In this overview, we explain how to create Showcase Review widgets.
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 👇
Short of time? To get a summary of how it works in less than five minutes, watch our helpful video below.Â
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1. Select widget styleÂ
Click the 'Review Widgets' tab in your Reputation Manager report (shown below within the red box).Â
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
List Widget lets you layout up to 50 reviews in a simple list or grid format.
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.
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, hit ‘Create’ to start selecting reviews and customizing the look and feel of your widget.
3. Select 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.
* Please note: This excludes reviews from Yelp, which is very strict about reusing review content.
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Now that you’ve decided on your best reviews, you have two options for populating the widget:
a) 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.
b) 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.Â
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’.
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4. Widget Design
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.
LayoutÂ
Select the max widget height in pixels, the number of reviews to be shown, and the display format.Â
ContainerÂ
Here, you can edit the container or background layer of your widget by customizing any of the following to bring your reviews to life:
- Border width
- Corner radius
- Shadows
- Widget title
 TextÂ
In this section, you can update the following settings:
- Change the font
- Change the alignment
- Change the color
Reviews
Lastly, you can edit everything inside the review panel. Choose whether to:
- Include the source site icons
- Include the reviewer's name
- Change the date format to match your region
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.Â
That's it — you're all set! Your embed code will now be available (as shown below), ready for you to place on your own website.
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