Tutorials
How to implement the GrowSurf JavaScript SDK in common use-case scenarios.
Table of contents
Scenario
Example 1: Trigger a referral on qualifying action (e.g, on conversion, purchase, or upgrade)
Step 2: Add the participant
Important Note: If your campaign is configured to add participants automatically through a form on your website (see image), skip this step.
First, in the code where you capture the referred friend's email address, add them to your GrowSurf campaign as a participant with growsurf.addParticipant(). Let's say you have a signup function called signUpFree(), here's what that looks like:
// In this example, a new person is just signing up for a free account
const signUpFree = (user) => {
// ...code that registers a new user...
// Then add the new user as a participant in your GrowSurf campaign
if (window.growsurf) {
growsurf.addParticipant({
email: user.email,
firstName: user.firstName,
lastName: user.lastName
});
}
};
Step 3: Trigger the referral
Then, in the code where the action takes place, trigger the referral with growsurf.triggerReferral() . Let's say you have a function called upgradeToPaidPlan(), here's what that looks like:
// In this example, the user upgrades to a paid plan
const upgradeToPaidPlan = (user) => {
// ...code that upgrades the user...
// Then trigger this action as a referral trigger
if (window.growsurf) {
growsurf.triggerReferral(user.email);
}
};Important Note: Make sure your campaign's referral trigger is set to Sign Up + Qualifying Action (see image). If the referral trigger is set to Sign Up, triggering referrals will not work since referral credit has already been provided.
Remember to set up reward fulfillment automation
Example 2: Open GrowSurf window on button click
The GrowSurf window allows your users to retrieve their referral link to share, as well track the status of their referrals and rewards. Follow this tutorial to view how to open the GrowSurf window from an element such as a button.
Step 2: Add code
Add a CSS class to your button
Add the CSS class growsurf-open-window on your button element, and clicking the element will open up the GrowSurf window.
<a class="growsurf-open-window">
Refer and Earn
</a>However, when your user opens the GrowSurf window, they'll see a signup form instead of their unique referral link. To ensure they always see their referral link, add them or log them in as a participant first. You can do this by adding the data-grsf-email, data-grsf-first-name , and data-grsf-last-name data attributes. Here's a code example (remember to replace the values with your logged-in user's details):
<a class="growsurf-window-open"
data-grsf-email="[email protected]"
data-grsf-first-name="Gavin"
data-grsf-last-name="Belson">
Refer and Earn
</a>Example 3: Display a participant's unique share link and referral count inline on a webpage
Step 2: Add code
Add the Embedded Form anywhere in your HTML
Just paste <div data-grsf-block-form></div> anywhere in your HTML, and the GrowSurf form will appear. If you want your participant to be already logged in and see their stats (instead of the form), you can add an attribute data-grsf-email to have the value of the participant's email.
Important Note:
If you have participant authentication enabled for your campaign, then the participant's unique share link and social buttons will only display if the participant entered your referral program from their browser (either through automatic form detection, the GrowSurf form, or the JavaScript SDK). This is because a browser cookie will be saved that identifies the participant. Otherwise, the signup form will be shown, and the participant can click the login link to get sent a one-time login email.
<!-- Providing just this code will make the GrowSurf form appear -->
<div data-grsf-block-form></div>
<!-- Add a `data-grsf-email` attribute to authenticate the participant -->
<div data-grsf-block-form
data-grsf-email="[email protected]">
</div>
<!-- You can also completely customize the Embedded Form, shown in this example -->
<div data-grsf-block-form
data-grsf-email="[email protected]"
data-grsf-button-style="{'background-color': '#5890E7', 'color': '#fcfcfc', 'font-family': 'Sans', 'font-size': '12px'}"
data-grsf-email-button-style="{'background-color': '#5890E7', 'color': '#fcfcfc', 'font-family': 'Arial', 'font-size': '12px'}"
data-grsf-email-button-text="Share"
data-grsf-twitter-button-style="{'background-color': '#5890E7', 'font-family': 'Arial', 'font-size': '12px'}"
data-grsf-twitter-button-text="Share"
data-grsf-facebook-button-style="{'background-color': '#5890E7', 'font-family': 'Courier New', 'font-size': '12px'}"
data-grsf-facebook-button-text="Share"
data-grsf-pinterest-button-style="{'background-color': '#5890E7', 'letter-spacing': '1.2', 'font-size': '12px'}"
data-grsf-pinterest-button-text="Pin It"
data-grsf-share-instructions="Share this unique link with your friends">
</div>Example 4: Redirect to another URL after a successful participant signup
This is for when you want to redirect to another webpage after a participant successfully signs up for your referral campaign.
