What’s in This Guide #
This article covers the Cookie settings in the popup editor. You can add and edit popup cookie settings under Popup Settings > Triggers in the popup editor.
Popup cookies are related to triggers because cookies control the repeat display of a popup. Triggers are what make your popups display.
Definitions #
Popup Trigger: A popup trigger is an event (e.g., a click or length of time) that makes your popup appear. You must create a popup trigger for your popup to display. A popup can have more than 1 trigger.
Browser Cookie: When you create a popup trigger, you can create cookies to remember when someone sees a popup. That means you can tell Popup Maker to display a popup to someone only once a month (1 month is the default setting). Popup Maker does this by checking for any relevant browser cookies before it tries to open a popup.
Add a New Cookie #
When the button labeled ‘Add New Cookie’ is selected, a popup labeled ‘When should your cookie be created?’ will appear. Six (6) cookie setting options are provided with the base (free) version of Popup Maker. The plugin default is set to the first option value, ‘On Popup Close’.
Cookie options include:
1. On Popup Close — A cookie is set in the browser when the popup is closed (default);
2. On Popup Open — A cookie is set in the browser when the popup is opened;
3. Form Submission — A cookie is set in the browser when a form placed inside a popup is submitted. Use this cookie together with the Form Submission trigger.
4. Subscription Form: Successful —
Note: When using the Popup Maker subscription form, or a WordPress form plugin supported by Popup Maker inside the popup editor, the recommended practice is to now use the Form Submission trigger and cookie together (option #3 above). When that trigger and cookie combination is used, do not use a plugin-specific form submit success cookie.
This cookie option is intended for use with our MailChimp Integration plugin extension to Popup Maker. It is also available for use with the Popup Maker ‘Subscription Form’ shortcode integrated with a 3rd party email marketing plugin or application registered with Popup Maker.
Plugin users of either Ninja Forms, Gravity Forms, or Contact Form 7 should continue to use either of the first 2 cookie options above, plus their respective Popup Maker ‘form submit success’ cookies (see ‘related article’ links below).
Related article: Ninja Forms Submit Success integration cookie
Related article: GravityForms Submit Success integration cookie
Related article: Contact Form 7 Submit Success integration cookie
5. Subscription Form: Already Subscribed — This cookie option is intended for use with our MailChimp Integration plugin extension to Popup Maker. It is also available for use with the Popup Maker ‘Subscription Form’ shortcode integrated with a 3rd party email marketing plugin or application registered with Popup Maker.
6. Manual Javascript — Select this option when using a form or WordPress form plugin for which Popup Maker does not have a specific integration.
Related article: Close Popup and Create Cookie When a Form is Submitted
The Manual JavaScript cookie option can also be used to set a browser cookie when clicking on targeted content inside a popup. See the section below ‘Set a Browser Cookie ‘On Click’ Inside a Popup’ for details.
Each of the 6 cookie options listed above is described at length in the related article link below.
Related article: ‘Cookie Settings and Features’.
‘Cookie Settings — General’ option settings #
Upon adding a cookie option, the ‘Cookie Settings — General’ option settings box will appear.
The custom fields shown include:
Cookie Name — Popup Maker automatically assigns a cookie an ID number formatted as ‘pum-{integer}’. This ID is used to link a cookie to a trigger.
Cookie Time — By default, cookies are valid for a term of 1 month. This can be changed by plugin users to a different value. Acceptable units of time include:
- seconds,
- minute(s),
- hour(s),
- day(s),
- month(s), and
- year(s)
‘Cookie Settings — Advanced’ option settings #
Popup Maker provides some ‘advanced’ option settings, whose defaults seldom need to be changed.
The custom fields shown include:
Use Session Cookie? — By default, this option is turned ‘off’. Modern browsers can keep web pages (and browser sessions) open indefinitely, even when browsers and devices are not in use. We maintain this option setting for plugin version backward compatibility. Most plugin users have no need to turn the option ‘on’.
Sitewide Cookie –– By default, this option is turned ‘on’. It applies Popup Maker cookies throughout a site, controlling the repeat display of popups on any site page.
Options to Set and Link a Cookie to a Trigger #
Cookies can be set and linked to a trigger either:
- when adding a new trigger, or
- by editing an existing trigger.
Set and Link a Cookie When Adding a New Trigger #
- From the ‘Trigger’ option settings tab, select the button labeled ‘Add New Trigger’.
2. From the popup titled ‘Choose what type of trigger to add?’, select the checkbox labeled: ‘Would you like to set up a cookie as well?’.
3. Choose from among the six (6) cookie options presented in the drop-down menu, then select the ‘Add’ button to add the trigger and link the cookie. The plugin default selection is set to ‘On Popup Close’.
