Widget Configurator

The Widget Configurator is a functionality within the Bloomreach Dashboard that allows you to create and manage the Recommendations and Pathways widgets easily. Some of the operations possible with the Widget Configurator are:

  • Create a Widget
  • Manage a Widget
  • Delete a Widget
  • Change the Widget Type

Create a Widget


You can create a widget for Recommendations and Pathways from the Dashboard by following the steps given below. Creating a widget is an important step in the widget integration process. When you create a widget, you can create Widget Global Merchandising Rules. You can further create and apply widget query-level rules as well. You can read more about Merchandising for Recommendations and Pathways in the Merchandising sub-section. 

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Create Widget in Staging
When you first create a widget, perform this step in your staging Dashboard to test it in your staging environment. You can recreate this widget in your production environment later. Remember that when you recreate this in production, the widget ID will be different since you originally added the widget in staging.

1. Log in to the Bloomreach Dashboard - https://tools.bloomreach.com/.

For EMEA customers, use https://tools.bloomreach.co.uk

2. Go to Pathways & Reccomendations > Widget Configurator.

3. Click "Add Widget".

4. Configure the following details in the Widget Basic Info screen:  

  • Widget Name: A friendly name for the widget that will be used in the Dashboard.
  • Widget Description: An optional description that helps you add more details on the widget use-case.
  • Primary Algorithm: Select the type of algorithm that you want the widget to use. You can select from the following options:   

  • Secondary Algorithm: Select the alternate algorithm you want the widget to use if there isn't sufficient data for the primary algorithm. The secondary algorithm cannot be defined for Pathways widgets. To read about which secondary algorithm selection is allowed, go to the Secondary Algorithm Selection page. 
  • Result Size: The minimum number of products you want the widgets to display. The default number is 10. This also acts as the threshold to display the Secondary widget.
  • FL list: The list of product attributes to return for each product displayed in the widget. You can select attributes such as Brand, Category, Price, Sale Price, Size, Style, etc. This is the exact data returned by the API. 
  • Copy Configurations: At widget creation, you can choose to copy configurations (widget global ranking and widget query rules) from an existing widget. This is a one-time-only operation.

Click Next Step to proceed. 

5. You can now apply the global merchandising rule for the Widget as described in the Recommendations and Pathways Merchandising page.

Numeric Sorting: You can sort attributes with numeric values such as price when you set merchandising rules such as boost and bury.

NOTE: Numeric sort is unavailable for widgets using the Search or Category algorithms.

Given below is an example of applying the merchandising query rule for the color attribute "black" on a co-viewed widget:

Sonia, a digital merchandiser at Homeoasis, has created a widget "Bought with This" with the algorithm "Frequently Bought Together" for White Tops and wants to show other leather shoes in the color black as it is the most fast-moving color in this category. Sonia has to create an attribute rule for the color "black" and apply a product boost based on this rule so that other black leather shoes surface upon search. 

Sonia navigates to Product Grid > Add Additional Attribute Rule > Product Description Attributes > color_groups > black and turns the Operation ON.

This setting will boost similar products with the color "black" in the widget grid.


6. Get the Widget ID

Once the widget is created, note down the widget_id as it will be required in the API call. The widget ID is the alphanumeric value available in the Widget Configurator's main screen.

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Post Widget Creation


Please make sure to follow these steps in the given order once the creation of the widget is complete.

1. Implement UI in Staging

After creating your widgets, implement the widget UI in your staging environment and determine where to display the widget.

Suggested UI Placements for Recommendations Widgets

Widget typePlacement Location
1Best SellerSearch Result Pages, Category/Department pages, or Landing Pages
2Email RecommendationsEmail campaign
3Experience-Driven RecommendationsHome Page and Category Pages
4Frequently Bought TogetherProduct Detail Pages, Cart, Checkout pages
5Frequently Viewed TogetherProduct Detail Pages
6Past PurchasesSearch Result Pages, Category/Department pages, or Landing Pages
7Recently ViewedHome Page and Category Pages
8Similar ProductsProduct Detail Pages
9Trending ProductsSearch Result Pages, Category/Department pages, Landing Pages
10Visual SearchHomepage where there is a search box or Product Detail pages

Suggested UI Placements for Pathways Widgets

Widget typePlacement Location
1CategorySearch Result Pages, Category/Department pages, and Landing Pages
2SearchSearch Result Pages, Category/Department pages, and Landing Pages

2. Deploy to Production

Make sure to begin deploying your widgets into production only after testing them in the staging environment of your Dashboard.

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QA & Acceptance Testing 

We recommend that you perform QA and acceptance testing of your changes in staging before going live in the production site.