How to Add Amazon Product Search in Gutenberg and Elementor

Before you install a plugin like this, you want to know it will work in the editor you already build with. If you searched for an Amazon affiliate plugin Gutenberg block, you were probably hoping for something to drag in and forget about.

PaapiPlugin doesn't have one, and it still works in both editors. Expect one surprise: while you edit, it can look broken when nothing is wrong.

Amazon affiliate plugin Gutenberg block: what PaapiPlugin uses instead

PaapiPlugin doesn't register a block of its own, in the core plugin or in any add-on, and it doesn't add an Elementor widget. Everything goes on the page as a shortcode:

• [psfa_search] for live Amazon search and product grids, free.
• [psfa_product_box] for a single product, with the Product Boxes add-on.
• [psfa_comparison] for a side-by-side table, with the Comparison Tables add-on.

The Analytics add-on has no shortcode at all. It attaches to the search widget wherever that renders.

Both editors already have a proper home for shortcodes: the Shortcode block that ships with WordPress, and Elementor's Shortcode widget. WordPress and Elementor both document them as the way to place a shortcode.

First, copy the shortcode

You don't have to write it by hand. In your WordPress admin:

• Search and grids: open the Shortcode Builder, pick your options and press Copy. The builder's own instruction is "Copy this shortcode and paste it into any page or post."
• Product boxes: the Product Boxes page copies a ready [psfa_product_box asin="..."] line to your clipboard.
• Comparison tables: the Comparison Tables page gives you the [psfa_comparison id="..."] line for a table you saved.

The smallest working version is one line:

[psfa_search]

Every attribute is listed in our search shortcode guide, so this post sticks to where the shortcode goes.

Adding Amazon product search in the WordPress block editor

The block editor has a core block called Shortcode, in the Widgets section of the inserter.

1. Open the page or post and click the Add Block button.
2. Find Shortcode in the Widgets section, or type /shortcode on an empty line and press Enter.
3. Paste your shortcode into the box.
4. Click Preview, or open the published page.

That's the whole job. The Shortcode block has no settings of its own in the sidebar, so there's nothing else to configure.

Classic and Custom HTML blocks

Stick with the Shortcode block. WordPress's documentation for the Custom HTML block doesn't say it runs shortcodes, so we don't recommend it. Text in a Classic block is ordinary post content, which WordPress does run shortcodes over, but the Shortcode block is the one we'd use.

Block theme templates and widget areas

If your theme uses the Site Editor, you can put a Shortcode block in a template or template part. WordPress core runs shortcodes over template markup, so it renders on the front end. That comes from how core works, not from testing every block theme, so check the result in Preview before you rely on it.

Shortcodes run in widget areas too. One difference: the plugin can't reliably guess a category from the page there, so set the category attribute yourself.

Adding Amazon product search in Elementor

The Shortcode widget is part of free Elementor. You don't need Elementor Pro for the Shortcode widget.

1. In the Elementor editor, click + to see the widgets.
2. Click or drag the Shortcode widget onto the canvas.
3. In the Content tab, under Shortcode, paste your shortcode into the text box.
4. Click Preview, or open the page in a new tab.

The same widget works inside Elementor templates. Elementor's shortcode help puts it simply: "Drag an Elementor Shortcode Widget to your page or template."

Paste the shortcode into the Shortcode widget itself, not into a dynamic tag. Elementor Pro can feed a shortcode into another widget's field through Dynamic Tags, but it escapes that HTML by default, which is likely to break the widget's markup.

Stacking several search widgets on one page is fine. They share the page address, and the shortcode guide explains which one gets to update it.

Product boxes and comparison tables in either editor

The steps don't change. The box or table shortcode goes into the same Shortcode block or Shortcode widget:

[psfa_product_box asin="B09XS7JWHH"]

[psfa_comparison id="5"]

The ASIN is the product ID after /dp/ in an Amazon link, and the table ID comes from the Comparison Tables page. Both formats need Premium plus the matching $19-a-year add-on. If a license isn't active, visitors never see the raw shortcode text. Depending on which license is missing, they see either nothing or a neutral "Product details are unavailable." card, and the reason shows up in your WordPress admin.

In the Elementor canvas, a box or table you just added may look empty until you preview it, for the same reason as the search. Our guides to product box plugins and comparison tables in WordPress cover what each format is good for.

Will Elementor or my theme change how it looks?

Page builders and heavier themes like to style every button and link on the page. The widget carries its own styles scoped to its container and neutralizes common theme and builder overrides, such as Elementor button colors and link underlines, while leaving your own font-size tweaks in charge.

It isn't sealed off from your theme. Font size is left for your site's CSS on purpose, so if you want the search text bigger, your own CSS still wins. The plugin does set font-family.

Managed API or your own credentials: what changes inside the widget

The builder steps are identical on both paths: same shortcodes, same Shortcode block, same Elementor widget. What differs is what renders inside the widget.

You can start on the Managed API, with no credentials needed yet. Setup is your Associate tag and an email address, on top of a free Amazon Associates account. Your tag goes on every product link, and we never add our own. When you have your own Creators API credentials, connect them and the same shortcodes keep working.

On the Managed API that loading skeleton shows in every editor, by design.

Before you install: a quick builder checklist

The free version on WordPress.org includes the search shortcode with 5 categories, the grid layout, the Shortcode Builder, and 600 Managed API searches a month, 20 a day. It works in both editors. Premium is $39 a year for one site, $69 for three and $99 for unlimited sites, and adds every category your Amazon store offers, the list layout and full control over colors, card style and fonts. Product Boxes and Comparison Tables are $19 a year each, need Premium, and cover all of a license's sites.

$39 a year comes to about $3.25 a month. If you're not sure your readers will search at all, the free version is enough to find out. The pricing page has the plan details, and the features page covers everything else the plugin does.

Frequently asked questions