Add guide content using building blocks

Building blocks are used to add content to guides and have controls for easily adding and formatting text, buttons, images, polls, and embedded videos. Text and button building blocks can be styled in advance using Themes. If you use a set of building blocks consistently, save them as a Layout.

Requirements

• Visual Design Studio
• Guide Content Editor or Guide Content Creator user role or Create/Edit Guides custom permissions
• Some building blocks have an Agent version requirement

Add a building block

Tip: Hold Option on Mac/Alt on Windows to view all current building blocks and their bounding boxes.

1. Open a guide in the Visual Design Studio and view a guide step.

2. Select to add content if you have a blank step.

If you already have content on the step:

• Add a new row by hovering above or below an existing building block 
• Add a new column by hovering to the left or right of a text, button, or image building block

3. Select a building block type from the menu.

4. Select an existing building block to open the Edit menu and make any changes.

Row and block formatting

Building blocks can be added to guides vertically by adding new rows or horizontally by adding new columns. Several formatting options are available to position and edit building blocks in the guide step.

Row formatting

  Edit Row opens the Edit Row menu, which has settings for background color, padding, margin, and alignment. Alignment positions content laterally across the row or vertically relative to content in the same row.

 Duplicate clones the entire row and creates a new adjacent row with the same content. This is helpful for cloning the style settings used in a building block, even when you're making changes to the content inside the block.

 Row positioning moves the entire row up or down, swapping it with the content that's currently there. You can easily adjust the order of building blocks and test different layouts to find the design you like the best.

Block formatting

 Edit Building Block opens the edit menu for that building block, where you can edit the content and style settings. In most cases, you can access this menu directly by selecting the building block, but some building blocks, like Videos, may play content or have other native behavior instead of opening the edit menu when selected.

 Duplicate in the same row is available for text, button, and image building blocks when the row capacity hasn't been reached yet. This will clone the selected content in the same row, just like adding a column with that building block type.

 Delete permanently removes that building block. Be careful when you delete a building block. There is no warning modal and there isn't an undo button.

 Column positioning moves the building block left or right, swapping it with the content next to it, in the same row. If the building block can't be moved, the arrow is greyed out and it can't be selected. Column positioning is only available for text, button, and image blocks.

Building block types

• Text
• Button
• Horizontal Line
• Date Block
• Image
• Open Text Poll
• Yes/No Poll
• Number Scale Poll
• Multi Choice Poll
• Video
• Code Block

Text

Text Blocks support limited markdown with additional styling options for the text and container. The Text Block loads with filler text demonstrating the supported markdown. Any styling options applied in the Styling menu apply to the entire Text Block. Create another Text Block to apply different styling to different text elements, like a title and paragraph.

Two columns of text can be placed next to each other by selecting Add Column in the same row and selecting another Text building block. A button or an image can also be placed next to a Text building block. When a text building block is next to another building block, the width of the individual building block can be set, otherwise, the default width is the width of the container.

Style within your text using the WYSIWYG controls or markdown. When you choose a styling option, the Markdown syntax is applied to the text and the style is rendered in the preview. Take a look at the Markdown Syntax article to learn more about the supported markdown styles.

Supported Markdown

• **bold**
• *italics* or _italics_
• ++underline++
• --strikethrough--
• [links](https://www.pendo.io/)
• 1. Ordered Lists
  2. Item 2
  3. Item 3
• -Unordered Lists
  -Item 2
  -Item 3
  *Unordered Lists
  *Item 2
  *Item 3
  +Unordered Lists
  +Item 2
  +Item 3
• {color: #ec2059}Individual colored text{/color}

Text blocks styling options	Example
This example shows Bold applied to text.
Text Blocks can use Themes to apply title, subtitle, and paragraph styles. Custom unlocks all styling and spacing options applied to the entire Text Block.
Text alignment, link styles, and spacing for the Text building block are controlled from the Edit Text menu.

Improve guide content with the Guides Writing Assistant

Note: This feature is currently in closed beta.

The Guides Writing Assistant uses Pendo AI to summarize, expand, or refine your guide's textual content inside the Visual Design Studio during guide creation. It checks for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, tone detector, and enhances vocabulary using AI.

1. Select Edit in the Text building block.
2. Select the wand icon at the bottom of the text box to display the Guides Writing Assistant.
   
3. Under Script Wizard, select an option to make changes to the text.
4. Under Change Tone, select an option to change the text's tone.
5. If required, select Undo to restore the text to the previous version or select Refresh to refresh the content.
   

   Note: Undo restores the immediate previous version of the text. If you make more than one change, it restores the text to the version before you selected Undo. It won't restore to the original text.

   

Button

The Button building block adds a single button that can trigger Button actions, like Next Step or Dismiss, to your guide. Add additional buttons next to any text, button, or image building blocks. A row can support up to four buttons or one button next to a text or image building block.

Select the style, button text, and actions for each button individually.

