Getting Started
By James
By James
Install UserLoop Contests, create your first contest, and understand the dashboard.
Installing the App
Find UserLoop Contests 1. Open the Shopify App Store and search for UserLoop Contests. 2. Click Add app. 3. Review the permissions in Shopify admin. 4. Click Install app. You can also open Settings > Apps and sales channels > Shopify App Store from Shopify admin and search there. Why the app requests permissions | Permission | Why it is needed | |---|---| | Read products | Select Shopify products as contest prizes | | Read/write metaobjects and definitions | Connect contest data to storefront app blocks and popups | | Read themes | Check storefront integration status | | Write files | Upload contest headers, logos, and custom prize images | Optional discount access Unique per-entrant discount rewards are a Pro feature. The first time you configure one, the editor may ask you to Allow discount access. This separately grants Shopify read_discounts and write_discounts so the app can create and issue the contest's unique codes. You do not need to approve discount access if you do not use discount-code rewards. See Discount Code Rewards before enabling it. Complete first-time setup The first time you open UserLoop Contests, setup has two steps: 1. Enter your contact details, choose how you heard about UserLoop, and select the language used by the app and merchant emails. 2. On Pick your starting plan, choose Continue with Free or Start with Pro. Continue with Free completes setup and opens the dashboard. Start with Pro completes setup and opens Shopify's managed pricing page, where you can review and approve the Pro subscription. Pro becomes active after Shopify approves the subscription. Mobile UserLoop Contests onboarding screen comparing the recommended Pro plan with the Free plan After setup UserLoop Contests appears under Apps in Shopify admin and prepares the data structures needed by its theme extensions. No separate storefront setup is required before you create a draft. To show an active contest to customers, use Launch in the contest editor to share its standalone page, enable the popup app embed, or add the Contest Form section to an Online Store 2.0 theme. Start with Creating Your First Contest. For plan limits and later upgrades, see Billing & Plans.
Creating Your First Contest
Create and launch a complete contest from one full-screen editor. You can start from a template or a blank contest, then move through Build, Design, Launch, and Results. On phones and touch devices, these four stages appear along the bottom of the editor. 1. Choose a starting point 1. Open UserLoop Contests in Shopify admin. 2. Click Create contest. 3. Choose a template, or click Create blank contest. Templates pre-fill useful settings, but every part remains editable. 2. Build the contest Build contains the setup steps. On desktop, select a step in the left pane. On mobile, select it under Steps and the editor opens Edit automatically; use Preview to check the customer experience. The Build stage of the UserLoop Contests editor Contest settings - Click the pencil beside the title at the top of the editor to rename the contest. - Choose start and end dates. - Edit the public URL slug. - Add a description. - Choose the storefront language. - Review the generated terms, or replace them with your own rules. Entry form Email is required. For first name and phone number, choose Don't collect, Optional, or Required. You can also allow 1–10 entries per person, change the button text, and control whether prizes, dates, and terms are shown. Prizes Add Shopify products or custom prizes. Click a prize card to edit its quantity. The first prize is the grand prize, and the order determines the draw order in Results. Success and rewards Customize the success message. Pro stores can also issue a unique Shopify discount code to every confirmed entrant and optionally deliver it by email. Bonus actions Add referrals, photo uploads, questions, social visits, secret codes, and other ways to earn extra entries. On Free, you can build and preview these actions, but a new contest keeps them paused for entrants until you upgrade to Pro. 3. Design the experience Open Design to choose a theme, upload a header image and logo, set colors, and review the contest on desktop and mobile. Pro stores can also open Custom text to override translated storefront labels, placeholders, validation messages, status notices, and action text. The Design stage with themes, brand assets, colors, and a live preview Use the preview controls to switch between standalone page, popup, and app block views, and between the entry and success states. 4. Prepare the launch Open Launch to check each distribution channel and complete the go-live checklist. The Launch stage with distribution channels, sharing tools, and go-live checklist You can: - Share the standalone page. - Enable the Contest Popup app embed. - Add the Contest Form section to an Online Store 2.0 theme. - For a photo contest, add the Photo gallery block so customers can view approved submissions and vote. - Copy the link or download a QR code. - Build a tracked link with UTM source, medium, and campaign values. Save your changes, preview the customer experience, then click Activate. A contest accepts entries only while it is active and within its scheduled dates. If Free-plan bonus actions are paused, Launch names them before activation. The contest can still go live; upgrading to Pro activates those actions without a relaunch. 5. Monitor entries and choose winners Open Results to see views, entries, conversion rate, photos, identified voters, referrals, and winners. Photo contests include approval filters and approve/reject controls. On mobile, use Overview, Entries, and Draw winners at the top of Results. Winner selection is available on Free and Pro. When the contest has ended, draw a weighted random winner, choose an entrant manually, or select the most-voted photo. You can also end an active contest early from Results when you are ready to draw. After keeping a winner, click Set up prize delivery: - On Free, choose Handle redemption yourself and I'll contact them. - On Pro, you can also let UserLoop send the winner email, create a secure claim link, collect delivery details, and create a Shopify draft or order. Track an automated redemption through Notified, Claimed, Order, and Fulfilled. For a tour of every editor stage, see Using the Contest Editor. For the full winner workflow, see Sending and Fulfilling Winner Prizes. For plan rules, grandfathered contests, and action-removal warnings, see Bonus Entry Actions. Running a photo campaign? Follow Photo Contests and Public Voting for gallery, voting, consent, and moderation setup.
