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Coil Web Monetization Plugin for WordPress – Set Up and Troubleshooting Issues

February 28, 2021 by Erica Hargreave 1 Comment

Recently our Ahimsa Media team has been setting up web monetization on our various digital magazines and blogs, all built on WordPress.org sites, utilizing the web monetization standard*. At present the main and only Web Monetization Provider is Coil. To make monetizing your WordPress.org sites easy, eliminating the need to code for this yourself, Coil has created a Web Monetization WordPress plugin. In this post, I walk you through the steps in setting up the Coil Web Monetization plugin for WordPress, including troubleshooting of some common set up issues.

*Note: This is different than the ‘web monetization’ of the past, in which we think of advertising, sponsorship, and affiliate links. That is a story for another day though, in which I will get into explaining what it is in greater depth. We will also be building an open educational course on the web monetization standard on StoryToGo.

Open a Coil Account

  • Visit coil.com/creator and click on the black ‘Start monetizing. It’s free!‘ button.
  • Sign up for a free creator account.
  • Follow the directions below to create a Payment Pointer.
  • Add your Payment Pointer to your Payout Wallet, under Payouts in your Coil Settings.

Consider purchasing a Coil membership. If you are benefiting with earnings from Coil members visiting your site, it is nice to share the love by purchasing a Coil membership yourself and supporting other creators. As I write this, Coil memberships are $5 US / month.

Create a Payment Pointer

In order to monetize your digital content with Coil, you need a digital wallet provider. Through that digital wallet, you set up a payment pointer. This is basically an ID for a payment account to send your earnings from Coil to. For more details on Payment Pointers, read this Payment Pointer Overview on Coil’s Support site.

Coil shares details on how to set up a payment pointer on GateHub and Uphold. You just need one of these, not both, so take your pick. Here’s what you need to do …

Create a GateHub Payment Pointer

  • Sign up for or into your GateHub account.
  • Select your Interledger wallet by clicking on the wallet drop-down arrow in the upper-left to select it.
  • Click Add Funds.
  • Select the Interledger Payment pointer, then copy your payment pointer.

Create an Uphold Payment Pointer

  • Sign up for or into your Uphold account.
  • Click on the transact button – in the side navigation bar on your desktop or bottom navigation button in the app.
  • Under Anything to Anything, click on the From menu and scroll down and click on Interledger.
  • On the To menu, scroll down to select your preferred currency and account.
  • Copy the payment pointer and click Done.

Add Payment Pointer in Coil

  • Go to your Settings.
  • Select Payouts.
  • Add your payment pointer.

Set Up the Coil Web Monetization Plugin on your WordPress.org Site

  • Login to your WordPress.org site’s administrative dashboard.
  • Hover your cursor over Plugins in the side navigation bar and click on Add New.
  • In the Search Bar, look up Coil Web Monetization.
  • Click Install Now.
  • Activate the Coil Web Monetization plugin.
  • In the side navigation bar of your administrative dashboard, click on Coil.
  • Click on Global Settings in the header navigation menu.
  • Add your payment pointer and click Save Changes.
  • Click on Content Settings in the header navigation menu.
  • Select your default monetization settings. You will also be able to tailor these on the dashboard for individual posts and pages. Click Save Changes.
  • Click on Excerpt Settings in the header navigation menu.
  • Choose whether you wish an excerpt to show on your posts and / or pages, explaining that the site is monetized with Coil. See below for a sample of how the excerpt will display. Click Save Changes.
  • Finally, click on Message Settings in the header navigation menu.
  • Once there, click on Edit messages. That will take you to Coil Web Monetization area in the Theme Customization menu.
  • Click on Messages, and scroll through the excerpt messages, changing those that you wish. Then click Publish.
  • Next review your Option settings, and if you make changes click Publish.
  • Finally review the text on the Learn More Button. If you make changes, click Publish.
  • Once all of that is done, check your live website to make sure everything is working and displaying as desired. To check and see if the monetization is working, you need a Coil membership and the Coil browser extension. If you see the black Coil logo with a green dollar sign beside it in the browser extension, when visiting a monetized page on your site, then you site is properly monetized.

Usually, if something is not working with the plugin, it is with displaying the excerpts. If that’s the case, then continue on to the Troubleshooting section of this post, below.

Troubleshooting Set Up Issues

As of writing this, there have been two common issues in setting up the Coil Web Monetization plugin for WordPress. Both pertain to getting the excerpts to display. I will start with the easier of the two fixes.

