WordPress Plugin – QR Redirector
Description
QR Redirector lets you set up your own QR Code redirection site. The plugin creates a new custom post type called QR Redirect, which generates a QR code that points to the post’s permalink. You may then specify any URL you like for the post to redirect to. Useful if you have an offsite contest, form, newsletter sign-up, etc. You can even change the URL you’re redirecting to without having to worry about updating the QR code in your advertising media.
This allows you to continuously reuse your QR codes on printed or linked marketing material… you can change the destination you’re sending your users to without ever having to change the artwork you’re using to promote it.
This plugin is the second incarnation of the QR Code Redirect plugin. It was developed to be self contained after the Google Chart API deprecated its QR Code generation service. Instead of relying on a third party service to generate the QR code, this plugin uses the PHPQRCode library by Dominik Dzienia, and stores the QR image on your website.
Download
WordPress Repo: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/qr-redirector/
Direct Downloads:
Version 1.0 – 10/19/12
Screenshots
Contributors: kionae
Donate link: http://nlb-creations.com/donate/
Tags: qr code, redirection
Requires at least: 3.2.0
Tested up to: 3.4.2
Stable tag: trunk
Installation
- Upload plugin .zip file to the
/wp-content/plugins/directory and unzip. - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
- Add new redirects under the “QR Redirets” menu option.
- Use the shortcode discussed in the FAQ section to display the code on your site.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I add my QR code to a post?
Use the following shortcode:
where id is the post ID of your QR Redirect. This shortcode will be generated on the edit page for each of your QR Redirects for you to copy and paste.
If I need to change the URL I want to redirect to, do I have to update the QR Code image in all of my ads?
No. The QR Code points to a WordPress permalink on your site. The only time you would ever have to switch out an image is if you change your site’s permalink settings, and thus change the permalinks of the QR Redirect posts. Presumably this is something you won’t be doing too often, if ever.
What happens if I change the size or error correction level?
A new image with the appropriate settings will be generated and the original image will be removed from your site. Any shortcodes in use on your site will be automatically updated. Printed versions of the old image will still function, but if you were hotlinking the original image somewhere outside of your website you will need to update it there. If you have previously uploaded to old image to another site, rather than hotlinking, it will still function.
Why do I need this?
QR Codes on their own are static. In order to update them, you have to generate a whole new image (which would suck if you were putting them on flyers or some other printed medium and suddenly needed to change them). This plugin lets you point your QR code’s embeded URL to a different web address if you need to. For example, if you are using an off-site service to host a contest, you can point a QR code at that site for the duration of the contest and later change it to point to another page with the contest winners.
How are your QR Codes generated?
Using the PHPQRCode library by Dominik Dzienia. This is PHP implementation of QR Code 2-D barcode generator. It is pure-php LGPL-licensed implementation based on C libqrencode by Kentaro Fukuchi.
For more information, see: http://phpqrcode.sourceforge.net/
Why did you turn this into a new plugin instead of just updating the old QR Code Redirect plugin?
Largely because of the new way in which the QR codes are generated. Users would have had to resave all of their old QR Redirect posts in order to generate the new images. This didn’t seem very user friendly to me.
Additionally, not everyone may want to host QR images on their own site. The old plugin will continue to function until Google removes the QR functionality from its Charts API. I decided that this would be a good way to give people the option of hosting the images themselves, or letting Google do it for them.
Changelog
1.0
- Initial release
Upgrade Notice
1.0
- Initial release
[...] a QR code that points to the post’s permalink. You may then specify any URL …See on nlb-creations.com Share [...]
Hello,
Your plugin is very great and it’s work very well !
But, in the administration panel of WP, there is not a small image next to the name, QR Redirects.
View example
Can you insert a small logo, please ?
Best regards
Alain
Just getting 404 error on this plugin it does not redirect to the site?
Tested your screenshot and that worked
Try re-saving your permalink settings. Sometimes WordPress doesn’t pick up on new content types right away.
OK, no replie…
But, I found it!
In the file qr-redirector.php, delete “/” written before the name of the icon : qr-menu-icon.png
View example
That’s all!
Thank you!
Strange… it’s working correctly in all browsers for me. But I’ll remove that extra slash in the next update just in case.
Thanks for the plugin and the article. Is there any way to automate the redirected link every week? I want to use a qr code to send customers to a “weekly offer” (each offer will be its own page on the site) without having to manually change the link every week.
I am unable to view this plugin in my menu bar. How to I do step 3: Add new redirects under the “QR Redirets” menu option? I would like to view the stats as well as have the availability to change the url connected to that QR code if needed.