This article is for Shopify merchants only.

How the Referral extension fits in the customer flow

A customer completes a Shopify checkout → lands on the Thank You page → if the Referral extension is going to show for them, it appears inline on that page with their referral link and sharing options (or a signup form, depending on enrollment and your widget settings — see the visibility matrix below).

💡 The Referral extension is the share moment itself. For an enrolled advocate, it shows their referral link + one-click sharing buttons right there on the Thank You page — they're not routed to a separate Share Page or Rewards page. To track rewards or update their PayPal payout email later, advocates access the Rewards page via the Share Page → Your Rewards flow (see What advocates see after signing up).

For how this widget compares to the other Shopify referral surfaces (Join block, Friend offer landing, Customer referral details extension) and which to use when, see Widgets for your referral program.

Visibility on the Thank You page

What the Referral extension shows depends on the customer's enrollment state at the moment they hit the Thank You page, and whether you've checked Allow signup/waitlist for unqualified customers on the Widgets page.

Customer's enrollment state	"Allow signup/waitlist..." CHECKED	"Allow signup/waitlist..." UNCHECKED
Enrolled (currently meets your Target audience)	Referral link + sharing buttons	Referral link + sharing buttons
Never enrolled (doesn't meet Target audience)	Signup form → after submit: waitlist message	Extension doesn't appear
Unenrolled (was enrolled before, no longer meets criteria)	Extension doesn't appear	Extension doesn't appear

Prerequisites for the extension to render at all:

Your campaign must be Live. Paused or stopped campaigns hide the extension for every customer.
Your Shopify store must have checkout extensibility enabled. Stores still on the older checkout.liquid setup won't render checkout extensions like this one.
The extension app block must be added to your Thank You page in Shopify's Checkout editor (see setup steps below).

What happens when a never-enrolled customer submits the signup form

With Allow signup/waitlist for unqualified customers checked, never-enrolled customers see a signup form on the Thank You page. They can enter any email (it doesn't have to match their purchase email) and submit; the extension then shows the default waitlist message right there on the Thank You page, editable in your campaign's Theme editor → Thank You page template:

"You're on the waitlist. We'll notify you when you get added to the referral program."

What "waitlist" means as a state: the customer is added as a contact, marked Never enrolled. They stay that way until they meet your Target audience criteria — typically a qualifying purchase or a segment-rule change. When that happens, ReferralCandy auto-enrolls them and emails them a welcome message with their referral link.

Who this is for

Shopify merchants using ReferralCandy
Anyone adding or updating the ReferralCandy block on Shopify checkout's "Thank you" page (post-purchase)

What the referral extension shows

A referral link and one-click sharing buttons (for enrolled customers)
A signup form (for never-enrolled customers, only if you've checked Allow signup/waitlist for unqualified customers)
A waitlist message (after a never-enrolled customer submits the signup form)
Nothing — for unenrolled customers, and for never-enrolled customers when the checkbox is unchecked, the extension doesn't render at all

See Visibility on the Thank You page above for the full matrix.

Primary sharing button

The main sharing button shown in the referral extension follows your campaign theme's Primary sharing method. To change it, update the Primary sharing method in your theme settings.

Important terminology (common source of confusion)

Shopify has a checkout "Thank you" page (post-purchase), and ReferralCandy also has a campaign "Thank You Page" template inside the campaign theme editor.

If you want to change the text/banner inside the checkout ReferralCandy block shown after purchase, follow the steps in this article.
If you meant the ReferralCandy campaign "Thank You Page" template (shown after someone signs up through a widget), edit it in your campaign theme editor instead.

Quick answer: How to edit the text shown in the Referral Extension widget

If you want to change the message inside the widget (Header, Body text, and the Button/CTA label), edit the widget content in ReferralCandy (Campaigns > Widgets). Shopify's Checkout editor is mainly for design settings like colors, icon visibility, and image alignment.

In Shopify, open the ReferralCandy app.
Go to Campaigns and select the campaign you're using.
In the Promote campaign section, click Widgets.
Find the Referral extension section.
Edit the Language (if applicable), Header, Body, and Button (Call-to-action).
Click Save.

Add the referral extension app to Shopify checkout (Thank you page)

From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Checkout.
In the Configurations section, find the store associated with your referral program and click Customize.
Click the Apps tab in the sidebar.
Find the Referral Extension app under Referral Candy and click the + icon.
Under Add to, select Thank you.
Reorder the app block on the Thank you page if needed.
Click Save.

Turn on the referral extension (choose which campaign powers the widget)

After the app block is added, you still need to enable it for a campaign.

From your Shopify admin, open the ReferralCandy app.
Go to Campaigns and select your campaign.
In the Promote campaign section, click Widgets.
In Referral extension, check Show this campaign's content.
When the warning popup appears, click Continue.
Optional: Check Allow signup/waitlist for unqualified customers if you want unqualified contacts to see a signup form.
Click Save.

Single-campaign rule

The Referral extension can only be active for one Live campaign at a time. Checking Show this campaign's content for a new campaign turns it off for whichever campaign previously had it.

For what happens to never-enrolled customers who submit the signup form, see Visibility on the Thank You page above.

Edit the referral extension text (Header, Body, Button)

This controls the banner image and the Header / Body / Button text that appears inside the checkout ReferralCandy block.