Fix #1

  • On your WordPress.org site’s administrative dashboard, in the side navigation bar, hover your cursor over Appearance and click on Customize.
  • Click on Coil Web Monetization and then Options.
  • Check OFF on ‘Show a donation bar on posts that are monetized and public’.
  • Click Publish.
  • Check ON on ‘Show a donation bar on posts that are monetized and public’.
  • Click Publish.
  • Check your live site to see if the Coil excerpts are now displaying.

Fix #2

If Fix #1 did not work, then your issues may be that you have the wrong CSS Selector under your Global Settings in the Coil Web Monetization plugin set up. Below is a chart with the CSS Selector for a few WordPress themes.

ThemeContent Area CSS Selectors
StudioPress Genesis Themes.site-container
Astra.content-area .entry-content (plugin default)
Colibri WP (modern theme).colibri-post-content
GeneratePress.content-area .entry-content (plugin default)
Hello Elementor.site-main .page-content
Hestiaarticle .entry-content
Nevearticle .entry-content
OceanWP.content-area .entry-content (plugin default)
Primer.content-area .entry-content (plugin default)
Shapelyarticle .entry-content
Twenty Fifteen.content-area article
Twenty Nineteen.content-area .entry-content (plugin default)
Twenty Seventeen.content-area .entry-content (plugin default)
Twenty Sixteen.content-area .entry-content (plugin default)
Twenty Twentyarticle .entry-content
Uptown Style.content-area .entry-content (plugin default)

In testing the above CSS Selectors:

  • In the side navigation bar of your administrative dashboard, click on Coil.
  • Click on Global Settings in the header navigation menu.
  • Paste in the suspected CSS Selector and click Save Changes.
  • Check your live site to see if the Coil excerpts are now displaying.
  • If not, repeat Fix #1 and recheck live site.
  • If excerpts are still not displaying on live site, repeat Fix #2 and Fix #1 with different CSS Selectors, until you find the correct one for your theme.

If none of the above CSS Selectors work, then inspect your theme’s stylesheet to find the correct content area selectors. Here is Coil’s explanation of how to do this:

  • Right-click on a page/post that is displaying / hiding the excerpt incorrectly.
  • Select Inspect (Chrome) or Inspect Element (Firefox).
  • Look through the <body> for a <main> element. You might have to drill-down quite a bit when looking through the stylesheet. If found, copy the id value and/or class value. For example, in <main class="site-main">, you’d copy site-main.
  • Look for an article element (<article ...>). Note if found.
  • Locate the div class for the content area (for example, <div class="page-content">). Copy the class value.
  • In the Coil plugin settings, go to Global Settings > Advanced Config.
  • Replace the values in the CSS Selectors field with what you’ve found. If you found article, include that as well. For example, a stylesheet containing:<main class="site-main"> ... <div class="page-content"> Means the following should be placed in the CSS Selector field: .site-main .page-content

If none of the above fixes work, or you are encountering a different issue, then check the Coil plugin support forum to see if anyone else has had this issue and there is a published fix. If not, email Coil directly (info[at]coil.com) and / ask if anyone has found a solution for the issue in the Web Monetization forum.

If you encounter another issue and fix with the Coil plugin, and want to share the fix in the comments below, I will update this post with your fix, crediting and linking back to you.

CC by SA

Filed Under: Blog, EdTech, Web Monetization Tagged With: Coil, web monetization

Online Course Activity Break #5: Combining Mindfulness with a Lesson in Video SEO

February 24, 2020 by Erica Hargreave 6 Comments

Here is the fifth instalment of my ongoing series on creating a healthy balance between screentime and time being present in the real world in the online courses I teach. In an attempt at encouraging offline breaks, I am putting reminders into each Unit of my BCIT Course, BCST 1073: Building Your Digital Media Presence, to take a break from the computer and get up to stretch, dance, meditate …etc. I will be sharing these Activity Breaks with all of you here, in case you are thinking of doing something similar. Feel free to copy and modify these for your own online courses, if so desired.

This activity break is designed to also provide students with an example of how they can get their YouTube Channels and YouTube Videos working with their websites to build audience and help with Search Engine Optimization, as we wrap up our Unit on Video SEO.

Activity Break #5: Mindfulness On the Go

As you’ve just submitted your first video as a part of this course, I thought I’d share an example of how Lori has included video she’s made into a blog post, while at the same time giving you a bit of a mindfulness break and a healthy reminder to unplug for a bit, giving yourself a brain break.

