Help! The BugHerd sidebar isn't appearing!

  • Last updated on March 20, 2024 at 3:13 AM

BugHerd sidebar not appearing when you first leave feedback?

If you're setting up your first project, you need to give feedback or report a bug to continue through the setting up process. If the BugHerd sidebar isn't appearing, this video can help troubleshoot the more common problems.

Here are some things to check if the BugHerd sidebar isn't showing up on your site.

Try the shortcut to display the sidebar

If you've installed BugHerd via the javascript snippet, use the shortcut to display the sidebar on your website (if you're logged in).

Press ctrl + alt + B (windows), or cmd + control + B (Mac).

Make sure you're logged in

The BugHerd sidebar only shows to authenticated users who have an account on www.bugherd.com. BugHerd uses a 3rd party cookie to remember your login so that the sidebar will show on your site for all the invited users. It's possible that cookies have been deleted, or that you are using a different browser or different computer from when you last logged into BugHerd. If you're using the browser extension you may need to close the browser and open it after logging in for the extension to detect that you're logged in.

Open your website from My Projects in BugHerd

Go to https://bugherd.com and log in. 
Go to My Projects, then click the View website link on the project.

Screen_Shot_2023-05-18_at_2.07.26_pm.png

This will open the website for that project. If you're using Safari, you may need to allow BugHerd to use Cookies before the sidebar appears. 

3rd party cookies blocked

BugHerd uses a 3rd party cookie to remember that you are logged in. Some browser settings allow you to block 3rd party cookies (cookies from sites other than the one you are currently on) to prevent things like advertising trackers cookies.

If your browser is set to block 3rd party cookies you will need to add an exception to allow 3rd party cookies for https://www.bugherd.com

Ad blocking extensions (adblock-plus, uBlock etc.)

Ad blocking extensions sometimes identify the BugHerd sidebar as an ad and prevent it from loading. You might need to disable your ad blocking extension or add an exception for BugHerd to your ad blocking extension to get the BugHerd sidebar to load.

For uBlock Origin users: even if you disable uBlock, it may still block BugHerd from appearing.
To make sure BugHerd appears:

Go to your uBlock settings, and turn off EasyPrivacy.

Debugging access issues

Note that if you use Web Developer tools, you can view issues with accessing our JS via the network inspector. You can also go to the embed script directly (it will be in the form of https://www.bugherd.com/sidebarv2.js?apikey=API_KEY). In most cases, this will help you address security/access problems.

Incorrect project key or not a member (Error 422)

If you have multiple projects, it's possible that the incorrect widget was installed on the site. So someone who is a member on project A but project B's widget is loaded, then the sidebar won't show. The HTTP error code BugHerd for this issue is: 422. This error code indicates you are logged in, but you are not a member of the project.

Project not enabled (Error 403)

The project owner can disable certain projects. In this case the sidebar will no longer show. It's also possible that this happened because their plan expired. The HTTP error code used is 403. This indicated you are logged in and are a member of the project, but the project is disabled for all users.

Multiple projects using the same domain

Please be careful when specifying reused domains such when working on multiple projects. If you specify the same domain for different projects, BugHerd won't know which project's sidebar to show, and will not display the sidebar at all. The solution in that case is to embed the BugHerd javascript code manually. Then you always know you are logging bugs on the right project.

Being blocked by another extension

Sometimes ad-blocker or firewall type browser extensions can prevent BugHerd displaying, so if you have recently updated or install an extension like this, try disabling before trying again.

Loading dots in Safari

You may notice some red dots above the BugHerd extension in Safari. These show when the sidebar is loading.
Screen_Shot_2021-02-15_at_12.25.31_pm.png
If they look like they're stuck (don't disappear after a second or so), you may need to close Safari and reopen it. Then navigate to your site and the BugHerd sidebar should appear.

BugHerd is blocked at a network level

This usually only occasionally applies for government departments or large corporations, but it might be worth checking with your IT department to make sure that there aren't security settings in place that override your own personal terminal, as these security settings can often be set without your knowledge. Again, you will be able to determine this by using the network inspector in your browser's developer tools. You will need to ensure that Cloudfront (or CDN) and Bugherd.com are accessible.

Project URL is incorrect or contains unsupported characters

The first URL listed in under Project URLs in your settings is the root URL of the website you're gathering feedback on using BugHerd. The Browser extension uses the Feedback URL to detect whether the BugHerd sidebar should be shown on the page you're viewing. This article provides more detail about how to make sure it's set up correctly, and this article lets you know what URLs BugHerd supports.

Content security policy (CSP) isn't setup to allow BugHerd to load

The content security policy on your site isn't setup to allow the BugHerd sidebar script to load.
The BugHerd script makes requests and loads resources from a variety of places. You will need to check the browser console for any CSP errors and change your CSP to allow BugHerd to load these resources.
We have a list of hosts that your CSP will need to allow

Your device lacks the ISRG Root X1 chain in its trust store

This one is highly technical, but an easy way you can tell is if you go to https://www.bugherd.com and see an "SSL error" or "Certificate error". It essentially means your device is too old and no longer supports modern, secure browser communication. You can read more about it here.

Summary of the HTTP error codes

200: either the sidebar content is returned (and should display), or the user is not logged in
403: project disabled
422: not a member of the project

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