Where to start?

The Visual Editor sure has a lot of options, right? Don't worry. I'll help you with the basics. Just remember the essentials:

First, I'll explain the embed types, and then I'll discuss the global options.

This option is for embedding single mixes from 8tracks.com (Example). You simply find a mix you like, and then drop into the box labeled "Mix URL."

This option is very similar to the single mix option, except for the fact that it returns a collection of mixes (Example). This collection is larger and holds multiple mixes in one embed. It's great for curating sets!

In general terms, DJs are users on 8tracks.com (It's me!).

Using this option will create a collection of mixes by a given user. The "show:" dropdown allows you to specify that you'd like to see a collection of that user's latest mixes, or what s/he has liked, marked to listen to later, already listened to, or finally those mixes that are recommended to him/her.

As you might guess, this can be useful when you put your own username in there!

Note: You can put DJs either like this: http://8tracks.com/songsthatsaved (useful for names with unusual characters) or like this: songsthatsaved. The box accepts either format!

The artist option lets you specify a musician you like, and get back a collection of mixes containing that artist (Example).

The "sort by" dropdown lets you choose three types of collections: Trending (mixes popular right now), New (mixes that are recently made), and Popular (mixes that have been liked by many users over time.

Note: You can only choose one artist.

The tags option lets you search 8tracks by genre, mood, or whatever other meta category through the use of tags or keywords. Simply enter a comma-separated list of things you'd like to find. This search returns a collection of mixes marked with those tags (Example).

Finally, the "sort by" dropdown lets you choose three types of collections: Trending (mixes popular right now), New (mixes that are recently made), and Popular (mixes that have been liked by many users over time.

The similar mixes option lets you take the URL of a mix you like (Example), and get back a collection of mixes that have been judged to be similar by data from Echo Nest and Last.fm (Example Output).

This option lets you conduct tag searches using the categories or tags (or both!) from one of your WordPress posts. You can specify a post by inserting its URL, or you can allow the plugin to use the most recent post. (Note: This will only work for posts on your blog. Other sites' posts won't work.)

If one of your categories or tags returns zero results, it is omitted from the search and the rest are used (you'll see a comment in your html source about this when it happens).

Here is where you set the width of your single mixes or collections. As a reference, these default to:

  • Single mixes: 300px
  • Collections: 500px

Width can be entered in either pixels or percent.

Here is where you set the height of your single mixes or collections. As a reference, these default to:

  • Single mixes: 250px
  • Collections: 500px

Height can be entered in either pixels or percent.

This dropdown has three options that affect the way your mix or collection behaves:

  • 1. Shuffle: This randomizes the track order within a mix.
  • 2. Autoplay: This makes the mix or collection start playing as soon as it is loaded.
  • 3. Shuffle+Autoplay: This does both 1 and 2.