Going from browsing to buying is easier than ever.
Your publications can now become an even richer source for conversions, thanks to our brand-new feature: Shopping links.
What is it for?
Calaméo’s professional publishing tools already offered a great way to boost your image by highlighting your content and products in custom, interactive publications. With Shopping links, you can create a direct connection between your content and your ecommerce strategy.
How does it work?
Just add links to specific product pages in your online store—the Shopping cart button will appear on the page to let your audience know they can click to buy.
Even better, you can choose to have your Shopping links open directly inside your publication. Readers can view product details, add to cart and keep shopping your site seamlessly, without leaving your catalog.
You’ll also gain key e-commerce insights thanks to the new Shopping links breakdown in your Calaméo statistics. See which products are driving the most interest by checking the clicks on each of your Shopping links. Need the CTR? No sweat—it’s calculated automatically for you.
There’s plenty to explore for anyone who wants to bring their sales and digital publications closer together. Happy shopping!
Shopping links are exclusive to our PLATINUM plan. To access this feature, upgrade now. If you’d like to give Shopping links a spin, request your free 14-day PLATINUM DEMO and test all of the possibilities professional publishing has to offer on Calaméo.
Virtual libraries offer a great tool for showcasing content on your website and keeping it organized. In fact, the easy-to-use Library Widget is one of our favorite digital publishing features on Calaméo. You can create your own virtual library, customize it and share in only a few clicks.
Let’s dive in to all the essentials of curating your virtual library!
A virtual library is a convenient, fun way to display a collection of digital publications. Just like a regular bookshelf, your virtual library allows you to bring together a group of materials in one place. It’s an inviting space where you can browse, read or simply show off your beautiful publications!
How to set up your own virtual library
You can make a virtual library in just a few minutes on Calaméo. In order to create a library widget stocked with your own Calaméo publications, go to the Publications tab of your account.
First, choose the Folder whose publications you wish to include in your virtual library. All of the public publications in that Folder will appear in your library shelves. (Your private publications are never displayed in the library widget.)
Next, click on the three squares icon at the top of the page to create your virtual library.
Finally, fine-tune the look of your library widget by clicking on “customize options”. You can select:
A background texture or color
How many shelves to show
The thumbnail size of your publication covers
Publication information to show
How to order your publications
How to open publications when clicked
Thumbnail design features like the cover drop shadow
While you adjust the details, you’ll be able to see the changes in real time directly in the preview window. Once you’re happy with the appearance, just copy the embed code. And that’s it—everything you need to create your own virtual library!
Watch our video tutorial on how to create a virtual library below:
💡 TIP: Prefer to view the tutorial in a different language? Use the Settings icon in the video player to select your subtitles.
How to display a virtual library
Congratulations—your library widget is all set up and ready to go! Meanwhile, the next step is to consider how you would like to share your virtual library. For example, you might want to display your publications on your website or blog. Or perhaps you’d rather have a link to email to friends, contacts or customers.
Libraries on your own website
Sharing your virtual library on your own blog or website is a piece of cake. After you have finished customizing the design of your bookshelves, copy the HTML embed code.
If your site is built with WordPress or Joomla, you can install our plug-in and paste the code right into a blog post or page. For example, this code:
However, other websites may require you to specify a container for your virtual library. Consult your CMS’s specifications or check with your webmaster for more information.
To display all of the publications in your virtual library on Calaméo, you can share a link to a Folder or Favorites list. Although the bookshelf interface is not available on Folder or Favorites pages, your audience will be able to view and explore the entire collection.
Linking to a Favorites list
To share a Favorites list, start by going to the Favorites tab of your account. Then select the list that you want to share from the left-hand menu. Finally, click the Share icon. In the window that opens, copy the URL and start sharing!
Linking to a Folder
To share a Folder, head to the Publications tab of your account. Choose the Folder whose publications you want to share from the left-hand menu, then click the Share icon. Grab the link to your Folder and you’re set to share.
Why make a virtual library
There are lots of great reasons to create your own virtual library. In fact, we reviewed 10 of the best for anyone who needs convincing! But to keep things simple, here are the top three benefits of a library widget.
Perfect presentation
The biggest advantage of a virtual library is the easy, interactive way it lets you showcase different publications. Whether the shelves are filled with every issue of your magazine or a variety of materials, a library widget can boost your publications’ visual impact.
Plus, browsing your publications in a virtual library is a breeze thanks to its intuitive navigation. Visitors can click any cover to open the publication in full screen or a new window, then return to your library when they’ve finished reading.
Painless updates
Another great feature solves a major headache for many publishers: the content in your virtual library updates automatically. Whenever you add a new publication to your library’s Folder on Calaméo, it also appears on your embedded bookshelf. As a result, you never need to worry about manually importing content to maintain your site.
Likewise, removing publications from your virtual library only takes a minute. Set them to private, move to a different Folder or deactivate out-of-date materials.
Extra insights
You’ll benefit from useful viewership analytics when you create your own virtual library on Calaméo, too. Because it’s important to know where your audience comes from and how they interact with your content, your account statistics show library details. You’ll see what percentage of your publications’ views happen in your virtual library, as well as other advanced statistics like link clicks and downloads.
In conclusion, setting up a digital bookshelf couldn’t be simpler. All you need to start is a free Calaméo account! Join today and create your own virtual library.
To celebrate Calaméo’s birthday, we’re taking you behind the scenes and answering some of the questions we get asked most often about our company. Read on for fun facts and Calaméo FAQs about the history, the people and the etymology behind twelve years of digital publishing.
What does the name Calaméo mean?
If you’ve ever wondered whether the name “Calaméo” is a real word, then this one’s for you. Calaméo is a portmanteau, or a combination of two words. In French, a calame refers to a type of sharpened reed that ancient Romans used to write with. Similarly, néo comes from Latin and means “new.” Put calame and néo together and you get Calaméo: a new tool for writing online.
Who’s on Team Calaméo?
This is a question we’ve seen often over the years. From developers to support, account managers to moderators, you’ve often been curious to know more about where we work and what we do. That’s why we include a team interview in every issue of CALAMEO Mag! But here are a few quick facts if you’re too busy to check out the archives: Team Calaméo includes 6 different nationalities, the youngest of us is 25 and our favorite coffee break snack is Kit-Kats.
Where are Calaméo users located?
There’s an easy answer to this question: All over the world! When we talk about our global community of digital publishers and readers, we really mean global. Calaméo users can be found in 194 countries all across the world and on all 7 continents, including Antartica. Because of this international diversity, we offer Countries in your publications’ viewership statistics to help you see just where your readers are coming from!
Why do I need to choose a language for the site?
All the way back in 2008, Calaméo made its debut on the web in multiple languages. It’s always been important to our founders that the site be as accessible as possible. So rather than limiting the platform for example to French speakers or English speakers only, we decided to also make it available in Spanish, Portugese, Italian, German and Russian. Between them, these seven languages are spoken by more than 3 billion people around the world.
When was the site’s last big refresh?
One of the most exciting parts of working at Calaméo is that we’re constantly adding improvements, updates and new features to our platform. For example, custom account URLs are changing the way users build their brands on the site in 2020, while the Calaméo Editor got a complete makeover back in 2015. Although we haven’t made any major changes to the look of our site in a while, stay tuned—big news is on the way!
We hope you enjoyed diving into these Calaméo FAQs and getting to know
our company a bit better. We’re delighted to mark another year of serving a
dynamic international community of digital publishers and look forward to
continuing to grow together!
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