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Back in January I did a review on a new plugin called Author hReview which adds reviews features that not only helps your review stand out on your site, but also helps it stand out to the search engines by adding rich snippets (review stars 1-5) to every review to created using the plugin.
After six months of using Author-hReview I realized I found the perfect plugin for adding Rich Snippets to my websites. The plugin is feature rich and looks good on almost any website. By looking good, I mean eye catching. The developer designed the plugin to add eye catching text, forms, and images to get readers to click on your review links and even possibly help them purchase the products you review.
How Does Author hReview Work?
Below are some of the most asked questions about the plugin. I copied the answers directly from the website. All information is accurate as of June 29th, 2012.
What Does the Author hReview Do?
- “Add hReview and AggregateRating support based on schema.org, increase search traffic by making SERP results more eye-catching. This plugin supports only the editorial ratings submission (author rating).”
What blog system does Author hReview plugin work with?
“The plugin requires a self hosted WordPress blog of at least version 3.0 (it will not work on wordpress.com blogs)”
What are the Optimal Server Settings and Requirements?
“The latest versions of Author hReview require that PHP 5.2 be installed on the server as well as WordPress 3.0+ to run properly. Alos, you must have ionCube PHP Loader installed on your web server.
The Author hReview plugin requires the ionCube PHP Loader to be installed on your web hosting, in most cases you will have it already installed but (not activated), just follow these steps:
- Login to your cPanel.
- Under the Software/Services category, click on the PHP Config icon.
- Inside of this, you will find the option to select Ion Cube
- Select this and hit Save Changes”
Will it Work with My WordPress Theme?
“It should work with any WordPress theme, however if you have trouble in the layout or the way the rating box or recent reviews widget are showing, let us know and we will help you fix the display.”
How Do I Do Install the Plugin?
“Just like any other WordPress plugin: Follow these easy step:
- Upload the plugin folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory
- Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress”
How Many Blogs can I Install This On?
“You can install this on as many blogs that you personally own as you like!” – This only for the free version. For the pro version, you will have to purchase a multisite version.
Author hReview Goes Pro
Recently I was contacted by Hesham the mastermind behind Author hReview to join his testers and test out his new version of Author hReview he was working on. This new version is an more advanced version with more features than the already feature rich version. features than the already feature rich version. 1- half rating
The Pro offers these extra features you won’t find in the free version
- half rating
- rating box templates (he am starting with 3 simple templates for now)
- control over what elements to show on the review box (button, date, reviewer name..etc)
- ability to change button text
- add images to the rating box
- add reviews on pages as well (free plugin only works on posts)
- new widget with product images (this plugin has two widgets)
- ability to sort reviews in widgets by rating value (example: Top Rated)
- option to remove rel=”nofollow” links
- display a list of all review “posts” in one page in WP dashboard
- shortcode to display rating box anywhere on the post/page
- shortcode to display related reviews
- shortcode to display recent reviews
- and of course a lot of bug fixes and other enhancements!
Author hReview Pricing Plans
The plugin comes with three different plans to choose from. You can choose free, single site, and Multi Site plans. The best deal is the multi site plan. Even if you only have one site, you never know, you may want to start another site. Its only few dollars more and you won’t have to go back purchase another license if you need it later.
Special Bonus
If you purchase the pro during the first week of release, Hesham, the creator of Author hreview, is offering to give you a copy of his premium Testimonials plugin for free. After this offer ends, the plugin will be sold for $49. So if you need a testimonial plugin for your site and plan on getting the Author hReiview Pro then get it now before this incredibly great offer ends.
To see the testimonial plugin in action, check out the Author hReview site. Every testimonial on the site was created using that plugin.
Special Launch Discounts!
To celebrate the launch of the pro versions, Hesham i
s offering a great deal for all those that purchase this product during the launch period.
- Currently you will get a 50% discount for the first week of launch!
- Then the discount will decrease as we closer to the end of the launch period.
- Please see Author hReview from more details on any discounts offered.
If you are already using the free version of Author hReview or if you got your hands on the pro versions tell us what you think!
About James
Hey James. I had an issue with the plugin last time I used it which I brought to Heshams’ attention. It was the plugin causing embedded videos (especially Youtube), not showing up when it is activated. Do you think that was part of the ‘minor fixes’ done?
Not sure, but I can ask him… If you brought it to his attention, if he could have fixed he usually does that. I will let you know if he has…
Hi Ivin,
Yes, this has been take care of in the pro version, I see it working fine on my test sites. Also, included some options to display the rating box to avoid any unexpected conflicts.
It’s common that embedding video using the traditional embed code by youtube or other video hosts gives issues, however WP 3.4 brought an easy way to embed videos by simply paste the video url to your post editor.
Thanks for getting back to us so quickly Hesham!
I’ve never thought about using star ratings, but this plugin makes it seem so simple. Thanks for pointing out the difference between the free and premium versions – I wish that info was on hreview’s plugin page in the WordPress repository.