Primary is Threadloom's consumer platform for product recommendations.  It enables forums to monetize product discussions by recommending products for specific audiences, and monetizing them with your 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 product information with links to related posts.
3. Primary List: List of top products.

Primary Embed 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 (currently available for XenForo 2), 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 (currently available for XenForo 2).

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

To enable Primary for your account, or 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

2021-06-28: We have an XF1 plug-in for Primary Embed coming soon.  If you'd like to beta test it, please drop us a line.

 

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

2021-06-08: We now offer a plug-in for XenForo 2 that automatically embeds Primary on your forum. To manually embed and/or customize Primary for your forum, feel free to follow the instructions below.

 

If you can't use the Primary XF2 plug-in, you can also use XenForo Widgets to manually add Primary Explorer to XenForo 2.2 and higher.  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).

• 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.

 

If you'd like to use Siropu's Ad Manager or XF Advertising, drop us a line.  Using these options requires some additional changes to the code snippets. 

 

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 (currently available for XenForo 2) 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 (currently available for XenForo 2) 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.