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Button Targeting

Control Who Sees Your Bug Reporting Button

Joe Scanlon avatar
Written by Joe Scanlon
Updated over a week ago

You can decide who sees the Marker.io bug reporting button on your website and where it appears. This helps ensure that only the right people have access to it.

How to Set Up Button Targeting

  1. Go to Widget > Button > Button Targeting in your Marker.io settings.

  2. Choose who should see the button.

  3. Decide on which pages it should appear.

Who Can See the Button?

You have two options for controlling who has access:

  • Everyone – The button is visible to all visitors.

    • Best for staging sites where multiple people need to give feedback.

    • Useful for live sites when you want feedback from anyone.

  • Only Marker.io Members & Guests – The button is only visible to logged-in users.

    • Ideal for teams and external stakeholders providing feedback on a live site.

Where Will the Button Appear?

You can decide which pages will show the button:

  • On all pages – The button appears on every page where the Marker.io snippet is installed.

    • Works well for staging environments where all users may give feedback.

  • Only when a specific URL parameter is present – The button only appears when a user adds a secret code to the URL.

    • Useful for beta testers who need controlled access to the widget. See below for more details on this option.

  • Never show the button – The button is hidden from everyone.

    • This is helpful if you want to prevent feedback collection entirely or use a custom button instead. (Check our custom button guide for details.)

Using a Secret URL Code

If you enable URL-based button activation, the default parameters are:

  • ?bug

  • ?feedback

When a user adds one of these parameters to the URL, the Marker.io button will be available for one hour, and only for that user. This allows them time to submit their feedback.

Custom Secret URL Codes

If you're on a Business or Enterprise plan, you can go a step further by creating your own custom secret codes. This is useful for:

  • 🔒 Extra Security – Use unique, hard-to-guess codes instead of ?bug, making access more controlled.

  • 👥 Different Codes for Different Teams – Assign custom parameters for developers, clients, or testers.

  • 🚀 Private Feedback Collection – Ensure only authorized users can trigger the button.

How It Works:

  1. Instead of using ?bug, create a custom code like ?teamfeedback123 or ?QA-access.

  2. Share this URL only with the right people.

  3. When they add the custom code to the website link, the Marker.io button appears just for them—for one hour.

Example:
If your website is www.yoursite.com, you can create a private feedback link like:
www.yoursite.com?VIPbugreports

Quickly Adding a Secret URL Code with a Bookmarklet

If you want to quickly add a specific URL parameter (e.g., ?marker123) to any page URL without manually typing it, you can create a bookmarklet in your browser.

Set It Up Once:

  1. Copy the following JavaScript snippet into a new file.

    javascript:(function(){ 
    let url = new URL(window.location);
    let param = "yourCustomCode";
    if (!url.search.includes(param)) {
    url.search += (url.search ? "&" : "?") + param;
    window.location.href = url.href;
    }
    })();
  2. Replace yourCustomCode with your own secret code.

  3. Open your browser's bookmarks manager.

  4. Create a new bookmark and name it something like Activate Marker.

  5. In the URL field, paste the JavaScript code with your own custom code in it.

  6. Save the bookmark.

How to Use It

  • Whenever you need to enable the Marker.io button using a custom URL parameter, simply click the bookmark.

  • The URL will automatically update, and the button will appear for you.

This method makes it quick and easy for beta testers and team members to activate the Marker.io button without manually editing the URL. 🚀


Summary

With button targeting, you decide exactly who can see and use the Marker.io widget. If you have any questions, reach out through the chat option at the bottom of our website.

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