Canvas Guides (English)ImpactImpact GuideMessagesWhich Impact message type should I use?

Which Impact message type should I use?

Impact comes with three different message types that you can choose from: Hint Messages, Pop-Up Messages, and Systray Messages. This article will help you decide which message type is the best fit for your content and goals.

For a full overview of message types, visit What are the types of Impact messages?


Hint Messages Pop-Up Messages Systray Messages
Positioning  Connected and displayed next to one or more specific elements (like a button). Connected to one or more pages and displayed as a full-page modal layover, greying out the background. Connected to one or more pages and is displayed in the bottom right corner of the page.
Trigger
  • On hover
  • On click
  • On page load
  • On page load
  • On page load
When to use it? Hint messages are the perfect vehicle for extremely contextual proactive support and can be used to help guide a user through any specific task without interrupting their workflow too much.
For example, if you want to message users review their work before pressing a submit button, you can attach a hint message directly to that button.
Because Pop-Up messages take over the entire screen of the user and force them to close the message before proceeding, they should be reserved for important communication that users must take action on or know about.
For example, if you want to communicate to users that there is a significant error impacting the learning application, you can make sure that all users are notified about this error as soon as they log in.
Systray messages are displayed in the bottom right corner of your learning application, which is the perfect place to present important but non-critical communication. For example, if you want to show users a video that explains how to complete a task on a page, embedding and displaying that video in the bottom right corner makes this content easily accessible to the users who need it.