Templates are a powerful tool. It allows you to draft dialogues by creating a new Template reply, save existing dialogues, and use them later by replacing a dialogue with a template reply. 

A Template reply won't be directly triggered by an expression which makes it perfect for drafting dialogue flows without pushing them live to your production environment. In addition, it is great for saving/archiving existing replies for later.   

Examples of scenarios where Templates can be used include:

  • Repetitive transfer flows. e.g. escalation flows, CSAT flows
  • Drafting and testing new dialogues without going live in production
  • Making changes to dialogues that are live
  • Saving a dialogue for later/ retiring a dialogue

Topics covered in this article: 

  • Understanding the Templates Overview Page
  • Creating a Template
  • Convert an Intent Reply to a Template
  • Convert a Template to an Intent Reply
  • Grouping Replies into a Template
  • Deletion of Replies and Templates

Related article: 

  • How to copy dialogues between bots using Template Replies

Understanding the Templates Overview Page

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The Templates overview page is where you can review everything you need to know about your Templates and their replies at a glance. The table below outlines what you can expect from each column in the view.

Column Description
Template name This is where the name and description of the template are displayed
Linked in replies See how many Replies the template is being linked from. By clicking the row, you are able to view which Replies are linking to this Template. 
Language replies You will have a column per language, to have the possibility to create multi-lingual templates 
Actions How many Actions are being applied within the different replies in the template
Last modified This is a timestamp of when the template was last changed
Settings

View info allows you to see and change the template name and description

Copy to another bot is the same functionality we have for Intents where you can share the Template across bots within your organization. More information can be found here

Delete allows you to remove the template. 
Note - Any replies within the template need to be deleted first

 

Creating a Template

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We recommend drafting your dialogue here if your bot is already live and you need some time to work on a dialogue. The dialogue here can be added to an Intent easily with the replacing function when you're ready. 

To create a new Template reply:

  1. Go to one of the bots you manage
  2. Click Content > Templates
  3. Click Add Template
  4. Name the Template and optionally give it a description
  5. Click Save

That's it! You can now build a dialogue in the Template like you normally would an Intent, by clicking on the + icon in the language column you would like to create the dialogue flow for. From here you will be asked to check the settings then click save to be taken to the dialogue builder.

Convert an Intent Reply to a Template

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This is convenient when you want to back up an existing dialogue, or save it for later.

To save an existing dialogue:

  1. Go to Content > Intents in one of the bots you manage
  2. Locate the intent dialogue you want to save, and enter the dialogue builder by clicking on the reply.
  3. Click the burger menu in the top right corner
  4. Click Copy to a new Template
  5. Click Save As A Template
  6. Give your Template a name and click Save

You have now saved the Intent's dialogue as a Template reply.

Convert a Template to an Intent Reply

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Once you have created a Template reply, you can use it under any Intent in any of the bots you manage.

  1. Go to one of the bots you manage
  2. Create a new or select an existing intent
  3. Open the intent's dialogue page
  4. Click the burger menu in the top right corner
  5. Click Settings
  6. Click Replace Dialogue With Template
  7. Select the Template reply you want to copy the dialogue from the Replace with dropdown menu
  8. Click Replace
  9. You will see the dialogue has been replaced but the Template reply you selected. 
  10. Click Save

 

Grouping Replies under a Template

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With the Templates becoming multilingual, each language reply can be grouped under one Template.

  1. Go to the reply you would like to add to a template and open the Dialogue Builder
  2. On the top-right-hand corner, open the burger-menu
  3. Select Move to another reply
  4. A pop-up will open. Select the Template you would like to move it to and select the language it should be associated with. 

Note - You can only have one Template reply per language.

You can then delete the template that no longer has a reply associated, if appropriate.

 

Change a Reply Language

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By default, all replies are assigned the bots' default language. However, if you would like to change this after the reply is created, this can be done within the settings of the reply in the Dialogue Builder.

  1. Go to the reply you would like to add to a template and open the Dialogue Builder
  2. On the top-right-hand corner, open the burger-menu
  3. Select View info
  4. A settings drawer will open on the right-hand side. Under language, select the respective language you would like to change it too with the drop-down menu

Deletion of Replies and Templates

Depending on whether you want to delete a reply associated with a Template or a full Template there is a slightly different way to handle it. 

To Delete a Reply

  1. Go to the reply you would like to add to a template and open the Dialogue Builder
  2. On the top-right-hand corner, open the burger-menu
  3. Select Delete

Note - You will not be able to delete a reply if it is linked to another reply. Navigate to the dialogue to which this template is linked and replace it with an alternative or adjust the flow to reflect the changes you would like to make. Then you will be able to delete the reply.

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Delete a Template

From the Template overview page, open the burger menu and there is a delete option.

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This may be grayed out. This is because a Template cannot be deleted when it has replies linked to it. Therefore, if you wish to delete a Template, navigate to the reply it is linked from and replace the link or adjust the flow.

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Review the Replies Linking to a Template

To see where a template is being used, you have two options of where to review this. 

Description Visual
The first place is from the Templates table, where you get a number of how many times this template is being used in the Linked in replies column. If you click the row, you will be able to see which replies these are and navigate to them using the dialogue button on the right-hand side. Screenshot_2022-11-17_at_16.01.54.png

Alternatively, you can review the linked reply sources by navigating to the dialogue and reviewing the dialogue settings. 

  1. Go to the reply you would like to view the replies that are linking to the template and open the Dialogue Builder
  2. On the top-right-hand corner, open the burger-menu
  3. Select View info
  4. A settings drawer will open on the right-hand side. Under Linked in replies you can see all the linked replies and use the dialogue button to navigate to that respective reply.
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