Question 1

How do I surface my Workflow into a floating widget?

Accepted Answer

It's quick and easy to surface your Workflow as a floating widget. You can find out more about Malcolm! widgets here.

In the Library screen of the Workflow section of MyMalcolm click the three dots on the right hand side of the screen and select "Embed" -

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/bk1dEegpoU/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.08.18-17_01_27.png (Quick link to Embed from the Workflow Library in MyMalcolm)

This will take you into the Share section of MyMalcolm! Here you can choose the type of embed you want to create.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/N17DhjfW2Z/Screenshot%202021-12-30%20at%2013.57.57.png (Choose your embed type in MyMalcolm)

Choose "Widget" and work through the screens. You can configure various options here including whether in the pre-expand state the widget is a button or a drawer. You can also configure where on the screen you want the pre-expand to appear. Other options include colour schemes, the option to add your own logo to the widget and also whether you want the footer and search bar to appear. See this FAQ for more detail on this.

At the end of the process you will be supplied with the code that you should add to your webpage HTML - we recommend you add this to very page of your website. You can also embed via Google Tag Manager. See here for more details.

Question 2

Can I remove the Malcolm! branding?

Accepted Answer

It is quick and easy to remove the Malcolm! branding and - if you want - replace it with your own. Here is how:

Hosted Hub

By default your Hosted Hub is Malcolm! branded. To change that:

In MyMalcolm go to the Brand section.
Click "Themes" on the black sub navigation.
The default Malcolm! theme will be selected. Click the "duplicate" icon (two squares overlapping). This will create a copy of the default theme called "Default copy".
Select the Default copy theme by clicking on it. Then click the "edit" icon (a pencil).
This brings up the edit theme interface. There are a huge amount of things you can change here. Use the left hand vertical navigation to browse all the possibilities.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/6ACEG5RrGl/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.08.05-10_46_38.png (MyMalcolm Theme Editing Options)

Footer

Be default a "powered by Malcolm!" badge appears at the bottom of content. You can turn this off (and also add other footer content such as copyright notices etc) in the "Footer" section of the edit theme interface referenced above.

Embeds

You can turn off the "powered by Malcolm!" badge in your embeds by turning off the footer. You do this via the style section of your embed configuration.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/m6Pb8R7IbC/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2020.05.26-11_42_48.png (Style controls in an Embed in MyMalcolm)

Emails

Malcolm! can send emails to your customers/users in the following situations:

Email this answer functionality on an FAQ
Sending the resume later Workflow link
Payment confirmation email

To change the branding of these emails see this article.

To change the sender name and email address see this article.

Domain

Finally don't forget you can easily configure Malcolm! to use your own domain or sub-domain. For further details see this article.

Question 3

How can I use Square with Malcolm! to collect payment from my customers?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm! now integrates with Square. Square is a payment service provider that enables business owners to collect payment from their customers.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/d8ZLyi8A95/Square%402x.jpg (Square and Malcolm!)

With our Square integration you can create Workflows in Malcolm! that include fields for your customers to enter their card details and pay for things like products, services, memberships etc or perhaps make a donation towards something.

Here is how to set things up:

If you don't already have a Square account create one here.
In MyMalcolm go to the Settings, then Workflows, then Integrations, then click on Square.
You'll be taken to a page on the Square website where you can login and confirm that you wish to link your Square account to Malcolm!

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/QBvWDgrtAV/Screenshot%202022-01-06%20at%2012.48.11.png (Connecting Square to Malcolm!)

Once you have linked your Square account you can create Workflows via the Workflow section as usual and place payment related elements onto those Workflows. Two particular elements to pay attention to are Currency and Payments.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/SlnkSg4slf/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2021.05.28-18_08_18.png (Currency and Payment elements in MyMalcolm)

Payments is the element where your customer will provider their card details. You can configure the amount your customer is charged via the Payment element settings, or you can optionally ask the customer to enter their own amount via the Currency field - this can be useful in scenarios like donations or account payments where you may wish to offer the customer the choice of the amount to pay.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/Yaj6slF0EX/Screenshot%202022-01-06%20at%2012.52.37.png (Settings for the Payment element in MyMalcolm)

If you also collect your customers email (and Name) in the Workflow you can optionally use that information to send them a payment confirmation email. You can configre and customise this via the Payment element settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/sZjKbFViLz/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2021.05.28-18_11_48.png (Configuring payment confirmation emails in MyMalcolm)

You can place the Payment element on any page of your Workflow, but the actual payment transaction will not be attempted until the final submit of your Workflow. If there is a problem with the payment details your customer will be returned to the page with Payment element on it and given a chance to update their details and proceed back through the Workflow.

