The flow builder provides you with a blank canvas to map the series of actions or 'nodes' which your flow will take once triggered.
You build conversations or experiences within Pendula by dragging and dropping nodes onto the canvas and connecting them to form a logical sequence of actions.
To access the flow builder, you'll firstly need complete the required information on the flow setup screen. See Flow setup overview for more information.
Quick links:
How to add a node to the canvas
How to link a node on the canvas
How to delete a node from the canvas
Flow builder layout
The flow builder screen is divided into two sections:
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The toolbar, where you can browse and select different nodes. A node represents a process that occurs during a flow, such as sending an SMS or updating a field.
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The canvas, where you can click, drag and drop nodes onto and arrange them in the desired order you wish the recipient to progress through the flow.
From the flow builder screen, you can also view or select:
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Recipient preview: The number of recipients which matched the rules set in the 'Who are you sending it to' section of the flow setup screen (at the time of setting those rules)
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Align: This button will re-organise any nodes on the canvas into an elegant and easy-to-follow path. This will become quite useful later on when creating more complex flows!
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Flow setup: Navigate back to the flow setup screen
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Finish later: Saves and exits the flow builder, the flow status will be set to
Draft -
Save & Activate: Saves and exits the flow, the flow status will be set to
Active
The toolbar
The toolbar contains all available nodes, which are categorised based on their function:
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Conversation
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Workflow
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Data
Let's take a quick look at what each node does.
Conversation nodes
Outbound SMS
Sends an outbound SMS created from an SMS template or from free text entered within the node settings.
Inbound SMS
Defines expected responses from a recipient of an outbound SMS, in order to determine subsequent actions.
Outbound email
Sends an outbound email from a template or from content entered within the node settings. Can include attachments.
Email is not available as a communication channel for all users. Contact the Pendula team if you would like to have this enabled.
See Configuring conversation nodes for more information.
Workflow nodes
Delay (time period)
Delays for a specified period.
Delay (exact day & time)
Delays until a specified day and time.
Criteria filter
Filters recipients based on criteria being met, uses success or failure paths.
The criteria filter node allows you to define rules and groups just as you would have done on the flow setup screen, with the limitation that you can only select fields on the related object.
For more information, see the Flow criteria article.
Email event
Checks whether the last sent email has been opened, uses success or failure paths.
This node can be introduced following a time delay node, and is used a junction object to determine success or failure paths a result of whether an email has been opened.
See Configuring workflow nodes for more information.
Data nodes
Field update
Update a field on the related object with a new value.
The field type will determine which values can be selected or entered by a field update. For example, if a picklist field is selected, then you will only be able to update this field based on the available picklist values.
See Configuring data nodes for more information.
How to add a node to the canvas
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Click and drag a node from the toolbar onto the canvas
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The node settings panel will automatically open on the right-hand side of the screen, allowing you to configure this node based on is functionality
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Once configured, click Save to save your settings
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Nodes can be edited at any time by double-clicking on any node which has been added to the canvas
Some nodes can only be used in a particular context, and therefore aren’t available to be added (icon will be greyed out) unless another node is already present on the canvas. For example, an inbound SMS node can't be added until an outbound SMS node is added first. Similarly, an email event node can't be added, unless there is already an outbound email node added.
Once two or more nodes have been added to the canvas, you can link them to define the order in which the flow should proceed.
How to link a node on the canvas
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Hover your cursor over the edge of your first node until the outline turns green, then click and drag to connect it to another node
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The order the flow will take once triggered is indicated by the direction of the arrow, or path, linking the two nodes together
Once you have added and linked multiple nodes, you can click on the Align button to automatically re-position your nodes into a more visually accessible form. This is handy for long or complex flows!
How to delete a node from the canvas
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Hover your mouse over the node you wish to delete, and click on the bin icon
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Deleting a node will also remove any links between it and other nodes on the canvas, along with any configuration unique to this node
How to edit a path label
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Double-click a path between two nodes on the canvas
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Enter your preferred path name in the Path label field
Path types
Some paths have types, based on the functionality provided by the two nodes they connect.
Path types are used to determine whether or not a recipient should progress to the next node in the flow.
Delivery
Outbound SMS and email nodes can be linked to a subsequent node with a delivery path type.
The available options are:
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Delivered: A recipient will progress to the linked node once a delivered event has been returned for the outbound sms or email sent via Pendula. This can be used in conjunction with a separate failed path to segment recipient down different paths -
Failed: A recipient will progress to the linked node once a failure (bounced) event as been returned for the outbound sms or email sent via Pendula. -
Attempted: A recipient will continue to progress regardless of whether a delivered or attempted event is returned. Cannot be used in conjunction with a separate delivered or failed path.
Success or failure
Criteria filter and email event nodes can be linked to a subsequent node with a success or failure path type.
The available options are:
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Success: The recipient met the rules defined in the previous node. Can be used in conjunction with a separate failed path to segment recipient down different paths -
Failed: The recipient did not meet the rules defined in the previous node.
If only a delivered or success path type exists within a flow, recipients which do not meet the conditions of this type will simply stop and exit the flow. This means they won't progress any further, and their experience status will update to complete. See Experiences and messages for more information.
How to edit a path type
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Double-click a path between two nodes on the canvas
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Select your preferred type from the Path type field
How to delete a path
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Click on the path you wish to delete
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Press the delete key on your keyboard
Deleting a path will not remove the nodes it previously linked on the canvas
Flow behaviour
The golden rule when using the flow builder is that a flow must start with a single node, and progress in a linear direction.
A flow with one or more detached sets of nodes cannot be triggered, as Pendula will not know the order in which each node should be actioned.
Similarly, a flow cannot be activated if any of the node within it are incomplete or incorrectly configured. These nodes will be flagged with a red outline and an exclamation symbol.
As mentioned above, some nodes can only be used in a particular context based on their functionality.