Submission forms

A submission form enables your contributors to rate and review your products and services.

Clients collect the majority (74%) of native content by sending out review requests (formerly post-interaction email or PIE) with a link that loads the product review submission form.

Types of submission forms
Simple submission URLs
Single-product submission (SPS) form
Multi-product submission (MPS) form
Adding or customizing submission form questions
Using the submission form editor

Two types of submission forms

Consider which type of review submission form you want your contributors to fill in before sending a review request:

Single-product submission (SPS): Allows contributors to rate and review a single product or service. This is the default Ratings & Reviews submission form.

If you’re not sending review requests through Bazaarvoice, learn how to create a single-product simple submission URL (ssURL).
Multi-product submission (MPS): Allows contributors to rate and review multiple products from a single email. Once the initial review is submitted, the multiple-product form automatically kicks in and the contributor is prompted to submit reviews for all remaining products using a seamless data-driven user experience.

If you’re not sending review requests through Bazaarvoice, learn how to create a multi-product simple submission URL (ssURL).

Note: You can expect to generate four approved reviews for every 100 post-purchase emails sent out (on average). MPS drives higher review volume than single product submission forms.

Tip: If you've implemented hosted authentication, you can use the Bazaarvoice Submission Link Generator

to create unique review submission links (ssURLs) for a single-product submission form. It will generate a perfectly formatted ssURL. The Submission Link Generator does not support MPS ssURLs yet.

What type of information can I collect?

You can configure your review submission form to collect the following valuable information:

Product star rating (mandatory)
Review title (mandatory)
Review text (mandatory)
Customer nickname (mandatory)
Customer email address (mandatory)
Answers to additional questions (optional)
Photos (optional)
Video links (optional)
Customer location (optional)

Note: To submit the review, consumers must complete the required fields on the submission form. You can also configure your submission form to include additional sections with optional fields.

Submission form examples

The following image is an example of a Ratings & Reviews single-product and multi-product submission form elements.

Single-product submission form	Multi-product submission form
Works on mobile and desktop, but optimized for desktop.	Works on mobile and desktop, but optimized for mobile.

Submission form: design best practices

To maximize the number of contributions on your website and minimize abandonment, keep your submission form simple and easy to complete. Collect the following types of information:
- Useful information that helps consumers to make informed decisions based on the review.
- Business intelligence information, such as authentic user sentiment about your products or services.
- Words or quotes from consumers that your company can use to improve product quality or to make merchandising or marketing decisions.
- Emojis with text that helps consumers to share more impactful expressions than words in the content when they submit reviews, questions, answers, and comments. For example, “Loving how these sunglasses look on me!😎”.
To ensure security of your customers, don’t ask for personally identifiable information (PII) in submission form questions, even if the questions are hidden on the review display. For example, don’t request the following:
- Physical mail addresses
- Date or place of birth
- Telephone numbers
- Drivers license or vehicle identification numbers

Why are simple submission URLs important?

Note: A simple submission URL (ssURL) is a structured URL with parameters that contain information for triggering a submission form.

It allows you to create and embed a link in the email templates that you use to send emails to contributors. It will take a potential contributor directly to the review submission form for a specific product.

Simple submission URLs are commonly used in email campaigns, review-request email messages, website banners, and splash pages to encourage review volume.

You can use data-injection with single-product ssURLs.
You can add information to reviews for tracking and reporting purposes.
Through simple submission technology, you can pre-authenticate contributors so they don’t have to sign in before they submit reviews.

Note: Research shows that when customers have to locate a product page, open the submission form, and sign in, almost 75% of the customers abandon during the process. The ssURLs removes that barrier, potentially increasing review volume and the effectiveness of email campaigns.

Tip: If you've implemented hosted authentication, you can use the Bazaarvoice Submission Link Generator to create unique review submission links (ssURLs) for a single product submission form. It will generate a perfectly formatted ssURL. The link generator doesn't support MPS ssURLs yet.

How do ssURLs work?

A contributor either selects a review submission link on your website or selects the Write a review or Submit link embedded within a review request email or text message.

The ssURL behind the link loads a submission container page before loading the submission form. Using the parameters from the ssURL, the container page determines:

Submission type (single product, multi-product, or generic product picker)
Submission location
User authentication (if necessary)
Submission campaign ID
Contributor/content badges (if necessary)
Product(s) to be reviewed

If the contributor is pre-authenticated by Bazaarvoice, they will not have to go through a sign-in process to write a review.

Note: A pre-authenticated link doesn't sign users into your website for functions such as accessing a personal account page. They will still need to sign in for those functions.

Note: The product picker (also known as generic review submission) enables customers to select the product or products they want to review. The ssURL displays a screen where the contributor can select a specific product from their multiple purchases. The single-product submission form will load for the selected product. The product picker is not supported for multi-product submission. Although similar to MPS, it works differently.

Where to use ssURLs

You can use single product ssURLs in any web media, such as an email, splash page, or a banner. You can associate single product ssURLs with buttons and images, or you can display a ssURL as a text link.

Note: Multi-product ssURLs only work with review requests.

A single-product ssURL can open a submission form that displays a product picker page for all products in your product catalog or for all products in a specific category or product family.

If you use a third-party service to drive review volume, ensure that every campaign uses ssURLs so that the collected content will be added to the Bazaarvoice Network.

Create a ssURL

How you construct your ssURL depends on two factors:

Are you using a single-product submission or a multi-product submission form?
- Learn how to create a single-product ssURL.
- Learn how to create a multi-product ssURL.
Are you using hosted or site authentication?

Note: The type of authentication your website uses will impact how the ssURL works and can influence your parameter choices.

