diff --git a/src/app/shared/context-help-wrapper/context-help-wrapper.component.spec.ts b/src/app/shared/context-help-wrapper/context-help-wrapper.component.spec.ts
index aee7a0c696..a803f8ce41 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/context-help-wrapper/context-help-wrapper.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/context-help-wrapper/context-help-wrapper.component.spec.ts
@@ -1,21 +1,60 @@
-import { ComponentFixture, TestBed } from '@angular/core/testing';
-
+import { ComponentFixture, TestBed, waitForAsync } from '@angular/core/testing';
+import { of as observableOf, Observable, BehaviorSubject } from 'rxjs';
 import { ContextHelpWrapperComponent } from './context-help-wrapper.component';
+import { NgbTooltipModule } from '@ng-bootstrap/ng-bootstrap';
+import { TranslateService } from '@ngx-translate/core';
+import { ContextHelpService } from '../context-help.service';
+import { ContextHelp } from '../context-help.model';
 
 describe('ContextHelpWrapperComponent', () => {
   let component: ContextHelpWrapperComponent;
   let fixture: ComponentFixture<ContextHelpWrapperComponent>;
+  let translateService: any;
+  let contextHelpService: any;
+  let getContextHelp$: BehaviorSubject<ContextHelp>;
+  let shouldShowIcons$: BehaviorSubject<boolean>;
 
-  beforeEach(async () => {
-    await TestBed.configureTestingModule({
+  const messages = {
+    lorem: 'lorem ipsum dolor sit amet',
+    linkTest: 'This is text, [this](https://dspace.lyrasis.org) is a link, and [so is this](https://google.com)'
+  };
+  function makeWrappedElement(): HTMLElement {
+    let el: HTMLElement = document.createElement('div')
+    el.innerHTML = 'example element';
+    return el;
+  }
+
+  beforeEach(waitForAsync( () => {
+    translateService = jasmine.createSpyObj('translateService', ['get']);
+    translateService.get.and.callFake((content) => messages[content]);
+
+    contextHelpService = jasmine.createSpyObj('contextHelpService', [
+      'shouldShowIcons$',
+      'getContextHelp$',
+      'add'
+    ])
+    TestBed.configureTestingModule({
+      imports: [ NgbTooltipModule ],
+      providers: [
+        { provide: TranslateService, useValue: translateService },
+        { provide: ContextHelpService, useValue: contextHelpService },
+      ],
       declarations: [ ContextHelpWrapperComponent ]
-    })
-    .compileComponents();
-  });
+    }).compileComponents();
+  }));
 
   beforeEach(() => {
+    contextHelpService.getContextHelp$.and.returnValue(getContextHelp$);
+    contextHelpService.shouldShowIcons$.and.returnValue(shouldShowIcons$);
+    getContextHelp$.next({
+      id: 'example-id',
+      isTooltipVisible: false
+    });
+    shouldShowIcons$.next(false);
+
     fixture = TestBed.createComponent(ContextHelpWrapperComponent);
     component = fixture.componentInstance;
+    component.templateRef
     fixture.detectChanges();
   });
 
diff --git a/src/app/shared/context-help-wrapper/context-help-wrapper.component.ts b/src/app/shared/context-help-wrapper/context-help-wrapper.component.ts
index 68f2ac0002..41f63877cd 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/context-help-wrapper/context-help-wrapper.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/context-help-wrapper/context-help-wrapper.component.ts
@@ -33,13 +33,13 @@ export class ContextHelpWrapperComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
   /**
    * Indicate where the tooltip should show up, relative to the info icon.
    */
-  @Input() tooltipPlacement?: PlacementArray;
+  @Input() tooltipPlacement?: PlacementArray = [];
 
   /**
    * Indicate whether the info icon should appear to the left or to
    * the right of the wrapped element.
    */
-  @Input() iconPlacement?: PlacementDir;
+  @Input() iconPlacement?: PlacementDir = 'left';
 
