Quick Start Builder Guide

This article shows you 6 essential steps you need to complete when building a Bot from scratch.

Basic steps are presented here. There are many other tools, options, and features you need to know when building and customizing a Bot.

For more information, see:

• adding an image
• adding a gif
• adding video
• adding text formatting
• adding legal consent
• editing typing animation

Many of the tools presented in this article can be used when working with a template. For information, see Creating a Bot from a Template.

Overview

The 6 essential steps are:

• create a new Bot
• add blocks with messages
• add user interactions
• preview your Bot
• link blocks
• publish a Bot

1 Creating a new Bot

1. Go to the Converto Dashboard and click My Bots. The My Bots page displays.
2. Click Create a Bot.
3. Type the name your Bot in the popup box. The Builder page display.

For more information about the Bot toolbar, see:

• change the Settings for an existing Bot
• clone a Bot
• edit a Bot
• review Bot Analytics
• delete a Bot

For more information creating Bots, watch the video:

• Creating a New Bot

2 Adding messages to a block

Now you have a blue workspace with no content. In this step, you add a block with message content. This is the Chatbot information your website visitors see on your website.

1. In the top menu, click Add Block. A new block appears on the workspace.
2. Click the block. The Message panel displays.
3. Change the block name to Intro.
4. Type the first line of your message content.
5. Click the +Add button to insert a new line of message text. A blank line is added.
6. Type a message in the second line.
7. Repeat to add more message content.
8. Click Save when finished. The Message panel closes.

For more information about adding messages, watch the video:

• Adding Message Content <<hyperlink>>

For more information about message content options, see:

• Copying Messages
• Moving Messages
• Deleting Messages

3 Adding user responses

Message content gives your website visitors information. Chatbots can do a lot more than give information.

A Chatbot can collect responses from website visitors and then provide the information they need to become a qualified lead or customer.

To collect responses from website visitors, you place a user response inside a block.

1. Click the block that will hold a user response. The Message panel displays.
2. Click the User Response button. The User Response panel displays.
3. Next to Input Type, click the drop-down menu. A list of user options displays.
4. Select Buttons.
5. Type the name of the first option in the box.
6. Click the green + button to add a line.
7. Type the name of the next option in the box.
8. Repeat as often as required. In the diagram below, we have 2 options: Regular chicken and Spicy chicken.
9. Click continue. The Message panel displays.
10. Click Save. The blue workspace returns.

For more information about user response options, read a series of articles in the category: Adding User Responses.

For general information about user responses, watch the video:

• Adding a User Response

4 Previewing a Bot

It’s good practice to preview your work as you go along.

1. Go to the blue workspace.
2. Scroll up to the top menu.
3. Click Preview. The Preview panel appears on the right side of the screen.

5 Linking blocks

At this point, we have one block which greets a potential customer with message content and asks for a user response (i.e. select a type of chicken).

The next step is to add a new block for each response option and then link the blocks.

1. Create a block for each user response option (see Step 2 above to review instructions). In Diagram 1 below, we created two blocks called Regular chicken and Spicy chicken. These blocks are not linked.
2. On the Intro box, click the bottom left node and then drag it to the top node of the Regular chicken box. A linking line is created, as shown in Diagram 2.
3. Repeat the process and link the Intro box to the Spicy chicken block.

For more information, watch the video:

• Linking Message Blocks <<hyperlink>>

6 Publishing a Bot

Publish your Bot after several rounds of edits and revisions. You may also want to customize its design, appearance, and behavior.

For detailed information, see:

• Launching a Bot