What is Smart Support Guest Support?

The Smart Support Guest Support add-on extends the Smart Support plugin by allowing non-registered users (guests) to create and manage support tickets. This means your customers can reach your support team quickly without needing to create an account or log in.

Instead of using WordPress user accounts, guests identify themselves using their email address. After submitting a ticket, they receive a secure access link that lets them view, reply to, and manage their ticket for a limited time.

Key Features

Smart Support Guest Support includes everything needed to provide a smooth experience for both guests and administrators:

• Email-only authentication – Guests only provide an email address, no login required.
• Secure token-based access – Each guest gets a unique link with a configurable expiry (default: 30 days).
• Full ticket management – Guests can view their ticket history, add replies, and upload files.
• WordPress admin integration – Guest tickets appear alongside registered tickets in the Smart Support dashboard.
• Automatic email notifications – Guests receive confirmation and reply notifications instantly.
• Rate limiting – Control the number of tickets allowed per guest per hour (default: 5) to prevent spam.
• reCAPTCHA integration – Optional bot protection for ticket forms.
• Department & priority support – Guests can categorize and prioritize their tickets if enabled.
• File attachments – Guests can upload files (size, type, and count configurable by admin).

How Guest Support Works

For Guests (Website Visitors)

1. Visitor goes to your support page (e.g., /support/).
2. They select “Continue as Guest.”
3. They complete the form:
   • Email Address (required)
   • Subject (brief description of issue)
   • Message (details of the problem)
   • Priority (if enabled)
   • Department (if enabled)
   • Attachments (if enabled)
4. Guest clicks Submit Ticket.
5. The system sends a confirmation email with a secure access link.
6. Guest uses the link to:

• • View ticket status (new, in progress, resolved)
  • Reply to agent responses
  • Upload additional files
  • Track all communication history

For Admins (Support Team)

1. Go to Smart Support > Tickets in WordPress.
2. Guest tickets appear with a blue “Guest” badge for easy identification.
3. Admins can:

• • View guest details (email, access URL, ticket status)
  • Reply to tickets (guest receives an email notification)
  • Change ticket status (open, pending, resolved, closed)
  • Add internal notes (not visible to the guest)
  • Apply filters (show only guest tickets, only registered tickets, or all)

Security and Access Control

Guest tickets are protected with token-based authentication:

• Each ticket generates a unique token tied to the guest’s email.
• Tokens have a configurable expiry period (default: 30 days, range: 1–365 days).
• Guests can only access their own tickets.
• If a token expires or is lost, admins can regenerate access links.

Why Use Guest Support?

Benefits for Customers

• No registration required — quicker access to support.
• Clear communication — email notifications and history in one place.
• Simple experience — one-click access via email link.

Benefits for Admins

• Unified ticketing system — guest and registered tickets managed in the same dashboard.
• Flexible configuration — choose how much control to give guests (attachments, priority, departments).
• Secure and reliable — token-based access, reCAPTCHA support, and rate limiting.
• Professional workflow — branded email templates and ticket filtering.

Smart Support Guest Support makes it easy to support non-registered users securely with email-only authentication, token-based ticket access, and full admin integration. It’s designed to reduce friction for your customers while giving your support team full control.

What’s Next?

Now that you know what Guest Support is and how it works, you’re ready to move on to Installation & Setup, where we’ll guide you through prerequisites, plugin installation, activation, and verifying the setup.