Question 1

What are Webhooks and how do I use them to receive notifications when Workflows are completed?

Accepted Answer

Webhooks allow you to set up your own integrations to Malcolm! Workflow.

Webhooks are endpoints on web servers you own. Whenever a Workflow is completed the configured Webhooks will be notified. The Payload will contain the completed Workflow Session, related Workflow and (optionally) the submitted Workflow Values.

Configuration

Webhooks are are configured in "Workflows > Edit > Configure > Webhooks" section of MyMalcolm.

Webhook URL

The only requirement is to provide the URL of your Webhook. This is the URL Malcolm! will send the Payload to.

The URL should be a secure endpoint which means it should start with https://, although we do support http:// too. The endpoint should also be accessible which means hosted on a remote machine, not behind a firewall and not requiring Authentication.

Include the Workflow Values

There is an additional option to include the submitted Workflow Values in the Payload. This option is disabled by default for security reasons but available to use should you wish to enable it. By enabling the option you agree to the following terms -

(a) I would like the Workflow Values included in the Webhook Payload (b) the recieving web server is private and properly secured (c) I am aware the use of Webhooks can facilitate the transfer of end-user personal data to third party Data Processors and my use of Webhooks adheres to my responsibilities as Data Controller under applicable Data Protection Laws.

Secure your Webhook with a secret token

Webhook URLs can be called by anyone and are therefore insecure.

To ensure a request to your Webhook URL comes from Malcolm! a secret token known only by yourself and Malcolm! can be used to generate a Signature.

Malcolm! will take the Payload and the secret and create a Signature. This will be passed to your App as the request header X-Signature. Your App will use the same secret and the received Payload to generate a second Signature. If the Signatures match you know the request came from Malcolm! and not another source.

The secret token can be any string you like, but Malcolm! recommends using a random string of at least 36 characters. For example in a Terminal window run -

ruby -rsecurerandom -e 'puts SecureRandom.hex(18)'

To validate the Payload from Malcolm! use the HMAC SHA-256 algorithm to create a hash using the Payload as the data and your secret as the key.

For example in PHP use the hash_hmac function to generate a binary hash.

$key = 'Your secret token'; $data = file_get_contents('php://input'); $hash = hash_hmac('sha256', $data, $key, true); // true = output raw binary data

Next encode the binary hash using a Base 64 encoder, in PHP this is the base64_encode function.

$encoded_hash = base64_encode($hash);

Finally prefix the encoded hash with "sha256=" and compare with the value of X-Signature. In PHP you can use the $_SERVER variable to access the headers.

$signature = 'sha256=' . $encoded_hash; if ($_SERVER['HTTP_X_SIGNATURE'] === $signature) { // Request is valid }

Conditional settings

There are conditional controls available too. If you have a condition configured the Webhook will only be notified if the conditions at the end of the Workflow are satisfied.

Headers

The HTTP POST will contain the following Headers.

Header Description Host The Host of your Webhook URL. Content-Type With value "application/json" X-Instance-Id The ID of the Instance. X-Signature The request Signature, if using a secret token.

Payload

The Payload will be a JSON Body containing the Workflow Session.

Attribute Type Description id string The ID of the Workflow Session. label string A descriptive label, which will include the name of the person who completed the Workflow if your Workflow contains name attributes. description string An extended version of the label which also includes the Workflow name. text string The same as the description but often a attribute named "text" is automatically picked up by some services. locale string The locale used during the Workflow Session. started-at string The date and time the Workflow Session was started, in ISO 8601 format. completed-at string The date and time the Workflow Session was completed, in ISO 8601 format. workflow object[Workflow] The related Workflow. values array[Value] The submitted Workflow Values (if included).

Workflows are defined as -

Attribute Type Description id string The ID of the Workflow. name string The name of the Workflow. published-at string The date and time the Workflow was published, in ISO 8601 format. version string The name of the Workflow version.

Workflow Values are defined as -

Attribute Type Description id string The ID of the Workflow Value. field object[Field] The related Workflow Field. value mixed The submitted value.

