Review Collection Widget_legacy

What is the TripAdvisor RCP Widget?

TripAdvisor's RCP (Review Collection Platform) is a suite of solutions that enables our hospitality partners to solicit and collect guest feedback to be published on TripAdvisor.com. This documentation focuses on the RCP widget.

Process Overview

• Partner will send post-trip emails inviting guests to write reviews (generally between 1-3 days after the stay/visit).
• Partner emails will link to the RCP widget powered by TripAdvisor and hosted on the partner site via an iframe.
• Reviews submitted via the widget are processed through TripAdvisor's standard moderation services.
• Approved reviews are then posted on TripAdvisor.com.
• As of January 2014, all RCP widgets will be using https. This change will not affect existing encryption partners.
• Special note on the character '+': When encoding data parameters, please note that if the parameter includes the character '+', then the partner would need to url encode the data string before performing the TripAdvisor encoding process.

The Review Form Widget

After the on-boarding process, TripAdvisor will provide the partner with a partner key and related rules for generating the URL of the review form widget. The widget is embedded within an iframe on the Partner's website for a seamless branding experience.

Default Review Form

The default review form matches the (required) review questions available on the TripAdvisor site. The default review form widget is pictured below:

Hotels

Restaurants

Attractions

Dimensions

• Exact dimensions of the widget will vary by partner based on any customizations, and should be tested before launch. The widget does not include a border.
• Width is optimized to approximately 600 pixels, but is not fixed so that the widget content can expand to fit the partner page.
• Height will be variable based on custom content but will be consistent from page to page within the iframe.

Mobile Optimized Widget

If the partner has mobile optimized GSS/webpages/paths, the RCP widget can be configured to serve up the mobile optimized version by adding one of the optional parameters in the widget url.

The allowMobile parameter will enable the widge to serve up the mobile optimized version if the user is on a mobile device, and serve up the desktop version if user is running desktop or desktop-like devices (i.e. tablets). If the allowMobile parameter is not included in the url, the widget will always serve up the desktop version regardless of device type. Most mobile optimized partners should use this option.

Suggested minimum width: 306px

The forceMobile=true parameter will force the widget to always serve up the mobile optimized version regardless of device type. This parameter should only be used for testing, as this will serve up the mobile optimized version of the widget even on desktop browsers.

Mobile Optimized Widget (Screenshot)

Review Solicitation Emails/Widget Invocation

Partner will send post-trip emails inviting guests to write a review and these emails will link to a page on the Partner site with the widget embedded within an iframe.

• The widget URL includes several data parameters supplied by the partner in order to invoke the review form for the correct hotel, restaurant, or attraction.
• Required and optional data elements are determined by whether the widget is configured for self registration or auto registration. All reviews must be attached to a TripAdvisor user account for processing.
• Self Registration
  • As part of filling out the review form, the user will create a TripAdvisor account by entering email address, first/last name, screen name, current city, and a password.
  • If the user has an existing TripAdvisor account, they may also log into it with the self registration option.

• Auto Registration

  • The partner will supply TripAdvisor with the user's email address, first/last name, and a current city. An account will automatically be created for the user.
  • If an account with the provided email address already exists, the review will automatically be attached to that existing account.
  • Sensitive information within the URL will be included within an encoded data string.
  • Special note on the character '+' : When encoding data parameters, please note that if the parameter includes the character '+', then the partner will need to URL encode the data string before performing the TripAdvisor encoding process.
• The URL may optionally also include data elements that allow pre-population of certain fields in the review form, such as date of stay.

Self-Registration Widget

URL Parameters

For self-registration widgets, the URL will look like this:

Required parameters only

https://www.tripadvisor.com/WidgetEmbed- collectreview?display=true&partnerId=PARTNER_KEY&locationId=12628

Required plus optional parameters (Hotel Partners)

 https://www.tripadvisor.com/WidgetEmbed- collectreview?display=true&partnerId=PARTNER_KEY&locationId=123456&lang=en_US&stayMonth=3&stayYear=2013&overallRating=5&cleanlinessSubrating=5&locationSubrating=5&roomsSubrating=5&serviceSubrating=5&valueSubrating=5&sleepqualitySubrating=5&tripType=solo

Required plus optional parameters (Restaurant Partners)

 https://www.tripadvisor.com/WidgetEmbed-collectreview?display=true&partnerId=PARTNER_KEY&locationId=123456&lang=en_US&stayMonth=3&stayYear=2013&overallRating=5&serviceSubrating=5&foodSubrating=5&valueSubrating=5&atmosphereSubrating=5tripType=solo

Required plus optional parameters (Attraction Partners)

 https://www.tripadvisor.com/WidgetEmbed-collectreview?display=true&partnerId=PARTNER_KEY&locationId=123456&lang=en_US&stayMonth=3&stayYear=2013&overallRating=5&tripType=solo

Parameter definitions

Self Registration Screens

The self registration form, which appears after the user has submitted his/her review, appears below.

Create New Account:

Log Into Existing Account:

Auto-Registration Widget

URL Parameters

The URL used to invoke auto-registration widgets includes several sensitive data elements required to auto-create a TripAdvisor account, including the user’s email address, and therefore includes these data elements in an encoded data string. The URL will look like this:

 https://rcp-demo.tripadvisor.com/WidgetEmbed-collectreview?locationId=89575&partnerId=PARTNER_KEY&display=true&data=6289d383b46df1c2e7f8fc12b2218a0f6c6f636174696f6e49643d383935373526656d61696c3d636368656e31323334407472697061647669736f722e636f6d26636974793d426f73746f6e2666697273744e616d653d436869266c6173744e616d653d4368656e26737461794d6f6e74683d312673746179596561723d32303134

On load, TripAdvisor will perform a check to see if the email passed in by the widget already exists in the TA member database. The logic for displaying the TA member info and user location fields is:

• If the email address matches a TA member, and the member already has a display name and location, the fields are not displayed and the review is automatically associated to that existing member account.
• If the email address doesn't match any existing TA member, the review form will display the first name/last name and current city fields pre-populated and editable based on the data passed in by the partner. A user name consists of first name and last name initial will be generated (e.g. David S will be generated as user name if full name is David Smith). The user may edit this.
• If the email address matches a TripAdvisor member but the member city and/or display name are not populated, only the missing field(s) are displayed and they can be pre-populated based on the data passed in by the partner.

Parameter Definitions

Additional elements within the Data parameter:

 email=someuser@partner.com&stayMonth=1&stayYear=2011&city=London&firstName=Jane&lastName=Smith& ItinId=54600913&BrandID=9&HotelLocation=York, UK&HotelName=Best Western Dean Court Hotel