FAQ
Questions before you install
If yours is not here, the chat bubble in the corner reaches a person.
Getting started
Do I need to write any code?
No. Classic Ratings installs as theme app blocks, so you add the review widgets from your theme editor by dragging them where you want them. Nothing edits your theme's code, and removing the app removes the blocks.
Will it work with my theme?
It works with any Online Store 2.0 theme, which is every theme Shopify has sold since 2021 and every free theme in the theme store. If you are on an older vintage theme, the blocks cannot be placed from the theme editor and you should talk to us first.
How long does setup take?
Most shops are collecting reviews within about ten minutes. The setup guide walks you through adding the two main blocks, turning on review request emails, and sending your first request.
Can I bring my reviews from another app?
Yes. We import from Judge.me and Etsy directly, and from a CSV file exported from anything else. Photos come across with the reviews. Imported reviews keep their original dates, so your history does not all appear to arrive on the day you switched.
Plans and billing
What does the free plan actually include?
Unlimited orders and unlimited storage, photo and video reviews, product Q&A, review request emails, the review widgets, custom rating icons, a Google Shopping feed, the referral programme, QR insert cards and the analytics dashboard. There is no review cap and no order cap.
What do the paid plans add?
Pro at $19 a month adds AI review summaries, AI moderation, review incentives, SMS review requests, the shoppable media carousel and gallery widgets, and removes our branding from your storefront and emails. Unlimited at $49 a month adds the REST API, UGC import from Instagram and TikTok, review syndication and sentiment analysis. Full detail is on the pricing page.
Is there a trial?
Every new shop gets 14 days with everything unlocked, no credit card required. When it ends you drop to the free plan rather than losing access, and nothing you have collected is deleted.
What happens to my reviews if I downgrade or uninstall?
Your reviews are yours. Downgrading turns off the paid features and leaves every review in place. Uninstalling stops the widgets rendering, and you can export everything to CSV at any time before you go.
Reviews and moderation
Do reviews publish automatically?
Not unless you ask them to. A new shop starts on manual approval, so every review waits for you. You can switch to auto-publish in one click. A review left waiting publishes itself after 14 days, with a countdown on the card the whole time, which is what the FTC rules expect of a review programme.
Can I delete a review I do not like?
You can hide or delete a review for a reason on a fixed list: spam, abusive language, personal information, not a real customer, wrong product, or a duplicate. There is deliberately no option for "it is negative", because removing honest reviews for being unflattering is what the FTC rules prohibit and what Shopify's review policy forbids.
Are photos checked before they appear?
Every uploaded photo is screened automatically for hateful, violent and sexual content before anyone sees it, on every shop and every plan. On top of that, photos wait for your approval by default, and you can switch that off once you trust the flow. Video always waits for you: nothing can watch a clip, so we do not pretend otherwise.
Can I offer a discount for leaving a review?
Yes, on Pro, and every reviewer gets the same offer whatever they rated. You cannot filter rewards by star rating. Paying only for positive reviews is prohibited by the FTC rules and by Shopify's policy, so the feature does not exist rather than existing and being risky.
Storefront and data
Will it slow my store down?
The widgets load their assets from Shopify's CDN and fetch review content after the page has painted, so they do not block anything. Star ratings are cached in the browser across a browse session, so moving from a collection page to a product page does not refetch what it already has.
Will my ratings show in Google?
Yes. The star rating block outputs Product and AggregateRating structured data, on every plan including free, which is what lets review stars appear in search results.
What languages do you support?
The storefront widgets ship in 15 languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Polish, Swedish, Danish, Romanian and Turkish. Shoppers see their own language automatically based on your store's locale.
Is there an API?
Yes, on the Unlimited plan. The REST API is documented at app.classicratings.com/api/docs.html. There is also a CSS reference for restyling the widgets, which needs no plan at all.