Single-product submission form

Refer to the following sections:

Specify an alternate return page
Create a single-product ssURL
Examples of single-product ssURLs
Data injection

Specify an alternate return page

By default, customers return to the URL where they selected the Write a review link to access the review submission form. However, you can choose to specify a different return page.

Note: You must use an absolute URL when redirecting to the alternate page.

Include the following code on the page where the user selects the Write a review link:

$BV.configure('global', {
    returnUrl : 'http://AlternateReturnPage.com'
});

Note: This functionality only applies to single-product submission (SPS) forms.

Create a single-product ssURL

In most cases, creating an ssURL requires minimal technical knowledge. Complete the following steps to create an ssURL that takes the consumer to a single-product submission form.

Step 1: Assemble ssURL base

Note: You can also use the Submission Link Generator

to create the ssURL base. It creates a perfectly formatted ssURL link. The link generator doesn't support MPS ssURLs yet.

Here is the format of the ssURL base:

<protocol>://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/<environment>/<static>/<client_name>/<site_ID>/<locale>/container.htm?

Note: These instructions assume you've implemented BV Pixel using the scout file (bvapi.js).

Replace the following components in the base ssURL:

Component	Values	Details
<protocol>	http or https	Specify the appropriate protocol for your implementation.
<environment>	bvstaging/static or static	Use bvstaging/static for the staging environment. Use static for the production environment.
<client_name>	Client ID assigned by Bazaarvoice	Use the client ID that Bazaarvoice assigns to your company, which is also used throughout your feeds. Special characters must be URL-encoded .
<site_ID>	Deployment zone ID	Specify the ID of the deployment zone you want to use. If using the Main Site deployment zone, you can omit it from the ssURL. Special characters must be URL-encoded .
<locale>	Locale code	Specify the locale used in your implementation and for which the review will be displayed.

Here are ssURL examples:

In the Main Site deployment zone, in the staging environment: https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/endurancecycles/en_US/container.htm?
In the Secondary Site deployment zone, in the production environment: https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/static/endurancecycles/Secondary%20Site/en_US/container.htm?

Step 2: Add additional parameters to customize the ssURL behavior

Append parameters to the ssURL base to customize its behavior. Refer to the following table for a list of parameters, descriptions, and possible values:

Parameter	Description	Required
`bvaction`	Determines if the ssURL opens a form. Value: One of the following based on the form: Review submission form—Use rr_submit_review Generic review submission form (product picker) for all products or a specific category—Use rr_submit_generic	Yes
`bvproductId`	Use when collecting UGC for a specific product. The parameter's value must match the product's `ExternalId` used in your product catalog. Value: The product's `ExternalId` established in the product catalog	Required for specific product reviews (bvaction=rr_submit_review )
`bvcategoryId`	If you don't want to request UGC for a specific product, your ssURL can link to a generic review submission (product picker) page that displays all products in a specific category, as established in your product catalog. Either this parameter or bvfamilyProductId is required if you want to display the generic review submission form. If you omit the bvcategoryId and bvfamilyProductId parameters, all active products are displayed on the generic review submission form. Value: The category's `ExternalId` established in the product catalog	Required to open the generic review submission form (product picker) based on category bvaction=rr_submit_generic is required if you specify this parameter.
`bvfamilyProductId`	If you don't want to request UGC for a specific product, your ssURL can link to a generic review submission (product picker) page that displays all products in a specific product family, as established in your product catalog. The product picker doesn't support MPS. Either this parameter or bvcategoryId is required if you want to display the generic review submission form. If you omit the bvcategoryId and bvfamilyProductId parameters, all active products are displayed on the generic review submission form. Value: The product family established in the product catalog	Required to open the generic review submission form (product picker) based on the product family bvaction=rr_submit_generic is required if you specify this parameter.
`bvcampaignId`	Recorded with submissions that use this URL. The campaign ID is used to help segment data in reports to a specific campaign or campaigns. We recommend you include this parameter; refer to the list of campaign IDs provided with Brand Edge . Value: A string of up to 255 characters created to identify the campaign.	Recommended
`bvuserToken`	Used when the contributor is known but not necessarily signed in to the website, for example, during email campaigns. A maxage value typically is defined for the UAS. Used to pre-authenticate a contributor in the ssURL. If you specify this parameter, we strongly recommend you also include maxage=30 to ensure that the token is valid for 30 days after the creation date. (Default maxage is one day.) If used with hosted authentication, this will prevent the contributor from receiving a verification email. Value: A URL encoded user authentication string (UAS).	No
`bvinjecteddata`	Injects data into the submission form, such as answers to a submission form question. Locate the question and answer IDs in the Submission Form Editor in the configuration. Use the format {"QuestionId": "AnswerId"}. For multiple question-answer pairs, separate each pair with a comma (Do not add spaces outside of quotes). You must encode the ssURL if you include this parameter. You can use a URL encoding tool, such as the one available on urlencode.org to encode the string. Value: URL encoded IDs, such as QuestionId and AnswerId	No

Note: You can also use the Submission Link Generator

to add parameters to the ssURL base. The link generator doesn't support MPS ssURLs yet.

ssURL examples:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/<client_name>/<site_ID>/<locale>/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=ProductID&bvcampaignId=CampaignID

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/<client_name>/<site_ID>/<locale>/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=B75&bvinjecteddata=%7B%22userlocation%22%3A%22Austin%2C%20TX%2C%20United%20States%22%7D

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/static/<client_name>/<site_ID>/<locale>/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=ProductID&bvcampaignId=CampaignID&bvuserToken=UASToken

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/<client_name>/<site_ID>/<locale>/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=B75&bvinjecteddata=%7B%22hostedauthentication_authenticationemail%22%3A%22samiam%40bazaarvoice.com%22%2C%22userlocation%22%3A%22Austin%2C%20TX%2C%20United%20States%22%2C%22usernickname%22%3A%22samiam123%22%7D

Step 3: Test the submission link

Bazaarvoice recommends that you test submission links in the staging environment as follows:

Construct the ssURL to specify the staging environment. Here is an example:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/endurancecycles/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=apple1234&bvcampaignId=campaign1
Edit the implementation (in staging) and then set the Use product pages option to Disabled in the Review Requests section of the Collect Reviews > Configure Messages page of the configuration. This ensures that the submission form is displayed in the Bazaarvoice-hosted standalone container.
Load the ssURL in a browser and verify that the form is displayed.

