Image Widget vs Smart Showcase for Google Reviews

Image Widget is a simple plugin that uses the native WordPress media manager to add image widgets to your site. Image Widget Features Responsive MU Compatible Handles image resizing and alignment Link the image Add title and description Versatile – all fields are optional Upload, link to external image, or select an image from your media collection Customize the look & feel with filter hooks or theme overrides Quality You Can Trust Image Widget is developed and maintained by The Events Calendar, the same folks behind The Events Calendar, Event Tickets, and a full suite of premium plugins. This plugin is actively supported by our team and contributions from community members. If you see a question in the forum you can help with or have a great idea and want to code it up or submit a patch, that would be awesome! Not only will we shower you with praise and thanks, it’s also a good way to get to know us and lead into options for paid work if you freelance. Pull Requests & Translations Check us out on GitHub to pull request changes. Translations can be submitted here on WordPress.org. Documentation The built in template can be overridden by files within your template. Default vs. Custom Templates The Image Widget comes with a default template for the widget output. If you would like to alter the widget display code, create a new folder called “image-widget” in your template directory and copy over the “views/widget.php” file. Edit the new file to your hearts content. Please do not edit the one in the plugin folder as that will cause conflicts when you update the plugin to the latest release. New in 3.2: You may now also use the “sp_template_image-widget_widget.php” filter to override the default template behavior for .php template files. Eg: if you wanted widget.php to reside in a folder called my-custom-templates/ and wanted it to be called my-custom-name.php: add_filter('sp_template_image-widget_widget.php', 'my_template_filter'); function my_template_filter($template) { return get_template_directory() . '/my-custom-templates/my-custom-name.php'; } Filters There are a number of filters in the code that will allow you to override data as you see fit. The best way to learn what filters are available is always by simply searching the code for ‘apply_filters’. But all the same, here are a few of the more essential filters: widget_title This is actually a pretty typical filter in widgets and is applied to the widget title. widget_text Another very typical widget filter that is applied to the description body text. This filter also takes 2 additional arguments for $args and $instance so that you can learn more about the specific widget instance in the process of filtering the content. image_widget_image_attachment_id Filters the attachment id of the image. Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. image_widget_image_url Filters the url of the image displayed in the widget. Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. THIS IS DEPRECATED AND WILL EVENTUALLY BE DELETED image_widget_image_width Filters the display width of the image. Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. image_widget_image_height Filters the display height of the image. Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. image_widget_image_maxwidth Filters the inline max-width style of the image. Hint: override this to use this in responsive designs 🙂 Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. Return null to remove this css from the image output (defaults to ‘100%’). image_widget_image_maxheight Filters the inline max-height style of the image. Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. Return null to remove this css from the image output (defaults to null) image_widget_image_size Filters the selected image ‘size’ corresponding to WordPress registered sizes. If this is set to ‘tribe_image_widget_custom’ then the width and height are used instead. Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. image_widget_image_align Filters the display alignment of the image. Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. image_widget_image_alt Filters the alt text of the image. Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. image_widget_image_link Filters the url that the image links to. Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. image_widget_image_link_target Filters the link target of the image link. Accepts additional $args and $instance arguments. image_widget_image_attributes Filters a list of image attributes used in the image output. Similar to ‘wp_get_attachment_image_attributes’ Accepts $instance arguments image_widget_link_attributes Filters a list of attributes used in the image link. Similar to ‘wp_get_attachment_image_attributes’ Accepts $instance arguments Have You Supported the Image Widget? If so, then THANK YOU! Also, feel free to add this line to your wp-config.php file to prevent the image widget from displaying a message after upgrades. define( ‘I_HAVE_SUPPORTED_THE_IMAGE_WIDGET’, true ); For more info on the philosophy here, check out our blog post

