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Dear Community,
we all know that there are some great and very useful tips and tricks out there - but the main question is usually: How do we find the right information at the right time?
The SAP Enable Now Web Assistant is the perfect tool for showing your users the right information in a contextualized way at exactly the right moment.
But what if the users don't see the Web Assistant or don't know how to open it?
In this blog post I want to highlight some parameters and tips and tricks for the Web Assistant that will make it much easier for users to notice and use the in-application help. The parameters are all listed in the Web Assistant Integration Guide on the help portal.
"Here I am" or "Bam!" pop-up
This option is the "in your face" variant that is very effective but has to be used with caution. If you want to display a kind of pop-up banner screaming "USE THE WEB ASSISTANT" then this is the right way to go.
You can create an animated book page, publish it, and then set up a link tile in the Web Assistant to link to that book page. In the settings for that link tile activate the "Show as Announcement" feature and set the occurrences as needed.
Tile or App with a hint and explanation
A less intrusive way to tell your users that there is such a thing as Web Assistant is to create a custom tile (in Success Factors) or a custom app which can have a picture and text. Of course the possibilities for customizing differ depending on the target application.
Opening the Web Assistant immediately
In case you have great help content but users have trouble finding it, why not open the Web Assistant immediately when accessing the application?
The parameter openImmediately can be used to automatically open the Web Assistant. There are two possible values:
This gives you an option to push the Web Assistant to every user accessing your application. Be aware though, that it can be a bit too much if you have a lot of expert users who might not need to see the help each time they sign in. The minimized version is a good compromise.
Also make sure to consider turning on the close button to give users a chance to close the Web Assistant which was opened automatically. Use the parameter showCloseButton=true. A click on the ? icon will also close the Web Assistant.
What to do in case no help content is available
The Web Assistant has a parameter called noHelpMode which can be used to alter the way it reacts if no content is available for a specific context.
It makes sense to set noHelpMode=carousel in test and quality environments to let authors click on it and add content but to set it to noHelpMode=hidebutton in production to avoid confusing users by offering an empty help panel.
To stop the Web Assistant from checking for content before the question mark is clicked, you can use the parameter readCatalogue=false.
Used in combination, this will keep the Web Assistant hidden when there is no content and will also not send any requests for content until a user clicks on the question mark icon.
Close SAML window if no authentication is possible
In case you have a selected group of users that should be able to access the SAP Enable Now content, you can use the parameter disableManualLogin=true. This will close the authentication window automatically in case the authentication fails, so that users will not notice that they are not being let through. Setting noHelpMode=carousel is a prerequisite for this.
If a user cannot be authenticated:
By the way
You can test all the parameters first in your URL before you put them into the configuration. To use a parameter in the URL, you have to add &help- in front of the parameter name. Also make sure that the values added are encoded (for URLs or colors). Do not enter an URL parameter at the end of an URL after the hashtag.
Hopefully this collection of parameters will help you to set up your Web Assistant as the perfect in-app help for your target application!
Remember to check out the Infocenter chapter on Web Assistant for more detailed information.
Take care,
Kristina
we all know that there are some great and very useful tips and tricks out there - but the main question is usually: How do we find the right information at the right time?
The SAP Enable Now Web Assistant is the perfect tool for showing your users the right information in a contextualized way at exactly the right moment.
But what if the users don't see the Web Assistant or don't know how to open it?
In this blog post I want to highlight some parameters and tips and tricks for the Web Assistant that will make it much easier for users to notice and use the in-application help. The parameters are all listed in the Web Assistant Integration Guide on the help portal.
"Here I am" or "Bam!" pop-up
This option is the "in your face" variant that is very effective but has to be used with caution. If you want to display a kind of pop-up banner screaming "USE THE WEB ASSISTANT" then this is the right way to go.
Lightbox with Welcome Message
You can create an animated book page, publish it, and then set up a link tile in the Web Assistant to link to that book page. In the settings for that link tile activate the "Show as Announcement" feature and set the occurrences as needed.
Lightbox Announcement Feature
Tile or App with a hint and explanation
A less intrusive way to tell your users that there is such a thing as Web Assistant is to create a custom tile (in Success Factors) or a custom app which can have a picture and text. Of course the possibilities for customizing differ depending on the target application.
Opening the Web Assistant immediately
In case you have great help content but users have trouble finding it, why not open the Web Assistant immediately when accessing the application?
The parameter openImmediately can be used to automatically open the Web Assistant. There are two possible values:
- openImmediately=full > Opens the large help panel immediately.
- openImmediately=minimized > Opens the help immediately but minimized.
Left: Full Help Panel
Right: Minimized Help Panel
This gives you an option to push the Web Assistant to every user accessing your application. Be aware though, that it can be a bit too much if you have a lot of expert users who might not need to see the help each time they sign in. The minimized version is a good compromise.
Also make sure to consider turning on the close button to give users a chance to close the Web Assistant which was opened automatically. Use the parameter showCloseButton=true. A click on the ? icon will also close the Web Assistant.
What to do in case no help content is available
The Web Assistant has a parameter called noHelpMode which can be used to alter the way it reacts if no content is available for a specific context.
- noHelpMode=hidebutton > Hides the Help button if no content is available.
- noHelpMode=nothing > Shows the Help button without showing the help panel.
- noHelpMode=carousel > Shows the help panel either empty or with Learning App tile.
It makes sense to set noHelpMode=carousel in test and quality environments to let authors click on it and add content but to set it to noHelpMode=hidebutton in production to avoid confusing users by offering an empty help panel.
To stop the Web Assistant from checking for content before the question mark is clicked, you can use the parameter readCatalogue=false.
Used in combination, this will keep the Web Assistant hidden when there is no content and will also not send any requests for content until a user clicks on the question mark icon.
Close SAML window if no authentication is possible
In case you have a selected group of users that should be able to access the SAP Enable Now content, you can use the parameter disableManualLogin=true. This will close the authentication window automatically in case the authentication fails, so that users will not notice that they are not being let through. Setting noHelpMode=carousel is a prerequisite for this.
If a user cannot be authenticated:
- SAP standard content and extended content: Only the SAP standard content is displayed and the extended content is hidden.
- Custom content only: The Help button is hidden and the user cannot access the Web Assistant.
By the way
You can test all the parameters first in your URL before you put them into the configuration. To use a parameter in the URL, you have to add &help- in front of the parameter name. Also make sure that the values added are encoded (for URLs or colors). Do not enter an URL parameter at the end of an URL after the hashtag.
URL parameter sample from the Web Assistant Integration Guide
Hopefully this collection of parameters will help you to set up your Web Assistant as the perfect in-app help for your target application!
Remember to check out the Infocenter chapter on Web Assistant for more detailed information.
Take care,
Kristina
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