In the ReferralCandy app, go to Campaigns and select the campaign you're using.
In the Promote campaign section, click Widgets.
Find the Referral extension section.
Optional: Click Add image to upload a banner image. Recommended image sizes:
- Left or right: square image, recommended width 220px
- Top or bottom: recommended width 528px
- Tip: If you see the default "REFER FRIENDS, GET REWARDS" banner and want to remove it, click Remove image for a minimalist look.
If you're using multiple languages, select a Language.
Edit the Header, Body, and Button (Call-to-action).
Click Save.

What does the default "Header" text mean?

The liquid object in the Header field shows the default "Give X friend offer, get Y referral reward" message in the referral extension.

Default header text for all campaigns:

{% if offer_description != 'none' %}Give {{ offer_description }}, get {{ incentive_description }}{% else %}Earn {{ incentive_description }}{% endif %}

Dynamic variables you can use

{{incentive_description}} shows the advocate reward
{{offer_description}} shows the friend offer

If you set the friend offer to Nothing

If your friend offer is set to Nothing, keep (or adapt) the default header logic above so the widget doesn't show a "Give …" message that could confuse customers.

Troubleshooting: I edited the text but nothing changed

Confirm you edited the same campaign that currently has Show this campaign's content enabled.
If you use multiple languages, confirm you edited the correct Language version.
Refresh the checkout preview / re-open the Thank you page editor to see the latest content.

Customize the referral extension app (Shopify Checkout editor design settings)

Use Shopify's Checkout editor to change design-only settings like text color, banner image alignment, and which sharing icons appear. This is the "set and forget" styling layer.

From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Checkout.
In the Configurations section, find the store associated with your referral program and click Customize.
Click the Apps tab in the sidebar.
Select the Referral Extension block on your Thank you page.
Under App block settings, you can customize:
- Text color (Info, Accent, Decorative)
- Image alignment (left, right, top, bottom)
- Show/hide each sharing icon (for example: Email, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, X, Telegram, Threads)
- Some channels may include additional toggles (for example, WhatsApp icon color)
Click Save in the upper right corner.

Note on custom styling (Shopify limitation)

Shopify Checkout Extensibility does not allow adding custom CSS or editing checkout Liquid files.
You can adjust styling using Shopify's built-in branding settings and the settings available in each app block (like this one).
Custom styling beyond these options isn't supported by Shopify's checkout framework.

Tips for a better-looking referral extension

Add "Refer friends, get rewards" into your banner image so it's clear at a glance.
Use Top image alignment if you want the widget to feel more prominent (especially on mobile).
Preview on mobile/tablet sizes before finalizing.
If you align the image left/right, use a square image (note: on mobile, the image may appear cropped).

Article FAQ

How do I change the message text in the widget (Header/Body/Button)?

Edit the widget message (Header / Body / Button) in ReferralCandy: Campaigns > select your campaign > Promote campaign > Widgets > Referral extension. Shopify's Checkout editor is mainly for design-only settings (color, alignment, sharing icons), not for the widget copy.

I changed the Shopify Checkout settings but the widget text didn't change — why?

Shopify's Checkout editor settings for the Referral Extension block control styling only — text color, image alignment, and which sharing icons appear. The widget's main copy (Header, Body, Button) is edited in ReferralCandy: Campaigns > select your campaign > Promote campaign > Widgets > Referral extension.

Why is the signup form showing instead of a referral link?

The Referral extension only shows a referral link directly for contacts who are already enrolled in your campaign (i.e., they currently meet your Target audience segment criteria).

If the customer is unqualified (doesn't meet your Target audience) AND you've checked Allow signup/waitlist for unqualified customers, the widget shows a signup form instead. After they submit, the extension shows a waitlist message — the contact is added and marked as never enrolled (= waitlisted).

They'll be auto-enrolled (and receive a welcome email with their referral link) if and when they eventually meet your Target audience criteria — typically after a future qualifying purchase, or if your Target audience criteria themselves change.

If they never meet the criteria, they remain waitlisted indefinitely and won't receive a referral link.

How do I view who signed up through the referral extension (including waitlisted signups)?

You can find everyone who submitted the referral extension signup form (including waitlisted contacts) by creating a dynamic segment. Use the Signup form submitted filter and select the campaign from the dropdown — open the segment to view those contacts.

Learn more: Understanding segments and target audience
Learn more: Campaign enrollment

Can I have more than one campaign showing in the referral extension?

No — the referral extension can be enabled for only one live campaign at a time. Enabling Show this campaign's content for a new campaign turns it off for the previously enabled one.

What are {{incentive_description}} and {{offer_description}} and where do I use them?

They're dynamic variables you can use in the Header text for the referral extension widget — they pull from your campaign's reward and friend offer settings so the widget always shows the latest values.

{{incentive_description}} inserts the advocate reward
{{offer_description}} inserts the friend offer

If your friend offer is set to Nothing, keep logic that avoids showing a "Give …" message (the default Header text already does this — see "What does the default 'Header' text mean?" above for the exact liquid syntax).

How do I remove the banner image from the referral extension?

If you prefer a minimalist look, you can remove the banner image shown at the top of the Referral extension.

Important:

Newer themes may show a default banner ("REFER FRIENDS, GET REWARDS") even if you didn't upload one.
In the Referral extension widget settings, Remove image removes the banner image from the widget (so the Referral extension displays without the banner).

Steps: