I've just released the Amazon Omakase Plugin for Joomla! 1.5. By popular request, I've included the "Advanced" Omakase options in this version, so you can specify keywords to include or exclude, as well as priority product categories.

If you're not familiar with Omakase, it's Amazon's answer to Google AdSense. According to Amazon:

Omakase links uniquely combine information on each site visitor's taste, the site's content, and historical trends to dynamically generate relevant ads that Amazon serves to your site. With simple, yet powerful, customization options, Omakase lets you automatically provide personalized product ads to your site visitors that complement your site design. Omakase - Leave it up to us!

I've had great success with Omakase on my sites and suggest you at least take it for a test drive. Honestly, it takes a day or so before Amazon Omakase suggestions start targeting at their peak, but it's worth the wait. To the right is an example of the plugin in action.

This plugin makes inserting Omakase ads into Joomla content simple. After installing and enabling this plugin, just enter your Amazon Associate's ID, default size, colors and basic settings then toss in a {pgomakase} in your content and voila! If you decide to change your template or create a new Amazon tracking ID, make the change once in your Plugin Editor, clear your cache and they'll be applied across your site.

Features

The code this plugin inserts mirrors that generated on the Amazon Associate site. I've streamlined the code slightly by:

• Removing extra whitespace
• Optionally wrapping the code in a <div> container, and
• Added optional css class parameters (to allow you to apply css styling to the ad like float, text-align, margin or border).

In addition, this first release of the Amazon Omakase Plugin provides the following features:

• XHTML Transitional 1.0 compliant
• Supports customization for all Amazon Omakase BASIC and ADVANCED configuration options
• All parameters apply globally across the site
• All parameters can be overridden with plugin parameters

Regardless of the defaults you set, you can change any or all of them when you enter the plugin code within your content. Using {pgomakase} will insert the Omakase Ad code using the defaults you set on the Plugin Editor screen.

Setup & Configuration

Set up and Configuration is simple, quick and painless. Here's how to get started.

• If you're not alread signed up with Amazon Associates, click here to sign up.
• Download the Amazon Omakase Plugin install package
• Install it using the Joomla Plugin Installer
• Under the Plugins menu, select site Plugins
• Click on "Content - Amazon Omakase Plugin"
• To the right, set all your default configuration options, including your Associates ID, banner size, css style class, display settings and color settings
• On the left, make sure you set "Published" to "Yes".
• Click "Save" at the top.

Now, you're ready to start displaying the ads.

Usage

To insert Omakase Ads into your code, simply add {pgomakase} into your content. This will use the default parameters you set in the Plugin Editor. If you want to change a specific ad slightly, just add any custom parameters into the code. For example, if you set up the default ad to use the 728x90 banner size, but want to insert a 180x150 product box use {pgomakase size="180x150"} If you'd also like to change the tracking ID for that ad, enter it as {pgomakase size="180x150" id="newtrackingid-20"}. The plugin will pull all other parameters from the defaults you set in the Plugin Editor.

Here's the complete list of parameters you can set:

• id = Amazon Associates ID to use an ID other than the one you specify. e.g., {pgomakase id="myamazonid-20"}
• size = 120x600, 120x240, 160x600, 180x150, 468x60, 728x90, 300x250, or 600x520 [These are the ONLY acceptable banner sizes] e.g., {pgomakase size="180x150"}
• logo = show or hide [show/hide the Amazon.com logo] e.g., {pgomakase logo="hide"}
• images = show or hide [show/hide product images] e.g., {pgomakase images="hide"}
• target = same or new [Open link in same or new window] e.g., {pgomakase target="new"}
• price = show or hide [Show/Hide additional prices if you specify h, then only the retail price is shown] e.g., {pgomakase price="hide"}
• border = show or hide [Show/Hide ad border] e.g., {pgomakase border="hide"}
• discount = show or hide [Show/Hide discount sticker on product image] e.g., {pgomakase discount="hide"}
• bordercolor = six digit hex color code [Border color] e.g., {pgomakase bordercolor="090909"}.
• bgcolor = six digit hex color code [Background color] e.g., {pgomakase bgcolor="090909"}
• textcolor = six digit hex color code [Ad text color] e.g., {pgomakase textcolor="090909"}
• linkcolor = six digit hex color code [Link color] e.g., {pgomakase linkcolor="090909"}
• pricecolor = six digit hex color code [Price color] e.g., {pgomakase pricecolor="090909"}
• logocolor = six digit hex color code [Color of amazon.com logo text if logo="hide"] e.g., {pgomakase logocolor="090909"}
• css = class of the div container in which the add appears. Add information to your template stylesheet (css) to add formating info such as float, margin, border and text-align. e.g., {pgomakase css="omakase_right"}

In this version, I've added the Omakase Advanced configuration options, listed below. It's easiest to set these in the Plugin manager as global defaults. I've included them as parameters as well, if you wish to change them on a call by call basis. Rather than explain how these are created, I suggest you go to the Amazon site, create an Omakase ad and cut and paste parameters from there.

• products = This is for the priority product categories under the Advanced options. I'd suggest you go to Amazon and create an Omakase link, then cut and paste the string of letters after 'amazon_ad_categories='.
• include = This is to exclude certain keywords under the Advanced options. If you're not sure how to format this string, go to Amazon and create an Omakase link, then cut and paste the string after 'include='.
• exclude = This is to include certain keywords under the Advanced options. If you're not sure how to format this string, go to Amazon and create an Omakase link, then cut and paste the string after 'exclude='.

Using CSS Class Name to style

To make styling easier, if you specify a css class either as a default or when using the css="mycssclass" parameter, the plugin will wrap the Amazon Omakase code in a <div class="mycssclass"> container with CSS Class Name specified, allowing you to customize how the ad will appear using your template style sheet. To get the effect shown on the right, text wrapped around a 180x150 Omakase banner. Go to your template and edit the css style sheet. Add the following line:

Then within your content, enter: