etchenet

<p><strong>Etchenet Reviews for Google Business</strong> shows your Google Business reviews in a modern carousel (Swiper), a floating badge, and a side panel. Ideal for building trust and social proof on your site.</p>
<h4>Internationalization</h4>
<ul>
<li>All translatable strings in the plugin use <strong>English (United States, <code>en_US</code>)</strong> as the message source, as required for community translation on WordPress.org.</li>
<li>On a site whose locale is <code>en_US</code>, WordPress typically uses those strings <strong>as-is</strong> from the plugin (no separate English file required).</li>
<li>Spanish (<code>es_ES</code>) and French (<code>fr_FR</code>) translation files are included under <code>languages/</code>. Other locales can use language packs from wordpress.org when available, or custom <code>.mo</code> / <code>.l10n.php</code> files.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Carousel</strong> – Shortcode <code>[etn_egr_reviews_carousel]</code> with configurable columns, autoplay, arrows, dots</li>
<li><strong>Floating badge</strong> – Shows rating and total reviews; click to open the side panel</li>
<li><strong>Side panel</strong> – List of reviews in a slide-out panel (position and styles configurable)</li>
<li><strong>Manual reviews</strong> – Add and manage your own reviews in the admin (same structure as Google)</li>
<li><strong>CSV/Excel import</strong> – Bulk import from <code>.csv</code> or <code>.xlsx</code> with a header row such as <strong>Author, Text, Stars, Date, Photo URL</strong> (minimum: Author, Text). Spanish column names (e.g. Autor, Texto) are also recognized for compatibility.</li>
<li><strong>Google API sync</strong> – One-click sync with Google Places API (API Key + Place ID); optional daily cron</li>
<li><strong>Order</strong> – Sort by newest, oldest, best/worst rating, or drag-and-drop manual order in the admin list</li>
<li><strong>Customizable</strong> – Colors, excerpt length, min stars, “Read more” modal, Rich Snippets (JSON-LD)</li>
<li><strong>Translations</strong> – Text domain: <code>etchenet-reviews-for-google-business</code>; see <em>Internationalization</em> above</li>
</ul>
<h4>Requirements</h4>
<ul>
<li>WordPress 5.0+</li>
<li>PHP 7.4+</li>
<li>Google API Key and Place ID (for syncing from Google); optional for manual-only use</li>
</ul>
<h4>How reviews are loaded from the Google API</h4>
<p>The plugin uses the <strong>Google Places API (Place Details)</strong>. It requests the <code>reviews</code> field for your place (using your API Key and Place ID). Google returns a <strong>limited number of reviews per request</strong> (typically 5) and does not support pagination for reviews.</p>
<p>On each sync, the plugin fetches the current batch from Google, compares it with the reviews already stored on your site, <strong>adds only new ones</strong> (no duplicates), and <strong>merges</strong> them with the existing list. It <strong>never deletes</strong> previously saved Google reviews. The API response is cached for 12 hours to avoid excessive requests.</p>
<h4>How to get more reviews than Google’s default limit</h4>
<p>Because the API returns only a small set per call (usually 5) and has no pagination:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Sync regularly.</strong> Use <strong>Sync now</strong> in the Connectivity tab from time to time, or enable <strong>Enable daily automatic sync (WP-Cron)</strong>. Each sync can add new reviews; the plugin keeps all it has ever received and only appends new ones. Over time your total count can grow beyond 5.</li>
<li><strong>Use manual reviews and import.</strong> Add reviews manually or import CSV/Excel for an immediate larger set; they are not limited by the API and are shown together with Google reviews.</li>
</ul>
<p>For full details, check the plugin settings and this readme file.</p>
<h3>External services</h3>
<p>This plugin connects to Google services to fetch and display Google Business reviews.</p>
<ol>
<li>Google Places API (maps.googleapis.com)</li>
</ol>
<p>– Purpose: fetch place details and public reviews (rating, review count, business name, review entries).<br />
– Data sent: configured <code>place_id</code>, configured API key, requested review language (two-letter code derived from the site’s WordPress <code>get_locale()</code>, e.g. <code>en</code> for <code>en_US</code>, <code>es</code> for <code>es_ES</code>), optional <code>reviews_sort</code> parameter.<br />
– When sent: on manual sync and on optional daily WP-Cron sync. Two requests are made per sync (one sorted by relevance, one by newest) to maximize review collection within Google’s 5-review-per-request limit.</p>
<ol>
<li>Remote profile-photo download (Google-hosted image URLs)</li>
</ol>
<p>– Purpose: cache public reviewer profile images locally for faster/stable display.<br />
– Data sent: HTTP GET request to the profile photo URL returned by Google for each review.<br />
– When sent: during synchronization, when new reviews are detected and include a profile photo URL.</p>
<p>No personal data from your site visitors is sent by these requests.</p>
<p>Google Maps Platform Terms of Service:<br />
https://mapsplatform.google.com/terms/</p>
<p>Google Privacy Policy:<br />
https://policies.google.com/privacy</p>


Etchenet Reviews for Google Business


J’ai testé ce plugin et franchement, très bonne surprise !L’installation est rapide et la prise en main vraiment intuitive, même sans être expert WordPress.



J’ai particulièrement apprécié la possibilité de connecter facilement les avis Google, mais aussi d’ajouter des avis manuellement ou en masse selon les besoins.



Les options proposées sont complètes, tout en restant simples à utiliser, et le rendu final est vraiment propre et professionnel sur le site.



Un excellent outil pour mettre en avant la preuve sociale et rassurer les visiteurs — clairement un plus pour la crédibilité et les conversions 👍



Je recommande sans hésiter !


Un plugin complet avec un super rendu

Display Google reviews in a carousel, floating badge, and side panel. Manual reviews, CSV/Excel import, API sync. Bundled translations (ES, FR).

Suzanne

<p>Shift8 for Google Business syncs your business info and hours from Google My Business to WordPress, storing data in a custom post type for easy display.</p>
<h3>External services</h3>
<p>This plugin connects to the Google Places API to retrieve business details based on Place IDs. This connection is required to display business information within the plugin.</p>
<p>It sends the Google API key and the requested Place ID each time the API is queried. No user-identifiable information is transmitted during this process.</p>
<p>This service is provided by Google:<br />
– <a href="https://developers.google.com/maps/terms" rel="nofollow ugc">Google API Terms of Service</a><br />
– <a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">Google Privacy Policy</a>Shared Settings Area:<br />
This plugin shares a common settings area with other Shift8 plugins. To avoid conflicts, shared functions such as <code>shift8_main_page</code> are wrapped with <code>function_exists</code> checks.</p>
<h3>Want to see the plugin in action?</h3>
<p>You can check out our demos or contact us at <a href="https://shift8web.ca" rel="nofollow ugc">Shift8web</a> for more information and live examples.</p>
<h3>Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Polls Google My Business daily (or on-demand via WP CLI) to fetch location data  </li>
<li>Uses a custom post type to store and display business information  </li>
<li>Settings page to define your Google Places API key  </li>
<li>Easily manage multiple Place IDs in a single admin interface  </li>
<li>Automates updates so your WordPress site always has the most recent business hours and info</li>
</ul>


Shift8 for Google Business

Shift8 for Google Business syncs your business info and hours from Google My Business to WordPress, storing data in a custom post type for easy displa …

Etchenet Reviews for Google Business vs Shift8 for Google Business