MentionFetch

MentionFetch helps agencies, consultants, founders, and personal brand sites showcase earned media professionally. Paste a URL from any publication. MentionFetch attempts to fetch the metadata automatically. When the publisher allows it, fields are populated instantly. When a site blocks server-side fetch (common on major publishers), MentionFetch opens a manual editing form automatically with best-effort prefills from the URL — no extra click needed. Either way, you review the fields and save structured WordPress content in under a minute. Core flow: Paste URL → Review → Publish What MentionFetch Does

• Import media coverage from any URL using Open Graph, Twitter Card, and standard HTML metadata
• Save imported items as dedicated Mention entries or as regular WordPress posts
• Preview and edit all imported fields before saving
• Live card preview on the import screen shows how the card will look
• Render mention cards on the frontend with a shortcode or Gutenberg block
• Display existing WordPress posts as mention cards without re-importing
• Automatic featured image sideload from imported article images
• Duplicate import prevention based on normalized source URL
• Source published date ordering so coverage timelines stay correct
• Clean source name resolution using page metadata and a curated publisher brand map
• MentionFetch Details meta box for editing mention fields after import
• WordPress-native import screen with Featured Image workflow, card preview sidebar, and combined Categories & Tags panel
• Optional AI excerpt enhancement with BYOK OpenAI-compatible provider; model selection via provider-backed discovery ("Load Models" fetches available models) or manual entry as fallback

Shortcode [mentionfetch] Shows published mentions using the active destination setting. Optional attributes:

• limit — number of items (default: 6)
• source — mention_item, post, or existing_posts
• category — category slug or ID
• post_type — post type slug (existing_posts mode, default: post)
• taxonomy — taxonomy slug
• term — term slug or ID within the taxonomy
• layout — grid (default)
• show_image — true (default) or false
• show_excerpt — true (default) or false
• show_date — true (default) or false
• show_source — true (default) or false
• orderby — source_date (default for imported content), post_date (default for existing posts), title, or random
• order — DESC (default; title defaults to ASC) or ASC
• offset — number of items to skip (default: 0, max: 50)
• preset — display preset slug (created in MentionFetch > Presets); explicit attributes override preset values

Shortcode Examples Show imported mentions: [mentionfetch limit="6"] Show imported posts only: [mentionfetch source="post"] Show existing posts from a category: [mentionfetch source="existing_posts" category="news" limit="4"] Show a custom post type filtered by taxonomy: [mentionfetch source="existing_posts" post_type="case_study" taxonomy="industry" term="saas"] Grid without images or dates: [mentionfetch layout="grid" show_image="false" show_date="false"] Gutenberg Block Insert the MentionFetch block from the block inserter. Use the inspector panel to set source, limit, taxonomy filters, and display toggles. The block shows a live server-rendered grid preview in the editor. Layouts

• Grid — visual card grid with image, excerpt, meta, and "Read more" link (default)

Elementor Widget If Elementor is installed and active, a MentionFetch widget is available in the Elementor editor under General. It supports the same source, filter, and display options as the shortcode and block. Display controls use a three-state Inherit/Show/Hide pattern so preset values flow through to untouched widgets. The plugin remains fully functional without Elementor. Save Destinations In MentionFetch Settings, choose where imported items are saved:

• Mention Item — a dedicated custom post type managed under the MentionFetch menu
• WordPress Post — a standard post with optional default category assignment

Both destinations store the same normalized mention metadata and support the same shortcode and block rendering. Import Features

• Metadata parsing: Open Graph, Twitter/X Card, meta description, JSON-LD dates, HTML paragraph fallback
• Canonical URL resolution: prefers og:url, then link rel=canonical, then the pasted URL
• URL normalization: strips tracking parameters (utm_*, fbclid, gclid, etc.), lowercases, normalizes trailing slashes
• Relative URL resolution for protocol-relative, root-relative, and path-relative metadata values
• Browser-like fetch headers for better publisher compatibility
• Featured image sideload into the WordPress media library
• Generated post content with excerpt summary and source attribution link (post destination only)
• Duplicate detection across both mention items and imported posts
• Draft or Publish status choice at import time
• Automatic manual fallback: when a publisher blocks server-side fetch, the edit form opens automatically with URL-derived prefills — no extra click needed

0.2.4

• Settings page now shows WordPress's standard "Settings saved." notice after a successful save.
• WordPress.org package documentation now describes only the features available in the submitted package.

0.2.3

• WordPress.org review follow-up: removed production-shipped local workspace plugin-row labeling and the review-risky plugin-root constant usage behind it.
• Hardened frontend escaping by replacing remaining output-ignore comments with explicit escaping helpers.
• Cleaned remaining short-prefix local variables and comments. Public shortcode and block APIs now use the mentionfetch slug only.

0.2.1

• WordPress.org compliance hardening: the distributed package now shows only controls and templates that are physically present in the package.
• Saved display presets are fully usable without a preset cap.
• Removed unavailable-feature notices from package templates.
• Legacy query parameter leftovers renamed for prefix consistency.
• External Services readme section extended to document the public-page metadata fetch path used at URL import.

0.2.0

• Renamed plugin from MentionPress to MentionFetch for WordPress.org trademark compliance.
• New plugin slug and shortcode: mentionfetch.
• Internal identifiers updated to the mentionfetch prefix family for WordPress.org guidelines.
• Inline scripts moved to wp_add_inline_script() / external JS files per WordPress.org enqueue requirements.
• Output escaping hardened across frontend and widget output.
• API key sanitization improved: uses character-class regex instead of sanitize_text_field() to preserve valid key characters.
• Added External Services section to readme documenting optional OpenAI API usage with terms and privacy links.

0.1.2

• Improved metadata parsing for public article pages.
• Redesign the MentionFetch Details meta box as a compact two-column grid.
• Add inline help icons next to MentionFetch Details fields with instant tooltips explaining ambiguous fields (Source Logo vs. Image, rating scale semantics, etc.).

0.1.1

• Fix Freemius opt-in flow: "Complete MentionFetch Activation Now" link is no longer swallowed by the top-level admin redirect, so submenus appear after opt-in or skip.

0.1.0

• Initial MVP release.
• URL import with metadata parsing and preview.
• Mention item and post save destinations.
• Shortcode and Gutenberg block frontend output.
• Existing posts rendering mode.
• Featured image sideload.
• Duplicate import guard.
• Source published date ordering.
• MentionFetch Details meta box.
• Live card preview on import screen.