One problem I've always found with sharing URLs on Facebook is that you have no control over the image and description text that accompany the URL. In fact, I find that for most OpenCart stores, Facebook tries to grab only the shop logo or another irrelevant image.
This extension solves the issue. If you share your store's category or product page's URL then Facebook will pick up the category image and primary product image respectively. On most stores that I have implemented this extension on, incoming traffic from Facebook has increased between 150% and 250%!! (your mileage may vary)
Why? Primarily because photos attract people and invite them to click.
In addition to tagging the image, this extension will also add other relevant Open Graph markup to make your store social-media friendly.
Further, this extension implements similar functionality for Twitter called Twitter Cards. Because this is a vQmod, no core files are touched, and the changes should carry over to the next version.
Requirements
- You need Opencart
- You must have vQmod preinstalled.
- This extension is made for the Default theme. Hence you should have the default theme as the active theme for this to work.
If your theme is *VERY* similar to the Default theme, this extension MIGHT work out-of-the-box for you. If it doesn't, and you need me to do paid customization, please PM me.
- Download the latest version of the extension compatible with your version of Opencart from http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route ... n_id=14364
- Unzip using a program such as WinZip, WinRar or Windows's inbuilt compressor
(In Windows, right click on the downloaded zip file, and select Extract All) - Use an FTP program such as FileZilla to upload all contents of the uploads folder to your shop's root.
And then nothing*. You're all done. There are no configurations or admin options. Once you are done with the above steps, the extension should start working.
* If you care only about Facebook, then really no need to do anything further. However, if Twitter cards are important to you then Twitter needs you to do a couple of things more...these are listed below.
Enabling Twitter cards
Facebook Open Graph is already enabled if you installed this extension.
For Twitter cards, you need to:
- Log in at https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/validation/validator
- Close the Card Catalog popup.
- Click on the Validate & Apply tab.
- Enter a URL for one of your product pages and click Go!
- Click on the Request Approval button and follow the instructions.
After installing, you can simply share a product link on Facebook. Facebook should show your product's main photo as the image.
Advertising
This mod adds my link to your site's footer (next to the Opencart link). It would be nice if you don't remove it. If you do remove it, please consider donating (click Donate button below).