Buttons

What it does#

Buttons sends a message with up to 3 reply buttons. The customer taps one, and the chat continues from that button's connection. It's the fastest way to ask a yes / no question or offer two or three choices.

It's a WhatsApp (Meta) step: it's built for the official WhatsApp Business API. On your website chat the buttons appear as buttons too. On a QR connection they arrive as a numbered list the customer answers by number.

Need more than 3 choices? Use a List (up to 10 rows) or Options.

Add a Buttons step#

1. 1

   Drag Buttons onto the canvas

   You'll find it under WhatsApp in the step list on the left. Click the step to open Step settings on the right.

2. 2

   Name the step

   Give it a short name using letters and numbers, for example delivery_choice. The tapped button is saved under this name, so you can use it later as {{@delivery_choice}}.

3. 3

   Write the message

   Under Message, write the question. Use *bold*, _italic_ and ~strike~, and type @ or # to insert a variable. Up to 1,024 characters.

4. 4

   Add the buttons

   Under Buttons, type the text of each button. Click Add option for a second and third button. Drag a button by its handle to reorder it: its connection moves with it.

5. 5

   Add a header or footer (optional)

   Under Header and footer, pick the header type: Text, Image (Meta), Video (Meta) or Document (Meta). For a text header type the text; for media, upload a file or paste a link. The footer is a short grey line under the message.

6. 6

   Connect every button

   On the canvas, drag from each button's dot to the step that should come next. A button without a connection leaves the customer stuck.

Example#

A bakery asks how the customer wants their order:

Header (Image): https://example.com/cake.jpg
Message: Hi {{@full_name}}! How would you like to get your cake?
Buttons: Delivery | Pickup | Talk to us
Footer: Orders close at 18:00

The customer sees the cake photo, the message, and three buttons. Tapping Pickup follows the Pickup connection, for example to a step that sends the store address. Later steps can use {{@delivery_choice}}, which holds Pickup.

Save the answer to a variable#

Under Save answer to (optional), type a variable name such as customer_choice. The tapped button is then also saved there, and stays under the step name too. This is handy when several branches ask the same question in different steps: later steps read one variable.

Common mistakes#

• The buttons don't appear on WhatsApp. Reply buttons need the official WhatsApp Business API. On a QR connection the customer gets a numbered list instead.
• A 4th button is missing. WhatsApp allows 3. Move the extra choices to a List.
• The customer typed instead of tapping. On WhatsApp the bot asks them to choose one of the buttons. Add a Key Words step if you want typed words like "menu" to work too.
• The image header doesn't show. The link must be a public file link (https). Upload the file in the step to be sure.
• "This step isn't ready yet". Connect a step into this one, and connect every button to a next step.