=== WP ULike - Turn Visitors into Engaged Fans ===
Contributors: alimir
Donate link: https://wpulike.com/?utm_source=wp-repo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=readme
Author: TechnoWich
Tags: marketing, analytics, feedback, engagement, like
Requires PHP: 7.2.5
Requires at least: 6.0
Tested up to: 6.9
Stable tag: 4.8.2
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Add Like buttons to your content and discover what your audience loves with real-time analytics. Turn visitors into engaged fans.

== Description ==

**Turn Visitors into Engaged Fans!**

We built WP ULike because we know how frustrating it can be when visitors browse your site but don't engage. You create amazing content, but how do you know what resonates? That's where we come in.

WP ULike helps you understand your audience by making engagement effortless. With one simple click, visitors can show their appreciation, and you get valuable insights into what content drives real engagement. It's not just about likes—it's about building a community that tells you what they want more of. (Want Dislike buttons too? That's available in Pro!)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxQto2Yj_yc]

**Who Is This For?**

Whether you're running a blog, an online store, a community forum, or a content site, WP ULike helps you:

* **Content Creators & Bloggers** – Discover which posts your readers love most and create more of what works
* **WooCommerce Store Owners** – See which products get the most appreciation and understand customer preferences
* **Community Managers** – Track engagement across BuddyPress activities and bbPress topics to foster better discussions
* **Business Owners** – Get instant feedback on your content without waiting for comments or complex surveys
* **Marketers** – Make data-driven decisions about your content strategy with real engagement metrics

**What Problems Does WP ULike Solve?**

We've talked to thousands of website owners, and here are the challenges we help you overcome:

**Low User Engagement** – Visitors can quickly show appreciation with one click, increasing interaction and time spent on your site. No barriers, no friction—just instant engagement.

**No Content Insights** – Track which content performs best with detailed statistics and analytics. Stop guessing what works and start knowing what your audience loves.

**Limited User Feedback** – Get instant feedback from your audience without requiring comments or complex forms. Sometimes a simple like says everything.

**Slow Website Performance** – Built with vanilla JavaScript (no jQuery), optimized for speed and fully compatible with caching plugins. Your site stays fast, your users stay happy.

**Privacy Concerns** – GDPR compliant with IP anonymization. No personal data stored, respecting user privacy while still providing valuable insights.

**Content Type Limitations** – Works seamlessly with posts, comments, WooCommerce products, BuddyPress activities, bbPress topics, and more. One plugin, unlimited possibilities.

**Everything You Need to Succeed (Free Version)**

The free version of WP ULike gives you everything you need to start building engagement today. We believe in providing real value, not just a teaser:

✨ **Like Buttons** – Add Like buttons to posts, comments, WooCommerce products, BuddyPress activities, and bbPress topics. Your visitors can engage with any content type you have.

📊 **Real-Time Statistics Dashboard** – Track engagement with detailed analytics and see your most popular content. Know what's working and what's not, in real-time.

🎨 **Customizable Templates** – Multiple button styles to match your website design perfectly. Make it yours without writing a single line of code.

⚡ **Fast & Lightweight** – Vanilla JavaScript (no jQuery), optimized for speed and performance. Your site stays fast, your users stay engaged.

🔒 **GDPR Ready** – IP anonymization, no personal data stored. We respect privacy because we know it matters to you and your visitors.

📱 **Full RTL Support** – Complete right-to-left language support for Arabic, Hebrew, and other RTL languages. Everyone deserves a great experience.

🔌 **Seamless Integrations** – Works beautifully with WooCommerce, BuddyPress, bbPress, Elementor, myCRED, and more. It just works, no matter your setup.

🎯 **Zero Configuration** – No coding required, works out of the box. Install, activate, and start engaging your audience in seconds.

📈 **Auto Display & Shortcodes** – Automatically adds buttons to your content, or use shortcodes for manual placement. You're in complete control.

