{"id":25817836,"date":"2026-07-24T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T08:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/2022\/12\/qr-management\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T10:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T08:06:31","slug":"qr-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/2026\/07\/qr-management\/","title":{"rendered":"DMS3 QR Manager: best practices for managing QR codes from WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The<a href=\"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/2017\/01\/qr\/\"> <strong>QR codes<\/strong><\/a> are a very useful resource for connecting the physical world with the digital environment. We find them on products, panels, totems, promotional materials, packaging, trade fairs, or specific campaigns, but they have a delicate point: they are often created, printed, and forgotten. <\/p>\n\n<p>To avoid this, at DMS3 we have developed <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/es.wordpress.org\/plugins\/dms3-qr-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DMS3 QR Manager<\/a><\/strong>, our own plugin to create and manage QR codes directly from WordPress.<\/p>\n\n<p>The idea is simple: a QR printed today should continue to be useful tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is DMS3 QR Manager?<\/h2>\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/es.wordpress.org\/plugins\/dms3-qr-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DMS3 QR Manager<\/a><\/strong> is a WordPress plugin that allows you to create QR codes manageable from the website itself. Instead of having the QR point directly to a final destination that may change over time, each code points to a project-specific URL, such as: <\/p>\n\n<p><code>\/qr\/nom-del-qr<\/code><\/p>\n\n<p>This URL is what remains linked to the QR. When a person scans it, the system records the visit and redirects the user to the configured final destination. <\/p>\n\n<p>This means that if the destination page needs to be changed later, there is no need to regenerate or reprint the QR: you only need to modify the destination from the WordPress manager.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does the plugin allow you to do?<\/h2>\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/es.wordpress.org\/plugins\/dms3-qr-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DMS3 QR Manager<\/a><\/strong> turns QR codes into manageable, measurable, and updatable resources. The plugin allows you to: <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Create QR codes directly from WordPress.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Give each QR its own URL within the website.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Modify the final destination without reprinting the code.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add <strong>UTM parameters<\/strong> to the QRs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Automatically generate <code>utm_content<\/code> from the code&#8217;s slug.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consult <strong>internal statistics<\/strong> by date range.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use an intermediate page so that analytics scripts can load before the redirection.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Download QRs in <strong>SVG<\/strong> format.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Download multiple QRs in a <strong>ZIP<\/strong> file.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Show a manual safety link if the automatic redirection fails.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>In this way, the QR ceases to be just a printed image and becomes part of the project&#8217;s digital ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is it important to manage QR codes well?<\/h2>\n\n<p>Friday afternoon. You are drinking a good wine at your favorite wine bar, you see the bottle has a QR code, you scan it and open the link. The result? A 404 error page, the kind that tells you the page you are looking for cannot be found on the server.   <\/p>\n\n<p>Sunday morning, a walk through Pened\u00e8s. You arrive at an emblematic spot on the route, find an explanatory panel with a QR code so you can access more information, and you scan it. You click the link your phone offers and, surprise, it turns out the company the City Council hired to make the QRs and panels has changed its domain. An error like Friday&#8217;s doesn&#8217;t appear; simply, the mobile browser tells you the domain no longer exists or the server cannot be found.   <\/p>\n\n<p>This is the dark side of QRs: they connect a physical medium, which can last for years, with a digital reality that is constantly changing.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The problem: link rot<\/h2>\n\n<p>QR codes are a great solution, but they can also become a problem because they connect the offline world with the online one. They are there, printed, enduring the passage of time, while the digital reality they point to is dynamic and volatile. <\/p>\n\n<p>The problem with QR codes is <strong>link rot<\/strong>: the QR continues to exist, but the digital destination has changed, moved, or disappeared.<\/p>\n\n<p>To avoid this, it is not enough to generate a QR and save the image. You must think about how it will be managed, how it will be updated, and how it can be reviewed over time. <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The key: centralizing QRs on the web<\/h2>\n\n<p>The first best practice is to always be able to manage where the QRs point. That is why we centralize QR codes on the project&#8217;s website. <\/p>\n\n<p>It may seem inconsistent that, to go to a final page, we first have the QR point to our own URL, but it is precisely this that allows us to maintain control of the code even if the final destination changes over time.