One of the worst things that can happen to you as a website owner is to receive a notice of legal action as a result of breaking the law.
Your internet presence must comply with numerous federal, state and even local laws, many of which you may not be aware of.
Being non-compliant not only puts you at risk of suffering financial losses, but also the loss of your reputation. Why risk your money and your good reputation, when you can protect yourself so easily and inexpensively?
In this post, we review a simple and cost-effective WordPress solution that can help make your website compliant in minutes.
Is Your Website Or Blog Legally Compliant?
As the digital realm continues growing at an extraordinary rate and rules are constantly changing, it’s important to stay on top of what’s happening and to make sure that your site remains legal, especially if your digital presence is a significant aspect of your business strategy.
If you do not display certain legal pages on your web site (e.g. terms of service, privacy policy, earning disclaimers, etc.), many sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, sites like ClickBank will not approve your digital products for sale, PayPal could shut down your account and freeze your funds, Facebook could suspend your applications, and you won’t be accepted into various leading advertising or merchant networks.
If you are not in compliance, you could face a number of penalties, including fines, having your website shut down, even jail time!
At the very least, if your digital presence is not in compliance, trust and confidence in your business may be irrepairably.
(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, almost all third-party websites require you to comply with their terms of use!)
Legal Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we offer no legal advice in this article.
The purpose of this article is to make you aware that:
- Your website may be subject to numerous legal requirements in accordance with mandatory federal, state and local laws that govern your business (some of which you may probably 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 may be promoting or endorsing online, and
- There are easy-to-use solutions that can help your website become compliant, such as the plugin that we review below.
If you suspect that your website or blog is falling short in terms of compliance, below we discuss a simple WordPress plugin you will probably be interested in using.
Our WordPress Plugin Of The Month Is …
Compliance Bar Plugin – WordPress Plugin For Website Compliance
Plugin Description
Compliance Bar Plugin is a simple plugin for WordPress-powered sites containing over 20 customizable compliance templates for your online presence …
Learn more here: Compliance Bar
Benefits Of Using Compliance Bar Plugin
Below we have listed just some of the benefits of using Compliance Bar Plugin to instantly make your web site legally compliant:
Quick And Simple To Install And Use. Ready To Use In Very Little Time.
Compliance Bar Plugin installs just like any plugin. Simply upload a zip folder that contains the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Page Templates Are Easy To Edit
Easily edit the prebuilt templates inside Compliance Bar from the settings menu with the WordPress WYSIWYG editor.
24/7 Support
Compliance Bar plugin provides dedicated 24/7 plugin support to assist users.
Some additional benefits include the following:
- Customized Compliance Page Templates: Compliance Bar will create your legal pages in seconds and customizes them to your business and website.
- Video Training Library: Compliance Bar is not difficult to use and an entire library of training videos is provided.
- Can Be Used In Every Country: As long as you consult a qualified legal representative to make sure that the legal templates provided with the plugin are suitable and satisfactory for your business, country and website, you can use the plugin wherever your business is located.
- Use For All Website Purposes: If your website is powered by WordPress, you can use the plugin for every website purpose. Select only the types of disclaimers which pertain to your specific business model (e.g. affiliate or CPA marketing, business services, AdSense, AdWords, adult, medical, etc) and leave out any that are irrelevant.
Features
Compliance Bar Plugin offers many features to WordPress users. Here are just some:
- Quick and easy to install and implement. Be up and running in minutes.
- Display Visually Appealing Icons – Compliance Bar displays links to your compliance pages in the form of attractive icons that can be positioned on different locations on your pages. You can also upload icons of your choice.
- Show Restricted Information – If you plan to display content that may be restricted to certain age groups (e.g. information related to alcohol, ecigs, adult, etc.), you can display popups that require users to accept your site’s terms or disclaimers.
- EU User Cookie Compliance – If your business is based in Europe or display your content to EU visitors, you must be aware of EU compliance requirements. The plugin displays an attractive bar that notifies your visitors and covers your site from non-compliance.
- Records And Stores IP Addresses – The plugin records and stores your visitors’ IP address for future reference, just in case someone accepts your terms or disclaimers and then claims they didn’t.
- Shortcodes – Compliance Bar uses shortcodes to populate compliance pages with your personal information. These shortcodes also allow you to place information anywhere on your site or blog, (even in the pop-ups).
- Compatible With All Mobile Devices – The plugin has settings for displaying on mobile devices and tablets and will display mobile optimized icons automatically depending on visitor mobile browsers.
Using The Plugin
Once you have installed the plugin, the plugin’s “Settings” area will be added to your WP admin area.
Let’s briefly review these …
User Profile
There are a number of default fields in this area where you can input your information into entered (e.g. “Business Name,” “Registered Business Address,” “Contact Phone,” “Company Registration Number,” etc.). Not all categories are compulsory, but some are (e.g. “Contact Name,” “Company Address,” etc.)
(Compliance Bar User Profile Section – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
Compliance Bar uses shortcodes to dynamically insert the information into your legal templates …
(Compliance Bar Plugin User Profile Page: Shortcodes – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
Once the minimum required data has been entered into the user profile fields, you can then access the other plugin screens.
Compliance Pages
The “Compliance Pages” screen contains all of your pages …
(Compliance Bar Plugin: Compliance Pages – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
Last time we checked the Compliance Bar plugin website, there were over 22 legal pages available for complying with online business laws and regulations:
- About Us
- AdSense Disclaimer
- Affiliate Agreements
- Affiliate Disclosure
- 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 site is a simple process. Just select the check boxes next to the pages you want to create and click the “Save” button on the “Create Pages” area …
(Compliance Bar Plugin: Legal Pages – Image source: plugin documentation)
Your legal pages will then be created and added inside the “Pages” section of your site.
