How to create and place a Personalisation Widget
A complete guide to building, placing, and activating Personalisation widgets in Liva 7.
Overview
Personalisation widgets control the AI product recommendations that appear on your homepage, product pages, collection pages, and cart page. They define what to show, how to show it, and which strategy to use.
Widgets do not control placement. Placement happens in your Shopify theme using Liva 7 theme blocks.
If no widget exists for a page, Liva 7 will still show recommendations using the global page strategy and fallback behaviour. If multiple widgets exist, Liva 7 chooses the best one for each visitor.
Widgets decide the content. Theme blocks decide the placement. Page strategies ensure recommendations appear even with zero widgets.
Before You Start: Required Setup
Before creating a widget, make sure:
- Your theme is Online Store 2.0
- You can see the 'Apps' tab when adding blocks
- The Personalization Engine is turned on
- You know which template your store uses (for example, product vs product.default)
- You have added the correct Liva 7 theme block to that page
- You have saved changes in the theme editor
If the 'Apps' tab is missing, your theme is not OS 2.0 and widgets cannot appear.
How Liva 7 Decides What to Display
Liva 7 uses a clear hierarchy to determine what recommendations appear:
- The correct Liva 7 theme block must be added to the page
- If widgets exist for that page type, Liva 7 evaluates them
- Liva 7 selects the single most relevant widget for the current visitor
- If no widget exists or none are suitable, Liva 7 uses the global page strategy
- If signals are weak, fallback behaviour is used
This ensures recommendations always appear, even with zero widgets.
Liva 7 never shows multiple widgets on a single block unless you manually add multiple blocks.
How to Create a Personalization Widget
To create a widget:
- Go to the Personalization Engine
- Click 'Manage Widgets'
- Click 'Create Widget'
- Choose a widget type (homepage, product, collection, cart)
- Choose a page type (home, product, collection, cart)
- Choose a display type (carousel, grid, single item)
- Choose a recommended strategy
- Click 'Save'
Your widget will now appear in the widget table.
A widget only applies to the page type you select. A homepage widget cannot power a product page block.
Widget Types and When to Use Them
Widget types include:
- Homepage recommendations
- Product page recommendations
- Collection page recommendations
- Cart page recommendations
Each type is optimised for different shopper intent and uses different signals.
Homepage widgets drive discovery, product widgets drive consideration, cart widgets drive upsells.
Page Type and Template Matching
Every widget must be assigned to a page type:
- home
- product
- collection
- cart
This ensures Liva 7 knows which theme block the widget can power. If a widget is assigned to the wrong page type, it will never be used.
If recommendations are not appearing, the most common cause is a widget assigned to the wrong template.
Display Type and Strategy
Display type controls layout:
- Carousel
- Grid
- Single item
Strategy controls content:
- Inspired by browsing
- Recently viewed
- Trending
- Personalized picks
- Frequently bought together
These settings define how the widget behaves and what products appear.
Strategy is the most important setting. It determines the products shown to each visitor.
What Happens When Multiple Widgets Exist
If you create multiple widgets for the same page type, Liva 7 will:
- Evaluate all widgets assigned to that page
- Score them based on relevance, strategy, and visitor behaviour
- Select the single best widget for the current visitor
- Ignore the others unless the visitor context changes
This allows you to create multiple widgets for different scenarios without manually switching them.
Liva 7 does not rotate widgets. It chooses the best one for each visitor session.
How to Place the Widget in the Shopify Theme Editor
Creating a widget does not make it appear on your store. You must place the correct Liva 7 block in your theme.
To place it:
- Open Shopify admin
- Go to Online Store → Themes
- Click 'Customize' on your live theme
- Use the top dropdown to select the correct page templateHome page for homepage widgetsProduct for product widgetsCollection for collection widgetsCart for cart widgets
- In the left panel, click 'Add block'
- Select the 'Apps' tab
- Choose the matching Liva 7 block'AI Homepage Recommendations''AI Product Recommendations''AI Collection Recommendations''AI Cart Recommendations'
- Position the block
- Click 'Save'
Once placed, Liva 7 will automatically match the block to the correct widget or fallback strategy.
What Happens After Placement
Once the block is placed and the widget exists:
- Recommendations appear instantly
- Liva 7 chooses the best widget for each visitor
- Content adapts in real time based on behaviour
- You can edit or delete widgets at any time
- You can monitor performance in the dashboard
If you add multiple widgets, Liva 7 will continue choosing the best one automatically.
Widgets are dynamic. You do not need to manually switch them for different visitor types.
