=== CollectSocials ===
Contributors: husaddam
Tags: social media feed, instagram feed, google reviews, social wall, tiktok feed
Requires at least: 6.3
Tested up to: 7.0
Requires PHP: 7.4
Stable tag: 1.0.0
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Embed Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X and Google Reviews feeds — designed in the CollectSocials studio and served from your own site.

== Description ==

CollectSocials puts your social posts and customer reviews on your WordPress
site, in a design you control. You build a feed once in the hosted CollectSocials
studio, paste its id and embed token into Settings → CollectSocials, and place it
anywhere with a block or a shortcode.

What sets it apart is how much happens when a visitor loads the page: nothing.
On a schedule you choose, the plugin copies each feed's posts, its design and the
renderer script into your own site, and from then on serves every page view from
your own domain. No third-party request per visitor, no view counter ticking
down, and the feed keeps rendering on the day a social network has an outage.

= Platforms in one feed =

A single feed can mix as many of these as your plan allows:

* **Instagram** — account posts, reels and hashtag content
* **TikTok** — videos from your account
* **YouTube** — channel uploads and playlists
* **Facebook** — page posts
* **Pinterest** — pins from your boards
* **Vimeo** — videos from your account
* **Tumblr** — posts from your blog
* **Google Reviews** — star ratings and review text from your Business Profile
* **RSS** — any blog or news feed, including your own WordPress posts
* **X (Twitter)** — a premium platform, available on paid plans

= Designed once, rendered exactly =

Feeds are assembled in the CollectSocials studio from three layers — layout, card
template and theme — across roughly 40 layouts, including grid, masonry, carousel
and a continuously scrolling social wall. Colours, fonts, spacing, borders,
headers and separate mobile styling are all editable. The plugin then renders the
design you published through the same renderer a hosted embed uses, so there is
no second set of styles to keep in sync inside your theme.

Worth being plain about, because it is unusual: the whole design studio is
included on the free plan. Styling is not the part we hold back.

= What the free plan covers =

Three sources, a daily refresh, the full design studio, and unlimited
plugin-served views. Because the plugin serves feeds from your own site, page
views never count against a quota — a busy WordPress site can stay on the free
plan indefinitely. Every platform listed above is available on free **except X
(Twitter)**, which is premium. Paid plans (Pro, Business, Scale) add sources, a
faster refresh and higher limits. There is nothing to buy inside WordPress: the
plugin is free and works with whichever plan your account is on, and upgrades
happen on collectsocials.com.

= How often it updates =

New posts are collected upstream on your CollectSocials plan's schedule — daily
on the free plan. The plugin re-syncs that cached data on the WordPress interval
you pick: hourly, twice daily or daily. Syncing more often than your plan
refreshes simply re-reads the same data, so this is not a real-time feed, and we
would rather say so here than have you find out later.

= Beyond this site =

The same CollectSocials account powers embeds on any website, so a feed you build
for WordPress works wherever else you need it.

**How it works / data disclosure:** this plugin connects to your CollectSocials
account (collectsocials.com) using the feed id + embed token you paste into
Settings → CollectSocials. On the schedule you choose it downloads your feed's
posts and design into this site's database, and a copy of the widget renderer
script into your uploads folder, then serves every page view locally. No visitor
data is sent to CollectSocials — pages embed no third-party requests. A free
CollectSocials account is required: https://collectsocials.com/?ref=wordpress
The service's terms of use are at https://collectsocials.com/terms-of-service and
its privacy policy is at https://collectsocials.com/privacy-policy

**Attribution is optional and off by default.** Settings → CollectSocials has an
unticked checkbox, "Show a small 'Powered by CollectSocials' link under my
feeds". Leave it alone and no credit link is added to your site — every part of
the plugin behaves identically either way. Tick it only if you would like to
credit the plugin, and untick it whenever you change your mind. (If branding is
switched off for your CollectSocials plan, no link is added regardless of the
checkbox.)

== Installation ==

1. Install and activate the plugin.
2. Create a feed at https://app.collectsocials.com/signup?ref=wordpress and
   copy its feed id + embed token from the Embed dialog.
3. Paste them under Settings → CollectSocials and save.
4. Add the **CollectSocials Feed** block to any page or post (or use the
   shortcode `[collectsocials feed="your-feed-id"]`).

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Is the plugin free? =

Yes. The plugin is free, and CollectSocials has a free plan — 3 sources, a
daily refresh, the full design studio and unlimited plugin-served views — that a
live site can run on. Paid plans add more sources, a faster refresh, higher
limits and the premium X (Twitter) platform.

= Do I need a CollectSocials account? =

Yes — a free account at https://collectsocials.com/?ref=wordpress. You design
feeds in the CollectSocials studio, and the plugin caches and displays them on
your WordPress site.

= Where do the feed id and embed token come from? =

From the Embed dialog of any feed in your CollectSocials dashboard. Paste both
into Settings → CollectSocials. You can add as many feeds as your plan allows.

= Does the plugin add a link to my site? =

Only if you ask it to. The "Powered by CollectSocials" link is a checkbox on the
settings page that is unticked when you install the plugin, and nothing about the
plugin depends on it being switched on.

= How often does the feed update? =

New posts are collected upstream on your CollectSocials plan's schedule (for
example, daily on the free plan). The plugin re-syncs that cached data on the
WordPress interval you choose — hourly, twice daily or daily. Syncing more
often than your plan refreshes simply re-reads the same data.

= Will this slow my site down? =

No. Posts and styling are cached in your site's database and served from your
own domain, so a feed adds no blocking third-party requests to the page — which
is good for Core Web Vitals — and it keeps rendering even if a social network is
temporarily unavailable.

= Is it GDPR-friendly? =

Feeds are served entirely from your own site, so no visitor data is sent to
CollectSocials or the social networks when someone views a page. The only
outbound connection is the scheduled sync from your server to your own
CollectSocials account.

= Which platforms are supported? =

The ones listed in the description above, and a single feed can combine several
of them. All are available on the free plan except X (Twitter), which is a
premium platform on paid plans.

= Can I show more than one feed? =

Yes. Add each feed's id and token under Settings → CollectSocials, then place
them independently with the CollectSocials Feed block or the
`[collectsocials feed="…"]` shortcode.

== Screenshots ==

1. Settings → CollectSocials — add each feed's id and embed token, choose a
   sync interval and review sync status.
2. The CollectSocials Feed block in the editor, picking a configured feed.
3. A social media grid feed rendered on the front end.
4. A Google Reviews feed rendered on the front end.
5. The CollectSocials studio, where feeds are designed (layouts, card templates
   and themes).

== Changelog ==

= 1.0.0 =
* Initial release: scheduled local-cache sync of each feed's posts, design and
  renderer script; Gutenberg block and `[collectsocials]` shortcode; settings
  page with per-feed rows, sync interval and sync status; an optional,
  off-by-default "Powered by CollectSocials" link; full uninstall cleanup.
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