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Since WPRichSnippets is used to serve different types of websites, our members always asking for better and different ways to display their review entries. Fortunately, we can make this possible by extending the plugin functionality via add-ons.
We had a Ranking Table add-on for a while, which has been used by several members. But it’s not supporting display of big data, so we thought to come up with a new add-on to allow displaying big data with pagination and search functionality. We’ve found DataTables jQuery to be the best for our add-on.
DataTables Add-on
The new coming DataTables add-on will allow you to:
- Display entries in a sortable table.
- Have pagenation.
- Have a search functionality.
- Have control over what elements to show.
The DataTables add-on has a shortcode to display the table with many useful parameter to give you control over what type of data to display, it will work great on the front or home page of your website, also you can dedicate special pages to list entries of different types on different data tables.
See it in action
View a live DataTable demo.
We’ve working on finalizing the new DataTables add-on to be released this week, so stay tuned.
Hi Hesham – this sounds like an extremely useful feature!
Will there be a method of adding custom fields? For example, a field to list the feature set of a product?
In my case, I am using WP Rich Snippets on a custom post type that has a few custom tag types that I created in order to display the features of a product in a table. However, it’d be great to be able to use this DataTables addon and to include WP Rich Snippets data too!
Thanks for the hard work!
Rich
Hi Rich,
There is no way to add custom fields, all displayed data are based on the review details you add to the Rich Snippets post meta.
I just think that the table should display the minimum elements as possible, so it won’t create too large page and force viewers to scroll down the page. It would be more practical if visitors can search and see results on same page.
At any how, we are always open for suggestions, and try to apply what’s possible.
Hi Hesham,
Fully understand your concerns, and thanks for considering it at least.
I really like your approach on these tables with regards to responsiveness on smaller screens, and it’s evident that has been a big consideration when creating this add-on.
That said, how hard do you think it would be for a separate plugin developer to alter the add-on for my particular use-case, if I were to employ one?
Do you think it would be feasible to have them note down their alterations so that I can follow them when/if the add-on is updated in the future?
Many thanks,
Rich
For a developer who has knowledge of WordPress; It’s not that hard to alter the add-on to do what you want.
Mostly you will have to edit one file that has the main shortcode code.
Perfect, thanks Hesham!
Hey Hesham!
Great stuff! Here’s an idea to make it even more powerful for review sites.
A) Could you add in a field for “category” and let us specify (as in type in) which category the review is for? For example, if I run a bag review site, other than making it easy for readers to sort by name, price, star and even searchable names, would be for them to sort between bag types. And if I run a WordPress plugins review site, I would like to make it easy for them to sort between reviews of backup solutions, sliders, ecommerce plugins and so on.
B) If you can let us specify extra fields on the post meta, it would then be even more powerful. Like a shoe review site would want to go beyond just categories and into stuff like material type, warranty and so on.
Appreciate your hard work! 🙂
Hi Leo,
Thanks for your suggestions.
A) Actually the add-on has parameter for category or categories you would like to grab its data from, also taxonomy and tax_term.
Also, the search form will give users instant results and list all entries that has their search keyword, which makes it very handy!
B) I’ve explained in another reply above, the main focus here is to make the table as simple as possible, so display a lot of data will take it out of its focus!
I am trying to wrap my head around the additional custom post meta, if I am going to add it to the core plugin, then it has to make sense to everyone. What I think is custom details shouldn’t be part of the core plugin, the plugin itself shouldn’t do everything.
Let’s think of WPRichSnippets as a framework or a platform that you can use to add markups to your content and extend its functionality via add-ons or custom coding.
At any way, I am hoping to make things better, I just want to make sure what I am doing is the right way!