One of the worst things that can happen to any website owner is to be on the wrong side of the law.
If your website doesn’t comply with laws designed to protect the rights of consumers, you’re breaking the law.
Being non-compliant not only puts you at risk of incurring significant financial loss, but also the loss of your reputation. Why risk your money and reputation, when you can protect yourself so easily and inexpensively?
In this post, we look at a simple and easy-to-use WordPress solution that can help make your site legally compliant in minutes.
Does Your Website Or Blog Comply With All Legal Requirements?
As the cybersphere continues growing at an extraordinary rate and the rules of the game keep changing, it’s vitally important that you stay on top of what’s happening and to make sure that your website remains compliant, especially if your online presence is an integral part of your business strategy.
Without legal pages on your web site (e.g. terms of service, privacy policy, legal disclaimers, etc.), many third-party sites like Google won’t let you advertise, digital marketplaces like ClickBank won’t let you list your digital products on their network, PayPal may shut down your account and withhold payment of your funds, Facebook will suspend your web applications, and you will not be allowed into a range of advertising and affiliate merchant networks.
If your online business is not in compliance, you could end up facing a number of penalties, including fines, having your website shut down, even jail time!
At the very least, without making it very clear to your visitors that your site complies with all legal requirements and regulations, expect visitor trust and confidence in your business to be seriously damaged.
(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, almost all 3rd-party services require you to comply with their terms of use!)
Legal Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we offer no legal advice on our website.
The purpose of this article is to make you aware that:
- Your website could be subject to numerous legal requirements in accordance with federal, state or local laws and regulations that govern your business (some of which you may not even be aware of),
- How important it is to maintain compliance with the terms of service of third-party providers whose products or services you are offering or using on your website, and
- There are easy-to-use solutions that can help your site become more compliant, such as the tool that we discuss in this post.
If you suspect that your web site falls short in aspects of compliance, we discuss below a simple plugin for WordPress-powered websites and blogs that you should know more about.
Let’s Review …
Compliance Bar – WordPress Compliance Plugin
Plugin Description
Compliance Bar is a simple and easy-to-install plugin for WordPress users that includes over twenty customizable compliance disclaimer templates for your digital business …
More info: Compliance Bar Plugin
Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Compliance Bar to instantly make your website compliant:
Quick And Easy To Install And Set Up. Ready To Go To Work In Very Little Time.
Compliance Bar installs like every plugin. Just upload a zip file containing the plugin to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin user area and activate.
Templates Are Really Easy To Edit
You can easily edit the pre-built legal page templates inside the plugin from the settings menu with the WYSIWYG content editor.
24/7 Plugin Support
Compliance Bar provides a dedicated plugin support team to help users with anything they need.
Additional benefits of using this plugin include the following:
- Customized Compliance Pages: Compliance Bar will create your legal pages in seconds and customizes them to your business and website.
- Video Training Library: Compliance Bar is not complicated to use and an entire library of training videos is available if you need assistance.
- Use Anywhere In The World: As long as you consult someone who is qualified to give you legal advice to make sure that the built-in templates provided with the plugin are suitable and satisfactory for your business, country and website, you can use the plugin anywhere in the world.
- Can Be Used On All WordPress Sites: If your site runs on WordPress, you can use the plugin for all kinds of websites. Select only the types of disclaimers which suit your specific business model (e.g. affiliate or CPA marketing, services, AdSense, AdWords, adult, medical, etc) and leave out those that you don’t require.
Compliance Bar Plugin Features
Compliance Bar Plugin offers many great features to website owners. Here are just a few of these:
- Quick and simple to install and implement. Be up and running in minutes.
- Display Attractive Icon Bar – Compliance Bar will display links to your compliance pages in the form of attractive icons that can be positioned on different locations in your page. You can also upload icons of your choice.
- Show Sensitive Information – If you plan to show content that may be restricted to certain age groups (e.g. content related to alcohol, tobacco, adult content, etc.), the plugin can display pop-ups that require users to accept your website’s terms and disclaimers.