Step 2: Add code
If you are using the Embedded Form, you can add the following HTML attribute: data-grsf-redirect-url.
Remember to replace https://replaceme.com with your redirect URL.
<div data-grsf-block-form
data-grsf-redirect-url="https://replaceme.com">
</div>Please note that if the redirect is not working, it is most likely because the form submission is failing. If this is the case, please check your browser console for errors.
Example 5: Add a personalized message to your Share URL for a warm welcome
When a new visitor lands on your site using their friend's unique link, you can personalize a message for them with growsurf.getReferrerId() and growsurf.getParticipantById(). In this example, we have a simple page with a h1#header that will display as "Emily S. invited you to pet puppies on-demand" if a referrer exists, otherwise it will display as "Pet puppies on-demand".
Step 2: Add code
<html>
<body>
<h1 id="header">Pet puppies on-demand</h1>
</body>
<script>
window.addEventListener('grsfReady', () => {
const referrerId = growsurf.getReferrerId();
if (referrerId) {
growsurf.getParticipantById(referrerId).then(participant => {
if (participant) {
const { firstName, lastName = '' } = participant;
const lastNameAsString = (lastName).toString();
const newHeader = `${firstName && lastName ? firstName + ' ' + lastNameAsString.charAt(0) + '. invited you to pet puppies on-demand' : 'Pet puppies on-demand'}`;
const headerEl = document.getElementById('header');
headerEl.innerHTML = newHeader;
}
});
}
});
</script>
</html>Example 6: Only add a participant if they were referred
In this example, we will only add a participant if they were referred by another participant within your campaign. We will utilize the GrowSurf functions growsurf.getReferrerId() and growsurf.addParticipant() to do this.
Here we are only adding the participant but if you wish to trigger a referral replace the growsurf.addParticipant()method with growsurf.triggerReferral() in the example below.
The example code also assumes that you have set up a submit listener on your form which will listen for submission events and invoke the callback function described below. If you are not sure how to add a form submission listener here is an example.
Step 2: Add code
This code is for demonstration purposes only. You may need to modify it to work on your website.
<html>
<body>
<h1 id="header">Pet puppies on-demand</h1>
<!-- Example form only, this must be replaced with your actual form -->
<form id="form">
<label>Email: <input name="email" type="text"></label>
<button type="submit">Submit form</button>
</form>
</body>
<script>
// Listen for the GrowSurf Ready Event
window.addEventListener('grsfReady', () => {
// Add an event listener to the example form to listen for submissions
const form = document.getElementById('form');
form.addEventListener('submit', onFormSubmit);
});
// Callback function that is invoked when a new visitor has just submitted a form on your website
const onFormSubmit = (event) => {
// Get the value of the email - Update this depending on your form
const userEmail = event.target.email.value;
// Check to see if the submitter was referred
if (window.growsurf && !!window.growsurf.getReferrerId()) {
// Only Add the participant if they were referrered
window.growsurf.addParticipant({ email: userEmail });
}
event.preventDefault();
};
</script>
</html>A few things to notice here are the window.addEventListener and the form.addEventListener snippets of code. The window.addEventListener listens for the GrowSurf script grsfReady event which is emitted when the GrowSurf script is ready. Once the GrowSurf script is ready we are adding a submit event listener to our form form.addEventListener to listen for submission events. You will need to get the form element using document.getElementById using the id of your form for this to work - this is just an example.
