8 WordPress Themes And Plugins For Creating A Review Site – WPMU DEV
8 WordPress Themes And Plugins For Creating A Review Site
Are you interested in beginning or sprucing up a review site?
Perhaps it’s for pleasure – you’re the kind of a person who feels that urge to share your opinion on you beloved restaurant, movie or game – or maybe it’s for profit but whatever your motivation, building a review site with WordPress is within the reach of even the most novice of WordPress users.
Here’s eight WordPress themes and plugins to help you on your way to review stardom.
To get the best review site, you are going to need to pay
Putting together a review site on WordPress is, on the surface at least, relatively straight forward: it’s just a matter of picking the right theme, plugin or both.
Rather than providing a massive list of options for you to trawl through, I’ve done that for you and arrived at eight themes and plugins that will permit you to build a review site.
Very first the bad news. There’s only one freebie here and that’s a plugin, the rest you will need to spend some of your hard-earned cash. I looked for free themes and plugins and all bar the WordPress Review Site Builder plugin weren’t up to scrape.
And whilst the free plugin is pretty good, the paid options are very likely going to build you a better review site that is more engaging.
Things To Bear In Mind
Reviewing Paid-for Plugins Is About Trust
Obviously, when it comes to reviewing those products that are not free, there’s a strong reliance on demonstrations and trust in the supporting documentation and copy.
For themes, it is fairly effortless to check the look and feel and how the theme works but for plugins this is much more difficult.
Support For Schema.org
Google likes and supports schema.org and so indeed every review site should be making sure that its reviews are marked up as per the Review schema.
If your reviews are marked up correctly then Google will display your listing in its search results with the rating, making it much more noticeable:
What? Only 8.6 for the greatest movie ever made?
In fact, this IMDb page is prime example of the use of numerous schemas, not just Review, so if you are interested have a look at it using Google’s Structured Data Contraption.
Despite the visible benefits in having reviews marked up, disappointingly, only one plugin and one theme supported the Review schema, so if you don’t pick these then be ready to undertake some modifications to add this significant feature (or hassle the developer) if you want to maximize your chances with the superior search engine.
WordPress Review Themes
ProReview
ProProview is my individual pick of the themes listed here in terms of look and features. It’s just a shame it is compromised by the lack of support for schema.org.
The layout has a familiar review look and feel, is clean and to the point and comes with some pretty nice features such as:
- CNET style Editors and User ratings
- Pros and Cons
- Ratings by Feature
- Ribbons (top rated, recommended, etc)
- Top ratings widget
- Review slider
- Numerous layouts
The theme creates its own Review custom-made post type so there’s nothing else to add.
A quick and seemingly effortless way to have a review site up and running with very little effort if you can live without the schema.org support.
Cost: $39 (single), $Sixty nine (multi), $119 (developer)
Interested in ProReview?
Swagger
Swagger from Industrial Themes is a comprehensive if overly busy theme which supports schema.org but is potentially let down by the lack of user ratings.
All the features that you’d expect with a superb looking rating widget, Pros and Cons, a product overview as well as slew of options for laying out on the article.
It doesn’t have user ratings which may be significant depending on your situation. It certainly seems to be an significant omission given the general consensus is that permitting users to also rate considerably increases engagement.
Interested in Swagger?
InReview
InReview is what you’d expect from Elegant Themes: clean and good looking.
That said, the home page layout is a little conservative and the theme doesn’t instantly project “review site!” in the same way that ProReview and Swagger do.
There’s also no support for schema.org.
What it does have is Author and User Ratings, feature ratings, a slider and a duo of the essential widgets. The theme also comes packed with ET’s range of shortcodes which provides considerable plasticity when laying out an article.
ET’s themes are always well-written and effortless to use and you’ll have no problem setting up a review site with this theme. It’s lack of support for schema.org and it’s slightly understated look, however, do require careful consideration.
* this is the yearly membership fee and provides access to all (presently 87) themes.
Interested in InReview?
