Core Concepts
Here's how the pieces fit together. Understanding these five concepts is enough to get started.
Workspaces
A workspace is your Quackback instance: the container for all your boards, posts, team members, and settings. Each self-hosted deployment is a single workspace.
Boards
Boards keep different types of feedback organized. Common examples: "Feature Requests", "Bug Reports", "Integrations".
Each board has a name, URL slug (e.g., /b/feature-requests), and a public/private visibility toggle.
Start with 2-3 boards. You can always add more later, but too many boards confuse users about where to post.
Posts
A post is a single piece of feedback: an idea, request, or bug report. Posts belong to a board and include a title, description, status, tags, votes, and comments.
Posts move through your workflow as your team triages them:
Open → Under Review → Planned → In Progress → Complete
│
└──→ Closed
When a post's status changes, subscribed users are notified automatically.
Statuses
Statuses show users what's happening with their feedback. They're organized into three categories:
| Category | Default Statuses | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Open, Under Review, Planned, In Progress | Posts that need attention or are being worked on |
| Complete | Complete | Posts that have been addressed |
| Closed | Closed | Posts that won't be implemented |
You can create custom statuses like "In Design", "In Beta", or "Blocked" to match your workflow.
Users & Roles
Quackback has two types of accounts with three roles:
| Capability | Portal User | Member | Admin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Submit feedback, vote, comment | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| View admin dashboard | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Manage feedback & statuses | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Workspace settings & integrations | ✓ |
Portal users are your customers. They sign up through the public portal. Team members are invited by admins and access the admin dashboard.
Team members can also use the public portal like regular users.
More to Explore
Once you're up and running, these features help you get more out of Quackback:
- Tags: Label posts across boards by platform, priority, or team
- Roadmaps: Show users what's planned, in progress, and shipped
- Voting: Let users prioritize what matters most
- Comments: Threaded discussions with official team responses
- Changelog: Announce shipped features and close the feedback loop
- API & Webhooks: Automate workflows and build custom integrations
- Integrations: Connect to Slack, Linear, and more
Next Steps
- Quick Start: Get Quackback running
- Organize feedback with boards: Set up your first boards
- Deploy with Docker: Production deployment