The next piece of code we will look at is the onFormSubmit function that is called when our form is submitted. The getReferrerId() function provided by the GrowSurf JavaScript API is used to determine if the submitter of the form was referred. If this function returns a value we then continue to add the participant using the addParticipant() function. You will need to get the value of theuserEmail input using the id or name of the input element of your form - this is just an example.
Please note that this example will attempt to add a participant on all form submissions regardless if the form is valid or not. If you wish to perform some validation before adding the participant that will require some extra coding to do so but is out of scope for this example.
Example 7: Hide the GrowSurf Embedded Form until a GrowSurf participant is detected
Let's say you are using the Embedded Form and passing an email address as a data attribute so that a participant gets created. Because GrowSurf needs to wait for a network request to finish, the signup form may be shown for a few seconds or less. To change this behavior to hide the signup form, you can use the following HTML, CSS, and JS (jQuery) code as an example below.
Step 2: Add code
<div data-grsf-block-form
data-grsf-email="[email protected]"
class="hide-until-grsf-auth"></div>Example 8: Add internationalization support for the GrowSurf Embedded Form and embedded invite
In this example, we'll walk through how to use GrowSurf embeddable elements to support multiple languages on your website. We will use the Embedded Form and Embedded Invite elements, customizing data attributes to display text in both English and Spanish.
Step 2: Add code
These examples only use facebook and twitter as the enabled social share buttons. If you have other social share options enabled, make sure to account for them.
These examples also assume that you have a custom signup field called "Phone Number" (see image). Custom fields are supported via kebab-case (see example usage of phone-number at lines 6 and 7 in the code snippets below).
In English:
<div data-grsf-block-form
data-grsf-field-first-name-label="First name"
data-grsf-field-first-name-placeholder="First name"
data-grsf-field-first-name-label="Last name"
data-grsf-field-first-name-placeholder="Last name"
data-grsf-field-phone-number-label="Phone number"
data-grsf-field-phone-number-placeholder="Phone number"
data-grsf-share-instructions="Share this unique link with your friends"
data-grsf-copy-link-button-text="Copy Link"
data-grsf-email-button-text="Share"
data-grsf-email-button-message="I just saved $X,XXX by using this service! {{shareUrl}}"
data-grsf-email-button-subject="Check this out friend"
data-grsf-facebook-button-text="Share"
data-grsf-facebook-button-message="I just saved $X,XXX by using this service! {{shareUrl}}"
data-grsf-twitter-button-text="Share"
data-grsf-twitter-button-message="I just saved $X,XXX by using this service! {{shareUrl}}">
</div>In Spanish:
<div data-grsf-block-form
data-grsf-field-first-name-label="Primer nombre"
data-grsf-field-first-name-placeholder="Primer nombre"
data-grsf-field-first-name-label="Apellido"
data-grsf-field-first-name-placeholder="Apellido"
data-grsf-field-phone-number-label="Número de teléfono"
data-grsf-field-phone-number-placeholder="Número de teléfono"
data-grsf-share-instructions="Comparte este enlace único con tus amigos"
data-grsf-copy-link-button-text="Copiar link"
data-grsf-email-button-text="Cuota"
data-grsf-email-button-message="¡Acabo de ahorrar $X,XXX al usar este servicio! {{shareUrl}}"
data-grsf-email-button-subject="Mira esto amigo"
data-grsf-facebook-button-text="Cuota"
data-grsf-facebook-button-message="¡Acabo de ahorrar $X,XXX al usar este servicio! {{shareUrl}}"
data-grsf-twitter-button-text="Cuota"
data-grsf-twitter-button-message="¡Acabo de ahorrar $X,XXX al usar este servicio! {{shareUrl}}">
</div>Example 9: Update pre-populated share and email invite messages to capitalize on a customer "aha moment"
If your product has an "aha moment", this is a great time to ask for referrals. On your webpage or web app, display the Embedded Form and Embedded Invite elements to provoke the participant to share.
