Cookie Consent is one of the simplest and most popular cookie notification plugins out there. It’s been actively developed and supported since 2012 and is rated 4.8 / 5 by WordPress users with over 200,000 active installations.

You can download the plugin from the repository here.

Support

Any support questions, please post them to the forum.

Demo

You can see the plugin in action here.

Activation

One of the most popular aspects of the plugin is its simplicity of use. The new version is no different – simply install and activate the plugin to automatically add the cookie consent notification bar without any need to configure it. On activation, the plugin creates and populates a page on your site with information about your cookie policy and automatically links to the page from the notification bar. So if you’re using the default settings, it’s a matter of seconds to get up and running.

New Features

We’ve extended the options with the plugin and in version 2.0, we’ve added many new features, including:

• Choice of dismissal method – either on click by the user or timed or on scroll
• Choice of dismissal element – either button or ‘x’ close
• Option to show the notification on the first page only – subsequent pages visited by the user will not display the message
• Option to hide the notification on selected pages and posts
• Choice of position – either top or bottom bar, or floating in one of the corners of the screen
• Better translation support – officially WPML compatible
• Better responsive support
• More customization options – including the ability to update styles from within the customizer
• Inherits your theme styles where possible
• The option to use an absolute or external URL to link to for further information
• Set the cookie duration
• Set the cookie version – updating a version will reset the cookie on all user sites

Settings

Settings can be found at Settings > Cookie Consent:

General

Close

Determine how the user can dismiss the notification – either by clicking, scrolling or automatically after a set time

First Page Only

Only display the notification on the first page the user visits

Selectively Exclude Pages

Check this option to enable a metafield on all pages and posts. Selecting the metafield will hide the notification on that page or post.

Notification Duration

If you have set ‘Close’ to ‘Timed’ you can specify how many seconds the notification will display before automatically closing

Cookie Expiry

Set how many days the cookie should be valid for

Cookie Version

Set a version number for the cookie. Updating the version will reset the cookie for every user – this can be useful if you update terms

Content

Heading Text

If you are using the floating corner notification style, you can add a heading.

Notification Text

This first part of the notification message

More Info Text

This forms the anchor text when linking to a page for further information

More Info Page

Select a page from your site

More Info URL

Add an absolute URL to a page on your site or on an external site. This will override the More Info Page setting

More Info Target

Whether to open the page in the same tab or a new tab

Accept Text

If you have a button to dismiss the notification, this is the button text

Styles

You can update these settings here or live in the Customizer.

Position

Where to display the notification

Container Class

Optional class to add to the notification

Include Stylesheet

Deselect this if you are using your own styles

Rounded Corners

Round the corners on the block-style notification only

Drop Shadow

Only on the block-style notification

Use X Close

Hide the close button and use a simple ‘x’ icon instead

Text Color

The color for the text in the notification. By default will inherit from the theme

Background Color

The notification background color

Link Color

The link color. By default will inherit from the theme

Button Color

The text color for the button. By default will inherit from the theme

Button Background

The background color for the button. By default will inherit from the theme

Implied Consent

We think this is the simplest but most effective method of dealing with the legislation – a straightforward approach to help you comply with the EU directive regarding usage of website cookies. It follows the notion of “implied consent” and makes the assumption that most users who choose not to accept cookies will do so for all websites. A user to your site is presented with a clear yet unobtrusive notification that the site is using cookies and may then acknowledge and dismiss the notification or click to find out more. The plug-in automatically creates a new page with pre-populated information on cookies and how to disable them, which you may edit further if you wish.

Importantly, the plug-in does not disable cookies on your site or prevent the user from continuing to browse the site. Several plug-ins have adopted the “explicit consent” approach which obliges users to opt in to cookies on your site. This is likely to deter visitors.

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