Dashboard Overview
The dashboard gives you a quick view of contest performance, work that needs attention, product releases, and direct access to your contests. Mobile Contests dashboard showing the What's new bell, Needs attention tasks, status filters, and Live, Scheduled, and Paused badges Your first-contest banner When the store has no contests, the dashboard shows Create your first contest with three steps: Choose a template, Add your prizes, and Publish and share. Click Create contest to begin. The storefront setup banner appears after a contest exists and only when neither the popup nor an app block has been configured. Archived contests do not count as an active onboarding contest. Overview metrics The cards at the top show: - Active contests — contests currently activated in the app. - Total entries — entries across all contests. - Entries in the last 30 days — recent acquisition. - Average conversion — entries divided by tracked views for activated contests. What's new Click the bell beside Overview to open recent UserLoop Contests release notes. A red dot means there are unread releases. Opening the panel marks the current releases as seen; choose a release to read it or click View all releases. Needs attention This section appears only when a contest is waiting on you. It can show: - Select winner — the contest has ended, has at least one confirmed entry, and no winner decision has been recorded. - Set up prize delivery — a Pro store has an active winner whose delivery setup is incomplete. - Activate bonus actions — a running Free-plan contest has actions that are paused for entrants. This task links to Upgrade to Pro. - Approve photos — a contest with manual photo approval has submissions waiting before they can appear in the public gallery. Click Review photos to open the moderation queue. Click Review winners for winner and delivery tasks. When Activate bonus actions is the only task, click Upgrade to Pro to open Your Plan. Free stores do not see the prize-delivery task because automated winner delivery is a Pro feature. Grandfathered contests whose actions remain live are not flagged for activation. Finding contests Use the filters above the contest list: - Active — in-progress work, including cards labelled Live, Scheduled, Draft, or Paused. - Ended — contests whose end date has passed or that were ended manually. - Archived — contests hidden from the normal workflow but retained for reference. - All — every contest. Each tab shows its contest count, and the toolbar shows how many rows are currently visible. An activated contest whose end date has passed appears as Ended immediately, even while the stored status is being updated in the background. Each contest card shows its display status, schedule, entries, views, conversion rate, and enabled storefront channels. Photo contests can also report whether their Photo gallery block is installed. Popular templates The dashboard highlights useful templates so you can create a new contest from a proven starting point. Click a template to preview it, then use it as the basis for a fully editable contest. Contest card actions On phones and touch devices, the primary card shortcuts stay visible in a full-width row, so you do not need to hover over the card. Depending on the contest status, a card can provide shortcuts to: - Preview the customer experience. - Edit the contest in the full-screen editor. - Open Entries or Winners in Results. - Activate, Reactivate, or Deactivate the contest. - Duplicate it as a new draft. - Archive it without deleting its data. Click Create contest at the top of the dashboard whenever you want to start from a template or create a blank contest. See Contest Lifecycle for details about Live, Scheduled, Draft, Paused, Ended, and Archived contests. See Bonus Entry Actions for the paused-action workflow. See Photo Contests and Public Voting for the approval queue and gallery workflow.
Using Contest Templates
Templates give you a configured starting point for a common campaign while keeping every setting editable. Choosing a template 1. Open UserLoop Contests. 2. Click Create contest. 3. Browse the template gallery. 4. Filter by For you, Popular, Newest, or campaign objective. 5. Select a template to preview it and create the contest. On Free, template cards with actions label them as Pro bonus actions. If you prefer to configure everything yourself, choose Create blank contest. What a template can configure A template may pre-fill: - Contest title, description, schedule, and terms. - Product or custom prizes. - Entry fields and display options. - Success copy. - Bonus actions. On Free, they are created as editable, previewable actions but stay paused for entrants until you upgrade to Pro. - Theme, colors, and button text. After creation, the contest opens in the full-screen editor. Review Build, personalize the appearance in Design, and complete the checklist in Launch. Nothing becomes public until you activate the contest. Launch names any paused Free-plan actions; the rest of the contest can go live, and upgrading later switches those actions on without a relaunch. Changing a contest created from a template does not change the original template or any other contest. See Bonus Entry Actions for action availability on Free, Pro, and grandfathered contests.