   /**
    * If true, don't process text to render links.
diff --git a/src/app/shared/context-help.directive.spec.ts b/src/app/shared/context-help.directive.spec.ts
index 35770b6038..cbe1fd94b7 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/context-help.directive.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/context-help.directive.spec.ts
@@ -1,65 +1,145 @@
 import { Component, DebugElement, Input } from '@angular/core';
-import { ComponentFixture, TestBed } from '@angular/core/testing';
-import { By } from '@angular/platform-browser';
-import { of as observableOf, Observable } from 'rxjs';
+import { ComponentFixture, TestBed, getTestBed, waitForAsync } from '@angular/core/testing';
+import { of as observableOf, Observable, BehaviorSubject } from 'rxjs';
 import { ContextHelpDirective, ContextHelpDirectiveInput } from './context-help.directive';
 import { TranslateService } from '@ngx-translate/core';
 import { ContextHelpWrapperComponent } from './context-help-wrapper/context-help-wrapper.component';
 import { NgbTooltipModule } from '@ng-bootstrap/ng-bootstrap';
+import { ContextHelpService } from './context-help.service';
+import { ContextHelp } from './context-help.model';
+import { before } from 'lodash';
 
 @Component({
   template: `<div *dsContextHelp="contextHelpParams()">some text</div>`
 })
 class TestComponent {
   @Input() content = '';
+  @Input() id = '';
   contextHelpParams(): ContextHelpDirectiveInput {
     return {
-      content: this.content
+      content: this.content,
+      id: this.id,
+      iconPlacement: 'left',
+      tooltipPlacement: ['bottom']
     };
   }
 }
 
-// tslint:disable-next-line:max-classes-per-file
-class MockTranslateService {
-  messages: {[index: string]: string} = {
-    lorem: 'lorem ipsum dolor sit amet',
-    linkTest: 'This is text, [this](https://dspace.lyrasis.org) is a link, and [so is this](https://google.com)'
-  };
-
-  get(key: string): Observable<string> {
-    return observableOf(this.messages[key]);
-  }
-}
-
+const messages = {
+  lorem: 'lorem ipsum dolor sit amet',
+  linkTest: 'This is text, [this](https://dspace.lyrasis.org) is a link, and [so is this](https://google.com)'
+};
+const exampleContextHelp: ContextHelp = {
+  id: 'test-tooltip',
+  isTooltipVisible: false
+};
 describe('ContextHelpDirective', () => {
   let component: TestComponent;
   let fixture: ComponentFixture<TestComponent>;
   // let el: DebugElement;
-  // let translateService: TranslateService;
+  let translateService: any;
+  let contextHelpService: any;
+  let getContextHelp$: BehaviorSubject<ContextHelp>;
+  let shouldShowIcons$: BehaviorSubject<boolean>;
 
-  beforeEach(() => {
-    console.log('Anyone hear that?');
-    fixture = TestBed.configureTestingModule({
+  beforeEach(waitForAsync(() => {
+    translateService = jasmine.createSpyObj('translateService', ['get']);
+    contextHelpService = jasmine.createSpyObj('contextHelpService', [
+      'shouldShowIcons$',
+      'getContextHelp$',
+      'add',
+      'remove',
+      'toggleIcons',
+      'toggleTooltip',
+      'showTooltip',
+      'hideTooltip'
+    ]);
+
+    TestBed.configureTestingModule({
       imports: [NgbTooltipModule],
       providers: [
-        { provide: TranslateService, useClass: MockTranslateService }
+        { provide: TranslateService, useValue: translateService },
+        { provide: ContextHelpService, useValue: contextHelpService }
       ],
       declarations: [TestComponent, ContextHelpWrapperComponent, ContextHelpDirective]
-    }).createComponent(TestComponent);
+    }).compileComponents()
+  }));
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    // Set up service behavior.
+    getContextHelp$ = new BehaviorSubject<ContextHelp>(exampleContextHelp);
+    shouldShowIcons$ = new BehaviorSubject<boolean>(false);
+    contextHelpService.getContextHelp$.and.returnValue(getContextHelp$);
+    contextHelpService.shouldShowIcons$.and.returnValue(shouldShowIcons$);
+    translateService.get.and.callFake((content) => observableOf(messages[content]));
+
+    // Set up fixture and component.
+    fixture = TestBed.createComponent(TestComponent);
     component = fixture.componentInstance;
+    component.id = 'test-tooltip';
+    component.content = 'lorem';
+
   });
 
