FAQ

Here’s our list of frequently asked questions. We hope you'll find the answer you're looking for! You can also view app documentation for more details.

🧾 Functionality

Is the app really free? Are there any limitations?

Yes, the app is completely free.

There are no traffic limitations, no restrictions on monthly views, and no premium features locked behind a paywall. We currently don’t offer any paid plans for the app.

However, if you’d like to support our work, you can always acknowledge our efforts by leaving a review based on your experience using the app.

⭐ Write a review ⭐

You might also be interested in other products by Getsitecontrol:

Aurora theme – a premium theme available on the Shopify Theme Store
GSC Instagram Feed – a free app for seamlessly integrating a live Instagram gallery
GSC Email Marketing & Popups – an email marketing app for creating popups and automations to welcome new subscribers, recover abandoned carts, follow up on signups, win back customers, and more

Why do I need to activate the app?

To ensure the widgets display correctly in your theme. Otherwise, you simply won’t see them in your theme editor, nor in the preview.

Note that you should also activate the app to use the Get code feature.

The link in the app admin leads to the activation area of your currently published theme.

To activate the app manually in any theme, do the following:

Hit Customize to open the theme editor.
Hit the App embeds icon on the sidebar.
Find GSC Timer Widgets in the list of your installed apps and toggle the app on.
Save the changes in the theme editor.

What is the time zone of my fixed date timer?

The date and time you set for the fixed date timer, use your store’s default timezone. You can look it up in the general settings of your store admin.

In the storefront, the fixed date timer widget displays the same countdown (i.e. the same amount of remaining time) for each visitor regardless of their timezone, but counting down to the end date and time in your store’s timezone.

Note: The app remembers your store's timezone at the moment of installation. Any changes to the timezone afterward will not be automatically reflected.

Where can I see the number of views for my widgets?

You can see the number of views in your app admin.

Next to each timer widget in the list, you’ll see a statistics curve showing the view count. Hit More to open the full-scale diagram with a switch between views for the last 7, 30, or 90 days.

Does the app work with vintage themes (like Debut)?

Yes, but partially. Here's what you can add to a vintage theme:

Bar timer
Other timers, using Get code feature

The Bar timer widget is an app embed that you can add to any page of your vantage theme by customizing its position and targeting in your app admin.

Small, Large, Inline timer widgets are app blocks, which are not supported in vintage themes, as per Shopify’s documentation. However, you can add them to your theme using the Get code feature.

Note that the 'Get code' feature requires development skills for editing theme code. Adding widgets directly to the theme code is not covered by the app’s support.

Can I change the timer widget’s width?

It depends on the theme you use.

While you can’t control the timer widgets’ width right in the app, you can control the width of Small, Large, Inline timers using your theme settings (note that the Bar timer width can’t be changed).

To check whether your theme can change the widget’s width, do the following:

Add the app block to the theme page. This creates an App section containing your app block.

Hit the App section to see its settings. As they differ depending on the theme, we recommend that you contact your theme developer for more details.

For example, the free Dawn theme lets you change the width to full screen by turning off the Make section margins the same as theme setting.

While the paid Aurora theme gives you way more control over the section width.

Can I add my timer to the theme code?

Sure you can!

You can add Inline, Small, and Large timer widgets to your theme code using the Get code feature.

This is especially useful if your theme doesn’t support app blocks or restricts app block placement in specific sections.

Note that the ‘Get code’ feature requires development skills for editing theme code. Adding widgets directly to the theme code is not covered by the app’s support.

In this topic, you can find our general recommendations for adding the widget’s snippet to the theme code.

Can I add my timer widgets only to certain product pages?

Sure!

To add a Bar timer to the page of a certain product or group of products, use the Targeting tab of the widget editor in the app admin.

To add a Small, Large, or Inline timer to the product page of a certain product or group of products, use Shopify templates.

Create a separate product template, assign it to a certain product or group of products, and add your timer widget to this template only. Learn how to manage templates in Shopify.

Can I translate my widget, and does the app support localization?

We're working on support for translations, but right now the timer only displays in one language.

In the meantime, you can use a workaround to have the timer widgets in different languages on different markets. Note that it only works for Small, Large, and Inline timers.

Here's what you should do:

Create and save the timer widget.
Duplicate your widget.

Edit the widget and change its content to the language of choice.
Open the theme editor and select the market.

Add the Timer Widget to the template as a regular app block. Learn how to add Timer Widgets to your theme.

