I Recommend This – Love/Like Button for WordPress Posts

“I Recommend This” allows your visitors to effortlessly like or recommend your posts with a single click, making it easier for them to show their appreciation without leaving a comment. Enhance your site’s engagement by providing a simple, user-friendly way for readers to interact with your content.

Features:

• Display a counter for likes/recommendations.
• Widget and shortcode to display the most liked posts.
• Choose between a “Thumbs Up” or “Heart” icon.
• Prevents multiple votes from the same user via cookies and IP address tracking.
• View and sort posts by likes in the post edit page.
• Better GDPR compliance with anonymized IPs
• Built-in query block compatibility
• Extensive action and filter hooks for developers

Advanced Options:

• Hide the counter if the count is zero.
• Customize messages for zero, one, or multiple likes.
• Disable plugin CSS for custom styling.
• Option to disable IP address saving to comply with GDPR.
• Enhanced cookie management
• IP address anonymization for stronger GDPR compliance

Shortcodes:

• [irecommendthis] – Add the voting link to any page.
• [irecommendthis_top_posts post_type='post' container='div' number='10' year='2023' monthnum='7'] – Display most recommended posts.

This plugin is based exactly on Benoit “LeBen” Burgener’s “I Like This” Plugin and has been modified after getting requests for the changes I had made on my website.

If you love the plugin, please consider rating it and clicking on “it works” button.

Example Sites Using the Plugin:

• Flat UI Design Gallery

For Developers:

This plugin is being developed on GitHub.. If you want to collaborate, please look at I Recommend This plugin on GitHub.

Translations

You can help translate this plugin into your language using your WordPress.org account.

1. Upload the Plugin Files

   • Download the i-recommend-this plugin zip file from the WordPress plugin repository.
   • Unzip the downloaded file.
   • Using an FTP client, upload the entire i-recommend-this folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory on your WordPress server.

2. Activate the Plugin

   • Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
   • Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
   • Locate I Recommend This in the list and click the Activate link.

3. Configure Plugin Settings

   • After activation, click on Settings under the I Recommend This plugin name on the plugins page or navigate to Settings > I Recommend This.
   • Configure the settings as per your requirements, including display options, text suffixes, and styles.

4. Display the Recommend/Like Button

   • By default, the recommend/like button is added to the bottom of individual posts.
   • To display the recommend/like button in a custom location, add the following code to your theme template files (e.g., single.php):

5. Use Shortcodes

   • To display the recommend/like button on any page or post, use the [irecommendthis] shortcode.
   • To display the most recommended posts, use the [irecommendthis_top_posts] shortcode with customizable attributes. Example:
     [irecommendthis_top_posts post_type=’post’ container=’div’ number=’10’ year=’2023′ monthnum=’7′]

6. Display the Most Recommended Posts

   • To display the most recommended posts in your theme templates, use the following code:
     <?php if ( function_exists( 'irecommendthis' ) ) echo do_shortcode( "[irecommendthis_top_posts container='div' post_type='post' number='10' year='2023' monthnum='7']" ); ?>

7. Add the Most Recommended Posts Widget

   • The plugin includes a widget to display the most recommended posts.
   • To add the widget:
     1. Go to Appearance > Widgets in the WordPress admin dashboard.
     2. Locate the Most Recommended Posts widget in the list of available widgets.
     3. Drag the widget to the desired widget area (e.g., sidebar, footer).
     4. Configure the widget settings, including the title, number of posts to display, and other options.
     5. Click Save to add the widget to your site.

1. 

   The settings panel where you can configure the plugin.

2. 

   Example of the like/recommend button on a post.

3. 

   Displaying the most liked posts using the widget.

4.0.1 – (10 APril 2025)

• Updated translation template (.pot) using WP-CLI
• Removed outdated .po/.mo files

4.0.0 – (19 March 2025)

• Core Improvements:

  • Completely rebuilt plugin with a modern component-based architecture
  • Changed naming from “dot_irecommendthis” to “irecommendthis” throughout
  • Consolidated settings and tools into a single, organized admin interface
  • Added multiple extension points with action and filter hooks for developers

• Privacy & Security:

  • Implemented IP anonymization using global hashing for GDPR compliance
  • Added secure cookie handling with improved security parameters
  • Enhanced nonce verification throughout all AJAX operations
  • Fixed potential SQL injection vulnerabilities
  • Added option to completely disable IP tracking

• UI & Display:

  • Added consistent div wrappers for recommendation buttons
  • Fixed layout issues with buttons in different contexts
  • Added wrapper parameter for fine-tuned layout control
  • Improved responsive design for mobile users
  • Better handling of button state changes

• JavaScript & Interactions:

  • Fixed like/unlike functionality with backward compatibility
  • Added enhanced HTML attributes for better accessibility
  • Implemented smoother button state transitions
  • Improved error handling in AJAX operations

• Block Editor Integration:

  • Improved button targeting with class-based selectors
  • Enhanced post ID detection in query loops and block contexts
  • Fixed compatibility issues with the WordPress block editor

• Performance & Optimization:

  • Added database indexes and optimized queries for faster performance
  • Implemented database optimization tools with improved error handling
  • Added hook for caching plugin integration
  • Reduced page load impact with optimized asset loading

• Developer Tools:

  • Updated shortcodes and template functions with backward compatibility
  • Added new wrapper control options for theme developers
  • Introduced 30+ new action hooks and filters for customization
  • Added comprehensive developer documentation

3.10.3 – (27 February 2025)

• Fix: Resolved issue with duplicate post IDs in query blocks
• Fix: Added context awareness to properly identify post IDs in query loops
• Enhanced: Shortcode functionality to respect post context in WordPress loops
• Added: JavaScript fallback to detect and fix incorrect IDs at runtime
• Improved: Database optimization for better performance and compatibility
• Refactored: Database management error handling
• Removed: Development-specific logging methods
• Security: Improved error handling following WordPress best practices
• Fixed: Potential security risks in database management logging
• Enhanced: Plugin stability and error notification mechanisms

3.10.2

• Fix: Template tag not outputting the recommend link

3.10.1

• Fix: Correct post ID parsing in AJAX request to ensure proper recommendation handling

3.10.0

• Security update
• Code Refactor
• Added Block

3.9.1

• Security update

3.9.0

• Added support for un-recommending/un-liking a post
• Fixed data sanitization
• Fixed data escaping

3.8.1

• Added data sanitization
• Separate & recoded widget
• Support for multiple widget instances

3.8.0

• Added data sanitization
• Made IP saving options
• Restructured plugin code

3.7.8

• Vulnerabilities fixed by DannyvanKooten

3.7.7

• Dutch Translation added by Tim de Hoog
• Added support for IPv6

3.7.6

• Fixed version number in dot-irecommendthis.php

3.7.5

• Updated Readme

3.7.4

• The template tag now accepts a POST ID, thanks to Oskar Adin.

3.7.3

• Fixed a possible SQL injection vulnerability reported by Oskar Adin and fixed by Danny van Kooten.

3.7.2

• Updated ‘dot_irecommendthis.js’ file to make the plugin work even when the like button is on a hidden element. Thanks to forthewinn. Support Ticket

3.7.1

• Spanish translation added. Thanks to Andrew Kurtis from WebHostingHub

3.7.0

• Removed wrong tags set for this plugin earlier. My sincere apologies for the extra update mess.