Sample Exercise: Macros

Sample Exercise: Using Macros in an A2J Guided Interview

 

This exercise will teach you how to use variable macros in an A2J Guided Interview. This exercise creates an A2J Guided Interview only and does not contain an A2J Template or HotDocs Template. The skills learned in this Sample Exercise will be useful in creating a personalized experience for your end users inside your own A2J Guided Interviews.

 

A more extensive training video on Variable Macros can be found on our A2J Author YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Picr4VF3M78

 

The final A2J Guided Interview will look like this:

 

 

This Sample Exercise should be used by authors who have completed a basic A2J Author training. Training videos can be found on our A2J Author YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/a2jauthor)

 

  1. Log into your www.a2jauthor.org account. If you aren’t sure how to create an account, check out this resource.

  2. Once logged in, go to the “Author” tab and click it.  

  3. Then click “Run A2J Author”.

  4. A2J Author will open on the “Interviews” Tab. Under “Create a new interview” double click on “Blank Interview”. This will open up a blank A2J Guided Interview.

  5. Go to the “About” Tab and rename the title of the interview to Sample Exercise: Macros.

  6. Go to the “Steps” Tab and delete 2 of them. By default, an A2J Guided Interview comes with 4 steps. We’re only going to need 2 for this quick exercise. Name the steps as follows:

    1. Step 1: Setting the value to the variable

    2. Step 2: Using the variable in a macro

  1. Go to the Pages Tab. Double click on question 1-Introduction

    1. Question text: Welcome to the A2J Guided Interview designed to show authors how to personalize their interviews with Variable Macros. Click “Continue” to get started.

  2. By default a blank A2J Guided Interview comes with 4 questions. We’re going to use the default 2-Name as it is. Double click it to open it up and check out what it has in it. This question collects the user’s first, middle, and last names. We’re going to have the user set their name here and then use their first name in the text of the 1st question in Step 2.

  3. We’re also going to use 3-Gender as it is. It has the end user select an avatar to represent them on the path to the courthouse.

  4. Double click on 1-Question 1 in Step 2. Rename it 1-Calling out a user’s name

    1. Question text: %%[Client first name TE]%%, are you enjoying learning how to use A2J Author?

    2. Create two buttons.

      1. Button 1: Yes

        1. We’ll update the destination in a couple steps, so ignore for now.

      2. Button 2: No

        1. We’ll update the destination in a couple steps, so ignore for now.

  5. Create a new page by clicking the “New Page” icon at the top of the screen

  6. Double click on the new page (it might be in Step 1) and open it up. Change the step to Step 2. Rename it 2-The End

    1. Question text: Congratulations %%[Client first name TE]%%! You’ve completed this A2J Guided Interview. Thanks for learning how to use Variable Macros to personalize an A2J Guided Interview!

    2. Scroll down to the Advanced Logic section. In the BEFORE logic box, type in the following condition (this script tells A2J Author to change the name of the Step sign to the user’s first name with the word Congratulations and an exclamation mark. (Note, we’re setting the variable [A2J Step 1] even though we called this Step 2. A2J Author starts counting the step signs at 0. So the second step sign is Step 1 to A2J Author.

    3. ** Note the space after the word Congratulations (before the closing quotation mark). This is so a space is inserted before the user’s name.

 

 

  1. To complete this Sample A2J Guided Interview, we need to connect all the questions now. To connect questions, you set the Destination on each question to the next one in the line. Double click on each question in the following list and make sure it’s connected to the next question listed as follows:

    1. 1-Introduction to 2-Name

    2. 2-Name to 3-Gender

    3. 3-Gender to 1-Calling out a user’s name

    4. 1-Calling out a user’s name (both buttons) to 2-The End

 

  1. Now it’s time to test your interview to ensure it flows as it is supposed to. Either click the Preview Tab or open 1-Introduction and then click the Preview button within that question. It’s best to preview your interview with the Variables/Script window open. To open it, when in Preview mode, click the “Variables/Script” button in the bottom left hand corner of the interview. This will open a panel where you can see the values that are being assigned to different variables, the path the interview is following, and the logic statements being evaluated real time. You can re-enter editing mode by clicking “Edit this” to edit the question you are currently viewing or “Resume Edit” to edit the question you entered Preview mode from.

 

Congratulations on successfully completing this Sample Exercise. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to our A2J Author Project Manager Jessica Frank at Jessica@cali.org.