Description
Truewidgets puts your Google reviews on your website, so visitors see what your customers say without leaving your page.
Connect your Google Business Profile in Truewidgets by signing in with Google, choose how the widget looks, then add it to any page with the Truewidgets Reviews block or the [truewidgets] shortcode.
What you get
- Your newest reviews, kept up to date. Truewidgets checks Google for new reviews every day. There is nothing to refresh by hand.
- Five layouts, and a floating badge. Carousel, grid, list, masonry and a compact badge for a page, plus a floating badge that sits in a corner of every page of your site.
- Your look. Set the colours, fonts and layout in Truewidgets. Change them any time: your pages update by themselves, with no new code.
- An honest average. The rating counts every review, not just the ones the widget shows.
- More reviews. A “Write a review” button, plus a review link and QR code to share, make it easy for customers to review you on Google.
- Fast and self-contained. The widget loads in the background, only on pages that show it. It draws itself in a closed Shadow DOM, so your theme can’t break it and it can’t change your theme. Its fonts come from Truewidgets, never from Google Fonts.
- Works where you build. The block editor, the classic editor, page builders that accept shortcodes, and theme templates.
Free and paid plans
The Free plan shows your 5 newest Google reviews in one widget, with a small “Powered by Truewidgets” line under it. Paid plans, from $9 a month, show all your Google reviews, remove that line, add more widgets and locations, and add tools such as replying to reviews and finding the words your customers use. Plans are listed at truewidgets.com.
Truewidgets is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. Google is a trademark of Google LLC.
External services
This plugin shows your reviews from Truewidgets (app.truewidgets.com), the service that holds them. It connects to it, and to Google, like this:
- The widget script. Every page with a Truewidgets block or shortcode loads the widget from https://app.truewidgets.com/embed. With the floating badge switched on (Settings Truewidgets), every page of the site loads it.
- Your widget’s reviews and settings. The visitor’s browser then fetches them from https://app.truewidgets.com/widget-data/ with your Widget ID. In the WordPress admin, “Check it” and the block’s preview fetch the same data.
- View counts. The widget tells Truewidgets, anonymously, when it was seen on a page, and when a visitor opens a review, taps “Write a review” or taps “See all reviews”, together with the address of that page (without anything after a “?”). It is sent to https://app.truewidgets.com/analytics/event. The widget sets no cookies and sends nothing about who the visitor is. As with any request on the web, the visitor’s browser sends its IP address and browser name; Truewidgets doesn’t keep them with the counts. The block’s preview in the editor is never counted.
- Fonts. If your widget uses one of the fonts offered in Truewidgets, the visitor’s browser loads it from https://app.truewidgets.com/widget-fonts/, never from Google Fonts.
- Google. Google reviewers’ profile pictures load from Google (googleusercontent.com).
- Links. “See all reviews” and “Write a review” open your reviews page and your review link on app.truewidgets.com. On the Free plan, “Powered by Truewidgets” links to truewidgets.com.
Truewidgets’ terms: https://truewidgets.com/terms
Truewidgets’ privacy policy: https://truewidgets.com/privacy
Google’s privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Screenshots
Blocks
This plugin provides 1 block.
- Truewidgets Reviews
Installation
- In WordPress, go to Plugins Add Plugin, search for “Truewidgets”, then install and activate it.
- Go to Settings Truewidgets, paste your Widget ID, press Check it, then Save Changes. To find the ID, open Show your reviews in Truewidgets. No account yet? Create one free at truewidgets.com.
- Add the Truewidgets Reviews block to a page, or paste
[truewidgets]where the reviews should go, and save the page. - Optional: for a floating badge in a corner of every page, paste a Floating badge widget’s ID under Floating badge on every page, tick Show it on every page, and press Save Changes.
FAQ
-
Do I need a Truewidgets account?
-
Yes. Truewidgets is the service that collects your reviews from Google and draws the widget; the plugin puts the widget on your pages. Creating an account is free.
