Manually Enter Reviews via Your Dashboard

What is this article?

On an IT Live website, you can display reviews on your homepage. There are three ways to do this — choose the one that suits you:

1. Live via Google API — automatically fetch, updates every 12 hours. Best choice if you have many Google reviews. See the article "Setting up Google Cloud API key" (slug: google-cloud-api-key-rijschool).
2. Paste from Google Maps — copy-paste the text from your Google Maps page; the system automatically recognizes who wrote what. Quick and no API required. See the article "Pasting reviews from Google Maps" (slug: reviews-plakken-handmatig).
3. Manual entry — THIS article. You type each review yourself. Full control, no Google required.

In this article, we'll show you how to use option 3 — manual entry.

[SCREENSHOT: choice menu with three tabs "Google API", "Paste from Maps", and "Manual entry"]

When to choose manual entry?

Manual entry is nice when:

1. You've just started and have few or no Google reviews yet.
2. Customers send you nice messages via WhatsApp or email that you'd like to display.
3. You want 100% control over the text, order, and presentation.
4. You want to mix Google reviews with feedback from other channels.

No interest in API keys or Google integration? Then this is your route.

Step 1 — Log in to your dashboard

1. Go to /admin/login.php on your site (e.g., https://yourdomain.nl/admin/login.php).
2. Enter your username and password.
3. You'll arrive at the dashboard.

[SCREENSHOT: login screen with fields for username and password]

Step 2 — To the review card

1. Click Dashboard in the sidebar.
2. Scroll down until you see the "Google Reviews Management" card.
3. Click on the Manual entry tab (or scroll to the manual form — depending on your version).

[SCREENSHOT: dashboard sidebar with "Dashboard" marked]

[SCREENSHOT: "Google Reviews Management" card visible at the bottom of the dashboard]

Step 3 — Fill in general numbers

At the top of the form, you'll see two general fields. These determine what appears as the heading above your reviews (e.g., "4.8 stars — 124 reviews"):

1. Average score — enter as a number with a point, not a comma. Example: 4.8.
2. Total number of reviews — enter the total number of reviews you want to display. Example: 124.

Important: always use a point (.) as the decimal separator. 4,8 won't work, and the score won't be displayed.

[SCREENSHOT: input fields "Average score" and "Total number of reviews" with example values 4.8 and 124]

Step 4 — Fill in reviews one by one

Below the general numbers, you'll see a list of review blocks. For each review, fill in four fields:

1. Name — the customer's name. First name plus initial is nice and privacy-friendly: e.g., Saskia M. or Ahmed B..
2. Score — a number from 1 to 5. Whole stars are best for readability.
3. Date — indicate in plain language when the review was written. E.g., 2 months ago, last week, yesterday.
4. Text — the full review as the customer sent it to you or wrote it.

[SCREENSHOT: empty review block with fields Name, Score, Date, Text]

[SCREENSHOT: filled review block with "Saskia M.", "5", "2 months ago", and sample text]

Have more reviews? Click + Add another review and repeat.

Step 5 — Save and view

1. Click Save at the bottom.
2. Open your homepage in a new tab.
3. Press Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac) to do a hard refresh — otherwise, you'll see the old version from your browser cache.

Done — your new reviews are now live on the homepage.

[SCREENSHOT: "Save" button marked at the bottom of the "Google Reviews Management" card]

[SCREENSHOT: homepage with the newly added reviews visible in the review block]

Tips for good reviews

1. Always real texts from real customers — don't make anything up. Google can track fake reviews through search traffic patterns, and it's just not fair to visitors.
2. Ask permission before adding someone's name. A simple message or email is enough.
3. 4 to 6 reviews on the homepage is ideal. More becomes cluttered, and visitors won't read them all.
4. Mix different services if you offer multiple ones (e.g., car + motorcycle + scooter for a driving school, or bathroom + toilet + wellness for an installer). This shows visitors you're versatile.
5. Update 1× per month so it looks fresh. A review from 2022 on your homepage in 2026 looks abandoned.

Editing or removing a review

1. Open the dashboard again and scroll to Google Reviews Management.
2. Edit the text or clear the fields to remove the review.
3. Click Save.
4. Hard-refresh your homepage (Ctrl+Shift+R) to see the result.

How many reviews can I add?

As many as you want. The homepage usually shows 6 once the system knows about them — the rest goes into the carousel or a separate reviews page (depending on your theme).

Frequently Asked Questions

The score isn't displayed on my site. Check if you used a point (4.8), not a comma (4,8).

My new review isn't appearing on the site. Do a hard refresh: Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac). Your browser is showing the old version otherwise.

I want to switch back to live Google reviews. Go to Google integration in the dashboard and enter your API key. The paste and manual options remain available as a backup in case Google is down.

Can I combine manual and automatic entry? Yes. You can switch between manual, paste, and Google API at any time. The system remembers your last choice until you explicitly choose something else.

Summary

1. Log in to /admin/login.php.
2. Go to Dashboard and find the Google Reviews Management card.
3. Fill in the reviews manually.