ZillaLikes

A modern, lightweight like button plugin for WordPress. Let visitors like your posts and pages with a single click — no account required.

Features

• Like / unlike toggle — users can like and unlike posts
• No jQuery dependency — vanilla JavaScript with optimistic UI updates
• REST API powered — clean endpoints with nonce-based security
• Batched hydration — a single API call loads all like states on page load, cache-friendly
• Persistent tracking — custom database table tracks likes per user (logged-in) or per IP (guests)
• Accessible — semantic <button> elements with aria-label attributes
• Customizable — disable CSS, set postfix labels, exclude specific posts
• Widget included — display your most liked posts in any sidebar
• Shortcode & template tag — place the like button anywhere

Requirements

• WordPress 5.9+
• PHP 7.4+

Installation

1. Download or clone this repository into wp-content/plugins/zilla-likes/
2. Activate the plugin through Plugins → Installed Plugins
3. The database table is created automatically on activation
4. Configure settings under Settings → ZillaLikes

Usage

Automatic

By default, the like button is appended to posts and pages automatically. Control this behavior in Settings → ZillaLikes.

Shortcode

Use the shortcode in any post or page editor:

[zilla_likes]

Target a specific post by ID:

[zilla_likes id="42"]

Template Tag

Place the like button directly in your theme templates:

<?php if (function_exists('zilla_likes')) zilla_likes(); ?>

Pass a specific post ID:

<?php zilla_likes(42); ?>

Settings

Navigate to Settings → ZillaLikes in the WordPress admin.

Setting	Description
Add to posts	Automatically append the like button to single posts
Add to pages	Automatically append the like button to pages
Add to archives	Show on archive, home, search, and excerpt views
Exclude from	Comma-separated list of post/page IDs to skip
Disable CSS	Skip loading the bundled stylesheet for custom styling
Zero likes text	Label when a post has 0 likes (default: "Likes")
One like text	Label when a post has 1 like (default: "Like")
Multiple likes text	Label when a post has 2+ likes (default: "Likes")

REST API

All endpoints are under the zilla-likes/v1 namespace. Nonce authentication is handled automatically via X-WP-Nonce headers.

Toggle a like

POST /wp-json/zilla-likes/v1/like/{post_id}

Response:

{
  "count": 5,
  "liked": true,
  "postfix": "Likes"
}

Get like state for a single post

GET /wp-json/zilla-likes/v1/likes/{post_id}

Response:

{
  "count": 5,
  "liked": false,
  "postfix": "Likes"
}

Batch get like states

GET /wp-json/zilla-likes/v1/likes?ids=1,2,3

Response:

{
  "1": { "count": 5, "liked": true, "postfix": "Likes" },
  "2": { "count": 0, "liked": false, "postfix": "Likes" },
  "3": { "count": 1, "liked": false, "postfix": "Like" }
}

Batch requests are capped at 100 IDs.

Widget

A ZillaLikes – Most Liked widget is available under Appearance → Widgets. It displays a ranked list of your most liked posts.

Widget options:

• Title — widget heading
• Description — optional text above the list
• Number of posts — how many to show (1–20)
• Show like count — display the count next to each post title

Custom Styling

Disable the built-in CSS in settings, then target these classes:

/* The button */
.zilla-likes { }

/* Liked state */
.zilla-likes.is-liked { }

/* Loading state (during API call) */
.zilla-likes.is-loading { }

/* The heart SVG */
.zilla-likes-icon { }

/* The numeric count */
.zilla-likes-count { }

/* The postfix label */
.zilla-likes-postfix { }

File Structure

zilla-likes/
├── zilla-likes.php          # Plugin entry point and template tag
├── src/
│   ├── Plugin.php            # Main plugin class, hooks, lifecycle
│   ├── Settings.php          # Admin settings page and options
│   ├── LikeHandler.php       # Like logic, DB queries, rendering
│   ├── RestApi.php           # REST API endpoints
│   └── Widget.php            # Most liked posts widget
├── assets/
│   ├── js/
│   │   └── zilla-likes.js   # Vanilla JS – hydration, toggle, UI
│   └── css/
│       └── zilla-likes.css  # Default button and animation styles
└── languages/                # Translation files

Uninstallation

When the plugin is deleted through the WordPress admin, it cleans up after itself:

• Drops the wp_zilla_likes database table
• Removes the zilla_likes_settings option
• Deletes all _zilla_likes post meta entries

License

GPLv2 or later.