Today I'm going to tell you about a free plugin which adds Favorite buttons to your lists of WordPress posts, documents or custom post types. When used with our Posts Table or Document Library plugin, you can list WordPress content in a searchable table - complete with 'Add to Favorite' buttons.
- Are you creating a WordPress video gallery and want people to select their favorite videos?
- Do you have a WordPress blog and want people to choose their favorite posts?
- Perhaps you're listing events in WordPress and want people to mark the ones they'd like to attend.
Whatever your reason for needing favourite buttons on your website, you can use these instructions to add them to any list of WordPress posts, documents, or any custom post type.
You may also like: How to add favorite buttons to WooCommerce products.
How the favorite buttons work
You can use one of our table plugins to list your WordPress content in a table. Then, you can use the Favorite plugin to add Favorite buttons. Your visitors can select their favorite posts or documents and create a handy shortlist.
When a visitor comes back to your website, they will still be able to see their selections. If they're not logged in then their favorites are stored via browser session or a cookie. If they have an account on your website, then their favorites will appear even if they re-visit from a different browser or device.
How to add Favorite buttons to WordPress
- First, use Posts Table Pro or Document Library Pro to list your WordPress posts, documents or any custom post type in a table view. Set up the plugin using the instructions in the knowledge base, with these settings:
- Columns - include the 'content' column. The favorite button will appear here automatically.
- Tick the 'Shortcodes' option. This makes sure the button appears in the table correctly.
- Now go to Plugins→ Add New in the WP Dashboard.
- Search for 'Favorites' and install the plugin by Kyle Phillips.
Now check the page where you've added the table. There will be a 'Favorite' button in the content column for each post or document in the table.
You can also add favorite buttons to other locations
The instructions above tell you how to add favorite buttons to the content/description columns the table. If you'd like to add them elsewhere - for example because you don't want this column in your table - then that's fine. Simply remove the content/description column and add the following shortcode to one of the other fields that you're displaying in the table (e.g. the excerpt or a text or Visual Editor custom field).
[favorite_button]
Where to get the plugins
Use the free Favorite plugin from wordpress.org with whichever Barn2 plugin works with the type of content you're adding:
- Posts Table Pro - list pages, posts or any custom post type.
- Document Library Pro - list documents and resources.
Yarno
Can I filter on favorites in the table?
Carlo
Hi Yarno, thank you for the comment. The tables can sort based on the Favorites. But since the Favorites buttons are placed inside custom fields, they cannot be used for the dropdown filters above the tables. If you are using Document Library Pro, you can look into using FacetWP to try and filter using Favorites. FacetWP works with custom fields created by ACF. If you have further questions, you can reach us through our Support Center. Cheers.
Kimberly
Is anyone able to get this button to display on a video gallery?
Here is my shortcode:
[doc_library content="content:Watch Now,title,excerpt,doc_categories" column_breakpoints="all,all,all,none" widths="70,15,15,0"]
Carlo
Hi Kimberly, Thank you for the comment. The process and the approach would be the same no matter what type of content columns you have on your document table. If you are having trouble implementing it on your document library, please contact us through our support center. We'd be glad to help. Cheers!
Chris Rechtsteiner
Can the user have multiple views of their favorites where they set the category for the view? For example, they favorite posts and want them to be on favorite lists that are for trips or cars or sports so when they come back they can see what they've favorited in each category?
Or, would this categorization be based upon tags / categories associated with the posts / pages themselves (e.g. the post or page has a category or tag and then the favorite is another layer / filter)?
I hope that makes sense!
Chris
Edge
Hi, Chris. You can add/display/include a category filter dropdown list in either Posts Table Pro (see Posts table filters) or Document Library Pro (see Document library filters) to allow users to filter the table (i.e. show only relevant results) by selecting an item from the list. Displaying a category filter dropdown can allow users to set which category of favorited posts/documents to leave listed in the table. Please let me know if this addresses your concern. You can also send us a message via our Support Center to discuss on more detail. Thanks!
igre
Best favorites plugin!