Examples of single-product ssURLs

For example, the following URL provides the format for a pre-authenticated submission link for email reviews:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/static/<client_name>/<site_ID>/<locale>/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=<ProductID>&bvcampaignId=<CampaignID>&bvuserToken=<UASToken>

You can create pre-authenticated ssURLs for

Email submissions
Same-page submission links

The following example shows you how to assemble ssURLs for several scenarios.

ssURL in a review request email message

Lynn works at a company named Apples, and she manages campaigns to increase the volume of user-generated content for the Granny Smith apple. To request reviews, she wants to include an ssURL linked to “writing a review” in campaign media, such as the following review request email message:

Hello Connor,

Thank you for your recent purchase of the Granny Smith apple! Please let us know what you think by <a href="...">writing a review</a>!

Thanks,

Apples

To create the ssURL, Lynn will complete the following steps.

Assemble the ssURL base.

Lynn starts with the following base URL:
```
https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/<client_name>/<site_ID>/<locale>/container.htm?
```
She replaces <client_name> with the ID provided by Bazaarvoice, <site_ID> with the name of the deployment zone she wants to use, and __ with the locale of the implementation. When she's ready for production, Lynn removes /bvstaging.

She now has the following URL:
```
https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/Apples/ApplesCRM/en_US/container.htm?
```
Add submission parameters.

Lynn adds bvaction=rr_submit_review and bvproductId=GS-1234 to the URL to open the review submission form for the Granny Smith apple. Lynn also wants to track this campaign’s success, so she adds the bvcampaignId= parameter.

She now has the following URL.
```
https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/Apples/ApplesCRM/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=GS-1234&bvcampaignId=GranniesReview
```

When consumers select the ssURL, the following submission form opens for the Granny Smith Apple:

My review

Overall rating

1 2 3 4 5

Review title

Review

Nickname

Did you receive a free sample?

Yes

ssURL using data injection for an incentivized review

Building on the first example, Lynn wants to collect reviews from a sampling program. She wants to send the following email to request reviews from consumers who recently sampled the Granny Smith apple. She wants to link “writing a review” to an ssURL that injects the incentivized review Question ID into the form displayed.

Hello Morgan,

Great seeing you at the farmers' market! What did you think of the Granny Smith? We'd love it if you could share your thoughts by <a href="...">writing a review</a> on our website!

Thanks,

Apples

Lynn needs to identify incentivized reviews, so she creates a new ssURL for this email using these steps:

Start with the ssURL that she previously created:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/Apples/ApplesCRM/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=GS-1234&bvcampaignId=GranniesReview

Configure data injection. Lynn wants the “Did you receive a free sample” submission form question to have the answer “Yes” selected when the consumer opens the submission form from this ssURL. She can modify the ssURL to inject this data.

First, Lynn finds the QuestionID and AnswerID in the Submission Form Editor in the configuration, formats the values as {“QuestionID”: “AnswerID”}, and encodes this string. Lynn uses a URL encoding tool, such as the one available on urlencode.org to encode the string.

Her original string, {“FreeSamp”:”True”} encodes to %7b%22FreeSamp%22%3a%22True%22%7d. She adds the bvinjecteddata= parameter and the encoded string to complete her ssURL:
```
https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/Apples/ApplesCRM/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=GS-1234&bvcampaignId=GranniesReview&bvinjecteddata=%7b%22FreeSamp%22%3a%22True%22%7d
```

Use the following ssURL in her campaign media:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/static/Apples/ApplesCRM/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=GS-1234&bvcampaignId=GranniesReview&bvinjecteddata=%7b%22FreeSamp%22%3a%22True%22%7d

When consumers select the URL, the following submission form opens for the Granny Smith apple:

My review

Overall rating

1 2 3 4 5

Review title

Review

Nickname

Did you receive a free sample?

Yes

ssURL in a generic review submission email message

Building on the first example, Lynn wants to drive review volume for all products at her company using generic review submission. For the campaign, Lynn wants to ask consumers to pick and review products they’ve purchased using a banner displayed on the company’s website and by sending the following email:

Hey Joe,

Thank you for subscribing to Apples' newsletter! Have you purchased from us before? If so, how about sharing your thoughts by writing a review? Just find your favorite Apples product <a href="..."here and review it</a>! We're excited to receive your feedback.

Thanks,

Apples

To create the ssURL, Lynn completes these steps:

Start with the base ssURL and add the bvaction= and the bvcampaignId= parameters:
```
https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/Apples/ApplesCRM/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_generic&bvcampaignId=NotJustGrannies
```
This ssURL lets consumers view all of Apples’ products and select one to review.
To limit the products displayed to a specific category, Lynn adds the bvcategoryId= parameter and uses a category’s ExternalId value established in her company’s product catalog.
```
https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/Apples/ApplesCRM/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_generic&bvcategoryId=SourApples&bvcampaignId=NotJustGrannies
```
To limit the products displayed to a specific product family, Lynn adds the bvfamilyProductId= parameter and a BV_FE_Family ProductId value established in her company’s product catalog.
```
https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/Apples/ApplesCRM/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_generic&bvfamilyProductId=GreenApples&bvcampaignId=NotJustGrannies
```

Set up same-page submission links for Ratings & Reviews

You can add same-page submission links to

Pages where you are hosting Bazaarvoice content, such as the product display page.
Pages where there is no Bazaarvoice content, such as a user’s account page.

