Recently, we had to create a rotating testimonials display in WordPress for one of our clients. We did a brief search on the web, but we did not find a plugin that did what we wanted. Rather than spending a lot of time finding the right plugin, we decided to create this from scratch. In this article, we will show you how you can create a rotating testimonials area in WordPress where testimonials fade in and out automatically. You can use this technique for other uses as well such as quotes, fun facts, etc.
Note: You need to have a fair understanding of how WordPress work in order to follow this tutorial.
The approach we took was like this: Register a custom post type and call it Testimonials. We wanted to show information like: Client’s name, their position in the company, company name, and link to our portfolio page. Instead of using custom fields, we decided to add a custom meta boxes to make it easy for our client to enter the information. Last but certainly not least, add JavaScript fadeIn and fadeOut to rotate the testimonials on the same page. Obviously it is hard to show a live demo of it on this page, but if you know how fadeIn and fadeOut works, then you get the point.
Step 1: Register a Custom Post Type
We won’t go in lengthy explanation of how to create a Custom Post Type. We have already written an article about creating custom post types in WordPress. That article has a video that will explain the process. It also shows the plugin method rather than the hard code method. Now if you want to call your custom post type “Testimonials”, then all you have to do is paste the following code in your theme’s functions.php file.Step 2: Adding Custom Meta Boxes
As explained earlier, the information we wanted to display included:- Person’s Name who is giving the Testimonial
- Their position in the Company
- Company Name
- Link to the company page on our Portfolio
- Testimonial test (which will be the post body)
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If you want to add additional fields to the meta boxes, you can simply add them into the $meta_boxes = array(. If you don’t understand the code above, but still want to add additional fields, then perhaps you should consider using a plugin called More Fields (Video Tutorial).
Step 3. Displaying the Rotating Content
First thing we need to do is add the JavaScript that will rotate the content.
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Next we will create the loop that will display the testimonials. The code we used is below:
==============================================================<div id="testimonials">
<?php
$args = array( 'post_type' => 'testimonial', 'posts_per_page' => 10 );
$loop = new WP_Query( $args );
if ( $loop->have_posts() ) : while ( $loop->have_posts() ) : $loop->the_post();
$data = get_post_meta( $loop->post->ID, 'testimonial', true );
static $count = 0;
if ($count == "1") { ?>
<div class="slide" style="display: none;">
<div class="client-contact-info"><?php echo $data[ 'person-name' ]; ?>, <?php echo $data[ 'position' ]; ?>, <a href="<?php echo $data[ 'link' ]; ?>" title="<?php echo $data[ 'company' ]; ?>"><?php echo $data[ 'company' ]; ?></a></div>
<div class="clear"></div>
<div class="testimonial-quote"><?php the_content(); ?></div>
</div>
<?php }
else { ?>
<div class="slide">
<div class="client-contact-info"><?php echo $data[ 'person-name' ]; ?>, <?php echo $data[ 'position' ]; ?>, <a href="<?php echo $data[ 'link' ]; ?>" title="<?php echo $data[ 'company' ]; ?>"><?php echo $data[ 'company' ]; ?></a></div>
<div class="clear"></div>
<div class="testimonial-quote"><?php the_content(); ?></div>
</div>
<?php
$count++; }
endwhile;
endif; ?>
</div>
==============================================================A little explanation to why this loop is a bit more complicated then a normal loop. First thing we do is tell the loop that we want to pull posts from the post type “testimonial”. Next thing we tell it is that only show 10 recent testimonials. The way our JavaScript works is that we need to only show the first post. The other 9 has to be invisible, so it can fadein and fadeout.
Now once you have pasted the code above, you need to style it.
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#testimonials{}
#testimonials .slide{color: #9c968e;}
#testimonials .client-contact-info{margin: 25px 0 0 0; float: left;}
#testimonials .testimonial-quote{padding: 3px 0 0 65px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: "proxima-nova-1", "proxima-nova-2", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; margin: 10px 0 20px 0;}
==============================================================Client Name, Their Position in the Company, Company Name (hyperlinked)
Testimonial Text
Example:
Syed Balkhi, Founder, WPBeginner
This quote this is pretty cool.
Few things to note in the tutorial, if you do add additional fields, you will have to add it to the loop. You can change the styling however you want.
Because this thing is very specific, we thought it was not worth releasing a plugin for it. However, if you are looking to do the exact same thing we did, and want to have the exact same display that we have, then you are in luck.
