Adding a feedback widget to your WordPress website

WordPress powers over 1/3 of all websites on the internet. If you are using WordPress to develop websites you have likely run into the frustration of handling user feedback, design changes, bug reports etc. Trying to keep track of all the feedback can quickly turn a fun project into a nightmare. If you are looking for a way to make it easier for your team and your clients to submit change requests, point out issues and quickly report bugs, look no further.

As a WordPress developer you may have a workflow something like this:

• client (or internal team) needs a website built
• you setup WordPress, create the necessary post, field types and templates
• create your custom theme (or select a slick pre built one)
• add content 
• do some initial testing and debugging to make sure the website works correctly and looks good
• notice some issues that need to get fixed
• have your client review the website
• receive emails, spreadsheets, and PDFs about things they want changed
• starting fixing issues and making changes 
• get even more requests for changes, tweaks, etc
• get super frustrated

Many developers who have experienced this feedback pain look for a solution, typically a bug tracker like JIRA, Redmine or Mantis or a project management tool like Asana, Basecamp or Trello. All of those are ok options. Bug trackers are great for traditional software projects. Project management tools are really good at keeping everyone informed and on task. None of them work great for websites. A website can have hundreds of pages, changing layouts based on screen sizes, and bugs that pop up only in specific browsers. What you really need is a solution built specifically for websites.

PageProofer offers WordPress developers three unique benefits over traditional bug tracking and project management solutions:

1. Ease of use

If something is complicated people are less likely to use it. Traditional bug tracking software requires a user to open an application or new browser window, navigate to the right project, create a ticket that requires a lot of information. Most users don't want that hassle. They just want to point and click. With a visual feedback tool like PageProofer they can simply double click anywhere, right on the website, and add a note. Screenshots can be automatically added along with important information about the browser and device. Using PageProofer is easier than adding sticky notes to your computer screen. Checkout our demo to see just how easy it is.

2. Context

Once an issue has been spotted and reported, it's up to you, or someone on your team to fix the issue. With websites the first thing you probably want to know is where did the issue occur, which url? The second thing is which browser was the user in. PageProofer automatically captures that information for you and adds it to every note. Users also have the option to automatically add a screenshot to provide even better details about an issue they see. There's no time wasted going back and forth with the person who reported the issue trying to figure out the exact spot on the website where the issue happened or which browser and screen size they were running, it's all at your finger tips.

3. Website specific features

For a website feedback tool to be really useful it needs to work on any website, in any browser, on any device. PageProofer does. It works in any modern browser, Chrome, FireFox, Edge, Safari. It works on phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers. It works on locally hosted development sites, locked down staging sites and publicly available websites. You can add it directly to your WordPress website with a simple plugin in under 20 seconds so anyone can leave feedback.

If you do WordPress development and you need a better way to handle feedback and track issues, give PageProofer a try. Your team will thank you and your clients will love it.