One of the worst predicaments you can find yourself in as a website owner is to be on the wrong side of the law.
If your website doesn’t comply with laws designed to protect consumers, you’re breaking the law.
Being non-compliant not only puts you at risk of suffering significant financial loss, but also the loss of your reputation. Why risk your money and your business reputation, when you can protect yourself so inexpensively?
In this article, we look at a simple and inexpensive solution for WordPress users that can help make your site legally compliant in minutes.
Is Your Site Legally Compliant?
As the digital business realm continues growing at breakneck speed and the rules are constantly changing, it’s vitally important to stay on top of what’s going on and to make sure that your website or blog remains legally compliant, especially if your web presence is a significant component of your business strategy.
If you do not display certain legal pages on your site (e.g. terms of service, privacy policy, earning disclaimers, etc.), many sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, sites like ClickBank won’t allow you to list your digital products for sale, PayPal could shut down your account and freeze your funds, Facebook could suspend your web applications, and you will not be accepted into various other advertising or affiliate marketing networks.
If your digital presence is not compliant, you could end up facing a number of penalties, including fines, having your website shut down, even jail time!
At the very least, if your online business is not in compliance, trust and confidence in your business may be irrepairably.
(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, most third-party websites require you to comply with their policies!)
Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we cannot offer legal advice on this website.
The purpose of this post is to make you aware that:
- Your website could be subject to a number of legal requirements in accordance with federal, state or local laws that govern your business (some of which you may probably not even be aware of),
- The importance of remaining compliant with the terms of service of third-party providers whose products or services you are offering or using in your website, and
- There are inexpensive solutions that can help your website become more compliant, such as the tool that we discuss in this article.
If your website or blog is lacking in aspects of compliance, here is a simple WordPress plugin that you will probably be interested in using.
Today’s WordPress Plugin Is …
Compliance Bar – WP Website Compliance Plugin
Plugin Description
Compliance Bar Plugin is an easy-to-install WordPress plugin that includes over twenty customizable compliance pages for your website …
For more details, visit the plugin site here: Compliance Bar
Plugin Benefits
Below we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Compliance Bar Plugin to instantly make your website compliant:
Quick And Simple To Install And Use. Be Up And Running In Minutes.
Compliance Bar installs like any plugin. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your dashboard and activate.
Templates Are Really Easy To Edit
Easily modify the default legal page templates inside the plugin from the settings menu using the WordPress visual content editor.
Dedicated 24/7 Plugin Support Team
Compliance Bar plugin provides dedicated support to assist you with anything you need.
Additional benefits include the following:
- Customized Compliance Pages: The plugin 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 a complete library of training videos is available.
- Can Be Used In All Countries: As long as you consult a qualified legal representative to make sure that the default legal page templates provided with Compliance Bar are suitable and satisfactory for your business, country and website, you can use the plugin wherever you are located.
- Use For Any Website Purpose: If your website or blog is driven by WordPress, you can use the plugin for every website purpose. Just select the legal pages you need to include in your site and ignore all other irrelevant pages.
Features
Compliance Bar Plugin offers a number of great features to site owners. Here are just some:
- Quick and simple to install and use. Ready to use in very little time.
- Display Visually Appealing Icon Bar – Compliance Bar will display links to your legal pages in the form of attractive icons that can be positioned on different locations in your pages. You can also upload icons of your choice.
- Display Sensitive Content – If you plan to publish content that should be restricted to certain age groups (e.g. content related to alcohol, tobacco, dating, etc.), you can display popups that require users to accept your site’s terms or disclaimers.
- EU Cookie Compliance – If you do business in the EU or display your content to visitors in the EU, you need to be aware of EU compliance laws. The plugin displays an attractive bar notifying visitors and covering your business from non-compliance issues.
- Records & Stores IP Acceptance – The plugin records your visitors’ IP address for reference, just in case a visitor accepts your terms or disclaimers and then claims they didn’t.
- Shortcodes – The plugin is integrated with shortcodes to automatically populate the templates with your personal information. These shortcodes also allow you to place information anywhere on your site or blog, (including the pop-ups).
- Works On Mobile Devices – The plugin has settings for displaying on mobile devices or tablets and displays mobile optimized icons automatically depending on the mobile browser being used.
Using Compliance Bar Plugin
After installing and activating the Compliance Bar plugin, users will have access to a section where the plugin’s settings can be configured.
Let’s briefly review these areas …
User Profile
There are a number of default categories in this screen where your information can be input (e.g. “Business Name,” “Support Email,” “Location Details,” “Refund Period,” etc.). Not all categories are required, but some are (e.g. “Business Name,” “Company Phone Number,” etc.)
(Compliance Bar Plugin User Profile Section – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
The plugin uses dynamic shortcodes to automatically insert the information from your User Profile fields in your legal pages …
(Compliance Bar Plugin User Profile Page: Shortcodes – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
Once the minimum required (i.e. compulsory) data has been input into the user profile fields, users can then access the other sections of the plugin.
Compliance Pages
The “Compliance Pages” area lists all of your compliance template pages …
(Compliance Bar Plugin: Legal Templates – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Here’s the complete list of template pages made available by the Compliance Bar plugin last time we checked their site:
- 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
- XXX Disclosure
You can easily create legal pages for your website or blog simply by selecting checkboxes and clicking the “Save” button on the “Create Pages” screen …
(Compliance Bar Plugin: Compliance Templates – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Your legal pages will then be created and added to the “Pages” section of your WordPress site.
