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Headline Testing self-updates

WordPress plugin for A/B Testing headline

by Mark Fenske · github.com/markfenske84/headline-testing

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Install

No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:

wp plugin install https://github.com/markfenske84/headline-testing/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

Ships its own WordPress updater (Plugin Update Checker), so new versions show up under Dashboard → Updates.

Readme github.com/markfenske84/headline-testing ↗

WordPress plugin for A/B headline experiments on posts and pages: variant assignment, engagement tracking (click, scroll, time on content), reports, CSV export, and automatic or manual winners.

Inspired by the retired Thrive Headline Optimizer workflow, but cache-safe (variants swap in the browser) and SEO-safe (document title and SEO plugins keep the canonical post title until you declare a winner).

Requirements

  • WordPress 6.0+
  • PHP 7.4+
  • Theme integration: visible headlines need data-aht-headline markers (see below)

Installation

  1. Download the latest release ZIP from GitHub Releases, or clone this repository into wp-content/plugins/headline-testing.
  2. Activate Headline Testing under Plugins.

Sites with the plugin already installed receive updates through WordPress when a new GitHub release is published (see Releases below).

Theme integration

Mark each visible headline element with the helper (Andreian theme example):

<h1 class="entry-title"<?php echo function_exists( 'aht_headline_attributes' ) ? aht_headline_attributes( get_the_ID() ) : ''; ?>>
    <?php the_title(); ?>
</h1>

Do not filter the_title globally; SEO and schema should stay on the stored post title while a test is running.

Usage

  1. Edit a post or page → Headline A/B Test meta box → Create headline test.
  2. Add variations, set thresholds, Update the post, then Start test.
  3. View Headline Tests in the admin menu for reports and CSV export.

Force an update check (admin): /wp-admin/plugins.php?aht_check_updates=1

Releases (maintainers)

  1. Bump Version in headline-testing.php and the AHT_VERSION constant.
  2. Commit and push to main.
  3. Build the install ZIP:
chmod +x build-release.sh
./build-release.sh
  1. Tag and push:
git tag v1.0.0
git push origin main
git push origin v1.0.0
  1. Create a GitHub release for the tag and upload dist/headline-testing.zip as a release asset (required for automatic updates via Plugin Update Checker).

Or with GitHub CLI:

gh release create v1.0.0 dist/headline-testing.zip --title v1.0.0 --notes "Release notes here."

License

GPL-2.0-or-later