- EU Cookie Compliance – If your business is based in Europe or display your content to visitors in the EU, you need to be aware of EU compliance requirements. The plugin displays an attractive bar notifying visitors and covering you from non-compliance.
- Records & Stores IP Acceptance – Compliance Bar can record the IP address of your visitors for future reference, just in case someone accepts your terms or disclaimers and then claims otherwise.
- Shortcodes – The plugin is integrated with shortcodes to populate templates with your personal information. These shortcodes also allow you to place information anywhere on your site, (even in the popups).
- Compatible With Mobile Devices – Compliance Bar has settings for displaying on mobile devices and displays mobile optimized icons automatically based on the mobile browser being used.
Using Compliance Bar Plugin
Once you have installed the plugin, you will get access to a section where the plugin’s settings can be configured.
Let’s review these settings briefly …
User Profile
There are a number of default fields in this area where your business information can be input (e.g. “Business Name,” “Support Email,” “Company Phone Number,” “Company Registration Number,” etc.). Not all categories are required, but some are (e.g. “Business Name,” “Company Address,” etc.)
(Compliance Bar User Profile Screen – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
The plugin uses shortcodes to populate and display the information from your User Profile fields into your page templates …
(Compliance Bar Plugin User Profile Page: Shortcodes – Image source: plugin documentation)
Once the minimum required information has been entered into the user profile fields, you can then access the other sections of the plugin.
Compliance Pages
The “Compliance Pages” section contains all of your legal pages …
(Compliance Bar Plugin: Compliance Templates – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
When we last checked the Compliance Bar plugin website, there were over 22 compliance templates available for complying with online business laws and regulations:
- About Us
- AdSense Disclaimer
- Affiliate Agreements
- Affiliate Disclosure Statement
- Amazon Affiliate Disclaimer
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Contact Us
- Copyright/DCMA Notice
- Disclaimer
- Double Dart Cookies
- Earnings Disclaimer
- External Links Policy
- FTC Statement
- Legal Disclaimer
- Linking Policy
- Medical Disclaimer
- Privacy Policy
- Returns/Refund Policy
- Support
- Terms
- Terms & Conditions
- Testimonial Disclosure
- Adult Content Disclosure
Creating compliance pages for your blog or website can be easily done. Just select the checkboxes next to the pages you want to create and click ”Save” on the “Create Pages” area …
(Compliance Bar Plugin: Compliance Page Templates – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Your legal pages will then be created and added to your “Pages” section.
Compliance Bar Icons
The plugin is installed with a default set of attractive icons for referencing your legal pages …
Icons can be changed. You can purchase additional icons from the plugin developer, or create/upload your own to match the style of your site’s design …
(Compliance Bar: Legal Page Template Icons – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Edit / Delete Compliance Pages
You can easily edit and delete your compliance disclaimers in the “Compliance Pages” screen, just like any typical page in WordPress …
(Compliance Bar Plugin: Edit Compliance Pages – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Notes
- Editing the compliance pages is recommended, as the pages contain generic content.
- The plugin will notify you if it detects existing similar pages on your site (e.g. pages created before you installed the plugin).
Compliance Bar
You have many options to customize the Compliance Bar, including where to position the bar, displaying links or icon images, background colors and images, icon size, selecting which pages to include an icon for in the Compliance Bar, whether or not to display the Compliance bar on your front page, which pages the Compliance Bar will display in, mobile settings, etc. …
(Compliance Bar Screen: Create Bar – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Notes:
- You can create more than one Compliance Bar to show different disclaimers on different pages, or to cover various uses in different areas of your website.
- The plugin lets you display the Compliance Bar on the front page of your website, even if you are using a specific WordPress theme framework (e.g. Genesis, Thesis or WooThemes), where the home page is specifically configured through the theme itself as a built-in template, and not as a normal “static” WordPress page.
- Due to the smaller size of mobile device screens, you can only select up to a certain number of page icons to display if you turn Mobile Settings “on.”
