Quick Fixes with Editor Flags

An editor flag is for a change that should go live now and be easy to take down: a quick fix, a banner, a seasonal change, a wording correction that cannot wait for a release. On carries changes you make in the Pertento visual editor, and the runtime applies them to the visitors who get On. Off is the page as it is.

Create it

Create the flag with How it runs set to Editor. See Creating and Publishing a Feature Flag. An editor flag has no payloads, no bucket choice and no server rules. It buckets on the visitor.

Make On's changes

The changes are made in the Pertento visual editor, the Chrome extension. See Setting up the Pertento editor in Google Chrome if you do not have it yet.

In the extension's list, a flag's row reads Feature flag where an experiment's row shows its variant count. Its Off side is shown greyed as The page as it is and cannot be picked, because only On's changes ever reach visitors. Pick On and edit the page as you would a variant.

If your extension has not updated to the current version yet, the row looks like an experiment's and Off can be picked. Changes made on Off do nothing. Only On's reach visitors.

The flag's Setup tab shows the Changes card with the count of changes so far. Open in editor opens your site with the flag's On side picked in the extension. If its panel stays closed, click the extension's icon. On an older extension the card shows Open site instead, with the note "In the Pertento Editor extension, pick this flag and its On variant."

The Brief tab shows Previews: screenshots of Off and On from the visual editor, so a colleague can see the change without opening the editor.

Where On applies

On applies only on pages the flag's targeting matches. "Only visitors on pages these rules match can get On. Everyone else sees the page as it is." Set the pages on the Targeting tab. See Who Gets a Feature Flag.

Publish

An editor flag published without a rollout plan goes live for everyone, at 100%, unless you set a rollout first. That is the right default for a fix: it is meant for everyone. For a change you want to ease in, set a rollout or a plan on the Rollout tab before publishing. See Rolling Out a Feature Flag.

Your pages see the change on the next page load.

Build it in within 30 days

Changes applied in the browser cost page speed on every load, so an editor flag is a bridge, not a home. After a flag has been on for everyone for 30 days, Pertento sends the reminder Quick fix ready to build in: build the change into the site, then archive the flag. See Turning Off, Archiving and Deleting a Feature Flag.

The reminder is in the Feature flags group of your notification settings, as email and in-app. See Notifications in Pertento.