Question 1

How do I set up my Hosted Hub?

Accepted Answer

Every instance of Malcolm! comes complete with a Hosted Hub that you can configure and customise.

You can find out more about the Hosted Hub here and if you want to turn if off you can find out how to do that here.

In MyMalcolm if you click "View Live" towards the top the screen you'll see what your Hosted Hub currently looks like.

The two things you are probably most likely to want to change are the URL the Hub is on and the Hub's look, feel and content. Here is how to configure each of those areas.

1. Configure the URL

In MyMalcolm, go to the Settings section, then select "Custom Domains" from the vertical left hand menu. In this area you can change the URL your Hosted Hub will use. It's possible (and no extra charge) to use your own external domain or sub-domain.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/VKQ7z1JBXW/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.08.12-17_01_54.png (Customise your domains in MyMalcolm)

2. Change your Hub's look, feel and content

You can extensively customise your Hosted Hub to suit your own requirements. To do this, go to the Brand section of MyMalcolm, clone an existing theme, then choose the edit icon on your cloned theme.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/cO3r3O1RbL/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.08.12-17_03_00.png (Theme management in MyMalcolm)

In the edit theme area use the left hand vertical navigation to see all the custom options you have.

Question 2

Can I put videos in my FAQs?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the best way to do this is via an external host like YouTube or Vimeo. Find out more here.

Question 3

Can I stop or suppress certain FAQs and/or Workflows from contributing to dynamic listings?

Accepted Answer

Malcolm! auto generates certain listings of FAQs such as most helpful, most popular, recently added and trending. If an FAQ is hidden (see here for more info it won't be included in these listings but sometimes you may wish to exclude a regular non hidden FAQ from these listings.

You can do this via in MyMalcolm via the individual FAQ's visibility settings (FAQs / Library / Configure / Visibility):

Question 4

What is my Hosted Hub?

Accepted Answer

Every instance of Malcolm! comes with a Hosted Hub. This is a website that we host for you. You can customise it entirely to your requirements. You can change the branding, the colours, the fonts, the layout, the copy, the icons etc etc. You can even configure it to work on one of your own domains or sub domains.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/V93ed8Zu51/brand-facebook%402x.png (Hosted Hub on Malcolm!)

If you don't have a current website your Hosted Hub could be your main website. If you already have your main website at www.domain.com you could set up your fully branded Malcolm! Hosted Hub at a sub domain like support.domain.com or help.domain.com or customers.domain.com

Some customers may not wish to do this and instead may wish to integrate Malcolm! into their current website. No problem! We have a whole section in the MyMalcolm Control Panel dedicated to this and there a variety of ways you can bring content and functionality from Malcolm! into your own website. We've also got a plugin for Wordpress and a variety of widgets and further integration options coming soon. Customers on our Enterprise plans can have full progamatic access to Malcolm! content and functionality via our comprehensive API.

Question 5

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!

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/IdGAskGCq2/widget-fb%402x.png (The Malcolm! Widget)

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.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/Ji7YZa6eF7/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.11.05-11_16_34.png (Create an embed in MyMalcolm)

Give your embed a name.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/zZgVvihFmE/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.11.05-13_14_38.png (Names your embed in MyMalcolm)

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.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/jbX8ylorUd/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.11.05-13_16_07.png (Choose the content for your widget)

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.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/UEdVkI4MOo/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.11.05-13_16_42.png (Configure the visual style of your widget)

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!

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/rVDvNjLQrJ/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.11.05-13_17_22.png (Manage URL rules for your widget)

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.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/GWsPKq5LZ4/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.11.05-13_19_13.png (Manage your widget visibility settings)

Step 5: Publish and place code on site

Finally when you are happy publish your widget.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/g4why3UaJ5/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.11.05-13_20_01.png (Publish your embed)

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

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/KyYO8MKguT/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.11.05-13_47_41.png (Collect your widget embed code)

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

Question 6

Why is my embed not showing?

