Auto Injection

Overview

Simple Post Like hooks into WordPress’s the_content filter to inject the like button automatically — no template edits, no shortcodes required. You control where it appears from Settings → Simple Post Like → Auto Injection.

---

How It Works

When a page loads and WordPress renders post content, the_content filter runs on the output. Simple Post Like hooks into this filter and appends, prepends, or wraps the like button around the content based on your position setting.

Two guards run before injection happens:

• in_the_loop() must return true — prevents injection outside the main post loop
• is_main_query() must return true — prevents injection in secondary queries, widget areas, or custom WP_Query calls

This means the button only ever appears in the right place — the main content area of your posts — and never leaks into sidebars, footers, or custom query loops.

---

Master Toggle

The Auto Injection toggle is the master switch for all automatic placement. When disabled, no injection happens anywhere — the button only appears where you place the [simple_post_like] shortcode manually.

Default: Enabled

When to disable:

• Your theme templates already have a dedicated spot for post actions
• You are using a page builder that manages content output independently
• You want precise shortcode-based control over every placement
• You are building a headless or decoupled WordPress setup

---

Position on Single Posts

Controls injection placement on single post pages — any URL where is_singular() returns true for an enabled post type.

Option	Behavior
After Content	Button injected after </p> of the last content block
Before Content	Button injected before the first content character
Before & After	Button injected at both positions
None	No injection on single posts — archive only if enabled

Default: After Content

The None option is useful when you want the button on archive pages only, without it appearing on the full post page — for example, on a news site where archive cards are the primary engagement surface.

---

Archive Page Injection

An independent toggle that controls injection on archive pages — blog index (is_home()), category pages, tag pages, author pages, and search results — anywhere WordPress loops through posts and renders content via the_content.

Default: Enabled

When enabled, the button is injected after content on archive pages regardless of the single post position setting. Archive injection always uses the after-content position — before-content and before-and-after positions apply to single posts only.

When to disable:

• Your archive templates show only excerpts and the button feels out of place
• You are using the_excerpt instead of the_content on archive pages — in that case this toggle has no effect anyway since the hook only runs on the_content
• You want the like feature on full post pages only

---

Injection and Custom Post Types

Auto injection respects the Post Types setting. The button is only injected on post types you have enabled under Settings → Simple Post Like → Post Types. If a custom post type is not checked, no injection happens on its singular or archive pages regardless of the injection settings.

---

Shortcode vs Auto Injection

Both can be active at the same time. If auto injection is enabled and you also place a [simple_post_like] shortcode inside the same post’s content, the button will appear twice — once from the shortcode and once from the injection. To avoid this, either:

• Disable auto injection and use shortcodes only, or
• Set the injection position to None for single posts and use shortcodes on individual posts where you want manual control

---

Next Steps

• Guest Likes — how guest tracking works
• Shortcode Reference — manual placement with full attribute reference