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 launched by another Guide via a Button Action. A programmatic activation option is 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 (1) activation displays the guide as soon as all the conditions for displaying the guide are met. All requirements for activation must be fulfilled for the guide to display.
An automatic guide displays until it is dismissed by the user, either via the 'X' close button in the upper-right corner or a button with the Dismiss action in the guide.
Badge
Badge (2) activation lets 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, Inline Right, or Inline Left.
Badge Offset
The Up/Down and Left/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
"Show every time" 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
Target Element (3) activation launches a Guide when a user clicks on a designated element in your application. This functions similarly to badge activation but uses an element in your app instead of a badge icon.
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 element hover or click" will display the tooltip if the targeted element is hovered over or clicked. "Show only on element click" will not display the tooltip when the element is hovered over.
Frequency
"Show Every Time" will display the guide even if a user has seen the guide before, allowing them to reference the information again and again. "Show only once" will cause the guide to appear only once after the guide has been seen.
Device Selection
You can select which device to show the guide on when activated.
No Activation Method
By choosing none or deselecting all options, you will see this message:
Pendo Adopt End Users do not have access to launch guides through the API, thus you will have to choose one of the three options above. If a guide is moved to Public without an activation method chosen, the guide will not launch unless the guide is the destination of a "Launch Guide" button action on a different guide.
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
| Element Contents | Value Used for Comparison |
| 1234 | 1234 |
| -1234 | -1234 |
| 12.34 | 12.34 |
| 0.1234 | 0.1234 |
| No value | |
| $1234 | 1234 |
| 12.34% | 12.34 |
| 1,234 | 1234 |
| 001234 | 1234 |
Unsupported Formats
| Element Contents | Value Used for Comparison |
| .1234 - No leading 0 for decimal | 1234 |
| 12/34 - Fraction | 12 |
| 12:34AM - Time | 12 |
| 12/12/21 - Date | 12 |
| 1.2.3.4 - IP Address | 1.2 |
| €12,34 - Comma used in international currency | 1234 |
| (123)456-7890 - Phone Number | 123 |
| 12, 34, 56 - Space-separated | 12 |
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.
Activation via Resource Center
Guides can be activated via the Resource Center badge. After selecting a Resource Center, scroll down to the Activation tile and click "Edit".
Select the Badge Icon you'd like as your Resource Center badge. The options are: info bubble, logo, help, star, and custom image.
You can also modify the badge position and color via the Badge Position and Color drop-downs.