Introduction
I recently had a problem with some images uploaded to one of the blogs, I was able to remove the images before any harm was done.
This got me thinking about protecting myself, my blogs has a Terms of Use page and a Privacy Policy however users are not required to agree to them before posting. I decided I would implement some sort of system to amend this problem.
Issues
- I am running a mature blog with over 200 users and 23 blogs already on the system so I needed some way of getting them to agree to my terms.
- I didn’t want to slow the sign up process by adding another check box.
Solution
The Wordpress Terms of Use plugin, yes I know there are many other options out there to do this however this plugin takes a slightly different approach. Instead of making the user agree to the Terms of Use when they join the site this plugin makes them agree to the terms and conditions the first time they login. The reason for doing this is that you can be installed Wordpress Terms of Use plugin on a mature blog and existing members will be able to agree to the Terms of Use the next time they log in. In addition the new users are presented with a nice fully customizable welcome message after they agree to your Terms to help them get started using Wordpress.
Features
- Works for both New Blogs and New users.
- Customizable Open Source Terms of Use agreement.
- Customizable Open Source Privacy Policy.
- Customizable Welcome Message.
- Can be integrated into a mature blog.
- Support for both Wordpress and Wordpress MU.
- No changes need to be made to the Sign up process.
Screenshots
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Installation
Wordpress MU
- Download the terms-of-use.zip
- Extract the files.
- Copy the ‘terms-of-use.php’ into ‘/wp-content/mu-plugins/’
- Copy the ‘terms-of-use’ directory into ‘/wp-content/plugins/’
- If you want to use Wordpress to edit your terms of use, privacy policy and welcome message, chmod terms-of-use.txt to 0664 (make them writable).
NOTE: for additional security there is an .htaccess file included in the terms-of-use directory that douse not allow scripts to be executed from these files. This protects against code insertion.You can now login and edit your terms of use, privacy policy and welcome message via “Site Admin > Terms of Use”. - That’s it.
Wordpress
- Download the terms-of-use.zip
- Extract the files.
- Copy the ‘terms-of-use.php’ and ‘terms-of-use’ directory into ‘/wp-content/ plugins/’
- If you want to use Wordpress to edit your terms of use, privacy policy and welcome message, chmod terms-of-use.txt to 0664 (make them writable).
NOTE: for additional security there is an .htaccess file included in the terms-of-use directory that douse not allow scripts to be executed from these files. This protects against code insertion. - You can now login and edit your terms of use, privacy policy and welcome message via “Settings > Terms of Use”.
- That’s it.
Add a Terms of Use page and a Privacy Policy page to your website.
- Create a Terms of Use page in the normal manner.
- Add the [terms-and-conditions ] tag to the page.
- Create a Privacy Policy page in the normal manner.
- Add the [privacy-policy ] tag to the page.
NOTE: remove the spaces between the last letter of the tag and the ].
Download
This is a complete stable version and is running on all my Wordpress and Wordpress MU blogs without a problem. DownloadVersion 1.0
[...] Download Version 0.2 beta This is a complete stable version and is running on all my Wordpress and Wordpress MU blogs without a problem. If no one reports any bugs I will change the version to 1.0 [...]
Thanks for the plugin! Still trying to get it customized for my site. I really need it only on the Orders page, before the user clicks on the button to purchase. It could be either a simple checkbox that they have read the T&C, or a pop-up window. Is it possible to link your plugin to a specific page? (This is for a website rather than a blog, and I do not require the user/customer to login.)
Thanks,
Joe
Hi Joe,
When you say website rather than a blog are you using Wordpress? The plugin was developed out of my need to have new and existing members agree to my terms when they log in. It is possible for me to add a shortcode or function that allows you to add a terms check box to a page or post. How are you creating your order forms?
Also voting has now opened on the Wordpress mu plugin competition so if you use or like this plugin please vote.
http://wpmu.org/voting-open-plugin-contest/
[...] Terms of Use [...]
[...] Wordpress Terms Of Use Plugin (tags: wordpress wpmu plugin) [...]
Hello, I have a problem
When I active de plugins an error ocurred:
Warning: file_get_contents(/home/ralcesar/public_html/ayudaelectronica.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/terms-and-conditions/terms-and-conditions.txt) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /home/ralcesar/public_html/ayudaelectronica.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/terms-and-conditions.php on line 74
Warning: file_get_contents(/home/ralcesar/public_html/ayudaelectronica.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/terms-and-conditions/privacy-policy.txt) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /home/ralcesar/public_html/ayudaelectronica.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/terms-and-conditions.php on line 78
Hi Ingenieria,
It sounds like your terms-and-conditions.txt and privacy-policy.txt are not readable, make sure terms-and-conditions directory, terms-and-conditions.txt and privacy-policy.txt files are readable at minimum. If you want to use the Wordpress admin to edit these two files then they need to be writable.
