One of the worst situations you can find yourself in as a website owner is to receive a notice of legal action as a result of breaking the law.
If your website isn’t compliant with laws designed to protect the rights of consumers, you’re breaking the law.
Being non-compliant puts you at risk of suffering both financial losses and the loss of your reputation. Why risk your money and your business reputation, when you can protect yourself so inexpensively?
In this article, we review a simple and easy-to-use WordPress solution that can help make your website compliant just minutes.
Does Your Website Or Blog Comply With All Legal Requirements?
As the cybersphere continues growing at breakneck speed and the rules constantly change, it’s important that you stay informed about what’s going on and to make sure that your website remains compliant, especially if your digital presence is an integral part of your business strategy.
Without legal pages on your website (e.g. terms of service, privacy statement, financial disclaimers, etc.), many sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, sites like ClickBank won’t let you list your digital products on their network, PayPal may close down your account and freeze your funds, Facebook could suspend your applications, and you won’t be allowed into a range of other advertising and affiliate marketing networks.
If your online business is not compliant, you could also end up facing a multitude of penalties, including fines, having your website shut down, even jail time!
At the very least, without making it clear to your visitors that your website complies with legal requirements and regulations, expect visitor trust and confidence in your business to seriously diminish.
(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 are not offering legal advice on our website.
The purpose of this article is to make you aware that:
- Your website may be subject to a number of legal requirements in accordance with federal, state or local laws and regulations that govern your business (some of which you may probably not even be aware of),
- How important it is to comply with the terms of service of third-party providers whose products or services you may be promoting or using in your website, and
- There are solutions that can help your website become compliant, such as the tool that we review in this article.
If your web site is lacking in areas of compliance, here is a simple WordPress plugin you should know more about.
Presenting …
Compliance Bar – Compliance Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
Compliance Bar Plugin is a simple WordPress plugin with over 20 customizable legal page templates for your online presence …
More info: Compliance Bar
Benefits
Here are just some of the benefits and advantages of using Compliance Bar to make your website instantly legally compliant:
Quick And Easy To Install And Implement. Be Up And Running In Very Little Time.
Compliance Bar is quite easy to install. Just upload it to your Plugins folder via your WordPress admin user area and activate.
Easy To Edit Templates
You can easily modify the built-in legal page templates inside Compliance Bar from the settings menu using the WordPress WYSIWYG editor.
24/7 Plugin Support
The plugin developers provide dedicated support to help you if you experience any issues.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Customized Legal Page Templates: The Compliance Bar plugin will create your legal pages in seconds and customizes them to your business and website.
- Complete Video Training Manuals: Compliance Bar is not complicated to use - a complete library of training videos is provided if users need help.
- Use Anywhere In The World: As long as you consult a qualified legal representative to ascertain if the legal page templates provided with the plugin are suitable and satisfactory for your business, country and website, you can use the plugin anywhere in the world.
- Use On All WordPress Sites: If your website is powered by WordPress, you can use the plugin for all kinds of websites. Just select the templates you need to include in your site and ignore any irrelevant pages.
Plugin Features
Compliance Bar provides many features to site owners. Below we have listed just some:
- Fast and simple to install and use. Ready to go to work in minutes.
- Show Visually Appealing Icon Bar – Compliance Bar will display links to your compliance pages using attractive icons that can be positioned on different locations in your page. You can also upload icons of your choice.
- Show Restricted Content – If you plan to show content that may be restricted to certain age groups (e.g. content related to alcohol, tobacco, dating, etc.), Compliance Bar can display popups that force users to accept your site’s terms and disclaimers.
- EU User Cookie Compliance – If your business is based in the EU or display your content to EU visitors, you must be aware of EU compliance requirements. Compliance Bar displays an attractive bar that notifies your users and protects your website from non-compliance.
- Record & Store IP Addresses – Compliance Bar can record and store the IP addresses of your visitors for future reference, just in case a user accepts your terms or disclaimers and then claims otherwise.
- Shortcode Driven – Compliance Bar 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, (even in the popups).
- Works On Mobile Devices – Compliance Bar has settings for displaying on mobile devices and tablets and displays mobile optimized icons automatically based on visitor mobile browsers.
Plugin Features – Details
Once you have installed the plugin, a section where the plugin’s settings can be configured is added to your WP admin area.
Let’s go through these settings briefly …
User Profile
There are a number of default categories in this area where you can enter your business information into input (e.g. “Website URL,” “Registered Company Address,” “Location Details,” “Refund Period,” etc.). Not all categories are compulsory, but some are (e.g. “Website URL,” “Business Address,” etc.)
(Compliance Bar User Profile Screen – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
The Compliance Bar Plugin uses shortcodes to insert the information in your legal page templates …
(Compliance Bar Plugin User Profile Page: Shortcodes – Image source: plugin documentation)
Once the minimum required data has been entered into the plugin settings fields, you can then access the other plugin areas.