-  it('should add the tooltip icon', () => {
-    component.content = 'lorem';
+  it('should generate the context help wrapper component', (done) => {
     fixture.detectChanges();
+    fixture.whenStable().then(() => {
+      expect(fixture.nativeElement.children.length).toBe(1);
+      let [wrapper] = fixture.nativeElement.children;
+      expect(component).toBeDefined();
+      expect(wrapper.tagName).toBe('DS-CONTEXT-HELP-WRAPPER');
+      expect(contextHelpService.add).toHaveBeenCalledWith(exampleContextHelp)
+      done();
+    });
+  });
 
-    expect(component).toBeDefined();
-    const [wrapper] = fixture.nativeElement.children;
-    const [i, div] = wrapper.children;
-    expect(wrapper.tagName).toBe('DS-CONTEXT-HELP-WRAPPER');
-    expect(i.tagName).toBe('I');
-    expect(div.tagName).toBe('DIV');
-    expect(div.innerHTML).toBe('some text');
-    i.click(); // TODO: triggers a type error
+  it('should not show the context help button while icon visibility is not turned on', (done) => {
+    fixture.detectChanges();
+    fixture.whenStable().then(() => {
+      let wrapper = matchWrapper(fixture.nativeElement);
+      verifyNoButton(wrapper);
+      done();
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('when icon visibility is toggled on', () => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      shouldShowIcons$.next(true);
+    });
+
+    it('should show the context help button', (done) => {
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      fixture.whenStable().then(() => {
+        let wrapper = matchWrapper(fixture.nativeElement);
+        let i = verifyButton(wrapper);
+        i.click();
+        expect(contextHelpService.toggleTooltip).toHaveBeenCalledWith('test-tooltip');
+        getContextHelp$.next({id: 'test-tooltip', isTooltipVisible: true});
+        fixture.detectChanges();
+        fixture.whenStable().then(() => {
+          expect(wrapper.parentElement.parentElement.querySelector('ngb-tooltip-window')).toBeTruthy();
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+    });
   });
 });
+
+function matchWrapper(el: HTMLElement): HTMLElement {
+  expect(el.children.length).toBe(1);
+  return el.children[0] as HTMLElement;
+}
+
+function verifyNoButton(wrapper: HTMLElement) {
+  expect(wrapper.children.length).toBe(1);
+  let [div] = wrapper.children;
+  expect(div.tagName).toBe('DIV');
+}
+
+function verifyButton(wrapper: Element): HTMLElement {
+  expect(wrapper.children.length).toBe(2);
+  let [i, div] = wrapper.children;
+  expect(i.tagName).toBe('I');
+  expect(div.tagName).toBe('DIV');
+  return i as HTMLElement;
+}
diff --git a/src/app/shared/context-help.directive.ts b/src/app/shared/context-help.directive.ts
index 56e7514b98..83c3908dcf 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/context-help.directive.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/context-help.directive.ts
@@ -54,9 +54,11 @@ export class ContextHelpDirective implements OnChanges, OnDestroy {
     this.mostRecentId = this.dsContextHelp.id;
     this.contextHelpService.add({id: this.dsContextHelp.id, isTooltipVisible: false});
 
-    const factory
-      = this.componentFactoryResolver.resolveComponentFactory(ContextHelpWrapperComponent);
-    this.wrapper = this.viewContainerRef.createComponent(factory);
+    if (this.wrapper === undefined) {
+      const factory
+        = this.componentFactoryResolver.resolveComponentFactory(ContextHelpWrapperComponent);
+      this.wrapper = this.viewContainerRef.createComponent(factory);
+    }
     this.wrapper.instance.templateRef = this.templateRef;
     this.wrapper.instance.content = this.dsContextHelp.content;
     this.wrapper.instance.id = this.dsContextHelp.id;