I recommend using permissions 0664
thanks I change the permissions to 0664 and now works perfectly,
[...] Terms of Use – Este plugin coloca uma caixa para concordação com os termos de condições do seu blog, na altura em que o visitante faz o login pela primeira vez. [...]
[...] Terms of Use [...]
[...] Terms of Use – Instead of making the user agree to the Terms of Use when they join the site this plugin makes them agree to the terms and conditions the first time they login. [...]
[...] Terms of Use – Questo plugin inserisce una casella per permettere all’utente che visita per la prima volta il vostro blog di concordare con i Termini e Condizioni dello stesso. [...]
I am just trying to decide whether to use your plugin or another one which places the TOS on the signup page and forces the user to check: I agree with the terms of service.
To help me decide, I am just wondering, what will happen if a user doesn’t agree and I am using your plugin. where will they be redirected? will I be able to also set a custom message?
I mean, someone could sign up, but when logging in sees the TOS and doesn’t agree… There should be a message telling him that he has 7 days to agree otherwise his account and personal info will be completely deleted, right?
Hi ovizii,
Currently when a user doesn’t agree to the terms they are logged out and redirected to the login page. However it is very easy to change the URL you are redirected to.
If you know how to edit PHP you can change the URL in /terms-and-conditions/ terms-and-conditions.php
I plan to add a customizable messages for users that don’t agree to the terms in an upcoming version.
One of the many benefit of having the member agree to the terms after the member has already signed up is that if they don’t agree then you still have their contact details and you can still send them emails and newsletters lure them back in, gaining a user you would have otherwise lost.
Additionally I have never not had a member agree to the terms.
Hi,
in my admin panel after installing the plugin I am getting the following errors:
Warning: file_get_contents(/home2/badjobco/public_html/erasmusinpoland/WPMU/wp-content/mu-plugins/terms-and-conditions/terms-and-conditions.txt) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /home2/badjobco/public_html/erasmusinpoland/WPMU/wp-content/mu-plugins/terms-and-conditions/terms-and-conditions.php on line 16
Warning: file_get_contents(/home2/badjobco/public_html/erasmusinpoland/WPMU/wp-content/mu-plugins/terms-and-conditions/privacy-policy.txt) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /home2/badjobco/public_html/erasmusinpoland/WPMU/wp-content/mu-plugins/terms-and-conditions/terms-and-conditions.php on line 20
Where is the issue?
issue resolved… I had to chane the permission to all the .txt files
Thanks for one great plugin.
[...] Need TOS Plugin for Wordpress Wordpress Terms Of Use Plugin That’s the only one I know of. Is that the one giving you an [...]
It appears the download for this plugin is broken. Can you send it to me or is available somewhere else?
Thanks!
I’m looking for this as well. It sounds exactly what I’m looking for!
The download link is down. Seems like this is the only place to download it. I found a version 0.1, but that version does not let you embed into pages like this version.
Sorry guys, The download link is back again.
Hi i already have the plugin but how do i make change the permisons for the .TXT files???
i dont know to do that
Can you help me please????
Hi
Other thing i set up the plugin in my wordpress control panel, but nothing appears in mi website????
Hi
thats my site and i have set up the plug in in my wp-admin and it doesnt show anything
http://www.recipesdrinksandfood.com
Hi Camilo,
Changing File Permissions
FTP into your web hosting navigate to into your ‘/wp-content/mu-plugins/terms-of-use/’ directory then change the permissions of the terms-of-use.txt to 0664.
How you change the permissions depends upon the FTP program you are using, I would recommend doing a google search on the topic there are many many tutorials out there.
The Wordpress codex are a good starting place.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_File_Permissions
Adding A Terms Of Use Page
The primary purpose of the Terms Of Use Plugin is to makes new members of your blog agree to the terms and conditions the first time they login. This means that the terms are primary displayed on the admin side of your site.
However it is also possible to create a page on your site that will display the terms. To do this create a New Page, named something like ‘Terms Of Use’, add the [privacy-policy] tag to the new page then publish the page.
The terms of use will now be displayed on your Terms Of Use … its that easy.
hi thank you for the great plugin, i upgraded to the 2.7 but when a new user logs in for the first time, it says “Cannot load terms-and-conditions/terms-and-conditions.php.”
the address bar reads “http://annzeejay.voblop.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=terms-and-conditions/terms-and-conditions.php”
i have a problem with helpdesk plugin, the first link in the admin bar “Help Desk” gives me a 404.
i think the problem is related…
thank you for your time.
Cheers
I’m having the same issue as George, though I’m not sure I’m using the latest version of the plugin. I’m digging in and trying to figure out what the issue is. I’ll let you know if I figure it out.
Figured it out. It’s a bug in the 2.7 core code. I submitted a bug to trac:
http://trac.mu.wordpress.org
Ticket #888
do you think it’s possible to make it compatible with wordpress (single user version)?
