# Get started with Testimonials

> Take a site from no testimonials to a widget on your own page in five steps: create a form, share it, approve what arrives, make a widget and install it.

This page walks a new site through Testimonials in the order that gets a
first testimonial onto your own website: create a form, share it, approve
what arrives, make a widget and install it. Each step links to the page
that explains every option.

Open the site and choose **Testimonials** in the sidebar. You need a role
that may edit content (the `content.write` permission) for every step.

> **Tip:** If customers have already reviewed you somewhere else, start on
> the [Import tab](/docs/testimonials/imports) instead of step 1. Imported
> testimonials never count toward your monthly number, and you can come
> back for a form later.

## 1. Create a form

A form is the page where a customer writes or records a testimonial.

1. Open the **Forms** tab and press **New form**. The builder opens.
2. Give the form a **Name**. Only your team sees it.
3. Look through the steps on the left: Welcome, Rating, Questions, About
   you, Consent and Thank you. The preview on the right follows what you
   change, and you can click through it. Nothing is stored from the
   preview.
4. Press **Save**.

The Free plan collects written testimonials. Video and audio answers are
part of Pro and up, and a form on a plan without them does not offer
them. Every field of the builder is on [Forms](/docs/testimonials/forms).

## 2. Share it

Open the form's **Share** page. It has four ways to put the form in front
of customers:

- **Link**: copy it into an email or a message.
- **QR code**: download it as SVG or PNG for a counter, a receipt or a
  slide.
- **Inline embed**: code that shows the form inside a page of your site.
- **Popup embed**: code that opens the form over your page from a button.

On the Business plan you can also send the request as an email through
your own email provider, with a personal link and a follow-up, from the
**Requests** tab. See
[Share a form](/docs/testimonials/share-a-form) and
[Requests](/docs/testimonials/requests).

## 3. Approve what arrives

Every testimonial arrives in the **Inbox** as **Pending**. Nothing is shown
outside the app until you approve it.

- In the list, press the check mark on a row to approve it.
- Or press **Start triage** to go through the pending ones one at a time,
  with a key for each decision.

Reject the ones you do not want to show. A rejected testimonial is kept
and shown nowhere. See [Inbox](/docs/testimonials/inbox) and
[Triage](/docs/testimonials/triage).

## 4. Make a widget

A widget shows approved testimonials on your own site.

1. Open the **Widgets** tab and press **New widget**.
2. Choose a **Layout**, such as Carousel, Grid or Masonry. The preview
   shows your own testimonials.
3. On the **Content** tab choose what feeds the widget, for example every
   approved testimonial, one collection or the ones with a tag.
4. Press **Save**.

Only approved testimonials are ever shown, whatever feeds the widget. See
[Widgets](/docs/testimonials/widgets). For a whole page of testimonials
that we host for you, make a [Wall of Love](/docs/testimonials/wall-of-love)
on the **Walls** tab.

## 5. Install it

Open the widget's page. It offers four ways to embed it. **Script** is the
recommended one:

1. Press **Copy** under **Script**.
2. Paste the code into your page where the widget should appear.
3. Publish the page and open it.

The widget's page lists the page under **Where it is live** once it has
been seen there. Steps for WordPress, Shopify, Webflow and other site
builders are on [Install a widget](/docs/testimonials/install-a-widget).

## What happens next

- New testimonials keep arriving as Pending. A widget shows a new one
  once you approve it, with no change to your page.
- The **Analytics** tab shows how often your forms are opened and
  finished and how often your widgets are seen. See
  [Analytics](/docs/testimonials/analytics).
- Set your colors, fonts and logo once in the
  [brand kit](/docs/testimonials/brand-kit), under **Settings**. Every
  form, widget and wall follows it.

## Good to know

- **The monthly number.** The Free plan includes 5 new testimonials a
  month. A sixth that arrives through a form is not lost: it is stored
  and waits until the 1st or until you upgrade. See
  [Limits and plans](/docs/testimonials/limits).
- **The badge.** Forms, widgets and walls carry a "Collected with
  Privatus Analytics" badge by default on every plan. Business and
  Enterprise can switch it off. Your own logo is on every plan.
- **The checklist.** While a site has few testimonials, the top of the
  Inbox shows a short checklist of these steps. See
  [Overview](/docs/testimonials/overview#the-setup-checklist).