Are you looking for the Croquet WordPress plugin review? If you are, this article will tell you everything you need to know about the plugin!
Do you ever want to add a 3D space to a WordPress website? This is a much-advanced way to express something you are planning to explain.
For example, if you are running a real estate website and need to showcase every property ready to sell or rent, you could use this method to display the properties.
Doing it with HTML, CSS, and JS can be challenging. Hiring a professional will cost you more money if you are new to web development. WordPress users can use a plugin called Croquet for the same purpose.
Wondering how?
This article will show you everything you need about the Croquet WordPress plugin. If you are planning to use it, keep reading this article.
Croquet Review
Croquet is one of the unique WordPress plugins that can bring 3D spaces to your website. It has an easy-to-use and minimalist configuration option, so setting up the plugin would be a cakewalk.
You can use
- Videos
- Images
To set up a 3D interactive space with Croquet. It can be a great addition to your WordPress or WooCommerce installation. When selling a physical or digital product, adding a 3D interactive model of the item to the product page would be a great idea.
It helps the customer understand how the product will look and feel.
This Croquet review will explain the unique features that make the plugin special, how to configure it, and its pricing options. Support and documentation options, and our overall review.
Without any further ado, let’s see the main features of Croquet.
Croquet Features
The main features of Croquet are:
- Free
- Easy to Use
- Optimized for Speed
- Multiple 3D Spaces
- Invite Friends
- Single API, Multiple Projects
- Multiple Mediums to Embed
And so on. Below, we will explain what you can expect from each feature and why it matters.
Free
The Croquet WordPress plugin is 100% free to use. You can directly download it from the WordPress plugins repository and use it on your website. However, to unlock the full potential of the plugin, you need an API key.
You can generate an API key by creating a Croquet account. No pre-payment parts are involved; anyone with an API key can use the plugin.
Optimized for Speed
Speed is one of the crucial things you need to take care of.
You must fix your website as soon as possible if your website is slower. It can affect you very badly. Our tests found that the Croquet plugin has lightweight code and won’t slow down your website.
So if you are concerned about the website’s speed, you do not need to worry.
Multiple 3D Spaces Inside the Same Page
You can embed many 3D spaces in a single page. You can add as many blocks as you need to the WordPress page, post, or custom post type.
There are no limitations, and it is an excellent way to improve the customer experience.
Invite Friends
If you have embedded a 3D space into the page and must invite your friends, you can generate a unique QR code or get an invite link.
This nifty feature lets customers invite multiple people to see the product.
Single API, Multiple Projects
Once you have created a Croquet account, you will get a unique development API key. You can use this key to create any 3D space in your projects. There are no limitations to the applications you can use.
On top of that, you can also create dedicated API keys for specific projects. For example, if you need dedicated API keys for certain websites, you can generate individual keys.
It will help you keep everything well organized.
Easy to Use
You do not need coding to embed a 3D space in your WordPress or WooCommerce website.
Once you have installed and activated the Croquet WordPress plugin, you can use the dedicated Gutenberg block to embed the media file.
So, there are no coding or tweaking website files required.
Croquet is one of the beginner-friendly WordPress plugins you can use to embed a 3D space in your WordPress/WooCommerce installation.
Multiple Files to Embed
You can embed multiple files into your WordPress or WooCommerce website.
By default, the plugin will support image, video, and PDF files. So when you need to display a 3D model, you can easily upload the media file to the library and embed them.
On the other hand, if you do not need to upload the attachment to your media library, you can upload them to external storage. Then, you can paste the attachment link inside the block settings and create a 3D space.
How to Set Up Croquet In Your WordPress Install?
This section will show you how to set up Croquet on a WordPress website. The very first thing you need to do is log in to your WordPress website and go to Plugins > Add New.
From there, you can install the Croquet plugin.
Once you have installed it, activate it.
After activation, you are good to move forward. The plugin doesn’t come with any dedicated setting panel. It is a plug-and-play tool.
