Primary is Threadloom's consumer platform for product recommendations.  It enables admins to monetize product discussions on their forums by recommending products for specific audiences, and monetizing them with the admin's existing affiliate IDs. (View our guide for getting started with Primary.)

In order to keep visitors on your site, we've made Primary embed-friendly.  You can embed any or all of three types of content:

1. Primary Explorer: Product carousel widget.
2. Primary Product Pages: Detailed information about products with links to related discussions.
3. Primary List: Default list of top products discussed on your forum.

Embedding Primary is not required to use Primary; however, if you do embed Primary, we require a single visible attribution instance and link back to Primary for each content type you use:

• Primary Explorer: Home page.
• Primary Product Pages: Below the Product Page iframe.
• Primary List: Below the List iframe.

If you use the Primary plug-in, it will automatically add appropriate attribution.  If you manually embed Primary, you will need to add attribution.

Note: Before you embed Primary, you must first enable Primary and send us your affiliate IDs.  Learn more

Getting started

You can embed any or all three types of Primary content on your site using the Primary plug-in, which Threadloom Support will provide once your account is enabled for Primary.  To enable Primary for your account, drop us a line.

For additional customization, you can also manually embed Primary.  We provide instructions and examples below for each type of content.

If you have any questions about embedding Primary, feel free to drop us a line.

Primary Explorer

Primary Explorer is an embeddable product carousel widget that displays specific product recommendations to your visitors.  The products displayed are selected based on product discussions in your forum, and are customized to the content the visitor is browsing.

The instructions below explain how to install Primary Explorer in XenForo 1, XenForo 2, and vBulletin 4.  We've also created template code snippets that you can use:

• XenForo 1
• XenForo 2

For each platform, we've included two code snippets – a simple version, and a post-like version.  Here's what they look like in XenForo 2.2:

Simple version

Post-like version

XenForo 1.5.x

The instructions below will display Primary Explorer on your forum homepage (above the footer); and on thread view pages (after the last post of each thread).

• Go to your XenForo admin panel.
• On the top navbar, click on the Appearance tab.
• On the left-hand side menu, click Templates.
• In the Filter items field, type "ad_below_content” and click on it.
• Under <xen:hook name="ad_below_content" />, paste the Primary Explorer code snippet provided by Threadloom Support.
  • Recommended and optional: If you want to show Primary Explorer only to non-logged-in visitors, wrap the Primary Explorer code snippet as follows:

<xen:if is="!{$visitor.user_id}">

<Primary Explorer code snippet>

</xen:if>

• • Optional: If you want to show Primary Explorer only on your homepage, wrap the Primary Explorer code snippet as follows:

<xen:if is="{$contentTemplate} == 'forum_list'">

<Primary Explorer code snippet>

</xen:if>

• • Optional: If you want to show Primary Explorer only on your thread view pages, wrap the Primary Explorer code snippet as follows:

<xen:if is="{$contentTemplate} == 'thread_view'">

<Primary Explorer code snippet>

</xen:if>

• Click Save and Exit.

XenForo 2

You can use any of the following options to add Primary Explorer to XenForo 2.  The instructions below will display Primary Explorer on your forum homepage (above the footer); and on your thread view pages (after the last post of each thread).

Option 1: XenForo Widgets (XenForo 2.2+)

• Access your XenForo admin panel. 
• On the left-hand side menu, go to Appearance > Widgets.
• In the upper right, click Add Widget, and use the following values:
  • Widget definition: HTML.
  • Click Add widget.
  • Widget key: primaryexplorer
  • Title: <optional>
  • Display in positions:
    • Thread view: Below messages (this position is available only in XF 2.2+)
    • Forum list: Below nodes
• Display condition: !{$xf.visitor.user_id}
• Template: <Primary Explorer code snippet>
• Click Save.

Option 2: Siropu’s Ad Manager

• Access your XenForo admin panel. 
• On the left-hand side menu, go to Ads Manager > Create ad > Code.
  • On the Basic information tab:
    • Ad name: Primary Explorer
    • Position: Pick at least one of the following:
      • Forum list position > Forum overview bottom
      • Thread view positions > Below thread post x container
    • Code: <Primary Explorer code snippet>
    • Status: Active
    • Click Save.
  • Go to the Settings tab.
    • Rel attribute: Sponsored
    • Click Save.
• We recommend the following optional settings:
  • If you select the Below thread post x container position:
    • On the Position criteria tab:
      • Item ID: 2
• If you are using an add-on like AMPXF:
  • On the Page criteria tab:
    • AMP:
      • Check Limit depending on page type.
      • Select don’t show on AMP pages.
• If you are using the generic Primary Explorer XML import file for Siropu’s Ad Manager:
  • On the Basic information tab:
    • Code:
      • $primary_board_nickname: Enter any nickname you prefer for visitors to see when referring informally to your forum.  E.g., TB for TalkBass, TMC for Tesla Motors Club.
      • $primary_vertical: Enter the value provided by Threadloom Support.  It is important that you use this value, and not an arbitrary one.