Smart Showcase for Google Reviews is a comprehensive WordPress plugin that enables businesses to effortlessly display customer reviews from Google on their websites. By syncing reviews directly from Google My Business, this plugin helps build trust and credibility with potential customers. With a range of display options including grids, lists, sliders, badges, and popups, you can showcase reviews in a format that best suits your site’s design. Customize the look and feel with custom CSS, and place reviews anywhere on your site using shortcodes. The plugin also supports multiple languages, ensuring a seamless and secure user experience. Additionally, Smart Showcase for Google Reviews offers admin management features, including form fields for review replies, filters for sorting reviews, and notification systems for new reviews and replies. Whether you’re using Elementor, WPBakery, or Divi, this plugin integrates smoothly with your page builder to enhance your site’s functionality and appearance. Features of Smart Showcase for Google Reviews Syncing of Google reviews from Google My Business Cron Job has Option daily, weekly, monthly Filters for sorting reviews by Rating, Keywords Display Option Grid, List, Slider, Badge, Popup Custom CSS support for design tweaks Generate Shortcodes for embedding reviews anywhere on the site with attributes Number of reviews displayed Rating filters Location wise Customize number of reviews displayed 5+ Widget Design layouts Compatibility with standard page builders like elementor, WPBakery, and Divi Load more review and Limit Functionality Trim long reviews with “read more” link Responsive Slider, Grid, and List layouts Notify admins of new reviews – with selection admin or other Send notification emails to users after submitting reply to reviews Keep all reviews in a WordPress database (CPT) Multi-language support Multilingual support with automatic translation options for user-submitted reviews Create and display review widgets in sidebars and footers, showing the latest reviews and average star ratings. ‘Review us on G’ button to collect new Google Reviews Show/hide any elements (business photo, name, rating, reviews, avatars, names, time and etc) Demo for Smart Showcase for Google Reviews Features of Smart Showcase for Google Reviews Pro Dashboard for review statistics Total reviews Average rating Top reviews Date range filter Color Selection Multi-location support to pull reviews from multiple Google Business listings Structured data support for products, services, and local businesses Upload your own Google business photo Option to export/import reviews in CSV format Integration with WooCommerce to display reviews on product pages – Aligned with filter option Options to highlight featured reviews or pin important reviews at the top Customizable templates for automatic replies to approved reviews Advanced spam detection using AI or machine learning algorithms like adult content etc Automatic replies to users based on their star rating (positive or negative) (Using AI) Integration with Google Analytics to track user interaction with reviews Get more information of Pro version here Demo for Smart Showcase for Google Reviews Pro Background Processing This plugin utilizes the WP Background Processing library by Delicious Brains to efficiently handle background tasks without affecting the user experience or website performance. The library enables asynchronous processing of large datasets and operations by leveraging the WordPress Cron system. This ensures that critical tasks such as API data fetching, batch processing, or heavy computations are handled smoothly and reliably. We extend and integrate this library to manage the background processing of: Fetching accounts, locations, and reviews in batches. Importing large datasets into WordPress. Performing other time-intensive operations. For more information on this library, visit its GitHub repository. Use of External Services Google My Business API Purpose The plugin uses the Google My Business API to fetch Google My Business account-related locations and reviews, as well as to manage review replies. This includes adding, updating, editing, and deleting review replies. Data Sent Upon user authorization, the plugin collects and sends a refresh token to enable API interactions for retrieving location and review data, as well as for managing review replies. Conditions This data is only transmitted after explicit user consent during the “Connect with Google” process. No other personal or business information is shared or used. Terms and Privacy – Google Terms of Service – Google Privacy Policy ZealousWeb Third-Party API Service (https://sgr.zealousweb.com/) Purpose The plugin saves the Google My Business API refresh token in a secure third-party API service to generate temporary access tokens. These tokens are provided to the user’s site, which uses them to securely fetch data from Google My Business and perform operations such as retrieving locations, reviews, and managing review replies. Data Sent The Google My Business refresh token is stored securely in the third-party service solely to facilitate access token generation. No additional personal or business information is shared. Conditions The data is transmitted only after user consent and is used exclusively for enabling the plugin’s functionality. All operations are performed directly by the user’s site. Terms and Privacy – ZealousWeb Privacy Policy OUR OTHER PLUGINS Abandoned Contact Form 7 Pro Accept 2 Checkout Payments Using Contact Form 7 Pro Accept Authorize.NET Payments Using Contact Form 7 Pro Accept Elavon Payments Using Contact Form 7 Pro Accept PayPal Payments Using Contact Form 7 Pro Accept Sagepay(Opayo) Payments Using Contact Form 7 Pro Accept Stripe Payments Using Contact Form 7 Pro Custom Product Options WooCommerce Pro Generate PDF Using Contact Form 7 Pro Smart Appointment & Booking Pro Smart Showcase for Google Reviews Pro User Registration Using Contact Form 7 Pro YouTube Video Tutorials Watch our complete video tutorial series on how to use Smart Showcase for Google Reviews: Smart Showcase for Google Reviews – Video Playlist Link: Watch on YouTube