Same-page submission links for pages with Bazaarvoice content

To add submission links to a page where Bazaarvoice content is hosted:

Add the appropriate submission link code.
Insert the following JavaScript code on any page where you want to trigger the review submission form:
```
// Invoke review submission
$BV.ui('rr', 'submit_review',{productId : 'PRODUCTID'});
```

Same-page submission links for pages without Bazaarvoice content

To add links to a page where Bazaarvoice content is not hosted:

Add the appropriate submission link code.
Insert the following JavaScript code on the page, replacing <client_name>, <site_ID>, and locale with your values.
- Use the following code for the staging environment (the staging environment is for testing and development and is typically only visible internally. Ensure each Bazaarvoice URL referenced in the code contains </bvstaging> in the domain).
```
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/<client_name>/<site_ID>/<locale>/bvapi.js"></script>
```
- Use the following code for the production environment. The production environment is visible externally. Content in the production environment is visible on your live website.
```
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/static/<client_name>/<site_ID>/<locale>/bvapi.js"></script>
```

Data injection

You can pre-populate (“inject”) data for some fields on submission forms. Data injection uses a shared key plus hashing to validate the population of data, such as email addresses.

You might want to pre-populate data for the following reasons:

Help customers complete submissions more quickly. You can provide information you know about your customers—such as name, gender, age, or location—to make form completion faster and easier.
By eliminating the need for users to enter repetitive details, you encourage a higher rate of reviews.
Provide data for reporting and analytics. You can tie reviews to specific data that exists in your CRM, such as an order ID. This information isn’t visible to your customers.

Note: Contact Bazaarvoice Client Care to enable data injection for your implementation if you haven't already done so.

To inject data into a review submission form, you can link your product detail page or post-interaction email message to the submission form using the URL parameter bvinjecteddata. This parameter will pre-populate the answer to the submission form question.

When the contributor selects a Write a review link, the link loads the submission form and the answer is pre-populated. You can also use a special URL to load a submission form directly with pre-populated answers.

Note: Be aware that review contributors can change the value being injected into the submission form by altering the URL.

As a precaution, you can’t inject values into the following fields using a URL:

any rating field
review title
review text
whether the contributor recommends the product or service
whether the contributor agreed to the terms and conditions
net promoter score
comment text

Note: Contact Bazaarvoice Client Care to enable data injection for your implementation if you haven't already done so.

Complete the following steps to inject data using hosted authentication:

Use the configuration to add a question to the review submission form; the question must have at least one answer. This is the question into which you want to inject data.
Find the question and answer IDs associated with the question field:
1. Go to User Experience > Submission Form Editor.
2. Select next to the question into which you want to inject an answer value. A Question Details window opens listing the question ID and IDs for all associated answer values, including those for custom-created questions.
Note: Questions without multiple-choice answers, such as Order Number, have question keys but no integration IDs.
Append the question ID and integration ID to one of the following types of URLs to test whether data is being injected properly:

A link to any product page that hosts your Bazaarvoice integration code
Any Bazaarvoice simple submission link that redirects to the page hosting the submission form

All URL parameters to your pages must be URL-encoded . Manually encode your URLs using an online encoding application or encode them dynamically with the programming language used to create your website.

Note: Test in private mode or a Google Chrome incognito window to ensure that the data has been injected and not repopulated by the form memory.

Data injection example URLs

The following example URLs request a web page that loads a review submission form. The examples show how to use the bvinjecteddata parameter to pre-populate fields on that form.

The injected values are shown in italic. Refer to Submission form questions reference for information about injecting data without displaying it.

Inject user location

This example shows how to inject the contributor’s location on a submission form. Here is the data that will be injected:

{"userlocation":"Austin, TX, United States"}

Here is the URL, which includes the encoded data:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/endurancecycles/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=B75&bvinjecteddata=%7B%22userlocation%22%3A%22Austin%2C%20TX%2C%20United%20States%22%7D

Inject user nickname

This example shows how to inject the contributor’s nickname on a submission form loaded from a review request. Here is the data that will be injected:

{"usernickname":"samiam123"}

Here is the URL, which includes the encoded data:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/endurancecycles/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=B75&bvinjecteddata=%7B%22usernickname%22%3A%22samiam123%22%7D

Here is a URL that will inject the encoded nickname into a submission form loaded from the product page:

https://endurancecycles.com/path/to/your/productpage.htm?bvinjecteddata=%7B%22usernickname%22%3A%22samiam123%22%7D

Inject user email address

This example shows how to inject the contributor’s email address on a submission form. Here is the data that will be injected:

{"hostedauthentication\_authenticationemail":"samiam@bazaarvoice.com"}

Here is the URL, which includes the encoded data:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/endurancecycles/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=B75&bvinjecteddata=%7B%22hostedauthentication_authenticationemail%22%3A%22samiam%40bazaarvoice.com%22%7D

Note: Both the @ symbol and its encoding %40 are valid in the URL.