Accepted Answer

If you've set up an embed but can't see it check these things:

Have you implemented the tags correctly? Double check the tag install instructions
Is the embed published? If it’s not published it won’t show
If you are using them check your URL rules - the rule type could be too strict (e.g. URL is exactly xxx rather than URL starts with xxx) - if you are testing on a dev or test URL you can add this within the URL rule section
Check the scheduling - if there’s a schedule to only show the embed on certain days and/or between certain times that may be having an effect
If you are testing on mobile check you've not disallowed the emded showing on mobile

If you are still having problems please open a support ticket and we'll help!

Question 7

Understanding Malcolm! - some concepts and how to use the product

Accepted Answer

Malcolm! is a super powerful and flexible web based product but it might seem a bit confusing at first. Here is a quick primer on some core Malcolm! concepts and features which we hope will help you understand the product and use it in the way that makes sense to you and your business.

Core Components of Malcolm!

Malcolm! has two core content components: Malcolm! FAQ and Malcolm! Workflow.

Malcolm! FAQ is all about answering your user's questions and/or providing information (eg a how-to or a policy).

Before we created Malcolm! we spent a lot of time building online systems that helped companies digitise what they do.

We found that - in broad terms - this came down to designing and developing systems that:

answered questions and
took users through a process.

For example

Lets say you sell and service industrial heating systems. A potential customer might want to know if you service a particular type of boiler that they have in their office.

You can let that potential customer find the answer to that question themselves via Malcolm!. You'd create a question along the lines of "Which types of boiler do you service?" and in your answer you'd include all the makes and models that you work with.

Your potential customer would come to your website, and be able to find the answer themselves using Malcolm!

Next, having learnt you do indeed service the boiler they have in their office they might want to book a service appointment.

To do this you are likely to need to know a few details - for example their name, their company name, where their office is and perhaps a few other details like their phone number and email, when they are available for a service visit, any issues they are having with the boiler and when it was last serviced.

You can create a form that asks all those questions in Malcolm! and add that form as a "Book a service" link onto your website. When a customer fills that form in Malcolm! can email you all the details. Malcolm! can also do lots of other clever things like pass that request into other systems that you might use.

Why would I want to do this?

Customers like it - nowadays more and more people prefer to do things online
You look professional and slick - Malcolm! can integrate with your existing website and you can style all the screens to match your brand
It's available 24/7/365 - customers can find what they need at a time that suits them
Save time - stop burning time answering the same questions or doing the same process again and again
Consistency- receive complete information from your customers in the format you need it
Efficiency - pass customer information collected via Malcolm! into your other systems automatically
Get feedback - Malcolm! let's your customers feedback to you whether the information they found was helpful or areas for improvement
Analytics- get statistics on what customers are searching for, what they are reading and the most popular times for certain types of requests
Great management tools - You and your internal team / staff can see everything at a glance via MyMalcolm - the comprehensive control panel area of Malcolm!

You can see some examples of possible uses of Malcolm! here

Use Malcolm! FAQs and Workflows together or separately

One of the things to bear in mind is that you can use the FAQ and Workflows parts of Malcolm! together or individually. It may be that you want to build a customer knowledge base using Malcolm! FAQ but you have no need for Workflows at the moment. That is no problem! Similarly you might want to create a series of web forms for various user servicing tasks using Malcolm! Workflow but don't need to answer questions with FAQs. Again this is no issue. You simply use the parts of Malcolm! that make sense to you and your business.

How does Malcolm! work with my current website?

At the heart of Malcolm! is flexibility. We want to make it as easy as possible to work with our system. We also want to offer options for a wide user base - from a one man band with no or limited web development knowledge through to big companies who may have large in house technical teams.

