Better Web Development with cloudControl and Usersnap

Are you using cloudControl to ‘supercharge’ your development? Right on! cloudControl PaaS is a rock-solid application platform for Java, PHP, Python and Ruby applications. With the Usersnap add-on for cloudControl, you can allow your users to give visual feedback in a comfortable and easy way: directly in their browser.

Usersnap integrates seamlessly with your Bug Tracker or Project Management tool and causes no switching costs. Connect Usersnap with one of our supported tools and you will get issue reports in a familiar place (learn more about all supported tools). Or you can just collect your screenshots in your Email inbox!

Get the Usersnap add-on and start collecting better bug reports today!

Adding the Usersnap add-on for cloudControl

The Add-on comes in different sizes and prices. But we offer a free trial plan: the first 25 screenshots are free! It can be added by executing the command addon.add:
$ cctrlapp APP_NAME/DEP_NAME addon.add usersnap.option

.option represents the plan size, for instance usersnap.basic or usersnap.professional. You can add initial settings during this process using optional command line parameters:
$ cctrlapp APP_NAME/DEP_NAME addon.add usersnap.OPTION \
[--targeturls=http://your-website.com,http://your-website-alias.com] \
[--targetmails=contact@your-mail.com,user1@your-mail.com] \
[--senderemail=noreply@usersnap.com] \
[--subject="[Usersnap] New Usersnap feedback"]

If nothing is set up, cloudControl uses your deployment URL and email automatically.

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With targeturls you can specify the list of URLs on which you intend to use Usersnap.
With targetmails you can add one or more email addresses as recipients for Usersnap screenshots.
You can use senderemail to change the sender address to your needs, if you plan to deliver Usersnap reports to a ticketing system via email.
subject is particularly useful if you want to create an email filter to organize your screenshots.

Once Usersnap has been added, a USERSNAP_APIKEY setting will be available inside the CRED_FILE under the USERSNAP key. This will contain the API key to be used in the Usersnap snippet. You can confirm a valid setup using:
cctrlapp APPNAME/DEPLOYMENTNAME addon.creds

After installing Usersnap the application should be configured to fully integrate with the add-on.

Upgrade the Usersnap Add-on

Upgrading to another plan – when you for you for instance want to add another web project – is as easy as typing in the following command:
$ cctrlapp APP_NAME/DEP_NAME addon.upgrade usersnap.OPTION_OLD usersnap.OPTION_NEW

Downgrade the Usersnap Add-on

To downgrade to a different plan, use:
$ cctrlapp APP_NAME/DEP_NAME addon.downgrade usersnap.OPTION_OLD usersnap.OPTION_NEW

Removing the Usersnap Add-on

Similarly, an Add-on can also be removed from the deployment easily. The costs only apply for the time the add-on was active:
$ cctrlapp APP_NAME/DEP_NAME addon.remove usersnap.OPTION

Add-on credentials

The access credentials for the Usersnap snippet are stored in the key USERSNAP / USERSNAP_APIKEY inside the CRED_FILE.

It’s recommended to read the Usersnap API key from the creds.json file. The location of the file is available in the CRED_FILE environment variable. Reading the credentials from the creds.json file ensures your app is always using the correct credentials. For detailed instructions on how to use the creds.json file please refer to the section about Add-on Credentials in the general documentation.

Usersnap can be integrated easily to any type of web page. The Usersnap support page offers an overview of how to integrate Usersnap in your site using a simple JavaScript snippet. On cloudControl, one even doesn’t have to bother with the API key because it is accessible via the CRED_FILE!

Provisioning Usersnap sets up a default email subscription for screenshots. To set up more advanced delivery methods just use the add-on’s administration interface. You can open it in the resources view of your app. A single click on the Usersnap add-on opens the configuration view.

Give it a try!

To test if everything is up and running, visit your website and use the feedback button to send a screenshot to the Bug Tracker or Project Management tool you’re using. You’ll get a notification that a new ticket is created, with the screenshot and its meta-information attached.

Make sure to contact us if something is not working. We’re happy to help.
Happy developing!