Using the Contest Editor
The full-screen contest editor keeps setup, appearance, distribution, and performance in one place. On desktop, use the left rail to move between Build, Design, Launch, and Results. Working on mobile On phones and touch devices, the four main stages move to a navigation bar at the bottom of the editor. The current stage stays highlighted while you work. Mobile contest editor showing the Steps, Edit, and Preview tabs above the Build steps and the Build, Design, Launch, and Results bottom navigation Each stage adapts to the smaller screen: - In Build, use Steps, Edit, and Preview. Selecting a setup step automatically opens Edit. - In Design, use Design, Preview, and Theme to switch between controls, the live preview, and theme presets. - Launch places the channel setup, sharing tools, and checklist in one vertical scroll. - In Results, use Overview, Entries, and Draw winners. Results opens on Entries, and entry and referral tables become labelled rows that do not require horizontal scrolling. The header keeps activation and status controls visible. On mobile, open the More actions menu (…) to find Preview, copy the link, duplicate, archive, or permanently delete the contest. Editor header The header shows the contest title and current status. From here you can rename the contest, preview it, activate or deactivate it, open additional actions, or close the editor. When you make a change, a save bar appears with Save and Discard. Save before closing or moving on to a customer-facing test. Open More actions (…) and choose Delete permanently only when the contest and its data are no longer needed. After confirmation, UserLoop deletes the contest, all entries, winners, uploaded photos, and statistics. Uploaded entry photos are also removed from Shopify Files. This cannot be undone; use Archive when you need a reversible option. Permanent contest deletion confirmation showing the data that will be removed Build Build contains the campaign structure: Build stage of the contest editor - Contest settings — schedule, URL, description, language, and terms. - Entry form — optional or required fields, entry limit, marketing consent for active integrations, button text, and display options. - Prizes — Shopify product and custom prizes with quantities. - Success — post-entry heading and message. - Discount code — unique per-entrant Shopify rewards on Pro. - Bonus actions — referrals, photo uploads, questions, social visits, and more. Photo upload settings include manual approval, email-gated voting, optional voter name, and marketing consent. On Free, you can build and preview actions, but they stay paused for entrants until you upgrade. - Winners — explains where winner selection happens after launch. Add bonus action dialog on the Free plan showing Pro labels for each action and an Upgrade to Pro button On Free, Add bonus action remains available and each action displays a Pro label. Saving an existing action preserves entrant completions. If you remove an action that entrants have completed, the editor warns that their submissions will be permanently deleted; they keep the bonus entries already earned. Design Design combines a live preview with the visual settings: Design stage of the contest editor - Select a theme preset. - Upload a header image and logo. - Set primary, background, and text colors. - Customize button copy and display choices. - On Pro, override translated storefront labels, placeholders, validation messages, status notices, and action text under Custom text. - Preview desktop or mobile, entry or success, and every distribution surface. Launch Launch brings together your storefront channels and go-live checks: Launch stage of the contest editor - Standalone page — copy or preview the hosted contest link. - Popup — open Shopify's theme editor and enable the Contest Popup app embed. - App block — add the Contest Form section to an Online Store 2.0 theme. - Photo gallery block — for a contest with a Photo upload action, add its gallery and public voting to a theme page. - Share — copy the link, download a QR code, or build a UTM-tagged URL. - Checklist — review prizes, schedule, form, terms, storefront setup, and activation. The popup is optional; a contest can still be activated and shared through another channel. If a Free-plan contest contains paused bonus actions, Launch shows a warning that names them and links to Upgrade to Pro. You can still activate the contest; upgrading later makes the actions live without a relaunch. Results Results is the operational view after launch. It includes: - Entries, views, conversion rate, and winner count. - Search and CSV export. - All entries, photo entries, identified voters, referrals, and hidden-entry segments. - Under Referrals, summary totals plus Referred entries and Top referrers views. - Photo moderation with Awaiting approval and Rejected filters, approve/reject controls, vote totals, visibility controls, Delete photo, and full-entry Delete actions. - Prize availability, winner-selection tools, and a four-step Notified → Claimed → Order → Fulfilled delivery tracker. Winner selection is available on Free and Pro and is locked until the contest ends. If necessary, choose End contest & draw now. You can then run a weighted random draw, manually pick an eligible entrant, or choose the most-voted eligible photo. After keeping a winner, use Set up prize delivery. On Free, choose Handle redemption yourself and I'll contact them. On Pro, you can also use UserLoop-sent winner emails, secure claim details, address collection, and Shopify draft or order creation. A practical workflow 1. Complete Build from top to bottom. 2. Check every important surface in Design. 3. Save and preview. 4. Configure at least one distribution channel in Launch. 5. Activate and share the contest. 6. Monitor Results during the campaign. 7. After the end date, select and notify winners. For referral reporting, see Managing Entries. For the full plan-aware winner workflow, see Sending and Fulfilling Winner Prizes. For full plan-aware action behavior, see Bonus Entry Actions. For the end-to-end photo workflow, see Photo Contests and Public Voting. For reversible status changes and permanent deletion, see Contest Lifecycle.