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Staging Site Client Review Checklist
The build is on staging, and now the client wants to see it. You could email a password, a Loom, and a prayer. Or run one review round with this checklist: a protected URL, an invite link, and anchored comments, with no extensions and no client accounts.
Use it on this page, copy it as Markdown, or import the .docx into Google Docs or Notion.
Free checklist · 5 steps · Works with any tool
Staging site client review checklist
- 1
Prepare the staging environment
A review only counts if everyone saw the same build.
- Goal
- One stable, private URL that shows the exact build under review.
- Owner
- Developer
- Deploy the build to a staging URL or preview deploy, separate from production.
- Protect it: basic auth, an IP allowlist, or your host's preview protection.
- Freeze the build for the round. No pushes to staging while clients review.
- Load real-enough content. Clients react to placeholder text instead of the layout.
Critical: Freeze means freeze. If a push lands mid-review, half the comments point at a build that no longer exists, and you cannot tell which half.
Done when: A protected staging URL that renders the build you want reviewed.
- 2
Add the feedback widget
Feedback tooling has to run where the site runs.
- Goal
- Clients can comment on the staging site itself, not on screenshots of it.
- Owner
- Developer
- Add the feedback widget's script tag to the staging build.
- A script tag loads with the page, so it works behind basic auth and on preview deploys, and reviewers install nothing.
- Open the staging URL and leave a test comment to confirm the widget loads.
Done when: The widget loads on the protected staging URL and a test comment sticks.
- 3
Invite clients
Clients need a link, not credentials.
- Goal
- Every reviewer can open the staging site and comment, with no accounts and no site access.
- Owner
- Project lead
- Send each client an invite link. They comment from it without creating an account or password, and without installing anything.
- If staging uses basic auth, share that password separately. It grants viewing only, never hosting or CMS access.
- Tell reviewers what this round is for: flows, content, or visual polish.
- Set the deadline and state the silence rule: no comment by the deadline counts as approval.
Critical: Viewing access is not editing access. Never hand out CMS or hosting credentials just to collect feedback. One well-meaning content edit on staging mid-round and you are debugging a change nobody admits to.
Done when: Every reviewer can open the staging site and knows what feedback you need by when.
- 4
Run the feedback round
Collect every comment on the page it belongs to.
- Goal
- Every issue captured as an anchored comment, not an email thread.
- Owner
- Reviewers and clients
- Clients click the exact element and leave a pinned comment. One comment per issue.
- Nudge once at the halfway mark, then let the deadline and silence rule work.
- Every comment gets a status: to do, in progress, done.
- Answer questions as replies on the comment, so decisions stay next to the issue.
Critical: Do not transcribe emailed feedback into comments yourself. The first time you do, you have taught every reviewer that email works, and the tool becomes your job instead of theirs.
Recommended toolSimple Commenter
Clients comment on the staging site from an invite link, with no account, no password, and no browser extension, and every comment carries a status you can track. Any tool works here as long as comments are anchored and trackable.
Done when: A numbered list of comments, each anchored to a spot on the staging site.
- 5
Resolve and re-deploy
Close comments with commits, not memory.
- Goal
- Every comment ends as a shipped change or a documented decision.
- Owner
- Developer
- Work through comments by status and mark each one done as the fix lands on staging.
- If you decide not to make a change, reply on the comment with the reason.
- Re-deploy staging and ask clients to re-check only the comments marked done.
- When the list is empty, promote the build toward production.
Done when: Zero open comments and a staging build ready to ship.
The checklist is tool-agnostic on purpose. Step four recommends Simple Commenter because that is the step we build for, and it starts free.
The checklist is process guidance, not legal advice.
Annotate a staging site without a browser extension
Extension-based markup tools put the setup burden on the one person you cannot ask to do setup: the client. A widget flips that. The developer adds a script tag to the staging build, and reviewing becomes opening a link.
One script tag, added by you
The widget is a script tag in the staging build. You add it once; reviewers never install, configure, or update anything.
Clients join from an invite link
No account creation, no password to make, no extension. They open the link in their normal browser, on desktop or mobile, and click the element they mean.
Comments stay anchored
Each comment pins to the element the client clicked and records the page it was left on, so nothing needs a clarification call.
More on how anchoring works on the website annotation page, and on the client side of the flow at client feedback without logins.
Works on password-protected staging sites
Staging is private by design. A feedback tool has to respect that, not fight it.
Basic auth and allowlists
The widget loads with the page, after the reviewer passes your protection. Tools that crawl or screenshot your URL from their own servers stop at the password. A script tag does not.
Preview deploys
Vercel, Netlify, and similar preview URLs work the same way: if the reviewer can open the page, they can comment on it.
No credentials handed out
Clients never get hosting, CMS, or deployment access. The most you share is the staging password for viewing, and feedback itself needs no login at all.
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/ Rated 5.0 on Product Hunt & 4.8 on G2
Simple. Effective. Game Changer
@Dsouldiva
Finally, a feedback tool my clients actually enjoy
@craigfenton
A Game-Changer for Web Feedback – Worth Every Penny!
@ryanbarilla
The tool I've been searching for
@alexs89
Simple, yet ingenious
@koen.kerkvliet
Great feedback app and so easy to use!
@iamvictor
Hidden Gem
@greg319
Fantastic tool for working with clients
@devdbydesign
An Essential Tool for Enhancing Communication with Clients
@Fiorenzomi
Great product!
@gramir
Very useful product and excellent support
@Ulrich86098
Simple Commenter has changed the way I work
@Jim Langman
Deserves +1000 tacos
@IgnacioJadue
Clients LOVED using Simple Commenter
@Katelyn
Phantastic
@user6961b
They fixed my issue in literal seconds from emailing them
@100587018771155070259
Super handy tool. The developer is very responsive.
@neposeda
I didn't realize how much I needed this tool!
@koen.kerkvliet
Life changed in under 5 minutes
@Dsouldiva
My clients have been engaged like never before
@Jim Langman
Simple. Effective. Game Changer
@Dsouldiva
Finally, a feedback tool my clients actually enjoy
@craigfenton
A Game-Changer for Web Feedback – Worth Every Penny!
@ryanbarilla
The tool I've been searching for
@alexs89
Simple, yet ingenious
@koen.kerkvliet
Great feedback app and so easy to use!
@iamvictor
Hidden Gem
@greg319
Fantastic tool for working with clients
@devdbydesign
An Essential Tool for Enhancing Communication with Clients
@Fiorenzomi
Great product!
@gramir
Very useful product and excellent support
@Ulrich86098
Simple Commenter has changed the way I work
@Jim Langman
Deserves +1000 tacos
@IgnacioJadue
Clients LOVED using Simple Commenter
@Katelyn
Phantastic
@user6961b
They fixed my issue in literal seconds from emailing them
@100587018771155070259
Super handy tool. The developer is very responsive.
@neposeda
I didn't realize how much I needed this tool!
@koen.kerkvliet
Life changed in under 5 minutes
@Dsouldiva
My clients have been engaged like never before
@Jim Langman
Frequently asked questions
Run your next staging review with the checklist
Grab the checklist above, and if you want the feedback round handled for you, Simple Commenter starts free. Clients comment from a link on your staging site, you track every comment to done.
No credit card required.
Related reading: website annotation, client feedback without logins, or the creative asset feedback and approval template.