Workflow Fields are defined as -

Attribute Type Description id string The ID of the Workflow Field. name string The name of the Workflow Field. query-name string The URL query name for the Workflow Field if defined.

Example

POST /webhook HTTP/1.1 Host: yourdomain.com Content-Type: application/json X-Instance-Id: xxxxxxxxxx X-Signature: xxxxxxxxxx { "id": "xxxxxxxxxx", "label": "Completed by Tom Jordan", "description": "Workflow \"Open Support Ticket\" was completed by Tom Jordan.", "text": "Workflow \"Open Support Ticket\" was completed by Tom Jordan.", "locale": "en-GB", "started-at": "2020-04-01T12:00:00+00:00", "completed-at": "2020-04-01T12:05:00+00:00", "workflow": { "id": "xxxxxxxxxx", "name": "Open Support Ticket", "published-at": "2020-04-01T09:00:00+00:00", "version": "Version 1" }, "values": [ { "id": "xxxxxxxxxx", "field": { "id": "xxxxxxxxxx", "name": "Your name", "query-name": "name" }, "value": "Tom Jordan" }, { "id": "xxxxxxxxxx", "field": { "id": "xxxxxxxxxx", "name": "Your email address", "query-name": "email" }, "value": "tom.jordan@malcolm.support" } ] }

Question 2

How do I create a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)?

Accepted Answer

Within MyMalcolm go the FAQ Section and click "Create a FAQ" towards to the top right of the screen.

This will bring up the "compose your question and answer" dialogue. Here you can input the question, an optional brief summary answer (used in search and browse results) and your full answer. For tips on how to write a good FAQ click here!

When composing your FAQ you can use the formating controls in the "full answer" box or directly enter Markdown. Markdown is a great way of quickly adding formatting to textual content. If you've not used it before it can take a minute or two to get used to it but it's very fast to work with once you have got the hang of it. You can click the "Need help with Markdown?" button bottom left anytime for a quick reference Markdown guide.

You can see what your FAQ will look like to your users by pressing the "Preview" button top right. When you have written your content press "Next: Configure" to move onto the configuration options for your FAQ.

In this area you can control various things about your FAQ such as whether an author is shown, what the URL is, your choice of tags, whether the feedback form is enabled and the category or categories the FAQ lives in. You also have various options around whether the FAQ can be seen by search engines, is password protected or not and can be found or not via the Malcolm! search/browse capability. You can even set the FAQ (or versions of it) to publish and un-publish automatically at certain dates and time in the future.

Watch a video guide to creating an FAQ below.

Question 3

What is an Instance?

Accepted Answer

An instance is a collection of related FAQ’s and/or Workflows that your users will see and interact with plus a set of management tools that you and other members of your staff or team will use.

Each instance also includes an optional hosted hub that you can customise and brand.

If you decide to use Malcolm! in two distinct areas of your business it can make sense to have two different instances. For example you could use one instance of Malcolm! to support customers of your product or service and another instance as an internal HR portal.

You can see some examples of how Malcolm! instances can be used here

Instance Billing

Our billing is based around instances. You can start an instance any time and enjoy a 14 day trial. This can be great for trying ideas out. If you want to keep using the instance beyond 14 days you'll need to choose a plan and give us your card details, or agree an enterprise plan with us.

Instance Owners

Each instance will have an owner. This is the master user who is ultimately responsible for the instance. If you are on a Team or Enterprise plan you can invite other users to the instance too. If you need to transfer ownership of the instance to another user (for instance if you are leaving a company or organisation) you can do that as long as the proposed new owner agrees.

Question 4

How do I embed content from Malcolm! into my own website or app?

Accepted Answer

You can easily embed content from Malcolm! into your existing website, app, product or online service with just a few lines of code.

Begin by going to the Share section of MyMalcolm and then select Embed.

We offer the following type of embeds:

Floating Widget (with button and draw options) - this option floats a button or drawer “pre-expand” over your site, application, product or service - when clicked a content panel opens up
Overlay / Pop Up - this opens an overlay / popup over whatever the user is currently seeing - it’s triggered by a link you can place wherever you want in your site, application, product or service
Inline - pull content directly into the same pages/screens your users are seeing with this option - use blend mode for a truly seamless experience!

