Client review links: show the preview, collect comments by section
A review link lets a client see your project's current preview without an account and without anything being published. They pick a section, write a comment and send it. Comments arrive in your workspace tied to that section, where you resolve them as you go. Links last 14 days by default and can be revoked at any moment.
The feedback problem it solves
Client feedback by email tends to arrive as "can the bit near the top be warmer?" with a screenshot of a different version. Asking a client to create an account in your tools to comment is worse: half won't. A client review link with section comments removes both problems. The client sees exactly what you're working on now, and every comment says which section it's about, so "the bit near the top" becomes a comment filed under Hero or Pricing.
Creating a link
- Open Client review in the project's workspace panels.
- Optionally write who it's for, such as "Acme, homepage round 2". This label shows on the review page and in your list of links.
- Choose how long it stays open: 3, 7, 14 or 30 days. Fourteen is the default.
- Press Create link and copy the address. It's shown once only, because Anticode stores a fingerprint of it rather than the link itself. If you lose it, make another.
Anyone in the project's workspace can create links. Owners and admins can revoke any link; members can revoke the ones they made.
What the client sees
The review page shows the project's name, your label, when the link expires, and the page itself in a frame. Beside it is a list of the page's sections; clicking one scrolls the frame there. Below is a short form: choose a section (or "the whole page"), write the comment, and optionally add a name. Sending it brings them back to the page with a thank-you, and their earlier comments through that link are listed so they don't repeat themselves.
The page they see is drawn when they open it, from the project as it is now, so if you change a heading after sending the link and they reload, they see the new heading. It isn't the published site, and creating a link publishes nothing.
Built so a link can't be misused
- No scripts anywhere. The review page and the framed preview run no JavaScript. The preview is sandboxed, so its forms can't submit and its buttons go nowhere.
- Not indexed, not cached, no referrer. Search engines are told not to index review pages, and the address isn't passed on to sites the preview links to.
- Dead links look the same. An unknown, expired or revoked link gets the same not-found page, so nobody can probe which links once existed.
- Limits on volume. Comments are capped at 2,000 characters, and there are limits per visitor and per link, plus a hidden field that catches simple spam bots.
Working through the comments
Comments appear in the Client review panel, open ones first, each with its section, author name if given, and when it was left. Press Resolve once you've dealt with one; resolved comments fold into their own list and can be reopened. Each comment keeps the section's name as it was, so it still makes sense if you rename or remove that section later. A natural loop is to ask for the change in words, check it in the preview, resolve the comment, and tell the client to reload. For the full sign-off process, see getting client sign-off on a website.
Revoking and expiry
Revoke stops a link working at once, after a confirmation. Comments already left stay in your panel. Expired links behave the same way: the client sees a not-found page and you keep what they said. Each project can have up to twenty open links, which is plenty for a link per client or per round.
Limits
- Home page only on multi-page sites. The review page shows the main page; other pages of the site can't be commented on through the link yet.
- Collection sections appear without their entries in the review preview.
- No notification. You aren't emailed when a comment arrives; check the panel, or agree a time with the client.
- Comments, not edits. Clients can't change text or approve formally through the link; the record of approval is up to you.
Questions people ask
Does my client need an Anticode account?
No. Anyone with the link can view the preview and leave comments for as long as it's open.
Does creating a review link publish my site?
No. The link shows the project's current preview. Nothing goes live until you publish.
Can I extend a link?
Create a new one with a longer period and send that. The old link's comments stay in your panel.
Can the client see other people's comments?
The review page lists the comments left through that link only, so separate clients with separate links don't see each other's notes.