Introduction
Stages, sections, and elements are the building blocks of a conversation template. Together, they define the structure participants follow when completing a conversation. By carefully designing these components, you can create structured experiences for performance reviews, career discussions, one-to-one meetings, engagement surveys, and other conversation processes.
This article describes the configuration options available on the Content tab of the template editor.
Before you start
To configure stages, sections, and elements, you must:
- Be a Conversation or Super admin.
- Have access to the Conversations v2 feature.
- Create or open a draft conversation template.
Understanding the conversation template structure
A conversation template contains three levels.
- Stage. A phase of the conversation, for example, self review, manager review, or one-to-one discussion. Each created conversation template has a default stage.
- Section. A group of related elements within a stage. Each created conversation template has a default section.
- Element. An individual item participants interact with, such as a question, rating, summary, collaborative activity, or piece of instructional content.
A template can contain multiple stages, and each stage can contain multiple sections and elements.
The structure follows this hierarchy:
Template → Stage → Section → Element
Best practices for template design
When designing a conversation template:
- Keep stages focused on a specific purpose.
- Design stage visibility carefully so participants see only the stages relevant to their role.
- Use sections to group related questions.
- Choose element types that match the information you want to collect.
- Use an introduction element to provide context and instructions.
- Limit the number of questions in a single section to improve readability.
- Use reference elements to bring previous responses into later stages.
- Enable attachments only where supporting documentation may be useful.
- Place the final stage at the end of the conversation workflow and use it for activities such as final reviews, manager sign-off, acknowledgements, or summary discussions.
Navigate to conversation templates
1. Go to Organization > Conversations. The Conversation Plans Configuration page opens.
2. Select Explore Campaigns near the top of the page. The Campaigns tab opens on a separate page.
3. Select the Templates tab.
Here, you can see and manage your existing conversation templates via the Pre-built and My templates tabs.
For each conversation template, you can see the title, description, and how many stages and sections it has. On the My templates tab, you can see the current status of the template.
Open a draft template
Use this procedure whenever you want to edit a conversation template, such as adding stages, sections, or elements.
1. Navigate to conversation templates.
2. Select the My templates tab.
3. Select the relevant draft template to open it in the template editor.
Manage stages
Understanding stages
Stages define the major phases of a conversation. A conversation can contain one or more stages, and participants progress through them in the order they are configured.
Examples include:
- Self review
- Manager review
- One-to-one discussion
- Final review.
Add a stage
2. Select + above the list of Stages. The Add stage panel opens.
3. Enter the Title and (optionally) and Description for the stage.
4. Select who can see this stage by selecting from the Visibility drop-down list. You can make the stage visible to the Focus Person, the Reviewer, or both.
Stages that are hidden from a participant aren't displayed anywhere within the conversation.
5. Select Save.
The new stage is displayed in the left navigation menu.
6. Repeat these steps to add more stages.
Edit stage details
2. In the left navigation menu, select the ellipsis menu (...) for the required stage > Edit details. The Edit stage details panel opens.
3. Edit the Title of the selected stage and (optionally) its Description.
4. Select who can see this stage by selecting from the Visibility drop-down list. You can make the stage visible to the Focus Person, the Reviewer, or both.
Participants only see stages that are visible to their role. Hidden stages aren't displayed anywhere in the conversation.
5. Select Save.
Reorder stages
Conversations follow the order of stages defined in the template. To change the order, select the ellipsis menu (...) for a stage > Move up or Move down.
Delete a stage
This action deletes the stage, all child sections and child elements, as well as their dependent elements. This action can't be undone.
2. In the left navigation menu, select the ellipsis menu (...) for the required stage > Delete. The Delete stage dialog opens.
The Delete option is grayed out if the selected stage is the only one in the template.
3. Confirm the action by selecting Delete, or you can Cancel.
Configure the final stage
A final stage defines the point at which a conversation is considered complete. When participants reach and complete the final stage, the conversation is marked as completed.
The final stage can also be used to control when certain information becomes visible to participants. For example, some elements can be configured to remain hidden until the conversation reaches the final stage.
Set a stage as the final stage
I can't see this in the software yet. Not yet released.
1. Create a new stage or edit an existing one.
2. In the stage settings, enable Final stage.
3. Select who can complete the conversation using the Completion permissions setting.
4. Select Save.
Only one stage can be designated as the final stage in a template.
Completion permissions
The final stage determines who is allowed to complete the conversation.
Depending on your template design, completion can be assigned to:
- Focus Person
- Reviewer
- Both.
Consider who should perform the final review and formally close the conversation before configuring completion permissions.
Why the final stage is important
The final stage:
- Marks the conversation as completed.
- Determines who can complete the conversation.
- Can be used as the point at which information hidden during earlier stages becomes visible.
- Provides a consistent end point for conversation reporting and campaign progress tracking.
Manage sections
Understanding sections
Sections help organize content within a stage and help participants navigate longer conversations.
Examples include:
- Goals and achievements
- Development opportunities
- Feedback and comments
- Training and learning.
Add a section
1. Open the stage where you want to add the section.
2. Select Add section. The Add section dialog opens.
3. Enter a Section title and (optionally) a Description.
4. Select Save.
You can create multiple sections within a stage to group related questions and content.
Edit section details
2. In the left navigation menu, select the ellipsis menu (...) for the required section > Edit details. The Edit section details panel opens.
3. Edit the Title of the selected section and (optionally) its Description.
4. Select Save.
Reorder sections
To change the order of sections, select the ellipsis menu (...) for a section > Move up or Move down.
Delete a section
This action deletes the section, all its elements, as well as their dependent elements. This action can't be undone.
2. In the left navigation menu, select the required stage.
3. Select the ellipsis menu (...) for the required section > Delete. The Delete section dialog opens.
4. Confirm the action by selecting Delete, or you can Cancel.
Manage elements
Understanding elements
Elements are the individual components that participants interact with throughout a conversation, such as questions, ratings, summaries, and collaborative activities.
Conversations supports a variety of element types, including text, choice, dynamic, collaborative, and reference elements.
For descriptions of available element types, configuration options, and examples, see this article.
Add an element
1. Open and expand the section where you want to add an element.
2. Select Add element. The Element library opens.
3. Choose the required element. For more information, see this article.
4. Configure the element settings.
5. Select Save.
Edit element details
2. In the left navigation menu, select the ellipsis menu (...) for the required element > Edit details. The Element details side panel opens.
3. Edit the details. For more information, see the Edit element details section in this article.
4. Select Save.
Duplicate an element
You can duplicate an element to create a new variation instead of creating a similar one manually. You can then edit its details.
1. Select the element you want to duplicate in the left navigation menu. The element opens in the main part of the page.
2. Select Duplicate (the icon).
The duplicated element is added to the bottom of the elements list.
3. Edit the element. For more information, see the Edit element details section in this article.
Reorder elements
To change the order of elements, select the ellipsis menu (...) for an element > Move up or Move down.
Delete an element
This action deletes the selected element. This action can't be undone.
2. In the left navigation menu, select the ellipsis menu (...) for the required element > Delete. The Delete element dialog opens.
3. Confirm the action by selecting Delete, or you can Cancel.
Understand conversation template elements
Conversation templates support a range of element types, including text, choice, dynamic, collaborative, and reference elements. For detailed information about each element type, including configuration options, use cases, examples, and best practices, see this article.
Related articles
- Introduction to Conversations
- Create and manage conversation templates
- Conversation template element reference
- Create and launch conversation campaigns
- Complete a conversation
- Conversations FAQs