Message editor
The Message editor gives us access to the messages in the scenario and allows us to add, edit and delete messages.
Finding the message editor
There are two ways to access messages:
Option 1: The Messages functionality is available as part of the Design functionality. Design includes both Conversation, where the conversation design occurs and Messages, where we access the message editor and work on everything to do with the content and assistant prompts. If Messages is not viewable in the sidebar, click the carrot (down arrow) to the right of Design to expand.
Open your OpenDialog application
Select the Scenario you would like to edit
Go to the Design section in the right hand navigation panel
Click on the arrow to reveal the drop down
Select 'Messages'
Option 2: From within the Conversation designer, navigate to the Message editor by clicking on the message icon in a Scenario, Conversation, Scene, Turn or Intent. This will take you directly to the messages related to the conversational component you are on (scenario, conversation, scene, turn or intent)
Open your OpenDialog application
Select the Scenario you would like to edit
Go to the Design section in the right hand navigation panel
Select 'Conversation'
When on the conversation page, navigate to the top right hand corner
Click on the message bubble, which is the middle option of three icons
Finding specific messages
Which messages you see in the list of messages depends on the level at which you enter the Message Editor. For instance, if you entered the editor at the scene level, you would only see the messages for that scene. If you enter the editor at the highest level, you see all messages for the scenario.
Messages are associated with intents. For instance, a welcome message can be associated with an intent called "Welcome".
Several messages can be associated with a single intent. For example, for a Welcome intent, we can have a message specifically geared towards new users, and one geared towards existing users.
Our search functionality allows you to edit a specific word, sentence, or message. You can use OpenDialog Search to find a message or group of messages that contain the exact phrases or words you're looking for.
You can access the 'Search' functionality in the main scenario menu, which searches for content throughout Intents and Messages.
To search for a specific message, click on the 'Search' item in the main scenario menu, and the search modal will appear right in the middle of your workspace. Then, enter your query in the search bar, and the modal will display the results instantly.
By clicking on the appropriate search result from the list, you'll be directed to the chosen component, giving you the opportunity to edit the selected message with ease.
Open your OpenDialog application
Select the Scenario you would like to edit
Go to the 'Search' section in the right hand navigation panel
Click on the button to reveal the search pop up
Start typing in what you are looking for
Select the message you want from the results
Note that the displayed messages in the message catalog are the sample message you have defined upon intent creation. The sample message is there to help you with the conversation design, and recognizing intents throughout the OpenDialog platform. When editing a message, this will not edit the sample message.
Adding or editing a message
In the intent list, click the Edit icon for an existing message or click "Add a new message". An existing message can also be copied or deleted:
The Edit Message screen allows us to change the Message Name and customise the layout using a number of different message types. These types are covered in the next pages of this section.
The following options are available in the Edit Message screen:
Message name: the name is purely to help you identify specific messages. The message name will automatically be prepopulated with the name of the app intent it is related to. Make the message names something that is easy to recognize and place. For ease of use and recognition, define your naming convention upfront when you start creating your conversational application.
We recommend using the intent name, optionally followed by the condition if you are using one.
For example: WelcomeIntent - userID not set
Layout: this is where you can build your message content, add conditions to your messages, and set behaviours such as disabling text input and hiding the app avatar.
Preview: shows a preview of your message. More complex messages don't have a full preview available and are labeled in the preview by their message type.
Conversation Designer: shows the current position in the Scenario where this message is located
Conditions: in the conditions tab you will be able to define when your message gets selected by defining conditional rules.
For example: if userID is not set
Enriched user experience
OpenDialog's modular approach to messages allows you to take advantage of rich UI components, surface specific messages on your terms and personalize them to make them relevant to specific users or use cases. Check out the following sections to take your conversational application from simple question answering to a truly personalised hybrid experience :
Last updated