Inject order number

This example shows how to inject the order number of the contributor’s purchase on a submission form. Here is the data that will be injected:

{"OrderNumber":"120945"}

Here is the URL, which includes the encoded data:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/endurancecycles/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=B75&bvinjecteddata=%7B%22OrderNumber%22%3A%22120945%22%7D

Inject multiple fields

This example shows how to inject all of the above pre-populated fields on a submission form at once. Here is the data that will be injected:

{"hostedauthentication\_authenticationemail":"samiam@bazaarvoice.com","userlocation":"Austin, TX, United States","usernickname":"samiam123"}

Here is the URL, which includes the encoded data:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/endurancecycles/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=B75&bvinjecteddata=%7B%22hostedauthentication_authenticationemail%22%3A%22samiam%40bazaarvoice.com%22%2C%22userlocation%22%3A%22Austin%2C%20TX%2C%20United%20States%22%2C%22usernickname%22%3A%22samiam123%22%7D

Here is a URL to inject the encoded fields into a submission form loaded from the product page:

https://endurancecycles.com/path/to/your/productpage.htm?bvinjecteddata=%7B%22hostedauthentication_authenticationemail%22%3A%22samiam%40bazaarvoice.com%22%2C%22userlocation%22%3A%22Austin%2C%20TX%2C%20United%20States%22%2C%22usernickname%22%3A%22samiam123%22%7D

Note: Both the @ symbol and its encoding %40 are valid in the URL.

Inject people questions

This example shows how to inject people questions, such as gender and industry. Here is the data that will be injected:

{"Gender":"Female","BusinessIndustry":"MusicAndEnterta"}

Here is the URL, which includes the encoded data:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/endurancecycles/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=B75&bvinjecteddata=%7B%22Gender%22%3A%22Female%22%7D%2C%7B%22BusinessIndustry%22%3A%22MusicAndEnterta%22%7D

Inject people questions and basic user information

This example shows how to inject people questions and basic user information. Here is the data that will be injected:

{"BusinessIndustry":"MusicAndEnterta","Gender":"Female","usernickname":"janedoe123","hostedauthentication\_authenticationemail":"jane.doe@bazaarvoice.com"}

Here is the URL, which includes the encoded data:

https://display.ugc.bazaarvoice.com/bvstaging/static/endurancecycles/en_US/container.htm?bvaction=rr_submit_review&bvproductId=B75&bvinjecteddata=%7B%22BusinessIndustry%22%3A%22MusicAndEnterta%22%2C%22Gender%22%3A%22Female%22%2C%22usernickname%22%3A%22janedoe123%22%2C%22hostedauthentication_authenticationemail%22%3A%22jane.doe%40bazaarvoice.com%22%7D

Note: Both the @ symbol and its encoding %40 are valid in the URL.

Multi-product submission forms

A multi-product submission form enables you to collect multiple reviews from a single review request. Designed with mobile users in mind, multi-product submission forms encourage customers to leave multiple reviews by displaying all of their purchases on one page.

Multi-product submission forms also minimize form abandonment rates by following a simple, progressive submission flow. This means that the responses to the submission form questions are captured as the customer moves from one question to the next.

The multi-product submission form displays a list of recently purchased products. The customer can tap on a product to rate, review, and submit the form. Then they are returned to the form’s first page to complete the same actions with the rest of the products if they choose to.

Note: Contact your Bazaarvoice implementation team to enable the multi-product submission form feature.

Refer to the following topics for more information:

Enable multi-product submission forms for Bazaarvoice-hosted review requests
Create a multi-product submission form ssURL
Customize the multi-product submission form (using the Style Editor)
Multi-product submission form workflow
Multi-product submission form user experience (video)

Enable multi-product submission forms for Bazaarvoice-hosted review requests

Complete the following steps to enable and configure multi-product submission forms for Bazaarvoice-hosted review requests:

Sign in to the Bazaarvoice Portal .
Select Configuration from the Portal menu located in the upper-left corner.
Select an instance.
Select Go to Configuration. The Site Manager appears, listing the available deployment zones and implementations.
Note: You can also add new deployment zones and implementations on this screen.
Under Implementations, use the filter to find the name of the implementation you require.
Select Edit next to the implementation for which you want to configure submission forms.
From the menu on the left side of the page, select Display Options under User Experience.
Select the Ratings & Reviews tab.
Go to the Multi-Product Submission (Standard and Custom review request email templates) section at the bottom of the page. Turn on the toggle switch on the right side of the section to enable multi-product submission forms.
Note: This toggle switch only enables multi-product submission forms for standard and custom review request email template types. In-mail template types always use a multi-product submission form.
Select when you want your review request to link to a multi-product submission form instead of the default single-product submission form. Choose from the following options:
- For all transactions—All review requests will direct your customers to the multi-product submission form, whether they purchased one or multiple products.
- Only for transactions with multiple products—If the customer purchases more than one product, they will receive a review request link to a multi-product submission form. Purchases of a single product will trigger your default single-product submission form.
- Never only use single-product submission form—review requests for all transactions will link to your default single-product submission form configured with the submission form editor.
(Optional) Go to Require Review Text & Title (Multi-Product Submission Form) in the Review Submission section. Select Enabled to require contributors to enter review text and a title to submit reviews when using a multi-product submission form. Enabling this setting prevents the submission of ratings-only reviews in the multi-product submission form. We also recommend you upload a company logo to display on the multi-product submission (MPS) form. If you’re sending your review request or using a custom email template, then you may not have a company logo loaded into our system.

Note: Refer to Edit standard email templates for guidelines and instructions (Step 4) on how to add your company logo.

Tip: If sending your own review request, see Create a multi-product ssURL for information about creating your submission form link that leads to a multi-product submission form.

Create a multi-product ssURL

Complete the following steps to create an ssURL that takes the consumer to a multi-product submission form, which allows customers to rate and review their unreviewed purchases from a transaction in one place.

Step 1: Assemble ssURL base

Here is the format of the ssURL base:

<protocol>://apps.bazaarvoice.com/deployments/<client_name>/<site_ID>/<environment>/<locale>/multi-ratings.html?