Button style

Buttons can use primary, secondary, or tertiary styles to quickly pull in designs from the guide Theme or custom styles if the user can build guides from scratch.

Styles contains all of the available design options for the button. When you're using a Theme, the only option is Margin.

Custom style settings

• Text
• Background
• Border
• Width
• Margin
• Padding
• Hover styles for text, background, and border

Button text

The General section contains the button text field. Any text entered appears in the button. If button width is set to Auto, the button will get wider until it reaches the width of the guide container. If button container is set to fixed, the text breaks and forms a new line, and the button gets taller. Keep button text short and direct for the best results.

Actions

Guide Buttons Actions set what happens when a user selects the button. There are many available actions for the most popular use cases.

Available button actions

• Dismiss Guide
• Next Step
• Submit All Polls + Advance Guide
• URL Link
• Launch Guide
• Previous Step
• Snooze Guide
• Go to Step

Some button actions can be paired together to make a compound action when the button is selected. For example, Dismiss Guide and URL link can be paired together to end the guide and take the user to a new page. 

Horizontal line

Use a horizontal line to separate text and images in your guide.

Line styling

Set the values to style the line as you want and select Apply when you finish.

Image

Image building blocks are used to add pictures and GIFs to your guide. Images can be uploaded and hosted by Pendo or you can add a URL for your own hosted content. We recommend file sizes under 5 MB for fast loading times and the best guide performance. The maximum size limit is 30MB.

Images can be used to add eye-catching headers, product screenshots, icons next to text, or GIFs showing a new workflow. Using Add Column, two images, an image and text, or an image and a button can be placed next to each other in the same row.

Supported file types

• .jpeg
• .png
• .svg
• .gif

Image styling

After uploading an image, additional options appear.

• Image Alt Text - Displayed on the screen when the image fails to load and read by screen readers
• Fill - Sets image size as a percentage relative to the guide container size or actual image resolution
• Margin - Sets the margin around the outside of the image

Poll 

Polls are in-app messages designed to collect feedback from your users at the exact time they’re thinking about you - inside your app. Poll responses can be used to segment your users in the future for slicing and dicing analytics or for more specific guide targeting. For more information on Poll guides, see Layout types in Guide layouts.

Caution: If a Poll building block is edited after it has been published, all previous poll data for that building block is lost. We highly recommend duplicating your guide and editing the Poll building block in the duplicate guide to retain the historical poll data.

Open Text Poll

When you choose the open text poll option, you are prompted to edit your question:

Once you’re happy with your question, select Apply. If you want to adjust the size of your open text field, hover over the field and choose the Edit icon:

Yes/No Poll

This Yes/No Poll allows you to quickly add your question and auto-add your Poll options as "Yes" and "No".

Note: Only 1 Yes/No Poll can be added to a Guide step.

Number Scale Poll

If you want an automatic number scale, use this building block. The minimum number is 1 and the maximum number is 10.

Multi Choice Poll

Use this block to add your own multiple choice options. Once you select the building block, you can add your question:

Then, hover over the multiple choice dropdown to edit and add all the choices you want to give your user:

Video

Video building blocks embed videos from supported streaming platforms using only the video URL. Embed code isn't needed. The embed formatting is applied automatically. Autoplay is turned off automatically to provide the best Guide experience.

Note: YouTube is the only video platform supported in mobile guides.

1. Select the Video building block.

2. Select the video provider and enter the video URL and title. The Video thumbnail displays automatically in the Guide step. The default width is set to 100% of the Guide container.

3.  Toggle Fill Container off to set the width manually.

Warning: Video streaming providers typically support all browsers except Internet Explorer. Check the browser compatibility of your video platform and your users for the best results. If you use a different video streaming provider, you can still leverage the Custom Code Block to embed your video.

Supported Video formats and URL

Custom code

Visual Design Studio is made to be more user-friendly for non-technical users, but the code block allows technical users to code custom content and behavior in their Guides. When you edit a code block, you will see an Edit Code module where you can enter HTML, CSS, and Javascript that executes when the guide step containing the code displays. Learn more about Code Blocks.

Note: You can only have 1 code block per Guide step. The code block will execute when the guide step displays and the code can impact anything in the guide or app.

Frequently asked questions

Can I add a column or a building block next to another building block?

Not all building block types can be placed next to each other. Only text, button, and image building blocks support side-by-side placement. There are limits to how many building blocks can be placed in a single row. A row can have up to four buttons or two building blocks consisting of any combination of text, button, and image building blocks. For example, two text blocks can be placed next to each other, or a button and a text block.

Existing button or multi-button building blocks will work with the new side-by-side functionality. But only new text and image building blocks support side-by-side placement. Text and image building blocks created prior to the release of side-by-side building blocks on May 26, 2021 will not support Add Column. Duplicating the building block will clone the legacy functionality without side-by-side placement. You must add a new text or image building block in a new row to use side-by-side placement. You can copy and paste the content from the old building block into the new building block and then delete the old building block to use the new functionality with your existing content.