Smart Copy for WordPress - Documentation
Table of Contents
Introduction
Smart Copy is a WordPress plugin for adding smart copy buttons to code blocks, text snippets, product data, and other custom content. It helps you control where copy buttons appear, how they look, and what format is copied when a visitor clicks them.
The free version includes automatic copy rules, shared appearance settings, and privacy-aware analytics. Smart Copy Pro extends this with advanced clipboard formats, shortcode tools, per-rule style overrides, business copy helpers, and commercial license updates.
This documentation explains how to install the plugin, create copy rules, manage settings, activate your license, and use the available copy formats effectively on your site.
Installation
1. Download the plugin ZIP file.
2. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
3. Upload the Smart Copy ZIP file and activate it.
4. If you are using Pro, upload the Smart Copy Pro ZIP file after the free plugin is active.
5. Go to Smart Copy in the WordPress admin menu to start creating copy rules and configuring settings.
For Pro
After activating Smart Copy Pro, open Smart Copy > Settings > License, enter your license key, and activate it for the current site. Pro features stay locked until the license is valid.
Free vs Pro
Smart Copy is available in both Free and Pro versions.
The Free version gives you the core copy button workflow for WordPress, including automatic copy rules, shared appearance settings, and privacy-aware analytics. It is suitable for sites that need a clean and simple copy button system without advanced clipboard formats or shortcode tools.
Smart Copy Pro adds advanced features for sites that need more control, more formats, and commercial update support. Pro unlocks advanced clipboard formats such as Image Blob, Structured JSON, and Inline SVG, along with the shortcode generator, per-rule style overrides, business copy helpers, analytics export, and license-managed updates.
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic copy rules | Yes | Yes |
| Shared appearance settings | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy-aware analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced clipboard formats | No | Yes |
| Shortcode generator | No | Yes |
| Per-rule style overrides | No | Yes |
| Business copy helpers | No | Yes |
| CSV analytics export | No | Yes |
| Commercial license updates | No | Yes |
Quick Start
After activating Master Copy, go to Smart Copy > Copy Rules and create your first rule.
Add the CSS selector for the content you want to make copyable, choose the copy format, and adjust the rule settings based on where the button should appear.
Save the rule, then open a matching page on the frontend and test the copy button.
If needed, go to Smart Copy > Copy Rules > Default Styles to change the shared button appearance used by your rules.
If you are using Smart Copy Pro, activate your license from Smart Copy > Settings > License first, then use the Pro clipboard formats and shortcode tools.
Copy Rules
Copy Rules are the main way to add copy buttons automatically to matching content on your site.
Each rule lets you choose which elements should receive a copy button, where the rule should run, and how the button should behave on the frontend.
To create a rule, go to Smart Copy > Copy Rules and click Add New Rule.
In the rule editor, enter the target CSS selectors for the elements you want to support. For example, you can target a code block, a custom text container, or any specific element on the page.
You can also define visibility conditions, such as post type, logged-in status, or page and post ID, so the rule runs only where it is needed.
When the rule is saved, Smart Copy scans the page for matching elements and attaches the copy button automatically.
Use the rules list to review created rules, enable or disable them, and open any rule again for editing.
In the free version, rules use the shared default styles. In Pro, you can also use per-rule style overrides when needed.
Copy format
The copy format controls what Smart Copy places in the visitor’s clipboard when the copy button is clicked.
Text Only
Copies plain text only. Use this for coupon codes, short values, plain text snippets, and content where formatting is not needed.
HTML Only
Copies the HTML version of the matched content. Use this when you want to preserve markup for pasting into editors or other HTML-supported destinations.
Smart Copy
Chooses the best available copy method based on the content and browser support. Use this as the default option for most copy rules.
Image Blob (Pro)
Copies the matched image as an image when the browser supports it. Use this for image elements when you want visitors to copy the actual image instead of just its text or URL.
