Linking up your screens
Out of the box, once you have captured a sandbox it will have automatically created links between your screens based on the order you captured them in.
This means your sandbox will work immediately, but to make it a true sandbox and allow you to navigate around between screens, you’ll want to add more links.
HowdyGo can apply a link to matching elements on other screens, so you can connect a shared navigation menu in one go.
If Howdy AI is enabled for your organization, you can ask it to add missing navigation links or repair incorrect destinations.
Choosing a home screen
The home screen is where your sandbox starts. To change it, open the screen’s three-dot Screen actions menu in the sidebar and choose Set as home. A home icon marks the selected screen.
Use this to start a sales demo on the dashboard or product area you want to show first, without recording the sandbox again.
Creating a link
To start creating links, toggle on the “Link” mode in the editor.
Selecting an element
As you hover over elements in your UI HowdyGo will prompt you with the outline of the element. It will automatically preference <a> tags and <button> tags, but anything can be linked.
If HowdyGo identifies the wrong element, you can right click at any point in order to select an element further “up the tree”.
Adding the link
Once you’ve selected the element, you can click to open up the step selection menu.
In the menu above:
- The blue selection box is the element that you’ve selected.
- Captured screens are organized into groups to help you find the destination.
- Search by screen title or group name to narrow the list.
- The image shows a preview thumbnail of the screen you’re linking to.
- If the same element appears on other screens, use Apply link to to choose which screens receive the link. Select individual screens, All screens, or Current screen only.
Removing a link
Click an existing link and select the Remove link icon.
By default, this removes the link from the current screen. To remove matching links elsewhere, use Remove link from to select other screens before confirming Remove.
Change a link
To update a link, click on an existing link and select the new screen from the dropdown.
Check Apply link to before choosing a destination. HowdyGo remembers whether you last applied a link to all matching screens or only the current screen. Choose Current screen only to keep this change on one screen.
Follow a link
Click a link and select the arrow icon to follow it in the editor.
Previewing navigation
Open the menu next to Preview and choose Beginning to test from the home screen, or Current to start from the screen you are editing. Then click Preview and follow the links as a viewer would.
If you find something to change, click Edit. The editor opens on the screen you were viewing in the preview.
Inbound and outbound links
To help you identify screens with potentially missing links, each thumbnail displays:
- The number of inbound links to that screen
- The number of outbound links from that screen
Use these counts to check that viewers can reach a screen and navigate away from it. In the example above, the first screen has 49 inbound links and 7 outbound links; the second has 1 inbound link and 4 outbound links.
Broken links
A broken link points to a screen that no longer exists. HowdyGo flags these in the sidebar and editor. Select the link to choose a new destination or remove it.
A screen with no inbound links may also need attention: unless it is your home screen, viewers need a link from another screen to reach it during their walkthrough.
