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Starting Point

Jonathan Goodfellow Updated by Jonathan Goodfellow

It all begins here πŸŽ‰. All bots, in all channels, all start with the same block: the Starting Point block!

Your users will not be able to see this block, it is only visible from the Builder.

The Starting Point block is the base from which you can build your flow. Depending on which type of bot you are building, the block will behave slightly differently. Let's get into it! 🏁

For Web

When you open your Builder, you will see the Starting Point Block already placed on your canvas. It looks like this:

To begin building your flow, click or drag from the + icon in the First Message block. You will then be able to choose your next block from the options that show:

All of these blocks work in exactly the same way as if you used them in other parts of the flow.

If you need more information about how these blocks work and what you can do with them, you can check out our articles for these blocks, here: Buttons, Ask for a Name, Ask a question, Ask for a File.

The First Message block is the only place where you can use the Legal Consent feature, which allows you to ask users to accept your Privacy Policies and Conditions. You can add your own Privacy Policy link and make sure your users give you the legal consent you need to manage and store the data you collect through the bot.

To do this, go to the Bot Settings, and turn the Legal Consent toggle to Show. You can then customize the Privacy Policy text and link πŸ’ͺ🏼

Note: This feature is only available for Web Bots.

For WhatsApp

The Starting Point block works in exactly the same way, apart from that you can connect to any WhatsApp compatible block, so many options! βœ…

Tip: A great option is to connect the Starting Point block to a Collect Intent block to capture the user's first input and start right away depending on what the user is texting! You can check out more about how the Collect Intent block works and some examples here.

For Facebook Messenger & APIChat bots

The block behaves exactly the same way as in the WhatsApp version. The Starting Point block will already be in your Builder canvas when you open the bot, and you can connect it to any block you like with the "+" icon.

That's it! All bots begin with the Starting Point block!

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