No setup required

NotedWP works out of the box after activation. No setup steps are required before you can start reviewing.

Opening the overlay

There are two ways to open the feedback overlay on any page.

Option 1: The ?noted URL parameter

Append ?noted to any page URL on your site. For example:

https://yoursite.com/?noted
https://yoursite.com/about/?noted

The overlay loads on top of the page. You will see the NotedWP toolbar and any existing pins.

Option 2: The admin bar link

When you are logged in to WordPress, look for the Open Review Tool link in the admin bar at the top of any page. Clicking it adds the ?noted parameter automatically and activates the overlay.

Visibility modes

NotedWP gives you three visibility modes for the overlay. You can set these under Noted > Settings.

  • URL Parameter (default): The overlay only appears when ?noted is in the URL. This is the recommended setting for most workflows.
  • Always On: The overlay loads on every page for logged-in users who have the noted_view_reviews capability. Useful during intensive review sprints.
  • Off: The overlay is completely disabled, even with the URL parameter. Use this when you want to pause all feedback collection.

Guest reviewers using share links are not affected by these modes. Their links always activate the overlay.

No impact on regular visitors

The overlay only loads when it is explicitly activated. Regular visitors to your site will never see the toolbar, the pins, or any overlay assets. Nothing is added to the page output, so there is no effect on performance or SEO.

The toolbar

Once the overlay is active, a toolbar appears at the edge of your page (top or bottom, configurable in settings). The toolbar contains your annotation tools: cursor, pin, element selector, rectangle, arrow, freehand, and text-edit. The tools available depend on your plan.

You can learn more about each tool in the Annotation Tools guide.

Breakpoint controls

The overlay includes breakpoint controls so you can preview and annotate your site at different screen widths.

  • Desktop (responsive, follows your browser width)
  • Fixed (1440px)
  • Tablet (768px)
  • Mobile (375px)

Switching breakpoints resizes the page preview. Pins are tied to the breakpoint where they were created, so feedback stays accurate across devices.

Next steps

With the overlay active, you are ready to place your first pin.