Guide Activation Options - Visual Design Studio

Overview

Guides can be presented to users using a few different methods. A Guide can have multiple activation methods to achieve the desired behavior. For example, a badge-activated tooltip can open automatically the first time the user sees it but only activate when the badge is clicked after that. If no activation options are selected, the default is Programmatically which means the Guide can be activated from the Resource Center, launched by another Guide, or by using the permalink. Programmatic activation options are still available if other activation options are selected.

​Automatic, Badge, and Target Element activation are setup under the Activation settings in the action bar. Element Contains rules are setup in Location settings for the first Guide step.

Automatic

Automatic activation displays the Guide as soon as all of the conditions for displaying that Guide are met. The requirements for Segment, Page, target element, device type, Guide throttling, and localization settings must all be fulfilled for the Guide to deploy.

The default nature of a guide that is set to "Automatic" activation (1) is to never display to a user again once it has been seen and dismissed by that user, either via the ‘X’ in the upper-right corner or a dismiss button within the guide. Unless your guide has any custom JavaScript that overrides the default Pendo functionality, you should expect your users to only see a guide set to "Automatic" activation until they dismiss it.

Badge

Badges (2) let you place a small icon next to an element on your page. When your visitors click that element, the guide will be shown. This is a fantastic way to add inline support to your web application - your users can request information at the moment they need it.

Badge Target Element

When you choose the badge option, you will be in "Target Mode" to choose the element. The badge will appear next to the chosen element.

If the guide is a walkthrough, the badge location will be determined by the target element and location determined by the first step of the guide so you will see this warning message:

Badge Icon

Choose from one of our provided badge icons or upload one of your own. The color of our provided icons can be modified with the color input below the icon dropdown.

Badge Position

This determines where the badge appears in relation to the target element. Choose Top-right, Top-left, or inline.

Badge Offset

The Top and Right offset allow you to adjust the positioning of the badge in relation to the target element. Both positive and negative pixel values are accepted.

Badge Guide Behavior

"Show on badge hover or click" will display the Guide if the badge icon is hovered over or clicked. "Show only on badge click" will not display the Guide when the badge is hovered over.

Badge Behavior

"Always show badge" will display the badge next to the target element no matter what the user is hovering over. "Show badge only on element hover" will only display the badge when the mouse is hovering over the targeted element.

Badge Frequency

"Always show" will leave the badge in place even if a user has seen the guide before, allowing them to reference the information again and again. "Show only once" will cause the badge to disappear for a user if they have already seen the guide.

Target Element

This method (3) will launch a guide when a user clicks on a designated element within your application.

Location

The location is inherited from the first step of the Guide. To change the location, edit the location from Step 1.

Guide Behavior

"Show on badge hover or click" will display the tooltip if the badge icon is hovered over or clicked. "Show only on badge click" will not display the tooltip when the badge is hovered over.

Frequency

"Always show" will leave the badge in place even if a user has seen the guide before, allowing them to reference the information again and again. "Show only once" will cause the badge to disappear for a user if they have already seen the guide.

No Activation Method

By choosing none or deselecting all options, you will see this message:

Other than launching the Guide via API, it can also be activated via the Guide permalink or if it’s added to the Resource Center.

Scheduling

Regardless of activation method, if you want a guide to display for a specific period of time, you have the option of adding a "Guide Start Date" and "Guide Expires" date and time from the Guide Details Page.

If you select a start date for a guide, the guide status must be set to Scheduled in order for the guide to publish on the selected date.

Element Contains Rule

Guides display conditionally based on the contents of the target element using an Element Contains rule. Element Contains rules recognize text or numbers and can only be set on the first step of a Guide. Only one Element Contains rule can be configured per Guide.

Setup an Element Contains Rule

1. Target the element containing the value you want to validate on the Location tab of Step 1.

2. Use selectors that contain dynamic or user-entered content, elements like input, div, or span. Avoid :contains() rules. These force an exact content match to display the Guide Step and may prevent an Element Contains rule from working as intended.

3. Toggle Enable Element Contains Rule to configure the rule. This will display the current content contained in your target element. Adjust the target element if needed.

4. Select Content Type, matching option, and value. This can be text or a number with different matching options for each. 

Text is not case-sensitive. Rules include punctuation and symbols. Text can be used to read input fields on user-entered text in a form. For example, the rule Does Not Contain "@" on an email field could validate if the user entered a valid email address and present a Guide if they did not.

Validation Options treat the element contents as a string and look for matches within the collected value.

• Contains
• Does Not Contain
• Exactly Matches
• Does Not Match

Number recognizes the value as a float and does not recognize certain formats such as date, time, currency, or punctuation other than decimals. For comparing values, one period following a number and a leading minus sign indicating a negative number are recognized. Commas are ignored. Any other leading punctuation is ignored. Punctuation or symbols after a number are treated as the end of the number.

• Equals
• Not Equal To
• Is Greater Than
• Is Less Than

Supported Formats

Unsupported Formats 

5.  The Rule builder validates the current content of the target element with the current rule. Remember the current content should be a dynamic value. It's ok if the rule does not pass when setting it up. It allows you to verify that your rule works as intended.

• If the rule passes the Guide will display
• If it does not pass, the Guide will not display

6. Value is a required field. The Element Contains rule cannot be saved unless a value is entered.

7. Click Done to save the Element Contains rule. Don't forget to save changes to the Guide in the Action Bar.