How to collect client feedback on a staging site in WordPress, Webflow or Framer.

A staging site is a copy of the website that only you and your client can see: a subdomain such as staging.yourclient.com, a preview address from your builder, or a password-protected version of the real domain. Getting feedback there, rather than on static designs, catches the problems that only appear on a working site: long words that break the layout, photos that crop badly on phones, forms that send to the wrong address.

First, make sure the client can actually open it

It sounds obvious, but a surprising number of reviews stall at the login screen. Before you send any link, check it in a private browser window, on your phone, signed out of everything. Ask yourself:

• Does the address work without a builder account?
• Is the password easy to share and type on a phone?
• Does anything (a cookie banner, a maintenance page, a coming-soon plugin) cover the content?
• Will search engines stay out? A staging site should not be indexed. Most builders and WordPress have a setting to discourage search engines, or you can protect the whole staging site with a password.

WordPress and Elementor

WordPress staging usually lives on a subdomain or a separate install created by your host or a staging plugin. Clients do not need a WordPress login to see it. If you protect it, prefer a simple site-wide password over WordPress user accounts, which add a sign-in step the client does not need.

To collect feedback, you have a few choices: send screenshots, invite the client to a call, or install a feedback tool. Tweakpin has a free WordPress plugin: install it from Plugins → Add New (search "Tweakpin") and paste your line into Settings → Tweakpin. You can also paste the line into a header and footer code plugin, into Elementor Pro's Custom Code, or into your theme's header. On WordPress.com, plugins need a paid plan.

Webflow

Webflow gives every site a free staging address on webflow.io, which is a natural place for client reviews before the custom domain goes live. Remember that the Webflow Designer is your workspace, not the client's; send them the published staging address instead.

To add a feedback tool that runs from a script, open Site settings → Custom code → Footer code, paste the line, save and publish. Custom code needs a paid Site plan. Publish to the staging address first, check that the feedback tool appears there, then share the link.

Framer

Framer sites can be published to a free framer.app address or to a custom domain. The same rule applies: share the published site, not the editor. For script-based tools, open Site Settings → General → Custom Code, paste the line at the end of the body and publish.

Framer sites often behave like single-page apps, with screens and sections that change without a full page load. If you use a feedback tool, check that comments stay attached to the right element when the client moves between screens.

Shopify, Wix and Squarespace

The same idea works on other builders, with different menus:

• Shopify: Online Store → Themes → Edit code → theme.liquid, just before the closing body tag. It shows on your store's pages, not on Shopify's checkout. Many studios review on an unpublished theme preview before switching it live.
• Wix: Settings → Custom Code → Add Custom Code, placed at Body - end on all pages. This needs a Premium plan with a connected domain.
• Squarespace: Website → Website Tools → Code Injection → Footer. Code Injection needs the Core plan or higher.

What to tell the client before they start

A staging site looks finished, and that can confuse people. Say clearly:

• This is a private preview; changes here do not affect the current website.
• Some things may be placeholders (and which ones).
• Forms may not send real emails yet, or may send them to you.
• What this round is about, and the date you need feedback by (see how to run approval rounds).

Keep feedback attached to the page

On staging, the site keeps changing while the client reviews it. Screenshots go out of date quickly, and a comment like "the second photo" may no longer point at the same photo tomorrow. Comments that are pinned to the element on the page itself, with the page address and screen size recorded, stay understandable even after you have moved things around.

Moving from staging to live

When the staging site is approved, you copy it to the live address, and a few things can change on the way: domain-specific settings, forms, analytics, redirects. Do a short final check on the live site with the client before you call it finished. The launch sign-off checklist covers what to look at.

Where Tweakpin fits

Tweakpin runs on the address you add, so you can add the staging address (for example staging.yourclient.com) for the review and the live one afterwards. You add one line of code or the WordPress plugin, then send your client a review link. They type their name and email (and a password, if you set one) and can start pinning notes on the page straight away, with nothing to install. Notes stay on the element they are about, even on single-page sites where screens change without a reload.