In this example, we will use two methods growsurf.updateSocialShareMessage() and growsurf.updateEmailInviteMessage() to update pre-populated social share messages so that the default text is more relevant to your user.
Step 2: Add code
To better illustrate this use-case, consider the following scenarios:
Example 10: Load multiple GrowSurf campaigns on a single webpage
If you have multiple GrowSurf campaigns and want to use the same landing page and/or signup pages, here's how you can load the right campaign depending on where the traffic is coming from.
Step 1: Update each Share URL for each of your campaigns
For each of your campaigns, navigate to Campaign Editor > 5. Installation and update the Share URL to include a ?growsurf_campaign parameter.
Grab the campaign ID in the address bar of your browser.
See an example in the image below:
Step 2: Paste this code into the <HEAD> of your website instead of the GrowSurf Universal Code
Instead of pasting the GrowSurf Universal Code into the <HEAD> of your webpage(s), add the following code below. Make sure to update the DEFAULT_GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID value at line 3 to your own default campaign ID.
<script type="text/javascript">
// Update these parameters
const DEFAULT_GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID = 'abc123'; // (Optional) Replace with your default campaign ID. This will be used as a fallback if provided.
// Additional configurable parameters
const GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID_URL_PARAM = 'growsurf_campaign';
const GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID_COOKIE_NAME = 'growsurf_campaign'; // Make it the same name as the URL param for simplicity
function getBaseDomain() {
const hostname = window.location.hostname;
const parts = hostname.split('.');
if (parts.length > 1) { return '.' + parts.slice(-2).join('.'); }
return hostname;
}
function getQueryParam(name) {
const urlParams = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
const value = urlParams.get(name);
if (value && value.includes('?')) {
return value.split('?')[0];
}
return value;
}
function setCookie(name, value, days) {
let expires = "";
if (days) {
const date = new Date();
date.setTime(date.getTime() + days * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
expires = "; expires=" + date.toUTCString();
}
const domain = getBaseDomain();
document.cookie = `${name}=${value}; domain=${domain}; path=/;${expires}`;
}
function getCookie(name) {
const nameEQ = `${name}=`;
const ca = document.cookie.split(';');
for (let i = 0; i < ca.length; i++) {
let c = ca[i];
while (c.charAt(0) === ' ') c = c.substring(1, c.length);
if (c.indexOf(nameEQ) === 0) return c.substring(nameEQ.length, c.length);
}
return null;
}
const growsurfCampaignIdInUrlParam = getQueryParam(GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID_URL_PARAM);
if (growsurfCampaignIdInUrlParam) {
setCookie(GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID_COOKIE_NAME, growsurfCampaignIdInUrlParam, 365); // Stores campaign ID in cookie for 365 days
}
const growsurfCampaignId = getCookie(GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID_COOKIE_NAME) || DEFAULT_GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID;
if (growsurfCampaignId) {
console.log('Loading GrowSurf Universal Code with campaign ID:', growsurfCampaignId);
// Call the GrowSurf Universal Code
(function(g,r,s,f){g.grsfSettings={campaignId:growsurfCampaignId,version:"2.0.0"};s=r.getElementsByTagName("head")[0];f=r.createElement("script");f.async=1;f.src="https://app.growsurf.com/growsurf.js"+"?v="+g.grsfSettings.version;f.setAttribute("grsf-campaign", g.grsfSettings.campaignId);!g.grsfInit?s.appendChild(f):"";})(window,document);
}
</script>Example 11: Display a Referral Link on Your Login Page
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to display referral links to users on your login page. The typical use-case for this is to remind returning users of your referral program and conveniently provide their referral link that they can share.
This tutorial uses React, Firebase Authentication, and the GrowSurf JavaScript SDK.
Demo: To view a working demo and to access the full code, click here.
