Manual Customer Reviews.

Installation, rules per field, scope, storefront display and custom error messages. As of version 1.0.12.

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System requirements

Shopware 6.7. The plugin creates no database tables of its own, the settings live in the Shopware system configuration.

What the plugin replaces: Shopware validates a review against a hard coded title of at least 5 characters and a comment of at least 40, both mandatory. That exact check is replaced by your own rules.

Installation

Upload the ZIP in the Shopware admin under Extensions, My Extensions, then install and activate it. After activation the plugin clears the cache by itself.

Right after activation the Shopware default still applies. Your own values only take effect once you switch the rules on and save.

The admin module

The menu entry is called Customer reviews and sits under Extensions, Stone & Water - Plugin Suite. The page is divided into sections: scope, general, review title, comment, star rating, display in the shop and custom error messages.

The save button sits in the top right corner. Changes take effect immediately after saving, no cache run is needed.

Scope

The select list determines who the values below apply to.

All sales channels (default)
The values apply to every channel that has no values of its own.
A single sales channel
Only this channel is edited. Saving gives it its own values.
Reset to default
Appears as soon as a channel has its own values. Removes them again, after which the channel inherits the default.

Below the select it says whether the chosen channel currently has its own values or inherits the default. So it is always clear what saving will do.

Switching rules on and off

The switch Custom rules active decides whether the plugin intervenes at all. While it is off, the shop behaves exactly as it would without the plugin: title at least 5 characters, comment at least 40 characters, both mandatory.

For testing: switch the rules on per channel and watch the number of reviews over two weeks. The switch takes you back to the starting point at any time without losing data.

Title

Mandatory field
Does a title have to be entered?
Minimum characters
Lower limit for the title. 0 means no limit.
Maximum characters
Upper limit for the title. 255 at most, that is the size of the database field.

If the title is not mandatory and stays empty, the review is saved without one. Shopware then shows it in the storefront without a heading.

Comment

Mandatory field
Does a comment have to be entered?
Minimum characters
Lower limit for the comment. 0 means no limit. The Shopware default is 40.
Maximum characters
Upper limit for the comment. 0 means no limit, technically up to 60,000 characters are possible.

The comment is the setting with the biggest effect. Lowering the minimum from 40 to 10 noticeably lowers the hurdle without making the reviews worthless.

Star rating

Mandatory field
Does a star rating have to be given?
Minimum stars
Lowest permitted value, between 1 and 5.
Maximum stars
Highest permitted value, between 1 and 5.
Worth knowing: in the default template one star is always preselected. A rating is therefore submitted in practice anyway, regardless of this setting.

Display

Hint below the field
Shows on the form how many characters are expected.
Character counter
Shows the current number of characters and marks it red until the minimum length is reached.

When a field is not mandatory, the hint additionally starts with Optional. before the character information. This note also appears when the character hints are switched off - customers should recognise in any case what is voluntary.

Custom error messages

Seven cases can carry their own text, each in German and English: title missing, title too short, title too long, comment missing, comment too short, comment too long and star rating missing.

Left empty, Shopware uses its own message. Which language applies depends on the storefront language, not on the admin language.

Licence

The Direct edition checks activation against our licensing platform. The key comes from the Plugin Suite, there is no separate input in the module. Activation works via the key, via the booked shop domain or via a running trial.

Without a valid licence: the shop keeps running normally. The Shopware default then applies and the custom rules simply stay off. There is no lockout and no error message in the storefront.

If the licence server is unreachable once, the last known state remains in place. A scheduled task refreshes it once a day.

Troubleshooting

The rules do not take effect

First check the Custom rules active switch in the right scope. Settings apply per sales channel, and a channel without its own values inherits the default.

The menu entry is missing

After an update run bin/console assets:install and bin/console cache:clear once, then hard reload the admin. The admin module lives in its own bundle whose file name changes with every version.

The hint does not appear

The hint sits below the field and comes from the review form. If your theme replaces the blocks of that form entirely instead of extending them, the hint is not rendered. Server side validation is unaffected by this.

A review is rejected despite the rule

Check the minimum and maximum values for contradictions, for example a minimum of 50 characters with a maximum of 40. The plugin does not save such combinations, but older values from an earlier version may still be present.

Support

Questions, bug reports and requests go to info@stoneandwater.online. The admin module has a Request feature button in the top right corner that opens a prepared email.

Availability

The plugin is available directly from us. Prices and purchase details are on the product page.