These first two mindfulness exercises, Lori created as a part of this blog post on Roamancing, On the Go Mindfulness Activities:

If you look at the descriptions on the videos, you will see that they both link to Lori’s Mindfulness On the Go post on Roamancing – leading new viewers to the site.  On Roamancing, having video in the blog post, makes the post more dynamic and keeps viewers on the site longer as they watch the videos. It also allows viewers to click on the link in the video to our YouTube Channel, if they wish to discover more of our videos.

If you have links to your own or other people’s activity breaks in online courses, I’d love to see and hear about them. Tell us about them in the comments below.

In case you missed it, here are Activity Break #1, #2, #3, and #4:

  • Online Learning Activity Break #1: Git Up Challenge
  • Online Learning Activity Break #2 : Full Body Shadow Puppetry
  • Online Course Activity Break #3 : Office Chair Dancing
  • Online Course Activity Break #4 : Breath and Body Meditation

Filed Under: Activities, Blog, EdTech, Master's Work, Online Activity Break, OTESSA Tagged With: activity break, lesson plan, online teaching, Open Educational Resource, screen time, screentime

Online Course Activity Break #4 : Breath and Body Meditation

November 7, 2019 by Erica Hargreave 3 Comments

Here is the fourth instalment of my ongoing series on creating a healthy balance between screentime and time being present in the real world in the online courses I teach. In an attempt at encouraging offline breaks, I am putting reminders into each Unit of my BCIT Course, BCST 1073: Building Your Digital Media Presence, to take a break from the computer and get up to stretch, dance, meditate …etc. I will be sharing these Activity Breaks with all of you here, in case you are thinking of doing something similar. Feel free to copy and modify these for your own online courses, if so desired.

Activity Break #4: Breath and Body Meditation

Cornelia and I meditating in a tree.

For this Unit’s Activity Break, as you begin to think about a video you’d like to share on YouTube as a part of your Video Creation Assignment, I thought I’d share a video screentime break from one of my past student’s Cornelia Krikke. When Cornelia was taking this course, it was to better build her story in the digital space, as a healing coach who helps people connect with their creativity and improve their well being in nature. One of the digital spaces that really resonates with her in this storytelling is the creation of online video.

Here is a video that she has created on her YouTube Channel to help people to take a break in their day to focus on breath and body:

Breath and Body Meditations like this one really help me with taking computer breaks in my day to keep my headaches and pain in check post my car accidents. They are also useful to calm down and relax the brain, so that when you return to work, you feel like a more relaxed and creative version of yourself.

You can checkout more videos on Cornelia’s Channel here: https://youtube.com/channel/UC7DhiE5zbEv0A2BbGPz2-tA

If you have links to your own or other people’s activity breaks in online courses, I’d love to see and hear about them. Tell us about them in the comments below.

In case you missed it, here are Activity Break #1, #2, and #3:

  • Online Learning Activity Break #1: Git Up Challenge
  • Online Learning Activity Break #2 : Full Body Shadow Puppetry
  • Online Course Activity Break #3 : Office Chair Dancing

Filed Under: Activities, Blog, EdTech, Master's Work, Online Activity Break, OTESSA Tagged With: activity break, lesson plan, online teaching, Open Educational Resource, screen time, screentime

Online Course Activity Break #3 : Office Chair Dancing

October 25, 2019 by Erica Hargreave 4 Comments

Here is the third instalment of my ongoing series on creating a healthy balance between screentime and time being present in the real world in the online courses I teach. In an attempt at encouraging offline breaks, I am putting reminders into each Unit this term of my BCIT Course, BCST 1073: Building Your Digital Media Presence, to take a break from the computer and get up to stretch, dance, meditate …etc. I will be sharing these Activity Breaks with all of you here, in case you are thinking of doing something similar. Feel free to copy and modify these for your own online courses, if so desired.

Activity Break #3: Office Chair Dancing

Uptown Funk Office Chair Dance
From 4 Funky Agents’ Uptown Funk Synchronized Chair Dance.

With this Unit being on search engine optimization, I thought I’d build this Unit’s Activity Break purely based on the top listings under the search term of ‘Office Chair Dance’ on Google and YouTube.

Fittingly with Halloween approaching, here is the top listed link on Google:

And as I entered ‘Office Chair Dance’ into a YouTube search, here are the top 4 listed videos.  Take a look at the titles, meta descriptions, and tags for a hint at what is helping to boost them to the top of the search engine rankings.

It wasn’t long before I started to clue into the fact that I’d stumbled upon the Office Chair Dance Olympics.