Once you have specified your Compliance Bar settings, it displays links to your compliance pages using dynamic icon bar on your site …
You have complete control over the location on your pages where you would like your compliance bar to appear …
PopUps
If your site includes content that may be restricted to certain age groups (e.g. information related to alcohol, tobacco, adult-related, etc.), you can display pop-ups that require users to accept your terms and disclaimers.
The “Create Pop Up” section gives you complete control over the settings and wordings of your pop ups …
(Pop Ups Screen: Create Pop Up – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
You can create multiple Pop Ups for different pages, or to cover various uses in other sections of your site …
You can also specify a delay time if you don’t want a Pop Up to display immediately, set a cookie duration to prevent Pop Ups from displaying again within a specific time interval, and store the IP addresses of visitors who accept your terms and disclaimers for future reference …
(Pop Ups Section: IP Log Details – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
EU Cookies
If your business is based in the EU or display your content to visitors in the EU, you need to make users aware of your user cookies and notify them of how you use them …
Compliance Bar lets you edit the settings for compliance with EU User Cookies requirements, including the wording of your notification message and link text in the “EU Cookies” tab …
(EU Cookies Section: Manage Settings – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Compliance Bar has a non-intrusive way of notifying your visitors and covering you from non-compliance.
Page Templates
The “Page Templates” section, lists all of your legal disclaimers and shortcodes, and lets you modify the page content …
General Settings
The “General Settings” tab, gives you access to general information, such as promoting and sharing the plugin and receiving plugin updates …
User Feedback
Below are a few of the testimonials customers have written about Compliance Bar Plugin:
”WOW” Shon Chris – Director (JV Peer Group)
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”You wouldn’t drive a car around without insurance…so don’t RISK your online business by neglecting a simple, but important detail: website compliance. Grab your copy of Compliance Bar & protect yourself today!” Mike Thomas (The Mike From Maine Show)
Compliance Bar Plugin Tips
Below are some useful ways you can use Compliance Bar:
- Protect against content theft by spelling out your website’s terms of use.
- Displaying compliance icons only on specific pages.
- End refund disputes by clearly spelling out the refund terms before customers purchase.
- If your site contains content for adults only, you can force visitors to click to confirm that they are of legal age to access your content.
Plugin Support
Compliance Bar provides users with dedicated 24/7 plugin support to assist users if they experience any difficulties. You also have access to an entire library of training videos.
Additionally, your purchase is backed by a risk-free, thirty day, 200% refund guarantee. If your version of Compliance Bar does not work within 30 days of purchase and it cannot be fixed within 48 hrs (Monday to Friday), your cost of purchase will be refunded in double.
Software Pricing
- Single User License – Can be installed on a single site. Cost = $37 (Normally $127)
- Business License Edition – Install the plugin on up to 25 domains that you own. Price = $67.00 (Normally $197).
- Developer Edition – Can be installed on multiple domains that you own. Install the plugin on all client sites as part of a paid service. Price = $97.00.
Note: The price of this product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. The pricing shown above was current at the time this article was written. This may or may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin developer when you visit the website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details: Compliance Bar Plugin
Compliance Bar – Additional Information
Legal Page Templates Reviewed By Lawyers – The plugin developers claim on their website that all legal templates have been reviewed and approved by a lawyer. Nonetheless, we strongly recommend that you get legal advice from a qualified legal expert in your area to ensure that your site is fully compliant.
For ”how to” videos of the plugin in action, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Compliance Bar website.
Get This Plugin
Compliance Bar is an easy-to-use, simple and cost-effective solution for WordPress websites and blogs. We recommend installing this plugin for WordPress users if you want immediate peace of mind and legal protection.
To learn more, visit the plugin website here: Compliance Bar – Compliance Bar – Compliance Plugin For WordPress
Legal Disclaimer: Once again, we are not lawyers and we cannot offer legal advice on this website. Do your own due diligence and consult a legal expert about the best way to ensure that your website is compliant with all legal requirements wherever your business is based.
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