Can I add widgets to the pages created with a builder app (like PageFly)?

Yes, you can.

Most page builder apps support app blocks. So, you can use them to publish Small, Large, or Inline timer widgets.

Here’s how to add an app block to the Pagefly builder app.

Add an app block in the Pagefly editor.

Save the changes and go to the theme editor. The editor opens on the page template you’ve created in Pagefly.

Add GSC Timer Widget to the template as a regular app block. Learn how to add Timer Widgets to your theme.

⏰ Bar timer

How can I add/remove the Bar timer in my theme?

To add a Bar timer widget to your theme, activate the GSC Timer Widgets app embed in the corresponding theme.

Here’s how:

Hit Customize to open the theme editor.
Hit the App embeds icon on the sidebar.
Find GSC Timer Widgets in the list of your installed apps and toggle the app on.
Save the changes in the theme editor.

To remove the Bar timer from your theme, do either of the following:

Deactivate GSC Timer Widgets app embed in your theme, following the steps above. This removes all the bar widgets added to this theme.
Disable the Bar in the app admin. This removes only this bar widget from the theme.

Can I change the position of the Bar timer on the page?

Bar timer’s positioning is different from other timers, and you can’t place it wherever you want on the page.

Currently, you can only place the bar timer widget at the top or bottom of the page. You'll find the relevant setting in the widget editor of the app admin (the General tab).

Can I make the Bar timer smaller on mobile?

Unfortunately, there’s no general setting for the timer size. However, here’s what you can do to reduce your bar size on mobile:

Reduce Mobile width of the Timer component

Reduce Mobile font size and Letter spacing of the Text components

Reduce Mobile paddings for the widget and all its Components

What is the best image ratio for the Bar timer background?

The size of the bar widget is flexible. It changes depending on the number of widget components, their paddings, margins, sizes, etc. That’s why we can’t predict the best image ratio for its background.

Here’s what to keep in mind when choosing the image fit:

The background image fills the whole area of the widget but keeps its original aspect ratio. As a result, the image usually gets cropped from the top and bottom.
Horizontal images will be cropped less.
Images with repeated patterns will give your timer a more consistent look.

How can I remove the closing X button from the bar?

To remove the "X" close button on the side of the bar widget, do the following:

Open the bar widget in the app admin.
Go to the Content tab.
Scroll down to the Close button settings and switch the toggle.

🛠 Troubleshooting

I can’t add the app to my theme, what’s wrong?

Here are the major reasons why this might happen:

You haven’t activated the app. If you try to add an Inline timer, Bar timer, or any other timer widget using the Get code snippet, you’ll need to activate the app in your theme first. This can be done either directly in the app admin or in the theme editor.
You use a vintage theme (OS 1.0), such as Debut. You can tell your theme is vintage if you can’t add sections and blocks to your store pages other than homepage. Learn about the differences between Shopify theme architectures. Small, Large, and Inline timer widgets are app blocks, and vintage themes don’t support app blocks. However, you can still add a Bar timer to your vintage theme or use the Get code feature to add other timer widgets directly into the theme code.
You use a 3d-party theme, not from the Shopify theme store. Unlike the themes from the official store, such themes don’t have to follow all of Shopify’s requirements and may not support app blocks or even apps in general. We recommend that you contact your theme developer to clarify this issue, or switch to a theme from the official Shopify theme store.

I can’t upload an image to the widget’s background, what’s wrong?

Most likely, the image file you are trying to upload is too large or too heavy. Shopify recommends using images of up to 5000 x 5000 pixels with a file size of up to 20 MB.

After I changed my store’s timezone, the app shows the wrong time, why?

The app saves your store’s timezone at installation. If you change your store’s timezone later, the app won’t update it automatically. We’re working on a fix, but for now we recommend re-installing the app so it picks up the new timezone.

I’ve set up the Bar timer targeting, why do I still see it on every page in my theme editor?

Don’t worry, that’s how it’s supposed to work in Shopify.

The theme editor ignores the targeting settings, which is why the bar appears everywhere.

But in the theme preview or on the live store, the widget targeting will work like it should.

I’ve added the Bar timer to the top of my store, but the header overlaps it, why?

Most likely you've selected the Sticky type for your Bar timer while also having a sticky header in your store. Unfortunately, the two sticky elements in the same place on the page don't work well with each other.

We recommend that you either change the Bar timer type to Static or turn off the sticky header in your theme.

Last updated 15 days ago