Documentation · Admin Reference
Settings Reference
This document is a reference for the Settings screen of the ADP Car Market Hub plugin (CMH Center → Settings). It explains every card on the page, what each field controls, and how the values are validated and stored.
When to use this document
Use this reference when you are configuring the plugin for the first time, when you need to look up what a specific option does, or when you are troubleshooting a behavior that depends on a setting.
Overview
The Settings screen is organized as a vertical stack of cards. Each card has its own Save Settings button, but submitting any of them saves the entire page. The page is divided into the following sections:
- License and Activation (shown at the top of the page)
- Data sources & API connections (a pointer to the Connections page)
- General Settings (default currency)
- Default Pages & Shortcodes
- SEO & Integrations
- Frontend Features
- Admin Features
- Danger Zone
API credentials moved. Earlier versions configured the AutoScout24 API connection here. All data-source credentials (AutoScout24, mobile.de, carcuro, feed, e-mail) are now entered on the Connections page, where each source also shows its connection status. See Connections Reference. The Settings screen keeps only general options.
Requirements or prerequisites
- Access to CMH Center → Settings (requires the plugin's management capability).
- For data-source credentials: use the Connections page, not this screen.
- For default pages: permission to create WordPress pages.
Step by step instructions
- Open CMH Center → Settings.
- Choose the Default currency in the General Settings card. To connect a data source or enter API credentials, use the Manage data sources button (it opens the Connections page).
- Save and confirm there are no validation errors at the top of the screen.
- Optionally enable Create default pages on save so the plugin creates the Cars, Compare and Favorites pages automatically. Otherwise, embed the corresponding shortcodes manually on pages of your choice.
- Review the SEO & Integrations, Frontend Features and Admin Features cards and toggle on the capabilities you need.
- Only enable items in the Danger Zone after reading the warnings carefully and creating a backup if appropriate.
Configuration reference
License and Activation
The License card is the first card on the Settings page. ADP Car Market Hub is a licensed product: the licence unlocks the premium areas (such as AI Assistant, Content Studio and Market Insights) and enables updates and support. The licence key is supplied by AD Promotion.
How licensing works, step by step:
- Activate the licence. Paste the key supplied by AD Promotion into the License key field and click Activate. The plugin contacts the licensing service, validates the key against this site's domain, and stores it masked. If you ever re-enter a key, the button reads Re-activate.
- Check the status at any time. Click Check license now to ask the licensing service for the latest state. The card then refreshes the Status (for example Active, Inactive, Suspended or Expired), the plan, the expiry/support dates and the included features. The same licence status is also shown as a KPI tile on the Dashboard and the Support screen, so you can see it without opening Settings.
- See which functions are unlocked. When the licence is active, the card shows an Included features row listing the premium areas your licence covers (for example AI Assistant, Content Studio, Market Insights). Each premium screen also reflects this directly: if an area is included it shows its normal controls, and if it is not included it shows a "not included in this license" card instead.
- Re-activate or remove. Use Re-activate after a plan change to pull the new entitlements, or Remove license to clear the stored key from this site (premium areas then lock again).
Most of this runs on its own in the background: the plugin re-checks the licence periodically and keeps the status current, so manual Check license now is mainly for confirming a change immediately.
| Element | Notes |
|---|---|
| License key | Enter the key supplied by AD Promotion and click Activate (or Re-activate). The key is stored masked and bound to this site's domain; the full key is never displayed again. |
| Status | The current licence state, for example Active, Inactive, Suspended or Expired. |
| Check license now | Re-checks the licence with the licensing service and refreshes the status, plan and included features. Available once a key is stored. |
| Remove license | Removes the stored key from this site. Premium features that depend on the licence become locked again. |
When a key is active, the card also shows read-only details: Plan, Expires, Support until, Domain, Last checked, Reported version, the import limit and the list of Included features. The same licence status is also surfaced as a KPI on the Dashboard and the Support screen.
Premium areas that are not part of your licence show a "not included in this license" card on their own page instead of the normal controls (see AI Assistant Reference, Content Studio Reference and Market Insights Reference). Nothing is broken in that state — contact ADP Car Market Hub support to enable the area.
Data sources & API connections
This card does not hold any fields. It is a slim pointer that explains data sources are configured centrally and provides a Manage data sources button linking to the Connections page. There you connect AutoScout24, mobile.de, carcuro, an automatic feed or an e-mail inbox, enter the API credentials, and see each source's connection status. Secrets such as the AutoScout24 Client Secret, the mobile.de API password and the carcuro token are stored encrypted at rest.