**Why 80,000+ Websites Trust WP ULike**

We're not just another plugin—we're a team that cares about your success:

* **We Listen** – Every feature we build comes from real user feedback. Your challenges become our priorities.
* **We Perform** – Built for speed, tested with all major caching plugins. Your site's performance is our performance.
* **We Protect** – Security and privacy aren't afterthoughts—they're built into everything we do.
* **We Improve** – Regular updates with new features and improvements. We're always making it better.

**WP ULike Pro – When You're Ready to Go Further**

The free version gives you everything you need to build engagement and understand your audience. It's complete, powerful, and ready to use right now.

When you're ready to take your engagement to the next level, WP ULike Pro extends your capabilities with professional-grade features designed for growing businesses and serious content creators:

👍 **Dislike Buttons** – Add Dislike buttons alongside Like buttons to get more nuanced feedback from your audience. Understand what content doesn't resonate, not just what does.

🚀 **Advanced Analytics** – Deep insights with filters, date ranges, and exportable reports. Make data-driven decisions with confidence.

🎨 **Premium Templates** – 25+ professionally designed button styles. Stand out with beautiful, unique designs.

👤 **User Profiles** – Personalized profiles showing user likes and activity. Build a community around engagement.

🔑 **Login/Registration Forms** – Beautiful, AJAX-powered forms with social login. Turn engaged visitors into registered members.

📢 **Social Sharing** – One-click sharing to boost your content reach. Let your engaged audience become your marketing team.

⚡ **SEO Schema** – Structured data to improve search rankings. Get found by more people who love your content.

📡 **REST API** – Full API access for custom integrations. Build exactly what you need.

🎯 **Elementor Widgets** – Drag-and-drop widgets for Elementor page builder. Design engagement into your pages.

Think of Pro as your growth partner—when you're ready to scale, we're ready to help.

[See the full comparison](https://wpulike.com/?utm_source=wp-repo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=readme) | [View Templates](https://wpulike.com/templates/?utm_source=wp-repo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=readme) | [Documentation](https://docs.wpulike.com/?utm_source=wp-repo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=readme)

== Installation ==

Getting started with WP ULike is quick and easy. Here's what you need to know:

= Minimum Requirements =

To run WP ULike smoothly, your site needs:
* WordPress 6.0 or greater
* PHP version 7.2 or greater
* MySQL version 5.0 or greater

= Recommended Requirements =

For the best experience and performance, we recommend:
* PHP version 8.1 or greater (faster and more secure)
* MySQL version 5.6 or greater
* WordPress Memory limit of 64 MB or greater (128 MB or higher preferred for busy sites)

= Installation =

Installing WP ULike takes just a couple of minutes:

1. **Via WordPress Admin** (Easiest): Go to Plugins → Add New, search for "WP ULike", and click Install Now. Then click Activate.

2. **Manual Installation**: Download the plugin, unzip it, and upload the folder to your `wp-content/plugins/` directory. Then activate it through the Plugins menu in WordPress.

That's it! Once activated, WP ULike will automatically start working. The buttons will appear on your posts, and you can customize everything from the settings panel.

**Need Help?** We've got you covered. Visit our [Knowledge Base](https://docs.wpulike.com/?utm_source=wp-repo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=readme) for detailed guides, or reach out to our support team if you run into any issues. We're here to help!

== Screenshots ==

1. **Like Button Templates** – Choose from multiple beautiful button templates that match your site's design. Customize colors, styles, and text to make engagement buttons that feel native to your brand.

2. **Metrics Dashboard (Stats Panel)** – See your engagement at a glance with a powerful analytics dashboard. Track voting statistics, engagement trends, and understand what content resonates with your audience.

3. **Top Trends & Insights (Stats Panel)** – Discover your top-performing content with visual breakdowns and engagement insights. Make data-driven decisions about what to create next.

4. **Engagement Logs (Stats Panel)** – Keep track of every interaction with comprehensive logs. See who's engaging, when they're engaging, and what they're engaging with.