The Reviewer
The Reviewer from Design Crumb (via ThemeForest) is aimed more at entertainment reviews and provides a clean, if uninspiring, look with slew of features.
Fairly why this theme is entertainment only isn’t clear. The theme emerges to include entertainment-related taxonomies (and the display of reviews based on those taxonomies) but the features list makes no mention of this.
What is does mention is latest ratings and featured reviewer widgets, shortcodes and social networks.
The theme doesn’t support user ratings nor does it support schema.org.
A good option, especially for those that want an entertainment review site and are not worried about getting user ratings.
Interested in The Reviewer?
Wise Reviewer
Wise Reviewer from Umbrella Web uses a Pinterest-style layout to get slew of reviews on the home page.
1.6 million WordPress Superheroes read and trust our blog. Join them and get daily posts delivered to your inbox – free!
It has all the basic functions you’d expect including ribbons, user ratings, affiliate links and provides three truly useful widgets for similar, best and latest reviews.
Also in its favor is the excellent documentation.
However, it does not support feature ratings. Nor does it support schema.org which pulls the rug a little from the claim that the theme is “SEO optimized”.
The copy claiming compatibility to WP Three.6 also dents the confidence.
This theme is undoubtedly for those wanting that Pinterest look and feel.
*could not find details on this licence
Interested in Wise Reviewer?
WE Review
WE Review (via WP Eden) has a focussed look and feel that strikes the right balance of content and whitespace – even the slider works!
The theme isn’t standalone and requires the WordPress Review Site Builder plugin (available on the WP Plugin Repository). Such separation of visual from coding will please the purists.
Together they provide feature rating, user rating (albeit only individual ratings not overall) and a top-rated widget.
There’s no support for schema.org.
Interested in WE Review?
WordPress Review Plugins
WordPress Review Site Builder
A free plugin from the makers of WE Themes that adds a review custom-built content type to the WordPress admin interface.
The Review edit interface permits a separate review title and description to be set along with an affiliate link, price, editor rating and a ribbon.
Feature ratings can also be lightly added.
The plugin provides two shortcodes: wp_review to list all reviews in a tabular format and all_reviews to list the views in a Pinterest style.
The plugin will work with any theme as it also provides its own templates for the review listings and review detail albeit there are no widgets.
A solid plugin that provides what you’d need for a basic review site and you can’t argue with the price.
Interested in WordPress Review Site Builder?
MyReviewPlugin
UPDATE: A duo of readers have raised concerns about this plugin regarding bugs and support. Whilst, at present, we can’t verify these concerns it is certainly the case that major WordPress host, WP Engine, has disallowed the use of this plugin. All-in-all it seems reasonable to exercise caution when considering this plugin.
This is a comprehensive plugin and is the only product, both theme and plugin, that promotes the fact that it supports schema.org with both support for both hReview and RDFa Review.
The plugin is aimed at adding reviews to existing content types. For site owners this is achieved through “editor ratings” whilst on the user side it’s achieved via adding rating capability to comments.
It actually permits for feature rating by users which is a nice touch.
Other features include the selection of how to rate (starlets, letter grades, percentage), post order control, comparison tables (vertical and horizontal), “was this review helpful?”, Google Maps integration, two widgets and one-click embedding.
Add to this an apparent “set up a total site in one click” and eight built in themes and the plugin seems to be pretty good value for money even at the above average cost.
There’s a good list of sites using the plugin on the website.
Interested in MyReviewPlugin?
WP Reviews
WP Reviews from Author HReview is a premium product that provides good looking reviews that obey with the review schema.
The plugin adds a fresh Reviews option to the admin interface and has a strong concentrate on generating Google-friendly formats. It even has the link to the structured data testing implement and actively encourages the testing of its reviews. (They pass with flying colors, by the way).
The plugin provides author ratings and user ratings and, in fact, permits users to provide their own reviews both overall and by feature. It also includes the capability to create galleries and YouTube movies.
