Getting Started with our WordPress Plugin

We strongly advise the plugin is installed on a development website prior to installing on your live website.

Installation

Installing the Volunteer Plus WordPress plugin is the same process as installing any other WordPress plugin.

  1. Once logged in to WordPress navigate to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  2. Browse your computer and select the ZIP folder containing the plugin.
  3. Once selected click Install Now. The plugin will then be installed on your WordPress website.
  4. Finally, click Activate to enable the plugin.

Activating the plugin

On activating the plugin the following standard pages will be created automatically:

  • Search
  • Search Results
  • Opportunity
  • Register as a Volunteer
  • Register your Organisation
  • Login
  • Reset your password
  • Your Account
  • Add Opportunity
  • Edit Opportunity

For each page the relevant shortcode will automatically be added. For example, on the Register as a Volunteer page a shortcode of [vp-register-volunteer] will be shown. In this case the shortcode is used to display the registration form.

Setup

To begin the setup process navigate to Settings > Volunteer Plus. From here you can configure the plugin for your website and connect to your Volunteer Plus account.

API Settings

To connect your website to Volunteer Plus you will need to enter your Volunteer Plus account name and API Key.

In the Account Name field enter the name of the account where you usually login. For example if you login at https://example.volunteerplus.org.uk you would enter 'example' in the Account Name field. In the API Key field enter the key you have been provided with.

Pages

When activating the plugin the correct pages will automatically be selected for you. Therefore you only need to change these settings if you have created a new page and inserted the shortcode too.

For example, if I created a new page title Volunteer Registration and inserted the [vp-register-volunteer] I would then select this page from the dropdown for the Register Volunteer Page.

Not all pages need to be selected here so don't worry if you can't see all of the options listed.

Settings

A range of options to customise the plugin for your website are available:

Google Maps API Key To display a map for an opportunity with an address you will need to provide an API key for Google Maps. You can obtain a key from the Google Maps Platform website: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/get-api-key
Opportunity Permalink To change the default opportunity permalink from /opportunity/ enter the new value here. Please read the Opportunity Permalink section below for further information.
Disable Organisation Login/Registration If you do not wish to allow organisations to login or register on your website select this option.
Disable Quick Enquiry To disable the Quick Enquiry option for opportunities select this option.
Disable Additional CSS To disable the layout/basic style CSS from the plugin select this option. If you select this option you may need to add your own CSS styles.
Button Colour Hex Code To change the buttons from black to a different colour enter the hex value in this field. You can find the hex value for any colour here: https://htmlcolorcodes.com/

Search Form

The default search form includes a number of standard fields, however, you may wish to disable some of these fields to make it easier for prospective volunteers searching for opportunities.

Disable Radius Removes the Radius dropdown field
Disable Interests & Activities Removes the Interests and Activities dropdown fields
Disable Availability Removes the Availability dropdown field

Consent

To obtain consent from your volunteers and/or organisations you can add a mandatory checkbox to the volunteer and organisation registration forms.

To display a checkbox on either form simply enter the label you would like to display. A mandatory checkbox with the label text provided will then be displayed.

In order to include a link to a privacy policy or terms and conditions page the consent fields both accept HTML.

Opportunity Permalink

By default opportunities on your website will be available at the /opportunity/ URL, however this can be changed.

To change the URL enter the new permalink in the Opportunity Permalink field. Once saved you will then need to flush your rewrite rules so the new permalink is recognised by WordPress. To do so click Flush Rewrite Rules at the bottom of the page.