Compliance Bar Icons
The plugin is installed with a built-in set of attractive icons for referencing your legal pages …
The Compliance Bar icons are customizable. You can purchase an additional set of icons from the plugin developer, or create/upload your own to match the style of your theme …
(Compliance Bar: Legal Page Icons – Image source: plugin documentation)
Edit / Delete Legal Templates
You can easily edit and delete your legal disclaimers from the “Compliance Pages” area, just as you would any typical page in WordPress …
(Compliance Bar Plugin: Edit Compliance Pages – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Notes
- Editing your compliance templates is recommended, as the pages contain generic content.
- The plugin notifies you if it detects existing similar pages on your site (e.g. compliance pages created before you installed the plugin).
Compliance Bar
You have many options to customize the Compliance Bar, including position, whether to show links or icon images, background colors and images, icon size, specifying which pages should be included in the Compliance Bar, whether or not to display the Compliance bar on your main page, which pages the Compliance Bar will display in, mobile settings, and more …
(Compliance Bar Screen: Create Bar – Image source: plugin documentation)
Notes:
- You can create multiple Compliance Bars to display different icons on different pages, or to cover various uses in different sections of your site.
- The plugin lets you display a Compliance Bar on the main page of your site, even if you are using particular theme frameworks (like Genesis, Thesis or WooThemes), where the home page is specifically configured through the theme settings as a built-in template, and not as a “regular” WordPress page.
- Due to the smaller size of mobile 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 legal using a visually attractive icon bar on your site …
You have full control over the location on your pages where you would like your compliance bar to be featured …
PopUps
If your website has content that needs to be restricted to certain age groups (e.g. content related to alcohol, tobacco, dating, etc.), the plugin can display popups that restricts access to users who do not accept your site’s terms or disclaimers.
The “Create Pop Up” area gives you full control over the settings and wordings of your pop ups …
(Pop Ups Screen: Create Pop Up – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
You can create unlimited Pop Ups displaying on different pages, or to cover a multitude of uses in other sections of your website …
You can also set a delay time to prevent a Pop Up from displaying as soon as visitors arrive, set cookie durations to prevent Pop Ups from displaying again within a specific time period, and even record the IP addresses of visitors who accept your terms and disclaimers for future reference …
(Pop Ups Screen: IP Log Details – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
EU Cookies
If you are based in the EU or display your content to EU visitors, you need to be aware of EU Cookie law …
The Compliance Bar plugin lets you customize the settings for compliance with EU Cookies requirements, including the wording of your notification message and link text in the “EU Cookies” area …
(EU Cookies Section: Manage Settings – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
Compliance Bar has a non-intrusive way of notifying your visitors and covering you from non-compliance.
Page Templates
The “Page Templates” area, lists all of your legal disclaimer templates and shortcodes, and lets you edit their content …
General Settings
The “General Settings” screen, gives you access to general information, such as promoting and sharing the plugin and receiving plugin update notifications …
Testimonials From Plugin Customers
Below are just some testimonials and feedback that plugin customers have submitted regarding Compliance Bar:
”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)
Plugin Tips
Here are a few extra ways you can use The Compliance Bar Plugin:
- Protecting against content theft by spelling out terms of use of your website.
- Display compliance icons on specific pages only.
- End refund disputes by clearly spelling out the refund terms before purchase.
- If your website published content that is deemed inappropriate for persons below a certain age, you can force visitors to click to confirm that they are of legal age to access your content.
Plugin Support
Plugin Developers provide users with dedicated 24/7 plugin support to assist users with anything they need. You also get access to video training.
Additionally, your purchase is backed by a risk-free, 30 day, 200% money-back guarantee. If your version of Compliance Bar does not work within 30 days of purchase and it cannot be fixed within 48 business hours (Monday to Friday), the plugin developers will refund twice the amount of the cost of purchase.
Software Price
- Single License Edition – Can be installed on 1 site that you own. Cost = $47 (Normally $127)
- Business – Install the plugin on 25 domains that you own. Price = $67.00 (Normally $197).
- Developer Licensing – Can be installed on all domains that you own. Can be installed on any client site as part of a paid service. Cost = $97.00.
Note: The cost of purchasing the Compliance Bar software can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. When we last checked, the plugin retails for the pricing shown above. This may not be the actual price charged by the software seller when you visit the site and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing information: Compliance Bar – WordPress Plugin For Website Compliance
Compliance Bar – Additional Info
Legal Pages Reviewed By Lawyers – The plugin developers state on their website that all legal templates have already been reviewed and approved by a lawyer. Nonetheless, we highly recommend that you get legal advice from a qualified legal expert in your area to ensure that your site is fully compliant.
For demo videos of the plugin, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer helpdesk, contact details and more, visit the Compliance Bar Plugin website.
Download This Plugin
Compliance Bar is an easy-to-use, simple and cost-effective solution for WordPress-driven sites. We recommend installing this WordPress plugin if you want immediate peace of mind and legal protection.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Compliance Bar – Compliance Bar – Website Compliance Plugin For WordPress
Disclaimer: Once again, please note that we are not lawyers and we are not offering legal advice in this article. You must do your own due diligence and consult a legal expert about the best way of ensuring that your website fully complies with all legal requirements wherever your business is based.
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