General Settings
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Default currency | Select | Choose one of the supported ISO 4217 codes: BGN, CHF, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HUF, NOK, PLN, RON, RUB, SEK, TRY, UAH. Unknown values fall back to EUR. |
Default Pages & Shortcodes
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Create default pages on save | Toggle | When checked and saved, missing Cars, Compare Cars and Favorites pages are created. Existing pages are not overwritten. |
The card also lists copy-ready shortcodes:
[as24ci_archive]— vehicle listing.[as24ci_compare]— compare page.[as24ci_favorites]— favorites / wishlist page.[as24ci_archive make="BMW" price_max="40000" order_by="price" order="asc"]— pre-filtered listing example.
Supported [as24ci_archive] parameters as documented in the admin: make, model, price_min, price_max, fuel, body, order_by (price / mileage / date), order (asc / desc), per_page (12 / 24 / 48 / 72 / all).
SEO & Integrations
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Schema.org & Open Graph | On | Outputs JSON-LD structured data and Open Graph / Twitter Card meta tags on single vehicle pages. |
| XML Sitemap integration | On | Adds vehicle posts to WordPress core sitemaps with correct lastmod dates. The admin label notes compatibility with Yoast SEO and Rank Math. |
| Redirect removed vehicles | On | When a sold/removed vehicle URL would return a 404, issues a 301 redirect to a pre-filtered search for the same make and model (stepping down to make-only, then the archive, so it never lands on an empty result). Avoids dead-end 404s for indexed/shared links without creating redirect chains. |
| REST API | Off | When enabled, registers GET /wp-json/as24ci/v1/vehicles and GET /wp-json/as24ci/v1/vehicles/{id} for external access. |
Frontend Features
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Favorites / Wishlist | On | Adds favorite icons on the archive and the floating sidebar on single pages. The favorites page can be embedded with [as24ci_favorites]. Implementation is localStorage-based. |
| Vehicle Compare | On | Adds compare toggle buttons on the archive and single pages. Selected vehicles can be displayed via [as24ci_compare]. |
| Financing Calculator | Off | When enabled, the calculator can be placed via the Layout Manager in Single Vehicle – Sidebar, Single Vehicle Main Content, or Single Vehicle – Bottom Section. |
| Annual interest rate (%) | 3.9 | Allowed range 0–50, step 0.1. |
| Loan term (months) | 48 | Allowed values: 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84. |
| Down payment (%) | 20 | Allowed range 0–100. |
The financing values are defaults pre-filled in the calculator on the frontend; visitors can adjust them if the calculator template allows it.
Admin Features
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard widget | On | Shows the vehicle stats overview widget on the WordPress dashboard. |
| Bulk actions | On | Adds Set to Draft, Set to Published, and Delete with images bulk actions to the vehicle list table. |
| Vehicle export | On | Enables CSV / JSON export of vehicle data on the Tools tab. |
Danger Zone
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Delete imported cars and imported images when the plugin is deleted | Off | When enabled, uninstalling the plugin removes the Cars custom post type entries and their imported attachments. Pages created by the plugin are not removed automatically. |
Operational notes
- Each card has its own submit button, but every submit posts the full form. Saving any card persists every field on the page.
- Data-source API credentials are not entered here — they live on the Connections page. Secrets there (AutoScout24 Client Secret, mobile.de API password, carcuro token, feed/mailbox passwords) are stored encrypted at rest.
- Toggling the financing calculator on does not place it on the page by itself — placement is controlled in the Layout Manager.
- The REST API toggle controls only the public vehicle endpoints. Internal admin AJAX endpoints used by the plugin are not affected by this toggle.
- The "Create default pages on save" action only runs when the checkbox is checked at the moment you save. Unchecking it later does not delete previously created pages.
Troubleshooting
- Where do I enter the API credentials? Not here. Open the Connections page (or use the Manage data sources button) to connect AutoScout24, mobile.de, carcuro, a feed or an e-mail inbox. Credential validation and 401/403 errors are covered there and in API Connection Errors.
- Default pages were not created. The toggle only acts at save time. Ensure the toggle is checked when you click Save, and that the WordPress user has permission to create pages.
- Currency does not change in the frontend. The field stores a default. Per-vehicle currencies coming from the data provider may override the display depending on the active templates. Verify this behavior in the current plugin version before publishing.
- Financing calculator is enabled but not visible. Add the Financing Calculator block to one of the Single Vehicle zones in the Layout Manager. The Settings screen does not warn about placement; it only shows a static description that points to the Layout Manager. To avoid the calculator appearing twice, make sure it is added to only one Single Vehicle zone.