myReviewsPage WordPress Plugin
Note: We have suspended downloads of this plugin until we can find a more reliable way to access reviews information from Google Places. Unfortunately, Google does not provide an API for this, and the method we’re using to get the information is breaking consistently.
Have you ever wanted to display your online reviews on your website? This is a best practice for small businesses who want to show potential customers that you are transparent about your reviews and inviting customers to leave you more.
The myReviewsPage WordPress plugin will create a badge for you to display on your website. It calls the APIs for Yelp, Yahoo, Bing, Citysearch and FourSquare and displays the number of reviews for each on your website.
Example of myReviewsPage online reviews badge on WordPress Blog
You can choose which ones you would like to display. For example, if you don’t have any FourSquare checkins, you can just check a box and omit that one.
Installing the Plugin
Install the plugin just like any WordPress plugin. Simply upload the ZIP file using the Plugins screen.
WordPress plugin install screen
Setting up the Plugin
Once you’ve installed and activated the plugin, you will see a new menu item under the Plugins section in your WordPress Admin. Just click on this link to go to the setup screen.
MyReviewsPage WordPress Plugin Settings
On the setup screen, all you need to enter is your business phone number, business name, and click the “Create Badge” button. You will see a preview of the badge show up on the right.
To use the Plugin
Now that you have everything configured, adding the badge to your website is easy. The myReviewsPage Plugin uses WordPress “shortcode”. Simply add this shortcode to any page or post using HTML mode in the editor, and your reviews page will appear there.
Adding the shortcode to a WordPress Page
Download
Note: We have suspended downloads of the Plugin until we can find a more reliable way to access review information from Google Places. Unfortunately Google does not provide an API and breaks our access every time they make a change to their pages (which happens quite frequently!)
Disclaimer (Please Read)
This plugin depends on the MyReviewsPage service. This service uses APIs to retrieve your business information, and in some cases we have to pull information directly from the reviews page (Google does not have an API for this.) This leads to a fragile environment – if one of the providers changes something on their page it can temporarily make those reviews unavailable to the plugin.
This is a FREE plugin. We support it as best we can, but please don’t hold us responsible if Google or one of the other providers changes their api or screen and breaks our plugin, ok?
Let me know if you have any questions or feedback – I’d love to hear them!
{ 77 comments… read them below or add one }
I tried to implement the plugin for a client’s website using Wordpress 3.0 and Woo Themes Delegate 1.3.1 However the plugin seems to cause the page formatting to change and the page copy spans the entire page including the widgetized area. When I deactivate your plugin, the formatting goes back to normal. I love the my reviews plugin and would really like to use it but can’t figure out why it’s causing the issue. Any ideas? The site affected is http://www.speceye.com. I’ve deactivated the myreviews plugin for now, but if you need me to reaactivate for troubleshooting, let me know.
Thanks!
Tela
Hi Tela,
We found a CSS conflict that shows up with some themes and fixed it. Try re-downloading the plugin. This new versions should fix what you are seeing.
Thanks,
-Don
the video is perfect.I am trying this plugin
hey ur plugins are really nice
i installed the plugin it installed correctly bt when i goto the the myreviewpage from plugins on the rigth side i get this error
Warning: file_get_contents() [function.file-get-contents]: Filename cannot be empty in DrivePath\plugins\myReviewsPage-v1.2c\myReviewsPage.php on line 89
i want dis plugin bt getting dis error
is der ne solution for dis?
Hi Niraj,
We’re looking into this – what version of WordPress are you using?
@Niraj – we updated the plugin to fix a bug that happens with WordPress pre-2.7 versions. Please re-download using the download button above and try this version – it should fix the problem you are seeing.
Hey i found the solution
im using the lastest version3.0 nd the problem was in the the php.ini file
my “extension=php_curl.dll” was disabled i enabled it
nd evrythg was fine
thnks ne way
Please excuse my ignorance, this is probably a very basic question… the plugin above downloads a folder. Which of the files within the folder do I need to compress into a zip file to then upload as a plugin from my site?
@Edinburgh – link here allows you to download a ZIP file. After downloading the ZIP file, all you need to do is go into Plugins in your WordPress Admin and upload this ZIP file, then activate the plugin. See this screenshot.