So get your bodies moving in those chairs of yours, as your trainers are here …

It would be wrong to have a dance party without some Uptown Funk …

And last but not least, my personal favourite, which reminds me of some parties from the early days of social tech in Vancouver …

Okay, now your turn, anyone who feels so inclined to share a video with us in this Discussion of you doing an Office Chair Dance, would totally make my day!

If you have links to your own or other people’s activity breaks in online courses, I’d love to see and hear about them. Tell us about them in the comments below.

In case you missed it, here are Activity Break #1 and #2:

  • Online Learning Activity Break #1: Git Up Challenge
  • Online Learning Activity Break #2 : Full Body Shadow Puppetry

Filed Under: Activities, Blog, EdTech, Master's Work, Online Activity Break, OTESSA Tagged With: activity break, lesson plan, online teaching, Open Educational Resource, screen time, screentime

Online Course Activity Break #2 : Full Body Shadow Puppetry

October 19, 2019 by Erica Hargreave 3 Comments

Here is the second instalment of my ongoing series on creating a healthy balance between screentime and time being present in the real world in the online courses I teach. In an attempt at encouraging offline breaks, I am putting reminders into each Unit this term of my BCIT Course, BCST 1073: Building Your Digital Media Presence, to take a break from the computer and get up to stretch, dance, meditate …etc. I will be sharing these Activity Breaks with all of you here, in case you are thinking of doing something similar. Feel free to copy and modify these for your own online courses, if so desired.

Activity Break #2: Full Body Shadow Puppetry

A fun and playful reminder from my creative partner, Lori Yearwood, to take a break from your screentime, get up and stretch. What better way to do that this Halloween season, then by creating Shadow Monsters with some full body Shadow Puppetry!

If you feel so inspired to photograph or film a shadow monster or shadow puppetry of your own, then be sure to share it within this discussion, so the rest of us can enjoy it too!

If you have links to your own or other people’s activity breaks in online courses, I’d love to see and hear about them. Tell us about them in the comments below.

In case you missed it, here is my Online Learning Activity Break #1: Git Up Challenge.

Filed Under: Activities, Blog, EdTech, Master's Work, Online Activity Break, OTESSA Tagged With: activity break, lesson plan, online teaching, Open Educational Resource, screen time, screentime

Online Course Activity Break #1 : Git Up Challenge

September 24, 2019 by Erica Hargreave 4 Comments

I love teaching my online courses, and I love the freedom that taking online courses affords me as a student. It means that I don’t have to give up other work or life matters to teach and to study, and I can accept opportunities in other parts of the world while teaching and studying.

Thanks to studying online, I was able to partake in the OER19 conference in Galway, Ireland this past Spring.

However, like with most things in life there are ups and downs to teaching and learning online. One area that I have been questioning for sometime now, is finding a healthy balance between screentime and time being present in the real world. Exploring that balance was the focus of my research in Master of Educational Technology Course ETEC 500. As a result, I have decided to start to put reminders into each of my Units this term in my BCIT Course, BCST 1073: Building Your Digital Media Presence, to take a break from the computer and get up to stretch, dance, meditate …etc. I plan to share many of these Activity Breaks with all of you here, in case you are thinking of doing something similar. Feel free to copy and modify these for your own online courses, if so desired.

Learning to disconnect and be present in the natural world from Cornelia Krikke.

Here is the first activity break that I’ve shared with my students:

Activity Break #1: Git Up Challenge

Time to get up, swing your arms and dance! (Photo by Paulette Wooten, via UnSplash.)

After dealing with a concussion in my own online studies, and spending some time researching healthy screen-time / real world balance in one of my Master’s courses, I’ve decided to add some reminders for activity breaks into our course.

I thought, I’d start with a little dance break and the Git Up Challenge, as it is also a fun example of an interactive media craze in action.

From a couple of Canadians that have taken up the challenge …

In case you need to learn the steps …

An example of the Git Up Challenge being used to educate, and for social good …

And a bit of social media thinking with examples of the craze spreading across Tik Tok …

I made this a discussion, just in case anyone feels so inspired to partake in the challenge, and wishes to share their video with us!

Oh, and if you have a suggestion for future Activity Breaks in the course, feel free to share your ideas in the discussion.

If you have links to your own or other people’s activity breaks in online courses, I’d love to see and hear about them. Tell us about them in the comments below.

Filed Under: Activities, Blog, EdTech, Master's Work, Online Activity Break, Opinions, OTESSA Tagged With: activity break, lesson plan, online teaching, Open Educational Resource, screen time, screentime

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