You can see a video walkthrough below.

And there you have it! Taking payments via Square is a really powerful and quick to implement feature of Malcolm! Workflows. Taking payments will also work when the Workflow is surfaced via our embeds, widgets and overlays too! If you have questions or need a hand setting things up just contact us and we'll be happy to help.

Question 4

Could I use Malcolm! as a publishing platform?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm! has primarily been designed around service interactions with users (eg answering their questions and taking them through a process) but we do have users who use Malcolm! in a more "marketing" or "content" based way eg to host content and/or take their users through forms to download content or register for something.

If you want to use Malcolm! in this way it's worth remembering that you have full branding control (more info here) and can even rename things like FAQ's and Workflows (more info here). You can also change your base URL. See more information in this article.

By default we do mark up FAQs content using https://schema.org/FAQPage so if your content doesn't follow a question and answer format and you allow that content to be indexed by search engines you may wish to change the schema to https://schema.org/WebPage. You can see how to do this here.

The Examples section on our website may give you some further ideas on how you could use Malcolm!

If you want to go even further you might want to consider contacting us and having a chat. We do offer enterprise packages and bespoke development on top of the Malcolm! Platform.

Question 5

What are Webhooks and how do I use them to receive notifications when Workflows are completed?

Accepted Answer

Webhooks allow you to set up your own integrations to Malcolm! Workflow.

Webhooks are endpoints on web servers you own. Whenever a Workflow is completed the configured Webhooks will be notified. The Payload will contain the completed Workflow Session, related Workflow and (optionally) the submitted Workflow Values.

Configuration

Webhooks are are configured in "Workflows > Edit > Configure > Webhooks" section of MyMalcolm.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/IWqLLH7kgn/Screenshot%202021-01-26%20at%2016.17.46.png (Screenshot 2021-01-26 at 16.17.46.png)

Webhook URL

The only requirement is to provide the URL of your Webhook. This is the URL Malcolm! will send the Payload to.

The URL should be a secure endpoint which means it should start with https://, although we do support http:// too. The endpoint should also be accessible which means hosted on a remote machine, not behind a firewall and not requiring Authentication.

Include the Workflow Values

There is an additional option to include the submitted Workflow Values in the Payload. This option is disabled by default for security reasons but available to use should you wish to enable it. By enabling the option you agree to the following terms -

(a) I would like the Workflow Values included in the Webhook Payload (b) the recieving web server is private and properly secured (c) I am aware the use of Webhooks can facilitate the transfer of end-user personal data to third party Data Processors and my use of Webhooks adheres to my responsibilities as Data Controller under applicable Data Protection Laws.

Secure your Webhook with a secret token

Webhook URLs can be called by anyone and are therefore insecure.

To ensure a request to your Webhook URL comes from Malcolm! a secret token known only by yourself and Malcolm! can be used to generate a Signature.

Malcolm! will take the Payload and the secret and create a Signature. This will be passed to your App as the request header X-Signature. Your App will use the same secret and the received Payload to generate a second Signature. If the Signatures match you know the request came from Malcolm! and not another source.

The secret token can be any string you like, but Malcolm! recommends using a random string of at least 36 characters. For example in a Terminal window run -

To validate the Payload from Malcolm! use the HMAC SHA-256 algorithm to create a hash using the Payload as the data and your secret as the key.

For example in PHP use the hash_hmac function to generate a binary hash.

Next encode the binary hash using a Base 64 encoder, in PHP this is the base64_encode function.

Finally prefix the encoded hash with "sha256=" and compare with the value of X-Signature. In PHP you can use the $_SERVER variable to access the headers.

Conditional settings

There are conditional controls available too. If you have a condition configured the Webhook will only be notified if the conditions at the end of the Workflow are satisfied.

