Weekly Links Roundup – Privacy Settings, GDPR Plugins, Affiliate Programs, Admin Columns

This week’s WordPress and web marketing links.

Have you noticed the new Privacy settings page under Settings? This is a new WordPress feature that’s just come out in advance of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) going into effect in the EU on May 25. The GDPR requires site owners to be transparent about how they collect, use and share personal data, and to provide ways for users to review, correct and remove personal data from websites. Add your privacy page in the settings – and if you don’t have one there are some guidelines for creating them.

There are a number of GDPR plugins for WordPress already. Of the ones I’ve checked out, this is the most useful so far: GDPR Personal Data Reports. This plugin makes it super-easy for your users to request a copy of the data on your site, and to request deletion. It’s all automated and requires confirmation from the user before any actions are taken, plus it logs each request in the dashboard for you for record-keeping.

If you’ve thought about monetizing your WordPress site for more income, here’s a post about setting up either an affiliate or referral program in WordPress. These programs use a special link to your site that you share with your affiliates and referrers; they promote your site on their own websites and when someone clicks through, they get a small commission. Several plugins that can help you set up your own program are reviewed.

Finally… a review of the Admin Columns plugin for WordPress. This is a handy tool that lets you fully customize the columns for your Pages and Posts pages in the dashboard – reorganizing, adding or deleting columns, sorting, filtering and even editing content items in columns! There’s a drag-and-drop interface and over 390 different column types to pick from.