Structured JSON (Pro)
Copies a JSON payload that can include the copied text and related page context. Use this for structured data workflows, developer tools, or integrations where formatted data is more useful than plain text.
Inline SVG (Pro)
Copies inline SVG content in SVG format when supported by the browser. Use this for vector icons, diagrams, and other inline SVG elements.
Priority
The priority value controls the order in which Copy Rules are processed when more than one rule matches the same element.
A lower priority number is processed before a higher number. This is useful when you want one rule to take precedence over another on the same page.
For example, if you have one general rule for all code blocks and another more specific rule for a special code block design, you can give the specific rule a higher priority in the order you want it to be applied.
If your rules target different elements, you usually do not need to change the priority value.
Include Elements (CSS Selectors)
This field defines which frontend elements should receive the copy button.
Enter one CSS selector per line. Master Copy will look for matching elements on the page and attach the copy button to them automatically.
You can target simple elements such as pre, class-based selectors such as .copy, or more specific selectors such as .product-meta .sku.
Use this field to control exactly which content should be copyable for the current rule.
If no elements on the page match the entered selectors, the rule will not appear on that page.
Exclude Elements (CSS Selectors)
Use this field to prevent the copy button from appearing on specific elements, even if they match the included selectors.
Enter one CSS selector per line. Any element matching an exclude selector will be skipped by the rule.
This is useful when a general selector is needed for most content, but some matched elements should remain untouched.
For example, you can include pre and exclude .no-copy, or include a larger container and exclude a nested element inside it.
Exclude selectors help refine a rule without needing to create many separate rules.
Visibility Conditions
Visibility Conditions control where a copy rule should be shown or hidden.
You can add one or more conditions to limit the rule to specific locations or visitor states. A rule can be set to show when all conditions match or hide when all conditions match.
These conditions are useful when the same selectors exist in different parts of the site but the copy button should appear only in certain contexts.
Examples include showing a rule only on a specific post type, only for logged-in or logged-out visitors, or only on specific page or post IDs.
In the free version, basic conditions are available. Smart Copy Pro adds more advanced condition types such as user role, device, and URL-based matching.
Style Source
The Style Source setting controls whether the rule uses the shared default styles or its own custom style settings.
When Default Styles is selected, the rule inherits the shared appearance settings from the main Copy Rules styles area. This is the best option when you want a consistent button design across the site.
When Custom settings is selected, the rule can use its own visual settings instead of the shared defaults. This is available in Smart Copy Pro.
Use the default style source for most rules, and switch to custom settings only when a specific rule needs a different appearance.
Default Styles
Default Styles are the shared appearance settings used by Copy Rules that inherit the global style configuration.
These settings let you control how copy buttons look across the site without editing each rule separately.
You can adjust the visual style, button text, icon behavior, colors, spacing, and other shared appearance options from the Default Styles area.
When a rule uses Default Styles as its style source, it will follow these shared settings automatically.
This is the best way to keep a consistent copy button design across multiple rules.
Shortcodes
The Shortcodes section is available in Smart Copy Pro and is used to create manual copy buttons for posts, pages, widgets, templates, and other custom content areas.
Instead of relying on automatic Copy Rules, shortcodes let you place a copy button exactly where you want it.
The shortcode generator helps you build the shortcode visually by choosing the content source, copy format, button label, and optional CSS class.
This is useful when you need a manual copy button for specific content that should not be handled by automatic selectors.
After generating the shortcode, you can paste it into supported WordPress content areas and use it wherever needed.
Generated shortcode
This field shows the shortcode created from the current generator settings.
The output updates automatically as you change the content source, copy format, button label, and other shortcode options.
You can copy the generated shortcode and paste it into posts, pages, widgets, patterns, or template areas where you want the copy button to appear.
This helps you build the shortcode visually without writing it manually.
Quick starts
Quick starts provide ready-made shortcode examples for common use cases.