Headers

The HTTP POST will contain the following Headers.

Payload

The Payload will be a JSON Body containing the Workflow Session.

Workflows are defined as -

Workflow Values are defined as -

Workflow Fields are defined as -

Example

Question 6

How to integrate with Mews using Workflow integrations

Accepted Answer

At Malcolm! HQ we continue to roll-out our built-in Workflow integrations, our most recent being the Mews Property Managamenet System.

Use a Malcolm! Workflow to capture information or record choices from your guest then have that data added to the guest notes in Mews. All you need from your guest is their Surname and Confirmation Number or a Reservation ID.

Connect to Mews

Get started in MyMalcolm by connecting to your Mews account via Settings > Workflows > Integrations using your Mews Client token and Access token.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/nV6HefCjKn/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2009.59.27.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 09.59.27.png)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/31zLOc5PSh/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2009.59.46.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 09.59.46.png)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/W5MGLxYUvx/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2010.00.51.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 10.00.51.png)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/igxpR5jiUq/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2010.01.04.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 10.01.04.png)

Build the Workflow

Start a new Malcolm! Workflow and capture the guest Surname and Confirmation Number.

If you prefer a hidden Reservation ID could be passed in via the URL, for example using a link in a direct email to the guest. URL values can also be tokenised to hide their true value. Read more on Setting Workflow values in a URL and Securing Workflow values.

Finish by adding the fields you'd like to capture in guest profile notes.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/EzbeRogC4Y/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2010.05.53.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 10.05.53.png)

Configure the integration

From the builder head to Configure > Integrations and choose the Mews integration.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/itYnbSd00O/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2010.06.31.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 10.06.31.png)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/l8M5UTXKsH/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2010.06.45.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 10.06.45.png)

Choose the "Add notes to a guest profile" action and your Mews booking service.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/fy8HASkjMf/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2010.07.03.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 10.07.03.png)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/QD16dElxZr/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2010.07.09.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 10.07.09.png)

Connect up your Malcolm! Workflow fields.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/QPrIZSUn6F/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2010.07.39.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 10.07.39.png)

Finish by enabling the integration and saving.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/zfnYbaPohW/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2010.56.56.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 10.56.56.png)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/vISxJiGvRj/Screenshot%202022-03-28%20at%2010.07.53.png (Screenshot 2022-03-28 at 10.07.53.png)

We hope you enjoy using this new integration. If you have any feedback or questions please get in touch below or via support@malcolm.app.

Question 7

Can I pass secure values into Malcolm! Workflows via the URL?

Accepted Answer

Passing data into a Workflow via the URL is a feature we've had for a while - read more - but what if the data you want to pass is confidential?

Understandably, you wouldn't want to pass that straight in. Luckily Malcolm! understands how important protecting your data is so we've come up with a solution that allows values to travel safe and secure with minimal effort!

A beginners guide to encryption

Suppose you have a value, such as an account number, that you don't want anyone else to read. Encryption provides a way to scramble this value so only you and the people you share the password or secret key with can read it.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/FR8yDloV2d/encryption-diagram.png (encryption-diagram.png)

The sender uses the secret key to scramble the original value and the encrypted value is sent to the receiver. On receipt of the encrypted value the receiver uses the same secret key to unscramble the value back to the original.

And that's encryption in a nutshell!

Step 1: Generate a secret key

The secret key can be any string you like, but Malcolm! recommends using a random string of at least 36 characters. A simple ruby command can quickly generate one for you.

Keep your secret key safe - you'll need it later!

Step 2: Share your secret key with Malcolm!

We do this via the Workflow Builder. Any question field that supports URL query values can now be secured with your secret key - e.g. text fields, hidden fields, number fields, email address fields, etc.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/g6hGpX1dvl/Screenshot%202021-11-10%20at%2013.43.37.png (Screenshot 2021-11-10 at 13.43.37.png)

Here's a simple example which starts with a text field renamed to "Account number".