Now, go to the post or page where you need to embed a 3D attachment. You must be using the Gutenberg editor to complete the task. Sadly, the plugin won’t work with Classic Editor.
Inside the Gutenberg editor, search for the Croquet metaverse web showcase block.
You can add the block to the editor.
On the right-hand side, you can see the block settings.
To start working with the plugin, you need an API key. You can get the key from here. You can log in and get the API key if you have created a croquet account. Create a new account and generate a new API key.
After copying the API key, get back to your WordPress dashboard, and paste the API key.
Since the plugin has two sample attachments, you can preview the page to see the live action.
You can now remove those from the block settings and add your attachments. As we mentioned in the beginning, it can be a
- PNG file
- JPEG file
- MP4 file
- PDF file
Once you have uploaded the attachment file, you can update the page. You will see the results if you check it from the front end.
That’s it!
This is how you can use the Croquet plugin on your WordPress website.
Pricing
Croquet is a freemium tool. Here are their subscription models.
- Metaverse Web Showcase – Free – Unlimited OS Initiations – Unlimited Minutes
- Starter – Free – 1000 OS Initiations – 10000 Minutes
- Business – $19 a month + usage – 1000 OS Initiations (Extra $0.01/Initiation) – 10000 Minutes (Extra $3/1000)
You can choose a plan according to your requirement. Usually, the web showcase feature would be a good option for most WordPress and WooCommerce installations.
Support and Documentation
You can contact the Croquet support team when you need a hand configuring something. And to do it, you can send an email to [email protected].
If you need to see written guides, feel free to check out the documentation archive.
They have categorized the docs archive to:
- Croquet OS
- Metaverse Web Showcase
- Microverse Builder
- Worldcore
- Croquet Virtual DOM
- React Bindings
You can review the articles and see step-by-step tutorials on setting up the tool.
Croquet Overall Review
Croquet is a much more advanced WordPress plugin most suitable for online stores. Here are the main pros and cons of Croquet.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Free
- Drag and Drop interface
- No coding
Cons
- Limited file types
Since it is in the early days, there is still room for improvement. For example, they could create a dedicated plugin settings page where the customer can paste the API keys instead of using it every time inside a block.
Overall, it is a good plugin you need to have to showcase your product.
Get Started with Croquet
You can get started with the Croquet tool below.
Get Started with Croquet
Frequently Asked Questions
Next, let’s see some of the frequently asked questions regarding Croquet.
What Is the Croquet Plugin
The Croquet plugin adds interactive 3D space to a WordPress or WooCommerce installation. With this plugin, anyone can enhance the website’s features and make it more advanced.
How Much Does This Cost
Croquet is free to use. However, as of now, they limit the API requests.
Do We Need to Know Coding
You do not need to know coding to use Croquet. Once you have installed the plugin on your WordPress website, you can insert a 3D space with the dedicated block.
Who Needs Croquet
Anyone who runs a WooCommerce store or real estate website can use Croquet. Adding 3D models of the product or real estate property would be a cakewalk with Croquet.
Is There Any Limitations in File Types
As of now, with the Croquet plugin, you can insert
PNG file
JPEG file
MP4 file
PDF file
To the website. You can directly upload the files to your media library or add them to any external storage and paste the attachment URL.
Conclusion
When running a WooCommerce store, showing your products in a 3D way could be very useful. For example, if you sell something related to industrial or engineering products, adding a 3D space would help the visitor understand the product better.
Similarly, adding a 3D space for every property would be feasible if you run a real estate site.
As you can see in this tutorial, the Croquet plugin has an easy-to-use interface to add 3D space to your WordPress or WooCommerce install. The plugin is optimized for speed and won’t slow down your WordPress installation.
Check out the Croquet plugin if you are into 3D space and adding more features to your website.
We hope you have found this article helpful and learned more about the Croquet plugin and its uses. If you did, please consider sharing this post with your friends and fellow bloggers on social media, and feel free to check out our blog archive for more articles.