We also offer a fourth option which can be useful in some circumstances:

Redirect - this option creates an automatic redirect which will replace the page the embed is fired from with a Malcolm! hosted page. This is achieved by auto forwarding the user. This option can be useful in certain scenarios, for example if you constrained by only being able to publish via a CMS and want some navigation or pages within your CMS structure to link out to Malcolm! hosted content. Note you will likely want to use URL rules in conjunction with the redirect embed (otherwise the redirect will happen on all pages the embed is present on!).

In terms of the type of content you can embed options include:

Hosted Hub results - paginated results showing the default filtered FAQs and Workflows as seen on your Hosted Hub homepage
A single FAQ - your choice of FAQ
A single Workflow - your choice of Workflow
Author listing - paginated results showing FAQs from a particular author
Category listing paginated results showing FAQs within a partiuclar category
Filtered results paginated results showing FAQs and Workflows filtered by your choice of filter (eg most popular, most recent, most helpful etc)
Search results (contextual) - paginated results showing FAQs and Workflows according to a search query provided via a meta tag on your page
Search results (specified search query) - paginated results showing FAQs and Workflows according to a given search query
Tag listing - paginated results showing FAQs referenced by particular tag

Note that if you just want to embed a single FAQ or Workflow you can also access a quick embed interface via the Library in both the FAQ and Workflow sections of MyMalcolm. Simply select "Embed" from the menu accessible on the right hand side of the respective published FAQ or Workflow.

You can configure various options around the visual stlye of your embed. The exact options available depend on the type of embed you have chosen.

When you have finished configuring the content and visual appearence of your embed, Malcolm! will give you the code that can be used to pull your content into your website, app, product or online service.

Watch a video guide to embeding Malcolm! content into your website below.

Question 5

Do you support animated GIFs?

Accepted Answer

Yes you can use animated GIFs in Malcolm! placing them in your FAQs or in Workflows (via the Content element).

You can upload the animated GIF into the media section of MyMalcolm or you can pull in externally hosted GIFs.

This cat has been uploaded to MyMalcolm:

To pull in external GIFs use the following Markdown syntax: ![Image Description](https://media.giphy.com/media/QpWDP1YMziaQw/source.gif)

The above Markdown results in this:

Have fun!

Question 6

How do I use Malcolm! with my own domain or sub-domain?

Accepted Answer

You can use your own domain or sub-domain with Malcolm! There is no extra cost for doing this.

To set this up go to the Settings Section in MyMalcolm then Custom Domains. Enter your custom domain and you will be given instructions on how to verify domain control/ownership and set up your DNS. We can host on SSL too and we'll automatically generate a secure certifcate for you. Once again, there is no extra cost for doing this!

Once you have set up your custom domain or sub-domain both that and your malcolm.support / malcolm.app URL will work and serve content. If you don't want the .malcolm domains to work just select the redirect option and any traffic will be redirected.

Watch a video guide to setting uo your own domain below.

Question 7

How can I password-protect my hub with Auth0?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm supports using Auth0 to password-protect your content.

This guide will help you set up Auth0.

First go to MyMalcolm > Settings > Instance > Visibility and enable Hosted Hub password protection. This automatically enables the built-in password protection.

Next, inside your Auth0 tennant, create a new Auth0 Application. Give it a name and choose Regular Web Applications from the four options.

Click on the Settings tab and scroll down to the Basic Information section.

In MyMalcolm click through to Manage password protection and toward the bottom enable Auth0 for password protection. Copy/paste the Domain, Client ID and Client Secret from Auth0 into MyMalcolm.

Next copy/paste the Application Login URI, Allowed Callback URL and Allowed Logout URL from Malcolm! into your Auth0 Application URIs settings.

Save the settings on both sides and you should see your Auth0 login page in your Hub.

But that's not all!

Attributes from your Auth0 users can be pre-populated in Malcolm! Workflows. To enable this feature choose a suitable field on a Workflow, edit the field settings and enable Allow a value to be set in the URL query. Enter one of the four attribute names email, name, nickname or picture to pre-populate those values directly into your Workflow.