Hey i have a question don
your plugin is too good
bt it gives reviews for pages not for posts
is it possible to give reviews for post through your plugin or by ne other way
and one more thg how can i get star reviews on google for eg
chk dis link
http://picpimp.in/ABR1lLZFNqI6agR2AN99/capture.jpg
plzz get back to me
regards,
Niraj
hey plzzz reply Don to my above problem
Hi Niraj,
I’d like to help but I don’t understand your question. The reviews are from the major online reviews services only (via their APIs) – Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, CitySearch, and Foursquare. With the shortcode you can put them in any page or post. Can you please clarify your question?
The image link in your comment doesn’t work for me, can you please repost it?
Thanks,
-Don
try out dis image url
http://img4.glowfoto.com/images/2010/09/04-0357367928L.jpg
or
http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image/04-035736L/7928/jpg/09/2010/img4/glowfoto
see the image suppose i want dat my post shld review as the above image
den how to do?
is der ne plugin or ur plugin wil wrk?
i want in dat way
@Niraj,
Ok, I see them. Those are called “rich snippets” and Google only picks those up from certain sites like Yelp, Yahoo, CitySearch and a few other majors. So those should show up for your reviews if they are on those services.
The Reviews Badge is showing you those reviews on your website or blog with the plugin, but it can’t force the rich snippets to appear. Those are controlled by Google.
ok i understood dat
bt for dat i hav to make my post famous through plugins right?
den only google wil giv star rating to my reviewed post in his search engine
bt can ur plugin giv me post review for dat?
or is der ne other plugin
and one more thg i want to ask smthg different frm ur plugin i hope u help me dis also
in dashboard- add new post jst b4 post and after heading, is it possible to add sm fields like text box or text area
so dat wen the post is published first wil cm heading den the textbox values nd den the post should continue
for eg.
in dashboard it shld view in dis way:-
Heading:
Name(added textbox):
Location(added textbox):
Phone(added textbox):
Add Post:
i hav tried many plugins bt nt wrking
is it possible frm coding view
my coding knowledge is weak
plzzz help me in dis also
Don help plzzz
Hi – I am really enjoying your plugin but when I activate it it seems to hijack certain CSS elements on my page such as link color (see site here: http://208.85.173.168/wpredesign/). I downloaded the most recent version and that did not seem to help the problem any. Do you know of any other ways of fixing this?
Thanks,
Bonnie
@Niraj – This plugin is designed to show the reviews for your business in the major search engines, not for rating blog posts. I don’t understand your other question – I think you might need a different plugin to do what you are looking to do.
Hi Bonnie – we had a problem in an earlier version that leaked a css style, but we fixed it. I’m looking at your site now (nice site by the way!) and I don’t see the reviews badge on there. Can you send me a screen shot so I can figure out what is going on for you?
hey don thnks for ur reply
i tried out many plugins bt nt wrking nd one more time i ll xplain u wat i want actually
currently in dashboard in add new post we hav normal layout
chk dis image
http://www.glowfoto.com/viewimage.php?img=07-224921L&y=2010&m=09&t=jpg&rand=2464&srv=img6
i want dis bt wen i ll enter any data in dat new fields i.e. Name nd Location den the post wen it is published should also hav same thgs
first Heading den new fields data nd den the post
Hey don reply plzzzz
Hi – is there some PHP code that I can enter in my page template or sidebar? I can’t figure out how to get around using the short code…… Do you describe how to do this somewhere? Thanks,
Bonnie
Hi Bonnie,
Just enter this shortcode in any WordPress Page or Post (while in HTML mode) and the reviews badge will show up there:
[myreviewspage]
We don’t have a PHP snippet to embed in your WordPress Template itself, however we are working on a Widget that you could put in the sidebar of any widget-enabled theme.
Love this plugin but it’s also changing my link color like the people above!! Really want to use it but now my site just looks crazy. Basically once you have clicked a menu link it changes the color permanently whereas normally it stays white unless you roll over it. See link below:
http://www.uptown-dallas-apartments.com/about-us/client-testimonials
Is there a fix for this?
Christian – we took a look at your site and found an error in our css file. We fixed it and everything should work fine now. Can you confirm with me that it works for you now?
Wow, that was fast. Yes, everything works perfectly now. Thank you guys!!
Hi Don,
First off this is a great plugin. This is exactly what local businesses need.
