Set up a Resource Center

This article provides an overview for setting up and deploying a Resource Center, which broadly consists of the following steps: 

1. Create a Resource Center.
2. Add and edit modules in your Resource Center.
3. Style your Resource Center.
4. Add segments to modules.
5. Configure the activation method for your Resource Center.
6. Test and publish your Resource Center.

This article also provides instructions for turning off and deleting a Resource Center, and for localizing a Resource Center. For an overview of the Resource Center and its key functionality, see Overview of the Resource Center.

Permissions

• Pendo users with Resource Center Author role permissions can create and edit a Resource Center, and promote a Resource Center to staging.
• Pendo users with Resource Center Publisher role permissions can promote a Resource Center to staging and to production. They can also turn off a Resource Center or change its status to Draft. 
• Admin users have all the permissions of a Resource Center Author and a Resource Center Publisher, plus the ability to delete a Resource Center.
• Pendo users with Guide Creator or Guide Content Editor role permissions can create announcement modules in a Resource Center and edit guides that have been added to modules.
• All guide and Resource Center roles can delete guides that are in one of the following statuses: Draft, Staged, or Disabled.

You can also create custom app-level roles for Pendo users to provide customized permission sets. For more information, see Roles and permissions.

Create a Resource Center

Creating a Resource Center involves several steps but can be designed and deployed without any developer involvement or custom code.

1. Go to Guides > Resource Center in the left-side menu.
2. Select + Create Resource Center in the top-right corner of the Resource Center page.
3. Select the application that you want to add your Resource Center to.
   
   
   
   
4. Hover over one of the module types you want to add to your Resource Center and select Add Module. For information about these modules, see Add and remove modules in this article.
   
   
   
   
5. Repeat step 4 for any other module types that you want to add to your Resource Center.
   
   • The Modules list indicates which modules are selected with a green bounding box around each selected module and a green tick in the top-left corner of each selected module. You can add more of the same module type after you've created the Resource Center. For instructions, see Add and remove modules in this article.
     
     
     
     
   • To deselect a selected module during this process, hover over the module and select Deselect Module.
     
     
6. Optionally, add any integrations you have that are compatible with the Resource Center. Selecting + Add Integrations takes you to the Integrations hub in Pendo.
   
   
   
   
7. Select Add Modules in the bottom-right corner of the page.

Add and remove modules

The Resource Center must contain at least one module. For an overview of the available modules for a Resource Center, see Overview of the Resource Center.

Add modules

If you have any integrations with Pendo, you can also add integration modules to provide additional functionality with third-party tools, such as access to knowledge base content, the ability to submit Support tickets, or the option to talk to someone through live chat.

You must choose at least one module for your Resource Center when you create it, but you can also add more modules later. To add a module to an existing Resource Center:

1. From the left-side menu, go to Guides > Resource Center.
2. From the table in the Resource Center page, find and open your Resource Center.
3. Hover over the first (home page) card in the Draft tab of your Resource Center Settings page, which shows a preview of the Resource Center menu, and select + Add Module.
   
   
   
   
4. Hover over one or more of the module types you want to add to your Resource Center and select Add Module.
   
   
   
   
5. Repeat step 4 for any other module types you want to add to your Resource Center. To add the same type of module multiple times, repeat these steps for each module of the same type that you want to add.
6. Optionally, add any integrations you have that are compatible with the Resource Center. Selecting + Add Integrations takes you to the Integrations hub in Pendo.
7. Select Add Modules in the bottom-right corner.

Delete a module

You can delete a module after it's already been added to your Resource Center:

1. From the left-side menu, go to Guides > Resource Center.
2. From the table in the Resource Center page, find and open your Resource Center.
3. From the Draft tab of your Resource Center Settings page, hover over the card for the module that you want to delete and select View Module Details.
   
   
   
   
4. Select the trash icon in the top-right corner of the page.
   
   
   
   
5. Confirm that you want to delete the module by selecting Delete Module. This removes the module from your draft Resource Center.
6. If you want to remove the module from a public Resource Center, push your Resource Center to staging and then to production to ensure that the module is no longer present for your visitors. For instructions, see Publish your Resource Center in this article.

Edit modules

Each module has unique styling options that are available while editing the Resource Center in the Visual Design Studio. For information about these, see the individual articles for each module, which are linked from the Overview of the Resource Center article.

