Our plugin offers two options for collection of customer reviews that you can find on its 'Settings' page ('Review Reminder' tab) in WordPress Admin dashboard:
- No verification - in this case, reviews are collected locally without a third-party verification
- Independently verified - in this case, we collect and verify reviews on behalf of your store
No verification
If you choose to collect reviews without having them verified by CusRev ('No Verification' option), then our plugin will use the default "From" address configured on your WordPress website. There is no option to use any other email address. If you would like to change the 'From' address, you will need to do it in the general WordPress settings. You can also use a plugin like WP Mail SMTP to configure the 'From' address and see a log of outbound email messages.
Independently verified
If you choose to collect reviews via CusRev to have them independently verified before they are posted to your shop ('Independently Verified' option), then the plugin will use a common email address 'feedback@cusrev.com' to send review reminders by default. However, the 'From' email address can be changed if you have a Pro version of the plugin. Let's look at these options in more detail.
Free Version
The free version of our plugin will use a preset name and email address in your emails. The Name of the sender will always be the name of your WooCommerce shop followed by “via CR” (translated into the language of your shop). For instance, if your shop’s name is Sky Shop, the sender will appear as “Sky Shop via CR”. In addition, the email will be sent from our email address on your behalf and the sender’s email address will appear as 'feedback@cusrev.com'. It cannot be changed with the free version of our plugin.
Although some of your customers may not recognize our email address, if they understand that reviews are processed by an independent party, their confidence in a fair review process is likely to increase. This will encourage them to leave reviews on your products. So, we recommend that you explain what CusRev is in the body of your email. A simple line like “CusRev is an independent company that processes customer reviews in an ethical and unbiased manner” will do the trick.
Pro Version
With a professional license, our plugin lets you customize both the name and the email address that appear in the email without any restrictions. Although most people will find the preset email address sufficient for their needs, the option to customize the name of the sender can help with marketing and branding. For instance, many small business owners prefer their real names to appear in their emails as they want to engage their customers as an individual. The option to have their real name in their emails will help build a better personal relationship with their customers compared to using the name of their shop (for example, John Smith instead of Sky Shop).
Change 'From' Address and Name settings in WordPress
To change the name that appears in your email as well as the email address it’s sent from, first, navigate to Reviews > Settings > Emails tab > Review Reminder email and you can see From Address. To be able to have your own email address appear in your emails, you must first verify it. So, type in your email address and hit Verify.
Check your inbox and you should receive an email from “Amazon Web Services”. Click on the confirmation link to confirm that you really are the owner of the email address.
You should see a Verified message if you did everything correctly.
The email sender’s name can also be changed by using the option From Name, just below the From address option. Simply type the name that you want in the box, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Changes to confirm.
Email Authentication for Custom 'From' Email Address
To improve deliverability of your emails with a custom "from" address, it is highly recommended to configure an SPF record for your domain. SPF is an email authentication method designed to detect forged sender addresses in emails. Since the plugin sends emails via Amazon SES, you should configure an SPF record according to this guide: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/send-email-authentication-spf.html. If you are using the preset email address, then you do not need to do anything because we have already configured SPF for you.
DKIM for Custom "From" Email Address
It is possible to additionally improve deliverability of emails sent from a custom "From" email address by configuring DKIM. Please reach out to us by creating a ticket to enable DKIM for your custom email address.
Final Words
In short, whether you are using the default settings of our plugin or opted for our pro features, configuring email addresses and the sender’s name in your emails is very easy with CusRev. If you are having any trouble with these options, feel free to post your issues on our support forum. If you have a Pro license, you can simply open a ticket on this helpdesk portal and our technical staff will assist you as soon as possible.