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

chevron-rightIs the app really free? Are there any limitations?hashtag

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 reviewarrow-up-right

You might also be interested in other products by Getsitecontrol:

chevron-rightWhere can I find my widget ID?hashtag

You can find your widget ID inside the app admin.

  1. Open the main screen with the list of widgets.

  2. Hit Copy ID button next to the name of the relevant widget.

  1. Paste the ID into the corresponding field in the app block. It looks similar to this:

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chevron-rightWhy do I need to activate the app?hashtag

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:

  1. Hit Customize to open the theme editor.

  2. Hit the App embeds icon on the sidebar.

  3. Find GSC Timer Widgets in the list of your installed apps and toggle the app on.

  4. Save the changes in the theme editor.

chevron-rightWhat is the time zone of my fixed date timer?hashtag

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.

chevron-rightWhere can I see the number of views for my widgets?hashtag

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.

chevron-rightDoes the app work with vintage themes (like Debut)?hashtag

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

The Bar timer widget is an app embedarrow-up-right 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 blocksarrow-up-right, which are not supported in vintage themes, as per Shopify’s documentationarrow-up-right. 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.

chevron-rightCan I change the timer widget’s width?hashtag

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:

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

  1. 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 themearrow-up-right gives you way more control over the section width.

chevron-rightCan I add my timer to the theme code?hashtag

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.

chevron-rightCan I add my timer widgets only to certain product pages?hashtag

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 templatesarrow-up-right.

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 Shopifyarrow-up-right.

chevron-rightCan I translate my widget, and does the app support localization?hashtag

Yes, you can translate the app into your store’s published languages. After you add and publish a language in your store, the Localization tab appears in the widget editor. In this tab, you can translate the widget content (text, time unit labels, button label, coupon label) into other published store languages. You can also set different button URLs and redirect customers to different pages based on the language they are viewing.

Note: if you do not add translations manually, the widget displays content in your store’s default language.

chevron-rightCan I add widgets to the pages created with a builder app (like PageFly)?hashtag

Yes, you can.

Most page builder apps support app blocksarrow-up-right. 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.

  1. Add an app block in the Pagefly editor.

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

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

⏰ Bar timer

chevron-rightHow can I add/remove the Bar timer in my theme?hashtag

To add a Bar timer widget to your theme, activate the GSC Timer Widgets app embedarrow-up-right in the corresponding theme.

Here’s how:

  1. Hit Customize to open the theme editor.

  2. Hit the App embeds icon on the sidebar.

  3. Find GSC Timer Widgets in the list of your installed apps and toggle the app on.

  4. 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.

chevron-rightCan I change the position of the Bar timer on the page?hashtag

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).

chevron-rightCan I make the Bar timer smaller on mobile?hashtag

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

chevron-rightWhat is the best image ratio for the Bar timer background?hashtag

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.

chevron-rightHow can I remove the closing X button from the bar?hashtag

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

  1. Open the bar widget in the app admin.

  2. Go to the Content tab.

  3. Scroll down to the Close button settings and switch the toggle.

🛠 Troubleshooting

chevron-rightI can’t add the app to my theme, what’s wrong?hashtag

Here are the major reasons why this might happen:

  1. 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.

  2. 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 architecturesarrow-up-right. 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.

  3. You use a 3d-party theme, not from the Shopify theme storearrow-up-right. 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 storearrow-up-right.

chevron-rightI can’t upload an image to the widget’s background, what’s wrong?hashtag

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.

chevron-rightThe Bar timer widget doesn’t reappear after I close it, why?hashtag

By default, the Bar timer widget reappears in 24 hours after you close it. Unfortunately, at the moment, there are no settings to control this behavior.

To see the bar again, clear the store data, open the store in incognito/private mode of your current browser, or in another browser.

chevron-rightAfter I changed my store’s timezone, the app shows the wrong time, why?hashtag

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.

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

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.

chevron-rightI’ve added the Bar timer to the top of my store, but the header overlaps it, why?hashtag

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.

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