Used on yestem.org

YESTEM is an academic consortium which is looking into STEM teaching methods. They have a variety of teaching resources in PDF format which slotted into various categories of resources.

Why we decided to use Document Library Pro

• So the client could easily upload new documents to the site, categories them and then they would dynamically appear on the website.
• So that we could allow users to filter documents and view only those which were relevant to them.
• So we could display various documents from categories and tags on different pages easily.

What we really liked about this plugin

• Intuitive and easy to install and use.
• You can customise the layouts well
• The search and filter options are really good
• You can display multiple libraries on pages, so you can simply display all documents with a specific tag or category
• You can use a plugin like PODS to extend the document fields or taxonomy, we added a language taxonomy to our documents so people can search on only French or German documents.

What we think needs improving.

• The grid layout at the moment is limited in functionality as opposed to the table layout. You can’t filter or search in grids.
• The columns for grid layout are automatic you can’t select the number of columns for a grid layout. Also there were alot of glitches with the grid layout such as image size being restricted and not filling space.
• Like to see an EXPORT function for documents so you can take a backup of all documents on the site. We used another plugin for this but it would be a good feature to integrate.
• Like to see the ability to drag and drop documents to reorder them easily.

Conclusion

We really loved this plugin and aside for a few little tweeks we would like to see in future releases generally in terms of the grid layout, we thought it was a well thought out and easy to use plugin that really facilitated the management of multiple documents on a website. It meant not only were you able to manage large numbers of documents easily but that the client never had to get involved in the page layout of the document library and could just add documents to the website without messing up layouts.

Used on https://peakproteins.com/

Quite often I get clients with a variety of resources that they want to display on their website, the issue is always document management in WordPress, how to layout the resources clearly and allow the upload of more resources without the client breaking the layout. I found Post Table Pro from Barn2 Plugins.

The client is a biotech company who have 3 different service areas. Let’s call them A, B and C. They also have a range of resources, PDF downloads, blog posts, videos, protocol document and links. Each resource can belong to 1 or more service areas. The challenge was to find a way to allow the user to search either on resource type or service sector. So a client may want all videos, or only videos relating to service B or all resources relating to just service C.

Post Table Pro gave us a great tool for doing this. Using a free plugin called PODS https://pods.io/features/ we created multiple custom taxonomies (you could also use Adavanced Custom Fields https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-custom-fields/ if you are familiar with this plugin. Then post table Pro simply allows us to add in a shortcode to display whatever we needed to. For example you could display a table which shows just PROTOCOLS or PROTOCOLS and BLOG POSTS you can set filters, tags and search facility or not.

Our only complaint was that it was hard work styling the plugin, and needed to be done with CSS they layouts are a bit ugly out of the box but with a bit of CSS you can get it doing what you want.

The real benefit to us as a company was that the client is simply uploading documents which are dynamically pulled through to the page, so it’s easy for them to manage and means they don’t need to be adding into the page itself and potentially messing up the layout. It also futureproofs the page layout, the addition is extra documentation can be Ad infinitum. We can also create new taxonomies for example the client wanted PDF newsletters on the website so we simply created a new taxonomy and pulled those into the resources.

What we liked

• Flexibility of display we could choose what information to display
• Filters and Search of resources was excellent
• The ability to display custom fields without technical knowledge or PHP coding
• The ability of the client to upload documents easily and display them in clear tables.

Used on the Filthy Macs Website for takeaway burgers. https://filthymacs.co.uk/

The requirement for the client was to create an online ordering website for a burger takeaway restaurant. During COVID the client had to close the doors of the café but still was able to serve takeaway food. They wanted to sell burgers online and then add in pickup slots to collect.

We found Barn2 Plugins WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering plugin and it just did the whole thing for use out of the box in conjunction with WooCommerce Delivery Slots from Iconic https://iconicwp.com/products/woocommerce-delivery-slots

Obviously this plugin requires WooCommerce set up to allow for ordering and payments but it integrated well with all the other plugins on the website.

So to create the menu we simply added in all the products to the website, we used variations and Product Add-Ons as you would normally and categorised our food into Burgers, Sides, Drinks etc etc. You set a page for your menu and call it what you want this will display all the products in categories. Alternatively, you can use the really flexible shortcodes to display specific items So for example on the homepage we just wanted to feature burgers and nothing else so we just added the shortcode for burgers. There are loads of shortcode options for displaying or not displaying information.

In the main settings you can also choose to have a quick add or open the product in a lightbox. Because we had variations and options, we opened in a lightbox but if you had simple products like a drink you could have a simple add to basket option. Note that the lightbox/quick add is global so you can’t have some products opening in a lightbox and others on quick add.

You can also manage the lightbox by choosing whether to show the image and description or not, and the position of the image. In addition, the plugin is mobile friendly out of the box.

What we liked

• Simple easy to use
• Mobile friendly
• Integrated well with other plugins like Product Add-Ons and Delivery Slots
• Out of the box restaurant ordering solution

Used on the Filthy Macs Website for takeaway burgers. https://filthymacs.co.uk/

We added the fast cart plugin to the website to make the whole process easy and slick. This plugin simply added a lovely checkout page on a slide in panel activated by a floating icon. This really helped conversion for us. Customers added burgers to their cart and then clicked the icon where they could fill in all the details and select a delivery time and pay without leaving the page.

We have a floating cart but you can also utilise the pop up checkout option which loads the checkout in a modal.

There were some good customisation options in terms of colours.

Conclusion

I think what we really loved about all the Barn2 Plugins we used were that they were easy to configure and the documentation was excellent. We used the customer service and they were responsive and helpful which is always good to know when venturing out with a new plugin. They were huge time savers for us which meant we could offer competitive prices to our clients for developing some fairly complex functionality as  Barn2 had done all the hard work.

We have developed a lot of websites in WordPress and now understand the importance of using stable, intuitive and well supported plugins. If you are looking for a plugin you can trust, one you are happy to recommend to clients then look no further than the Barn2 plugins.