I am having trouble getting my client’s bing listing to show through even though I’ve copied the URL in to the setting screen.
Any tips on how to fix this?
Thanks,
Ahryn
Is it possible to use the plugin for more than one business? We are working on a “shop local” site for our downtown business assocation and I am looking for a plugin that offers reviews for an individual business. For example, when they click on the local restaurants tab there will be a list of our downtown restaurants and when they click on an individual restaurant they will see a blog page with just the postings by that business. If the API is downloaded can it be activated on individual pages using a different short code for each business?
@Ahryn – Can you give me the URL to the Bing listing so I can see what the problem might be?
Don, nice plugin. How long does it take for the plugin to recognize new reviews? the site that we have this installed on is http://www.bridlecreekok.com and there are 4 online reviews on the Google Places account, but the plugin only displays one, and doesn’t reflect how many stars were given. Also, I don’t see in the plugin where you can send the email out to clients to solicit a review like your tutorial showed. Help?
Hi Cullen, thank you!
The plugin simply calls the API for the different review services, so it’s not a matter of when the plugin recognizes the reviews, but when they are available in the API. Sometimes a business will have multiple profiles in Google or Yelp, and you might have to tell the plugin to override the wrong one and provide the correct one in the settings.
Also, the WordPress plugin does not notify your customers, you will have to do that part. It provides a badge for you, and will notify you via email when you get new reviews.
I hope this helps!
It just looked like in your video tutorial that you were using a tool within the plugin that allowed you to solicit reviews from customers. Must be my mistake, cause I don’t see it in the plugin.
Hello Don,
This is an awesome plugin and I’m looking forward to integrate it in a new website. I’m really excited about the widget version. Can you let me know when will it be released? Good work!
Thanks i advance
This looks like a great plugin. I am looking forward to what it can do for my business.
Is there a timeframe on the template tag and/or widget? I really like the idea of this plugin. I just don’t want to display it in the post data. Thanks for all your hard work!
Have you given any thought to making this useful for local directory sites? We’re a hyperlocal news & information portal, and we’re trying to come up with a way to show ratings for the restaurants and shops in the area. Since this plugin only allows entry for one business, it’s not going to work…but it’s really close.
@George, Thanks!
@ Chris, We’re looking into the widget – the only problem is having enough room to display all the info. Hopefully we’ll have something soon!
@dave – we should be able to provide you with an API to call for each business. I’ll email you about this.
Love the wordpress plugin – works great! I now plan on adding a “Reviews” tab to all my wordpress sites! THANKS…
Don, have you looked into the API to call for each business?
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the reminder; I have my developer looking into this, but we haven’t had time to discuss the changes necessary yet. I’ll talk to him about it this week.
Fair enough. Thanks.
I have installed the myReviewsPage Wordpress plugin, however, the alternate URL function does not seem to be working. I have provided direct URLs for both Yelp! and Google reviews, but still it does not recognize them. Help?
Site is: http://test2.accesstohealthfc.com
Hi Gordon,
I’m looking into this now…
@dave, @Gordon, I’m sorry for the delay on this – my developer is out of town and it’s taking me a while to get his help. I’ll keep you posted…
No sweat, Don. Thanks for the update.
Thanks for the plugin. Anyway to make the badge visible/available on the dashboard in the backend?
Hi Jason,
Thanks. No, it’s not visible in the back end, only on the website. But it’s a good idea and I’ll add it to the feature list.
Any updates for WP 3.1? I’m getting a parse error on line 124 when installing on 3.1 – 3.0 works fine. Just wondering if you have any quick fixes. Seems like a great plugin!
Cheers,
Patrick
Hi Don,
First let me say that this plugin is a great tool for a local business. I am working on incorporating it into my site and wanted to follow up on a couple previous questions asked by others. I am running 3.1 and, as Gordon mentioned above, the alternate URL functionality doesn’t seem to be working. This isn’t a huge issue, but I am unable to show ratings for Google without that function.
The second question has been asked several times and that is widget functionality. I understand the reasoning of making adjustments so that the content fits within a widget, but I have completely modified my widget area so that it is large enough to fit badge. It would be great if there was some PHP that I could drop into my sidebar file so that I could display this badge on all pages of my website. Is there any way to do that?
{ 1 trackback }