You can load a preset to fill the generator with a basic setup, then adjust the fields as needed before copying the final shortcode.
This is useful when you want to begin from a practical example instead of building the shortcode from scratch.
Quick starts help speed up common tasks such as copying a coupon code, plain text value, or formatted content block.
Build shortcode
This area is used to configure the shortcode before generating the final output.
You can choose the content source, copy format, copied value, button label, and optional CSS class based on how you want the manual copy button to work.
As you update these fields, the generated shortcode is updated automatically.
This makes it easier to create a shortcode that matches your content and frontend needs without writing it manually.
Syntax
The shortcode syntax shows the basic structure used by Smart Copy Pro manual copy buttons.
You can use the shortcode in a self-closing format for simple values, or in an opening and closing format when the copied content should be wrapped inside the shortcode.
This helps you understand how the shortcode is built and when to use attributes or wrapped content.
The generator creates the correct syntax automatically, but the syntax section is useful when you want to understand or edit the shortcode manually.
Attributes
Attributes control how the manual copy shortcode behaves and what content it copies.
Some attributes are used to define the copied value, while others control the label or add a custom class to the rendered button.
When wrapped content is used, the shortcode can copy the content placed between the opening and closing tags instead of relying only on attributes.
| Attribute | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
text |
Defines the plain value to copy when using the attribute-based shortcode format. | text="SAVE20" |
label |
Sets the text shown on the frontend copy button. | label="Copy code" |
format |
Defines the copy format used by the shortcode, such as text, html, smart, or a supported Pro format. | format="smart" |
class |
Adds a custom CSS class to the rendered copy button for additional styling or targeting. | class="promo-copy" |
attach |
Controls how the copy button is attached when using manual shortcode output in supported contexts. | attach="previous" |
Analytics
The Analytics section helps you review how copy buttons are being used across your site.
Smart Copy records privacy-aware copy events such as the rule, page, format, and time of the action, without storing the copied content itself.
This makes it easier to understand which rules are being used most often and where visitors are interacting with copy buttons.
In the free version, you can review analytics inside WordPress. In Smart Copy Pro, you can also export analytics data as CSV for reporting and further analysis.
Troubleshooting
If a copy button does not appear, first confirm that the rule is enabled and that the target selectors match real frontend elements on the page.
If the rule is saved but does not work on the frontend, check the rule conditions, excluded selectors, and the selected copy format.
If a Pro feature is unavailable, confirm that Smart Copy Pro is active and that the site license is valid from Smart Copy > Settings > License.
If clipboard behavior is different across browsers, remember that some formats depend on browser support and secure clipboard permissions.
When testing changes, clear any site caching layers and refresh the frontend page before testing again.
If the issue continues, review the plugin settings carefully and test with a simple selector or basic rule first to isolate the problem.
FAQ
Does Smart Copy store copied content?
No. Smart Copy records privacy-aware event data such as the rule, page, format, and time, but it does not store the copied content itself.
Why does a copy button not appear on my page?
Check that the rule is enabled, the target selectors match real frontend elements, and the rule conditions allow it to run on that page.
Can I use Smart Copy without Pro?
Yes. The free version includes the main copy rule workflow, shared appearance settings, and privacy-aware analytics.
What does Smart Copy Pro add?
Smart Copy Pro adds advanced clipboard formats, the shortcode generator, per-rule style overrides, business copy helpers, analytics export, and commercial license updates.
Why are Pro features locked even though the Pro plugin is installed?
Smart Copy Pro features require a valid active license for the current site. Install the Pro plugin, then activate the license from Smart Copy > Settings > License.
Why does copy behavior change between browsers?
Some clipboard formats depend on browser support and clipboard permissions. Basic formats usually work more broadly, while advanced formats may behave differently depending on the browser.
Can I use shortcodes in the free version?
No. The shortcode generator and manual shortcode tools are available in Smart Copy Pro.