Frequently Asked Questions
Find authoritative answers to common questions about Glow Reviews setup, frontend feedback submission, spam defense, shortcode options, and designing custom testimonial cards.
General & Licensing
What is Glow Reviews?
Glow Reviews is a free WordPress plugin that collects star-rated customer feedback through a frontend form, lets you approve each submission in a moderation queue, and displays approved testimonials across eight responsive layouts, including a drag-and-drop Layout Builder.
Is Glow Reviews completely free and open source?
Yes. Glow Reviews is 100% free software distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPLv2 or later) on WordPress.org. All 8 layouts and the visual Layout Builder are included without subscription fees.
What are the minimum server requirements?
Glow Reviews requires WordPress 5.2 or higher and PHP 7.4 or higher. It has been tested and verified up to WordPress 7.0.7.
Moderation & Spam Protection
Do customer testimonials publish immediately?
No. Every feedback submission is held in a Pending Feedback queue in your WordPress admin dashboard. You must manually review and approve each entry before it displays publicly on your website.
How does duplicate-email detection work?
If a client submits a new review using an email address that already submitted a testimonial, Glow Reviews updates the existing entry rather than creating a duplicate. Crucially, the updated review is immediately returned to Pending Moderation so that changes must be re-approved.
What spam prevention tools are built in?
Glow Reviews uses invisible honeypot fields, WordPress nonces, form timing checks (blocking submissions faster than 3 seconds), and strict IP rate limiting (3 submissions per hour, 10 per day) without requiring annoying third-party CAPTCHAs.
Layouts & Visual Customization
Which 8 display layouts are supported?
Glow Reviews provides Grid, Slider (carousel), List, Masonry (waterfall), Stacked, Timeline, Marquee (continuous ticker), and Custom layouts created with the drag-and-drop Layout Builder.
Where do I find the Drag-and-Drop Layout Builder?
The Layout Builder is located in your WordPress admin menu under Tools > Layout Builder. It features starter templates, a gallery view, and live responsive preview toggles for desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
What happens if a reviewer submits a long quote?
Glow Reviews includes an automatic Read More / Read Less content toggle for quotes over 120 characters, maintaining visual balance across your testimonial grid.
Avatars & Image Uploads
Can reviewers upload their own profile pictures?
Yes. The feedback form allows optional image uploads (JPG, PNG, or GIF up to 2 MB). Uploaded images are safely stored in your WordPress media library.
What happens if a reviewer does not upload an image?
Glow Reviews first checks if the reviewer’s email has an associated WordPress avatar. If no avatar exists, the plugin generates a clean inline SVG avatar with the reviewer’s initials, ensuring no broken image icons or external HTTP calls.
Build Unshakable Trust & Accelerate Conversions
Download the 100% free, high-speed WordPress testimonial engine. Collect authentic customer star ratings, block spam bots automatically, and showcase stunning social proof across 8 responsive layouts.