FAQ
Overview · Installation · Configuration · Usage · Developer notes
Do customers need to log in to write a review?
Section titled “Do customers need to log in to write a review?”No. The link in the e-mail opens a review page for the products of that order, without a login. The review is saved as a verified purchase, also for guest orders. If you prefer the product page, choose Reviews tab of the product page as the review form.
Are reviews published immediately?
Section titled “Are reviews published immediately?”They follow CS-Cart’s own Review approval setting (Add-ons → Product reviews). With the default (“any customer”), new reviews wait for your approval in Products → Product reviews.
When is the e-mail sent?
Section titled “When is the e-mail sent?”After the order reaches one of the statuses you chose (for example Complete) plus the delay in days (default 7), on the next queue run. Set up the cron job for punctual e-mails; without one, e-mails go out while administrators use the admin panel.
My customers did not get an e-mail. Why?
Section titled “My customers did not get an e-mail. Why?”Open Marketing → Review requests → Request log and search for the customer. Skipped and Cancelled rows show the reason (unsubscribed, no consent at checkout, a request for another order recently, exclusion, minimum total, products already reviewed, order canceled). Failed rows show the mail server’s error. Orders placed before the add-on was installed are not queued automatically: use Queue orders of the last 30 days.
Can I send a test?
Section titled “Can I send a test?”Yes: Marketing → Review requests → Send a test e-mail sends the request e-mail of a real order to any address, with working links. Test e-mails are not counted in the statistics.
Is rewarding reviews allowed?
Section titled “Is rewarding reviews allowed?”Rewards are common, but many countries require that a reward does not depend on a positive rating and that reviews are not filtered. The add-on rewards every review the same way, whatever the rating, and publishes nothing outside your normal moderation. Check the rules for your market and consider saying in the review text field or your store’s review policy that reviewers got a coupon.
Does the coupon work more than once?
Section titled “Does the coupon work more than once?”No. Each code is unique, single-use and expires after the number of days you set. It is withdrawn from the promotion as soon as an order uses it.
Does it work with Photo & Video Reviews?
Section titled “Does it work with Photo & Video Reviews?”Yes. Reviews created with it in your product reviews are counted automatically, and it can add its photo and video fields to the review page. If both add-ons reward reviews, enable only one reward.
What about GDPR and unsubscribes?
Section titled “What about GDPR and unsubscribes?”Every e-mail has an unsubscribe link, and you can collect consent with a checkbox at checkout. Unsubscribes always win. Request data is deleted after the retention period (default 365 days), and the core GDPR add-on can export and anonymize a customer’s requests. Opens are measured with a tracking image; switch off Count e-mail opens (Privacy tab) if your privacy policy does not allow it.
Does it slow down checkout or the storefront?
Section titled “Does it slow down checkout or the storefront?”No. At the status change it only writes one row; e-mails go out from the queue. The add-on adds nothing to product, category or home pages, and works with the CS-Cart 4.21 full page cache.
What happens if the license lapses?
Section titled “What happens if the license lapses?”Without a valid license (no key after the 14-day start period, an invalid or revoked key, a domain the license does not cover, or no successful check for 14 days), no new orders are queued and no request or reminder e-mails are sent; the checkout checkbox is hidden. Review links in e-mails already sent, unsubscribe links, rewards customers already earned and all reviews keep working, and requests, statistics and settings are kept. Once the license is valid again, everything is back.
The admin panel shows a license notice.
Section titled “The admin panel shows a license notice.”Open Add-ons → Manage add-ons → Automated Review Requests: the License card at the top says what is wrong: no key, a key for another add-on, a revoked license, or a domain that the license does not cover. Fix it on the License tab and click Check now. See License.
Does the add-on work on my staging copy?
Section titled “Does the add-on work on my staging copy?”Yes. Subdomains of your licensed domain (for example staging.example.com) and local development hosts (localhost, private IP addresses, *.local, *.test) are covered by the same license. Remember that a staging copy with real customer data and a working mail server sends real e-mails: switch off Send review requests there.
What happens if your license server is down?
Section titled “What happens if your license server is down?”Nothing changes for 14 days: the add-on keeps working and retries every hour. Only if no check succeeds for 14 days is it switched off until the next successful check.
Does the license check slow down my storefront or checkout?
Section titled “Does the license check slow down my storefront or checkout?”No. The check runs only in the admin panel or from cron, at most once a day, never while customers browse or check out.
Still stuck?
Section titled “Still stuck?”Work through the troubleshooting guide, then contact support with your CS-Cart version, edition, PHP version and the add-on version (1.0.0).