Articles on: Collecting Reviews

Customizing your email templates and review appearance

The Appearance tab is where you design every customer-facing touchpoint, from review request emails to QR codes to the page where customers submit their reviews. Everything in one place, with a live preview before you save.

Before you start


  • To reach the Appearance tab: go to Collect reviews in the left side menu, then click the Appearance tab.
  • The left side navigation groups everything by category. Click any item to open its preview and customizer.


What you can customize


The left navigation has three groups:


Email templates

  • Review request
  • Review reminder
  • Thank-you email
  • Photo/video request
  • Apology email
  • Customer reward


Branding and pages

  • Email branding
  • Review Submission Page
  • QR template


Discount display

  • Promotion badge
  • Discount code


Customizing an email template


Each email template has its own preview panel and customizer. The customizer opens as a full-screen overlay so you can see your changes clearly.


To open a template:

  1. Go to Collect reviews > Appearance.
  2. Click any template in the left navigation.
  3. Click Customize to open the full-screen editor.


Review request email


The review request is the first email your customer receives after their order is fulfilled. You can choose from 4 layouts:

  • Product highlight: standard layout that highlights product images.
  • Like and dislike: uses thumbs up/down rating icons in a standard layout.
  • Modern · star rating: clean modern layout with 5-star rating.
  • Modern · like and dislike: modern layout with thumbs up/down icons.


Content fields you can edit:

  • Topic (sets the tone of the email copy)
  • Email subject
  • Preview text
  • Email content
  • Rating title, description, and instruction
  • Rating icons (5 stars or like/dislike)


Use the Variable button to insert personalization tokens like buyer name, product name, shop name, or order ID.


Follow-up email templates (reminder, thank-you, photo/video, apology, reward)


These five templates share the same customizer. You can choose from 3 tone presets:

  • Friendly and positive (default)
  • Professional and engaging
  • Fun and aspirational


Content blocks you can edit:

  • Sender's name
  • Email subject
  • Preheader
  • Header image (or upload your own)
  • Body intro text (with bold, italic, and link formatting)
  • Products shown (reminder only: all products from the order, or specific products)
  • CTA button (style, text, and link destination)


Each tone preset fills in sensible defaults. You can use them as-is or customize from there.



Saving templates and updating scheduled emails


When you save a template, Ali Reviews checks whether you have emails already scheduled that use the previous version.

  • If no emails are scheduled: the template saves immediately.
  • If emails are already scheduled: a dialog appears asking what you'd like to do.
    • Update later: saves the template for new emails only. Scheduled emails keep the old design.
    • Update N emails now: saves the template and re-renders all scheduled emails to use the latest design.


You can also bulk-update outdated emails from the banner in the Request dashboard at any time.


Email branding


Email branding applies shared design settings across all your email templates: logo, colors, corner radius, and footer.


To customize branding:


  1. Go to Collect reviews > Appearance > Branding and pages > Email branding.
  2. Click Customize.
  3. Adjust:
    • Primary color: used for buttons and accents.
    • Corner radius: choose from 4 presets or set a custom value (0–40px).
    • Header: choose Store Logo, Store Name, or a Cover Banner image.
    • Footer: add social links (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube) and customize footer text.
  5. Click Save.


Changes to Email branding flow through to all email templates automatically.


QR template


The QR template controls how your QR code inserts look when you download or print them: the heading, body text, scan label, QR color, and optional center logo.


To customize the QR template:


  1. Go to Collect reviews > Appearance > Branding and pages > QR template.
  2. Click Customize.
  3. Adjust:
    • QR color: choose from 6 presets or enter a custom hex. Use a dark color for reliable scanning.
    • Image within QR: choose No image, Ali Reviews star logo, or upload your own.
    • Heading (max 48 characters, default: "Loving your order?")
    • Body text (max 140 characters)
    • Scan label (max 16 characters, displayed in uppercase, default: "SCAN ME")
  5. The preview updates in real time as you make changes.
  6. Click Save to apply to new QR codes.


Note: If you have QR codes already generated, saving a new QR template will prompt you to update them, the same way email templates work with scheduled emails.



Review Submission Page


The Review Submission Page is the page your customers land on when they click the review link in their email. You can customize its banner, colors, and all the text fields.


To customize:

  1. Go to Collect reviews > Appearance > Branding and pages > Review Submission Page.
  2. Click Customize.
  3. Adjust the banner image, color pickers (stars, buttons, text), and all content fields (header title, description, rate title, review title, button labels, error messages, and scale rate labels).
  4. Click Save.


Discount display (promotion badge and discount code)


These customizers control how discounts appear in emails and on your storefront.

  • Promotion badge: the banner shown to customers inviting them to leave a review in exchange for a discount.
  • Discount code: the tile showing the actual discount code to redeem.


Both customizers include a Preview on dropdown so you can check how the design looks across different surfaces (review request email, reminder email, review box, etc.).


To customize:

  1. Go to Collect reviews > Appearance > Discount display > select Promotion badge or Discount code.
  2. Click Customize.
  3. Adjust design (colors, border radius) and content (text, variables).
  4. Select a surface from the Preview on dropdown to check the look.
  5. Click Save.


Send a test email


For any email template, you can send a test to your own inbox before your customers see it.

  1. Open any email template in the Appearance tab.
  2. Click Send test email.
  3. Choose single product or multiple products order simulation.
  4. Enter your email address and click Send.


Note: The submit review button in test emails doesn't work. It's just a visual preview.


Frequently asked questions


Do changes to Email branding affect all templates automatically?
Yes. Email branding (colors, logo, corner radius, footer) is shared across all email templates. You don't need to update each one individually.


Can I reset a template to its default?
Yes. Click Reset to default in the top bar of any customizer. This restores the original content and design for that template.


What happens if I save a new QR template after I've already printed QR codes?
Your existing printed QR codes still work and will still take customers to the right review page. The template change only affects the visual design of new QR images you download or print.


Is there a limit on test emails?
Yes, you can send up to 24 test emails per 24-hour period (for email templates).


Done! Your emails and QR codes are now on-brand and ready to collect reviews.


Need help? Chat with us or email us at support@alireviews.io

Updated on: 24/07/2026

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