At one of the end of the scale is our Hosted Hub. Every instance of Malcolm! comes with a hosted Hub. This is a website that we host for you. You can customise it entirely to your requirements. You can change the branding, the colours, the fonts, the layout, the copy, the icons etc etc. You can even configure it to work on one of your own domains or sub domains.

If you don't have a current website your Hosted Hub could be your main website. If you already have your main website at www.domain.com you could set up your fully branded Malcolm! Hosted Hub at a sub domain like support.domain.com or help.domain.com or customers.domain.com

Some customers may not wish to do this and instead may wish to integrate Malcolm! into their current website. No problem! We have a whole section in the MyMalcolm Control Panel dedicated to this and there a variety of ways you can bring content and functionality from Malcolm! into your own website. We've also got a plugin for Wordpress and a variety of widgets and further integration options. Want a floating widget? No problem. Want a button which opens a modal/overlay? No problem. Customers on our Enterprise plans can have full programmatic access to Malcolm! content and functionality via our comprehensive API.

Don't forget your Internal Customers!

Remember that your business or organisation may have more than one type of "customer!". As well as using Malcolm! with members of the general public you can also use it internally to help a particular business function or department.

For example:

In our example of being an industrial heating sales & service company above you could use an instance of Malcolm! for your service engineers. Various knowledge about things you service could be stored in Malcolm FAQ! and you could build digital versions of processes or business procedure in Malcolm! Workflow - for example job sheets or part order forms.
You could use Malcolm! as an online presence for your Human Resources or Finance department
You could use Malcolm! as a way of communicating information about your premises or facilities
You could use Malcolm! as a home for an internal project or initiative

Question 8

Is there a limit to the amount of media I can upload? How much media space will I need?

Accepted Answer

Each instance of Malcolm! initially comes with a 0.5GB allocation of file storage space.

Because a web bowser will download all content on a page it's good practice (for page loading speed and also SEO purposes) to try and keep each image on your page under 2MB and not include too many images on any one page. Squarespace have a good general guide here.

Video files should not be uploaded to Malcolm! - instead use YouTube or Vimeo and embed your content - see here for more info.. This offers a much better experience for your users (they get a device/speed appropriate stream) and your page download speed will not be compromised.

If you wish to make large documents available for download consider using a dedicated file hosting service (eg Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer etc) and linking to that from your FAQs. This is better user experience because your user will be made aware of the file size before starting the download.

Remember in particular your mobile users who may be viewing your content via significantly slower connections!

If you do find yourself nearing the limit of your initial allocation contact us to request a higher allocation and we can provision this for you - there is no extra charge for this.

Question 9

Can I restrict some or all of my Team members from seeing and/or exporting submitted Workflow data?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes you may wish to use Workflows but restrict other Team members on your instance from having access to the data that is submitted by your end users.

Here is how to do this

Access is managed via the "Team" section of MyMalcolm.
In that section if you click on a Team Member then select "privileges" you can configure whether a user can see and/or export submitted Workflow data. You can even remove all their access to the Workflow section.
Depending on their settings the Instance Owner and some Team Members may also receive submitted data via email alerts. See more about managing email alerts here.
Regardless of their own preferences Team Members won't receive email alerts relating to Workflow completion if they don't have access to Workflow submitted values and exports.

Some related things to be aware of

Remember that on a Workflow level further email recipients can be added in the "email answers" part of the configure section of the individual Workflow - it may make sense to review this recipient list at the same time you review who on your team has access to end user submitted data.
Be aware that if you are pushing some or all of the submitted data to third party systems via Integrations or Web Hooks then submitted data will potentially be viewable by users in those systems.

We recommend that you review this article to read about GDPR and how it applies to Malcolm! and your users.

Question 10

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.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/FrnZFuskaf/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.07.29-21_44_58.png (Compose FAQ in MyMalcolm)

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.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/HwJyEPPI3q/resources/vDpsP666Gj/screenshot-my.malcolm.app-2019.07.29-22_20_03.png (Configure FAQ in MyMalcolm)

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.