Using the canvas

The canvas is the area where you build and edit your conversations. It also provides a high level view of the logic of the chatbot.

The chatbot design screen looks like this:

The blank area at the left is the canvas. The set of icons at the right, under the heading Interactions, shows every type of interaction that you can use in your chatbot.

A summary of each of these interactions is given below. For more information, see How to create a chatbot.

• Message. Use this to display a message to the user. Messages provide information. A message may have buttons, and you can configure these to carry out tasks relating to the goals of the bot. Users can change the direction of the conversation, for example by entering a response that will take them to another interaction.
• Question. Questions ask the user for input, and always wait for an answer. A Question may be followed by one or more buttons for the possible answers. Where there are no buttons, the Question accepts any answer or is asking for information such as an email address or phone number.
• Link. The Link interaction displays a URL for the user to click.
• Carousel. A carousel of up to 10 cards that scrolls horizontally. Each card can show images, text, and buttons.
• Action. Performs a defined action, such as making a REST API call, setting a variable for use in another interaction or going to an interaction in another bot.
• Image. Displays a specified image.
• Go To Bot. The Go To Bot interaction to goes to another specified chatbot.
• Send Email. The Send Email interaction sends an email with a specified subject line to one or more email addresses. The content of the email will be the transcript of the chat.
• Send Attachment. The Send Attachment interaction sends an attachment to the user via the chatbot.