WP Product Review WordPress Plugin

Are you looking to make a little cash through Android product reviews and affiliate links? Maybe your urban gardening blog is blowing up and it’s time to showcase the best products you have used to make your own crop in the city. Whether you plan on monetizing your reviews or not, WordPress offers a nice roundup of product review plugins for you to include star ratings, buy buttons, user reviews and more.

One of the top options is the WP Product Review plugin, so I’ve put together a WP Product Review plugin review (that’s a mouthful) to show how you can quickly showcase your reviews on WordPress plugins, diapers, baseball bats, gardening tools, books or whatever you fancy most.

There are two versions of the plugin – free and paid – so I want to outline the benefits of each option and show you exactly how to implement certain features for displaying your product reviews.

Now, let’s have a look at the free and premium versions of the plugin and what features you’ll find within each!

WP Product Review Plugin – Free Version

Start by activating the WP Product Review plugin on your WordPress dashboard. The company also has additional information and a .zip file download link. Once activated, navigate to the Product Review tab on the left hand side of your WordPress dashboard:

The WP Product Review Settings Page

When you click on the Product Review button it brings you to the main Settings page, where you can change several default settings. The General Settings are rather simple, letting you modify if you want the product review to show up after or before your content. You can also place your review manually if needed.

There is also an area to activate comments on your reviews, and a quite unique option to factor in your user reviews with the overall rating for your product. For example, if someone rates the the computer you just reviewed, it changes the overall rating on your review.

The content width is designed to limit the width of your review module. If the review is a little overbearing on your site, you can change this.

The Rating Colors tab is simply to specify what shades of color you want to reveal after you rate a product. The default colors are pretty standard, so you probably don’t have to change this. As you can see below, lower ratings receive red and orange colors, while higher ratings have green and blue colors.

The text color configurations are also included in the Settings area, which is a nice feature because you can make the text match the branding colors for your site.

The plugin also lets you change the Cons and Pros text to differentiate your reviews a little bit from other sites. Modify the review border box width and color to fit the size and branding of your website.

Another setting provides options for changing what the Buy buttons look like. This lets you test out which colors and texts work to push more affiliate sales through your site.

Once the default settings are modified, you can get started writing and creating your product reviews!

Inserting a Product Review Into a Post

The WP Product Review plugin makes it quick and easy to incorporate your reviews into posts, since the configuration module sits right underneath every post you create. Scroll below the post editor to find the Product Review Extra Settings area. Specify that the post is indeed a review post. This reveals all the options you need to setup the review.

Start with your product details, filling in the name, uploading an image, and including an affiliate link if you have one. They don’t include a currency option, but you can simply type in the desired currency in the Product Price field.

The Product Options Setting area is a little nondescript, but it’s basically the place where you type in what areas you plan on rating the product on and what rankings you want to give them.

Just fill in the areas, and select a ranking, or grade, for each one. Keep in mind that the grades don’t determine the order, rather it relies on the order you punch them in. You only receive five ranking categories with the free version.

Next, punch in the Pros and Cons for the product to show people why they should or shouldn’t click through the Buy button. In the free version you get 5 pros and cons each, which is reasonable in my opinion.

Once you finish your review and include whatever content you want in the post, preview or publish the WordPress post to see your review on the frontend. The review display is quite sleek, showcasing the price and name with large lettering. The minimalist design is a refreshing take on review posts that are known to get way out of control.

You’ll notice that when you add more grades to the system it adds quite a bit of white space underneath the pros and cons area, which isn’t all that great for the presentation.

If you include a link to the product, the Buy Now button shows up on the bottom, and users can even click on the product image to navigate to the purchase page.

WP Product Review – Pro Version

You can upgrade to the Pro version inside the plugin or get WP Product Review PRO directly from ThemeIsle and install on your WordPress site. The pricing is quite reasonable, and if you manage multiple sites then you only have to pay up to $49.95 for an unlimited license. Now, the question is: Does the Pro version offer enough features for the investment?

To purchase the Pro version, find the button inside your WordPress dashboard, just above the settings area in the WP Product Review plugin.

It’s nice that they offer three licencing types, one for the single website, another for 2-5 websites, and a final option for unlimited sites. Obviously, if you only have one site then you should go with the first option, but if you have any plans for expanding, or if you make sites for clients, the unlimited website option is your best value.

So, what do you receive when you pay for the Pro version?

• Up to 10 fields for Pros and Cons
• Up to 10 grading options
• Automatic use of the featured image if you don’t upload a product image
• Change the rating icon
• Use a shortcode to place the review wherever you want in a post or page
• Preload grading options from previous posts

So, is the Pro version worth it? The answer is yes, if you run a site that completes reviews on a regular basis, and you want to start presenting clean-looking reviews and making money off them with affiliate links.

To start, the preloader is amazing, so if you constantly review computers you can always preload the grading options you used in the past. This maintains consistency and cuts down on work time.

The additional grading and pros/cons fields work nicely to provide further details for your readers, allowing you to differentiate from other sites.

The automatic featured image grab might save you a little time, but it’s not all that great. However, the rating icon modification feature is ideal for changing what icons show up for different products. For example, instead of the default dashes that show up, you can use dollar signs, hearts, stars, video game controllers and more.

The shortcodes also give you a little more flexibility on how you want the product review to show up, instead of just sticking with the default.

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The WP Product Review does just about everything you need it to do, with customizable rating icons, WordPress post integration and a minimalist presentation to help your readers understand whether they should buy a product or not. I especially enjoy the fact that you can test out the free version and then pay a reasonable price for the additional features.

Let us know in the comments section if you have any questions or feedback regarding the WP Product plugin. Have you tried this plugin out before?