Setting Up Listener Support (Link Mode)
Listener Support in link mode lets you display a “support the show” prompt to your listeners without setting up a payment processor. Instead of handling payments directly, you point visitors to any external platform — Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, PayPal.me, your Patreon page, or any other URL — and Benecaster handles showing the prompt in the right place at the right time.
No Stripe account, no webhook configuration, no additional plugins required. If you have a donation link somewhere, you can use link mode today.
How It Works
When link mode is enabled, Benecaster injects a small prompt into your episode pages and the subscriber account page. Visitors click the prompt and are taken to your external donation page. Benecaster does not handle the payment transaction.
If a visitor wants to let you know they donated (and you’ve enabled donation tracking), they can log a donation reference after the fact via a form on your site. This creates a record in your Benecaster dashboard for your own tracking — it does not trigger a payment or verify the donation.
Enabling Listener Support
Go to Benecaster → Settings → Listener Support.
Toggle Enable Listener Support on. The prompt will not appear until you also set a payment URL.
Choosing a Display Style
Three styles control where and how the prompt appears:
| Style | What it does |
|---|---|
| Inline | A block-level section appears in the main content area of episode pages |
| Floating | A small button anchors to a corner of the browser window, always visible as listeners scroll. Clicking it expands a panel with the full prompt. |
| After player | The prompt appears directly below the episode player on episode pages |
All three styles show the same configurable message and button. The floating style is the least intrusive; inline and after-player are more prominent.
The floating style’s default corner position is bottom-right. Developers can change this via the benecaster_listener_support_button_position filter.
Setting the Payment URL
In the Payment URL field, enter the full URL where listeners should go to donate. Examples:
https://ko-fi.com/yourshownamehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/yourshownamehttps://paypal.me/yournamehttps://www.patreon.com/yourshowname- Any other URL you control
This is the destination when a listener clicks your prompt. Make sure the URL is publicly accessible.
Button Label and Message
Button label — The text on the call-to-action button. Default: Support the show. Keep it short; long labels overflow on smaller screens.
Message — Optional body text that appears above the button. Use it to say something personal about why support matters. If you leave this blank, only the button appears.
Examples:
- “Enjoying the show? A small contribution keeps it going.”
- “No subscription required — pay what feels right.”
Who Sees the Prompt
Intent controls which visitors see the prompt:
| Setting | Who sees it |
|---|---|
| All visitors | Everyone who visits episode pages or the subscriber account page |
| Non-subscribers only | The prompt is hidden for logged-in users who hold an active podcast subscription token |
Non-subscribers only is useful when you already ask paying subscribers for monthly support and don’t want to prompt them again. Free-tier listeners and unregistered visitors will still see the prompt.
Per-Show Overrides
If you run multiple shows, each show can have its own Listener Support settings that override the site-wide defaults.
Open any show’s settings in Benecaster → Shows → [Your Show] → Listener Support. Toggle Override site settings on, then configure the settings specific to that show. Shows with the override disabled inherit the site-wide configuration.
This lets you, for example, disable Listener Support entirely on one show while keeping it active on others, or point each show to a different donation page.
Tracking Donation References
When the donation tracking option is enabled, a short form appears on your site that lets listeners log a donation reference after donating on the external platform. They enter the platform they used, an optional amount, and an optional transaction reference number.
This is entirely optional for listeners and is not verified against the payment platform. It exists for your own records — so you can see which platforms are most popular and roughly how much support you’re receiving — not as a payment confirmation.
Logged donation references appear in Benecaster → Listener Support → Donations. The benecaster_listener_support_donation_logged action fires after each submission, allowing custom integrations.
Shortcode
You can also place the Listener Support prompt manually anywhere on your site using the shortcode:
[benecaster_listener_support]
| Attribute | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
show_id |
Current show | Which show’s Listener Support settings to use |
style |
inline |
Display style: inline, floating, or after-player |
Example — manually placed inline prompt for a specific show:
[benecaster_listener_support show_id="5" style="inline"]
The shortcode renders using the same settings and style logic as the automatically injected prompt.
What Comes Next
If you want to accept donations directly on your site — without sending listeners to an external platform — see Connecting Stripe. Stripe mode uses the same Listener Support settings area but routes payments through a built-in payment form.
Link mode and Stripe mode are not mutually exclusive: if Stripe is configured for a show, the prompt uses the Stripe payment form instead of the external URL. To keep using link mode after configuring Stripe, remove the Stripe keys for that show.
