# Reviews

The Reviews app shows how customers rate your location on Google: the average as a large number with stars, and beside it single reviews taking turns.

> **Type:** app
> **For:** anyone who wants to show the Google reviews of a location on a display
> **Prerequisite:** the installed app (the Owner agrees to the app’s terms when installing it), the right to edit scenes, and a **Google reviews** source under **Data sources**. For this, an Owner connects Google first, with the account that manages the business profile of the location.
> **Where in the portal:** **Apps** › **Discover apps** › **Reviews**. The widget is in the scene editor under **News & info**. You create the source under **Data sources**.

## What the app shows

The app comes with one widget: **Reviews**. It shows the average of the Google reviews of a location as a large number, such as 4.7, with five stars and the count of all reviews, such as “from 312 reviews”. Beside it, single reviews take turns, with stars, text, first name and initial (“Lena H.”), and age, such as “3 days ago”. If you like, your reply appears below, and a code takes people straight to the review page on their phone. It carries the label “Rate us”.

The average and the count always include all reviews of the location. The choice in the settings affects only the single reviews that take turns. The display shows only the first name with the initial of each person, never the full last name. The source is always credited.

The app fetches nothing itself. Szenera fetches the reviews once for all displays, see [Where do your apps get their data?](/content/data-sources). The widget knows neither provider nor access. In the **Data & access** tab, the store therefore says under **Reads existing data**: “Data sources you choose for the app”. Without a network, the last state stays in place.

The widget arranges itself to fit its frame. Making it wider never removes anything.

- **Card**: the average with stars on the left, on the right the reviews taking turns and the code.
- **Portrait**: the average on top, below it the reviews taking turns and the code.
- **Tile**: only place, average, stars, and count on a small area.
- **Bar**: the average on the left, beside it the reviews as a ticker.

If not everything fits the frame, the reply of the owner drops out first, then the code, then the single reviews. Average, stars, count, and source always stay.

Two examples: A hair salon shows the **Card** in its shop window. A fitness studio puts the **Bar** at the top edge of its reception.

## Set up the source

The reviews live in a source. You create it once, and after that every widget chooses it from the list.

1. Ask an Owner to connect Google under **Settings › Organization › Connections**. **Google reviews** must be checked in the process.
2. Under **Data sources**, use **Create source** to create the **Google reviews** source. Choose the **Account** and the **Location** from your business profile.
3. Place the **Reviews** widget in a scene in the scene editor. In the **Data** tab of the settings window, choose your source under **Source**.

The steps in detail are in [Connect Microsoft 365, Google, or Grafana](/content/data-source-connections) and [Create a data source and show it in a widget](/content/create-data-source).

## Settings

Open the settings with the gear icon on the toolbar above the widget. They are on the tabs **Content**, **Appearance**, **Data**, and **Playback**. The toolbar also offers **Template** and **Colors**, plus the **Background**. If **Single reviews** is off, the editor hides the fields that then have no effect, and their value is kept.

| Setting | Tab | Meaning | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Source** | **Data** | The reviews of your location that you set up under **Data sources**. Below it are connection, refresh, state, and **Fetch now**. | none |
| **Single reviews** | **Content** | Shows reviews one after the other beside the average. Switched off, only average, stars, and count remain. | On |
| **From stars** | **Content** | **1** to **5**. Worse reviews do not appear individually. The average still counts all of them. | 4 |
| **Only with text** | **Content** | Reviews that consist of stars only do not appear. | On |
| **Count** | **Content** | So many reviews take turns, the newest first, 1 to 20. | 8 |
| **Reply from the owner** | **Content** | Shows your reply below a review, where there is one. | Off |
| **Code to rate** | **Content** | A code that customers use to rate your place with their phone. | On |
| **Seconds per review** | **Playback** | Only with **Single reviews**: How long a review stays before the next one comes, 5 to 60. | 10 |
| **Colors** and **Font** | **Appearance** | **Style of the app**, **Brand colors**, or **Custom** colors, plus the font. See [Configure widgets](/content/configure-widgets). | Style of the app |
| **Background** | **Appearance** | **Light**, **Dark**, **Glass** over an image, or **Transparent**. | Light |
| **Corners** | **Appearance** | **Rounded** or **Sharp**. | Rounded |

## Limits

- *Read-only.* The app shows reviews and replies, it writes nothing back to Google. You write replies at Google.
- *Google reviews at most hourly.* Google limits the fetches. That is why the source offers only **hourly** and **daily**, and a new review appears only after the next fetch. The **Fetches at Google** figure on the **Data sources** page counts along.
- *One location per source.* A source shows the reviews of one location in the business profile. For further locations, create further sources.
- *First name and initial.* The full last name never goes to a display. The source is always shown and cannot be hidden.
- *Shortened texts.* Long reviews and replies appear shortened, at the end of a sentence where possible.
- *At most 20 reviews taking turns.* The average and the count still include all of them.
- *The code needs a link.* If the business profile has no address for reviews, there is no code.
- *You decide which reviews you show.* You check whether that is permitted. We give no guarantee for the accuracy, completeness, or availability of the reviews. The Owner agrees to this at installation.

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| In the editor: **No source chosen yet.**, **The chosen source no longer exists.**, or **The chosen source does not provide reviews.** | No source is chosen, the source was deleted under **Data sources**, or it has a different form, such as a table. On the display, the area stays empty. | Choose the reviews of your location under **Source**. |
| In the editor: **The connection to the source has expired.** | Google rejected the sign-in of the connection. | Renew the sign-in under **Data sources** with **Reconnect**. |
| In the editor: **The source is paused.** | Someone paused the source. | Switch it back on under **Data sources** with **Resume**. |
| In the editor: **The source is being fetched for the first time.**, **The source is not responding and there is no earlier state yet.**, or **The source could not be read just now.** | The first fetch is still running, a fetch failed, or reading failed briefly. | Wait. As soon as the source is reachable, the reviews appear by themselves. |
| In the editor: **This source has no reviews yet.** | The location has no review yet. | Nothing. As soon as customers have left reviews, they appear by themselves. |
| Only the average appears. | **Single reviews** is off, or no review meets **From stars** and **Only with text**. | Switch on **Single reviews**, lower **From stars**, or switch off **Only with text**. |
| The code is missing. | **Code to rate** is off, the business profile provides no address, or the frame is too small. | Check the switch and make the frame larger. |
| The history of the source says “provider's fetch limit reached”. | Google allows no further fetches for the period. | Nothing. The next fetch follows as soon as it is free again. |
| The widget cannot be inserted. | The app is not installed, an update is waiting for your decision, or it shows **Not in your package**. | Check the status under **Apps** ([When an app does not run](/help/apps-troubleshooting)). |

## Related

- [Create a data source and show it in a widget](/content/create-data-source) — create and choose a source, and keep it running.
- [Configure widgets](/content/configure-widgets) — the tabs of the settings window with template, colors, and preview.
- [Discover apps](/apps/discover-apps) — all apps of the **News & info** category.