Create a sequential learning experience with Threads

Pippa Updated by Pippa

Taking your users lesson-by-lesson through a learning journey can help them absorb information at the right pace for maximum impact.

This article will walk you through using Threads to create a learning journey consisting of 3 lessons to be consumed in order.

Each lesson will only be available to users who have completed the previous lesson. We'll enable this by tracking the user's progress on their contact profile. Now let's get started!

Step 1: Add custom profile fields

You'll need to track what lesson a user is on against your user's profile.

  1. Navigate to the “Dashboard” tab on the left-hand side.
  2. Click on the “All Conversations” collection.
  3. On any user, scroll to the Custom Profile (on the left-hand side)
  4. Click ADD button
  5. Add the following custom profile fields one-by-one:
    1. Lesson 1 complete (text field)
    2. Lesson 2 complete (text field)
    3. Lesson 3 complete (text field)

Great! Now that you've got the fields you need, refresh your browser to make sure you new fields show up as options to save data to in Threads.

Step 2: Create a Thread for Lesson 1

You'll need to create a thread for each lesson. Let's start with Lesson 1.

  1. Navigate to the "Content" tab on the left-hand side
  2. Click on the "Threads" tab at the top of the page
  3. Create the Lesson 1 thread
    1. Click the ADD THREAD button on the top right
    2. Give your new thread a title (e.g. Lesson 1) and choose a language. Click SAVE.
    3. Add your first trigger.
      1. Select the Message received trigger type
      2. Select exact match
      3. Type "START" or the keyword of your choice in the 'Specify the exact text' field
      4. Click ADD
    4. Add a second trigger by clicking on the yellow + icon next to the first trigger.
      1. Select the Message received trigger type
      2. Select 'Contact has a specific profile'
      3. Select "Lesson 1 complete' as the contact field
      4. Leave the "Lesson 1 complete' field blank
      5. Click ADD
    5. Add your lesson content. In this example Lesson 1 has 3 messages that the user will navigate through by selecting Next or Back.
      1. Message 1 (Intro)
        1. Click ADD CONTENT
        2. Select Multiple Choice Question
        3. Give your content a title (e.g. Lesson 1 Message 1)
        4. Write the lesson content in Question field
        5. Add one answer option: Next
        6. Click SAVE
      2. Message 2 (Lesson): Repeat the process for Message 1 and add another Multiple Choice Question for Message 2.
        1. This time you need to save the user's progress to their contact. So before you Save the multiple choice question do the following:
          1. Scroll down in on the multiple choice card and Select the field 'Save to contact field'
          2. Select 'Lesson 1 complete'
          Since your user is replying 1 for 'Next' to get to the next message, this will save the word 'Next' to your user's contact profile under the field "Lesson 1 complete'. This will be your record that the user has finished lesson 1.
          1. Click SAVE
      3. Message 3 (Outro): This message tells your user they have completed the lesson and to come back tomorrow.
        1. Click ADD CONTENT
        2. Click Thread Message (as you do not need a response as it is the last message in the lesson).
        3. Give your content a title (e.g. Lesson 1 Message 3)
        4. Write the lesson Outro content in the "Question" field. e.g. Well done! You've
          completed lesson 1. Reply START if you're like to complete Lesson 2.
        5. Click SAVE
          Using a Thread Message as your last message in your thread is an easy way to ensure your users exit your Thread and can access any of your global automations or Menu. Because a Thread Message does not expect a reply, once it is sent to the user, the thread Ends and the 'Thread' lease is no longer active. Therefore if your user replies, they will trigger your global automations again. Find out more about Thread leases.
    6. Review your Thread in the preview panel on the right and make any necessary copy adjustments.
    7. Click SAVE on the menu bar at the top right to save your Thread.
    8. Click CLOSE to return to the Threads Page.
Step 3: Create a Thread for Lesson 2
  1. Click the ADD THREAD button on the top right
    1. Give your new thread a title (e.g. Lesson 2) and choose a language. Click SAVE.
    2. Add your first trigger.
      1. Select the Message received trigger type
      2. Select exact match
      3. Type "START" or the keyword of your choice in the 'Specify the exact text' field
      4. Click ADD
    3. Add a second trigger by clicking on the yellow + icon next to the first trigger.
      1. Select the Message received trigger type
      2. Select 'Contact has a specific profile'
      3. Select "Lesson 1 complete' as the contact field
      4. Type 'Next' into the Lesson 1 complete field (As you only want user to be able to access this lesson if they have completed Lesson 1)
      5. Click ADD
    4. Add your lesson content. Repeat steps to add content as per your Lesson 1 Thread.
      1. Don't forget to save the user's progress to their contact by:
        1. Selecting "Save to contact" on the last multiple choice question before your Outro message.
        2. Select "Lesson 2 complete".
        3. Click SAVE
    Don't forget you can add images, audio or videos files to your content to make your lessons more engaging! Just remember that threads are designed for short lessons, ensure your audio and video files are under 5 minutes.
    1. Review your Thread in the preview panel on the right and make any necessary copy adjustments.
    2. Click SAVE on the menu bar at the top right to save your Thread.
    3. Click CLOSE to return to the Threads Page.
Step 4: Create a Thread for Lesson 3

Follow the same steps as Lesson 2. But this time your second trigger will have 'Lesson 2 complete' is 'Next' instead of 'Lesson 1 complete'.

Wow - that was a lot of steps! But you've now created your first sequential learning experience using Threads. And it's just the tip of the iceberg for creating personalised learning experiences using Turn.io.

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