Sometimes, when people report an issue on your website, Marker.io asks them to enter their name and email. This guide explains why that happens and shows you four ways to set things up so your users don't have to type their details.
Note: This guide covers all methods for controlling the reporter prompt, including anonymous feedback. If you are a developer and specifically want to automatically identify your logged-in users with code, you can read our more technical guide here: How to Automatically Identify Reporters.
Why does Marker.io ask for a name and email?
When someone reports an issue, we need to know who they are. If we don’t recognize the person, we ask for their contact details for a few simple reasons:
To send updates: We let them know when their issue is received and when it’s been fixed.
To keep conversations organized: If they reply to an email, we can link it to the right issue.
To make sure emails get delivered: Using real email addresses helps prevent our notifications from being marked as spam.
If Marker.io already knows who the person is (for example, they are logged into your website), we can skip this step completely.
Choose the Best Method for You
Here are the four ways you can set up reporter identification. Pick the one that best fits your situation.
Your Situation | Asks for Name & Email? | Good for... | Setup Time |
The reporter is part of your team or a client with a Marker.io account. | ❌ No | Teams and invited clients. | Low |
Your website is built on WordPress and has user logins. | ❌ No | WordPress sites where users log in. | Low |
You have your own app or website with a custom login system. | ❌ No | Custom websites and web apps. | Medium |
You want to collect feedback without knowing who sent it. | ❌ No | Getting feedback when you don't need to reply to the person. | Low |
You haven't set up any of the above methods. | ✅ Yes | The default setting for all new projects. | — |
Four Ways to Automatically Identify Reporters
Here are the step-by-step instructions for each method.
1. Invite them to your Marker.io project
If the people reporting issues are already part of your team or are clients you work with closely, you can invite them to your Marker.io project as a Guest or Member.
Once they are invited and log in to their Marker.io account, we will never ask for their details again when they are reporting feedback.
Learn more about the difference between Guests and Members here.
2. Use the Marker.io WordPress Plugin
If your website uses WordPress for user logins, this is the easiest method. The Marker.io widget automatically detects who is logged in and fills in their details.
How to set it up:
Install the Marker.io WordPress plugin on your site.
Connect the plugin to your Marker.io project.
That's it! Any logged-in WordPress user will be identified automatically.
3. Pass user details through your website's code
If your users log in to your own website or web application, you can tell Marker.io who they are by adding a small piece of code. You only need to do this once after they log in.
This code tells Marker.io the user's name and email, so our form doesn't show up.
Option A: Add it to your main website code snippet.
This is a good choice if you already know who the user is when the page loads.
<script>
window.markerConfig = {
project: "YOUR_PROJECT_ID",
source: "snippet",
reporter: {
email: "{{ currentUser.email }}", // Add your user's email here
fullName: "{{ currentUser.name }}", // Add your user's name here
},
};
</script>
Option B: Use our special command after a user logs in.
This is useful if the user logs in without reloading the page.
<script>
Marker.setReporter({
email: currentUser.email,
fullName: currentUser.name,
});
</script>
4. Collect feedback without knowing who sent it
Sometimes you don't need to know the reporter's personal email. For this, you can send all reports from a generic email address that you control. This makes it feel "anonymous" for the user, but all notifications will go to an inbox you manage.
Important: You must use a real email address that you can access. Using a fake one like test@test.com will cause emails to bounce and can get your account flagged for spam.
<script>
window.markerConfig = {
project: "YOUR_PROJECT_ID",
source: "snippet",
reporter: {
email: "feedback-reports@yourcompany.com",
fullName: "Website Visitor",
},
};
</script>
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
🧐 What if I want truly anonymous feedback? We understand that sometimes you want to collect feedback without any email address at all. While that's not possible right now, we are tracking requests for this feature. Method #4 in this guide is the best current workaround.
If that solution isn't enough for you, please vote below:
🔁 Will my users have to do this on every page? No. Once a reporter's information is set, it's remembered for their entire visit.
👤 What happens if a user's email is already a Marker.io account? The widget will ask them to log in. This connects the feedback directly to their existing Marker.io account.
📝 We already ask for our users' names and emails. Can we pass that info to Marker.io? Yes! That’s exactly what method #3 is for. It lets you send the details you’ve already collected to Marker.io, so your users don’t have to type them again.