5. **Elementor Widgets** – Drag and drop engagement widgets directly into your Elementor pages. Build beautiful, engaging pages without touching code.

6. **Customizer Panel** – Fine-tune every aspect of your voting buttons with flexible customization options. Make it yours, your way.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Do visitors need to register or login to like content? =
Not at all! We designed WP ULike to remove barriers to engagement. Visitors can like content immediately without any registration or login required. This means more engagement, more insights, and happier visitors. Of course, if you prefer to require login (maybe you want to build a registered community), you can easily enable that option in the settings. The choice is yours.

= Does WP ULike work with any theme? =
Yes! We built WP ULike to work seamlessly with any WordPress theme that follows coding standards. The buttons automatically adapt to your theme's styling, so they'll look great whether you're using a free theme from the repository or a premium theme from your favorite developer. If you ever notice any styling issues, just let us know—we're here to help.

= Is WP ULike compatible with other plugins? =
Absolutely! We know you're probably using other plugins, and we made sure WP ULike plays nicely with the most popular ones. It integrates seamlessly with Elementor, BuddyPress, bbPress, WooCommerce, GamiPress, myCRED, and most caching plugins. If you're using something we haven't tested yet and run into any issues, please reach out. We love making things work together.

= Does WP ULike work with caching plugins? =
Yes, and this was really important to us! We built WP ULike to be fully compatible with all major caching plugins including WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, and others. Your site's performance matters, so we optimized the plugin to work perfectly with cached content. You get engagement features without sacrificing speed.

= Can I customize the button appearance? =
Of course! We want you to make it yours. WP ULike offers multiple built-in templates and styles, and you can customize colors, button text, and styling through the settings panel—no coding required. If you want to go further, you can use custom CSS to match your exact brand. And if you're looking for professionally designed, unique button styles, the Pro version includes 25+ premium templates that are ready to use.

= What's the difference between WP ULike Free and Pro? =
Great question! The free version is complete and powerful—it includes everything you need: Like buttons, a real-time statistics dashboard, customizable templates, auto-display, shortcodes, and full plugin integrations. You can build engagement and understand your audience with the free version, no limitations.

WP ULike Pro is for when you're ready to take things further. It adds professional features like advanced analytics with filters and date ranges, premium templates, user profiles, login/registration forms, social sharing, SEO schema, and REST API access. Think of it this way: Free gets you everything you need to succeed. Pro helps you scale and grow even faster.

= Can I use WP ULike on a multisite setup? =
Yes! WP ULike works perfectly across WordPress multisite networks. Each site in your network can have its own settings and statistics, so you can manage engagement across all your sites while keeping everything organized. Perfect for agencies, networks, or anyone managing multiple WordPress sites.

= Is WP ULike secure? =
Security is our top priority, and we take it seriously. WP ULike is developed by TechnoWich following WordPress security best practices and coding standards. We regularly audit our code, stay updated with security best practices, and respond quickly to any security concerns. With over 80,000 active installations and a high WordPress.org rating, you can trust that your site and your visitors' data are in good hands.

== Changelog ==

= 4.8.2 =
* Improved: Fixed memory leaks and optimized JavaScript performance.
* Fixed: Various minor bug fixes and improvements.

= 4.8.1 =
* Improved: Refactored codebase for better maintainability and improved user experience.
* Improved: Updated translation files for multiple languages.
* Fixed: Various minor bug fixes and improvements.

= 4.8.0 =
* Improved: Removed jQuery dependency from front-end scripts. All JavaScript functionality has been rewritten in vanilla JavaScript for better performance, reduced file size, and faster page load times.
* Improved: Admin panel settings descriptions for better clarity and user understanding.
* Improved: Updated translation files for multiple languages.
* Fixed: Tooltip syncing and sibling element issues.
* Fixed: Various styling improvements and bug fixes.