Compliance Bar Icons
The plugin comes with a built-in set of icons for referencing your legal pages …
The Compliance Bar icons are customizable. 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: Compliance Page Icons – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Edit / Delete Legal Page Templates
You can easily modify and delete the legal pages in the “Compliance Pages” screen, just like any other page in WordPress …
(Compliance Bar: Edit Legal Pages – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Notes
- Editing is recommended, as the pages contain generic content.
- The plugin indicates if it detects existing similar pages on your site (e.g. legal pages created before you installed the plugin).
Compliance Bar
The plugin offers 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 should be included 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, and offset distance …
(Compliance Bar Screen: Create Bar – Image source: plugin documentation)
Notes:
- You can create more than one Compliance Bar to display different icons on different pages, or to cover various uses throughout your website.
- The plugin allows you to display the Compliance Bar on the home page of your site, even if you are using particular 3rd-party themes (e.g. Genesis, Thesis or WooThemes), where the home page is configured through the theme settings as a built-in template, and not as a normal “static” WordPress page.
- Due to the smaller size of mobile screens, there is a limit to the number of page icons you can display if you turn Mobile Settings “on.”
Once you have configured your Compliance Bar settings, it will display links to your legal through dynamic icon bar on your site …
You have full control over the location on your pages where you would like your compliance icons to be featured …
PopUps
If your website has content that may be restricted to certain age groups (e.g. information related to alcohol, ecigs, adult, etc.), Compliance Bar can display pop-ups that force users to accept your site’s terms and disclaimers.
The “Create Pop Up” area lets you fully customize your pop ups …
(Pop Ups Section: Create Pop Up – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
You can create more than one Pop Up displaying on different pages, or to cover a range of uses throughout your website …
You can also set a delay time to prevent Pop Ups from displaying immediately, set cookie durations to prevent Pop Ups from displaying again within a specific time interval, and record 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 you are based in Europe or display your content to EU visitors, you must make users aware of your user cookies and notify them of how you use them …
The plugin lets you manage the settings for compliance with EU User Cookies requirements, including the wording of your notification message and link text in the “EU Cookies” area …
(EU Cookies Screen: 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 compliance disclaimer templates and shortcodes, and lets you edit their content …
General Settings
The “General Settings” section, lets you access general information, such as promoting and sharing the plugin and getting plugin update notifications …
Testimonials
Here are just a few of the testimonials and comments users have submitted regarding Compliance Bar:
”When I got my hands on Compliance Bar, I knew I needed help to be compliant, but I had no idea how much danger I was in, nor did I know all of the different things I needed to be compliant. Once I installed Compliance Bar, I was able to very quickly add all the items I needed to ensure I didn’t end up getting fined by various agencies, or have my site pulled from Google. The best part is that getting it all set up took only minutes, and I know that I am far safer than I was. Compliance Bar is one of the best plugins I have used in a long time.” Ray Lane – (The Video Guy)
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“Don’t Risk Your Online Business” Mike Thomas (The Mike From Maine Show)
Useful Tips
Below are a few useful ways to use Compliance Bar:
- Protecting against content theft by spelling out terms of use of your website.
- Displaying compliance icons only on specific pages.
- End refund disputes by clearly spelling out refund terms before customers purchase.
- If your site includes content that is considered inappropriate for minors, you can force visitors to click to confirm that they are of legal age to access your content.
Compliance Bar Support
Plugin Developers provide users with a dedicated plugin support team to help users with anything they need. You also have access to a complete library of training videos.
Additionally, your purchase is backed by a no-risk, 30 day, 200% money-back guarantee. If your copy of Compliance Bar does not work within 30 days of purchase and it cannot be fixed within 48 business hours (Monday to Friday), your purchase price will be refunded in double.
Plugin Price
- Single License Edition – Can be installed on a single site. Cost = $37 (Normally $127)
- Business License – Can be installed on 25 sites that you own. Price = $67.00 (Normally $197).
- Developer License – Install the plugin on multiple domains that you own. Install the plugin on all client sites as part of a paid service. Price = $97.00.
Please Note: Pricing details of Compliance Bar depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the plugin sells for the prices shown above. This may or may not be the actual price set by the software developer when you visit the site and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after purchasing.
Check the plugin’s website for the current price here: Compliance Bar Plugin
Additional Info
Templates Reviewed By Lawyers – The plugin developers assert on their website that all legal templates have been reviewed and approved by lawyers. Nonetheless, we strongly recommend that you get professional advice from a qualified legal expert in your area for peace of mind.
For ”how to” videos of the plugin in action, including help documentation and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Compliance Bar website.
In Conclusion
Compliance Bar is an easy-to-use, simple and cost-effective solution for WordPress-powered websites and blogs. We recommend installing this plugin for WordPress users if you want immediate peace of mind and legal protection.
To learn more, check out the plugin here: Compliance Bar Plugin – Compliance Bar Plugin – WordPress Plugin For Website Compliance
Note: Once again, we are not lawyers and we are not offering legal advice on this website. Do your own due diligence and consult a legal expert about the best way of ensuring that your website is compliant with all legal requirements wherever your business is based.
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