Question 1

Can I set Workflow values in a URL?

Accepted Answer

A very powerful feature of Malcolm! is the ability to populate one or more values within a Workflow via the URL to the Workflow itself.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/4pDguyLGuN/Set%20Workflow%20Values%20via%20URL.png (Set Workflow Values via URL)

This is extremely powerful if - for example - you want to pass into a Workflow information that lets you identify who has completed it - such as a customer ID or perhaps some other form of unique reference that lets you know what the information relates to (eg an order or transaction id)

For example, let's say a customer has created an order with order ID 12345 and you need some further information to fulfil the order. Rather than send them a Workflow which asks them for their order ID as one of the questions (or relies on you manually linking the submitted Workflow with a completed order your side) you could send them a link in the format https://url.com/workflows/order-info-needed?orderid=12345

You can put values for multiple fields in the URL too eg https://url.com/workflows/order-info-needed?orderid=12345&anotherfield=abcde

You can choose whether the user filling in the Workflow will see the Order ID repeated on their Workflow or not. If they can see it you can choose whether they can edit it or not. You can also choose what the descriptors in the URL (in the example above the "orderid" part) actually are. All these configurations are made by clicking on the individual element in the Workflow builder in MyMalcolm and scrolling to the "Settings" area.

When the Workflow is submitted you will receive the Order ID (and any other fields you have completed via the URL) as part of the submitted information.

When you combine the ability to populate fields by variables in the URL with the integration functionality of Malcolm! it becomes even more powerful as you could programmatically send out Workflows for completion (with some identifying information inserted via an auto generated URL) and then combine them with your other systems on submission via an integration or a webhook using the identifying information to link things together.

This becomes a great way to send out surveys, create follow ups to marketing campaigns, extend the functionality you offer to "logged in" users etc etc - the possibilities are endless!

Question 2

Can users save Workflow progress and complete later?

Accepted Answer

It can be very useful to give your users the option to save progress on a Workflow and come back to complete the rest later. It's especially helpful if a you have built a long multi-stage Workflow like an application form.

You turn this feature on in MyMalcolm - go to the Configure screen of each individual Workflow.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/r3sEcA2Ugh/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.08.18-16_09_11.png (Turn Resume Workflow on in MyMalcolm)

When turned on users will see an option to "Finish Later" at the bottom of each Workflow screen. When clicked this will bring up an overlay asking them to enter their email address. A unique link will then be emailed that when clicked will take the user back to the same stage of the Workflow they were previously at.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/R3FxUMpkNL/screenshot-support.malcolm.support-2019.08.18-16_41_46.png (Finish Later option on a Workflow)

If you need to retrieve these links (for example someone completing the form didn't receive or has lost the email with the resume link in) you can also get to the link via the Completions area of the Workflow section of MyMalcolm - click the link under "Resume link" to copy the URL your clipboard.

Question 3

Do you support anchor links?

Accepted Answer

We support the ability to scroll the user to certain parts of your content on the same page via anchor (or "jump") links.

To insert an anchor click the anchor icon in the markdown editor. Type a name for your anchor in the dialog and hit insert (Malcolm! will make your text lower case and replace any spaces with a dash)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/oCqoO1obU2/Insert%20anchor.png (Insert anchor dialog)

To link to the anchor use the create link dialog and find your anchor from the drop down list.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/7oI1UVxRhF/Target%20link%20to%20anchor.png (Target link to anchor)

Malcolm! will then add markdown to your content, you can see an example below

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/TkGY25Md9d/Anchor%20and%20target%20in%20markdown.png (Anchor and target in markdown)

Alternatively you can create your anchors and links directly in markdown, the syntax is as follows

To define your anchor

To link to your anchor

See the video below for a walkthrough of this feature

Question 4

Can I turn tags off?

Accepted Answer

You can turn the display of all tags or individual tags off/on. This will also affect the tag listing/results screens.

This feature can be useful in a number of ways, for example if you are prepping a new tag to go live and want to attach it to all your relevant FAQs/Articles but don't want it to display just yet you can simply leave it switched off until you are ready.

You can turn Tags off globally in Settings --> FAQs --> General (under the "Listings" heading)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/WW0eQrCvC4/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2023.04.02-15_42_17.png (Turning tags off globally in MyMalcolm)

Individual tags and their associated listings/results can be turned off via FAQs --> Tags then the three-dot menu to the right of the tag in question

Question 5

Does my hosted hub have a sitemap I can submit to Google?

Accepted Answer

Your hosted hub has a site map of all published and non-hidden content that you can submit to Google Search Console and other similar services or software at /sitemap.xml

eg if your hosted hub URL is support.mydomain.com the URL for your sitemap will be https://support.mydomain.com/sitemap.xml

Question 6

How do I build a Workflow?

Accepted Answer

You can build a Workflow quickly via the Workflow Builder in MyMalcolm.

To get started, first go to the Workflow section of MyMalcolm and then click "Create a Workflow" towards the top right of the screen.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/RksXtrNmao/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.07.30-18_58_28.png (Workflows: How would you like to start?)

You can then choose whether to build a Workflow from scratch, start with one of our templates or - if you have already created some Workflows previously - clone one of those previously created Workflows.

