Setting up the feedback component and visitor help page
Collect feedback and direct visitors seeking help to the right communication channels
Summary
The feedback component at the bottom of Mass.gov pages invites visitors to answer a question about whether they found what they were looking for.
Once they click yes or no, the window expands so they can submit feedback.
More than feedback
The feedback component is designed to elicit feedback about Mass.gov content. Visitors use it that way, but they also use it to seek help, sometimes urgent help, and, in doing so, often share personal information.
Organizations may not see the visitor's request in a timely manner, especially when they have other communication channels they expect constituents to use.
The Mass Digital team designed the feedback component with the goal of making its purpose clear while also protecting visitors’ personal information and giving them a quicker path to help using appropriate communication methods.
Protecting personal information
The feedback component is designed to block submissions of personal information. It
Displays an “If you need assistance...” message with a link to a Visitor help page if the user enters key words such as “help” or if they enter a phone number or email address.
Warns users to remove personal information they’ve entered (phone number, email, social security or driver’s license number).
Disables the "send feedback” button if personal information is detected.
Limits the comment to 500 characters.
A path to help
To make good use of this component—so users can share feedback and get help quickly if they need it—authors must set up the proper configuration in the CMS: a "Visitor help page."
You’ll designate this page on your Organization page under the "Setup Feedback" tab.
The visitor help page can be a Mass.gov page or an external URL.
If it's a Mass.gov page, it can be any content type that offers visitors a way to get the help they seek. It could be a page with contact information, a form, a list of FAQs, or some combination of these. For example, the Department of Revenue has Contact DOR | Mass.gov. RMV has Ask the RMV | Mass.gov.
If you do not have such a page, you can create one. If you do not create one, the Organization page will be the default Visitor help page since it has contact information.
Once you’ve set up this configuration on the Organization page, all pages associated with the organization will have the same Visitor help page link appear in their feedback component. If there is more than one Organization associated with the page, the CMS defaults to the first one.
Note: the Visitor help page link will not appear
in the feedback component on the Organization page itself because then the visitor would click the link and end up in the same place.
On Topic pages.
On the Visitor help page.
After visitors submit their feedback, they will see this message.
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