follow the easy instructions' on WordPress/Amazon/Goodreads pages, because I did. They do not help.

   Thank you
   Mike Ormsby, Bucharest.

   The blog I need help with is mikeormsby.net.

2. raincoaster
   Member
   Apr 10, 2012, 3:11 PM

   Your Amazon Associates widget will never work here. Affiliate sales are not allowed here, except under VERY limited (ie definitely not in a widget) circumstances.

   The Goodreads instructions are for WordPress.ORG blogs. You need the instructions for WordPress.COM blogs, which are found in the Support documents: http://en.support.wordpress.com/

3. timethief
   Member
   Apr 10, 2012, 4:06 PM

   @mikeormsby
   See here > http://en.support.wordpress.com/widgets/goodreads-widget/

   No blogger initiated advertising, retailing or reselling the work or products created or services provided by anyone other than yourself is allowed on free hosted wordpress.COM blogs. E-commerce transactions via shopping carts and the like cannot be conducted on free blogs from and being free hosted by wordpress.COM

   Affiliate marketing blogs: Blogs with the primary purpose of driving traffic to affiliate programs and get-rich-quick schemes (“Make six figures from home!!”, “20 easy steps to top profits!!”, etc). This includes multi-level marketing (MLM) blogs and pyramid schemes. To be clear, people writing their own original book, movie or game reviews and linking them to Amazon, or people linking to their own products on Etsy do NOT fall into this category. http://wordpress.com/types-of-blogs/

   http://en.support.wordpress.com/affiliate-links/
   http://en.support.wordpress.com/advertising/
   http://en.wordpress.com/tos/
   http://en.support.wordpress.com/suspended-blogs/

   There is an advertising program called WordAds. It’s for well established blogs on their own domains, with suitable content and 20,000 - 25,000 page views or more monthly.http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/wordads/
   http://en.wordpress.com/apply-for-wordads/

   If you do require an ecommerce site, advertising and/or affiliate links you can hire a web host and get a free software install from http://wordpress.org Refer to > http://support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

4. mikeormsby
   Member
   Apr 10, 2012, 4:26 PM

   Thank you timethief, for such a long and detailed reply.

   I am not really interested in selling or making money in this way, that was never my objective. I just want a way to tell people about good books. The only reason I signed up for the Amazon Asociates widget is that I saw it on someone else's blog and I found it useful. OK, when I realised I would get a small % too, i thought, ""well, that's not bad", and signed up. But, to prove my case, Amazon approved me 6 months ago and only now I am getting around to installing the widget (or rather, failing to install it!)

   I think I would prefer the Goodeads widget if I can make it work, because there is no vested commercial interest involved. Then again, this widget stuff is taking so long I think I might just post a new page on my WP site entitled 'Books I like" and people can search for them if they want, without me posting a link? What do you reckon?

   One last question. You write:

   "No blogger initiated advertising, retailing or reselling the work or products created or services provided by anyone other than yourself is allowed on free hosted wordpress.COM blogs"

   Does that mean that I CAN plug and link to my own book(s) when they appear on Amazon etc? I'm a published author and if so, that would be helpful. If not, fair enough.

   Thank you for your time and expertise,
   Mike

5. mikeormsby
   Member
   Apr 10, 2012, 4:55 PM

   Dear timethief and raincoaster,

   With all respect, you have both recommended a link to the same page, and the explanation there about how to use Goodeads widget does not work. If it had, I would not have posted my request or help earlier today, which you replied to.

   So, a question remains: why does WordPress have a Goodreads widget, and why does WP explain how to use it, if:

   a) It doesn't work when I follow the instrictions, and,
   b) We're not allowed to 'advertise', which links to 'Goodreads' qualify as?

   Best wishes from a puzzled
   Mike

6. timethief
   Member
   Apr 10, 2012, 5:02 PM

   The goodreads widget does work if you enters their data correctly into it ie. the bwhole id, meaning numbers and name. The results of a simple forum search for goodreads widget produced this solution > http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/goodreads?replies=15#post-859552 and I posted it into this thread about 20 minutes ago > http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/goodreads-widget-doesnt-work?replies=11#post-861457

7. timethief
   Member
   Apr 10, 2012, 5:03 PM

   Please excuse my typos. I'm visually challenged and in a hurry as I am multitasking answering questions here while supervising my own staff at work and I forgot to use the spellchecker.

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