Step 1: Install GrowSurf in Your React App
The first step is to install the GrowSurf Universal Code by dynamically injecting it into your React app.
Inside your App.js, add the following function and use it in a useEffect:
const GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID = "x8yi1l" // Replace with your own campaign ID
const addGrsfScript = () => {
if (document.querySelector('script[src*="growsurf.js"]')) return;
const script = document.createElement("script");
script.src = "https://app.growsurf.com/growsurf.js?v=2.0.0";
script.setAttribute("grsf-campaign", GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID);
script.async = true;
document.head.appendChild(script);
};
useEffect(() => {
onAuthStateChanged(auth, (user) => {
setCurrentUser(user);
});
if (document.readyState === "complete") {
addGrsfScript();
} else {
window.addEventListener("load", addGrsfScript);
return () => window.removeEventListener("load", addGrsfScript);
}
}, []);Important: Make sure to replace x8yi1l at line 1 with your own campaign ID.
This ensures GrowSurf loads once when the app starts.
Step 2: Register Users and Add Them to GrowSurf
For the purpose of this demo, this is the logic that we'll have when a new user registers:
Create the user in Firebase
Add the user to GrowSurf using
growsurf.addParticipant()Redirect them to the Profile page
This is what the register() function in the Register.js file looks like:
const register = (e) => {
e.preventDefault();
createUserWithEmailAndPassword(auth, email, password)
.then((userCredential) => {
const user = userCredential.user;
// Add user to GrowSurf
if (window.growsurf?.addParticipant) {
window.growsurf.addParticipant(user.email);
}
navigate("/"); // Redirect to profile
})
.catch((err) => setError(err.message));
};
Step 3: Display Profile Page After Login/Registration
In the Profile.js file, we'll show the user’s email and display a Logout button:
<h2>Welcome, {currentUser.email}</h2>
<button onClick={logout}>Logout</button>When the user logs out, they’re redirected back to the Login page.
Step 4: Login and Validate the GrowSurf Participant
When a user logs in, we'll have the following logic be executed:
After a successful Firebase login, check if the user exists in your GrowSurf campaign using
growsurf.getParticipantByEmail(email).If the user exists in the campaign, call
growsurf.addParticipant(email)to log them in as a GrowSurf participant.
Here's what we have in the Login.js file:
const login = (e) => {
e.preventDefault();
setError("");
signInWithEmailAndPassword(auth, email, password)
.then(() => {
if (window.growsurf?.getParticipantByEmail) {
window.growsurf.getParticipantByEmail(email, (participant) => {
if (participant) {
// Initialize GrowSurf participant session
window.growsurf.addParticipant(email, () => {
localStorage.setItem("hasLoggedIn", "true");
setShowReferral(true);
navigate("/");
});
}
});
} else {
setError("GrowSurf is not ready. Please try again shortly.");
}
})
.catch((err) => setError(err.message));
};Step 5: Show the Referral Widget (Only After Logout)
After tracking the user login state, we can now conditionally display the GrowSurf Embedded Form (aka the referral link) on the Login page — but only after logout.
{showReferral && (
<div className="referral-sidebar">
<div
data-grsf-block-form
data-grsf-share-instructions="<h3 style='text-align: center;'>Refer a friend</h3>"
data-grsf-social-buttons-layout-theme="3"
data-grsf-copy-link-button-layout-theme="3"
></div>
</div>
)}
Example 12: Display "You came through a referral link!" on Your Signup Page
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to display a message like “You came through a referral link!” on your signup page using the GrowSurf JavaScript SDK using the following two methods:
growsurf.getReferrerId()to fetch the referrer ID (aka the referral code)growsurf.getCampaign()to fetch custom reward metadata (for displaying the50in "$50 discount will automatically be applied to your account.")growsurf.addParticipant()to add new user signups to your GrowSurf campaign
The use-case for this scenario is for verifying to referred visitors that they came through a referral link.
This tutorial uses React, Firebase Authentication, and the GrowSurf JavaScript SDK.