Compliance Pages
The “Compliance Pages” section lists all of the legal pages …
(Compliance Bar: Legal Page Templates – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Here’s the full list of templates made available by the Compliance Bar plugin when we last checked their site:
- 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
- XXX Disclosure
You can create compliance pages for your blog or website quickly and easily by simply selecting check boxes and clicking the “Save” button at the bottom of the “Create Pages” area …
(Compliance Bar Plugin: Legal Templates – Image source: plugin documentation)
Your legal pages will then be created and added to the “Pages” section of your site.
Compliance Bar Icons
The plugin is installed with a default set of attractive icons for referencing your legal pages …
The Compliance Bar icons can be changed. You can purchase additional icons from the plugin developer, or create/upload your own to match the style of your theme …
(Compliance Bar Plugin: Legal Page Template Icons – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
Edit / Delete Compliance Pages
You can easily customize and delete your compliance templates in the “Compliance Pages” area, just like any typical page in WordPress …
(Compliance Bar: Edit Legal Page Templates – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Notes
- Customizing the legal 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. compliance pages created before you installed the plugin).
Compliance Bar
The plugin offers various options to customize the Compliance Bar, including position, displaying links or icon images, background colors and images, icon size, specifying which pages to include an icon for in the Compliance Bar, whether or not to display the Compliance bar on your home page, which pages the Compliance Bar will display in, mobile settings, and more …
(Compliance Bar Screen: Create Bar – Image sourced from plugin documentation)
Notes:
- You can create several Compliance Bars to display different icons on different pages, or to cover a range of uses throughout your website.
- The plugin allows you to display the Compliance Bar on the main page of your site, even if you are using a specific premium theme (like 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 devices, there is a limit to the number of page icons you can display if you turn Mobile Settings “on.”
Once you have specified your Compliance Bar settings, it will display links to your legal through a visually attractive icon bar on your site …
You have full control over the location on your pages where you would like the compliance bar to appear …
PopUps
If your site contains content that may be restricted to certain age groups (e.g. content related to alcohol, tobacco, adult, etc.), Compliance Bar can display pop-ups that force users to accept your website’s terms and disclaimers.
The “Create Pop Up” tab lets you fully customize your pop ups …
(Pop Ups Section: Create Pop Up – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
You can create a number of Pop Ups displaying on different pages, or to cover different uses throughout your site …
You can also set a delay time to prevent a Pop Up from displaying 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 Screen: IP Log Details – Screenshot source: plugin documentation)
EU Cookies
If you do business in the EU or display your content to visitors in the EU, you must be aware of EU compliance laws …
Compliance Bar 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” tab …
(EU Cookies Section: Manage Settings – Image 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” screen, 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 receiving plugin update notifications …
Feedback From Users
Below are some of the testimonials plugin users have provided for Compliance Bar Plugin:
”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)
***
”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 a few extra ways to use Compliance Bar:
- Protect against content theft by spelling out terms of use of your website.
- Displaying compliance icons on specific pages of your website only.
- Reducing refund disputes by clearly spelling out refund terms before purchase.
- If your website published 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.
Product Support
Plugin Developers provide users with dedicated plugin support to assist users. You also get access to video training manuals.
Additionally, your purchase is backed by a no-risk, thirty day, 200% refund guarantee. If your copy of Compliance Bar does not work within 30 days of purchase and it cannot be fixed within 48 business hours (M – F), the plugin developers will refund double the amount of the purchase price.
Software Price
- Single Edition – Install the plugin on 1 of your own sites. Price = $47 (Normally $127)
- Business License Edition – Can be installed on up to twenty-five sites that you own. Price = $67.00 (Normally $197).
- Professional – Can be installed on all of your own domains. Install the plugin on all client sites for payment or part of a paid service. Price = $97.00.
Note: Pricing for the product can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The price above was correct at the time this article was published. This may not be the actual price charged by the product author when you visit the product website and there may be additional upsells or one-time offers after you’ve purchased.
Check the plugin’s website for the latest pricing: Compliance Bar – WP Compliance Plugin
Additional Plugin Information
Legal Pages Reviewed By Lawyers – The plugin developers assert on their website that all legal templates have already been reviewed and approved by a lawyer. Nonetheless, we highly recommend that you get professional advice from a qualified legal expert in your area for peace of mind.
For ”how-to” videos showing how the plugin works, including installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, customer help desk, contact details and more, visit the Compliance Bar website.
Our Recommendation
Compliance Bar is an easy-to-use, simple and cost-effective solution for WordPress-powered websites and blogs. We recommend installing this WordPress plugin if you want immediate peace of mind and legal protection.
For complete details, check out the plugin here: Compliance Bar – Compliance Bar Plugin – WP Compliance Plugin
Note: Once again, please note that we are not lawyers and we cannot offer legal advice on our website. You must 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.
***