Simply create a new file and call it testimonials.php and save it in your plugin’s folder (/wp-content/plugins/). Then paste the following code in there:
==============================================================
<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Rotating Testimonials
Version: 0.1
Plugin URI: http://www.wpbeginner.com/
Description: Rotating Testimonials is a plugin that lets you add rotating testimonials in WordPress
Author: WPBeginner
Author URI: http://www.wpbeginner.com/
*/
add_action( 'init', 'wpb_register_cpt_testimonial' );
function wpb_register_cpt_testimonial() {
$labels = array(
'name' => _x( 'Testimonials', 'testimonial' ),
'singular_name' => _x( 'testimonial', 'testimonial' ),
'add_new' => _x( 'Add New', 'testimonial' ),
'add_new_item' => _x( 'Add New testimonial', 'testimonial' ),
'edit_item' => _x( 'Edit testimonial', 'testimonial' ),
'new_item' => _x( 'New testimonial', 'testimonial' ),
'view_item' => _x( 'View testimonial', 'testimonial' ),
'search_items' => _x( 'Search Testimonials', 'testimonial' ),
'not_found' => _x( 'No testimonials found', 'testimonial' ),
'not_found_in_trash' => _x( 'No testimonials found in Trash', 'testimonial' ),
'parent_item_colon' => _x( 'Parent testimonial:', 'testimonial' ),
'menu_name' => _x( 'Testimonials', 'testimonial' ),
);
$args = array(
'labels' => $labels,
'hierarchical' => false,
'supports' => array( 'title', 'editor', 'excerpt', 'author', 'thumbnail', 'custom-fields', 'revisions' ),
'public' => true,
'show_ui' => true,
'show_in_menu' => true,
'show_in_nav_menus' => true,
'publicly_queryable' => true,
'exclude_from_search' => false,
'has_archive' => true,
'query_var' => true,
'can_export' => true,
'rewrite' => true,
'capability_type' => 'post'
);
register_post_type( 'testimonial', $args );
}
$key = "testimonial";
$meta_boxes = array(
"person-name" => array(
"name" => "person-name",
"title" => "Person's Name",
"description" => "Enter the name of the person who gave you the testimonial."),
"position" => array(
"name" => "position",
"title" => "Position in Company",
"description" => "Enter their position in their specific company."),
"company" => array(
"name" => "company",
"title" => "Company Name",
"description" => "Enter the client Company Name"),
"link" => array(
"name" => "link",
"title" => "Client Link",
"description" => "Enter the link to client's site, or you can enter the link to your portfolio page where you have the client displayed.")
);
function wpb_create_meta_box() {
global $key;
if( function_exists( 'add_meta_box' ) ) {
add_meta_box( 'new-meta-boxes', ucfirst( $key ) . ' Information', 'display_meta_box', 'testimonial', 'normal', 'high' );
}
}
function display_meta_box() {
global $post, $meta_boxes, $key;
?>
<div class="form-wrap">
<?php
wp_nonce_field( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ), $key . '_wpnonce', false, true );
foreach($meta_boxes as $meta_box) {
$data = get_post_meta($post->ID, $key, true);
?>
<div class="form-field form-required">
<label for="<?php echo $meta_box[ 'name' ]; ?>"><?php echo $meta_box[ 'title' ]; ?></label>
<input type="text" name="<?php echo $meta_box[ 'name' ]; ?>" value="<?php echo htmlspecialchars( $data[ $meta_box[ 'name' ] ] ); ?>" />
<p><?php echo $meta_box[ 'description' ]; ?></p>
</div>
<?php } ?>
</div>
<?php
}
function wpb_save_meta_box( $post_id ) {
global $post, $meta_boxes, $key;
foreach( $meta_boxes as $meta_box ) {
$data[ $meta_box[ 'name' ] ] = $_POST[ $meta_box[ 'name' ] ];
}
if ( !wp_verify_nonce( $_POST[ $key . '_wpnonce' ], plugin_basename(__FILE__) ) )
return $post_id;
if ( !current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post_id ))
return $post_id;
update_post_meta( $post_id, $key, $data );
}
add_action( 'admin_menu', 'wpb_create_meta_box' );
add_action( 'save_post', 'wpb_save_meta_box' );
function wpb_display_testimonials() { ?>
<script language="javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
$('#testimonials .slide');
setInterval(function(){
$('#testimonials .slide').filter(':visible').fadeOut(1000,function(){
if($(this).next('.slide').size()){
$(this).next().fadeIn(1000);
}
else{
$('#testimonials .slide').eq(0).fadeIn(1000);
}
});
},15000);
});
</script>
<style type="text/css">
#testimonials .slide{color: #9c968e;}
#testimonials .client-contact-info{margin: 25px 0 0 0; float: left;}
#testimonials .testimonial-quote{background: url(images/quotebg.png) repeat-y; padding: 3px 0 0 65px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: "proxima-nova-1", "proxima-nova-2", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; margin: 10px 0 20px 0;}
</style>
<div id="testimonials">
<?php
$args = array( 'post_type' => 'testimonial', 'posts_per_page' => 100, 'orderby' => 'menu_order', 'order' => 'ASC' );
$loop = new WP_Query( $args );
if ( $loop->have_posts() ) : while ( $loop->have_posts() ) : $loop->the_post();
$data = get_post_meta( $loop->post->ID, 'testimonial', true );
static $count = 0;
if ($count == "1") { ?>
<div class="slide" style="display: none;">
<div class="client-contact-info"><?php echo $data[ 'person-name' ]; ?>, <?php echo $data[ 'position' ]; ?>, <a href="<?php echo $data[ 'link' ]; ?>" title="<?php echo $data[ 'company' ]; ?>"><?php echo $data[ 'company' ]; ?></a></div>
<div class="clear"></div>
<div class="testimonial-quote"><?php the_content(); ?></div>
</div>
<?php }
else { ?>
<div class="slide">
<div class="client-contact-info"><?php echo $data[ 'person-name' ]; ?>, <?php echo $data[ 'position' ]; ?>, <a href="<?php echo $data[ 'link' ]; ?>" title="<?php echo $data[ 'company' ]; ?>"><?php echo $data[ 'company' ]; ?></a></div>
<div class="clear"></div>
<div class="testimonial-quote"><?php the_content(); ?></div>
</div>
<?php
$count++; }
endwhile;
endif;
echo '</div>';
}
?>
==============================================================
==============================================================
<?php wpb_display_testimonials(); ?>
==============================================================
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