Three shortcodes provide the capability to embed a single review, a list of reviews and related reviews in a post, whilst three widgets provide options for embedding reviews and review listings directly into your theme.
WP Review works by adding metaboxes to the post type. My preference is for custom-made post types as I think it provides more plasticity but, that said, WP Review looks to be a comprehensive plugin with good-looking, clean output that would integrate well with most themes.
NOTE: You can download the related hReview plugin from the WordPress repository. This is a much simpler plugin that is focussed on providing a summary ratings box that is automatically displayed on a post page. This plugin is fine for adding very elementary reviews.
Cost: $Sixty-nine* (single site), $139 (numerous sites)
* includes access to all plugins and SIX months support and upgrades. Extra support can be purchased in blocks of six months for $29.
Interested in WP Reviews?
The Pick Of The Bunch?
UPDATE: When I originally wrote this post, my pick was MyReviewPlugin. However, thanks to reader input – more proof, if we needed it, of the value of comments – there’s enough doubt about this plugin for it not to be the pick. In particular, it’s appearance on WP Engine’s disallowed plugin list is obviously a major concern given WP Engine’s reputation.
All the plugins and themes have their pros and cons and so there is no evident choice. I would have picked Pro Review but for its lack of support for the review schema – an essential feature for any review site.
The strongest candidate, then, is the reader-suggested plugin, WP Reviews, particularly as it is very focussed on ensuring that the reviews are review schema compliant. The use of custom-built fields rather than a custom-made post type is a drawback albeit if you’re building a dedicated review site then this will be less of a concern.
The payment structure, with support and updates only available in six month blocks rather than the more common twelve months is food for thought, however, as is how effortless it may be to switch the layout of the output.
Have you built a review site using any of these products? In particular, have you used the MyReviewPlugin? Share your thoughts below in the comments.
Chris Knowles : View a list of posts by this author.
A WordPress pro, Chris has a leaned for hacking WordPress, content management and online media. Feel free to get in touch via Twitter or Google+
8 WordPress Themes And Plugins For Creating A Review Site – WPMU DEV
8 WordPress Themes And Plugins For Creating A Review Site
Are you interested in commencing or sprucing up a review site?
Perhaps it’s for pleasure – you’re the kind of a person who feels that urge to share your opinion on you dearest restaurant, movie or game – or maybe it’s for profit but whatever your motivation, building a review site with WordPress is within the reach of even the most novice of WordPress users.
Here’s eight WordPress themes and plugins to help you on your way to review stardom.
To get the best review site, you are going to need to pay
Putting together a review site on WordPress is, on the surface at least, relatively straight forward: it’s just a matter of picking the right theme, plugin or both.
Rather than providing a massive list of options for you to trawl through, I’ve done that for you and arrived at eight themes and plugins that will permit you to build a review site.
Very first the bad news. There’s only one freebie here and that’s a plugin, the rest you will need to spend some of your hard-earned cash. I looked for free themes and plugins and all bar the WordPress Review Site Builder plugin weren’t up to scrape.
And whilst the free plugin is pretty good, the paid options are most likely going to build you a better review site that is more engaging.
Things To Bear In Mind
Reviewing Paid-for Plugins Is About Trust
Obviously, when it comes to reviewing those products that are not free, there’s a strong reliance on demonstrations and trust in the supporting documentation and copy.
For themes, it is fairly effortless to check the look and feel and how the theme works but for plugins this is much more difficult.
Support For Schema.org
Google likes and supports schema.org and so truly every review site should be making sure that its reviews are marked up as per the Review schema.
If your reviews are marked up correctly then Google will display your listing in its search results with the rating, making it much more noticeable:
What? Only 8.6 for the greatest movie ever made?
In fact, this IMDb page is prime example of the use of numerous schemas, not just Review, so if you are interested have a look at it using Google’s Structured Data Contraption.