You can read more about passing values in the URL query here.

Question 8

What is the Share section in MyMalcolm for / how does it work?

Accepted Answer

The Share section of MyMalcolm gives you tools to embed and share content from Malcolm! into your existing websites, applications and social spaces.

You can bring content from Malcolm! directly into your current website via embeds. Choose the content you want to embed and how you want it displayed and we'll give you some code. Inserting that code into your current website will load in your content from Malcolm!

You can embed individual FAQs or Workflows, create custom widgets that can pull in things like search results, category listings, all content by a particular author, recent content, tagged content, most popular content and much more.

If you don't have a website or you want to group all your Malcolm! content together you can use our Hosted Hub.

We also have a plugin for Wordpress.

In addition to the above customers on our Enterprise plans have full access to our API which means they can pull from and push content to Malcolm! in a variety of ways - please speak to your account manager for more details.

Question 9

How do I surface my Workflow into a floating widget?

Accepted Answer

It's quick and easy to surface your Workflow as a floating widget. You can find out more about Malcolm! widgets here.

In the Library screen of the Workflow section of MyMalcolm click the three dots on the right hand side of the screen and select "Embed"

This will take you into the Share section of MyMalcolm! Here you can choose the type of embed you want to create.

Choose "Widget" and work through the screens. You can configure various options here including whether in the pre-expand state the widget is a button or a drawer. You can also configure where on the screen you want the pre-expand to appear. Other options include colour schemes, the option to add your own logo to the widget and also whether you want the footer and search bar to appear. See this FAQ for more detail on this.

At the end of the process you will be supplied with the code that you should add to your webpage HTML - we recommend you add this to very page of your website. You can also embed via Google Tag Manager - see here for more details.

Question 10

What is the Malcolm! widget and how do I implement it?

Accepted Answer

The Malcolm! widget is a great way to put your content in front of users. By using the widget you can float content over an existing website or application. Want to let your users find out answers to FAQs about a product or service you provide but don't want them to make them navigate from the screen they are on? The Malcolm! widget is what you need. Or perhaps you'd like to float a feedback or get in touch form over your website? Super easy to do with the Malcolm! widget. You can even make the content displayed contextual to the screen the widget is floating over. How cool is that?

We recommend you place the Malcolm! widget embed code on every page of your website. You can then configure whether the widget displays or not (and what it displays) from within MyMalcolm!

Here is how to start using the Malcolm! widget.

Step 1: Create an embed

Go the Share section of MyMalcolm and select the Embed tab and then Create an embed. Select Widget as the type of embed you want to create.

Give your embed a name.

Step 2: Choose your content

From this area you can choose a single FAQ or Workflow to display in the widget, or you can choose collections of content. These collections can be a category, a tag or an author. You can also make a collection out of a search result including a search that is contextual to the meta content of the page that the widget is on - you can query content based on the page title, meta keywords, meta description or a meta search tag.

Users can navigate content within the widget via clicking on items in the user interface eg categories, tags or authors.

If you don't choose a specific FAQ, Workflow or collection of content the default content displayed will be the most popular content.

Step 3: Configure the visual style of your widget

You can configure various options about the visual appearance and behaviour of your widget. The options include what the widget looks like in it's pre-expand state (a button or a drawer), the text used on the pre-expand, the colours and logo plus the location of the widget on your screen. You can also configure whether you want the search and footer used on expanded widget and whether the transition from pre-expand to post-expand and vice versa are animated or not.

Step 4: Set up URL rules and visibility settings

We recommend you put the Malcolm! widget embed code on every page of your website. But you might not want the widget to appear on every page. Using URL rules you can mangage and easily change which pages the widget does appear on from within MyMalcolm!

You may not want the widget to display on mobile browsers, or you may want the widget to only appear at certain times (for example when your office is closed) - you can configure these options in visibility settings.

Step 5: Publish and place code on site

Finally when you are happy publish your widget.

Finally collect your code - you can cut and paste this or have it emailed to you (or the person who is responsible for implementation).

If you use Google Tag Manager you can also deploy the embed code via this system. See here for more details.

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