Comparison Tables Documentation

Learn how to create professional Amazon product comparison tables for your WordPress site

Getting Started

Requirements

Comparison Tables is an add-on that requires the parent plugin to be installed and activated:

  • Paapi Product Search for Amazon Premium - must be installed and activated
  • Valid API credentials - configured in the parent plugin settings
  • WordPress 5.0+ and PHP 7.4+

Installation

  1. Purchase Comparison Tables from the Comparison Tables page
  2. Download the plugin ZIP from your Account Dashboard
  3. In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
  4. Upload the ZIP file and click Install Now
  5. Click Activate to enable Comparison Tables

Activation

After activation, you'll see a new Comparison Tables menu item under the Paapi Product Search settings. Enter your license key to unlock all features.

Tip: Your license key is sent to your email after purchase and is also available in your Account Dashboard.

Shortcode Usage

Display comparison tables using the [psfa_comparison] shortcode.

Basic Usage

[psfa_comparison id="5"]

Shortcode Attributes

Attribute Values Description
id Table ID Required. The comparison table ID.
columns image,title,price,rating,features,button Comma-separated list of columns. Options: image, title, price, rating, prime, discount, features, button
size small, medium, large Table size. Default: medium
layout horizontal, vertical Table layout. Default: horizontal
responsive scroll, stack Mobile behavior. scroll = horizontal scroll (default), stack = card view.
winner true, false Highlight best value. Default: true
button_text Custom text Button text. Default: "View on Amazon"

Examples

Vertical Layout

Products as columns

[psfa_comparison id="5" layout="vertical"]

Custom Columns

Show only what matters

[psfa_comparison id="5" columns="image,title,price,button"]

Custom Button

Personalized CTA

[psfa_comparison id="5" button_text="Check Price"]

Layouts

Comparison Tables offers two layout orientations and responsive mobile options:

Horizontal Layout (Default)

Products displayed as rows with feature columns. Best for comparing many attributes across products. Each product occupies a row with columns for image, title, price, rating, and button.

[psfa_comparison id="5" layout="horizontal"]

Vertical Layout

Products displayed as columns with feature rows. Ideal for side-by-side visual comparison. Each product occupies a column, making it easy to scan differences.

[psfa_comparison id="5" layout="vertical"]

Mobile Responsive Options

Control how tables adapt on mobile devices:

  • Stack (default for horizontal): Products become cards stacked vertically for easy mobile scrolling
  • Scroll (default for vertical): Table maintains structure with horizontal scroll
[psfa_comparison id="5" responsive="stack"]

Size Variants

Choose table size to fit your content width:

  • Small: Compact images and text, ideal for narrow columns
  • Medium (default): Balanced size for most content areas
  • Large: Larger images and text for full-width displays

Tip: Test both layouts to see which works best for your specific comparison. Vertical works great for 2-4 products, while horizontal scales better for 5+ products.

Winner Badges

Highlight your top picks with winner badges. Badges help guide visitor decisions and increase click-through rates.

Available Badge Types

✓ Best Value best_value
♛ Editor's Choice editors_choice
★ Best Rated best_rated
$ Budget Pick budget_pick
✦ Premium Pick premium_pick

Assigning Badges

  1. Go to Paapi Search → Comparison Tables
  2. Edit your comparison table
  3. For each product, select a badge type from the dropdown
  4. Click Save to update the table

Hiding Badges

To display a table without winner badges, use the winner="false" attribute:

[psfa_comparison id="5" winner="false"]

Tip: You can assign different badge types to multiple products in the same table. For example, one product can be "Best Value" while another is "Premium Pick".

Managing Tables

Creating a New Table

  1. Go to Paapi Search → Comparison Tables
  2. Click Add New Table
  3. Enter a table name (e.g., "Best Headphones 2024")
  4. Click Create Table

Adding Products

There are two ways to add products to a comparison table:

Method 1: Search-to-Compare

  1. Visit your search page while logged in as an admin
  2. Search for any product
  3. Click the "+ Compare" button on product cards
  4. Select the target comparison table
  5. The product is added automatically

Method 2: Manual ASIN Entry

  1. Edit your comparison table
  2. Click Add Product
  3. Enter the Amazon ASIN
  4. Click Add

Reordering Products

Drag and drop products in the table editor to change their display order. The first product appears on the left (vertical layout) or top (horizontal layout).

Removing Products

Click the Remove button next to any product to remove it from the table. This doesn't delete the product from Amazon - it only removes it from your comparison.

Product Limit: Each comparison table can contain up to 10 products. This keeps tables readable and ensures fast page loads.

Troubleshooting

Table shows "No products found" or empty cells
  • Verify products are added to the table in the admin
  • Check that your API credentials are valid in the parent plugin settings
  • Products may be unavailable in your configured marketplace
  • Try adding nocache="true" to test with fresh data
"+ Compare" button doesn't appear on search results
  • Make sure you're logged in as an administrator
  • Verify Comparison Tables add-on is activated
  • Check that your Comparison Tables license is valid
  • Clear any caching plugins and refresh the page
Winner badges not displaying
  • Check that badges are assigned to products in the table editor
  • Verify the shortcode doesn't have winner="false"
  • Clear your site's page cache
  • Check for CSS conflicts with your theme
Mobile layout not working correctly
  • Try explicitly setting responsive="stack" or responsive="scroll"
  • Clear CSS caching (minification plugins, CDN cache)
  • Check that JavaScript is enabled and not blocked
  • Test in browser dev tools responsive mode
Prices not updating
  • Product data is cached to reduce API calls - wait for cache to expire
  • Use nocache="true" temporarily to force fresh data
  • Check the cache duration setting in parent plugin settings
  • Clear your site's page cache if using a caching plugin
  • Note: Star ratings and review counts are admin-managed (not from API) - update them in the admin dashboard

Need more help? Comparison Tables customers have access to priority email support via the Account Dashboard.