Despite the visible benefits in having reviews marked up, disappointingly, only one plugin and one theme supported the Review schema, so if you don’t pick these then be ready to undertake some modifications to add this significant feature (or hassle the developer) if you want to maximize your chances with the superior search engine.
WordPress Review Themes
ProReview
ProProview is my individual pick of the themes listed here in terms of look and features. It’s just a shame it is compromised by the lack of support for schema.org.
The layout has a familiar review look and feel, is clean and to the point and comes with some pretty nice features such as:
- CNET style Editors and User ratings
- Pros and Cons
- Ratings by Feature
- Ribbons (top rated, recommended, etc)
- Top ratings widget
- Review slider
- Numerous layouts
The theme creates its own Review custom-built post type so there’s nothing else to add.
A quick and seemingly effortless way to have a review site up and running with very little effort if you can live without the schema.org support.
Cost: $39 (single), $Sixty nine (multi), $119 (developer)
Interested in ProReview?
Swagger
Swagger from Industrial Themes is a comprehensive if overly busy theme which supports schema.org but is potentially let down by the lack of user ratings.
All the features that you’d expect with a good looking rating widget, Pros and Cons, a product overview as well as slew of options for laying out on the article.
It doesn’t have user ratings which may be significant depending on your situation. It certainly seems to be an significant omission given the general consensus is that permitting users to also rate considerably increases engagement.
Interested in Swagger?
InReview
InReview is what you’d expect from Elegant Themes: clean and good looking.
That said, the home page layout is a little conservative and the theme doesn’t instantaneously project “review site!” in the same way that ProReview and Swagger do.
There’s also no support for schema.org.
What it does have is Author and User Ratings, feature ratings, a slider and a duo of the essential widgets. The theme also comes packed with ET’s range of shortcodes which provides considerable plasticity when laying out an article.
ET’s themes are always well-written and effortless to use and you’ll have no problem setting up a review site with this theme. It’s lack of support for schema.org and it’s slightly understated look, however, do require careful consideration.
* this is the yearly membership fee and provides access to all (presently 87) themes.
Interested in InReview?
The Reviewer
The Reviewer from Design Crumb (via ThemeForest) is aimed more at entertainment reviews and provides a clean, if uninspiring, look with slew of features.
Fairly why this theme is entertainment only isn’t clear. The theme shows up to include entertainment-related taxonomies (and the display of reviews based on those taxonomies) but the features list makes no mention of this.
What is does mention is latest ratings and featured reviewer widgets, shortcodes and social networks.
The theme doesn’t support user ratings nor does it support schema.org.
A good option, especially for those that want an entertainment review site and are not worried about getting user ratings.
Interested in The Reviewer?
Brainy Reviewer
Clever Reviewer from Umbrella Web uses a Pinterest-style layout to get slew of reviews on the home page.
1.6 million WordPress Superheroes read and trust our blog. Join them and get daily posts delivered to your inbox – free!
It has all the basic functions you’d expect including ribbons, user ratings, affiliate links and provides three truly useful widgets for similar, best and latest reviews.
Also in its favor is the excellent documentation.
However, it does not support feature ratings. Nor does it support schema.org which pulls the rug a little from the claim that the theme is “SEO optimized”.
The copy claiming compatibility to WP Three.6 also dents the confidence.
This theme is certainly for those wanting that Pinterest look and feel.
*could not find details on this licence
Interested in Wise Reviewer?
WE Review
WE Review (via WP Eden) has a focussed look and feel that strikes the right balance of content and whitespace – even the slider works!
The theme isn’t standalone and requires the WordPress Review Site Builder plugin (available on the WP Plugin Repository). Such separation of visual from coding will please the purists.
Together they provide feature rating, user rating (albeit only individual ratings not overall) and a top-rated widget.
There’s no support for schema.org.
Interested in WE Review?
WordPress Review Plugins
WordPress Review Site Builder
A free plugin from the makers of WE Themes that adds a review custom-made content type to the WordPress admin interface.
The Review edit interface permits a separate review title and description to be set along with an affiliate link, price, editor rating and a ribbon.