Additionally, you can edit the order of modules from the Visual Design Studio. If you don't already have your Resource Center open in the Visual Design studio:

1. From the left-side menu, go to Guides > Resource Center.
2. From the table in the Resource Center page, find and open your Resource Center.
3. From the Draft tab of your Resource Center's Settings page, select Manage in my app.

Then, drag-and-drop your modules left or right to move them up and down the Resource Center menu. If the modules in your Resource Center aren’t visible at the top of the screen, select the Open Modules tab at the top of the page.

To view the modules in a preview of your Resource Center after editing and moving them, select the Home View card in the modules menu at the top of the page.

Style your Resource Center

You can style your Resource Center to match your brand and naming conventions from the Visual Design Studio. See the Style your Resource Center article for instructions on how to:

• Change the text of titles, subtitles, and ARIA labels (for accessibility).
• Change the styling of the Resource Center, including the color, size, and position of the Resource Center container, header, modules, and alert badge (color and text).

The alert badge is different from the Resource Center badge. The alert badge is the number inside a circle that overlaps the Resource Center badge when there are notifications to see inside the menu. An alert badge also appears on the right side of any module that has updates for the visitor to see.

For information about styling the Resource Center badge that your visitors use to open the Resource Center menu, see Activate your Resource Center. This includes instructions for changing the badge icon, color, z-index, size, accessibility labels, and relative alert badge position.

Add segments

Use different segments to deliver distinct groups of content or to target content to different user groups. To edit the segment of a module:

1. From the left-side menu, go to Guides > Resource Center.
2. From the table in the Resource Center page, find and open your Resource Center.
3. From the Draft tab of your Resource Center's Settings page, hover over the module and select View Module Details.
   
   
   
   
4. Select Edit in the top-right corner of the Segment section.
   
   
   
   
5. Choose a segment from the dropdown menu or select Custom Segment. If creating a new segment, follow the instructions in the Segments article.
   
   
   
   
6. Select Save in the top-right corner of the segment card, and then select Save Segment.

Configure Resource Center activation

You can configure your Resource Center to activate (open) in one of two ways:

• From a badge. You can add a badge icon to your application that opens the Resource Center when your visitors select it. This method comes with multiple styling options.
• From a UI element. You can choose an existing element in your application that opens the Resource Center when your visitors select it.

For more information, see Activate your Resource Center.

Test your Resource Center

You can see how your Resource Center will appear before making it live by opening it in the Visual Design Studio:

1. From the left-side menu, go to Guides > Resource Center.
2. From the table in the Resource Center page, find and open your Resource Center.
3. From the Draft tab of your Resource Center's Settings page, select Manage in my app. This opens the Visual Design Studio, where you can view and edit your Resource Center.

If you also want to interact with the Resource Center to test its functionality, you can either:

• Push the Resource Center to a staging environment. For more information, Overview of the Resource Center. For instructions, see Publish your Resource Center in this article.
• Set the segments of the Resource Center modules to include just you as an eligible visitor and then push the Resource Center to production. For instructions on how to edit a module's segment, see Add segments in this article.
• Use the Preview functionality from your Resource Center's Settings page.

To use the Preview functionality:

1. If not already in your Resource Center in Pendo, go to Guides > Resource Center and then open your Resource Center from the table.
2. From the Draft tab of your Resource Center's Settings page, select Preview in the top-right corner of the page.
3. If prompted by a confirmation window, enter the URL for your application and select Launch Preview.

Publish your Resource Center

Publishing your Resource Center involves pushing your Resource to staging and then to production. Regardless of whether you have a staging environment, you must always Push to Staging before you can Push to Production. For information about staging and production environments, see Overview of the Resource Center.

Pushing your Resource Center to production makes the content of that Resource Center public to eligible visitors. Visitors are eligible based on the segments you add to each module in your Resource Center. For more information and instructions, see Add segments in this article.

If your Resource Center consists of a module with no content, that module isn't visible to your visitors. Your visitors only see a module in your Resource Center if both of the following are true:

• Visitors meet the segment criteria for the module.
• The module has content. If the Resource Center module is empty, eligible visitors don't see it.

Push to staging

1. If not already in your Resource Center in Pendo, go to Guides > Resource Center and then open your Resource Center from the table.
2. From the Draft tab of your Resource Center, select Push to Staging. 
3. Confirm that you want to make your Resource Center live in your staging environment.

