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Create demos part 5: create demo guides

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About

You can choose to create a guided demos or non-guided demo. In this article we’ll show you how to create the guides for a guided demo. We’ll use three different types of guides: modals, tooltips and hotspots.

In this article

Before you start

Here are a few things to note before you start:

  • You can edit guides that are modals and tooltips, whereas the only setting for hotspots is a change of color.
  • If you have your guide settings set at the template level, you can still go in and modify the settings for an individual guide.
  • You can only create annotations (Modal, Tooltip, or Hotspot) after creating a guide set up.

The Guides side pane

From the right hand toolbar, click the Guide icon. This opens the Guides pane.

The Guides pane has these icons (left to right).

Translate guides
Guide settings
Add a modal, tooltip or hotspot
Close the Guides pane

You can create guides from here or from the Guide toolbar that shows when you click an element.

Guide settings 

There’s so much you can do with guides.  

From the right hand toolbar, click the Guides icon . This opens the Guides pane.  Then click the Gear icon to reveal all the options.

We’ll explain each dropdown in turn and link you to articles with more in-depth workflows.

Autoplay

There are times when ‘less is more’ and the best way to get your message across is a demo that’s just ‘click and view’. You can set the whole demo to autoplay (global setting) or set a specific guide or screen to autoplay (local setting). It’s up to you.

  • When autoplay in ON, guides show in the sequence you’ve set.
  • For using global and local autoplay settings, head over to the article Autoplay demos.
Buttons

Set the toggle to OFF if you don’t want any of these to show in the demo.

Default Next Button

When ON, new guides have a Next button added when you create a guide that requires a click to continue.

Default Button Label

By default, the label is Next, but you can change it to whatever you want.

Show Back Button

When ON, viewers can go back to the previous guide.

Show Dismiss Button

When ON, viewers can click X in the top right of the guide to dismiss (close) it.

Style

Set the font family, size and colors as you want them.  The accent color emphasizes color elements such as the active tab, focused input texts, back button etc.

Avatar

Show Avatar

When ON, the avatar you set will show in your Guides. In our example,  we’ve set the Walnut avatar. Of course, you can upload your own.

Avatar Title

Add a title if you want.

Avatar Personalization

When ON, it’s possible to swap out one avatar for another. This is great when you want to build on your creativity by using the customer’s avatar, or you want other team members to customize the demo and insert their own avatar.

For more on avatars, head over to the article Create avatars.

Dim

Dim By Default

OFF by default. Dims the surrounding image (background).

Dim Style

When Dim by Default is ON, you can set the intensity of the darkened background.

Demo Floating Button

The Demo Floating Button adds  a clickable "Call to Action" (CTA) across all screens in a template. This lets users pause the demo and take the next step you want them to e.g., visit a link or submit a lead form. In the image above, the Demo Floating Button is ON.

  • You can only have one demo floating button per template.
  • The color of the button uses the accent color in your guide style settings.

To add a Demo Floating button:

  1. Set the Enabled toggle to ON.
  2. Add the call to action text and the link (lead form or external link).
  3. Set the position for the button to show on the screen.
  4. Click Done. The floating button will now show on all the demo screens.
Interactions

Smooth Scrolling

When ON and there is more than one guide on a screen, Walnut scrolls to the next guide.

Celebrate Guide Completion

When ON, a spray of confetti appears on the screen when viewers complete all the guides.

Get to know the formatting options

The formatting toolbar opens in the header when you click an element.

If you click on any element, the toolbar shows the options for editing a text guide. If you click an image or chart, the toolbar gives you different options.

These are the main toolbar icons.

  • Add a link (#1): Link to a screen in the template or another URL.
  • Add a guide (#2): modal, tooltip or hotspot.
  • Smart object (#3): apply the same edit to similar elements across multiple screens.
  • Variables (#4): Creates an element that you can add to other templates, e.g, your avatar.
  • Select a parent element (#5): Use the element that is part of your element hierarchy.
  • 3 dots menu (#6): Opens the menu to show these options.

Create modals

A modal is a small screen that pops up in the middle of the main screen. They’re a key part of telling your story. When the viewer clicks Next, the modal disappears and another guide appears to continue the story.

  • You enter short text and either leave the Next button as is, or change the text.
  • You can also add another button. This is handy when you give the viewer the option to jump to a specific part of your demo.
  • When you select modal as the type of guide you want, the modal-specific  toolbar shows in the template header.

These are the modal icons (left to right).

- Change annotation/guide type
- Modal settings
- Links
- Text formatting toolbar
- Bullets
- Variables - see the article Create variables
- Text to speech - see the article Convert text to speech
- Insert a file/video/URL
- Use Nutty AI - see the article Nutty AI
- Done

To add a modal:
  1. Click the target element to open up the Guide toolbar in the screen header, click the icon and select Modal.

  2. You can also create a guide from the right-hand toolbar. Click the Guide icon and then click Add a step.
  3. Whichever method you selected to create a modal, the modal appears in the center of the screen. 
    • Add your text and format the text by adding bold, color or bullets, for example. Use the toolbar icons in the header.
    • Change the text of the Next  button or leave as-is. You can also add another button if needed.
  4. When you’re ready, click Done

Model settings

Here are the different settings for modals.

- Show back button toggle
- Show demo button toggle
- Autoplay guide step toggle
- Show avatar toggle + upload file option
- Modal size options
- Autoplay Audio toggle
- Dim toggle (dims the display around the modal). 

Create tooltips

Tooltips contain short helper tips / explanations of a specific term. Hover over the term and the tooltip pops up. 

