How to Build a Testimonial Carousel Plugin for WordPress

Posted on 17th June 2023

Developing a custom testimonial carousel plugin for WordPress is a great way to showcase customer feedback on your website. Not only is it an effective way to boost customer confidence, but it can also help increase conversion rates and social proof.

There are a few things you’ll need to take into consideration when building your plugin, such as design, features, and compatibility. In this article, we’ll walk you through the process of creating a testimonial carousel plugin for WordPress step-by-step.

Step 1: Choose a Design

The first step is to choose a design for your plugin. Will it be a simple slider or a more complex carousel? How many testimonials do you want to display at once?

Once you’ve decided on a design, you’ll need to create a mockup to help you visualize the end result. This will make it easier to determine which features you need to include in your plugin.

Step 2: Create the Plugin

Now it’s time to start coding. Begin by creating a new folder for your plugin. We recommend naming it something like “testimonial-carousel.”

Next, you’ll need to create a file named “testimonial-carousel.php” in your new folder. This will be the main plugin file.

In your new file, you’ll need to add the following:

init();
}

/**
* Initialize the plugin
*
* @since 1.0.0
* @access private
*/
private function init() {
// Register testimonial post type
add_action( ‘init’, array( $this, ‘register_post_type’ ) );

// Register testimonial taxonomy
add_action( ‘init’, array( $this, ‘register_taxonomy’ ) );

// Add shortcode
add_shortcode( ‘testimonial_carousel’, array( $this, ‘shortcode’ ) );
}

/**
* Register testimonial post type
*
* @since 1.0.0
* @access public
*/
public function register_post_type() {
register_post_type( ‘testimonial’, array(
‘labels’ => array(
‘name’ => __( ‘Testimonials’, ‘testimonial-carousel’ ),
‘singular_name’ => __( ‘Testimonial’, ‘testimonial-carousel’ ),
),
‘public’ => false,
‘show_ui’ => true,
‘supports’ => array( ‘title’, ‘editor’ ),
‘menu_icon’ => ‘dashicons-testimonial’,
) );
}

/**
* Register testimonial taxonomy
*
* @since 1.0.0
* @access public
*/
public function register_taxonomy() {
register_taxonomy( ‘testimonial_category’, ‘testimonial’, array(
‘labels’ => array(
‘name’ => __( ‘Testimonial Categories’, ‘testimonial-carousel’ ),
‘singular_name’ => __( ‘Testimonial Category’, ‘testimonial-carousel’ ),
),
‘public’ => false,
‘show_ui’ => true,
) );
}

/**
* testimonial_carousel shortcode
*
* @since 1.0.0
* @access public
*/
public function shortcode( $atts, $content = null ) {
extract( shortcode_atts( array(
‘category’ => ”,
‘limit’ => 10,
‘orderby’ => ‘date’,
‘order’ => ‘DESC’,
‘autoplay’ => ‘false’,
‘pause’ => ‘true’,
‘speed’ => ‘5000’,
), $atts ) );

$args = array(
‘post_type’ => ‘testimonial’,
‘posts_per_page’ => $limit,
‘orderby’ => $orderby,
‘order’ => $order,
);

if ( ! empty( $category ) ) {
$args[‘tax_query’] = array(
array(
‘taxonomy’ => ‘testimonial_category’,
‘field’ => ‘slug’,
‘terms’ => $category,
),
);
}

$testimonials = new WP_Query( $args );

if ( $testimonials->have_posts() ) {
$html = ‘