Feature ratings can also be lightly added.
The plugin provides two shortcodes: wp_review to list all reviews in a tabular format and all_reviews to list the views in a Pinterest style.
The plugin will work with any theme as it also provides its own templates for the review listings and review detail albeit there are no widgets.
A solid plugin that provides what you’d need for a basic review site and you can’t argue with the price.
Interested in WordPress Review Site Builder?
MyReviewPlugin
UPDATE: A duo of readers have raised concerns about this plugin regarding bugs and support. Whilst, at present, we can’t verify these concerns it is certainly the case that major WordPress host, WP Engine, has disallowed the use of this plugin. All-in-all it seems reasonable to exercise caution when considering this plugin.
This is a comprehensive plugin and is the only product, both theme and plugin, that promotes the fact that it supports schema.org with both support for both hReview and RDFa Review.
The plugin is aimed at adding reviews to existing content types. For site owners this is achieved through “editor ratings” whilst on the user side it’s achieved via adding rating capability to comments.
It actually permits for feature rating by users which is a nice touch.
Other features include the selection of how to rate (starlets, letter grades, percentage), post order control, comparison tables (vertical and horizontal), “was this review helpful?”, Google Maps integration, two widgets and one-click embedding.
Add to this an apparent “set up a total site in one click” and eight built in themes and the plugin seems to be pretty good value for money even at the above average cost.
There’s a good list of sites using the plugin on the website.
Interested in MyReviewPlugin?
WP Reviews
WP Reviews from Author HReview is a premium product that provides good looking reviews that conform with the review schema.
The plugin adds a fresh Reviews option to the admin interface and has a strong concentrate on generating Google-friendly formats. It even has the link to the structured data testing implement and actively encourages the testing of its reviews. (They pass with flying colors, by the way).
The plugin provides author ratings and user ratings and, in fact, permits users to provide their own reviews both overall and by feature. It also includes the capability to create galleries and YouTube movies.
Three shortcodes provide the capability to embed a single review, a list of reviews and related reviews in a post, whilst three widgets provide options for embedding reviews and review listings directly into your theme.
WP Review works by adding metaboxes to the post type. My preference is for custom-built post types as I think it provides more plasticity but, that said, WP Review looks to be a comprehensive plugin with good-looking, clean output that would integrate well with most themes.
NOTE: You can download the related hReview plugin from the WordPress repository. This is a much simpler plugin that is focussed on providing a summary ratings box that is automatically displayed on a post page. This plugin is fine for adding very plain reviews.
Cost: $Sixty-nine* (single site), $139 (numerous sites)
* includes access to all plugins and SIX months support and upgrades. Extra support can be purchased in blocks of six months for $29.
Interested in WP Reviews?
The Pick Of The Bunch?
UPDATE: When I originally wrote this post, my pick was MyReviewPlugin. However, thanks to reader input – more proof, if we needed it, of the value of comments – there’s enough doubt about this plugin for it not to be the pick. In particular, it’s appearance on WP Engine’s disallowed plugin list is obviously a major concern given WP Engine’s reputation.
All the plugins and themes have their pros and cons and so there is no demonstrable choice. I would have picked Pro Review but for its lack of support for the review schema – an essential feature for any review site.
The strongest candidate, then, is the reader-suggested plugin, WP Reviews, particularly as it is very focussed on ensuring that the reviews are review schema compliant. The use of custom-built fields rather than a custom-built post type is a drawback albeit if you’re building a dedicated review site then this will be less of a concern.
The payment structure, with support and updates only available in six month blocks rather than the more common twelve months is food for thought, however, as is how effortless it may be to switch the layout of the output.
Have you built a review site using any of these products? In particular, have you used the MyReviewPlugin? Share your thoughts below in the comments.
Chris Knowles : View a list of posts by this author.
A WordPress pro, Chris has a leaned for hacking WordPress, content management and online media. Feel free to get in touch via Twitter or Google+