Configure Custom Variables to Personalize Whatfix Content

Note:

Custom Variables is a Beta feature. To enable this feature, contact support@whatfix.com.

Overview

Custom Variables are self-defined data points that you can create to capture and reuse information from your end user’s application environment–without writing a single line of code.

With Custom Variables, you can fetch values (see examples below) from the Local Storage or cookies and use them to show content specific to the user’s application.

Previously, if you wanted to personalize content or trigger content based on application data, you had to rely on Advanced Customization (AC) code and get support from technical teams. This meant delays, limited visibility into how variables were set, and no easy way to reuse them across content.

What are some examples of Custom Variables?

The following are some examples of Custom Variables that can be configured on the Whatfix Guidance dashboard:

• Application data: Usernames, roles, or values from specific fields in your base application.

• User interactions: Button clicks on a pop-up, survey choices, or other actions inside Whatfix content.

• Browser data: Local storage values, session data, cookies, or URL parameters.

• Application element changes: Presence or absence of an element, or a comparison between two field values.

Use Cases

Custom Variables act as a link between your user’s application state and the Whatfix content, enabling you to capture information once and use it across multiple contexts. Here’s exactly how:

• Personalize content: Capture the logged-in user’s name from Local Storage and display “Hi, John Doe!” in the header of a pop-up or at the start of a flow.
  

• Reuse captured values across content: In a workflow process, capture the “Project ID” the user entered in Step 2. Later, automatically insert that Project ID in a Smart Tip or a different flow, without asking the user to retype it.

• Automate input to save user effort: Capture the department name from a dropdown on the application and automatically pre-fill it in multiple fields using an Auto Input Smart Tip.

• React to changes in the application: Detect when a specific warning message appears on the page, store that in a variable, and show a troubleshooting Smart Tip until the issue is resolved. You can also compare values between two elements and trigger content if they don’t match.

To learn how to create a Custom Variable, see Create a Custom Variable.