You can then use our drag and drop builder to create your Workflow.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/NqeNJgmaNe/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.07.30-18_54_43.png (Workflow Builder)

Our Workflow builder enables you to:

Drag and drop question elements onto your form
Customise those question elements
Configure Filters, Validators and Rules
Split forms over multiple pages
Customise page titles and progress bars
Customise thank you page

Once you have created the content of your form, you can to the Configure tab and configure various options including setting up email notifications or Integrations.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/6t3XACYIqr/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.07.30-19_14_25.png (Configure your Workflow)

By default your Workflow is created as a web form that you access via a URL. But you can also surface that Workflow in a variety of other ways (including float it over page in a widget, via a modal/overlay launched by a button you place on a site, or via embeds or plugins) - take a look at the Share section of MyMalcolm to do this.

Watch a video guide to building a Workflow below.

Question 7

Who created Malcolm?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm! has been created from scratch by a passionate and dedicated team at Acknowledgement Limited.

Question 8

How can I listen to JavaScript events posted from embeds?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm! embeds fire events on user interactions such as when someone first reads an FAQ, completes a Workflow or performs a search. These events can be picked up on your web page for you to perform custom actions - for example creating an event for your Analytics.

How can I listen to these events?

The first event, mapiload, is fired on the window when the mapi.js library has loaded.

The embeds are then rendered followed by the mapi.onrender event.

To register a listener use the mapi.on function.

We recommend combining the window.addEventListener and mapi.on functions for maximum compatibility especially if your application uses JavaScript page transitions, however if your application reloads the page on each request you could combine these into one.

Once the embeds have rendered use the embed.on function to register listeners.

If you know the ID of the embed (can be found in MyMalcolm) use mapi.findEmbed function.

Alternatively loop through the mapi.embeds array.

Putting it all together your code snippet could look something like this.

What events are available?

Question 9

How can I password-protect my hub with Memberstack?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm supports using Memberstack to password-protect your content.

This guide will help you set up Memberstack.

First go to MyMalcolm > Settings > Instance > Visibility and toggle the option to use a third party service for Hosted Hub password protection. This automatically enables the built-in password protection.

Activating third party Single Sign On (SSO)

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/M5riHygBgk/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.10.03-05_58_09.png (Choose Memberstack from the dropdown)

Next, from the Memberstack Dashboard, go to Dev Tools > Add Integration.

Add a new custom SSO Integration

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/9pIEqPe6kK/Screenshot%202022-10-03%20at%2007.00.53.png (Add a new custom SSO Integration)

Copy the Redirect URI from MyMalcolm and paste it into Memberstack.

Redirect URI in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/IHbM8Ppu1v/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.10.03-05_58_32.png (Cut and paste this into Memberstack)

Then, in Memberstack, press Add Integration.

Once created, in Memberstack click the Edit button next to the Integration and copy the Client ID and Secret Key.

Your Custom SSO Integration

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/I1TfM7CL3a/Screenshot%202022-10-03%20at%2007.01.12.png (Obtaining the Client ID and Secret Key from Memberstack)

Paste these values into the boxes in MyMalcolm.

Client Credentials in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/Oq33GMwLTG/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.10.03-05_58_32%202.png (Add your credentials from Memberstack here)

Save the settings on both sides and you should see your Memberstack login page appear in your Hub.

Login to Hosted Hub

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/DkMgxR3Mti/Screenshot%202022-10-03%20at%2007.01.36.png (Hosted Hub login using Memberstack SSO)

Attributes from your Memberstack users can be pre-populated in Malcolm! Workflows. To enable this feature choose a suitable field on a Workflow, edit the field settings and enable "Allow a value to be set in the URL query". Enter one of the two attributes name or email to pre-populate those values directly into your Workflow.

Question 10

What are featured boxes and how can I use them?

Accepted Answer

Featured boxes are part of your hosted hub theme and are very flexible multi purpose content areas that appear on your hosted hub homepage (and also your FAQs only and Workflows only home if you are using those).

You can use them to link to content within your Malcolm! instance, for example a particular category, tag, FAQ or Workflow and you can also use them to link out to content or functionality you may have elsewhere. They can be a great tactical tool as well, for example if you've written an FAQ about your holiday opening hours and want to draw attention to it use a featured box!

On our own Malcolm! Help & Support Hub the "Using Malcolm! and need help?" and "What do you think of Malcolm?" are featured boxes.

Featured boxes on Malcolm!

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/Y5JjW8JNLu/screenshot-support.malcolm.support-2022.08.03-06_26_45.png (Featured boxes on Malcolm!)

Featured boxes on Malcolm!

Featured boxes are created and managed via your theme (Brand --> Themes).

Featured boxes management in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/btIcIfywWZ/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.08.03-06_29_33.png (Featured boxes management in MyMalcolm)

Featured boxes management in MyMalcolm

You can place featured boxes in the header area and/or body area of the page and choose a display type by row or columns.

Arrange featured boxes by row or column

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/YYqGBI2Bcx/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.08.03-06_42_25.png (Arrange featured boxes by row or column)

Arrange featured boxes by row or column

When creating a featured box you have various options such as uploading your own icons or choosing one of ours, plus configuring links

Adding a featured box in MyMalcolm

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/aYsKuoqfAg/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2022.08.03-06_41_53.png (Adding a featured box in MyMalcolm)

Adding a featured box in MyMalcolm

Also see promos for similar functionality that enables you to create and manage content at the bottom of your hosted hub home page.