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/b4uJV41azB/Screenshot%202021-11-10%20at%2013.51.53.png (Screenshot 2021-11-10 at 13.51.53.png)

To enable URL values open up the edit window, scroll to the bottom and turn on "Allow a value to be set in URL query". Malcolm! will automatically generate a query name for you but you can change it to something different if you prefer.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/7OhxX21Mdq/Screenshot%202021-11-10%20at%2013.52.01.png (Screenshot 2021-11-10 at 13.52.01.png)

Next turn on the "Secure the query value" and paste in your secret key.

Hit save and that completes the configuration!

Step 3: Encrypting values

Malcolm! uses OpenSSL and the "aes-128-gcm" cipher to decrypt values.

Passed values need to be encoded and made up of three parts -

The Initialisation Vector used during the encryption
The Authentication Tag resulting from AEAD ciphers
The encrypted string

Initialisation Vectors are generated using the OpenSSL rand function. For our chosen cipher these need to be exactly 12 bytes long. If using PHP you can use the openssl_random_pseudo_bytes function.

Why 12 bytes? This just happens to be the required length for our chosen cipher. In PHP you can verify this by using the openssl_cipher_iv_length function.

This will output -

Next use the OpenSSL enc function to create the encrypted string. Here's an example using the PHP openssl_encrypt function.

This will assign an Authentication Tag to the $tag variable (passed by reference) and an encrypted string to the $ciphertext variable.

Note - in PHP we pass OPENSSL_RAW_DATA to generate binary data.

Complete the process by concatenating $iv, $tag and $cipertext into a single string - Malcolm! needs all three for the decryption process!

As we're passing this value via the URL we need to first encode it. Use a Base 64 encoder followed by a URL encoder to ensure all the characters are sent correctly. In PHP this is the base64_encode function and urlencode functions respectively.

This is the final encoded string!

For simplicity all the steps from above can be put in a single function.

And that's all there is to it ;)

Question 8

Can I change the branding in the emails Malcolm! sends my customers?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm! can send emails to your customers/users in the following situations:

Workflow email answers where you have configured the email answer to be sent to the email address specified in the Workflow
Email this answer functionality on an FAQ
Sending the resume later Workflow link
Payment confirmation email

You can now change the look and feel of those emails via the Brand area. Look for email themes.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/0D5dCKZING/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.01.02-19_19_53.png (Editing Email themes in MyMalcolm 1)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/yf8EflQ8bg/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.01.02-19_20_16.png (Editing Email themes in MyMalcolm 2)

By default the emails will come from "Malcolm!" with the email address noreply@malcolm.app but you can change this - see this FAQ for further details.

Please note you cannot change the look and feel nor the sender of the system alert emails that Malcolm! sends to the instance owner and your instance team members.

See a video walkthrough below:

Question 9

Can I change the sender and email address in the emails Malcolm! sends my customers?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm! can send emails to your customers/users in the following situations:

Workflow email answers where you have configured the email answer to be sent to the email address specified in the Workflow
Email this answer functionality on an FAQ
Sending the resume later Workflow link
Payment confirmation email

By default these emails come from the sender "Malcolm!" with the email address noreply@malcolm.app

To do this, goto Settings --> Instance --> Emails and toggle Custom email sending to be active. You can then supply your Mailgun or SendGrid credentials and specify your desired sender name and email address.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/3dFvKHsdpC/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.01.02-18_57_32.png (Adding MailGun or SendGrid credentials in MyMalcolm)

You can also change the look and feel of these emails - please see this FAQ for further details.

Question 10

How do I pay for Malcolm?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm! billing is based on Instances. You can read more about Instances here.

You can see our pricing here.

You can read more about VAT and how we apply it here.

We currently bill in UK Pound Sterling and US Dollars.

At the time of writing we accept Visa and Mastercard. We also accept Paypal through which you can use American Express. We don't currently accept Bitcoin :-)

Plans are paid monthly in advance. When you trial ends (or if you end your trial early and remove the restrictions) we'll ask for your card details and every month we will automatically take payment unless you cancel. If your card expires or the payment fails we will send you a number of automated emails to ask you to update your details. If no action is taken after a grace period we will stop serving your content (ie your FAQ's and Workflows) and after a further grace period we will delete your Instance.

Enterprise plans are more bespoke in nature and are negotiated on a per client basis. These can also be paid by credit or debit card but it's more typical for clients to pay quarterly or annually via invoice and bank transfers.