-
Is it free?
-
Yes, on the Free plan: one widget with your 5 newest Google reviews, and a small “Powered by Truewidgets” line. Paid plans show all your reviews and remove the line.
-
Where do the reviews come from?
-
From your Google Business Profile. In Truewidgets you sign in with Google to connect it, which also shows the business is yours. Truewidgets then checks for new reviews every day.
-
Do I need new code when I change how the widget looks?
-
No. Change the colours, fonts or layout in Truewidgets, and your pages show the change by themselves within a few minutes.
-
Will it slow down my site?
-
No. The script loads in the background and only on pages that show a widget, and the widget’s styles are kept apart from your theme’s.
-
No. The widget sets no cookies and sends nothing about who your visitors are. “External services” above lists exactly what it loads and counts. The plugin also suggests text for your privacy policy, in Settings Privacy Policy Guide.
-
Does it work with Elementor, Divi or other page builders?
-
Yes, anywhere that accepts a shortcode: paste
[truewidgets]. -
Can I show different widgets on different pages?
-
Yes. Settings Truewidgets sets this site’s widget, and a block or shortcode can name another one:
[truewidgets id="your-widget-id"]. -
Can I choose a layout for one page?
-
Yes. Choose it in the block’s settings, or use
[truewidgets layout="grid"]. The layouts arecarousel,grid,list,masonryandbadge. Leave the layout out to use the one set in Truewidgets. -
Can I use it in a theme template?
-
Yes:
<?php if ( function_exists( 'truewidgets_widget' ) ) truewidgets_widget( 'your-widget-id', 'carousel' ); ?> -
What happens if I stop paying?
-
Your account moves to the Free plan. Widgets the Free plan doesn’t cover are paused, not deleted, and come back if you upgrade again. A paused widget shows nothing, and the page closes up around it.
-
Is Truewidgets made by Google?
-
No. Truewidgets is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“Truewidgets – Google Reviews Widget” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Truewidgets – Google Reviews Widget” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.3.0
- New: a floating badge on every page. Make a Floating badge widget in Truewidgets, paste its ID under Settings Truewidgets Floating badge on every page, and tick “Show it on every page”. It sits in a corner of every page, and opens your reviews with a click.
- “Check it” says when the ID you pasted for the floating badge isn’t a floating badge. Such an ID shows nothing, rather than a whole widget at the foot of every page.
- The block’s own layouts are still the five: a floating badge is set up only here, from a widget saved as one in Truewidgets. (1.1.0 removed a “floating” block layout that never worked.)
1.2.0
- Fix: a Truewidgets Reviews block set to this site’s widget now shows on the published page. Before, it showed only in the editor.
- Tested with WordPress 7.1.
- The block’s words can now be translated.
- Suggested text for your privacy policy, in Settings Privacy Policy Guide.
- Settings Truewidgets links to a free account if you don’t have one yet, and says where to find your Widget ID.
- The Widget ID box is wide enough to show a whole ID.
- Sturdier saving of settings.
- A fuller readme: what’s free, where the reviews come from, and answers to common questions.
1.1.0
- The settings page says what the plugin does, and checks your Widget ID: it names the widget it found.
- The block shows your reviews in the page editor, and names the widget it shows.
- Five layouts: carousel, grid, list, masonry and badge. “Floating” is gone; it never existed.
- No space is held open any more: if the widget has nothing to show, the page closes up around it. The block’s “Minimum height” and the shortcode’s
min_heightare no longer used. - The script and data addresses moved under “Advanced, for developers”.
- The block’s alignment (wide, full) now reaches the published page.
- The readme lists the services the plugin connects to.
1.0.1
- Fix: the widget script now loads from app.truewidgets.com. Version 1.0.0 pointed at a placeholder address, so widgets did not appear.
1.0.0
- Initial release: block, shortcode, template tag, and settings screen.