After a merchant installs your theme on their store, they can publish a review. Positive reviews can encourage other merchants to install and use your theme.

When a merchant leaves a review for your theme, they choose a rating of **I love it!**, **Neutral**, or **I'm not happy**, and they can also enter a comment. You will receive an email notification each time your theme is reviewed or a review is updated.

> Caution:
> Reviews that don't comply with Shopify's Partner Program Agreement are prohibited, and might result in action being taken against your account. This includes submitting fake or misleading reviews, and review incentivization. For more information, refer to the [Partner Program Agreement terms](https://www.shopify.com/partners/terms).

## How to ask for theme reviews

You can ask merchants to leave reviews on your theme as long as you don't encourage them to leave a good review. You should use neutral language, and never make an offer in exchange for a review—that goes against our review policy.

Here's an acceptable example of an **appropriate** review request:

"We value feedback! It helps us make our product better and keeps us energized. Let us know how we’re doing."

Here are some examples of **inappropriate** review requests:


- "Like our service? Leave us a positive review!"

    This request motivates only users who have a favorable perception of your services.

- "Get free customizations by leaving us a review!"

    If you’re giving a merchant something for free, you’re influencing them to leave a positive review.

- "Positive feedback keeps us going! Help by leaving a review now!"

    This suggests that the review should only be positive.


## Replying to theme reviews

Replying to theme reviews can help you identify issues, engage with merchants, and give them a more favorable experience with your theme. Replies can also show other merchants how engaged you are which can encourage them to install your theme.

You can reply to theme reviews if you're an account owner, or if you have a staff account with the **Manage public listings** permission. You can change an account's permissions from your [Partner Dashboard](https://partners.shopify.com/current/memberships).

#### Steps:

1. Log into your [Partner Dashboard](https://partners.shopify.com/organizations)</a>
2. Click **Themes**
3. Click the theme you want to view
4. On the **Total reviews** card, click **View all reviews**

    Your theme listing page will open in the Shopify Theme Store, and you'll see the **Reviews** section

5. Under the review you want to respond to, click **Reply**.
6. Enter your reply, then click **Submit reply**.

When you reply to a review, your reply appears below the review on your theme listing page. You can edit your response at any time, and only your latest response will be shown on your theme listing page.

The merchant will receive a notification that you replied to their review. The merchant can decide to edit their review, including the rating. If a merchant updates their review, it will replace the original review and rating. When a merchant updates a review, you'll receive an email notification.

### Tips for replying to reviews

- Consider replying first to reviews with the lowest star rating, or that mention an issue the merchant has experienced
- Reply to reviews as they come in—prompt replies can help engage the merchant in a productive conversation
- Use language consistent with your brand
- Be clear and concise
- Avoid including any technical jargon, marketing language, or spam
- Personalize the response for the merchant instead of giving them a generic response, but make sure you don't share any personal or financial information in your responses. Personal information includes full name, contact information, and private conversations between yourself and a merchant.
- Anyone who visits your theme listing can see your responses, so make sure every response is professional, respectful, and empathetic

## Managing negative reviews

Negative reviews can help you identify issues with your theme. If a merchant leaves a negative review because of a bug or other issue, you should work with the merchant to fix the issue. After the issue is fixed, you can ask the merchant to consider updating their review. This request should never be forceful or attached to an incentive.

If a merchant leaves a negative review containing information that you disagree with, the best course of action is to respond and seek to understand their feedback. You can also use your reply to share your perspective on the matter, in a respectful way.

### Circumstances where Shopify will intervene

Sometimes, reviews are fake, incentivized, or non-compliant with our policies. In these circumstances, we'll intervene and potentially edit or remove reviews from theme listings. We'll investigate reviews that include the following:

- **Inappropriate content** - The review contains swearing, slurs, or threats.

- **Personal information** - The review contains phone numbers, email addresses, mailing addresses, or other personal information.

- **Conflict of interest** - The review was written by a merchant who was offered something in exchange for a review. We'll also remove reviews left by theme developers and affiliated employees on either their own theme or on a competing theme.

If you find a review that meets any of the criteria above, you can [report it](https://help.shopify.com/en/legal#/report-an-issue/report-a-partner-violation).