Demo:
To view a working demo, click here and navigate to the signup page.
To access the full code, click here.
From this tutorial, the following can be assumed:
The GrowSurf Universal Code will be dynamically injected in
App.jsUser authentication is via Firebase Auth and Firebase Realtime Database
growsurf.addParticipant(email)will be called after user signup to track referralsThe login state is managed using a custom
AuthContext.js
Step 1: Install GrowSurf in Your React App
The first step is to install the GrowSurf Universal Code by dynamically injecting it into your React app.
Inside your App.js, add the following function and use it in a useEffect:
const GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID = "x8yi1l" // Replace with your own campaign ID
const addGrsfScript = () => {
if (document.querySelector('script[src*="growsurf.js"]')) return;
const script = document.createElement("script");
script.src = "https://app.growsurf.com/growsurf.js?v=2.0.0";
script.setAttribute("grsf-campaign", GROWSURF_CAMPAIGN_ID);
script.async = true;
document.head.appendChild(script);
};
useEffect(() => {
onAuthStateChanged(auth, (user) => {
setCurrentUser(user);
});
if (document.readyState === "complete") {
addGrsfScript();
} else {
window.addEventListener("load", addGrsfScript);
return () => window.removeEventListener("load", addGrsfScript);
}
}, []);Important: Make sure to replace x8yi1l at line 1 with your own campaign ID.
This ensures GrowSurf loads once when the app starts.
Step 2: Get the referralId and show the referral message on the registration page
referralId and show the referral message on the registration pageNow switch to Register.js. Inside a useEffect, check if a referral ID is stored by calling growsurf.getReferrerId().
If there is a referrer ID, then show a banner that says "You came through a referral link! $50 discount will automatically be applied to your account." Get the 50 by fetching the reward amount from your GrowSurf campaign's reward metadata by calling growsurf.getCampaign():
useEffect(() => {
if (window.growsurf?.getReferrerId) {
const referrerId = window.growsurf.getReferrerId();
if (referrerId) {
setShowReferralBanner(true);
if (window.growsurf?.getCampaign) {
window.growsurf.getCampaign((campaign) => {
const reward = campaign?.rewards?.[0];
const rewardValue = reward?.metadata?.rewardForReferred;
if (rewardValue !== undefined) {
setRewardAmount(rewardValue);
}
});
}
}
}
}, []);This code does two things:
Shows a referral banner only if a referrer ID is stored. The
growsurf.getReferrerId()method checks if there is a referral cookie stored (which would be present if the visitor initially came from a referral link).Uses
growsurf.getCampaign()to fetch the metadata of your campaign's first reward. Note, you'll need to have set the reward metadata.
Then render the message inside your JSX:
{showReferralBanner && rewardAmount !== null && rewardAmount !== undefined && (
<div style={{
backgroundColor: "#fff3cd",
padding: "12px",
borderRadius: "6px",
marginBottom: "15px",
border: "1px solid #ffeeba",
color: "#856404",
fontWeight: "bold",
}}>
You came through a referral link! <strong>${rewardAmount} discount</strong> will automatically be applied to your account.
</div>
)}Step 4: Register Users and Add Them to GrowSurf
When a new user signs up, you’re already registering them with Firebase Auth. After that, use growsurf.addParticipant() to add them to your GrowSurf campaign:
if (response?.user?.email) {
window.growsurf.addParticipant(response.user.email, () => {
// Mark that this user is part of GrowSurf
localStorage.setItem("isGrowSurfParticipant", "true");
});
}Important note on applying the $50 discount upfront:
This tutorial does not cover how to apply the $50 discount the new user who just signed up. To view how to apply the actual discount, view this article.
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Let's say you're a SaaS company that helps social media users gain more followers. You could ask for referrals once a user gains 100 followers.
Add the following HTML code (e.g, in a popup on your webpage):
Add the following JavaScript code:
If you need to call this on immediate page load, wrap the JavaScript code in a
grsfReadyEvent Listener.