Replace the following components in the base ssURL:

Component	Values	Details
<protocol>	http or https	Specify the appropriate protocol for your implementation.
<client_name>	Client ID assigned by Bazaarvoice	Use the client ID that Bazaarvoice assigns to your company, which is also used throughout your feeds. Special characters must be URL-encoded .
<site_ID>	Deployment zone ID	Specify the ID of the deployment zone you want to use. If using the Main Site deployment zone, you can omit it from the ssURL. Special characters must be URL-encoded .
<environment>	staging or production	Use staging for the staging environment. Use production for the production environment.
<locale>	Locale code	Specify the locale used in your implementation and for which the review will be displayed.

Here are examples:

In the Main Site deployment zone, in the staging environment: https://apps.bazaarvoice.com/deployments/endurancecycles/staging/en_US/multi-ratings.html?
In the Secondary Site deployment zone, in the production environment: https://apps.bazaarvoice.com/deployments/endurancecycles/Secondary%20Site/production/en_US/multi-ratings.html?

Step 2: Add additional parameters to customize the ssURL behavior

Append parameters to the ssURL base to customize its behavior. Refer to the following table for a list of parameters, descriptions, and possible values:

Parameter	Description	Required
`product`	Specifies which product will be shown at the top of the list in the submission form. The parameter's value must match the product's `ExternalId` used in your product catalog. If this parameter points to an ID that doesn't exist in `products`, it is ignored. Value: The product's `ExternalId` established in the product catalog	Optional
`user`	User token used when the contributor is known but not necessarily signed in to the website, for example, during email campaigns. A maxage value typically is defined for the UAS. Used to pre-authenticate a contributor in the ssURL. If you specify this parameter, Bazaarvoice strongly recommends you also include maxage=30 to ensure that the token is valid for 30 days after the creation date. (Default maxage is one day.) If used with hosted authentication, this will prevent the contributor from receiving a verification email. Value: A URL encoded user authentication string (UAS). Caution: Refer to this section for instructions on how to create a UAS for a multi-product ssURL. Even if you use hosted authentication, follow those steps to inject consumer data into a multi-product submission form. For hosted authentication, you will need to add one additional parameter to your UAS: `&hosted=VERIFIED`.	Required
`products`	List of products to be shown in the submission form. The parameter's value must match the `ExternalId` for each product used in your product catalog. Value: List containing the `ExternalId` for each product in the product catalog, delineated by a slash (`/`). Limit the list to 100 products.	Required
`campaignId`	Recorded with submissions that use this URL. The campaign ID is used to help segment data in reports to a specific campaign or campaigns. Bazaarvoice recommends you include this parameter. If you want to segment data based on submissions from a multi-product ssURL, use a campaign ID like `BV_MPS_SSURL`. Refer to the list of other campaign IDs provided with Brand Edge . Value: A string of up to 255 characters created to identify the campaign.	Recommended

Step 3: Test the submission link

Bazaarvoice recommends that you test submission links in the staging environment as follows:

Construct the ssURL to specify the staging environment. Here is an example:

https://apps.bazaarvoice.com/deployments/endurancecycles/staging/en_US/multi-ratings.html?product=product01&products=product01/product02/product03/product04/product05/product06/product07/product08/product09/product10&user=1415aea678aa99aef4df84d7218aa801a1efa9468f5dc198b1e2095f458efe8a26656d61696c616464726573733d6c6f63616c2d31353336333438333835353431406d61696c746573742e6e657875732e62617a616172766f6963652e636f6d267573657269643d6c6f63616c2d3135333633343833383535343526686f737465643d5645524946494544267375626a6563746964733d70726f6475637430312f70726f6475637430322f70726f6475637430332f70726f6475637430342f70726f6475637430352f70726f6475637430362f70726f6475637430372f70726f6475637430382f70726f6475637430392f70726f6475637431302676657269666965647075726368617365723d5472756526646174653d3230313830393238266d61786167653d3330&campaignId=MPS_SSURL

Edit the implementation (in staging) and then set the Use product pages option to Disabled in the Review Requests section of the Collect Reviews > Configure Messages page of the configuration. This ensures that the submission form is displayed in the Bazaarvoice-hosted standalone container.
Load the ssURL in a browser and verify that the form is displayed.

Customize the multi-product submission form (Style Editor)

The multi-product submission form inherits styling from your Ratings & Reviews display. Use the Style Editor in the configuration to customize multi-product submission form display settings like star color, button styling, and accent colors.

Tip: Refer to the Content Display Style Guide

for information on how to style features using the Style Editor. This guide maps the Style Editor menu options to the various display components.

Multi-product submission form workflow

The multi-product submission (MPS) form is a mobile-first review submission experience designed to work seamlessly on a consumer’s cell phone.

Note: The multi-product submission (MPS) form also works on the desktop applications.

When you’re configuring questions for an MPS form, give consumers an effortless experience that will encourage them to review all of their recently purchased products.

Designing your MPS form

Keep the following in mind when designing your MPS form:

The five-star rating system makes it easy for consumers to rate the products they just purchased from you. The consumer taps the star icons to submit their rating of each product. The following images show a multi-product submission form with a list of recently purchased products.

Note: Research indicates that 80-90% of consumers are willing to give an overall rating or recommendation (as long as it’s easy to do).
After tapping the star icons for any one product, the review form automatically loads for that rated product without the consumer having to tap anything.
The consumer is prompted to add review text and answer questions for each specific product, such as “Was it fit for purpose?” or “How would you rate the quality?”, etc.
Required questions (such as “Write your review” and “Add your review title”) are included in the Step 1 section of the form to ensure completion.
Tip: For the best user experience, minimize the number of required questions in your submission form.
The field for entering your “Review Title” comes after the “Review Text” because research indicates that consumers find it easier to write the text for their review first and then to come up with a review title afterward.
The submission form questions move sequentially. Consumers must answer and submit question 1, then move on to question 2, and so on until all questions have been answered. Refer to progressive answer submission for additional information.