= 4.7.11 =
* Improved: Admin panel settings descriptions for better clarity.
* Improved: Removed several outdated admin functions.
* Fixed: Correct MySQL time format is now used when inserting or updating datetime values in the database.
* Fixed: Various minor bug fixes and stability improvements.

= 4.7.10 =
* Improved: Added additional fingerprint + cookie presence check for 'cookie' & 'no limit' logging methods to further reduce the chance of automated/bot submissions without valid cookies. This was not a security vulnerability, but a preventive hardening measure to improve vote integrity.

= 4.7.9.1 =
Fixed: Critical HTML sanitization issue.

= 4.7.9 =
* Added: Global engagement insights with world map and device type charts in the stats panel. [PRO]
* Added: New action hooks to enhance data insertion and updates.
* Improved: Internationalization (i18n) support for more accurate translations.
* Improved: Optimized stats panel codebase for better performance and efficiency.
* Fixed: Addressed a security vulnerability by implementing a sanitization method.
* Fixed: Resolved various minor issues and applied performance enhancements.

= 4.7.8 =
* Improved: UI enhancements in the Stats Panel.
* Fixed: Various small issues and optimizations.

= 4.7.7 =
* Added: Support for NitroPack cache plugin to enhance caching capabilities.
* Fixed: Improved compatibility with the FlyingPress plugin.
* Fixed: Resolved several minor issues for smoother functionality.

= 4.7.6 =
* Improved: WPML compatibility to better handle multilingual setups.
* Fixed: Addressed several minor bugs to improve overall stability.

= 4.7.5 =
* Improved: Enhanced functionalities of the stats panel for better performance.
* Improved: Addressed remaining security issues by properly escaping values.
* Fixed: Resolved several minor bugs.

= 4.7.4 =
* Added: Added email verification support for newly registered users. [PRO]
* Improved: Enhanced stats panel datepicker with a modern, stylish design, including support for preset date ranges. [PRO]
* Improved: Optimized select fields for better compatibility with dark mode.
* Improved: Improved sorting functionality on the logs page.
* Fixed: Addressed several minor bugs and performance issues.

= 4.7.3 =
* Added: Dark mode support on the stats panel for a more comfortable viewing experience.
* Added: New overview data sections to show monthly & daily performance, including CAGR calculations for more detailed trend analysis. [PRO]
* Added: User roles engagement displayed through pie charts, offering insights into user interactions. [PRO]
* Added: Option to download charts in CSV, PNG, or SVG formats, making it easier to export and share data. [PRO]
* Improved: Replaced the stats charts library with a lighter and faster alternative, improving load times and performance.
* Improved: General improvements in the stats code for better reliability and accuracy.
* Fixed: Resolved all ESLint issues for cleaner code.

= 4.7.2.1 =
* Fixed: Resolved a minor bug in the stats panel that caused incorrect data display under certain conditions.

= 4.7.2 =
* Added: Launched an advanced, React-based statistics panel.
* Improved: Removed deprecated menus and scripts.
* Improved: Enhanced SQL queries for date ranges.
* Fixed: Addressed various minor bugs.

= 4.7.1 =
* Added   : Compatibility with WordPress 6.5 for seamless integration.
* Updated : Minimum PHP version requirement increased to 7.2 and WordPress to version 6.0.
* Improved: Comprehensive security enhancement with sanitization and escaping across all methods.
* Improved: Optimized queries for better performance.
* Removed : Deprecated class contents for cleaner code.
* Replaced: Some PHP methods with standard WordPress ones for better compatibility.
* Enhanced: Admin logs pagination functionality for improved usability.
* Fixed   : Minor bug fixes for a smoother experience.

= 4.7.0 =
* Fixed   : security vulnerabilities by implementing proper sanitization and escaping methods throughout the plugin codebase.
* Improved: overall performance and reliability by optimizing SQL queries and utilizing WordPress API functions where applicable.
* Updated : setting panel to enhance user experience and provide better customization options.

== Upgrade Notice ==

= 4.5.3 =
Important: If page cache is enabled on your site, clear the cache immediately after updating.