Steps
Send Message
Send one or more messages (text, files, links, locations, contact cards) and move straight on, without waiting for a reply.
What it does#
Send Message sends its messages and moves on to the next step right away. It does not wait for the customer to answer, and nothing the customer types is saved by this step.
| Use | When |
|---|---|
| Send Message | You want to say something: a welcome, a confirmation, opening hours, a file. The chat continues immediately. |
| Text | You want to ask something and wait for the answer, which is saved for later. |
One Send Message step can send up to 10 messages in a row: texts, an image, video or file, a link button, a location, a contact card, and short pauses between them.
Add a Send Message step#
- 1
Drag Send Message onto the canvas
It's under Flow in the Steps panel on the left. Click the step to open Step settings on the right.
- 2
Name the step
Click the name at the top of the panel (it starts as
message1). Use letters and numbers only. - 3
Write the first message
Under Messages, type your text. Use
*bold*,_italic_and~strike~, and type@or#to insert a variable, such as the customer's name from an earlier step. - 4
Add more messages (optional)
Click Add and choose Text, Image, video or file, Link button, Location, Contact card or Pause. They're sent from top to bottom. Drag a message by its handle to reorder it, or use the bin icon to remove it.
- 5
Connect it
Connect the step before it into this one, then drag from its dot to the next step. Click the Phone preview tab to see what the customer gets.
Message types#
| Type | Fields | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Text | The message | Up to 4,096 characters. |
| Image, video or file | Upload a file (or Or paste a link), Caption (optional), File name (optional) | Images (JPG, PNG) up to 5 MB, video (MP4) or audio up to 16 MB, documents (PDF, Word, Excel) up to 100 MB. |
| Link button | Message, Button text, Link | Button text up to 20 characters. |
| Location | Latitude, Longitude, Place name, Address (optional) | A map pin, for example your shop. |
| Contact card | Full name, Phone, Company (optional), Email (optional) | The customer can save it to their contacts. |
| Pause | Pause before the next message (0 to 10 seconds) | Waits before the next message, so a long answer feels natural. |
Example#
A restaurant confirms a table booking. The earlier steps asked for the name (fullName), the number of guests (guests) and the date (bookingDate):
1. Text: Thanks {{@fullName}}! Your table for {{@guests}} on {{@bookingDate}} is booked.
2. Pause: 2 s
3. Location: Latitude 32.0853, Longitude 34.7818, Place name: Bella Napoli
4. Link button
Message: Want to look at the menu before you come?
Button text: See the menu
Link: https://example.com/menuOn WhatsApp (official API) the customer gets the confirmation, then 2 seconds later a map pin and a message with a See the menu button. The chat then moves on to the next step, for example End.
On your website all the messages appear together: the confirmation, the location, and the link as text.
WhatsApp and website#
| Message | WhatsApp · Official | Your number by QR | Website chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text, Image, video or file, Location | Sent as is | Sent as is | Shown as is |
| Link button | A button that opens the link | Text with the link | Text with the link |
| Contact card | A contact card | A contact card | The details as text |
| Pause | Waits that long | Waits that long | Skipped: everything shows at once |
The pauses in one step add up to at most 20 seconds.
Need an answer? Use another step#
Send Message never waits, so it can't have reply buttons. Under Need answers?, click Use Buttons to turn the step into a Buttons step. The text is kept; files, links and other messages are removed.
To ask an open question, use Text. To offer choices, use Options, Buttons or a List.
Common mistakes#
- Expecting the bot to wait. A Send Message followed by another Send Message sends both at once. If you want the customer to answer first, put a Text or Options step in between.
- The step shows "This step isn't ready yet". Connect a step into this one and connect it to the next step. A Send Message with nothing after it leaves the customer at a dead end; finish with End instead.
- A message doesn't arrive. A message with no content (empty text, no file, a contact card without a name or phone, or a latitude / longitude that isn't a number) is skipped, and the rest are still sent. Check each message in Phone preview.
- A link button shows as text. That's expected on QR numbers and on the website: only the official WhatsApp API has link buttons.