Here are some example questions:
- Write your review
- Add a review title
- Add photos (max. 6)
- Add a YouTube video
- Best uses
- Did you receive an incentive to write this review?
After completing a review for one product the consumer taps the Submit button. They are automatically redirected back to the initial list of purchased products where they can continue to rate and review the rest of their purchases.

Multi-product submission form user experience (video)

Watch this video (select the play icon) to see how a contributor fills in a multi-product submission form:

What is progressive answer submission?

Multi-product submission (MPS) is progressive which means as the consumer submits an answer to each question, the response will be captured.

Even if they don’t finish answering all the questions in the form. Capturing each response as the consumer adds it means MPS minimizes content lost because of form abandonment.

Note: In single-product form submission the consumer must progress to the bottom of the page and select Submit for Bazaarvoice to capture any of the user's responses. Progressive submission means a consumer can go back to complete the form any time up to 30 days (if they haven’t completed all of the questions), as long as they use the same browser.

Adding or customizing submission form questions

Use the configuration to configure your single-product or multi-product submission form questions.

Note: To streamline the submission process, you can configure data injection and simple submission URLs.

Using the submission form editor

Submission form questions enable you to collect valuable information from your customers that you can use for business purposes. The questions prompt customers to provide information about themselves and their sentiments about your products or service.

For example, authentic user sentiment and quotes about your products or services (directly from your customers), can be used in marketing campaigns and are invaluable in reviews.

Answers to submission form questions contextualize the review and enable consumers to make informed buying decisions. For example, a contributor might write a negative review about an item of clothing saying it doesn’t fit well, but answers the Body Type question on the submission form. A potential customer reading the review (someone with a different body type) may ignore this negative review.

Watch this short video about using the submission form editor:

Customize a submission form

Watch this short video to see how you can configure submission form questions:

Follow these steps to configure a submission form:

Before beginning, consider the types of questions available and how you want to design your form. Refer to Submission form questions, categories and fields to read about and determine the category of questions you want to configure.
Sign in to the Portal .
Select Configuration from the Portal menu located in the upper-left corner.
Select an instance.
Select Go to Configuration. The Site Manager appears, listing the available deployment zones and implementations.
Note: You can also add new deployment zones and implementations on this screen.
Under Implementations, use the filter to find the name of the implementation you require.
Select Edit next to the implementation for which you want to configure submission forms.
From the menu on the left side of the page, select Submission Form Editor under User Experience.
Note: You will also need to configure some sections outside the submission form editor. Locate this content by hovering over a grayed-out section and opening the link provided in the tooltip.
Select located in the upper-left corner of the page to find the product category name or ID of the submission form you want to modify. The editor automatically displays the All Products submission form. If you add, edit, or delete questions in this particular form, the editor applies your changes to all linked forms.
Note: The path to the selected category displays at the top of the editor beside Editing questions for:. If you select again, the word "Selected" appears on the right side of the newly selected category.
If applicable, select the locale you want to edit from the dropdown list.
To add a new question to the form, select + New Question beside the category of question you want to add. A list of predefined questions for that category displays.

To add a predefined question, select Add This Question. You can edit the question name, display label, submission form label, possible answer values, and global question settings before saving. If you operate in multiple locales, you can also edit values for each locale. To add a custom question, select Add a Custom Question. You can select a question type and enter a question name, question ID, display label, submission form label, and possible answer values. Set global question settings. The following table shows valid values for question type depending on the question category.

Question Category	Valid Question Types
People questions	Dropdown Select, Free Text
Ratings questions	Ratings, Slider
Product questions	Dropdown Select, Tag Groups, Free Text

Select Save and Add to form, or select Delete icon in the upper-right corner to return to the editor without saving.

Note: The Dropdown Select question type renders as a tap button on a mobile device.

Select to modify an existing question. If the question appears in multiple categories, any edits will update the question in all categories where it appears.
Note: The Dropdown Select question type renders as a tap button on a mobile device.
If you need to delete a question from the form, select . If you delete a question from the All Products form, the editor removes the question from all linked forms.
If you need to change the default order of questions on the form, select > Move this section next to a question category to move an entire section of questions. Select the section you want to move and drag it to the preferred location on the submission form.
Note: The Base Review Questions, Basic User Info, and Net Promoter Question sections are locked and can't be moved.

You can also reorder questions within a question category. Select > Reorder questions in this section. Select the question you want to move and drag it to the preferred location.
If you added or modified a product question for a subcategory (chosen in step 5), this severs inheritance from the parent category. (Submission forms for product subcategories inherit questions from parent categories.) displays at the top of the submission form editor and next to the category in the product categories list. To revert the category to its original state and restore the link to the parent category, select . All of the changes made to the parent category while the child category was severed now appear in the child.

Submission form question categories and fields

This section describes the available question categories and explains the elements you can configure for each question.

Watch this short video to see an overview of the submission form question categories:

Question categories

Submission form questions are grouped into the following categories:

Ratings—Optional secondary ratings relating to specific attributes (aka rating dimensions) of the product or service, such as the cleanliness or food quality at a restaurant.

Answers to these questions can help consumers determine if a specific aspect of a product or service meets their needs. You can customize the customer-facing labels for rating dimensions for your specific business.
People—Provide additional information about the contributor, such as age and gender. Answers to these questions help consumers identify with the person who wrote the review. People questions should map to consumer segments important to your business. For example, a cosmetics company might want to ask reviewers to identify their skin type.

You can customize the language of the questions to suit your business, and you can omit any recommended options. However, to benchmark this data accurately against other Bazaarvoice clients, you must use the default answer ranges. These can be powerful tools if you make these questions filterable by other users.

