What does it do?
It attempts to link any Pokemon cards mentioned in your articles to the PkmnCards database. When the links are clicked, it will show a reference scan as a convenience for your readers, along with the card’s rating, pricing, and discussion.
Why should you use it?
If you run a Pokemon TCG blog, your readers might not always know what cards you’re talking about, so providing a quick-reference scan is a huge favor for them. Using it helps legitimize your site and can help retain readership.
Also you won’t feel obligated to insert so many card scans yourself or type out what every card does… the linker will do it for you. Automatically.
Where can I see it in action?
These sites currently use the plugin:
You can also see screenshots here.
Ok… I’m drooling. Where can I download it?
It’s hosted on WordPress.org. You can either download it, or in your WordPress admin plugin panel, search for “Pokemon Card Scan Linker” and install it that way.
I’ve downloaded and activated it. How do I configure it?
On your WordPress admin panel, go to Settings > Pokemon Card Linker. The configuration page should be pretty self-explanatory, but let me detail each option out for you:
1. Spell Check
This will check your content for commonly misspelled Pokemon TCG terms and correct them. This helps the plugin better link your cards (because if they’re misspelled, it won’t link them). Here is a partial list of the terms the Spell Check corrects:
- Ninetails > Ninetales
- Thunderus > Thundurus
- Landurus > Landorus
- Tyrouge > Tyrogue
- Eelectrik > Eelektrik
- Plus Power > PlusPower
- Sky Arrow Bridge > Skyarrow Bridge
- Lv. X > LV.X
- Poke Power > Poke-Power
- Poke Body > Poke-Body
Spell Check is optional, but can be helpful. You can make a decision whether you need it. More terms may be added in the future if there are requests.
2. Standard Linker
This will link a card the the first X instances you specify. For example, if you select 1, it will link Magnezone Prime the first time you mention it, but ignore any subsequent references of the card. If you select 2, it will link it the first 2 times you mention it. If you select Every, it’ll link the card every time it’s mentioned.
3. Deck List Linker
This attempts to make sure your deck lists are fully linked, otherwise they may look patchy if you only use the Standard Linker and don’t select Every.
The way it works is that it attempts to link all instances of cards mentioned between specific HTML tags. Usually when you’re writing an article, you’ll drop the name of a card between <p></p> tags. The Standard Linker covers those.
The Deck List linker will target cards mentioned between either <td></td> or <div></div> tags (your choice). Most people seem type deck lists in table format, but both options are available.
The cards must be directly between the specified tags, however. Here are a couple examples:
<td>
<p>Pokemon – 8</p>
<p>4 Pikachu BLW</p>
<p>4 Raichu Prime</p>
</td>
That will NOT work. The Pokemon cards mentioned are directly between <p></p> tags, not <td></td>. Here is a working example:
<td>
<p>Pokemon – 8</p>
4 Pikachu BLW
<br />
4 Raichu Prime
</td>
In that instance, the Pokemon cards are directly between <td></td> tags, so they will be linked.
4. Deck List Button
This option adds a button to the WordPress visual editor that will generate a blank deck list template when you click it. It saves a lot of time over typing out code each time you want to insert a stylized deck list into your posts!
5. Comments Linker
This will inherit the settings from the Spell Check and Standard Linker to link card mentions in your comments as well. It only works if you use the default WordPress commenting system though (i.e. not Disqus or Facebook).
I’ve installed, activated, and configured the plugin, but some of my cards aren’t linking. What gives?
If you haven’t already tried clearing your cache, you probably aren’t using the correct naming structure. The plugin isn’t clairvoyant… you need to match the text strings saved in the plugin’s database in order for it to work. If requested, we can make adjustments to the saved strings, but for the most part, you’ll need to become comfortable with our naming system.
Using our naming system also helps standardize the way Pokemon card names are typed out across the web, making it easier for Pokemon TCG readers to understand which cards you’re talking about.
Gotcha. What’s the naming system?
In general, this is structure you will use:
[Card Name] [Set Abbreviation] [Card Number]
And capitalization is important! We use the card name exactly as it’s written on the card. If you don’t capitalize, then the cards won’t link (and your readers will think you have poor grammar skills).
But let me go over Pokemon and Trainers/Energy individually, since they work a little differently.
Pokemon
You only need to include the card number if there are two Pokemon with the same name in the set. If there is only one Pokemon with that name in the set, exclude the card number.
For example…
Durant NVI
There is only 1 Durant in Noble Victories, so that’s all you need to type and it will link. But if you talking about Tynamo from Noble Victories, you’d need to put the card number since there are 2 Tynamos in the set:
Tynamo NVI 38
Tynamo NVI 39
If you didn’t put a card number, it wouldn’t link since the plugin has no way to differentiate the two.
Trainers/Energy
Just put the name of the card; no set abbreviation or card number needed. Examples:
Professor Juniper
Double Colorless Energy
Those are perfectly formatted and will link.
What are the set abbreviations?
Please visit our sets page for the set abbreviations (in parentheses).
Which sets are included with the plugin?
We have almost all cards from Power Keepers through Next Destinies inputted. At some point we may expand to include older cards.
Any other caveats?
We’ve inputted some card abbreviations into the plugin database as well, so these terms like these will also link:
- DCE > Double Colorless Energy
- RDL > Rayquaza & Deoxys LEGEND
- PONT > Professor Oak’s New Theory
- PETM > Professor Elm’s Training Method
Can I change the way the links look?
Yes! The appearance of the links is controlled by the ‘scan-link’ CSS class. Here is example CSS for the way the links are styled on SixPrizes:
.scan-link { color: #222; border-bottom: 1px dashed #222; text-decoration: none }
.scan-link:hover { color: #01BCB5; border-bottom-color: #01BCB5; text-decoration: none; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; cursor: -moz-zoom-in }
You can obviously customize the colors to match your site.
Can I change the way the deck lists look?
Sure! If you’re using the Deck List Button, here is the style it’s packaged with; feel free to tinker with it as need be:
table.pkmn-deck-list {
-webkit-box-shadow: #CCC 0 2px 5px;
-moz-box-shadow: #CCC 0 2px 5px;
box-shadow: #CCC 0 2px 5px;
border-collapse: collapse;
margin: 0 0 15px;
width: 100%
}table.pkmn-deck-list td {
border: 1px solid black;
padding: 10px 15px 25px;
vertical-align: top;
width: 33%
}table.pkmn-deck-list p {
margin: 0;
}.pkmn-deck-list-head, .pkmn-deck-list strong {
display: block;
margin: 0 0 15px
}
What if I come across any bugs or have suggestions?
E-mail them to adam@pkmncards.com.
How can I support the plugin?
Just use it… some of the pricing links are affiliate links, which help keep PkmnCards and the development of this plugin chugging along.