Pre-installation

• 1). Log in to your hosting account's control panel.
  
  
• 2). Click the icon for the "File Manager." The location of the icon is different depending on which system your hosting company uses. In cPanel, one of the more popular control panel systems, the icon is in the "Files" category. Consult your hosting company's help files if you are unable to locate the "File Manager."
  
  
• 3). Create a folder inside the "wp-content" folder called "cache" if it does not already exist. Some plugins automatically create this folder when they are installed. In cPanel, use the left navigation tree to select the "wp-content" folder. Click the "New Folder" icon above the navigation pane. Enter "cache" without the quotes as the name of the new folder. Verify that the folder's location is listed as "/wp-content/" then click the "Create New Folder" button. Consult your hosting company's help files if you cannot create a new folder in the proper directory. Skip this step if the "cache" folder already exists.
  
  
• 4). Set the folder's permissions to "777." cPanel users must click on the "cache" folder in the left navigation pane, then click the "Change Permissions" icon above the right navigation pane. Change each of the digits in the "Permission" field to a "7" and click the "Change Permissions" button. Consult your hosting company's help files if you cannot change the folder's permissions.
  
  
• 5). Obtain an Amazon Web Services access key. Sign up for an Amazon Web Services account or sign in to your existing account. Click the "Account" tab, then the "Security Credentials" link. Your access key and secret access key are listed under the "Access Credentials" heading in the middle of the page. Write both numbers down in a secure location.
  
  

Installation

• 1). Log in to the dashboard of the WordPress site where you want to use Amazon Machine Tags.
  
  
• 2). Click the arrow beside the "Plugins" link in the left navigation pane. Click the "Add New" link underneath the expanded selection menu.
  
  
• 3). Type "Amazon Machine Tags" without the quotes in the search field. Click the "Search Plugins" button.
  
  
• 4). Click the "Install Now" link below the "Amazon Machine Tags" entry. Click the link to activate the plugin if prompted to do so after the installation.
  
  
• 5). Click on the "Amazon Machine Tags" entry that appears in the left navigation pane under "Settings."
  
  
• 6). Enter the access numbers from your Amazon Web Services account in the indicated fields. Click the "Save" button to update the settings.
  
  
• 7). Click the "Editor" link under the "Appearance" heading in the left navigation pane.
  
  
• 8). Click on the "sidebar.php" file link in the right pane.
  
  
• 9). Type "<?php AMTAP::get_items(); ?>" without the quotes below the last line inside the center pane. Click the "Update File" button.
  
  

Usage

• 1). Type the Amazon Machine Tags shortcode wherever you want a link to appear on your page or post. The syntax is "[amtap amazon:asin=1234567890]" without the quotes. The digits after the "=" sign must be replaced by the specific product code used by Amazon.
  
  
• 2). Type the same shortcode into the "Tags" field located to the right of the content editor for new posts. This will cause the item or items to appear in the sidebar.
  
  
• 3). Click the "Preview" or "Publish" button to apply the changes and view the results of your code placement.