Adam Sommer

Why not be able to checkin on your blog so that your readers know where you are and have been? Sure there are other checkin sites on the Internet, but now you can count your blog as one of them.
WPCheckin allows location checkins to be displayed in a widget or on any page via shortcode. Using Google Places, choose a location closest to your geo location as determined by your browser’s HTML5 location information.
This plugin requires a Google API key to be able to retrieve locations nearby, and stores checkins in a custom post type.

WPCheckin Widget and Shortcode

Post checkins to your WordPress site, and using Google Places choose a location closest to your geo location.

Riccardo

RicReviews is a free and open-source WordPress plugin that displays Google Places reviews on your website using a simple shortcode. The plugin fetches reviews from Google Places API (New) and displays them beautifully on your WordPress site.
<h4>Key Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Easy Integration: Display reviews anywhere on your site with a simple shortcode</li>
<li>Automatic Updates: Reviews are automatically fetched and updated via configurable WordPress cron (daily, weekly, or monthly)</li>
<li>Smart Caching: Built-in caching system to improve performance</li>
<li>Customizable: Choose your primary color and theme (light/dark)</li>
<li>Flexible Display: Control the number of reviews and sorting options</li>
<li>Multilingual Support: Fetch reviews in multiple languages and filter by language in shortcode</li>
<li>Debug Logging: Optional debug logging for troubleshooting API issues</li>
<li>Secure: Follows WordPress coding standards and security best practices</li>
</ul>
<h4>How It Works</h4>
<ol>
<li>Initial Fetch: When you save settings, the plugin fetches reviews from Google Places API</li>
<li>Database Storage: Reviews are stored in a custom database table for fast retrieval</li>
<li>Caching: Reviews are cached using WordPress transients for 24 hours</li>
<li>Automatic Updates: WordPress cron job automatically fetches new reviews based on your configured frequency</li>
<li>Display: Shortcode retrieves reviews from cache/database and displays them</li>
</ol>
<h4>Important Note</h4>
Google Places API returns a maximum of 5 reviews per place per API call. This is a hard limit imposed by Google, not a limitation of this plugin. Each API call returns up to 5 reviews, and the plugin performs automatic fetches based on your configured frequency (daily, weekly, or monthly). Over time, you may accumulate more reviews in the database as Google updates the “5 most helpful reviews” for your place.
If you configure multiple languages, each language requires a separate API call, potentially allowing you to collect more reviews (up to 5 per language).
For more information, see <a href="https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/policies#review-policy" rel="nofollow ugc">Google’s Review Policy Documentation</a>.
<h4>Service Information</h4>
This plugin acts as an interface to Google Places API (New). By installing and configuring this plugin, you consent to the use of Google Places API service. Please review <a href="https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/policies" rel="nofollow ugc">Google Places API Terms of Service</a> before use.

RicReviews

Display Google Places reviews on your WordPress site using a simple shortcode. Fetches reviews from Google Places API (New).

WPCheckin Widget and Shortcode vs RicReviews