Private Forums
Does UserVoice Have Private Forums?
Yes, some things are best discussed privately. We have three ways to create private forums:
- Invitations. Create an invitation only forum, so only those that you invite through our invitation emails are allowed to access your forum. You can specify individuals or upload a spreadsheet of email addresses.
- By Email Domain. Allow only those users that have signed up and confirmed emails on set of domains that you define (ex. @yourdomainaddress.com).
- Single Sign-On. Use Single Sign-On to allow only users already using your website or service to have access to the forum. Single Sign-On allows users to transition seamlessly from your site to UserVoice without the requirement of another registration or login.
- IP address. You can restrict access to only a certain IP range. This is great for locking UserVoice down to only your employees in your office building.
Can I use UserVoice behind a firewall?
Yes. See previous question.
Can we install UserVoice on our servers?
No. UserVoice is Software as a Service (SaaS) so we host and manage the software on our servers. This means you don't have to deal with any of the server hassles!
Single Sign-On
What is Single Sign-On?
Simply put, this eliminates the need for users to be forced to create a new login and password for UserVoice. Your customer can now seamlessly jump from your website to the UserVoice forum and back without having to remember another password!
In a few words, our SSO improves your experience, increases the level of feedback by 124% (we know, its amazing), and is simple to implement.
How Does Single Sign-On Work?
We provide tools that make it easy to pass along your users' authentication records via an encoded parameter (either in a url or via the widget) – you can also pass along an email, display name, access rights, and/or an avatar.
Customization & Design
Can I change the "I Suggest You.." text?
Yes. From within the Admin Console, you can pretty much customize any text as well as the language of the forum.
Can I Custom Design a UserVoice Forum?
Absolutely – with our Premium plan you'll have access to a template & CSS to recreate your company's own unique brand experience. See examples:
Widgets
Do I have to use the "feedback" tab on my site?
No, of course not. Though we provide a simple widget that installs with a few lines of Javascript, you could use any graphic or link to make it work. Or just provide a simple hyperlink! It’s completely up to you.
Does UserVoice have a WordPress Plugin?
Yes, there are third party offerings available for installing the UserVoice widget. You can find one plugin here.
Will the UserVoice widget slow down my site?
Absolutely not. The widget loads asynchronously, which means your content loads first.
Features
What kind of Analytics does UserVoice offer?
At this time we have the following analytics: voter trending, average vote counts, user karma, and email analytics. That said, we are constantly adding new analytics to help organization with reporting. With higher service levels we also allow our API to pull data out. Through our API, you could pull data out to generate your own metrics, or simply send the information to a CRM package.
How does Moderation work?
UserVoice has two types of moderation, user-moderation and pre-moderation. With user-moderation, users can flag items as spam or inappropriate for an admin to remove. Pre-moderation allows admins to pre-approve all suggestions or comments from within their email.
What is Domain Aliasing?
Domain Aliasing is the customization of the URL that you will direct customers to. Instead of sending users to http://YOURCOMPANY.uservoice.com with Domain Aliasing, your site can sit on http://feedback.YOURCOMPANY.com By ut.ilizing this feature, you can simultaneously increase your site's SEO while making the transition to your feedback site seamless.
Developer API
What is your API feature?
The UserVoice Developer API (Application Programming Interface) is, simply put, another way to access UserVoice functionality. It is primarily used for exporting data or recreating functionality within UserVoice in your own applications.
What can I do with the UserVoice API?
With our recent launch of our new API, you can pretty much recreate any functionality in UserVoice. We also allow you to export or manipulate any data via the API. Of course, this is only if you have the right security permissions.
Importing and Exporting Data
Can I seed my site with a bunch of ideas?
Yes, we actually encourage it! Providing a few sample ideas gets your users in the mindset of what type of ideas you are looking for. An idea-filled forum is also a lot less daunting for the first few users than an empty one.
Can I export my ideas to Excel?
Yes, you can export all of your data. Within your admin console you can export almost any view into .csv.
Voting
How does voting work?
Every end-user and admin that uses your forum is given 10 votes by default (vote limit customization). They can choose to spend anywhere from 1 - 3 votes per idea but can run out of votes. Votes are counted on a per-forum basis, with each user getting 10 votes within that forum. Votes are counted across all categories.
What happens when participants run out of votes?
After users run out of their ten votes, they can choose to take back votes and place them on other suggestions as long as their total stays at or below their limit. As suggestions are closed by admins, your users votes are returned.
Can I change the default number of votes?
Yes, on certain premium plans. The default limit is 10 votes which limits users, on average, to their top 3 to 4 ideas.
Subscriptions
How does my trial work?
If you cancel a paying plan within 30 days of signing up, you won’t be charged a thing. If you choose to cancel your account in the future, you will not be charged the following month. Unfortunately, refunds can not be issued after your initial 30 day trial and we can't prorate for partial months.
Do I get a 30-day free trial if I upgrade?
If you upgrade from a free account to a paid account, you are not eligible for the 30-day free trial. The 30-day free trial only applies if you sign up for a paying plan from the start. And yes, you can downgrade later if you need to.
What if I have multiple products?
Each UserVoice account is set up on a single site with one domain (youraccount.uservoice.com), and one design. If you don't require separate branding for each product, then you can have a single company-wide UserVoice account, and create multiple forums for each of your products. If you want a separate domain, design, or set of admins for each product, then you'll want to create an individual site for each product. Your employees can be admins of multiple accounts. Confused? Contact our friendly sales people and we'll walk you through it.