Flows are the magic that powers RapidPro.
Here we introduce some basic vocabulary we will use in later videos to get you comfortable talking about flows. Learn what Nodes, Actions and Splits are and get introduced to the simulator and revision history.
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Mastering Flows
You don't have to, but it's best if these are watched in order since they build on each other as you go.
Introduction to Flows
Your First Flow
Build your very first flow, asking a question and receiving a response. In this video we cover the very basics of asking a question and categorizing the response.
Start here to understand how to send a message, wait for a response and send an error message if your contact responds in a way you don't understand.
Start here to understand how to send a message, wait for a response and send an error message if your contact responds in a way you don't understand.
Testing Flows in the Simulator
As you build your flow out, it's helpful to see how somebody might interact with it. RapidPro includes a simulator that lets you work through your flow as a user would so you can identify what works well and what parts might need to be tweaked.
In this video, we show you how to bring up the simulator and how you might use it to make your flows as natural for your users as possible.
In this video, we show you how to bring up the simulator and how you might use it to make your flows as natural for your users as possible.
Supporting Additional Responses
In this video, we'll show you how you can easily accept many different answers when asking questions in your flow.
Even if you tell your users to reply with "yes" or "no", sometimes they might still respond with "sure". To make things easier on them, you can anticipate their responses and configure your flow to be more flexible.
Even if you tell your users to reply with "yes" or "no", sometimes they might still respond with "sure". To make things easier on them, you can anticipate their responses and configure your flow to be more flexible.
Managing Users with Groups
It's easy to reach out to segments of users that respond a certain way to one of your questions.
Using the "Add to Group" action, you can easily group users together who you can then follow up with later. Conversely, you can use the "Remove from Group" action to manage group membership from anywhere in your flow. Using the group actions it's also easy to manage opt-ins for your flows.
Using the "Add to Group" action, you can easily group users together who you can then follow up with later. Conversely, you can use the "Remove from Group" action to manage group membership from anywhere in your flow. Using the group actions it's also easy to manage opt-ins for your flows.
Collecting Numeric Data
Some of your questions will likely require numeric responses. For example you might want to ask for a user's age or the number of members in their household.
Handling a numeric responses is as easy as defining the range of numbers you want to accept. In this video, we modify our flow to capture the age of the user.
Handling a numeric responses is as easy as defining the range of numbers you want to accept. In this video, we modify our flow to capture the age of the user.
Using Variable Substitution
SMS is personal, your flows should be personal too.
One way to make your flows more personable is by addressing your users by their name. With variable substitution, you can use any information you know so far about your user, including any of their previous answers in the flow.
One way to make your flows more personable is by addressing your users by their name. With variable substitution, you can use any information you know so far about your user, including any of their previous answers in the flow.
Updating Contacts Inside Flows
RapidPro allows you to store anything you learn about a user during a flow. This allows you to reference that information in future flows or messaging campaigns.
In this video, we show you how to add a simple action anywhere in your flow to help you keep track of valuable information about your users.
In this video, we show you how to add a simple action anywhere in your flow to help you keep track of valuable information about your users.