Glow Reviews – Smart Feedback & Testimonials

by motiraj

Description

Glow Reviews helps you collect customer feedback and publish approved testimonials with native WordPress tools. Feedback submissions are stored as a custom post type, reviewed in the admin area, and displayed with shortcode-driven layouts.

The plugin includes a frontend feedback form, duplicate-email update flow, testimonial moderation tools, image upload support, avatar fallbacks, and shortcode-based display controls. Longer testimonial content can be collapsed with a Read More toggle, while built-in validation, nonce checks, honeypot fields, form timing checks, and rate limiting help keep submissions clean and secure.

A powerful drag-and-drop layout builder allows you to create custom testimonial designs with preset templates, live preview, and modern styling options without coding.

Watch a video tutorial: https://youtu.be/-x1Lrh0HIPQ

Key Features

Collect feedback with 1-5 star ratings
Frontend feedback form shortcode with AJAX and standard submission support
Detect duplicate submissions by email and allow customers to update an existing review
Display approved testimonials in grid, slider, list, masonry, stacked, timeline, marquee, or custom layouts
Advanced drag-and-drop layout builder with preset designs and live preview
Preset layout templates for professional testimonial displays
Custom layout builder accessible from Tools > Layout Builder
Gallery view for browsing and selecting preset layouts
Show Read More / Read Less for testimonial text longer than 120 characters
Upload customer images with validation for JPG, PNG, and GIF files up to 2MB
Fall back to WordPress user avatars or inline SVG avatars for logged-in users when no custom image is uploaded
Review submissions from a dedicated Pending Feedback admin screen
Approve, reject, edit, or manually add testimonials from the WordPress dashboard
Display settings page and built-in documentation page in wp-admin
Flexible shortcode attributes for layout, visibility, ordering, limits, and categories using the glowrev- shortcode prefix
Spam protection with honeypot fields, nonce checks, form timing validation, and IP-based rate limiting
Migration helpers for older CLVO-based plugin data and admin URLs
Uses WordPress caching APIs to reduce repeated testimonial queries
Improved WordPress coding standards compliance, escaping, nonce validation, caching, and readme consistency
Scroll reveal animations for enhanced user experience
Device-responsive preview in layout builder (desktop, tablet, mobile)

Installation

Upload the glowreviews folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu in WordPress.
Go to GlowReviews or Settings > GlowReviews in wp-admin.
Access the Layout Builder from Tools > Layout Builder to create custom designs.
Add a feedback form with [glowrev-feedback-form].
Display testimonials with [glowrev-display-testimonials] or custom layouts.

Faq

How do I collect feedback?

Use the feedback form shortcode on any page or post:

[glowrev-feedback-form]

Available form shortcode attributes:

title – Form title. Default: Share Your Experience
show_title – Show or hide the form title. Default: yes
class – Add a custom wrapper class

What fields are included in the feedback form?

The form includes:

Name
Company name
Designation
Email
Optional image upload
1-5 star rating
Feedback text with a 150 character maximum

How does long testimonial text display?

If testimonial content is longer than 120 characters, GlowReviews shows a Read More link so visitors can expand and collapse the full text in the testimonial layouts.

Can customers update an existing feedback entry?

Yes. If a submission uses an email address that already exists, GlowReviews detects it and lets the customer update that testimonial instead of creating a duplicate. Updated submissions return to pending review.

How do I display testimonials on my site?

Use the display shortcode:

[glowrev-display-testimonials]

Supported display shortcode attributes:

limit – Number of testimonials to show. Default: -1
orderby – Sort field such as date, title, or rand
order – ASC or DESC
category – Filter by category slug(s), comma-separated
layout – grid, slider, list, masonry, stacked, timeline, marquee, or custom
custom_layout – ID of a custom layout created in the Layout Builder (for layout=”custom”)
show_image – yes or no
show_rating – yes or no
show_excerpt – yes or no
show_date – yes or no
show_author – yes or no
show_company – yes or no
show_designation – yes or no
show_position – yes or no
columns – Number of columns for grid layout. Default: 3

Example:

[glowrev-display-testimonials layout="grid" limit="6" show_rating="yes" show_company="yes"]

Custom layout example:

[glowrev-display-testimonials layout="custom" custom_layout="123"]

Where 123 is the ID of your custom layout from the Layout Builder.

