Create an Event-Based Whiteboard

This process creates a whiteboard plan that reacts to the behavior of individual contacts.

Prerequisites

1. Whiteboards are an extra feature that must be enabled for your system.

2. You need the following permissions to use whiteboards:

   Permission Number	Permission Name	Purpose
   1600	Whiteboard: View All	Allows you to view whiteboards in your system.
   1602	Whiteboard: View and Edit All Whiteboards	Allows you to edit all whiteboards in your system.
   356	Automations: Activate Automations	Allows you to activate and deactivate whiteboards in your system.

3. Prepare anything that you need for the setup of your whiteboard, for example, segments, or prepared messages. These resources must be created in their own areas of the system and cannot be created on the whiteboard.

General Information

As you work, the system shows you the events, jobs, and filters that make sense for the current step. Options that are not allowed in a certain location are not displayed.

General rules for event-based whiteboards

• Every whiteboard begins with a start event. If the contact completes this event, they begin their whiteboard journey.

• You cannot add a split to the start event.

• You cannot add an event after a delay.

• You cannot add a delay after a filter.

Procedure

A) Create the Whiteboard

1. In the ​main navigation​, click ​Automations​ > ​Whiteboards.
2. Click ​Create​.
3. In the New Whiteboard window, select ​Event-based​.

4. Define the name of the new whiteboard.

   

   The name must be unique in the system and no longer than 100 characters. After you create your whiteboard plan, you can use the global search function in the top navigation to locate the plan by name.
5. (optional) To provide more information about the whiteboard, enter a description. It helps you identify the whiteboard in the system. Descriptions can contain a maximum of 1000 characters.
6. Click ​Create​.
7. To set the duration and goal of your whiteboard, click ​Setup​.

8. In the ​Activation​ area of the ​Setup​ panel, define how and when your event-based whiteboard plan starts.

    Configuration

   Setting	Description
   Activation	Activate Manually:​ The whiteboard plan is not scheduled to start on a specific date. To start the plan, you must click ​Activate​ on the whiteboard canvas. ​Define Schedule:​ Defines a start date for the whiteboard plan. Once the steps on the plan are complete and validated, click ​Schedule​ on the whiteboard canvas. The system starts the plan on the scheduled dates automatically. ​Start Date:​ Defines the date on which the whiteboard schedule starts. ​Time:​ Sets the time on which the whiteboard schedule starts. ​Time Zone:​ Selects the time zone the system uses to calculate the scheduled time.
   Deactivation	In the ​Deactivation​ area, define how and when your event-based whiteboard plan ends. ​Deactivate Manually:​ The whiteboard plan is not scheduled to end on a specific date. To end the plan, you must click ​Deactivate​ on the whiteboard canvas. ​Define Schedule without Phase Out:​ Schedules the whiteboard to end on a specific date. All contacts who are on the plan exit the plan immediately on the defined date. ​End Date:​ Defines the date on which the whiteboard schedule ends. ​Time:​ Sets the time on which the whiteboard schedule ends. ​Time Zone:​ Selects the time zone the system uses to calculate the scheduled time. ​Define Schedule with Phase Out:​ Schedules a date after which no new contacts can enter the whiteboard plan. Contacts who are currently on the plan can complete all automations in the plan. ​Phase Out Start:​ Defines the date after which no new contacts can enter the whiteboard. Automations continue for all contacts who are already on the plan. ​Time:​ Sets the time on which the whiteboard phase out starts. ​Time Zone:​ Selects the time zone the system uses to calculate the scheduled time.
   Whiteboard Goal	In the ​Whiteboard Goal​ area of the ​Setup​ panel, define which event excludes contacts from further journey on your whiteboard. This setting allows you to avoid overcommunication when a contact reaches a desired point on your whiteboard. ​Select the Goal Event:​ The selected event does not appear on your whiteboard canvas. When a contact completes it, they automatically exit the whiteboard plan. All standard whiteboard events can be defined as a goal event. Goal events cannot be split. If the same event is specified as a goal event and also placed on the whiteboard plan, the goal event has priority. Journey after the same standard event that is placed on your whiteboard canvas is not continued. Do not set the same goal event and start event, because the contacts never continue down the plan.

9. To save your changes, click ​ Apply​. The ​Setup​ panel closes and you return to the whiteboard canvas.

B) Configure Whiteboard details

1. Click ​Add First Step​ on the whiteboard canvas.
2. In the ​Select Entry Event​ panel, select the entry event. This event defines how a contact begins their journey on the whiteboard. If the contact completes this event, they can continue on a path in the plan.
3. Define the settings of your start event in the Configure Entry Event ​panel.

   1. In the ​Whiteboard Audience Definition​ area, select which contacts can enter the whiteboard plan.

       Configuration

      Setting	Description
      All Groups	Allows contacts from every group on your system to enter the whiteboard plan.
      Specific Group	Allows contacts from a single group on your system to enter the whiteboard plan.
      Is in Segment	Limits the whiteboard audience to contacts in the selected groups who match certain criteria.
      Segment	Defines the selection criteria that the system applies to contacts in the whiteboard audience group. Select from a drop-down list of the selection plans that are stored on your system.

   2. Click ​ Apply​.
   3. In the Event Definition area, define the details of the entry event and click Apply. The system adds the entry event to the whiteboard canvas.
4. To add more steps to the whiteboard plan, click the ​Add Next Step​ rectangle on the whiteboard canvas. The steps that you choose guide your contact down a path of selected marketing interactions. After the first step in your plan, you can split steps to guide contacts down different paths.
5. Continue to add steps to the whiteboard until your whiteboard plan is complete.
6. To check your whiteboard, click ​Validate in the ​Actions​ menu. The system checks each step on the plan and notifies you of any errors.
7. To define your whiteboard settings, click the symbol.

8. In the ​Whiteboard Settings​ window, define settings for your event-based whiteboard.

    Configuration

   Setting	Description
   Sendout Settings	Select specific days of the week and hours to exclude them from the whiteboard sendout.
   Notifications	Select whether an expiry notification is sent 30 days before the whiteboard plan deactivates.
   Whiteboard Time Zone	Defines the time zone the system uses to calculate automations on the whiteboard.

9. To save your whiteboard plan, click ​Save ​in the ​Actions​ menu.
   The system saves the new plan and sets the status of the plan to ​Inactive. The steps on an inactive plan are not executed and can be edited. You can save a whiteboard that contains errors, however, you must correct all errors before you activate the plan.

C) Activate, Schedule or Reschedule the Whiteboard

1. To activate the whiteboard manually, click ​Activate.
2. To activate the whiteboard according to the schedule schedule that you defined in the ​Setup​ panel, click ​Schedule.
3. To reschedule an event-based whiteboard that has not started, click ​Actions​ > ​Edit Schedule​, and update the schedule.