Unlike the majority of feedback platforms, we decided to include the ability to create feedback without logging in, and to vote anonymously. To deal with the issues that may arise from allowing non-logged in users to post and vote, we have put in place a range of options, which we urge you to test and consider.
If you wish to offer guest submissions we strongly recommend, at the least, to use our Google reCaptcha v3 integration and to turn on Boomerang pre-approval. This should help to reduce spam submissions and also prevent any malicious posts from appearing until a Boomerang manager has been able to approve them.
The Guest User
When you first turn on guest submissions, Boomerang creates a new user. This will be given the username boomerang_guest. In the highly unlikely event you already have a user using this username, this will fail, so please check before turning on guest submissions.
This user will take the place of a genuine user whenever a guest submission is made. WordPress doesn’t understand the concept of anonymous posting and always requires a user, so this is the way we handle it.
Handling Names and Email Addresses
While your guest users can submit Boomerangs totally anonymously, you can also ask them to supply a name and email address. If they supply a name, that name will be displayed with the Boomerang, rather than an anonymous label. It gets even smarter with an email address. The address will be displayed with the Boomerang for managers, so you can use it to get in touch with the guest. It is never shown to other users. But it can even be used to send notifications. So if a guest user submits a Boomerang, they can stay notified via email, even without a WordPress account.
We suggest you use the subtitle text above your form to explain to, and if need be encourage, your guest users to leave some personal information.