Use RSS Feeds To Post Reviews To WordPress

This is a modified version of the TripAdvisor plugin. The modifications allow you to use any RSS feed, all you need is a URL.

[su_highlight]If your RSS feed has stopped working or is blocked, like it is for TripAdvisor, then you will need to create a new one this can be done by using a service like Feed43. I have written detailed instructions on how to make a RSS feed using Feed43 from your TripAdvisor reviews.[/su_highlight]

 

Click to download the WordPress plugin rss-reviews.

Or download it from GitHub.

You will need a RSS feed URL:

http://feed43.com/1150266473658368.xml

The plugin will create a widget which has three fields Title, RSS Feed URL, and Number of Reviews to display.

rss reviews widget

The plugin also uses a short code to display the reviews on any page or post:

[rssreviews id="http://feed43.com/1150266473658368.xml"][/rssreviews]

rss reviews Plugin Sidebar and short code

You can view a working version of this plugin on Poas Volcano.

This plugin has worked on every theme that I have tested, if you use it and notice any bugs please leave a comment here so that I can look into it.

Many thanks to Juan, for introducing me to Feed43!

Fixes:
1.2.0 – Content can be displayed above reviews in posts and pages.

25 Replies to “Use RSS Feeds To Post Reviews To WordPress”

      1. I don’t know if this is helpful, but here’s my little suggestion to display only the “good” reviews. You can edit the init.php file on line 107 and replace the code inside the foreach loop with this:


        $string = $item->get_description();
        $search_five = '5 su 5 stelle';
        $five_reviews = strpos($string, $search_five);
        $search_four = '4 su 5 stelle';
        $four_reviews = strpos($string, $search_four);
        if ($five_reviews !== false || $four_reviews !== false ) {
        echo ''.$string.'';

  1. Hi Greg

    Great tutorial but I have noticed that it doesn’t provide the reviews with structure data (schema.org)

    That will be a brilliant addition to boost SEO.
    Just a small tip

    1. Hi Carlos,

      Yes, but I believe feed43 will only pull in a maximum of 5 reviews. This might change if you use their premium service.

      1. Hi Greg,
        I would like to show only two reviews. Rss reviews widget allows to edit amount of reviews to show, but I’m using rss reviews shortcode and didn’t find any documentation at all about edit shortcode in order to show the amount of reviews I want.
        Thanks!

  2. Unfortunately this method does not work well with long reviews as feed43 simply inserts the TripAdvisor ‘more’ link inside a span.

    1. Hi Ben,

      Yes Fee43 has it’s limitations, I believe you may be able to have a longer feed on their premium service. I have another version that I would like to try, but so far I haven’t had the time to work on it.

      1. Any progress or ideas regarding this? I am on Feed43’s premium service (VPS Plan), but it cuts the reviews off with the word More (that isn’t even linkable), so this is not good…

      2. Ok, I’ve updated the output template per your instructions, but it still just shows “More” which is not clickable…

      3. Thanks for redoing the feed Tyler. I can see what the issue is now, the “More” link on tripadvisor is not actually a link it’s inline JS, which is why it will not link back to the review. The title of the review has a link back to the review,

        {%2}

        . You might be able to add the link from the title to the more link by using a custom extraction rule in feed43 or write some custom JS to add the link in the title to the word more.

  3. I am getting “Feed not available”. Although the rss link is working perfectly when I load it on my browser. Does this work on localhost?

  4. Hi Greg,

    Thanks for trying to fulfill this need!

    I’ve followed your advice, and created a Feed43 feed, which looks decent. However, when I put it in your widget plug-in, itdoes not look right. Please advise.

    Thanks.

    1. Hi Tyler,

      Looks like some of your themes css is overriding the plugins css: .block-type-widget-area li.widget ul.rslides{list-style: none;} should stop the disc from showing. Also, looks like you’re using the widget in the body of the site which might change the way it looks as well.

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