The Resource Center preview in the View Staging tab of your Resource Center Settings page updates when you push your changes to staging.

If you want to remove the Resource Center from your staging environment without losing your work, you can:

• Turn off all activation methods for your Resource Center and push this change to staging. For instructions, see Turn off your Resource Center in this article.
• Set each module in the Resource Center to a segment with no eligible visitors. For instructions on how to edit a module's segment, see Add segments in this article.

Push to production

You can push your changes to production after they're pushed to staging, regardless of whether you have a staging environment. Changes that you've pushed to staging are previewed in the View Staging tab of your Resource Center's Settings page. When you're ready to promote your staged updates to production:

1. If not already in your Resource Center in Pendo, go to Guides > Resource Center and then open your Resource Center from the table.
2. From the View Staging tab of your Resource Center, select Push to Production. 
3. Confirm that you want to make your Resource Center live in your production environment.

The Resource Center preview in the View Production tab of your Resource Center Settings page updates when you push your changes to production. This is the live version of your Resource Center. You can also preview your Resource Center in context to test how it works using one of the methods described in Test your Resource Center.

Warning: If you still have Guide Center (legacy) in your production environment, turn off the Guide Center before pushing your Resource Center to production. Pushing the new Resource Center doesn't automatically turn off the Guide Center.

Turn off your Resource Center

There are two ways to turn off your Resource Center:

• Turn off all activation methods. Choose this method if one of the following applies:
  • You want to turn off the Resource Center in both your staging and production environments.
  • You haven't yet pushed the Resource Center to your production environment and want to turn it off in your staging environment.
• Use the Production: OFF option in the top-right corner of the Resource Center's details page. Choose this option if one of the following applies:
  • You don't have a staging environment.
  • You only want to turn off the Resource Center in your production environment so that you can keep testing it in your staging environment.

For more information about staging and production environments, see Publish your Resource Center in this article and the Overview of the Resource Center.

Turn off all activation methods

1. From the left-side menu, go to Guides > Resource Center.
2. From the table in the Resource Center page, find and open your Resource Center.
3. From the Draft tab of your Resource Center Settings, select Manage in my app to open the Visual Design Studio.
   
   
   
   
4. In the Visual Design Studio act bar at the top of the page, hover over the Activation card and select the edit icon or select the Activation shortcut at the very top of the action bar (next to the Navigation option).
   
   
   
   
5. In Activation Settings, use the toggles to turn off all methods of activation.
   
   
   
   
6. Select Save and then Exit in the top-right corner of the action bar.
7. Go back to the Resource Center in Pendo and select Push to Staging in the Draft tab of your Resource Center Settings page.
   
   
8. Open the View Staging tab of your Resource Center Settings page and select Push to Production. If your Resource Center is only in staging, you can skip this step.
   
   

Use the Production: OFF option

1.  From the left-side menu, go to Guides > Resource Center.
2. From the table in the Resource Center page, find and open your Resource Center.
3. Choose Production: OFF from the green dropdown menu in the top-right corner of the page.
4. Confirm that you want to turn off the Resource Center in your production environment.

You can turn your Resource Center back on at any time by choosing Production: ON from the same dropdown menu.

Choosing Production: ON turns the Resource Center back on in its previously published state. If you made changes to your Resource Center that you want to see in production, you must also Push to Staging and then Push to Production as described in Publish your Resource Center in this article.

Delete your Resource Center

You can't recover a Resource Center that's been deleted. To permanently delete a Resource Center:

1. From the left-side menu, go to Guides > Resource Center.
2. From the table in the Resource Center page, find and open your Resource Center.
3. Select the trash icon in the top-right corner of the page, next to Preview.
   
   
   
   
4. In the confirmation window that opens, select Delete Resource Center. Your Resource Center is now permanently deleted.
   
   

Localize your Resource Center

The Resource Center has the same localization feature as guides and can display the translated version automatically based on language metadata. Pendo can export the XLIFF file for the Resource Center and you can translate the contents of the file and import the translation into the Resource Center.

For more information about localization in the Resource Center and the steps for translating an XLIFF file, see Localization. For information about creating a Resource Center in a UI that uses a right-to-left language, see Use right-to-left languages in the Resource Center.