Great Way to Narrate Blogs (and pages)

  • Dean Scott

    (@chrusion)


    7 months ago

    After a test run using the free version to test how the plugin integrated with our WP website, and being entirely dissatisfied with the extremely limited, english-only, computer-sounding voices, I opted to go Pro, so I could get the VERY human-sounding and more natural tonal inflections provided by Google Cloud TTS AI voices, including the plethora of languages, as well as the more functional embedded audio player, rather than a simple “Listen to Blog” button.

    In order to use the Google supplied voices, you need to have a google developer account in order to access and create a Google Cloud TTS service account and then download an JSON file API key that you then upload within the TTS plugin.

    After I recv’d the JSON API key file and uploaded it in TTS > Integration tab, I started getting fatal PHP errors when trying to use the Google Cloud TTS player, but Atlas AI Dev was quick to analyze my PHP error log and directed me to enable the PHP bcmath library extension. I did so, but the error and dysfunction of TTS persisted. It turns out that my hosting provider had to enable the PHP bcmath extension in a different area, which fixed the fatal errors. I could now finally select the desired language and voice for Google Cloud TTS from the now functioning Listening tab of the plugin. The developer also fixed several bugs in both the free and Pro plugins, providing several updates in the span of a couple days.

    For these reasons, I stuck with Atlas AI Dev because they were EXTREMELY accommodating and quickly responded to my persistent email cries for help, providing detailed steps to get the plugin running error-free and even posting an updated Pro version 2.3.2 within HOURS of me emailing them that the TTS was repeating sections of the blogs and jumping around in a random manner.

    The integration is straight-forward with just a couple setup options, thus making it easy to customize the player to fit your theme by adding your own custom CSS to the Customize > Design tab.

    Functionally, TTS sends the text to Google, that then generates MP3 audio files of the content, saving them to a TTS_Pro folder in your WP upload folder (mine is set to /images/). Therefore, it takes up to a minute or more for those files snippets to be generated before the embedded player appears at the top of your blog or page.

    Despite the problems above, I highly recommend this TTS plugin, 1) because when everything behind the scenes is properly configured, it works very well, and 2) it is being ACTIVELY and ROUTINELY updated and improved. Google Cloud TTS being only a few days old. For me, it was worth investing in this via the lifetime payment option for Pro.

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  • Plugin Contributor Atlas AiDev

    (@atlasaidev)

    Dear @chrusion ,

    Thank you for your comprehensive and insightful review of our Text To Speech (TTS) Accessibility plugin! We’re delighted to hear that despite initial challenges, our plugin has met your needs and expectations.

    Your feedback on the integration of Google Cloud TTS AI voices, which offer human-sounding tonal inflections and a wide range of languages, is invaluable. We’re glad that our support team could quickly assist you in resolving the PHP errors and ensuring smooth functionality.

    It’s fantastic to know that you appreciate the regular updates and improvements we make to both our free and Pro versions. Your recommendation means a lot to us, and we’re committed to continually enhancing our TTS plugin to provide the best experience for our users.

    If you need any further assistance, please feel free to reach out.

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