[...] you are using my Help Desk Plugin or my Terms Of Use Plugin with Wordpress MU 2.7 you will notes there is an error with the sub [...]
I think I’ve find a security issue in WPMU 2.7. I’m not sure about this – maybe there is a conflict with one of my installed plugins.
The problem is that other non admin users can access and even change the tems (if CHMOD is 667) by the link: http://domain.com/mainblog/user/wp-admin/wpmu-admin.php?page=terms_and_conditions even if they have no roles in main blog.
They can even find the link in Admin Bar drop down by changing their Settings/Admin bar theme into Wordpress Classic (Drop down menu without top level Name by the left of Log out button).
Sorry for writing here, but there no contact information and contact form doesn’t work on this site.
Thanks Matew,
I have fixed this security issue.
This is not a big security issue as the .htaccess file included in the terms-of-use directory douse not allow scripts to be executed from any of the text files, however I would still recommend updating.
When I maded update I got an errors:
Warning: file_get_contents(/home/domain/public_html/subdir/wordpress-mu/wp-content/plugins/terms-and-conditions/terms-and-conditions.txt) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/domain/public_html/subdir/wordpress-mu/wp-content/mu-plugins/terms-and-conditions.php on line 114
Warning: file_get_contents(/home/domain/public_html/subdir/wordpress-mu/wp-content/plugins/terms-and-conditions/privacy-policy.txt) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/domain/public_html/subdir/wordpress-mu/wp-content/mu-plugins/terms-and-conditions.php on line 115
Warning: file_get_contents(/home/domain/public_html/subdir/wordpress-mu/wp-content/plugins/terms-and-conditions/welcome.txt) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/domain/public_html/subdir/wordpress-mu/wp-content/mu-plugins/terms-and-conditions.php on line 116
CHMOD for txt files is set to 775
Hi Levi,
can you give me your email, I want to forward my conversation with Donncha Caoimh (WpMU Lead Developer), with suggestions how to fix my described issue.
[...] bardzo fajny dodatek Terms of Use. oni korzystają z tzw. hook – is_site_admin (), jest trochę o nim opisane tu_____ a także: [...]
hi there.
started using your plugin and was wodnering wether you might plan an itnernationalization? Its all english right now, and I don’t feel like going throught the whole plugin and translate…
I’d be willing to do the work, if someone gives me some hints…
oh, what if I change the terms, is there an easy way to make all memebrs agree again? I think that would be important in case somethign changes later on…
otherwise I guess one has to do it manually via phpmyadmin, right? can you give soem more info which fields would need to be changed? I guess its somewhere in the wp_users table?
[...] 1. Download the terms-and-conditions.zip. 2. Extract the files. 3. Copy the ‘terms-and-conditions.php’ into ‘/wp-content/mu-plugins/’ 4. Copy the ‘terms-and-conditions’ directory into ‘/wp-content/plugins/’ 5. If you want to use Wordpress to edit your terms of use, privacy policy and welcome message, chmod terms-of-use.txt to 0664 (make them writable). NOTE: for additional security there is an .htaccess file included in the terms-of-use directory that does not allow scripts to be executed from these files. This protects against code insertion.You can now login and edit your terms of use, privacy policy and welcome message via “Site Admin > Terms of Use”. Here is the original post. [...]
Hi.
Thank you very much for your plugin.
Since yesterday update, 2.8 to 2.8.1
I have a problem with your plugin: my new users cant
see the terms of use page. It saying that they dont have
the right to acces that file. Since then I cannot register
new user to my blog.
Please he.
Dan,
After installing on a WP 2.8.2 site and following innstructions within the txt the following message is displayed upon activation.
“You do not have sufficient permissions to access this page.”
The message is displayed in the same style as the WP Installation page and is also displayed whenever I try to access my Installed Plugins page. The only way that I have managed to stop this is to remove the plugin althogether via FTP.
Ideas?
try the version at wpmudev.org Deanna has modified it to be 2.8.2 compatible.
Cheers for the answer, unfortunatley the wpmudev version is not working either. It’s probably worth noting that this is NOT an mu install. Once the plugin is activated I can not access any page in the admin folder without being redirected to the following page:
http://www.*.com/members/wp-admin/admin.php?page=terms-and-conditions/terms-and-conditions.php
Error message as follows:
You do not have sufficient permissions to access this page.
Any more ideas would be great or other alternatives, I have done a lot of searching but so far it seems this is the only option that “should” work for a recent WP install.
Thanks either way.
Is there anything available for WordPress MU 2.8, as this did not work for me
It doesn’t work with 2.8.4. I activate it and can longer access plugins until I delete terms through ftp.
I’ve rewritten this plugin to make it simpler and just so it works in the latest WP versions. Get it here.