When you select tooltip as the type of guide you want, the tooltip-specific toolbar shows in the template header.

These are the tooltip icons (left to right).

- Change annotation/guide type
- Change the selected element (apply the tooltip to another element)
- Position the tooltip on the screen
- Tooltip settings
- Done

Here's the workflow.

To add a tooltip:
  1. Click the target element to open up the Guide toolbar in the screen header, click the icon and select Tooltip.

  2. You can also create a guide from the right-hand toolbar. Click the Guide icon and then click Add a step.
  3. The screen now shows a tooltip.
  4. Click the tooltip and the tooltip toolbar opens in the template header. Each icon has a tooltip of its own, so you don't need to remember what each icon does!
  5. Add some text in the tooltip area.
  6. Change the text of the Next  button or leave as-is. You can also add another button if needed.
  7. Click the Settings icon to see the different options.

When you’re ready, click Done.

Tooltip settings

Tooltip editor options

- Change annotation/guide type
- Change the element
- Reposition the tooltip
- Tooltip settings
- Add a link
- Format text
- Bullets
- Add variables
- Text to speech
- Insert media/URL
- Done

To change the position of a tooltip:
  1. Click the tooltip.
  2. From the toolbar in the template header, click the Change annotation position icon.


  3. This opens  the layout options. Select the position you want. Here I've selected the 'below' position, and you can see that the tooltip has moved.

  4. Click Done and you're done!

 

Create hotspots

Hotspots glow! Hover over the glow and hotspot text appears. They’re a great way to highlight specific products or product features.

When you select hotspot as the type of guide you want, the hotspot-specific toolbar shows in the header.

These are the hotspot icons (left to right)

- Change guide type
- Change selected element
- Change hotspot color
- Hotspot settings (see below)
- Done

Here's the worklfow.

> To add a hotspot:
  1. Click the target element to open up the Guide toolbar in the template header, click the icon and select Hotspot.


    You can also create a guide from the right-hand toolbar. Click the Guide icon and then click Add a step.



  2. Whichever method you selected to create a hotspot, the hotspot appears on the element.
  3. Make the changes you want to the hotspot, such as color or position. Click the Settings icon to see the different options.
  4. When you’re ready, click Done.

Preview guides

Now that you’ve added guides to showcase elements and tell your story, you want to see how viewers will see it. Use Preview.

Here's the workflow.

To preview guides before publishing:
  1. Open the template in editor mode.
  2. From the header, click Preview.
  3. Click the guides in turn (unless autoplay is on!).
  4. To change the order of elements or add other settings, open up the editor.
  5. From the right hand toolbar, click the Guides icon . This opens  the Guide Settings pane. Then click the Gear icon to reveal all the options.

  6. Take some time to go through the options.
  7. When you think you’ve got what you want, click Save.
  8. Then from the header, click Preview.
  9. Repeat opening the editor, changing the settings, saving and then previewing until you’ve got the result you want.

Create custom elements

Custom elements are handy when you want to add a Guide in a location on a screen where there is no existing element.

Here's the workflow.

To create a custom element:
  1. Open the template in Edit mode. From the right hand toolbar, click the Guides icon . This opens the Guides pane. 
  2. In the Guides pane click the gear icon and select Display Options.
  3. Select Proportional Fit. This scales the screen proportionally to fit the browser size and preserve captured aspect ratio.
  4. Next select the custom element icon (top left of the subheader) and draw the element on the screen,
  5. The Guide toolbar shows. Add a link and/or guide to the element.

Edit and rearrange guides

Guides play in the order you set. You’ve made some changes and now you see that your guides are in the wrong order; it happens. No problem; a simple drag and drop will move guides to where you want them to be.No problem; a simple drag and drop will move guides to where you want them to be.

You can:

  • Change the order of guides on the same screen
  • Move guides to a different screen or section.

Here are the workflows.

To change the order of guides on the same screen:

In this example, I have two guides for screen 1, but they are in the wrong order. I need to change that.

Select the screen (left pane). The guides for that screen show on the right.

Click and drag the guide you want to move and drag it to the new position.

To move guides to a different screen:

Right click the guide to open a menu.

Select Move and click the screen you want to move it to.

NOTE: The first screen has a yellow flag indicating that this is the first screen. So the first Guide on that screen will be the first to play.

Find & replace guides

We all need to use Find & Replace. 

Here's the workflow.

To find and replace text on guides:

From the right hand toolbar the Find & Replace icon. This opens a new pane.

The Find & replace  pane opens. Type the text to find and press Enter. 

Click the Guide Steps tab to see the text found.

Enter the replacement text and when you’re sure you want to replace all, click Replace All.

Publish & share

You’ve added guides and customized them just how you want them. Now you’re good to publish the demo and share it. So head over to the article Create demos part 5: publish & share.

Specific use cases

Here are some tips for specific use cases.

1. Positioning error message

If you see a 'Positioing' error message, it means that the annotation needs pinning to a specific location. Jump to the section Tooltips in this article, and see the workflow > To change the position of a tooltip.

2. Open a form at the end of the demo 

Navigate to the last guide and add the link modal or tooltip's action button.

3. Attach a guide to a custom element rather than the ‘Next’ button

Delete the ‘Next’ button. 

Draw a custom element (see the section Create custom elements.

Attach the Guide to the custom element.

4. Move the Guide toolbar

It’s not possible to move the Guide toolbar, but you can remove it from the template if needed.

Navigate to the folder where you have stored the demo. Hover over the row and from the 3 dots select Demo Preferences.

Click the Link Settings tab and set the Show Guide toolbar to OFF.

Click Copy Link and Save.

 

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