Note: Brand Edge supports COPPA. Refer to the COPPA support statement for more information.
Products—Enable contributors to provide insight into specific issues about a product (such as clothing fit, durability, or appearance) and how they use the product (level of expertise or usage frequency).

Answers to these questions help consumers learn more about the contributor and provide context for their experience with the product or service.
- For example, if a person is shopping for a new camera to take family photos, and she sees a few low ratings from reviewers who are professional photographers, she can probably assume their concerns will not impact her satisfaction with the camera.
- Use product questions instead of ratings questions when a specific attribute is best described on a two-option scale instead of a relative, value-based scale of 1-5 or a value-neutral scale. For example, you can collect information about product appearance using a product question (“How does your purchase fit?”) with response values like “Runs narrow” and “Runs wide”.
- Or you can use a rating question (“How would you rate the appearance of the product?”) with response values of 1-5.
- Product questions provide more context than ratings questions. Answers to ratings questions don’t provide consumers as much useful information as answers to product questions, especially if the contributor rates the product without writing a text review that provides context.
Note: Be aware that submission forms for product subcategories inherit questions from parent categories. Changes made to the submission form for a parent category are inherited by child categories. For example, if you define a submission form for apparel, submission forms displayed for product subcategories in apparel (such as dresses or shirts) inherit questions from the main apparel submission form. By default, a change to a subcategory product's submission form severs the inheritance from its parent category.

Question fields

The following figure shows the window in which you configure a new question or edit an existing question.

Question Type—(all questions) Types of responses a reviewer can make for a given question.

Dropdown Select—(people and product questions) Contributors respond with exactly one answer from a list of values you provide.

Note: The Dropdown Select question type is rendered as a tap button on a mobile device.
Ratings—(ratings questions) Contributors express sentiment about one aspect of the product or service on a five-point scale.
Slider—(ratings questions) Contributors rate a product or service on a continuum instead of by numeric rank. They supplement overall ratings by providing a richer rating level for a product. Sliders can reduce returns by 5 to 15 percent.

The following image shows a slider similar to what you would find on a submission form or published review.

Examples of industries that benefit greatly from having sliders include apparel, shoes/footwear, cosmetics, sports and outdoors stores, and department stores. Sliders enable product reviews to have descriptions such as “Runs narrow,” “Fits correctly,” or “Runs wide.”
Tag groups—(product questions) Contributors tag a product or service with descriptors you provide, and tag groups enable contributors to add commonly expressed opinions or information to their reviews. Consumers can derive useful information from the tags quickly. For example, if your product is a digital camera, you could add the tag category “Digital Camera Pros” and provide tags like “Long battery life,” “Compact,” and “Included lens.”
Free text—(product questions) Reviewers write comments about a product or service.

Question Name—(all questions) Descriptive, unique name for internal use that helps you identify the question in the questions list during configuration.

Question ID—(all questions) The ID of the question for data injection, syndication, and reporting. This ID should not contain any special characters or spaces.

Display Label—(all questions) Text displayed on the published review that prefaces the response value the contributor provided.

Submission Form Label—(all questions) Request for information from the contributor. The Submission Label text displays on the review submission form.

Possible Answer Values—(people, slider, and product questions) Options contributors select when responding to the submission form question. To edit existing values for default questions, select inside the value box to make it editable. To add more values, select Add new value.

Note: For ratings questions, values fields are available for the slider question type but not the ratings question type.

Left Label—(slider questions only) Leftmost label on a slider.

Right Label—(slider questions only) Rightmost label on a slider.

Global question settings

Watch this short video to see an overview of the global question settings:

The following global question settings are available. During onboarding, these settings are configured as best practices.

Required—(all questions) Requires contributors to respond to the question.

Note: Don't select this option if you use data injection to populate the answer.
Hide in display—(all questions) Prevents the answer to this question from displaying on the published review.
Filterable—(people questions) Enables consumers to filter reviews based on the Values you set.
Hide on submission—(people and product questions) Prevents the answer to this question from displaying on the submission form. Answers to these questions are populated using data injection.
Auto-populate—(people questions only) Automatically populates the submission form fields if the contributor previously provided the same information on your website. Deselect Required if you select the Auto-populate option. Contact your Bazaarvoice Implementation Engineer if you want to enable this option.
Subject ID required—(people and product questions) Requires the subject ID for a product to be injected into the review submission.

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Two types of submission forms

What type of information can I collect?

Submission form examples

Submission form: design best practices

Why are simple submission URLs important?

How do ssURLs work?

Where to use ssURLs

Create a ssURL

Single-product submission form

Specify an alternate return page

Create a single-product ssURL

Step 1: Assemble ssURL base

Step 2: Add additional parameters to customize the ssURL behavior

Step 3: Test the submission link

Examples of single-product ssURLs

ssURL in a review request email message

ssURL using data injection for an incentivized review

ssURL in a generic review submission email message

Set up same-page submission links for Ratings & Reviews

Same-page submission links for pages with Bazaarvoice content

Same-page submission links for pages without Bazaarvoice content

Data injection

Data injection example URLs

Inject user location

Inject user nickname

Inject user email address

Inject order number

Inject multiple fields

Inject people questions

Inject people questions and basic user information

Multi-product submission forms

Enable multi-product submission forms for Bazaarvoice-hosted review requests

Create a multi-product ssURL

Step 1: Assemble ssURL base

Step 2: Add additional parameters to customize the ssURL behavior

Step 3: Test the submission link

Customize the multi-product submission form (Style Editor)

Multi-product submission form workflow

Designing your MPS form

Multi-product submission form user experience (video)

What is progressive answer submission?

Adding or customizing submission form questions

Using the submission form editor

Customize a submission form

Submission form question categories and fields

Question categories

Question fields

Global question settings

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