Option 3: XenForo Advertising (XenForo 2.1+)

• Homepage view
  • Access your XenForo admin panel. 
  • On the left-hand side menu, click Setup > Advertising.
  • In the upper right, click Add advertisement, and use the following values:
    • Title: Primary Explorer
    • Position: Forum view: Below node list (homepage) 
    • HTML: <Primary Explorer code snippet>
    • Display criteria:
      • Activate User is a member of any of the selected user groups.
        • Select Unregistered / Unconfirmed.
    • Activate Advertisement is active.
    • Click Save.
• Thread view
  • Access your XenForo admin panel. 
  • On the left-hand side menu, click Setup > Advertising.
  • In the upper right, click Add advertisement, and use the following values:
    • Title: Primary Explorer
    • Position: Thread view: Below message list (below the last post in a thread) 
    • HTML: <Primary Explorer code snippet>
    • Display criteria:
      • Activate User is a member of any of the selected user groups.
        • Select Unregistered / Unconfirmed.
    • Activate Advertisement is active.
    • Click Save.

vBulletin 4

The instructions below will display Primary Explorer on your forum homepage (above the footer).

• Access your vBulletin admin panel. 
• On the left-hand side menu, click Advertising > Add New Ad.
• Under Ad Selector, select Page: Board.
• Select the first highlighted box labeled After Forums.  This will load a page, Add New Ad.  Use the following values:
  • Title: Primary Explorer
  • Ad Location: After Forums (unchanged)
  • Ad HTML: <Primary Explorer code snippet>
  • Display Order: 10 (unchanged)
  • Active: Yes
  • Display this ad if…:
    • User belongs to usergroup: Unregistered / Not Logged In
• Click Save.

If you have any questions about setting up Primary Explorer, feel free to drop us a line.

Primary Product Pages

Primary creates a Product Page for each product, which includes detailed product information with links to related discussions.  You can embed these pages so that any Primary clicks from Primary Explorer or Threadloom Newsletter load directly on your site.

Embedding Product Pages automatically

The Primary plug-in automatically embeds Primary Product Pages on your site.  

Manually embedding specific Product Pages

You can also manually embed a specific Product Page. Navigate to the desired Product Page on https://primary.org, and simply add "/iframe" to the end to get an embeddable URL.

Example: https://primary.loom.chat/product/bassguitar/g1:bassguitar-product-e373c06d7220b64618ef6d0e2c405bb952d8cff2/bartolini-tct-4-7apj-pre-wired-harness/iframe

Primary List

Primary organizes products into Lists, or groups of products based on product metadata (such as category, brand, and/or price), interest, and/or audience.  Lists automatically update on their own.

Primary also automatically constructs a default List for each participating forum.  You can embed this List your site as your default products-related landing page.  When you use this option, Primary will automatically insert your affiliate IDs to all retailer links that are associated with your affiliate programs.

Embedding your default List automatically

The Primary plug-in automatically embeds Primary List on your site.  

Manually embedding your default List

Use the following embed URL for your default list (replace <vertical_name> with the vertical name provided by Threadloom Support):

https://primary.org/collection/<vertical_name>/iframe

Manually embedding a specific List

You can also embed a specific List on your site.  Navigate to the desired List on https://primary.org, and simply add "/iframe" to the end to get your embeddable URL.

Example: https://primary.org/collection/bassguitar/c1:g:331/best-bass-guitar-electronics-from-talkbass-com-by-primary/iframe

Attribution

If you use the Primary plug-in, it will automatically add appropriate attribution.  If you manually embed Primary, you will need to add attribution.  We require a single visible attribution instance and link back to Primary for each content type you use:

• Primary Explorer: Anywhere on the home page.
• Primary Product Pages: Below the Product Page iframe.
• Primary List: Below the List iframe.

If you have any questions about attribution or embedding Primary, feel free to drop us a line.