<\/p>\n\n<p>For example, in a project like <strong>Turisme del Vendrell<\/strong>, instead of having a QR for a tourist element point directly to a final page, we can have it point first to a project-specific URL, such as:<\/p>\n\n<p><code>www.elvendrellturistic.com\/qr\/nom-del-recurs<\/code><\/p>\n\n<p>This URL is what is printed inside the QR and, from the website manager, we decide where it should redirect. Thus, if the final destination needs to be changed later, there is no need to reprint the QR: you only need to update the redirection. <\/p>\n\n<p>All web servers have redirection mechanisms. If you use WordPress, there are extensions that allow you to manage them, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/redirection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Redirection<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/rankmath.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rank Math<\/a>. With <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/es.wordpress.org\/plugins\/dms3-qr-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DMS3 QR Manager<\/a><\/strong>, this logic is integrated into a specific manager for QR codes.  <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Inventorying QR codes<\/h2>\n\n<p>In addition to centralizing them, it is also important to have a clear inventory of all the QR codes being used. This inventory should include, at a minimum: <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>QR Name<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>File<\/strong> of the QR code.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Final destination URL<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>URL on the web<\/strong>, that is, the URL inside the QR.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Where it is used<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Responsible person<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Verification date<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>This information is especially useful when QRs appear on physical materials that may have a long life, such as labels, posters, brochures, totems, packaging, or signage. Without an inventory, it is very easy to lose control of the codes in circulation. <\/p>\n\n<p>For years we have worked with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/plantilla-gestio-qrs\/?utm_campaign=QR&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_source=blog\">QR code management template<\/a> to inventory and review them periodically. This way of working continues to be useful, especially when managing few QRs or when they are used in very specific actions. <\/p>\n\n<p>However, when QR codes are part of campaigns, printed materials, signage, packaging, or recurring actions, it makes much more sense to manage them directly from the web.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Periodically reviewing QRs<\/h2>\n\n<p>QR management does not end when the code is generated. You also need to periodically ensure they are working correctly. <\/p>\n\n<p>This review has two parts:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>An on-the-ground part, which checks that the QR still exists on the physical support where it was placed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Another technical part, which verifies that the QR URLs lead to the correct place.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>A QR can remain readable but lead to the wrong, old, or non-existent page. That is why it is important to review them and maintain control, especially when they are part of materials that will continue to circulate for months or years. <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">QR, UTM, and campaign tracking<\/h2>\n\n<p>QR codes are especially useful for measuring actions that happen outside the digital environment. A poster at a trade fair, a product label, a printed brochure, or an information totem can bring visits to the web, but without good traceability, it is difficult to know where these visits come from. <\/p>\n\n<p>With <strong>UTM parameters<\/strong>, we can provide context to each QR and better understand which action generated that traffic. This allows for better connection between offline actions and digital analysis. <\/p>\n\n<p>With <strong>DMS3 QR Manager<\/strong>, this traceability can be configured from WordPress itself, adding UTMs to the codes and consulting internal statistics by date range.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Privacy and data<\/h2>\n\n<p>QR management must also take privacy into account. <strong>DMS3 QR Manager<\/strong> records visits internally, but does not save IP addresses, HTTP referrers, or specific plugin cookies.<\/p>\n\n<p>The data is used to consult statistics within the WordPress administration and better understand the use of QR codes, without turning them into an invasive tool.<\/p>\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>QR codes are a very interesting resource for connecting the online and offline worlds, but they have a dark side.<\/p>\n<p>To manage them correctly, we offer 3 QR code management best practices and a free template to manage them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25817829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3860,4602,4601,834],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25817836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-website-design-and-construction","category-plugin","category-q","category-wordpress"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25817836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25817837,"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817836\/revisions\/25817837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25817829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25817836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25817836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.demomentsomtres.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25817836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}