MessageOfTheDay Plugin

MessageOfTheDay plugin

MessageOfTheDay shows pop-up announcements to your visitors. You can schedule messages for a period, choose who sees them, and see how many people viewed them.

MessageOfTheDay is a paid add-on available from the AVideo plugin marketplace.

Install it

1. Install the plugin: How To Install a new Plugin.
2. Open the left menu → Plugins, find MessageOfTheDay and turn it on.
3. If a red Install tables button (or an Update button) appears on the plugin row, click it.

The plugin row has two buttons:

• Edit: create and manage scheduled messages.
• Statistics: see how many times messages were viewed.

Types of Messages

1. Scheduled Messages

Messages you create in Edit, with a start date, an optional end date, a display frequency and an audience.

• Start Date defaults to now. End Date can be left empty: the message then stays active until you delete it or set an end date.
• Dates use your local timezone (the time in your browser when you create the message).
• Display Frequency:
  • Once per user: each visitor sees it one time.
  • Once per day: each visitor sees it once a day while it is active.
• All users or only some user groups.

2. Default Message (Static Global Message)

One message set in the plugin options. It is shown to everyone, once a day.

How to Use

Creating a Scheduled Message

1. On the plugin row, click Edit.
2. Fill in the form on the left:
   • Title (required).
   • Text: use the editor to format text and add links and images.
   • Start Date and End Date.
   • Display Frequency: Once per user (default) or Once per day.
   • All users: leave it on to show the message to everyone, or turn it off and select user groups.
3. Click Save.

The message appears in the table on the right with its Status:

Status	Meaning
Active	Being shown now.
Scheduled	The start date is in the future; it will start by itself.
Expired	The end date has passed; it is no longer shown.

Editing or Deleting a Message

Each row of the table has three buttons: the chart icon opens its statistics, the pencil loads it into the form (change it and click Save), and the trash can deletes it. Click New to clear the form.

Setting the Default Message

1. On the plugin row, click Edit parameters.
2. Fill in:
   • staticGlobalMessageTitle: the title.
   • Static Global Message Text (staticGlobalMessageText): the content. Basic HTML is allowed (bold, italic, paragraphs, lists, links, images, headings); scripts and other tags are removed.
   • showToLoggedUsersOnly: tick it to show all messages (scheduled and default) only to signed-in users.
3. Click Save changes.

If you change the default message, visitors see it again even if they already saw the old one that day.

Viewing Statistics

Click Statistics on the plugin row, or the chart icon next to a message. You see total views, unique viewers, views by day, views by hour, and the most recent viewers. Without a message selected, you see totals for all messages, a 30-day chart and the most viewed messages.

Display Frequency Comparison

The frequency is remembered with a cookie in each visitor's browser:

Frequency	Cookie name	Lasts	Good for
Once per user	motd_once_{id}	365 days	One-time announcements
Once per day	motd_daily_{id}_{date}	1 day	Daily reminders, ongoing promotions

A visitor who clears cookies or uses another browser or device sees the message again.

Common questions

Why is the message not appearing? Check its Status, the start and end dates, the audience (All users or groups), and showToLoggedUsersOnly. If you already saw it, test in a private window.

Why did a user see it again? They cleared cookies or used another browser or device.

Does it slow down my site? No. Messages are loaded after the page has finished loading.