How to create Review Widgets

In this overview, we explain how to create Review Widgets in Reputation Manager (RM).

If you prefer to learn by watching videos, check out our free course in BrightLocal Academy that shows you how to set up and understand a Reputation Manager report 👇

1. Select widget style 

Click the 'Review Widgets' tab in Reputation Manager.

You have three different options to showcase your best online reviews — each Location can have one widget of each type, as follows:

• List
• Carousel
• JSON feed

a. List Widget

Lets you layout up to 50 reviews in a simple list or grid format.

b. Carousel Widget

Scrolls through reviews horizontally. Up to 10 reviews can be selected for this widget and you're able to choose whether you'd like an animated or clickable slider.

c. JSON Feed

Gives you a raw data feed of selected reviews. This option is best for those with an in-house web design resource (therefore without a need for our styling options).

2. Create a Widget

Once you have selected which style of widget best suits your application, click ‘Create’ to start selecting reviews and customizing the look and feel of your widget.

3. Select Reviews

a. Filter reviews

Next, you need to choose which reviews you'd like to showcase in your widget. Use the filter menu to narrow down your list according to star rating, recency or review source. To include first-party reviews from Get Reviews campaigns, choose an option from the ‘Feedback Score (NPS)’ section.

Now that you’ve decided on your best reviews, you have two options for populating the widget:

b. Select individual reviews

You can hand-pick reviews by using the selectors on the right-hand side to toggle a review on or off. This method gives you complete control over which reviews make the cut, but you’ll need to return and update these settings to include reviews received after the widget was created.

c. Auto select reviews

If you’d prefer to ‘set and forget’ (and let us do the work for you), use the toggle switch to turn on ‘Auto select reviews’. In this mode, any new reviews pulled into Reputation Manager that match your filters will automatically be included in the widget — the latest reviews will be shown first.

In this mode, the ‘Select’ toggle becomes a ‘Blacklist’ function, letting you exclude any inappropriate content, even if it matches your filter selection. 

d. Position reviews

Both manual and auto select modes have a ‘Position’ column (shown below within the red box). Here, you can set and ‘pin’ the order of the first 10 reviews so that your standout reviews are always front and center. Once you’re happy with your review selection, click ‘Next’.

4. Design Widget

In this step, you can customize the look and feel of your List or Carousel widget, using the dropdown menus — some simple preset styles have been created to get you started. As soon as you begin editing a preset, that will become a separate ‘Custom’ preset.

a. Layout 

Select the max widget height in pixels, the number of reviews to be shown, and the display format.

• Widget max height: Set a fixed height (in pixels) for your widget. If your review list exceeds this, it will become scrollable within the container.
   
• Desktop layout display: Choose how reviews are arranged on desktop from a single-column list, a two-column layout, or a grid.
   
• Number of reviews to show: Use the slider to control how many reviews appear in the widget at once, from a handful up to the maximum available for that widget type.

b. Container 

Here, you can edit the container or background layer of your widget by customizing any of the following to bring your reviews to life. Container settings include:

• Background: Set the background color of the widget container using a hex code or the color picker.
   
• Corner radius: Adjust how rounded the corners of the widget container appear, in pixels.
   
• Customize border: Toggle this on to add a border around the widget container, then set the width (in pixels) and color.
   
• Customize shadow: Toggle this on to add a drop shadow behind the widget, then set the X/Y offset, blur, spread, and color to control its appearance.
   
• Customize widget title: Toggle this on to edit the heading shown above your reviews, then enter your title text and choose which sources are included in the review summary shown at the top of the widget.

c. Text

In this section, you can update the following settings:

• Font: Choose the typeface used across the widget's text.
   
• Color: Set the main text color using a hex code or the color picker.
   
• Link color: Set the color used for clickable links within the widget.
   
• Size: Use the slider to adjust the overall text size.
   
• Alignment: Choose whether text is aligned left, center, or right within the widget.

d. Reviews

Lastly, you can edit everything inside the review panel. Reviews settings include:

• Display reviewer's name: Toggle this on to show the name of each reviewer.
   
• Display review site icon: Toggle this on to show the logo of the site the review came from (e.g. Google).
   
• Add business details to Schema: Toggle this on to include structured business data, helping search engines better understand and potentially display your reviews.
   
• Date format: Choose between MMDDYYYY or DDMMYYYY, or hide the review date entirely.
   
• Reviews character count: Limit how much of each review's text is shown before truncating — choose between 140 or 280 characters.
   
• Background: Set the background color of each individual review card.
   
• Corner radius: Adjust how rounded the corners of each review card appear.
   
• Customize border: Toggle this on to add a border around each review card, then set the width (in pixels) and color.
   
• Customize shadow: Toggle this on to add a drop shadow behind each review card, then set the X/Y offset, blur, spread, and color to control its appearance.

In this example, I've softened the corners and defined the shadow to make my reviews stand out a little more.

When you're happy with your widget's appearance, click 'Finish' in the bottom right-hand corner to complete the process and save your settings. 

5. Get Widget Code

That's it — you're all set! Your embed code will now be available, ready for you to copy and place on your own website.