Do testimonials appear automatically after submission?

No. Frontend submissions are stored as pending and must be approved before they appear on the site.

How do I moderate submissions?

GlowReviews adds a dedicated Pending Feedback admin page where you can:

Review pending submissions
Approve testimonials for frontend display
Reject testimonials and move them to trash
Open the full editor for manual changes

Can I add testimonials manually from wp-admin?

Yes. Testimonials are stored as the glowrev_testimonial custom post type, so you can create and edit them directly in WordPress.

How does image handling work?

Customers can upload JPG, JPEG, PNG, or GIF images up to 2MB. If a logged-in user submits feedback without uploading an image, GlowReviews can display their WordPress user avatar instead.

How do I use the Layout Builder?

Access the Layout Builder from Tools > Layout Builder in wp-admin. The builder features:

Drag-and-drop interface – Drag available fields (photo, name, company, rating, text, etc.) into layout sections
Preset layouts – Choose from professionally designed preset templates
Live preview – See your layout changes in real-time with device switching (desktop, tablet, mobile)
Gallery view – Browse preset layouts in a gallery format with sample testimonials
Save and manage – Save custom layouts and load them for editing later
Shortcode generation – Automatically generate the shortcode for your custom layout

What layout options are available?

The plugin supports multiple display layouts:

Grid – Responsive grid layout with customizable columns
Slider – Rotating carousel with navigation controls
List – Vertical list layout for detailed testimonials
Masonry – Pinterest-style masonry grid with varying heights
Stacked – Stacked card layout
Timeline – Timeline-style chronological display
Marquee – Auto-scrolling marquee effect
Custom – Build your own layout using the Layout Builder

Which shortcodes should I use?

Use the current shortcode names:

[glowrev-feedback-form]
[glowrev-display-testimonials]
[glowrev_glowreviews_display] – Alternative display shortcode

Legacy shortcode aliases may still work for backward compatibility, but the glowrev- shortcodes are the recommended format for new usage.

What spam and validation protections are included?

GlowReviews includes:

WordPress nonce verification
Hidden honeypot fields
Form timing checks
IP-based rate limiting
Duplicate email detection
File type and file size validation
Sanitization and validation of submitted fields

Current rate limits:

3 submissions per hour per IP
10 submissions per day per IP

Does the plugin include admin documentation?

Yes. The plugin adds a documentation page in wp-admin along with display settings and testimonial management screens.

Reviews

Changelog

1.2.0

Added advanced drag-and-drop Layout Builder with preset designs
Added gallery view for browsing and selecting preset layouts
Added live preview with device switching (desktop, tablet, mobile)
Added scroll reveal animations for enhanced user experience
Added marquee layout for auto-scrolling testimonial display
Added inline SVG avatar fallback for testimonial authors
Improved custom layout rendering with template system
Added device-responsive preview in layout builder
Updated documentation with video tutorial link
Enhanced preset layout templates with modern designs

1.1.1

Added a masonry tile display for testimonials
Improved WordPress coding standards compliance
Streamlined plugin structure for better performance

1.1.0

Added Read More / Read Less toggle for testimonial text longer than 120 characters across grid, list, and slider layouts
Improved slider navigation positioning and rating display behavior
Centered testimonial text in the grid layout
Standardized plugin-facing prefixes for settings, cache groups, filters, and shortcode documentation
Improved readme, shortcode examples, and documentation to match the current plugin usage
Replaced the duplicate-email meta_query lookup with a prepared cached email lookup for smoother submissions
Improved WordPressCS and PHPCS compliance for escaping, translators comments, nonce verification, line endings, BOM handling, and naming conventions
Added duplicate email detection and customer review update flow
Added dedicated Pending Feedback admin screen with approve and reject actions
Improved frontend form validation and secure submission handling
Added honeypot fields, form timing checks, and IP-based rate limiting
Added file upload validation for allowed image types and maximum size
Improved logged-in user avatar support and testimonial image handling
Added migration helpers for older CLVO settings, post types, and admin URLs
Improved caching for testimonial queries and taxonomy term lookups
Added plugin documentation and streamlined admin settings access

1.0.0

Initial release