4. Depending on which trigger is selected, a matching option setting box will appear.
‘Click Trigger Settings — General’ option settings #
The Click Trigger Settings box, ‘General’ option tab appears when a Click Open trigger is selected. If the ‘Cookie Name’ custom field is blank, click on the field to either add a new cookie, or select an existing one. Cookie names are formatted as “pum-{integer}”.
‘Time Delay Settings — General’ option settings #
The Time Delay Settings box, ‘General’ option tab appears when an Auto Open / Time Delay trigger is selected. Set and link a cookie in the ‘Cookie Name’ custom field.
‘Form Submission Trigger Setting — General’ option #
When a Form Submission trigger and cookie are used together….
…the Form Submission Trigger Settings box appears. On the ‘General’ option tab, select the form to apply the trigger and cookie, the time delay ( if any ) on opening the popup, and the cookie to assign.
Example of Two Triggers Linked to a Cookie #
In the example above, a Click Open and Form Submission trigger are set and both linked to the same cookie. The cookie has an ID of ‘pum-282’.
Set and Link a Cookie When Editing an Existing Trigger #
1. To add and link a cookie to a trigger, edit an existing trigger. Select the ‘pencil’ icon from the ‘Popup Settings — Trigger’ option settings tab.
2a. Edit an existing ‘Click Open’ trigger — The ‘Click Trigger Settings’ option settings popup will appear. On the ‘General’ tab, select the custom field labeled ‘Cookie Name’. An ‘Add New Cookie’ option will appear. Select the option to add it to the custom field, then select the ‘Update’ button.
2b. Edit an existing ‘Time Delay / Auto Open’ trigger — The ‘Time Delay Settings’ option settings popup will appear. On the ‘General’ tab, select the custom field labeled ‘Cookie Name’. An ‘Add New Cookie’ option will appear. Select the option to add it to the custom field, then select the ‘Update’ button.
Note: The process described above in Step 2 for the ‘Click Open’ and ‘Auto Open / Time Delay’ triggers is the same for any premium trigger available as a plugin extension to Popup Maker.
3. The plugin will prompt with a popup labeled ‘When should your popup be created?’. The plugin default option is set to ‘On Popup Close’, with four (4) additional option settings available.
Either accept the plugin default option, or select a different option, and then click the button labeled ‘Add’ to move to the next step.
4. The ‘Cookie Settings — General’ option settings box will appear displaying two (2) custom fields; ‘Cookie Name’ and ‘Cookie Time’.
‘Cookie Name’ is a cookie with an identification (ID) format of ‘pum-{integer}’ (for example, ‘pum-40’).
‘Cookie Time’ is an expiration term for the cookie. The plugin default value is 1 month, which can be changed to a value that ranges from minutes to years.
To accept the values for ‘Cookie Name’ and ‘Cookie Time’, select the ‘Update’ button.
5. In the image above, a ‘Time Delay / Auto Open’ trigger is now linked to an ‘On Popup Close’ cookie via the cookie ID of ‘pum-40’.
Set A Browser Cookie When Submitting A Form #
Note: Popup Maker version 1.9 introduces the Form Submission trigger and cookie. Recommended good practice is to use the new trigger and cookie together when using a form or form plugin supported by Popup Maker inside a popup.
The form submit success cookies for Ninja Forms, GravityForms, and Contact Form 7 remain valid. They will be deprecated in a future version of Popup Maker and eventually removed as cookie menu options from the Popup Settings box. These cookie methods will continue to work through the Popup Maker version 1.x series.
See: Popup Maker Integration with WordPress Form Builder Plugins
Popup Maker adds a ‘form submit success’ cookie option for any of the WordPress form plugins listed below when they are activated with our plugin.
Note: Popup Maker is a Ninja Forms affiliate. We provide support for each other’s products.
Set a Browser Cookie ‘On Click’ Inside a Popup #
The ‘Manual JavaScript’ cookie option was discussed previously in the section titled ‘Add a New Cookie’ (list item #5). It can be used to set a browser cookie on form submission success with any WordPress form plugin other than the 3 plugins with which Popup Maker directly integrates.
This cookie option can also be used to set a browser cookie ‘on click’ of any content displayed inside a popup. For example, a popup displays by a ‘Time Delay / Auto Open’ trigger. The popup contains 2 images, and the visitor is encouraged to click on one or the other image.
The ‘Manual JavaScript’ cookie option can be used to set a browser cookie ‘on click’ when either popup image is selected. See the related article link below for details, including cookie option setting and custom code.
Related article: Create Cookie On the Click of an Element Within Your Popup.
