TOUR FEATURE , PAGE- GUIDE ALTERNATIVE

ACDC

The existing Tour feature PageGuide in AwareIM is not really good for instruction and onboarding of a new users to your app. It's more akin to an extended Help utility and its not really geared for an Instruction type tour

There are some free alternatives available, that behave much differently and better than PageGuide in that each stage of the tour is shown separately with its own Description/Instruction with a Next, and Back Button. So when the user clicks on the tour button, the first "Stage 1" window opens with its content and located at the position ID of the attribute and it waits for the user to click "NEXT" to go to the next Stage of the instruction

This is an excellent method of onboarding new users to the app as the user is continually prompted to click Next which results in the next step of the instruction sequence being followed. So rather than point the user to a manual or online help file , the user would use the Tour to gain quick real-time instruction while in the live form. This method of instruction is becoming very popular and most often the preferred method

here is an example of BootStrapTour (free version) http://bootstraptour.com/ click the demo button

I am sure BootstrapTour could fit very nicely into AwareIM in the same was as PageGuide setup has been implemented in the configurator. In fact, maybe it could be a drop-in replacement or sit side by side and have an option on the Tour setup screen to select which Tour guide is being used. I would like to ask support to consider this upgrade or addition for the new version. - it seems a simple enough addition?

However V8.0 could be quite a while, Does anyone have any ideas how this could be implemented in the meantime in v7.1 . Maybe ride on the back of some of the ID codes setup in the configurator for PageGuide and use EXEC_SCRIPT somewhere in the mix

hpl123

10+ for a better tour feature.

In the meantime, implementing something like Bootstraptour or any of these:
https://www.google.dk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=js+tour+plugin

is probably not that difficult. You have to find unique id´s or classes or some selector to use for the tour steps (possibly re-use the Aware ID that is currently used BUT isn´t available for all things it seems) and then the best way is probably having a button in the top toolbar that executes EXEC_SCRIPT which would then run on the open page/layout. One problem is that Aware is quite "fractured" (even though it´s a singlepage app) because of the features of Aware where we open VP´s, forms, queries, have tabs etc. etc. and another strange problem I have found when trying to find and use unique identifiers is that Aware seems to change id´s and things of existing things on the page when I run various scripts. I don´t know enough about JS to say that this isn´t the way it should work but I highly doubt it.

ACDC

Yes, there are numerous other options, I like Joyride Tour and Jquerypowertour .js - Tourist.js also looks interesting

I think generating a Unique ID in AwareIM is the challenge. At the moment the only place where this is possible is in the form design at an attribute level. This was put there for the PageGuide interface, I think. There is no option to create unique ID's for menu button or menu items or form tabs so this could be a problem . Maybe support could comment on how to make this possible -
or would this need a special plug-in ?

customaware

The Help system (Elevio) https://elev.io/ as used in the Renfab Demo on the AwareIM.com demo application page is awesome and to me looks like a viable alternative.

ACDC

The Help system (Elevio) https://elev.io/ as used in the Renfab Demo on the AwareIM.com demo application page is awesome and to me looks like a viable alternative.

This solution is basically an extended help function based on hot spots. It does not offer a staged instruction tour with built-in content and Next buttons. So in my mind, it is not a viable alternative as it serves the function of passive on-line help as opposed to an "Instruction Tour"

Let me explain, If I wanted to train a user how to create an Invoice, I could do it with some online help utility and video and hope they follow the process correctly. Alternatively, I could do it more dynamically and guide the user through a series of "Next" prompts making sure each numbered Next Prompt (located strategically at each point in the “live” invoice) is sequentially clicked on until the end of the instruction tour. This method of instruction keeps the user in the live form and retains user attention by forcing the user to Next prompt or end Tour. In my mind, this is far superior and simple method to gain a faster learning curve.

Also, some of the features of Bootstrap Tour provide a feedback mechanism for recording each Stage the user clicks on, allowing the recording of users training process. This could result in extra functionality built into user training and progress monitoring for more complex and strategic applications.

Lastly, WHY would you want to pay $41 per month to have a passive online help utility when there is already a built-in function in AwareIM in the form of the PageGuide tour albeit limited in function. It makes sense to enhance the current feature by upgrading it with BootstrapTour or one of the other FREE ones available