You now have a new way of controlling access to your feedback board. We call it the “access list”. Once enabled, only people on your access list can access your board.
Each person on the access list gets their own “sign-in token”, a short password-like text that they use access the board.
We expect this to be particularly valuable to organisers of events, conferences, and hack-a-thons.
Adding the access list is enabling us to add some other valuable features. For example, if you use the access list, you can limit the number of votes per contributor. You can give each contributor 5 votes, say, to use as they wish; once the votes are used up, the contributor will need to remove a vote before casting another.
The access list is in “beta”. Expect it to evolve for a while based on the feedback you give us when you try it out.
Why we waited years before adding the access list
In brief, we didn’t consider this feature valuable to our original target customers – owners of software products. Over the years, however, our customer base has proven to be much wider than that. So we’ve widened what we consider to be useful features.
When we launched Feature Upvote in early 2017, we intended it to be used by teams that make software products. The name “Feature Upvote” reveals our original intended use – software companies always talk of “features”!
However Feature Upvote usage spread to any type of product. This made sense, so we got rid of the language from our user interface that was specific to software products.
A more surprising usage, one I never expected, was people using Feature Upvote at conferences, hack-a-thons, and other events. It turns out that event organisers really liked the simplicity of our system, even if they had to bend Feature Upvote to make it work for them.
Our existing way of restricting access to a feedback board – Single Sign-on – wasn’t great in these situations. Single Sign-on assumes all of your users belong to your organisation.
The access list offers a good alternative to Single Sign-on. You get the same effect as Single Sign-on – controlling who can access your board without having to create a user registration system. But you have the flexibility to add anyone you wish.
Getting started with the access list
The access list is now available to your Feature Upvote account.
In your board settings, go to “Access” and select “Access list”.
We’ve worked hard to make it self-explanatory to use. We also have an access list docs page. And, of course, you can contact us for help at any time.