Create conversations

Once you’ve created your bot, the next thing you need to do is tell your bot what to say. A bot is built up of multiple messages sent to the user to form a conversation, linked together by connections which take users from one message to another. In this session, you will learn how to start creating these conversations, by creating and connecting messages.

Messages

To begin, let’s start by looking at the most basic building block of a conversation, the ‘message’.

All Josef bots are built around messages. A message is made up of two main elements: a message, and a response. A Josef bot prompts the user in the form of a question or statement, and then provides the user an opportunity to respond.

Think of it like a conversation with another person, where each person might share some information and prompt the other person to respond. A bot works the same way!

Watch the video below to learn how to create messages.

There are many different message and response types to choose from when building your bot. Here are the top 3 most common response types, which we recommend you practice with first.

1. No response

This response type does not collect a response from the user. The message is simply displayed to the user, and then the bot moves on to the next message without any user input. Use this response type if you are providing the user with a statement or if you want to break up long paragraphs of text into multiple smaller messages.

2. Text

This allows the user to type any form of text in their response, including words, numbers and symbols. Use this response type when you want the user to be able to respond with free text, such as when describing something or providing a response to which there is no corresponding response type.

3. Single choice

This response type requires the user to select one option from a list of possible options that you create. The type of options that you can create include:

• Text: options using free-text.
• Number: options using numbers.
• Date: options using dates.
• Currency: options using currency amounts.
• Percentage: options using percentage amounts. 

Use this response type when you would like the user to choose from a set list of possible options, including to answer yes or no questions.

For a list of all possible message and response types, and what each one does in the bot, take a look at our Help Centre article here.

Connecting messages

The next step is to link your messages together by creating connections. Connections tell the bot what to say next. It’s like the logic in a conversation that determines who says what and when. 

Watch the video below to learn how to create connections between messages to put the messages in a particular order.

Practice your skills

In the last session, you started creating a bot. You can either continue with that bot, or create a new one to follow along with us.

To practice creating conversations, complete the following tasks:

1. Create at least 4 messages.
2. Use at least 3 different response types.
3. Create at least 3 connections so each message is connected to another.
4. Test your bot!

Remember, you can access a list of all possible message and response types, and what each one does in the bot, in our Help Centre article here. If you have time, experiment with a few different types!

Once you’re done, head to the next session to learn how to apply rules to your bot.